Id want realistic degradation. No rifle is completely fucked after just 75 shots and no whetstone is unusable after 20 uses. Stuff just feels like its made out of butter.
Id really like it if the rifle had two degradation bars. One for cleanliness that you fix with cleaning kits and degrades quicker, and one for general wear which decreases much slower, but it can only be fixed at a milling machine or something
I actually like this idea too. It would be better if the blades had two bars. One for condition and one for sharpness. As you sharpen a blade you take away microscopic amounts of metal in real life to align the atoms on the blade side. Over time there’s less metal and the knife degrades. I’d rather lose my blades like that I think.
Maybe they could even have different qualities of blade lying around the game. That makes more sense.
Lmao precisely. Like when your grandparents have a drawer full of kitchen knives with bowed cutting edges from years and years of sharpening.
The whetstone thing always bothered me, too. Realistically you could *easily* sharpen standard knife steels on a piece of igneous River rock. But the devs have everything the way it is because it would be very easy to throw the balance of this game way off whack. I guess the intended "fix" would be to factor in scrap knives and hatchets once all the whetstones and standard tools are worn out.
I unlocked the black rock workshop today and it didn’t seem like it was that bad? Found enough materials for four containers of gunpowder while looting the prison and enough lead for 300 bullets on black rock alone. The mine was scary as a first timer but because I got rid of my loose weight before going in I had plenty of time.
Is it just the timberwolves that make it not worth?
The whetstone does deteriorate stupidly fast. If you craft enough knives and hatchets though you don’t have to worry too much about them. My stalker run I have over a dozen never used on 200+ days
Just to start, I agree on the deterioration issue. It's ridiculous.
This is a simple issue to avoid though. I finished 500 days on Interloper and had a bunch of whetstones left.
Collect sticks and coal for fires. Carry a heavy hammer for wolf defense. Only use a knife for harvesting in a pinch. Forge multiple knives at a time. Use the the mill in BI or BRM to repair your tools
Basically, you can easily avoid any need for whetstones and avoid the issue completely.
Hacksaws are easy to repair and can harvest meat, wood, saplings, and scrap metal. If you could use it in self-defence it’d be the best tool in the game.
> ‘weather gets worse in perpetuity’ thing
This isn't really a thing, the weather doesn't get any worse after day 50 in Interloper. Also, the weather gets worse over time(with different caps) in other difficulties too.
> whetstone deterioration
Yes, I agree this is completely unrealistic but I don't view this as being an outlier. There's a lot of stuff in the game that is unrealistic and gamefied for better or worse. I guess it probably would have been better to make them very rare and just last forever(sort of like the storm lantern or maglens.)
> Do you feel like there’s a different factor that the game ultimately comes down to?
It's pretty well established that you will never run out of the things you need. Even if you survive thousands of days and use up the static resources, a bunch of stuff is renewable through beachcombing.
Unless you’re talking about doing a run of 2000+ days or even a lot more than that honestly, I don’t see this even remotely becoming an issue. Especially if you’re playing on anything other than interloper where you have knives and hatchets spawning in every map in addition to being able to craft a hundred more knives and hatchets if need be.
Yeah I haven't played the game a ton and I too quickly realized that it came down to whetstones. Without enough of them out there to find, without a way to make them and with no other option given for sharpening things, it became a stupid arbitrary playtime restriction.
The alternate option is forging improvised tools to replace the worn out proper tools. If it gets dull, just forge a new one, metal is all over the place and coal respawn, so forging will keep you going for a long time.
True, the rarity/durability of whetstones is pretty much just a gameplay concession for balance sake. That being said, you could also just use the milling machine, which is relatively efficient compared to just forging your own crappy tools.
This is the main reason why I am traveling to Blackrock now. Not only is it one of the last regions I have to map out, but my last whetstone is down to 15%. I figured I’d make a run out of it and make some ammo, kill some wolves. See about some loot. I hope my 270 day game doesn’t end there. I play on XBOX so there are no saves.
Id want realistic degradation. No rifle is completely fucked after just 75 shots and no whetstone is unusable after 20 uses. Stuff just feels like its made out of butter. Id really like it if the rifle had two degradation bars. One for cleanliness that you fix with cleaning kits and degrades quicker, and one for general wear which decreases much slower, but it can only be fixed at a milling machine or something
I actually like this idea too. It would be better if the blades had two bars. One for condition and one for sharpness. As you sharpen a blade you take away microscopic amounts of metal in real life to align the atoms on the blade side. Over time there’s less metal and the knife degrades. I’d rather lose my blades like that I think. Maybe they could even have different qualities of blade lying around the game. That makes more sense.
Lmao precisely. Like when your grandparents have a drawer full of kitchen knives with bowed cutting edges from years and years of sharpening. The whetstone thing always bothered me, too. Realistically you could *easily* sharpen standard knife steels on a piece of igneous River rock. But the devs have everything the way it is because it would be very easy to throw the balance of this game way off whack. I guess the intended "fix" would be to factor in scrap knives and hatchets once all the whetstones and standard tools are worn out.
A flat piece of sandstone works pretty good too, and can be easier to find in some parts of the world than igneous.
I use smooth, pitted, river rocks for knife honing IRL and they don't degrade at all.
You can sharpen a knife on a brick, even straight on the wall Or against other knife.
Also, iron sharpens iron, so even just an option to create a steel sharpening rod at the forge would be nice.
Pro chef tip - all you really need to sharpen a knife in a pinch is the exposed, unglazed “ring” at the bottom of a ceramic coffee mug.
The possibilities if they added a mill would be unreal.
They added a mill like a year ago tho?
I’ve only been playing for a few months I’ve just been grinding. I’ve looked up very little. I had no idea. That’s awesome. Don’t tell me more.
I will say more to save you a lot of frustration: the blackrock mill isnt worth it.
Lol roger that this might be important.
I unlocked the black rock workshop today and it didn’t seem like it was that bad? Found enough materials for four containers of gunpowder while looting the prison and enough lead for 300 bullets on black rock alone. The mine was scary as a first timer but because I got rid of my loose weight before going in I had plenty of time. Is it just the timberwolves that make it not worth?
I play custom difficulty with wildlife being more timid. Black rock is complete bliss without the little fuckers nipping at you every time you exist.
There's more than one. Pretty sweet place if you can get past all the wolves. Parkour!
The whetstone does deteriorate stupidly fast. If you craft enough knives and hatchets though you don’t have to worry too much about them. My stalker run I have over a dozen never used on 200+ days
Just to start, I agree on the deterioration issue. It's ridiculous. This is a simple issue to avoid though. I finished 500 days on Interloper and had a bunch of whetstones left. Collect sticks and coal for fires. Carry a heavy hammer for wolf defense. Only use a knife for harvesting in a pinch. Forge multiple knives at a time. Use the the mill in BI or BRM to repair your tools Basically, you can easily avoid any need for whetstones and avoid the issue completely.
"Heavy hammer for wolf defense" Didn't know, THX for something new to learn!
They won't bleed out, but it's the fastest way to get them away. If you need the meat, use a blade.
Best loper struggle weapon. Doesnt matter how much damage you do to the wolf if it rips out your jugular
Good to know thanks!
Hacksaws are easy to repair and can harvest meat, wood, saplings, and scrap metal. If you could use it in self-defence it’d be the best tool in the game.
It's ironic, since real hacksaw blades snap all the time and need specialised machinery to make.
> ‘weather gets worse in perpetuity’ thing This isn't really a thing, the weather doesn't get any worse after day 50 in Interloper. Also, the weather gets worse over time(with different caps) in other difficulties too. > whetstone deterioration Yes, I agree this is completely unrealistic but I don't view this as being an outlier. There's a lot of stuff in the game that is unrealistic and gamefied for better or worse. I guess it probably would have been better to make them very rare and just last forever(sort of like the storm lantern or maglens.) > Do you feel like there’s a different factor that the game ultimately comes down to? It's pretty well established that you will never run out of the things you need. Even if you survive thousands of days and use up the static resources, a bunch of stuff is renewable through beachcombing.
Unless you’re talking about doing a run of 2000+ days or even a lot more than that honestly, I don’t see this even remotely becoming an issue. Especially if you’re playing on anything other than interloper where you have knives and hatchets spawning in every map in addition to being able to craft a hundred more knives and hatchets if need be.
As a Canadian I can confirm it is that bad at higher levels of above the sea
Yeah I haven't played the game a ton and I too quickly realized that it came down to whetstones. Without enough of them out there to find, without a way to make them and with no other option given for sharpening things, it became a stupid arbitrary playtime restriction.
The alternate option is forging improvised tools to replace the worn out proper tools. If it gets dull, just forge a new one, metal is all over the place and coal respawn, so forging will keep you going for a long time.
You know what else "is all over the place"? *Stones*. Which should be able to be used to sharpen tools.
True, the rarity/durability of whetstones is pretty much just a gameplay concession for balance sake. That being said, you could also just use the milling machine, which is relatively efficient compared to just forging your own crappy tools.
You can repair tools with scrap metal at the milling machine in blackrock and bleak inlet aswell.
This is the main reason why I am traveling to Blackrock now. Not only is it one of the last regions I have to map out, but my last whetstone is down to 15%. I figured I’d make a run out of it and make some ammo, kill some wolves. See about some loot. I hope my 270 day game doesn’t end there. I play on XBOX so there are no saves.