The Long Dark Guide: Choosing the Right Game Mode and Difficulty

[@jitwire]

Thank you to everyone for adding their own tips and information. Here is a pinned comment with anything mentioned that I might have missed in the video: -Pilgrim and Voyager: You MUST be by a lit fire to wake up while freezing. Otherwise you will just freeze. -Stalker: Wildlife is more aggressive than any other difficulty. -Interloper and Misery: Wildlife takes longer to respawn. -Voyager: Has a 24 hour predator grace period. So, you will not see predators for the first day in game. -Custom Mode: Does not count towards feats or achievements.

[@Fayreangel]

It may be a bug but the Moose on the rock in DP spawns within the grace period on Voyageur.

[@ChiarelOD]

Pilgrim here, most of the time. I like to enjoy the beauty of the game, and I have difficulties with my hands (very bad coordination and slow movements) and I don't like combat (even if with the game options it's manageable). The different difficulties give different experiences but it's not a hierarchy.

[@jitwire]

This is true. There isn't one that is better than the other. :) They all bring something to the table.

[@Katerynaki]

I love playing The Long Dark switching between pilgrim and interloper, depending on a mood. It’s either a peaceful nature walk or a desperate fight to not become wolf food! No middle ground for me, haha!

[@jitwire]

@@Katerynaki Haha- I defiently get that. It is so nice that the game can offer both experiences.

[@teddiecrash8216]

Even if you switch "Interloper" for Custom-Mode, the "Parasite"-Threatment is only 10 Days not 20 like in "vanilla"-Interloper. This means a "Custom-Interloper" without any change isnt a True-Interloper. Voyager= 90% sorting Stuff, 10% Gameplay. Interloper= 10% sorting Stuff & 90% Gameplay.

[@Боб_Рок]

Im interloper player, but i find stalker difficulty is best balance between challenging and relaxed play.

[@jitwire]

@@Боб_Рок I used to be an Interloper player as well. I just like that you can get everything is Stalker and I like the guns as well.

[@sharicgshep5082]

I like the challenge of stalker. But got frustrated of dying to wolves several times.. and i dont really feel like using cheat death. The simple solution i just made custom stalker with less wildlife damage 😁 Lovely content. Keep up the good job!

[@jitwire]

I'm a permadeath purist lol. So, I don't use cheat death either. That's a good idea though. I like the challenge of Stalker. But, all the wolves can be a bit much sometimes.

[@richkng]

I'm still confused with the addition of cheat death. The game does not feel designed for it.

[@Lizziefilmsthings]

Custom player here. I enjoy Pilgrim to explore new to me regions, but otherwise I only play Custom. I can't handle aggressive wildlife, but Pilgrim is too easy for my main save. So I do like a Stalker save with passive wildlife and no cabin fever. I like intestinal parasites, scurvy, broken ribs, the works. But cabin fever is super unenjoyable for me. I have made the mistake of making my fatigue rate very high in my custom save. I wish I had set it to 'high' which is more normal. It is doable, but pretty annoying.:P EDIT: less blizzards than Stalker, indoor spawns permitted.

[@jitwire]

Custom mode is great. You can do so much with it. I'm so excited for them to update the custom settings and expand it. I hope it will be sometime after Wintermute is done.

[@offcolorstudios]

Great explanations, so helpful "A+"

[@jitwire]

@@offcolorstudios Thank you

[@beetleb3657]

I am also an interloper player. Love me some stalker but I have issues shooting dogs. I usually sneak around. Everyone plays the game different. That’s the best thing about this game.

[@jitwire]

@@beetleb3657 I can understand that. I think avoidance is a good tactic regardless to be honest. But, yes, anyone can play however they want. There are so many options to fit what you like.

[@Bacon_sandwich_420.69]

Nice video. Thanks for the break down of the differences. I think you missed one important item on Voyager level. It has an in game 24 hour grace period before predators populate the world. This can be useful if you want to start in a harder region and rush to gather something and get out before time is up.

[@jitwire]

@@Bacon_sandwich_420.69 Thanks for pointing that out!

[@martinbenoit5965]

You forgot to specify that: there are more agressive wild life in stalker than in interloper. More wolfs, timbies, and bears in stalker because of the respawn of them is shorter. For example in stalker a bear respawn in 20 days. Instead in loper a bear respawn in 50 days.

[@jitwire]

Thanks for mentioning that.

[@hamsters7760]

I'm a big weirdo. I run a custom sandbox with difficulty level elements tweaked to settings from Pilgrim to Interloper+. The biggest bit for me is a somewhat longer real time day (I use 2 or 3h instead of 1). The fast af days take me out of it on any game that cycles. From there I like more 'realistic' fearful wildlife that is still extremely dangerous, and ever-growing cold.

[@jitwire]

@@hamsters7760 Oh, that sounds like fun! I might have to try one like that.

[@michaelfuehrer4081]

Custom difficulties are where it’s at.

[@jitwire]

I'm a fan too. I like Stalker for my 'chill' game and then Deadworld. lol

[@Fayreangel]

This is great for new players, thanks Jitwire.

[@jitwire]

@@Fayreangel Thank you. :)

[@Mamabear-NRB]

Great video, thank you for what you do 🐻

[@jitwire]

You're welcome! Happy to help.

[@LalaDepala_00]

I love Stalker. Interloper is a fun challenge, but I love the guns in this game.

[@jitwire]

@@LalaDepala_00 I like the guns as well. The bow is good too. But, I prefer the guns.

[@pericajuric7326]

being attacked by wolf is easiest way to get some wolf meat, so the "easiest" difficulty is made harder by the fact that they always run away from you. Second difficulty is easier

[@midnightblaze4313]

I just don't understand why they would lock Wintermute behind a paywall when it's like a sort of tutorial that allows you to learn in a safe environment.

[@jitwire]

I do agree with you there. Wintermute is probably the closest thing to a tutorial the game has- and because you can reload.

[@SlippedGear]

They did that because there are so many people do not have any interest in Wintermute, so the game is able to be purchased in the form customers most prefer. If I would not have bought into the game in preview, I would never have bought it including Wintermute. I all but despise Wintermute. I have heard a fair number of streamers say the same thing.

[@jitwire]

@SlippedGear That makes sense. And that's unfortunate xD But I have heard that a lot too.

[@SlippedGear]

@@jitwire subject change/suggestion: Are you planning to make a video covering the community custom challenges/custom settings after Hinterland updates the custom settings? Maybe a video for custom challenges, and a separate video for the revised custom settings update after they are updated?

[@Bobywan75]

Excellent video, this should be an official on which mode you should play when buying the game. My personnal recommandation would be to start with wintermute then the challenges then voyager mode as with the story and challenges you should already be familiar with the predators.

[@jitwire]

Thank you so much for the lovely comment. That is a good recommendation as well. Wintermute is a great introduction to the game and mechanics.

[@aurielwillette4188]

I just play Voyager but would do Stalker if not for the constant wildlife. This is a wonderful introduction to the game, with great summaries of the story mode and various difficulties of survival mode.

[@jitwire]

@@aurielwillette4188 I understand, the wildlife can be a bit much in Stalker since there is just so much of it. But thank you for the lovely comment! I appreciate it!

[@vincentgross5417]

I did a "veteran survivor" run on stalker, and switched to interloper since. I prefer Interloper because on Stalker I constantly have to deal with wolves and it becomes a bit of a chore to me... Maybe I will spin a quick Voyageur run to unlock the "all guns/rifles variants" achievement at some point

[@jitwire]

@@vincentgross5417 I love Stalker- but I won't even try to deny that there are so many wolves. It can be a bit much sometimes.

[@MockingjayRising]

I generally like to play a mix of voyager/stalker with passive wildlife (I just don’t like dealing with wolves ) but that does mean I don’t really make progress on feats unless I play pilgrim/voyager, I only have one unlocked rn

[@jitwire]

I understand. I find it hard to a bit much with the wolves as well sometimes! And sometimes you just want a more relaxed experience. :)

[@MockingjayRising]

@ I love the strategy of survival but hate constantly having to watch my back and feel stressed about wolves

[@jennifermelloy3944]

Stalker is my favourite :)

[@jitwire]

@@jennifermelloy3944 I love Stalker as well. :)

[@jennifermelloy3944]

@ I wish there was a difficulty between stalker and Loper though

[@jitwire]

@jennifermelloy3944 You could probably do this with custom codes. Maybe I will make one up and share it? Maybe a tweaked gunloper.

[@jennifermelloy3944]

@ good idea!

[@RemyLebeau-l1h]

Very well Done

[@jitwire]

@@RemyLebeau-l1h Thank you

[@InnocentDingo7]

I can’t stand the wolves so now play interloper or stalker settings but turn off the wolves. Is much more enjoyable way for me personally.

[@jitwire]

That's the great thing about the game. You can tune the settings to whatever you like. :)

[@MovingTargetMT]

Stalker for me

[@Erik-qj1jd]

Nice job! 1 thing about custom runs is that it doesn't count toward feats/badges progression. Everything crashed/reset to 0% when I tried far territory download 1st time. Had to "pilgrim" for a while to get stuff back. Frustrating AND boring.

[@jitwire]

That is true. Oh that really stinks that you lost all of your feats and badges... Defiantly frustrating.

[@ZIEMNI4K]

Should i do each badge challange before trying to survive 1000 days?

[@jitwire]

@@ZIEMNI4K There is no right or wrong way to it. The challenges do focus on specific things so it might help you to do those first so you can learn from them and then do a 1000 day run. But the same can also be said for doing it the other way around. :) Unlike feats challenge badges don't give you anything as far as a perk or advantage.

[@ZIEMNI4K]

@jitwire thanks

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

I just lost a Voyager run because a blizzard kicked up while I was in a fishing hut while I was asleep and I froze. Was I supposed to get woken up? Was it a bug? (I used to only do Pilgrim runs, for years, because of anxiety about predators so I’ve never died this way before.) It wasn’t a custom run because I’m new to XBox and am trying to get the feats. Hmm. It makes me curious now.

[@jitwire]

I just went and looked at it. You need to be by a fire. Thanks for bringing this up- that was a total miss on my part. I will make sure to add a pinned comment.

[@jabbott6748]

Oh wow, it's just an honest guide to Difficulty? I was expecting... something else entirely. Great guide but not as funny as I thought it was gonna be.

[@jitwire]

@@jabbott6748 Yes, haha. Not a parody or anything like that. Though, I will put that down as an idea. I could have fun with that.

[@jabbott6748]

@@jitwire I look forward to it.