Distress Pistol

 <title source="name">
   <default>Distress Pistol</default>
 </title>
 <image source="image">
 	<default>No picture.png</default>
 </image>
 
   <label>Release</label>
   <format>{{#ifexpr: 0.298 < 1 
   |16 December 2015
   |16 December 2015
   }}</format>
 
 
   <label>Wintermute</label>
 
   
   <label>Renewable</label>
 
 <group>
   <header>Properties</header>
   
     <label>Item type</label>
     <format>Tools {{#if:  | 
[[{{{type2}}}]][[Category:{{{type2}}}]]| }}</format>
   
   
     <label>Equipable</label>
   
   
     <label>Stackable</label>
   
   
     <label>Examine</label>
   
 </group>
 <group>
 	<header>Values</header>
   
     <label>Calories</label>
     <format>{{{calories}}} kcal</format>
   
   
     <label>Hydration</label>
     <format>{{{hydration}}}%</format>
   
   
     <label>Vitamin C</label>
     <format>{{{vitaminc}}}</format>
   
   
     <label>Weight</label>
     <format>0.40 kg ({{#expr: 0.40*2.2 round 2}} lbs)</format>
   
   
     <label>Oil/Weight</label>
     <format>{{{oilPerKg}}}</format>
   
 </group>
 <group>
 	<header>Decay Rate</header>
   
     <label>Inside</label>
     <format>{{{decay-inside}}}% per day</format>
   
   
     <label>Outside</label>
     <format>{{{decay-outside}}}% per day</format>
   
 </group>  
 <group>
   <header>Actions</header>
   
     <label>Backpack</label>
   
   
     <label>Radial</label>
   
   
     <label>On ground</label>
   
 </group>
 <group collapse="closed">
   <header>Advanced data</header>
   
     <label>Item key</label>
   
 </group>

</infobox>

“

Distress Pistol rounds can be an effective deterrent against hostile wildlife. They are the only thing that can reliably deter a charging Bear.{{#if:Load Screen Description|

Load Screen Description

}}

”

The Distress Pistol (often called a "Flare Gun") is a single-shot weapon in The Long Dark.

Overview

The Distress Pistol is a break action, single-shot weapon which fires Flare Shells (not conventional Flares, or Marine Flares) as glowing red balls of light. Similar to the Revolver, Distress Pistols serve primarily as defensive weapons since their report upon firing will frighten all nearby Wildlife: notably including Bear and Moose (the only item to deter both charging animals guaranteed, assuming a direct hit). Wildlife struck by a round will either die immediately, or bleed to death over the following hours (Moose and Cougar being the exceptions since they don't bleed). Unlike all other animals, the Cougar seems to have no fear of Distress Pistol shots.

Rounds from the Distress Pistol are accurate but follow a heavy arcing trajectory, similar to that of thrown Stones (and greater than Simple Arrows from the Survival Bow); this, along with the Distress Pistol's effectiveness at scaring all Wildlife, makes landing hits with the weapon challenging, especially from long distances or while animals are moving.

Rounds fired from the Distress Pistol produce large amounts of red light and burn for 20 minutes (in-game), during which Wolves and Timberwolves will be unable to approach the round's landing site. Unlike Revolvers or Hunting Rifles, spent Flare Shells casings cannot be collected and reused to make more Flare Shells, as they do not appear at the player's feet once ejected from the Distress Pistol. Flare Shells cannot be crafted at an Ammunition Work Bench.

Single Flare Shells may be found rarely inside of containers on Pilgrim, Voyageur and Stalker modes.

Use

The Distress Pistol is a weapon can be equipped from the Radial Menu, the Weapon Hotkey ("2") or directly from the Inventory. While equipped: Aim ("RMB") and fire ("LMB"). Reload with "R", and "H" to Holster (By default). The weapon is single-shot and holds only one round, so it must be reloaded manually each time it is fired.

The Distress Pistol has unique 2 reloading animations after firing: the normal reload wherin a shell is ejected, the Pistol is closed, and pressing "R" starts a reload, and a second animation wherin the Pistol is reloaded halfway through its firing animation by simply pressing "R" after the Shell is ejected, thus loading a Shell early and shortening reloading times.

Launched rounds fire at a low velocity and arc heavily before impacting a solid surface. Rounds hitting hard surfaces at an oblique angle may glance or bounce before coming to rest. Flares which hit surfaces, especially soft targets at perpendicular angles stick in place. Rounds burn brightly for 20 game minutes and emits localized smoke but may not be retrieved or used to start fires. Wolves and Timberwolves will avoid the immediate proximity of a rounds burning (~15m) (the same behavior as with dropped/thrown emergency Flare, Marine Flare, Torch and Campfires). Spent rounds remain visible even after they have burnt out.

In Wintermute: Episode 3 during the mission Coming Storm, firing a Distress Pistol close enough to a Crash Survivor's location (their circle on the map) will result in them responding with a Distress Pistol shot of their own into the air, allowing Astrid to find their location more easily.

Neither the Distress Pistol nor Flare Shells can be repaired or crafted respectively.

Animals

Animals within earshot (~30 meters) of the report flee immediately, with the exception of the Cougar which has no fear of the Distress Pistol. Additional animals within visual of the impact site will also flee. The one exception is during the Aurora: if the shell doesn't hit, animals will continue their charge even after shooting the distress pistol.

Distress Pistol rounds which hit an animal will almost always kill. Either immediately (on a critical hit), or shortly after from blood loss (except Moose and Cougar which cannot bleed out and cannot be critically hit with a Distress Pistol). While the animal is bleeding the burning round will remain attached to the fleeing animal for several in-game minutes, trailing smoke and glowing bright red.

Critical hits

Critical hits cause the animal to instantly die after being hit by a shot. The following table contains the critical hit chance based on the location that was shot on the animal.

Bleeding wounds

Wildlife take a specific amount of time to bleed out, as follows:

Wildlife		Bleed Out
Wildlife		Head	Neck	Torso	Hips	Limb
	Deer	Instant	8 min	15 min	30 min	80 min
	Wolf	Instant	12 min	30 min	35 min	40 min
	Bear	30 min	45 min	50 min	140 min	140 min

Locations

Distress Pistols are typically found inside orange Emergency Kit cases accompanied by up to 8 Flare Shells but may be found caseless, next to a corpse. (As it is in Hushed River Valley) The Distress Pistol will spawn once per region in any of the regions mentioned, but can also be found in prepper caches.

The possible spawn locations include:

Timberwolf Mountain

Next to a corpse in the lower area of the Tail Section of the crashed cargo plane, atop the Summit

Bleak Inlet

Atop the Fallen Lighthouse
At the end of the Cannery Pier, next to a corpse
In the break room behind the main building (the one with the rope up) in the Last Resort Cannery. This case is always empty

Coastal Highway

Next to a corpse in Silent Clearing. Note this pistol spawns without a case.
In a backpack leaning against a canoe on Misanthropes Island, on the side nearest to the Waterfront Cottages

Mystery Lake.

In the Forestry Lookout in a case

Desolation Point

Under a bunkbed on the second floor of Hibernia Processing. Note this pistol spawns without a case or Flare Shells, but some may be found on a nearby shelf

Ash Canyon

Near an abandoned campfire between Pillar's Footrest and Climber's Cave
On a ledge behind Anglers Den. This ledge is unreachable from the river level, requiring an approach from above by crossing Runway Bridge, into the meadow area, and near the rope up to High Meadow

Mountain Town

Near the cave at Mackenzie's Crashed Plane
In the cave at the bottom of the climbing area on the path to Mystery Lake
In the bathtub inside Milton House (Grey Mother's)
On top of the Prison Transport Bus
On the dash of the truck at the bottom of the waterfall in Milton basin.

Forsaken Airfield (TFTFT Only)

At the top of the Control Tower
A body at Final Approach

Note: in both locations, the cases contain no shells, and spawns in these locations are not guaranteed.

Pleasant Valley

In the basement of the Pleasant Valley Farmstead, on a desk
In the Signal Hill Control Hut, on the shelf next to the door

Keeper's Pass North

In an unnamed cave below builder's bridge at river level. A rope at one end of the road is used to get down

Ravine

Inside the passenger railcar, at the bottom of the Ravine Basin (requires Mountaineering Rope to be deployed to access)

Note: This spawn has been observed to be missing, and might only appear occasionally

Previous Versions

In previous versions after the release of Episode 3 (between v1.60 and v1.62) a case could spawn at the Crash Site in Pleasant Valley; however, this spawn was removed in an update (v1.64).

Challenges

In The Hunted, Part One, there is a case in the basement near where that scenario begins
In Hopeless Rescue, all Distress Pistol and Flare Shell spawns are disabled except for the case inside the Tail Section of Timberwolf Mountain

Wintermute

In Episode 1 during the first mission (inside the Hangar, before departure) Will Mackenzie may choose to load a Distress Pistol Case onto his floatplane; if he does, then it will be available on the ground near Mackenzie's Crashed Plane after The Crash. Another second Distress Pistol with ammunition may be found by completing Highway Robbery
In Episode 2 inside the Carter Hydro Dam a case is inside the first-floor bathroom
In Episode 3 at the Crash Site, Astrid can find a distress pistol with 7 rounds in one of the sections. One may also be found in the hallway of the Community Center after completing the Mission "Fallen Star"
In Episode 4, if playing on lower difficulties a Distress Pistol will spawn in the gatehouse by the exit of the Prison

Trivia

When loaded and held, the Distress Pistol's firing hammer is cocked. This is the only indicator that the weapon is loaded (other than the lit icon in the corner, which is white when loaded, and grey when unloaded), since similar to the Survival Bow, the Distress Pistol is single-shot and numerically displays carried but not loaded ammunition (unlike the Revolver and Hunting Rifle). Distress Pistols display their loaded ammunition in the Inventory menu. Because of this, caution should be taken to verify the Distress Pistol is loaded before entering dangerous situations.
- One way to verify if the flare gun is loaded to look at the flare shell icon while the weapon his held. If the icon is a light grey in color, it is unloaded, if it is white, there is a shell loaded. This is also the same with the Survival Bow, however it is less applicable because your character automatically "reloads" the bow after each shot.

The Hopeless Rescue Challenge requires the flare gun to complete its main objective.
The flare round that is launched and glows is a model of the shell part of the ammunition that should have been left in the gun after firing. (Meaning the flare gun shouldn't be empty after firing, an empty shell should remain.)
A bug was present (patch 1.72) between January 22nd and March 26th of 2020 which prevented Distress Pistol rounds from damaging animals in Survival and Wintermute. The result of this bug caused direct hits with the Distress Pistol to bounce harmlessly off animals and land on the ground, merely frightening them.
The Distress Pistol closely resembles the real-life Orion flare gun.

Gallery

Distress Pistol Case - Empty.
Bear shot with flare.

Update history

{{#switch:update|update=UPDATE|hotfix=HOTFIX|hidden=HIDDEN}} 16 December 2015{{#if:The Long Dark/Early Access Changelog#0.298| (Update)|}}:
- Added to game.

{{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} ru:Сигнальный пистолет

Wildlife		Critical Hit Chance
Wildlife		Head	Neck	Torso	Hips	Limb
	Deer	100%	50%	40%	25%	10%
	Wolf	100%	100%	33%	10%	10%
	Bear	60%	90%	Guaranteed	Guaranteed	Guaranteed