Cairn Survival Guide: How To Manage Your Bloody Hands And Empty Stomach
The mountain doesn't just want to drop you and break your heart, it wants to wear you down until you are too weak to hold on.
In most climbing games, your character is made of titanium and magic. In Cairn, Aava is made of meat and anxiety. I learned the hard way that ignoring your physical condition turns an easy climb into a nightmare. You can have full stamina, but if your fingers are shredded and your belly is empty, you are going to slip. This guide covers the medical and resource systems you need to master so you aren't stuck halfway up a cliff with no chalk and bleeding palms.
Medical Care: Tape Your Damn Hands
This is the mechanic that ruins runs if you ignore it. As you climb, Aava’s hands take damage over time. It’s gradual, so you might not notice it until it is too late. The more damaged her hands are, the less grip she has on the wall, and the faster her stamina drains. It creates a death spiral where you are working twice as hard to go half the distance.
You cannot fix this while hanging on a wall. You need to set up a Bivouac (camp). When you are in the camp menu, do not just sleep and leave. Go to the medical tab and check Aava’s hands. The game gives you a "Grip Rating". If you see cuts or abrasions, use your supplies to bandage them immediately. Keeping her hands taped up restores maximum grip strength and is arguably more important than full health.
The Climbot: Your Trash Compactor
Resources are scarce, but they are also renewable if you aren't wasteful. You have a little robot companion called the Climbot, and he is basically a mobile recycling plant.
Infinite Chalk Glitch (Sort Of) Chalk is essential for grip, especially on hard routes. To get more, you don't need to find it; you need to make it. You can feed rubbish, specifically the wrappers from the food you eat, into the Climbot to compost them. You can even compost food itself if you are desperate, but wrappers are the most efficient fuel. Once the robot has chewed through enough garbage, it will prompt you that a new batch of chalk is ready. Never throw trash away. Eat the bar, save the wrapper, make the chalk.
Recovering Gear The Climbot is also your retrieval system. If you leave Pitons behind on a wall, you can command the bot to go fetch them for you. This saves you from having to craft new ones constantly.
Essential Survival Gear
There are two items hidden in the game that stop being "nice to have" and start being "mandatory" the higher you climb.
The Troglodyte Doll Midway through the game, you can find the Troglodyte Doll. This isn't just a collectible. It is a weather control device. If you are stuck in a storm or heavy rain that makes climbing impossible, using this doll can force the weather to change to sunny. It is a literal game-changer for the late-game ascents.
The Small Windmill Wind gusts are invisible killers that knock you off the wall. You can find a Small Windmill attachment for Aava's backpack near the midpoint of the climb. Once equipped, it spins when the wind is picking up, giving you a visual warning to stop climbing and brace yourself before the gust actually hits you.
The Food Buff System
Food does more than just fill your stomach. Different meals provide specific temporary buffs that appear as timers below your health bar. Managing these buffs is the key to crushing the hardest sections of the mountain.
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