Can someone explain the current way of scaring wolves?

[Poison Ivan]

As the title states, last time I played TLD you'd wave/throw a torch or flare at them and they'd almost always run away however in my current run I've had no succes scaring them away whatsoever, is the campfire currently the only way of getting rid of wolves? (besides confusing them with stones)
On a related note, are torches/flares only intended to be used as a lightsource nowadays or am I missing something?

[EN16M471C]

You can still TRY to use torches and flares to scare wolves off but nowdays this "technique" is way less reliable then it was before (IIRC flare had a 100% efficiency before).

Other ways of scaring wolves are:

• Wearing wolf and/or bear coat (unreliable way but it does work). Bear bedroll too?
  
• Flare gun (100% efficiency)
  
• Having a weapon equipped (also quite unreliable). Don't quote me on this but I can swear few wolves got scared of my bow. Just don't point it at them this will aggro them straight away.

[jswilliams]

Not personal play, but seen a few folks drop lit torches and "manuevered" the wolf's path to cross it, which sent them yippin'.

Been a *while* though, mighta been changed.

[markwars]

Your best bet is just to carry a lit torch as much as possible and start a fire as soon as wolf is on you. Obviously this won't work if things are windy.

Also if you don't want a million burned out firepits use a piece of recycled wood for a lower chance of success. The wolf doesn't need the fire to actually start to get scared - only your action of starting the fire.

[S.A.O.]

When a wolf sights you just immediately turn around and head for the nearest AI breaker. AI breakers are any thing that the AI can't figure out how to navigate and if the player is in one then the wolf will either treat the player as if he isn't there anymore, or continue to stalk and then attack but the attack can't reach you so it defaults to fear mode and runs away. There are dozens of AI breakers in every map and you just have to remember when you pass one so you always know where to run back to if a wolf finds you. Examples of AI breakers are fallen trees that you can walk up on, porches with railings and stairways leading to burned down or inaccessible buildings, any man made structure without a door (hunters blinds, railroad cars, partially burned town cabins, ice fishing huts, guard shacks) climbable ledges, and climbing ropes (just grab the rope you don't have to actually climb it). Obviously any structure with a door will also stop a wolf.

There are some things that you might think would be AI breakers but aren't. Caves do not stop a wolf if it is chasing you; neither do those two walled storage sheds found on farms. I suspect it is because those things have nice wide entry points and the reason that the AI can't handle certain positions is because they have narrow entry points.

P.S.
If you are in an AI breaker that just has the wolf ignore your presence (hunters blinds are like this) but the wolf is just milling around your location so you can't leave without being sighted again, there is a way to make him run away. You step just outside and intentionally regain the wolf's attention. Wait for him to stop and growl for a moment and then charge at you. As soon as he charges step back into the AI break. The wolf's charge won't be able to finish since the target just became inaccessible so the AI resets itself by changing to fear mode and running away before going back to its default patrolling behavior.

[S.A.O.]

Originally posted by micah6vs8:

> guard shacks

These are not safe.

I want to make sure we are talking about the same thing when we say "guard shacks". What I mean are the small structures next to automobile gates that a guard would normally be stationed in to allow/ disallow access to a facility; they could also be called gate houses. Examples can be seen at the Maintenance Yard entrance in the Broken Railroad map, and the entrance to Orca Gas Station in the Mountain Town map. Here is a picture of the one in Mountain town:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1708998194
If we are talking about the same structure, then I disagree that they are not safe. I just tested it out on the Orca Gas Station guard shack and from a distance a wolf treats the player as if he isn't there anymore and just wanders around; from close range it will change to fear mode and run off.

[EN16M471C]

What about front porches? Are they still a thing? Like one in CH close to QGS? I vaguely remember using it quite a while back to "hide" from 2 wolves.

[markwars]

Originally posted by JayXL:

Originally posted by micah6vs8:

A further thought. After learning the hard way, a few outside stoves will not keep you safe. I'm thinking of you PV's Prepper's Abandoned Cache and ML Deadfall.

Interesting. Has this changed? I could swear these used to be safe in the past, but I haven't tested it recently. Have you had similar experiences with any burn barrels as well? I have never had a wolf encounter near one with a fire going in it.

I had a wolf attack me while cooking on the outdoor stove by the trailers in ML. I have never had that happen before...but sounds like I am not the only one to experience this.

[S.A.O.]

Originally posted by EN16M471C:

What about front porches? Are they still a thing? Like one in CH close to QGS? I vaguely remember using it quite a while back to "hide" from 2 wolves.

Yes, front porches are AI breakers. I just tested this on the porch in question. Wolves will lose track of you if you go onto a porch and ignore you as if you didn't exist. If you step off of the porch and get the wolf to charge at you and then quickly step back on before he gets to you, then the wolf will enter fear mode and run off.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1709061027

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1709061193

[EN16M471C]

Originally posted by S.A.O.:

Originally posted by EN16M471C:

What about front porches? Are they still a thing? Like one in CH close to QGS? I vaguely remember using it quite a while back to "hide" from 2 wolves.

Yes, front porches are AI breakers. I just tested this on the porch in question. Wolves will lose track of you if you go onto a porch and ignore you as if you didn't exist. If you step off of the porch and get the wolf to charge at you before stepping back on before he gets to you, then the wolf will enter fear mode and run off.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1709061027

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1709061193

Good to know! Thank you for confirmation

I'll be coming back from DP soon and I'm sure wolves made a nice, tight circle around QGS while I was gone.