Need Zones

Understanding how **Need Zones** work in game is key to finding animals at any given time. Take a look at the image below.

This is a "Herd" of moose (one pod of moose in "Falls Reservoir). If you look at this herd on a full map, you will notice their range extends west into Kiniksu Shores. But their "icon" is in Falls Reservoir, so they will fall into that range. IE This will be a herd from "Private Land" in their Primary Habitat. They should have the best chances at having "high quality genes".

As for their paths and zones, I unlocked all 6 of their zones. 2 Each of Drinking, Resting, and Eating. If you notice the ring I added around the zones -- that is roughly how far away from the MAP ICON for that zone, that you may find signs on the ground. Usually they are much closer, and often you will find at least one indicator right at the zone marker on the map. BUT NOT ALWAYS! Regardless of zones on the ground, I have found that MOST OFTEN if it is the right time for an animal to be at a zone - they are very close to the zone marker ON THE MAP (usually right at it). So if you are looking to set up and hunt a zone - do not rely on the ground indicators - focus on the MAP zone mark. That is where they seem to gravitate to. I think we can probably consider the MAP indicator the "center" of that zone and what they relate to in their code for travel paths.

Each zone should have 4 trails to/from it. Remember the tracks you find in game are NOT dynamic. They are game trails whose purpose is to lead you to that animals need zones. Their distances vary greatly and it is really difficult to guess where they should be. However, once you find one zone (drink being the easiest to discover by just circling ponds or walking creeks) you can start tracking from there and find all six with a little effort. Just star making sweeps around the zone until you find a trail. Some animals are easier to track - deer species I find the easiest, predators are more difficult and birds you just have to walk around and find them lol. Usually the track runs in a strait line, but I've notice some (especially predators) will curve a little along the way. You may notice tracks running parallel or crossing - but they never really combine into one trail.

You should not find a trail from a zone to a like zone (drink to drink - rest to rest or eat to eat) If you notice the direction of the hooves / paws, they will go from Drink to Rest to Eat to Drink. So from any zone - you can determine which zone the track is going to. For example if you are looking for a Rest zone, you would look for tracks headed away from a drink zone, or headed to an eat zone. Not super useful most of the time, but if you are trying to find a specific zone, it can help. I showed the trails for the moose and colored them from their source. Blue-Drink, Green-Eat, Gray-Rest. You can see how they crisscross and run parallel, as well as the to and from directions.

The herd indicator is roughly in the center of the range, it is NOT an indicator of where you are likely to find the animals themselves. You should find most of the zones circling that animals icon. Notice the moose in the image and their zones all circling it, but no need zones right at the moose icon. That is typical. There, however, may be other animals need zones right at that icon - but they are unrelated.

Dynamic tracks like scat and urine have fresh or old indicators (dried out scat). If you are following a track to a zone and you notice fresh markers - be extra careful. You are more likely to find animals at that zone, and you know where they came from, so they very well may still be on that trail or already at the zone. Go slow and scan ahead. Usually the animals are not far from the trail while traveling from zone to zone if they have not been spooked. But - that doesn't mean they will always be right on the path -- they do seem to wander a bit sometimes, so keep your eyes open all around. And like everything else, nothing is exact. Don't expect them to always be at an often or to never be at a rare. Even without spooking, they will hit rare zones.

By knowing what type of zones they should be at, and knowing how they travel from zone to zone - you can always find the animals. It's just a matter of spending the time to find all of the zones, and paying attention to the time. They seem to rarely arrive very early, and tend to linger - then move on to the next zone.

Hopefully that makes sense and the image isn't too confusing. I will add - that waiting for hours at a zone may be problematic. If it's 30 mins to an hour past the normal time and nothing has shown up - I would quit to the menu - then continue - then start scanning again. Often they will spawn right in (I think part of a bug). And sometimes they will spawn in even without you quitting. So keep your eyes open all over the zone once the time is right! You cannot rely on always seeing them walk in.

Good luck, and Happy Hunting!