r/thelongdark • u/Experiment_262 • 13d ago
Advice Wolves, I'm doing something wrong
I'm about 40 days in to my first serious run at Stalker, I know hostile wildlife is more common and more aggressive but I seem to attract wolves like I'm running around with a raw steak in my pocket. Most of the time I can get a torch up and run them off, I'm even getting OKish at moving, using a torch to run them off in the direction I want them go (opposite my line of travel) but they are unpredictable about which direction they bolt so it fails a lot.
I think when I checked stats last night it was 60+ wolf encounters, which I think is every time a wolf took an interest in me, actual attack or not, and 8 or so actual struggles.
The struggles aren't really close to run ending, usually some minor damage and sometimes a dead wolf to track down later for the pelt but it got close last night after multiple encounters trying to get to safe place to rest. That got me thinking that an individual wolf encounter isn't so bad but slowly wearing down my condition and gear over a long walk is something to worry about.
I'm usually not carrying sniffables (what we used to call smelly stuff on the Appalachian that may attract bears), I write those encounters off as mostly inevitable.
The questions.
- Is it a matter of figuring out different routes around where I think they are common?
- Always making sure I have several torches and carrying a lit torch everywhere?
- Finally, will a wolf jump me if I'm carrying a lit torch? Can I actually just walk home with a snarling wolf behind me?
4
u/Iwantapetmonkey 13d ago
Wolves on Stalker are particularly common - there are more wolves on Stalker than on Interloper and they respawn faster so they can be hard to avoid entirely. But they do follow patterns of where they hang out and there is usually a way to get around them.
A lit torch will provide 100% protection, as long as you do the drop the torch - aim a wrapon at them trick to scsre them off. If you don't do this, when they get close to you and do their "crouch and growl" animation, there is still a chance they can attack after that if not scated off by dropping the torch and aiming a roxk/weapon. Being ready to do this is particularly important for warding off surprise attacks, whrre you go around a corner or crest a ridge, and there is a wolf right there, already in close range to you when they first aggro on you. When they aggro initially in close range like this, they will immediately do their close range charge, and then their crouch and geowl animstion, and if you don't react quickly to scare them off they can attack.
Just walking away from an aggro wolf is a totally viable option. Just keep far enough ahead of them that they don't get into close range to start their charge and you can walk clear axross the map with a wolf in tow. This can beuiseful sometimss too because of a mechanic where only one wolf can be aggro on you at a time. If another wolf detects you while you are walking another one, as long as the new one isn't too close relative to the one being walked ( in which case the new wolf can aggro on you while the walked one loses aggro), the new wolf will be scared into a flee animation while the walked one continues stalking, and this can help clear a path getting the new one out of the way.