to people who dont use a backpack...

[porps]

what items do you always carry, and how many spare inventory slots do you tend to leave base with? I dunno how you guys manage at all.

[An Artifact]

The hardest part is to supress the instinct of picking up everything. I always carry some grass, sticks and logs for fires and torches, often also some gold for tools because flint is too mainstream, and of course my weapons, tools and whatever seasonal clothing and equipment is required.

[orian34]

I always carry weapon(spear usualy), tools(pick, axe and shovel), twigs, grass, wood, gold, rock, flint, silk(cause i'm webber)and the thermal stone in the backpack, i take some food, seasonal clothing(yeah MeingroessterFan), armor like shellmet or something else, old bell cause we never know when they come , some darts(even if i mostly craft them and leave them in a chest until my save is deleted because i kited(with a spear and no armor) bearger with 3 old bell in my pyggiback(true)), ice staff(so OP), walking cane, some gems, fuel nightmare, food, eeeeehh....perhaps it's too much.....

[lucky13th]

I thought everyone carried a backpack =x. I just drop mine in place of armor when need be. So I try to carry my weapons, armor and bare necessities in my inventory.

[NeoDeusMachina]

Equipped:

Walking cane

Seasonal vest

Seasonal hat

 

Inventory:

Flint

Twigs

Grass

Logs

(thermal stone) optional

 

Pig helmet

Armor

Weapon

(empty)

(empty)

 

(empty)

(empty)

Honey poultice

Lantern

Miner's hat/Moggles

 

That leaves me with minimum 4 free slots during summer and winter, and more free slots during spring (switch thermal stone for umbrella and use pig helmet for 100% rain protection without losing durability on the hat). Autumn gives you the most free slots as you don't need seasonal clothings. That's usually my setup for exploring without backpack. I'm not talking about caves, though.

[Doctor H. Derp]

I kind of figured players carried at least grass, twigs, logs, flint/gold all the time, but what I'm actually really surprised is no one has mentioned the inclusion of the eyebone. I figured if people weren't using a backpack they probably had chester in tow to compensate, but I'm guessing that's not the case?

[NeoDeusMachina]

I kind of figured players carried at least grass, twigs, logs, flint/gold all the time, but what I'm actually really surprised is no one has mentioned the inclusion of the eyebone. I figured if people weren't using a backpack they probably had chester in tow to compensate, but I'm guessing that's not the case?

 

To be honest I hate having Chester around, he always gets in the way and he's more trouble than help if things get hot. I only carry the eyebone if I am planning on gathering a massive amount of ressources, but not if I got out exploring!

[Strangerdanger101]

To be honest I hate having Chester around, he always gets in the way and he's more trouble than help if things get hot. I only carry the eyebone if I am planning on gathering a massive amount of ressources, but not if I got out exploring!

Chester is only bad if you're webber and spider dens are near your base.

[Doctor H. Derp]

To be honest I hate having Chester around, he always gets in the way and he's more trouble than help if things get hot. I only carry the eyebone if I am planning on gathering a massive amount of ressources, but not if I got out exploring!

 

Omg. OMG.

 

One of the big reasons I originally defaulted to only using the backpack was because I found chester to be unreliable when things got hectic!

All this stuff I want to carry, never quite sure when a hound attack was going to come, and now with RoG when a giant will swoop right in!

Really, all the deaths I experienced when first starting to play DS got me in the mode of "Prepare for anything" so I just always feel I need more slots to put things in.

[An Artifact]

To be honest I hate having Chester around, he always gets in the way and he's more trouble than help if things get hot. I only carry the eyebone if I am planning on gathering a massive amount of ressources, but not if I got out exploring!

 

I don't quite get it, how does Chester get in the way? I have literally not found a single downside to having him around so far, unless of course when I am playing as Webber.

[NeoDeusMachina]

Chester is only bad if you're webber and spider dens are near your base.

 

and @MeingroessterFan who posted while I was writing this:

 

It's not that he is bad, he is always good. Even in my Webber game I made a defensive position for him with tooth traps for any rogue spider that could come too close, but they usually never come since I placed them on the other side of my camp. Befriended spiders are not a problem either.

 

I just don't like managing him! If you run on a road with the walking cane, you have to stop periodically and wait for him or you lose him, which slows you down, which makes the walking cane kinda useless. When base building, he always gets in your way and you need to move him around. During a fight, you can kite easily pretty much anything, but he can't and you need to move even further away for him to actually avoid getting hit. I won't even talk about the angry bees during spring! Chester is a bee magnet.

 

Overall, I just bring him when I need the extra space!

 

Omg. OMG.

 

One of the big reasons I originally defaulted to only using the backpack was because I found chester to be unreliable when things got hectic!

All this stuff I want to carry, never quite sure when a hound attack was going to come, and now with RoG when a giant will swoop right in!

Really, all the deaths I experienced when first starting to play DS got me in the mode of "Prepare for anything" so I just always feel I need more slots to put things in.

 

Well, I use a backpack only for the first couple of days generally because ressource gathering is really important. Once you start playing through winter without a backpack because you wear a vest, then you deal with the fact that you don't have that extra space. If you can do it during winter, you can also do it during any other season. I think that is what happened to me with time: I just learned to optimize my exploration/harvesting trips, my ressource management, etc. to a point where I can deal without having to carry half of all my belongings with me. I usually focus each of my trip around a precise goal and stick to it. Perhaps it is because there are very few things that can surprise me anymore when I play this game (I have experienced pretty much everything at least once), so I feel comfortable leaving my base with the bare minimum.

[An Artifact]

and @MeingroessterFan who posted while I was writing this:

 

It's not that he is bad, he is always good. Even in my Webber game I made a defensive position for him with tooth traps for any rogue spider that could come too close, but they usually never come since I placed them on the other side of my camp. Befriended spiders are not a problem either.

 

I just don't like managing him! If you run on a road with the walking cane, you have to stop periodically and wait for him or you lose him, which slows you down, which makes the walking cane kinda useless. When base building, he always gets in your way and you need to move him around. During a fight, you can kite easily pretty much anything, but he can't and you need to move even further away for him to actually avoid getting hit. I won't even talk about the angry bees during spring! Chester is a bee magnet.

 

Overall, I just bring him when I need the extra space!

 

 

 

Ah well, that kinda makes sense, though I find that Chester will never get too far behind even if you just keep on running. I never do a lot of base building, so that doesn't really bother me either, but I do agree that his lacking kiting abilities can get a bit annoying. Luckily the bees won't target you even if they do stick to him, and since he got sick health regen you don't have to worry about the little guys' health at all (which is a big advantage of his over pretty much every other sidekick in any game I ever played).

[Doctor H. Derp]

Well, I use a backpack only for the first couple of days generally because ressource gathering is really important. Once you start playing through winter without a backpack because you wear a vest, then you deal with the fact that you don't have that extra space. If you can do it during winter, you can also do it during any other season. I think that is what happened to me with time: I just learned to optimize my exploration/harvesting trips, my ressource management, etc. to a point where I can deal without having to carry half of all my belongings with me. I usually focus each of my trip around a precise goal and stick to it. Perhaps it is because there are very few things that can surprise me anymore when I play this game (I have experienced pretty much everything at least once), so I feel comfortable leaving my base with the bare minimum.

 

I hear that, the first days before a base the backpack is critical.

 

I completely see where you're coming from... but there was this time where I got a spiderhat and I kept it in my backpack partly because I think it looks cool and you never know when it might be useful. Well you know sometimes there's a bunch of spider dens surrounded by gold in a rocky biome near a forest? Well I was casually strolling along mining the big boulders for extra gold and flint when all of a sudden one goes Spider queen.

Long story short I turned 1 Spider hat into more than I could justifiably carry, but that probably wouldn't have been able to happen unless I had that spiderhat with me initially because many of those tier 3 dens started turning shortly after I arrived.

[porps]

Equipped:

Walking cane

Seasonal vest

Seasonal hat

 

Inventory:

Flint

Twigs

Grass

Logs

(thermal stone) optional

 

Pig helmet

Armor

Weapon

(empty)

(empty)

 

(empty)

(empty)

Honey poultice

Lantern

Miner's hat/Moggles

 

That leaves me with minimum 4 free slots during summer and winter, and more free slots during spring (switch thermal stone for umbrella and use pig helmet for 100% rain protection without losing durability on the hat). Autumn gives you the most free slots as you don't need seasonal clothings. That's usually my setup for exploring without backpack. I'm not talking about caves, though.

 

cheers exactly what i was after I feel like some of the seasonal vests are too good to ignore now.. especially in summer.

[NeoDeusMachina]

cheers exactly what i was after I feel like some of the seasonal vests are too good to ignore now.. especially in summer.

 

Yeah, I prefer to use thermal stone + floral shirt for summer over the ice cube. I usually make one at the beginning of the summer and finish the last few days with a summer frest. I also usually wear a straw hat since I have not seen a single Deerclops in 420 days, but I would use the Eyebrella instead if I had it!

 

Notice that the list I provided is flexible. I mostly carry a lantern in addition to a miner's hat or moggles only for night fights or cave exploration, but it is not necessary. The same can be said for the healing item, although it is always a good precaution to carry at least some form of healing.

 

One of these slots should definitely be assigned to food for longer expeditions.

[Devon Aster]

No matter if I'm running with a backpack or not, my first four slots are always: logs, grass, flint, twigs.  Preferably a full stack of each.  Everything else is flexible except for the very last slot which holds a torch.  The rest of it I gear towards what I plan to do that day.  From spring to autumn, the fifth slot usually holds any pinecones I collect.  In winter, I put my thermal stone there.  Food and other collectables come next.  And the last set of slots (with the torch) hold any other tools I need.

 

I really need to revamp some of my strategies, though.  I keep forgetting I can freeze the thermal stone to cool down in summer and I haven't tried the summer frest or floral shirt, yet.

 

Chester tends to get left at base once I'm settled, only coming along if I'm specifically out to gather resources or plantables.

[Warewolves]

I tend to use backpacks instead of chests cause when I first started the game I got attacked by my first krumpus and had been keeping them in bags, and I noticed krampus didn't A: Go straight for them and B: Gave me enough time(about 10 seconds) to actually pluck up enough noob courage to attack him.

 

To this day, I use them to store bunnies(pre ROG)

 

So yeah, I'm backpack dependent XD

[Doctor H. Derp]

I tend to use backpacks instead of chests cause when I first started the game I got attacked by my first krumpus and had been keeping them in bags, and I noticed krampus didn't A: Go straight for them and B: Gave me enough time(about 10 seconds) to actually pluck up enough noob courage to attack him.

 

To this day, I use them to store bunnies(pre ROG)

 

So yeah, I'm backpack dependent XD

 

Careful. I learned the hard way that Krampus can actually steal backpacks and all their contents in a single swoop of his sack.

[Warewolves]

Careful. I learned the hard way that Krampus can actually steal backpacks and all their contents in a single swoop of his sack.

I knew it. I was just lucky.

[CrispyJelly]

Adventure mode has taught me to do without a backpack, so I don't carry a backpack in survival mode anymore. Not carrying a backpack is great because it means I can wear my log suit/summer frest/winter vest all the time. This is particularly important at night when I have to wear a miner hat because I'm running from giants or hounds. I always carry with me logs, grass, twigs, flint, umbrella, miner hat, football helmet and spear. A thermal stone if it's summer or winter. A beefalo hat if I'm living near beefaloes. I carry rot in a slot during summer so I can smother anything that is about to burst into flames. Chester is left at the base unless I have activated a touchstone. If so, I leave him there with emergency supplies.

 

[Doctor H. Derp]

...

 

Now I just feel kind of bad for Chester. Poor lil' guy is always left at home base.

[BipedalBear]

I usually gets a starcaller staff when I unequipped my krampus sack, just to save slots which occupies straws and wood. Jerky and walking cane is mandatory, along with seasonal item(e.g. thermal stone, umbrella,beefalo hat). Gold and twigs are also very good for crafting your axe, pickaxe and shovel.

Equipped:

Walking cane 

Seasonal hat 

Thulecite armor 

[InaneDugong]

I just use Chester. If you have any micro skills or knowledge of the mechanics what so ever, microing Chester around the only predators Chester has (like Tentacles or Hound re-aggro) isn't that much work beyond a normal challenging game.

 

Honestly, I ditch the backpack and just use Chester - nuff said.

 

Or I ditch Chester and take the backpack and dun use armour because only scrubs get hit by anything. (Harharhar).

[The Letter W]

I use (shadow) Chester.

Maxwell the paper needs some form of protection almost all the time. Especially if you build meat effigies with him; that pitiful 45 health doesn't go very far. 

Usually what I carry though is a light source, something to heal with (because you never know!), extra weapon, extra armour and walking stick. 

[Ysulyan]