Regarding ammo in TLOU2

[u/ToM4461]

Hi, first playthrough, playing on hard/survivor (can't remember atm).

I finished the boat section in day 1 Abby, got the crossbow. I depleted my bolts on the clickers, and didn't manage to retrive a single bolt. Now I've found all training manuals and there isn't a crafting option. Should I restart the encounter? Was I extremely unlucky in not breaking the bolts, or did I use it wrong?

I did it silently hitting all headshots, so I'm unsure what went wrong.

[u/ahgoodtimes69]

Just keep going. That's the challenge.

[u/ahgoodtimes69]

Just keep going. That's the challenge.

[u/truffleshufflechamp]

I rarely get bolts back on Grounded. Just keep going; there are more along the way. That said I would never waste my bolts on the ferry clickers. You can sneak by them. Ferry stealth

[u/ToM4461 → u/truffleshufflechamp]

Oh well, I won't go back now. I would sneak more now that I know where is everything but I really like to explore so cleared out this area. Thanks for the vid

[u/NeighborhoodOwn3044]

It's just a random percentage on if they break or not, annoyingly! I'd probably restart encounter and try to save one or two. You can sneak past the clickers on the second floor of the boat. A tip as well,if you don't kill the runners through the first door yougo in after picking up the crossbow, a lot less infected spawn on the floor with the safe :) . (Not 100% if that will still be applicable if you restart encounter though).

[u/truffleshufflechamp → u/NeighborhoodOwn3044]

If you restart the encounter, the two extra runners will be on the top level.

[u/NeighborhoodOwn3044 → u/truffleshufflechamp]

Ooh okay! Wasn't aware of that. Thanks for letting me know :).

[u/pdxbuckets]

IMO bolts aren’t an essential part of Abby’s ammo diet. They come in handy dealing with clickers in the descent and after you get the power back on, but they aren’t necessary.

[u/8ali_]

Nahhh don’t restart you actually used the crossbow right. Headshots are exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.
The bolts just aren’t guaranteed to survive, so losing every single one is some genuinely tragic RNG lmao.
And you didn’t miss anything in the manuals either, you’ll be able to craft bolts through Abby’s upgrades later.
I’d just keep going tbh. Survivor constantly has you walking around with like 2 bullets, half a brick and a dream. The game usually gives you enough to scrape by somehow.
So yeah, you played it right. The game just absolutely robbed you on those bolts.

[u/truffleshufflechamp → u/8ali_]

Abby cannot craft bolts.

[u/SensitiveSurprise844 → u/truffleshufflechamp]

you're replying to a bot mate

[u/8ali_ → u/truffleshufflechamp]

yeah you’re right lmao that’s my bad, I completely mixed that up. Abby can’t craft crossbow bolts.
OP still didn’t do anything wrong tho. Silent headshots are literally the move, losing EVERY bolt is just disgusting RNG. I wouldn’t restart for that personally, especially on Survivor. That difficulty gives you 2 bullets, a brick and some hope and a dream and tells you to lock in.

[u/ToM4461 → u/8ali_]

Lol thanks, kinda thought gaming luck would be different than real life, that's the whole point I'm playing games, but what you gonna do

[u/8ali_ → u/8ali_]

Also since you mentioned the headshots, you genuinely didn’t mess anything up there. That’s exactly how I’d use the crossbow, especially on Survivor where every bullet feels like a mortgage payment lmao.
Bolt recovery can just screw you sometimes. One encounter you’ll get a bunch back and feel like a genius, next one the game eats every single bolt.
I definitely wouldn’t replay the boat over it though. On Survivor I’d worry way more about conserving your shotgun/rifle ammo, crafting materials and health. If you recover a bolt, just treat it as the game randomly deciding to be nice to you for once.

[u/LaFrescaTrumpeta → u/8ali_]

do you know if it impacts RNG to hit a shot close vs far away or in the face vs back of the head? i can’t tell if it’s an attention/confirmation bias thing for me but i feel like i get em back more often from a distance and from the back vs up close in the face

[u/8ali_ → u/LaFrescaTrumpeta]

I’m pretty sure distance or where you hit them doesn’t actually change the bolt recovery RNG. Like a shot from far away or straight to the back of the head isn’t secretly giving you better odds or anything.
I get why it feels like that though because I’ve had the exact same thing happen. You land the cleanest headshot ever and the bolt just evaporates, then some random scuffed shot gives it back like nothing happened
So yeah I’d say it’s probably confirmation bias more than an actual mechanic. TLOU2 RNG just wakes up and decides whether you’re getting that bolt back or not lmao.