How to survive wolves as a beginner?

[Thorfinn]

1 hour ago, Stranger92 said:

Your tactics sound reasonable, but almost inapplicable in the dense forest. You can neither spot a wolf in time, nor - quite often - run away from one.

I know, I know. Avoid dense forests until you have decent armor and weapon.

Nah. Just run on through. Once you figure out the pattern of where the various trees put their branchy leaves, not only does it become not that dissimilar to running on plains or rolling hills, other than sight range is drastically reduced, you know where to bob and weave to scrape baddies off you. Believe it or not, forests and dense brush are your best friends in the early game. Once you have decent armor, sure, might as well clear all that out (or burn it down) if you have nothing else pressing to do because once you accept the speed penalty of armor, you will have little choice but to fight the enemies, rather than just running away. And that assumes you take the time to build vantage points you can see down into the dips and valleys, and that you take the time to use them, so you can avoid brown bears in the first place. Because unless you have flawless timing of your jumping, if you step over a ridgeline and there is one in your face, you are not going to get away from him.

And, really, what's the point of fighting them in early game, anyway? They rarely have fat, and bushmeat is kind of a waste unless you simply cannot find any other meat. Let them reproduce so that by June or July, you can harvest more adult wolves that have fat, and you have the lime and oak ready to tan the hides.

Edited December 14, 2024 by Thorfinn

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

And, really, what's the point of fighting them in early game, anyway? They rarely have fat, and bushmeat is kind of a waste unless you simply cannot find any other meat. Let them reproduce so that by June or July, you can harvest more adult wolves that have fat, and you have the lime and oak ready to tan the hides.

Half the ones I butcher have fat, or so it seems to me. The bushmeat is just convenient protein, or turns into rot with the hides I don't need. Plus if you can manage to kill off the wolves, you don't need to worry about them until they respawn--hence why some might go to the effort of hunting them down instead of avoiding them.

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Nah. Just run on through. Once you figure out the pattern of where the various trees put their branchy leaves, not only does it become not that dissimilar to running on plains or rolling hills, other than sight range is drastically reduced, you know where to bob and weave to scrape baddies off you. Believe it or not, forests and dense brush are your best friends in the early game. Once you have decent armor, sure, might as well clear all that out (or burn it down) if you have nothing else pressing to do because once you accept the speed penalty of armor, you will have little choice but to fight the enemies, rather than just running away. And that assumes you take the time to build vantage points you can see down into the dips and valleys, and that you take the time to use them, so you can avoid brown bears in the first place. Because unless you have flawless timing of your jumping, if you step over a ridgeline and there is one in your face, you are not going to get away from him.

True, and a decent strategy, but I'd also say it hinges on preferred playstyle and player skill. More cautious players will probably choose to avoid the deep woods, while more brazen ones might not care or even deliberately seek out dangerous wildlife. The same logic applies to early armor and shields--some prefer the added protection, while others would prefer not to spend the resources or deal with the hunger penalties. Likewise, some strategies might be "better" than others, but also be a lot riskier and require a higher level of player skill in order to use successfully.

At the end of the day though, I'd say the best strategy is whichever one keeps you alive.

[Thorfinn]

25 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

I'd also say it hinges on preferred playstyle and player skill. More cautious players will probably choose to avoid the deep woods,

Right. I was just replying to the "almost inapplicable", which appeared to be a reply to your suggestion to avoid contact with the enemy, and that the armor and shield available at the time should be considered a last resort. Both of those are very good ideas. Use crude shield and improvised armor to learn how to evade/elude wolves.

[LadyWYT]

31 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

Right. I was just replying to the "almost inapplicable", which appeared to be a reply to your suggestion to avoid contact with the enemy, and that the armor and shield available at the time should be considered a last resort. Both of those are very good ideas. Use crude shield and improvised armor to learn how to evade/elude wolves.

One strategy I did forget :

1. Bring a friend

2. Run faster than said friend