The Long Dark: Trauma Walkthrough

The Long Dark: Episode 3 – Chapter 1: Trauma Walkthrough & Guide.

The Long Dark: Trauma Walkthrough

Okay then, that was long scripted sequence. Now that we have control of Astrid, it’s time to do some digging. As the journal prompt says, we want to look around for clues about Molly. And as the cutscene outright stated, we’re stuck inside anyways until we find a key.

Now for longtime players of the The Long Dark, you might recognize this place as the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse. Unfortunately, we cannot take things as freely as we do in Survival Mode. Also, Molly might have had a point about Astrid needing more time to recover; you’ll start the session with a sprained ankle, which means camera lurching and a slightly blurred screen.

Anyways, on to story progression! You need to find three clues in the house. I’m presenting them in the order that I find them.

• 1. On the desk in the office of the farmhouse (1st floor), you’ll find a picture of Molly and man. It may be my screen resolution, but neither of them look very happy in my opinion.

• 2. In the sitting room across the hall from the office, you’ll find a broken rifle which Astrid says looks to have exploded at the barrel.

• 3. Upstairs in the bathroom, you’ll find a torn piece of orange fabric (which I admittedly mistook for a blood stain at first sight).

Once you find all the clues, a phone will start ringing. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be timed and you can spend as long as you like getting to it. The phone is in the kitchen, on the wall across from the fridge. I’m assuming Hinterland will patch this later, but you can only pick up the phone when it’s ringing.

Anyways, it turns out Molly is in trouble and needs Astrid to bring her some extra rifle ammunition. As she said, the key to the basement is under a vase. For reference, it’s the vase that’s in the same room as the broken rifle. The basement door is in the hallway right outside that room.

So into the basement, and things immediately start looking up. First, it seems Astrid has her own special clothing items, just like Will (okay, so maybe only I thought that was cool). More importantly, we can finally start looting things! At this point, all of your Long Dark conditioning should kick in and compel you to search all the containers you find. But once you get near the stairs of the basement, a short cutscene will play.

…uh, okay. So I was not expecting Molly to have a body in her basement. At least not in Wintermute; that sort of thing is usually only in Survival mode. Anyways, you can’t do anything except be slightly creeped out, so let’s just continue looking for rifle rounds. You’ll find all the items you need in the metal cabinet, with the rifle and revolver rounds at the bottom.

Still, be sure to explore the whole basement. You’ll find some items necessary for starting fires, and some extra clothing. Once you’re prepared, head outside.

Now I admit that I had no idea what Astrid or Molly meant by blizzard lines (I live in the southern US; what can I say?), but these are the things you’re supposed to follow to the barn.

Just keep following them and move fast because the blizzard will sap your temperature fast. And have the revolver out because you will run into a couple of wolves. Thankfully you just have to fire (no aiming needed) the gun to scare them away (Note: I’ve seen reports that the wolves are a bit more aggressive when playing the “hardened survivor” difficulty. It sounds like they start stalking you sooner than in the other difficulties. Just keep the revolver handy and sprint for the barn door after firing it. Once you see the small building, head inside.

No Molly, just a big wolf (hello Timberwolf!) with a couple of arrows in it. Take a few steps in, and another phone will start ringing. It’s by the door you came in though, and Astrid will automatically answer it once you get close. Turns out Molly can shoot a bow and managed to escape the barn without Astrid’s help. But she’s not too pleased that Astrid found a dead body in her basement. Still, Astrid will notice a flyer that shows the location of a nearby town. Although I think the term “town” is relative. Still, it’s somewhere to start searching for Will.

All of this will give you access to the map (finally!) so check it out for a better idea of Pleasant Valley and the surrounding area. Once you’re ready, leave the barn and follow the road nearby to Thomson’s Crossing (For Survival Mode veterans, it’s the old Rural Crossroads).

Frankly, it’s pretty easy to find the Thomson’s Crossing. Just follow the road and eventually Astrid will comment on the large plume of smoke rising in the distance. The only thing I’d recommend is making a detour to the Pleasant Valley Outhouse Buildings. It’s the large, red barn and you want to visit because you can find some very nice stuff, including a survival bow. There is also a Forest Talker note here that will trigger the sidequest by the same name.

Anyways, once you get to Thomson’s Crossing, just head inside the Community Hall. Once inside, you’ll want to talk to the man in the red sweater to end the chapter.