Deathtrap Dungeon - er, I mean, Cinder Hills Coal Mine

[caphe_boda]

Has anyone tried to brave the Cinder Hills Coal Mine (the one in Coastal where you have to wait for an Aurora to power the elevator and hope it lasts long enough for you to loot it and get out) since the Tales update?

I'm thinking of tackling it soon, and wondering if I need to make adjustments to my usual planning. I play on Xbox so I can't save scum if I get trapped down there.

[Bobywan]

If you plan to get down there, bring some food and water that you can drop near the elevator to explore faster.
Maybe don't try it if the aurora happens late in the night.
Depending on the difficulty you play and the time already invested in your save, it may not even be worth the risk.

[IFIYGD]

I have not, but I suggest starting a disposable run in Custom Settings using the starting template for your favorite mode- and turn Aurora Frequency up as high as it will go. Prepare as usual- firestarting materials, food, water, teas and a good condition bedroll.
That should let you see if there is any new loot in there or if anything really notable has changed. The higher Aurora frequency should let you get back out if you do get stuck in there, as long as you follow the "sleep for 1 hour and do an Aurora check- lather/rinse/repeat" routine. If you can spare the weight, taking a flashlight to make the Aurora check a bit easier helps.

I'm interested in hearing how it goes- is there any new and more worthwhile loot in there?

[Ellaya]

I did it on my 300 day loper game and my old pre tales 500+ day loper game. I handled it like how Bobywan suggested, drop 2 weeks of food/water in the elevator just incase you get stuck. Go in on a night where the Aurora starts early, keep track of time and you should be fgood. also it's ok to do 1/2 and bail if you feel like you're cutting it close and go back for the other 1/2 on another Aurora. Bring stuff to heal a burn too lol

On the new 300 day save it was actually worth it. I found a Blue Tool Box, Gas can, maybe matches, wood, metal, cloth, a flare and the best part xD right in the back edge on a corpse that i had to get shocked to get near was a pair of **Snow pants** which is not actually in Loper, sadly they got destroyed when I was mauled by a bear twice in a row a few weeks later when i had to afk for an emergency and stupidly didn't pause for like 10 min, I'm so lucky I didn't die I had like 3% health when i got back lol Anyway the other pre-tales run it was barely worth the time and preparation. There was just a gas can, sewing kit, some wood, a flare and some bad clothes.

[caphe_boda]

Yeah. Last time I did this (before Tales), I discovered that, if you drop things onto the floor of the elevator at the top, your stuff will NOT be there when you get down to the lower level. So what I did was, I dropped a bunch of stuff to make encumberance on the floor of the elevator before the aurora. Once the aurora popped up, I hurriedly picked up everything, rode the elevator down, and then once the lower level loaded in, dropped a bunch of food and water to make encumberance again, and then ran out to loot.

This way, I had a bunch of water and food in case I got stuck. But if I ran back and rode the elevator up without picking it up to beat the aurora, I didn't lose anything replaceable.

I've played on Voyageur and lower and have done the Cinder Hills thing three times. Once, the loot was great - rifle, stuff to make gunpowder, rifle bullets, some other cool stuff. Once. it was so underwhelming I would have been mad if I died down there.

IFIYGD - that's a great idea re making a "dummy" run. Thanks for the tip!

[caphe_boda]

p.s. thank you all for the stories and advice

[Ellaya]

Originally posted by caphe_boda:

Yeah. Last time I did this (before Tales), I discovered that, if you drop things onto the floor of the elevator at the top, your stuff will NOT be there when you get down to the lower level. So what I did was, I dropped a bunch of stuff to make encumberance on the floor of the elevator before the aurora. Once the aurora popped up, I hurriedly picked up everything, rode the elevator down, and then once the lower level loaded in, dropped a bunch of food and water to make encumberance again, and then ran out to loot.

This way, I had a bunch of water and food in case I got stuck. But if I ran back and rode the elevator up without picking it up to beat the aurora, I didn't lose anything replaceable.

I've played on Voyageur and lower and have done the Cinder Hills thing three times. Once, the loot was great - rifle, stuff to make gunpowder, rifle bullets, some other cool stuff. Once. it was so underwhelming I would have been mad if I died down there.

IFIYGD - that's a great idea re making a "dummy" run. Thanks for the tip!

Yeah ops, I should have mentioned to pick up the food b4 descending.

[caphe_boda]

No problem!

[konstantinoskountousias]

i do it but i bring 100 uncooked birtch and something very long to harvest and cancel to pass time while i have cabin fever. the idea is to get down and loot the next day and wait for next aurora to get back up. also i have a fishing hut stuck with fuel so i ll fight the cabin fever when i m up again. the loot dont worth it so its a late game activity...

[DEMONICSLAYER]

I started a disposable run and managed to safely traverse into the mine and got out after multiple tries (maybe more than 8 tries). But I got mauled by a bear... on the way a few times which always appear somewhere there.

[caphe_boda]

Well, I did it, and didn't get trapped.

Same strategy as before - brought a bunch of food and wood just in case, went down the elevator, dropped the food and wood on the floor of the elevator, and tried to quickly and carefully loot the area and get out before the aurora. From what I could see, nothing really changed down there. Live wires that can burn you, same general loot areas, etc.

Note: playing on voyageur difficulty. This save has been particularly generous with auroras - they happen frequently, and last all night.

Loot was okay - some gunpowder, some other stuff to make ammo, gas, rifle ammo, advanced guns book. Honestly I just had to know what was down there, and glad I made it out alive.