Snowrunner: Don Guide

Tips and tricks for the Don region in Snowrunner

Foreword

This article provides tips and tricks for the Don region in Snowrunner. It is primarily addressed to players who are on hard mode or visit the region earlier than intended like me. It will be much easier if you are on normal difficulty and have top tier trucks available but most tips would still be relevant.

Please keep in mind that this guide is often subjective, especially the road difficulty maps. It was also written post factum so I could forget some minor detail.

First stop and think if you really want to play this DLC. For many it will be more frustrating than rewarding.

Don is a good choice if:

• you are looking for a challenge;
  
• you want to try a lite version of Amur or Imandra;
  
• you enjoy cleaning garbage dumps;
  
• cossack blood flows in your veins and you admire sounds of accordion in the morning mist.

Cons:

• not for beginners, Don is difficult and this difficulty often feels unnatural;
  
• don't expect to complete this quickly, two small maps feel like four large ones in the base game;
  
• ridiculous rewards even for challenging tasks;
  
• expenses are high on hard mode so you can barely make ends meet;
  
• there is nothing to unlock besides two Tatra upgrades, you can make money elsewhere and just buy Tatra Force or Phoenix if you want them.

Requirements

You need at least a small fleet of robust, heavily upgraded trucks to play Don:

• a powerful scout with large mud tires (e.g., Yar 87);
  
• a powerful offroad truck with raised suspension, large mud tires and the best winch, bring two if you can. Fully upgraded Voron 4380 or Tayga shine on these maps;
  
• (highly recommended) an offroad support vehicle (e.g., KRS Bandit);
  
• (highly recommended) a high saddle compatible heavy truck with high clearance (e.g., BOAR 45318 or ZiKZ 605R).

There are two trucks on the map but they will be unlocked mid-game and are not that useful in local conditions.

Try to bring the trucks fully fueled, having a full maintenance frame or a fuel cistern will be a great bonus.

Make sure you saved some money for operating costs.

Maps

Factory Grounds

Nature Reserve


Legend:
Green - fine roads.
Yellow - acceptable dirt roads.
Orange - crappy but passable areas: deep mud, stones, etc. Keep the winch ready.
Red - avoid if possible. Sharp stones, very steep slopes, deep river crossings, etc.
Gray - path is blocked initially, opened by completing a task.
T - narrow and tilted hillside roads. Fine for scouts and empty trucks, avoid when loaded.
C - concrete slabs. Drive very slowly, they may hit you randomly for a ton of damage.

General Advice

Fuel is pricey in this region on hard mode ($6 per liter). Plan your logistics ahead. Try to combine tasks when possible to avoid traveling empty. Note that even expensive fuel is not available until you fix the gas station. If you buy fuel tank trailers or attachments in this region they will be empty.

On hard mode you can replenish your maintenance add-ons or trailers at the Tatra factory or at the service station in Nature Reserve. This may soon become a chore so having a large add-on is handy. Same applies to fuel, bring large tanks and position them at hot spots to avoid doing too many runs.

Note that railroads are marked green on the maps above. They make excellent paths for your trucks if you stick to the rails except for a couple spots where you have to drive around abandoned cars. With a bit of skill you can go at max speed even when fully loaded.

Some tasks are just not worth doing unless you are a completionist and go for 100% progress. See the details below.

Road trains are essential for large regions but still quite useful here as you often have to take a crane or a support truck along. Just put it on the winch, turn the engine on and avoid sharp turns. This saves a ton of time.

When you are struggling to keep the balance with load like logs or unique trailers winch is invaluable too. Connect left or right trailer side to some point ahead and use it for pulling and protection at the same time. In a short while you will be doing this automatically provided there are trees to attach to.

Walkthrough, Part 1

Start by scouting both maps and accepting all the tasks you find. You will notice that watch tower coverage is very poor but there is a radar trailer at Poddonskaya station. Attach it to your scout and use it as a portable tower. It uses a bit of fuel for every scan but the maps are small so you only need a few.

You will also notice that there is no functioning gas station yet. Nature Reserve has three scout trailers full of fuel though, this will keep your fleet running in the beginning. It is a good idea to pump the fuel into your support truck.

There are three challenge races in Don but I don't think they deserve much attention. Gold is doable but only barely as it should be, time limits are not as relaxed as they used to be in the base game. Just use a powerful mud ready scout and take the correct path. Lord of the Frogs is straightforward, switch to the winch immediately when you feel stuck. For the Sweet Tooth note that the obvious road to the island leads to the pedestrian bridge you cannot cross, take the ford from the east instead. During The Quick and the Wet drive along the sandy bank as implied by the checkpoint placement.

Continue by performing the Rostov Administration contracts, many of those are important prerequisites for normal operation. Don's Right Hand opens the trailer store. Following the paved road all the way to the warehouse is not the best idea with those nasty rocks in the end, try taking a detour through the settlement and be careful with the concrete slabs at the gate. Cement is located pretty far at the Antonovka station so take your chance to bring the fourth pallet along for the Old Bridge.

River Port opens the warehouse. You don't have access to unlimited metal beams yet so pick these two from the ground. A small loading crane will do.

Don't remove the crane just yet, now it is time to fish fuel barrels and fix the Old Gas Station. The station will be ripping you off from now on despite you rebuilt their business from scratch.

It is good, although not crucial, to fix all bridges on this map. The two at the south (Rural Bridge, Wooden Bridge) can be done early, the norhern one (Old Bridge) becomes useful late in the game and is best postponed until you fix the pipes. The trailer for the Rural Bridge is in the quarry, wooden planks may be salvaged from the flatbed trailer at the factory. Short logs have to be brought from the logging station in Nature Reserve, if you have a crane bring two metal rolls to Antonovka on your way there and drop them for future use.

Note that Soul Music and The Sleeping King tasks have appeared on the map. Soul Music is just some easy cash, you also get an extra watch tower which is completely useless at this point. The Sleeping King allows you to recover Tatra Force from the quarry. Repairing and refueling it is trivial but I found the truck underwhelming despite the cool looks. It is compatible with many attachments but feels too low and too slow, in this region it scrubs the ground with its bottom too often.

Around this point starts the part which involves hauling large amounts of cargo either to or within the Nature Reserve. I recommend cleaning the rock debris on the second map to open the best way to the south (Light Rockfall). The trailer required for this task sits in the middle of the swamp east of the lake, it is not too hard to pull out with a decent winch.

Restoring the bridges in the Reserve on the other hand is a questionable goal. Swamp Crossing requires dragging three packs of medium logs through total mess and there is no way around it. Take your most stable truck, use the winch in the forest to prevent falling and pray at the slope. Expect to restart a lot unless you calculate every move. The reward for this suffering is about $3.50 and the log paved road across a tiny piece of the swamp. Thing is, you will use this road literally just once in Titan Awakening which is going to be a nightmare anyway, so these logging runs are all but pointless.

As for the north bridge (The Washed-off Bridge) it is way more exploitable but the ford next to it is easily passable too. In exchange you have to bring four planks and two stacks of long logs. Long logs alone are a tiresome job, rather tedious than hard. Note that you have to buy the rear part of a log cart, it costs $14K and is used in this task only. You cannot take it to another region or sell it on hard mode. While hauling the logs you should watch every step again not to roll over but the way is much longer this time. I recommend going via Antonovka Station and avoid any shortcuts no matter how tempting they look. Then, as if this was not enough, you need to bring any kind of logs to the sawmill to craft planks. Bring two medium stacks, this will produce six planks, just enough to complete this task and Poddonskoe Village from Factory Grounds. The $8900 reward for the job does not even come close to covering the expenses.

Now when the map is a bit less daunting it is time for other tasks and contracts. A Cunning Forester wants you to bring him a container of nuclear waste. Sounds totally safe and legal but this task is a prerequisite to getting the Phoenix so let's get going. The container is at the tiny northeast beach, you need to drive along a narrow stripe of sand or test your luck in the dense forest. For the sake of your sanity don't use sluggish heavies or trucks with high center mass, it is too easy to let those slide into the water and see them floating downstream. A Voron or something similar should do nicely, make sure a small crane is attached. When this is done Wipe Away the Debt becomes available, just repair and refuel the truck in Antonovka and it is yours. It is not the best offroad in the game but it is decently equipped by default, use it if short on trucks or money.

Back to the contracts, Going Postal is a nice break from hauling. Grab a scout and just go around the second map, this is best combined with the Excursion. Antonovka's Champion should not be any trouble if you take the road via north and east. Environmental Disaster is an easy task for the way back but do not take any fuel from the trailer! This was acceptable in Michigan but here you will not be able to finish the task if the tank has less fuel. Let There Be Water is also a matter of patience, use the railroad in Factory Grounds to fast travel to the pier for metal rolls unless you brought them earlier. The generator for Workshop in the Forest is at the south entrance to the Tatra factory, otherwise it is the same journey along the same route that probably makes you sick by now. Don't worry, this is where things start to get fun.

Walkthrough, Part 2

Broken Pipes requires another visit to the beach, three to be exact. Install a crane and be extra careful by the river, it is easy to drown or get stuck at the middle point and flip over at the other two. This contract concludes your relationship with Rostov Administration, now let's hit on the railroad company.

Nature Reserve Bridge is just one familiar trip from Antonovka station to the southwest corner. Of Rails And Flash Floods is a different story. First get the long sideboard semitrailer lying by the sawmill if you have not already, don't forget the low saddle to attach it. You need three rail sections from Poddonskoe station and those are five cells long. Luckily they are also pretty lightweight and low profile. Rail sections can be loaded automatically but have to be unloaded with the large crane. Bring a crane truck with you, it becomes your companion till the end of this chapter. First breach is located nearby, for the other two you have to travel to the Reserve. West road through the hills is a good choice.

Now it's time to clear the northeast road to the Tatra factory. This will take three missions, no less. For Winter is Coming bring the crane truck to Antonovka station (miss that route yet?) and make three roundtrips to Factory Grounds with the sideboard semi. Getting to the tight corner of the factory from the south is a bit tricky but doable, you can also use the dirt road from the east but beware of flipping over. Fixing the other pipe should not be a problem. Then fix the Old Bridge, a piece of cake if you brought the cement earlier. At last clean up the Scrap Pile, that's another short roundtrip to the warehouse. The road is now clean and ready for bulky cargo.

The Toppled Giant offers you to pull Azov Antarctic from the river crossing and tow it to the factory. The ford is deep, the current is strong and the reward is almost an insult. No, you don't get to keep the Antarctic. If you are still up to this try pulling it to the north bank, the south one was not easy for me. The truck is fueled and functional, turn on its engine as soon as the air intake is above the water, this will help a lot. Drain the remaining fuel right before finishing the task.

Slow And Steady starts the final series of contracts that roughly follow one pattern: easy first stage and the troublesome second. Put the crane to the warehouse, hauling two oversized containers by the new road should be smooth sailing. Vehicle parts are scattered at river banks across the map though but you should be used to cargo fishing by now. Combine a small crane with a sideboard frame, don't rush and it will be fine. The most challenging one is at the island in the middle of the map, don't be scared, the water is not that deep. I went from southwest, other routes are also possible.

Back to the railroad, Guardian of the Grove looks similar to Nature Reserve Bridge at first glance, this is deceptive. Note that you need concrete slabs, not concrete blocks. Both are available at the pier, have identical loading screen pictures and similar 3D models, don't mix them up. Unloading zones are in the swamp by whatever reason even though the bridge is way above, use the winch extensively to move around. Once the slabs are dropped you are not even halfway done. Another caveat: "rails" are not the same thing as "rail sections", this contract requires rail stacks from the warehouse. You will find that rail stacks do not fit the sideboard trailer. Put on the high saddle and get the wide flatbed from the factory. Remember the advice to bring a heavy truck with high clearance? Well, I had none back then and the rest of the DLC felt like being in hell. You can pull the flatbed with a regular offroad like Voron but it will get stuck literally on every bump, especially when loaded. Tatra Force does not make this any easier. If you are in the same situation use the winch on different attachment points at the trailer sides, usually you can pull it off in ten to twenty attempts. I hope you are better prepared, however, the flatbed is not only low but also wide and it will be getting stuck regardless. After two roundtrips you will be tempted to dump it into the swamp. Don't. Drag it to Poddonskoe station, you will need it for The Steel Phoenix. Enjoy the cutscene and the $30K reward.

Titan Awakening: delivering four brick pallettes will be a breeze. Then take some tranquilizers, get into the heavy and return to the railroad bridge you have just repaired. The pumping station sits upon another wide flatbed semi but the cargo is heavier and has very high center mass. If you constructed the log road it will help a bit at the start. Then you will drop it anyway a few times unless you are a pro or the truck is really stable. It will likely fall together with the truck so have a support vehicle around to put it back on wheels. Have fun dragging the station uphill and over the bumps. It will get much easier at Factory Grounds but don't relax just yet, it may flip over even at the very end. Congratulations, now get some dye for your grey hair.

The Steel Phoenix again starts with an easy delivery of two metal rolls, use the wooden bridge if you repaired it. For the final part you have to bring the industrial boiler from Poddonskoe station, this may be a bit tough but not as hurtful as the pumping station. Put it on the flatbed using the crane truck and drive east along the rails. Getting to the factory should not be an issue once you drag the trailer over the hill but the unloading zone is deep in the guts of the factory. Unfortunately you cannot just put the boiler to the yellow square with the crane and finish the mission, it has to be attached. With some luck you can squeeze through the bottleneck if you approach from the west. If this does not work out lift the boiler and try again, detach and winch the empty trailer if needed. Watch the final cutscene and rejoice, thanks to you this region is now slightly less of a junkyard.

[Karnett]

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[igorbogdan87]

Super prime///

[PsychoChu]

Just to add to the 'things that just kill your suspension' - the blocked path marked in grey in the top-left of the Factory Grounds map.
After you clear it, it has a metal bar on the ground there, that has a MUCH bigger (mostly\ height-wise) hitbox than you'd expect. It's on the right-side pile of rubble going from the left side of the map (the 'C' side). Avoid / go REALLY slow.
Good luck :)

[Thudball LeStudd]

Great thing having these guides to help out. I was really stuck differentiating between the "rails sections" and the "rails"! After three trials, I finally found exactly what I was looking for re the Antropovskiy bridge completion. Otherwise, it looked like I couldn't really finish Don. Now I get to advance a little more. Thanks to the guide maker(s) for all your support. 🍻

[LeonserGT]

They can be also packed on a twinsteer, although it's tricky to drive on Don - be ready to bring a crane to put them back on it...

[ColdFish]

No need to use the wide flatbed semi for Guardian of the Grove if you don't want to drag it around.
The rails will happily pack on the regular, low-saddle flatbed semi-trailer. They just don't fit on the sideboard semi. I suppose they will pack on the ramped flatbed trailer as well (they need 4 cargo slots), though I haven't tried that.