What Jacket combo do you like best?

[jayjum]

Preferably i'd like to know from Loper players, I have the skins for another wolf jacket, or a bear jacket. I can't decide what to do, 2 wolf jackets and a bear roll, or Bear+Wolf, or work towards Bear+Bear? Or Moose combos? What do you all think?
I still have a lot of exploring to do ( Only cleared PV, CH,ML, and DP), so I'm thinking W+W, but at the same time i'm being a coward and staying in one place, so then Bear would be better maybe. I only have 20 matches left, and the sun never shines, so I probably need to get a few more lighting sources to be safe, I'm on day 139ish I think. I've also managed to keep the well fed buff for about 40 days now, But I don't know how easy that is to maintain with travel, and limited matches, and no sun.

[Lonades]

At the moment, the bear/moose-combo is my favorite.
I know that the bear/bear-combo is much warmer, but I prefer the better protection and the better mobility of the moose-hide cloak.
Day 449 in my actual loper run

[SBlack]

I'm on double wolf skin coats at around day 100 and it still works pretty well. Mornings are bitterly cold, but very late afternoons are relatively nice.

I've got two bear hides now but they are in other regions. I don't see the need for the bear bedroll at the moment. Sleeping in caves with the cloth roll and it works just fine. So I'll make a bear coat. It's very heavy though and not that much warmer.

[Lenny Rat]

I prefer bear over wolf for my Loper life.

[Nil Desperandum]

Wolf coat over bear, only because wolf skin is far, far easier to get not only in the first place but also for repairs.

[gnusjunkie]

Here’s the sequence in my longest-ever Interloper run:

First: wolfskin coat over mackinaw (but could have been ski parka depending on what I find).
Second: replace with moose skin cloak over wolfskin (from my second moose skin, after making the satchel)
Third (currently): replacing wolfskin with bearskin (to amp up my cold protection, ahead of late-game mission to PV
Next: As the cold gets worse, move to two bearskins.

I generally am looking to maximise ‘protection’, on the basis that cold will kill me slowly and avoidably, but a wolf attack may come with little or no warning at all. So I am better off with the protection that I need and looking to make up a bit of extra warmth as needed through eg fires, then the other way round: warm as toast but lacking the extra protection I need and ending up unnecessarily, irrecovacbly dead. Although in truth the cold has been manageable, pretty much everywhere with the possible exception of PV, at least so far.

Hope that helps!

[Lenny Rat]

Originally posted by Nil Desperandum:

Wolf coat over bear, only because wolf skin is far, far easier to get not only in the first place but also for repairs.

Good point on the ease of getting wolf skins; however Bear still gives an additional 20% wind protection and 3% armor buff over the wolf. And for me, it just seems like I scare more wolves off with the bear coat than the wolf.

And, truthfully, for the pace at which the coat degrades, getting another bear skin every 30-60 days has never really been a problem for me.

[jayjum]

Originally posted by Lenny Rat:

Originally posted by Nil Desperandum:

Wolf coat over bear, only because wolf skin is far, far easier to get not only in the first place but also for repairs.

Good point on the ease of getting wolf skins; however Bear still gives an additional 20% wind protection and 3% armor buff over the wolf. And for me, it just seems like I scare more wolves off with the bear coat than the wolf.

And, truthfully, for the pace at which the coat degrades, getting another bear skin every 30-60 days has never really been a problem for me.

I was worried about that myself, i'm also concerned about the weight, afraid it might be too limiting.

[jayjum]

Originally posted by JayXL:

Similar to gnusjunkie, I like going with a wolf coat to supplement my Mackinaw (if I am lucky enough to find one), then I move to 2 wolf coats because wolf skins are so plentiful, then a bear coat over a wolf coat as the weather starts to get colder. Two bear coats is too heavy for my tastes, and the bear bedroll is too heavy and degrades too quickly for me.

Never went with the moose cloak because the moose is so freaking rare in my runs, and the moose satchel takes priority, but I sure would like that moose cloak for preventing early-run wolf deaths.

Moose cloak didn't save me on day 66 on my last run. ;-\
I think i'm sold on the Bear+Wolf combo, I too think 2 Bears might be too heavy too, but if you aren't moving far, maybe it's best in the long run for warmth. I wish they had other things to make for each hide, right now I have enough Wolf hides for 2 more jackets, I think I've gotten the decoy baiting and killing thing down now. I have about 100 Rabbit hides as well, be nice to do something with those.
Imagine being fully in wolf hides head to feet, making wolves run at the site of you every time. lol "oh no, here comes the man in black!"

[deripsninu]

Originally posted by JayXL:

... but I sure would like that moose cloak for preventing early-run wolf deaths.

I'm not sure the moose cloak would prevent wolf deaths. As with any wolf encounter, you might just find yourself SOL (s... outta luck) regardless of coat.

Extra protection is certainly nice, but early on I find the added carrying capacity of more use than the added protection, so almost always go satchel over cloak if I manage to bag a moose early on.

Wolf over bear is my usual go-to coat combo though. Bear gives better bonuses as the outer layer, but I find maintenance of it to be a lot harder than the wolf coat, usually due the sheer abundance of wolf pelts I end up with versus bear. Bear coat as the inside layer seems to decay at a much reduced rate. Should you find yourself in a spot where you need the bear coat on the outside, it's a quick swap.

[jayjum]

Originally posted by deripsninu:

Originally posted by JayXL:

... but I sure would like that moose cloak for preventing early-run wolf deaths.

I'm not sure the moose cloak would prevent wolf deaths. As with any wolf encounter, you might just find yourself SOL (s... outta luck) regardless of coat.

Extra protection is certainly nice, but early on I find the added carrying capacity of more use than the added protection, so almost always go satchel over cloak if I manage to bag a moose early on.

Wolf over bear is my usual go-to coat combo though. Bear gives better bonuses as the outer layer, but I find maintenance of it to be a lot harder than the wolf coat, usually due the sheer abundance of wolf pelts I end up with versus bear. Bear coat as the inside layer seems to decay at a much reduced rate. Should you find yourself in a spot where you need the bear coat on the outside, it's a quick swap.

this is good advice, and the quick swap is a good idea, I never really thought about how easy that would be.

[jswilliams]

Wolf over ski jacket. Keep it light, keep it movin'

[gnusjunkie]

I appreciate that I'm a 'force of one' on this issue :-) but the moose-hide cloak is extremely slow to decay, even on the outside. And unlike bearskins (that can also be used for bedrolls), once you have a satchel, extra moose hides are completely useless for anything else, so repair has not been an issue.

In principle you can harvest the cloak to produce a hide and re-craft it. In practice, the trade of 'one enormous and heavy otherwise entirely useless moose hide that is surplus to requirements' as a trade in exchange for not having to do 30 odd hours of crafting, with all its CF concerns (or fuel, if you're outside) was actually a good trade on the only occasion so far when I've needed to repair mine. So contrary to my expectations, I found myself actually repairing the cloak, not harvesting and re-crafting.

BTW If I did harvest, I was planning to create an entirely new cloak, then harvest the old one, so that I was never without one - it occurred to me that the prospect of being forced outside by CF with no second coat was a pretty real concern.

But people are absolutely right that early on, wolf hides are much easier to have available for repair than bear hides.

[jayjum]

Originally posted by gnusjunkie:

I appreciate that I'm a 'force of one' on this issue :-) but the moose-hide cloak is extremely slow to decay, even on the outside. And unlike bearskins (that can also be used for bedrolls), once you have a satchel, extra moose hides are completely useless for anything else, so repair has not been an issue.

In principle you can harvest the cloak to produce a hide and re-craft it. In practice, the trade of 'one enormous and heavy otherwise entirely useless moose hide that is surplus to requirements' as a trade in exchange for not having to do 30 odd hours of crafting, with all its CF concerns (or fuel, if you're outside) was actually a good trade on the only occasion so far when I've needed to repair mine. So contrary to my expectations, I found myself actually repairing the cloak, not harvesting and re-crafting.

BTW If I did harvest, I was planning to create an entirely new cloak, then harvest the old one, so that I was never without one - it occurred to me that the prospect of being forced outside by CF with no second coat was a pretty real concern.

But people are absolutely right that early on, wolf hides are much easier to have available for repair than bear hides.

on my 200 day custom run i totally rocked the Moose cloak ( I had 1 made for backup too), like you said, you just need one, and then harvest to make a new one when it gets too damaged, plus the protection, and water proof cannot be beat. But as i do not have a Moose hide, or see one in my near future, I was most wondering about wolves and bears, but I think I will go Moose later on if I live that long, and if I kill 2., Big ifs...

[deripsninu]

Originally posted by Revontulet:

Fun fact about the Moose Jacket: You can harvest it for the Moose Hide!

So....when my Moose Jacket gets to be very low condition I just harvest the Moose hide and sew a new coat. --Very dang handy.

Moose/Bear ftw!

Yeah, I hear you. My 500+ day voyager run I've made 3 or 4 moose cloaks and I stash them in my favourite haunts. But making a new moose cloak every time is a lot of crafting, and a lot of wear on whatever you're crafting with. In loper, the CF risk from indoor crafting and the tool wear are not insignificant concerns.

In voyager, when I'm travelling, it's moose cloak over expedition parka. Awesome combo. In loper though, especially early on, that's not a workable combo.

And although I do love the moose cloak protection, the lack of "scaring" chance needs to be factored in. I'd rather avoid the struggle than have better protection during it :)

[deripsninu]

Originally posted by Revontulet:

@deripsninu

Let's argue your point a bit:

Sorry, which point are we arguing? I've made several recently :)

I'm not following your bow draws versus scrap metal point, especially as it relates to bears? We may actually be in agreement here?

Crafting a new moose cloak costs xx hours of crafting + yy % damage on your improvised knife or hatchet. Repairing a moose cloak costs a rabbit gut and some scrap metal, but an additional moose hide.

If you have surplus moose hides, the repair option is clearly better, provided you have your mending skill high enough to guarantee success!

If you're factoring in the bow and arrow costs to get that extra moose hide, I'd say that's a side issue. I typically shoot prey for food, or for protection. The hides are often just a bonus. So any arrow/bow wear is for a greater good than just the coat.

Is bear on the inside going to decay slower than moose on the outside? That I do not know.

Which then bring up the matter of when do you repair? With a wolf coat, repairing at 80% is practical, and wolf pelts seem to pile up anyway. That's why I wear bear on the inside, as it decays a lot slower.

In the end it all comes down to circumstance. And as I write this, I'm seriously considering crafting a moose cloak in my current loper game. Currently wearing a wolf coat over a down vest (RNJ has not been kind to me with clothing!). At Trappers, and two days ago I managed to harvest 2 of the 3 deer that came to visit (shot all 3, but one ran away and I haven't found him yet), the local bear, and a wolf that came to visit. Yesterday I went north of unnamed pond and ran into a moose in the fog. He surprised me, I thought I was about to get stomped, but I calmly waited until the last second, fired an arrow into his head, and he dropped on the spot!

So in 9 days I'll have one cured moose hide and a bear hide that's almost cured. I'm going to go loot MT and see what I find. If RNJ still hates me, I may need to craft that moose cloak :)

Originally posted by Revontulet:

So, of course, there is no right answer--

On that we are definitely in agreement :)