Shovel Cave

[Freedekogge]

So my next objective is to get the shovel. I´ve watched somebody do that cave and I must say I hate that slide (you can´t climb up again, right?), because I like to have a lot of traps and wall torches in caves, so I need to get out and in again to gather sticks and stones. So I was wondering, can I open the exit (or back entrance) of the cave once I reach it, before I complete the cave, to bring materials in there?

Side question, I just did the rebreather cave and the ropegun cave back to back and I must say I am a little tired of caves and could use a break. However I don´t wont to waste time, as I hear that now that I opened the caves, mutants will appear on the ground to attack my base. Does this get very bad immediately, or, in other words, is it advisable to get the shotgun straight away to handle it (or let a certain lady handle it)? My base is at the southern end of the life raft beach, wedged in between the high cliff and the sea, and the remaining side of the traingle has a defensive wall. There´s forward defenses in front of that wall, like spiked walls and traps.

[Similar]

Originally posted by Freedekogge:

So my next objective is to get the shovel. I´ve watched somebody do that cave and I must say I hate that slide (you can´t climb up again, right?), because I like to have a lot of traps and wall torches in caves, so I need to get out and in again to gather sticks and stones. So I was wondering, can I open the exit (or back entrance) of the cave once I reach it, before I complete the cave, to bring materials in there?

I very much doubt it's worth it. There's a drop that you'd have to glitch past when coming from the exit (and if you start out from that direction, there's also a wall that blocks you. Which allegedly can be glitched past too, but it sounds like it can be painful to get it right).
Don't know if the rope gun can help with the drop part, though.

The shovel cave only has one minor branch that leads to a dead end (and there's nothing particularly important there), so it's very linear compared to other caves.

Originally posted by Freedekogge:

Side question, I just did the rebreather cave and the ropegun cave back to back and I must say I am a little tired of caves and could use a break. However I don´t wont to waste time, as I hear that now that I opened the caves, mutants will appear on the ground to attack my base. Does this get very bad immediately, or, in other words, is it advisable to get the shotgun straight away to handle it (or let a certain lady handle it)?

In my last game, the worst occurrence of early mutants actually happened right when I came out of the shovel cave exit. It was night and there were two blue puffies and three normal ones waiting, so that got a little exciting. Fortunately Virginia was also hanging out there, so I actually survived.
Otherwise it should take a while before you see the more dangerous mutants, but it seems somewhat unpredictable (in my last game I had daily attacks that could sometimes either be five demons or five babies. Not quite equivalent in terms of difficulty).

But getting the shotgun certainly won't hurt. Maybe get one for you and one for Virginia.

Originally posted by Freedekogge:

My base is at the southern end of the life raft beach, wedged in between the high cliff and the sea, and the remaining side of the traingle has a defensive wall. There´s forward defenses in front of that wall, like spiked walls and traps.

That sounds like it should be fine.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Traps around your base are your best friends.

[jswarpaint]

A great weapon to have many think is the crossbow .. you need the shovel to get it ..

Any weapon using ammo .. its hard to get enough and then replenish the ammo needed if you often use this type of weapon..

you can much more easily replenish crossbow ammo... fire arrows .... spears ... traps though are your friend two of them ya only need rope or rocks or sticks or logs to have an effective trap ..

Regarding the shovel cave... and other caves you need to save often in a cave using the silver tarp and a stick .. don't leave the save in the cave or it will show up on the map .. you can use the C key to break down the silver tarp and get it back and the stick .. to reuse later in the cave ..

THIS CAN ALSO BE DONE IF YOU PUT A TORCH ON THE WALL once you clear and area take down the torch... you can put up and take down a bone chair to replenish your stamina or tiredness thing as needed ... this way you can sit there in the dark wondering how much longer you may live ..

There is a powerful weapon made with arrows too .. this is all you need if anything serious shows up and your to lazy to build traps .. you don't need to go into any cave to get this .. but you must know the map unless you find its location by going into one of the earlier caves.

going into the exit of a cave is only good if your out in the forest and you need to go hide .. you are prevented from going backwards through the length of a cave even when you have the rope gun ..

[Freedekogge]

Originally posted by jswarpaint:

. you can put up and take down a bone chair to replenish your stamina or tiredness thing as needed ...

Thanks, I hadn´t thought of that!

[wildguy]

there is a shortcut that bypasses the 2nd cavern in the shovel cave that makes the shovel a lot easier to get, look on utube for that if your interested. i've done these caves so many times that i find them kinda boring and just run them now early in the game. I go back later when i'm fully equipped and clear them. My games now are how fast i can get the katana and upgrade it before i really start building my base so i can deal with the locals that show up, especially on short days. the attacks can get unreal at times.

[jswarpaint]

Originally posted by wildguy:

there is a shortcut that bypasses the 2nd cavern in the shovel cave that makes the shovel a lot easier to get, look on utube for that if your interested. i've done these caves so many times that i find them kinda boring and just run them now early in the game. I go back later when i'm fully equipped and clear them. My games now are how fast i can get the katana and upgrade it before i really start building my base so i can deal with the locals that show up, especially on short days. the attacks can get unreal at times.

yeah this is a great thing to know here in the shovel cave I use it too.. wild guy posted this before and I took advantage of it .