Chuck Palahniuk once said, “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” This quote, which is sometimes displayed at the opening of The Long Dark, is painfully accurate. Even an experienced survivalist can get jumped by a wolf, or worse, bringing a sudden end to their time on this planet.
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On the other hand, players are at their most vulnerable by far in the first few days of The Long Dark. After getting over that first chilly night and building up some resources, things get much easier. That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help with the game’s most challenging section, the opening week.
Choosing A Good Location
At the start of the game, you’ll be selecting an area to play in. Each area has different quirks in its layout, as well as its weather. Some spots are milder, while others are more prone to harsh blizzards. Additionally, some spots have higher concentrations of roaming wolves, which should be avoided. Starting off in a relatively forgiving place will drastically aid your chances of survival.
The two best regions for beginners areMystery LakeandMountain Town. Both of these areas have relatively mild conditions, and abundant resources for looting. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll assume you’re playing on Mystery Lake. If you want to play elsewhere, the same general principles apply, but the locations will be different.
Surviving Your First Day
It’s possible you’ll be dropped into the Trapper’s Cabin at the start of the game. This area makes a good base, with its only drawback being its isolation from the rest of the Mystery Lake region. If you do not start in the cabin, and instead start outside, look around for railroad tracks. In the eastern part of the region, a railroad connects to a number of good areas to check. You’ll likely start off freezing, so you should sprint until you find some shelter. Ideally, you’ll end your first day in the massive Hydro Dam at the north end of the tracks, where there are a huge number of resources.
Keep in mind that on lower difficulties, animals will not attack you during your first day. Since you won’t need to be on the lookout, you should sprint as much as possible and seek refuge indoors as fast as you may. If you’ve found a spot indoors with a bed, congratulations, you’ve survived your first day. Sleeping (or just passing time under a blanket) while indoors will make you warmer and stave off freezing for some time.
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Gathering Resources
Now that you have somewhere warm to hide away at, you’ll want to start gathering resources. In particular, look for matches, warm clothing, food items, medicine, and tools such as prybars, crowbars, and knives. Items like flares and bullets should be pocketed, too — in fact, you should grab pretty much everything that’s not nailed down, provided it isn’t too heavy.
In particular, matches are vital. To start a fire in The Long Dark, you’ll need three things: an ignition source, tinder, and fuel. Tinder is something small and flammable, like a sheet of newspaper, that will provide a flame. Fuel means larger items, like hunks of firewood, that burn over time. Tinder and fuel can both be gathered from the outside world, but ignition sources (I.E. matches) must be looted.
Managing Food
At the start of the game, you’ll find plenty of food by looting buildings. It may be tempting to eat as much as possible and have some calories stored away at all times. However, while it is possible to keep a full belly most of the time, it requires lots of hunting and/or fishing. At this stage, it makes more sense to stretch your food supply as you take the time to explore the region, learn to hunt, and so on.
When you run out of calories, your body starts eating itself. This drains your condition at a rate of 25% each day, or roughly 1% each hour. With no food whatsoever, you’ll die of starvation in about four days. However, if you have some calories to burn while you sleep, your condition will be partially restored. This means you can starve yourself all day, eat at night, and continue on the next day as if nothing had happened.
Note that although you will occasionally find beverages, there’s no real need to stockpile them. Snow can be boiled at a fire using a cooking pot or recycled can. This process takes a bit of time, but provides limitless drinking water.
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Moving Forward
You now have all the knowledge you need to easily survive your first week in The Long Dark. Moving forward, you should concern yourself mainly with two things: setting up apermanent baseandhunting. Anywhere with a woodstove (or fire barrel), a workbench, and an indoor bed can be a good permanent base. Another factor to consider is location; how easy it is to access the base, and its proximity to natural resources like rabbits, fishing huts, and/or firewood.
By becoming an adept hunter, you’ll gain a renewable source of food and other crafting materials. Animal hides can be fashioned into some pretty excellent clothing items. Crow feathers found near carcasses should be gathered for eventual arrow crafting. The carcasses themselves can be thawed with a campfire and then harvested for materials. Once you learn to hunt, and start taking down deer and wolves with a bow, you’ll have all the food you could ever want.
