I've been busy with school the past few months so there are things that have yet to be added regarding the May/June patches. As new ammo types have been added to different guns, I probably need to do some reorganizing to get more information down because most of the sections are packed with the max allowed text. Let me know if you see anything you know to be incorrect or out of date, please!

If you have more accurate information, don't hesitate to comment and I will give it a look. The more input I have the more likely it is that I can make this precise.

In this guide, I hope to give newer or confused players some useful information into the basics of damage in Hunt, as well as a rundown of the description, performance, and pros/cons of the varied weapons available to a hunter as I have experienced. It will be a little long, but I plan to give as much detail as possible as there isn't much reliable information on how Hunt actually works out there.

I will break things down by weapon class, and include brief sections on Consumables and Tools at a later date, in addition to some notes about my personal playstyle and experiences.

As an added note, many of the fixes and updates to the information in this guide were realized through comments left by readers, whom I thank for their effort and insight. And if you find this guide helpful, please rate it well! Thank you and happy Hunting!

Player Health Chunks
All Hunters start with 150 total health divided into Chunks of either 25 or 50, with the first Chunk always being a 50. While you sometimes run into a previously wounded Hunter, it is always best to assume they have 150 health unless you have seen them get downed before.

Every time a Hunter is downed, they lose their rightmost health chunk permanently and can only regain it by buying it back after the round is over or by banishing a Boss. The lowest max health a hunter can have is 50 after being downed 2-4 times, depending on the arrangement of their health chunks. Losing the last Chunk of 50 means permanent death unless your teammate has a Bounty token, in which case a dead Hunter can be revived at the cost of 25 damage to the reviving player.

Any given arrangement of Chunks has advantages and disadvantages. The general tradeoff is that Small (25) Chunks are more vulnerable to environmental damage but give you more chances to go down without dying, while Large (50) Chunks are much less likely to be burned or bled away by the environment and long-range gunfire but are devastating to lose should you get downed and revived. Triple 50s mean you can only be downed twice before you hit your final Chunk. However, they are the best setup for running solo where one down means death anyway. Having four 25s means you can be downed four full times before hitting your base Chunk, but also leaves you much more susceptible to losing Chunks to environmental damage, or even permanently via Fire damage.

Chunk preference is down to personal taste, but I always try to have a 25 on the end when not playing solo. Having only 100 health after one down is a massive vulnerability when most weapons do 100-124 damage (which I'll get more into shortly), while having 125 after the first down leaves you much safer against smaller weapons (and larger ones at moderate ranges). Also important to consider are your Healing items which heal either 50 or 75 points; having a Large chunk lets you heal partway through it and recover the rest over time, something you can't do with Small chunks, and can make your healing supplies stretch much further.

Damage Basics
Damage in Hunt is broken into five types: Blunt, Rending (incl. Bleed), Piercing, Fire, and Poison. And I guess falling but that's hardly a PvP relevant mechanic unless you've learned things about this game that nobody else has. While Blunt and Piercing damage are functionally identical against players and have no special mechanics, the others each come with additional effects:

Fire Damage: Burns off max health and recovers slowly, with the potential to permanently remove a health chunk if it completely burns away. A Hunter can take a small amount of Fire Damage before catching fire, dealing further Fire Damage over time at a rate depending on the severity of the fire. Fire can be put out by bandaging (taking between about 2 and 6 seconds depending on the severity, during which time further burning is stalled) or by running through deep water or a Choke Bomb. Most often encountered in the environment, but Incendiary Ammo and Dragon Breath Shells can also do fire damage.

Rending Damage: Applies damage as normal on top of an additional bleeding damage-over-time effect. Bleeding severity depends on the nature of the source and can ramp up to higher levels with subsequent hits, with heavy bleeding capable of dealing significant damage. Can be removed by bandaging with the same rules as putting out Fire, but can also be stopped through the use of a First Aid Kit.

Poison Damage: Applies a disorienting effect on Hunters and prevents them from healing until it wears off. More severe poison damage lengthens the effect up to 20 seconds and makes the disorienting effect more intense. Very strong against AI Infected (besides the Hive and Spider) and less frequently encountered in PvP as tools which apply it (Poison Ammo, Poison Bombs, etc.) usually come with caveats that make them less effective than normal damage types. The Poison debuff can be prevented for most of the game through the use of an Antidote Shot, making it even less reliable in PvP (Weapons which deal Poison damage will still cause physical damage but will not inflict the disorienting effect, while lingering Poison clouds from Poison Bolts, Tripwires, and Bombs will have no effect at all on a player under the effects of an Antidote Shot).


Now, what is the Damage stat on a weapon? This is the damage inflicted by a shot to the Upper Torso at 10m distance.This area of the hitbox is where damage is calculated as 100%. Shots to the arms/legs do less damage (somewhere around 40-50%), as do shots to the Lower Torso (basically anywhere below the ribs, around 75%), while shots to the head do something on the order of 500% damage, being an instant kill with anything up until passing the range given in the Range stat. Shotguns have their own system, wherein the Range stat is the maximum distance at which a single shot is likely to instantly kill a Hunter.

Damage Thresholds
There are a few critical thresholds that you want to look for in a weapon's damage, based on the Health Chunk system. These thresholds are what can make or break a certain Custom Ammo type's effectiveness on a given weapon; dipping below a threshold can very often mean the difference between a one-hit kill and a two-hit, or even a three-hit. Any reduction in damage is very significant, especially when looking at medium-range engagements.

The lowest bar to meet is 75 damage, at which you can two-shot a Hunter if you land two chest shots. The only weapons that fail this are the Bornheim and the Derringer at 74, which generally relegates them to use as backup weapons for finishing off wounded targets.

Next is 100 damage, at which you will be able to kill a player who has lost a large (50 health) Chunk, whether by being downed or just being previously wounded, and be able to kill with two shots to the gut (up close). Most weapons deal over 100 up close, with Nagant pistols being the most common exception.

The 125 damage threshold is breached by any gun with Long bullets, plus the Vetterli and the Springfield. At this damage you can instantly kill a Hunter who has lost a single small (25 health) Chunk, a frequent occurrence as many players don't want to spend a healing item when they've only lost 25 health, or have been downed previously. Damage this high also allows you to get a limb shot and still be able to two-tap as long as you're close enough. Further, most weapons that do 125+ damage have very long ranges and easily dominate smaller weapons beyond 50m distances.

Damage Falloff
Over range, damage falls off. The rate and severity of falloff is dependent on the specific weapon in question, more strictly based on the ammo type it employs. These numbers are a little nebulous but the most important bit of information is that the Range stat indicates the max distance at which a headshot does 150 damage.

Damage is also reduced when firing through walls/trees, etc, with larger bullets having superior penetrating power and some (namely custom ammo types) having none whatsoever. All weapons with the same Ammo type (Compact, Medium, or Long - again Custom and Special Ammo is the exception to this rule) have the same penetration characteristics. Hovering over the Ammo icon in the weapon's stat screen gives a detailed description of what it can penetrate so give that a look.

The recent update 1.5 saw the addition of custom ammo types, greatly increasing the variety of playstyles available to players. Where rending, poison, and fire damage were once mostly inflicted by the environment, now your bullets can inflict these status effects. Unsatisfied with you compact ammo's garbage penetration? Now you can use FMJ. Want to win games for free? Spitzer snipers. Shotguns have been revolutionized by these changes and now have a whole new set of available playstyles, from PvE focus to bleed antagonism to pocket-Nitro slug shooting.

Each of these types of ammunition comes with a cost. Besides the obvious monetary cost, they can only be replenished from purple Special Ammo boxes, which are less common than their normal counterparts (only 1 per supply caravan). But most important is that they each have a drawback over their normal counterparts. In most cases, this is a slight damage/range reduction and/or reduced penetrating power. No ammo type is inherently better than any other, but some have more utility and carry less severe drawbacks.

Bullets

Dumdum: Springfield 1866, Caldwell Conversion Pistol, Caldwell Pax, Nitro Express.

Trades a bit of damage and range, plus all penetration power, for the ability to inflict bleeding. Bigger bullets cause stronger bleeding. This can make for an effective pressuring tool and can be great on rapid-fire weapons (namely dual pistols and fanning). The cost to two-shot potential is less than Poison or Incendiary ammo, but remains noticeable.

Poison: Nagant M1895 and Officer, Sparks LRR, Winfield Centennial.

These bullets burst on impact to inflict moderate (10 second) poison on players and do massive damage to AI. This can be good for disorienting players and keeping them from returning fire while hindering their healing, effectively forcing them into cover and allowing you to turn on another target. The drawbacks of this ammo are the same as Dumdum's - reduced damage, range, and no penetration - but worse. The damage hit is severe on this type. It is very effective against infected, namely Immolators and the Armored, making it best with the silenced Nagant or Sparks.

Incendiary: Winfield M1873 (both variants), Vetterli Karabiner, Caldwell Pax, Martini-Henry, Caldwell Uppercut, Sparks LRR, Bornheim, LeMat, Lebel, Mosin.

Shots leave tracers and can inflict fire damage/burning, at a similar cost to performance as Poison rounds. All shots take 2 hits to inflict Medium burning on a player and only do somewhere between 8 and 10 base fire damage. Instantly kills any Infected save the Immolator and Meathead, and can instantly detonate explosive barrels. I wouldn't recommend this ammo on any long bullet weapon as the fire damage does not increase on bigger bullets and the reduction to stopping power and penetration is severe. Best on Winfields and the Bornheim, where the rate of fire can be put to use and the long-range performance is actually improved as the fire damage doesn't seem to experience falloff. Truly shines when run with a full squad and fires can be easily started.

Full Metal Jacket: Vetterli Karabiner, Martini-Henry, Caldwell Conversion Pistol, LeMat, Winfield Centennial.

Trades off some muzzle velocity and range for greatly increased penetration power. This is very helpful as most weapons which can use it are either Compact or Medium bullets with atrocious base penetration: FMJ can bring the penetration power of these weapons to levels surpassing that of Long bullets. Even the Conversion Pistol can fire through two metal sheets and thin layers of brick or small trees while still carrying its damage well. No damage reduction and a smaller hit to range than Dumdum, Poison, and Incendiary.

High Velocity: Winfield M1873 (both variants), Nagant M1895 and Officer, Bornheim.

Offers higher muzzle velocity at the cost of increased recoil and brighter muzzle flash. Not much else to say, it's generally a solid choice that really shines on anything with a scope. Also useful at close range to get closer to 'hitscan', though the increased recoil is noticeable in these cases.

Explosive: Springfield, Martini-Henry, Nitro.

Deals damage in a small area on impact, with the area and damage increasing on bigger bullets. Can instantly detonate barrels on direct hit and ignite their fuse with indirect AoE, as well as breaking doors and Concertina wire, giving it a lot of utility for breaching even on the Springfield. Reduced ammo count. Severely nerfed a while back to the point of being useless outside of breaking doors and blowing up barrels.

Spitzer: Lebel and Mosin.

The best tool a sniper has - trades a bit of damage and recoil for increased velocity and penetration power, plus the same increase to muzzle flash as High Velocity ammo. Brings velocity up to over 800m/s, which is absolutely insane and makes the Marksman or Sniper variants of either weapon truly terrifying. Even useful up close for making the weapons functionally hitscan.


Shells

Flechette ($45): Sacrifices base damage for much tighter spread, longer range, and the ability to inflict bleeding a la early access buckshot. Can only inflict a one-shot kill with a headshot, but carries two-shot potential at much longer ranges (~20m on full length, ~15 on handcannons, more playtesting still needed), plus the bleeding this makes it excellent for applying pressure.

Dragon Breath ($50): Reduces damage and removes penetration, but causes fire damage. A high risk/high reward pick as it can instantly burn out a 25 health chunk at around 10m but has greatly reduced one-hit kill range, meaning you'd best watch out for returned fire. Also note the atrocious muzzle velocity, with noticeable travel time even within 15m. Mostly useful as a meme.

Penny Shot ($25): Removes penetration and hugely increases both damage and spread, and adds extra ammo capacity. This ammo is intended for use against Bosses, Meatheads, and the Armored, favoring point-bank shots for massive damage (killing a Meathead in just 3 hits). Very dodgy in use against players, however, as the spread is wildly unpredictable. One shot might kill a player from well beyond the expected range while another will miss entirely. That said, the disrespect of killing an enemy with actual money is noteworthy, and the sound of coins clinging and bouncing around is very entertaining.

Slug ($200): By far the best ammo type, if requiring better aim. The slug fires one shot with greatly improved penetration and range, allowing it to score a one shot kill at 25m with full-lengths and 15 with handcannons (can't headshot at range, though) and two-shots at about 40m if both hit the chest. I find this best on the Caldwell double barrel, where it completely negates the weapon's poor spread and can take advantage of its good sights and ability to fire a follow-up shot if the first isn't on target. Not as effective on the Romero, as it is high-risk and doesn't carry as much of an increase to performance over its already good range. The only downside is a very significant reduction to hipfire accuracy, making ADS a must.

Starshell ($10): Turns your shotgun into a flare gun. Only available on the Romero and LeMat, and pretty much only useful as a gag.

Overview
Rifles are the mainstay weapons to most hunters, most of whom will use a rifle with a secondary pistol or occasionally shotgun as their loadout in the average game. The cheaper variants firing Compact ammo include the Winfields, which have a greater emphasis on rate of fire and ammo capacity than single-shot damage and range. These are meant to apply pressure in close to medium range engagements where the lower damage is more than made up for by the volume of fire. This is greatly augmented with the Levering perk, which massively increases the rate of fire when shooting from the hip and allows the Winfield to have unparalleled dominance over engagements in the sub-20m range, even beating out Shotguns in the frequent case that the enemy misses their first shot.

Recently, these weapons (mainly the Winfield, and also pistols) saw a massive buff to their damage and range numbers, making them far more competitive with larger rifles in medium-range engagements. While this is great for fans of the weapons, it also means that users of just about anything else have a lot more to fear from lower-level or budget-seeking players who pack a much bigger punch than they used to.

This buff, however, did nothing to compensate for the abysmal penetration characteristics of Compact Ammo, which is only capable of going through a single layer of thin wood (such as a wooden fence) at close ranges and only at an angle closer to perpendicular than oblique. This can lead to a lot of frustration when what seems to be a very minor obstacle will stop your shot dead in its tracks.


Winfield M1873C ($35-$56)
This is the cheapest rifle, and was my personal favourite through the Early Access days (specifically the swift variant), despite my having access to all the Mosins I could want. With excellent handling, a high rate of fire, but low damage, it is great for putting out a high volume of fire at head-level, especially against enemies peeking the same corner. While the earlier M1873C variant has lower ammo capacity than the M1873 (8 vs 16), it also has the unique Silenced and Marksman variants. Make sure you have the Iron Repeater perk to take full advantage of its rate of fire and Levering to massively increase close-range power.

Damage: 110
Range: 95m
Rate of Fire: 50rpm
Velocity: 400m/s (370m/s on Vandals)
Ammo Types: Incendiary, High-Velocity
Pros

• Great handling. Sway is low, and recoil is easily manageable, making headshots easy.
  
• Surprisingly high rate of fire for a Rifle, making it very strong at close range.
  
• Despite low damage, can two-shot a 150 health hunter with chest shots up close.
  
• Has scoped, silenced, sawed-off variants, and melee variants.
  
• Levering massively increases close-range firepower.
  
• High ammo capacity of the most common ammo type.
  
• Can make good use of Incendiary ammo at medium ranges or on limb hits.

Cons

• Lowest effective range of rifles. Can only do a 150 headshot at 95 meters.
  
• Requires skilled aim to use well. Headshots are a necessity for this weapon at significant range.
  
• Compact ammo has terrible penetration characteristics, being able to only go through a single thin wooden surface at close range, and often failing even this.
  
• Runs out of its 8 shot tube real quick with its rate of fire, especially with Levering.
  
• No melee model on the full-length variants.
  
• Poor against bosses without Levering.
  
• Poor muzzle velocity makes leading shots more challenging, but High-Velocity ammo can mitigate this.

Notable Variants

• M1873C Silencer ($55) Trades harsher damage falloff (81m headshot range and 250m/s velocity) for a silencer that reduces noise and recoil. Great for killing mobs or confusing players, but has an effective range on par with the pre-buff Winfield. Carry a bigger pistol as your backup for longer range engagements.
  
• M1873C Marksman ($56) As base, but with a Marksman scope that makes landing headshots at range significantly easier. Make sure you have Marksman the Scopesmith perk to really put out a lot of fire. However, despite its accuracy, the limited headshot range makes it a weaker scoped weapon. Use High-Velocity ammo to get the most out of it.
  
• M1873C Vandal ($35-45) Sawed-off variants that have worse handling and recoil but only take up a medium slot, allowing them to be paired with a sawed-off Shotgun (or a full-length with Quartermaster). The Striker has the same melee as the Knife, and the Deadeye greatly helps with accuracy (especially with Steady Hand and Deadeye Scopesmith).

Winfield M1873 ($75-$137)
The M1873 is basically identical to the earlier M1873C, but with a substantially longer 15-shot tube (plus one in the chamber) to fully double its ammo capacity, and additional variants. Though the variants lack the individual flair of the M1873C's sawed-offs, scope, and silencer, it is generally more useful in that it doesn't need to reload nearly as frequently, a great trait to have on a weapon that emphasizes volume of fire - especially with Levering.

Damage: 110
Range: 95m
Rate of Fire: 50rpm
Velocity: 400m/s
Pros

• Slightly lower recoil than the M1873C thanks to the weightier barrel.
  
• High rate of fire and massive ammo capacity means you can burn plenty of shots.
  
• Excellent with Levering due to its great ammo count.
  
• Variants are less Spicy(tm) but have more utility.
  
• Musket Bayonet is more reliable at one-hitting other players than most melee tools.

Cons

• Same poor range as the M1873C.
  
• Has slightly more sway thanks to that same heavier barrel.
  
• Considerably more expensive, to the point that the Karabiner is usually better if you're not using Levering.

Notable Variants

• M1873 Aperture ($80) Has a unique aperture sight that can be useful at longer range, but I honestly hate it because of its abysmal peripherals. However, it can be turned down with X to use the iron sight thanks to a patch so you might as well, for five extra bucks.
  
• M1873 Swift ($128) As base, but with a speed loader that slaps 7 bullets in that bad boy at a time, massively reducing its reload times. My preferred variant.

Vetterli 71 Karabiner ($105-$155)

Unlocked at only rank 4, the Karabiner is a massive step up from the Winfield in terms of damage and range, at the cost of a bit of handling and rate of fire. The most utilitarian rifle with a great balance of range, damage, rate of fire, and ammo. While it lacks the punch of the long rifles, it isn't far behind and is much more economic and easier to get a handle on. Its range and falloff numbers have also been increased alongside those of the Winfield such that it can much better hold its own against the bigger guns in medium-range engagements, where it can even hold the edge if you take advantage of its ammo count. As it has no perk like the Winfield's Levering, I recommend the use of a backup Shotgun for close range, or a Pax with Fanning to fill that role while further beefing up your ammo count.

Damage: 130
Range: 167m
Rate of Fire: 42rpm
Velocity: 410m/s
Ammo Types: Incendiary, FMJ
Pros

• Has a substantially better two-shot kill range than the Winfield, though that range was massively increased for both with the recent buffs.
  
• Can one shot kill a player with 125 health or less up close.
  
• Surprisingly high rate of fire for a bolt action (with Iron Sharpshooter).
  
• Still has a great ammo capacity (26) of much stronger bullets.
  
• The most economic of the stronger weapons.
  
• Similar muzzle velocity to the Winfield makes it an easy transition.
  
• Better penetration characteristics on Medium ammo, able to be further improved with FMJ at relatively minor cost to range and velocity.
  
• Has a Bayonet variant.

Cons

• Noticeably higher sway and recoil than the Winfield.
  
• Base Medium bullet penetration is only marginally better than Compact and vastly worse than Long.
  
• Muzzle velocity is very sluggish when engaging targets near the max 167m range.
  
• Incendiary ammo is less useful as bullets get bigger and the reduced stopping power is easier to notice.

Notable Variants

• Vetterli 71 Karabiner Deadeye ($130) The Deadeye scope is perfect for this weapon, especially with the Scopesmith perk to use the high rate of fire. Amazing at medium range.

Winfield M1876 Centennial ($~150)

The Centennial is, and I'm saying this with my whole chest here, the worst weapon in the game. Compared to the standard Winfield, it has the benefit of slightly higher damage, medium bullet penetration (a VERY minor increase), better range, and great muzzle velocity. However, this comes at a MASSIVE cost to rate of fire, which is most felt when using Iron Repeater. Further, its Levering accuracy and rate of fire are horrendously reduced to the point of being functionally worthless outside of a 10 meter distance, if that. Having 124 damage means almost nothing as it is unable to outright kill someone who is missing a 25 chunk, and somehow the weapon seems to score two-hit kills substantially less often than even the regular Winfield. I really can't emphasize how rarely this weapon will score a two-hit kill vs the Vetterli, the most comparable weapon in terms of damage/range.

Short of a significant buff to rate of fire, never use this gun. While it wants to be a jack-of-all-trades weapon, it is sluggish, has poor damage for its class, and will never accomplish anything that could not be done far better with a Vetterli or a long ammo rifle.

Damage: 123
Range: ~180m
Rate of Fire: 39rpm
Velocity: 600m/s
Ammo Types: Poison, FMJ
Pros

• Able to use Levering to add point-blank stopping power.
  
• Has a better two-shot kill range than the Winfield (in theory).
  
• Handling is quite good despite the relatively low displayed stat.
  
• Outstanding muzzle velocity makes leading shots a breeze compared to the Karabiner.
  
• Can have its meager ammo count shored up by using a Pax(es) or a sawed-off Springfield.

Cons

• Levering is slower and vastly less accurate than standard Winfields, to the point that it is functionally useless.
  
• Substantially lower rate of fire than the standard Winfield makes the weapon much weaker within 40m - it is unable to hold its own against the overwhelming majority of weapons within this range.
  
• Vastly outclassed by the Long rifles in its intended role of mid-long range combat.
  
• Sight has a much wider front post that makes pinpointing headshots at longer ranges difficult.
  
• Rate of fire and stopping power are both lower than the cheaper Vetterli.
  
• Unable to breach the crucial 125-health threshold for one-shotting slightly wounded players.
  
• Base Medium bullets have only marginally better penetration than Compact and trying to mitigate this with FMJ carries a much greater velocity reduction than other weapons face.
  
• Poison ammo is wholly useless on anything that isn't silenced.

Overview
The long rifles are generally considered to be the 'meta' weapons. They trade ammo capacity for a massively increased damage and range, each having only 15 bullets total but a massive 300m headshot range and base damage greater than 125 to make them easily capable of a two-shot kill even at long range. The high alpha damage is most felt at medium ranges thanks to the very favorable damage falloff versus smaller bullets; at around 100m, a Winfield might only do about 30-40 damage a shot to a Mosin's 90+. Iron Sharpshooter is a must if you want to put down players quickly with a second shot, and having Bulletgrubber makes ammo management a lot easier.

The other advantage to Long Ammo is outstanding Penetration characteristics. While the step from Compact to Medium is very minor, the jump to Long Ammo is massive. They can sail through most obstacles with ease, including multiple layers of wood, small trees, thin brick walls, and even metal sheets.

Long Rifles don't perform as well at very close ranges, where weapons like the Winfield are also able to kill in two hits, fire much faster, and handle better. This necessitates a backup weapon with a fast kill time up close, such as a Nagant Officer, Dual Pistols, or a revolver with Fanning, depending on your perks and preference. A Handcannon is a viable option, but leaves you with a bit of a gap in the 10m-30m ranges unless you can make every rifle shot count.

These weapons can all use modern Spitzer ammunition. This further improves their already massive velocity and penetrating power, at the cost of a bit of damage and the inability to share ammo with the Uppercut. Their other ammo option, Incendiary, is comparatively useless on these weapons.


Lebel 1886 (Rank 52, $397-$437)
The Lebel's main selling points are its 10-shot tube and the highest muzzle velocity in the game (able to be further improved with Spitzer ammo). It is otherwise functionally identical to the Mosin but with a slightly lower damage, marginally higher rate of fire, and insanely long reload.

Damage: 132
Range: ~300m
Rate of Fire: 34rpm
Velocity: 630m/s
Ammo Types: Incendiary, Spitzer
Pros

• Almost always kills in two shots.
  
• Incites a good bit of fear in your target.
  
• Overall good handling, though with a hefty recoil.
  
• Stellar penetration of Long bullets.
  
• Has a Marksman variant that is the best scoped weapon in my opinion, perfectly fitting mid to long range engagements.
  
• Spitzer ammo is incredibly powerful on scoped variants for landing headshots.

Cons

• Ejects the chambered bullet when reloading and has an 18 second reload for the full 10 bullets.
  
• Only carries 5 rounds in reserve, making management difficult as you get less ammo from pickups (only 1-2 bullets). Carrying an Uppercut (or even two) can mitigate this.
  
• Incendiary ammo is a very poor choice, and Spitzer compounds the weapon's ammo pickup issues.
  
• Iron sight doesn't let you see below your target, making it difficult to pinpoint the head at long ranges.

Notable Variants

• Lebel 1886 Talon ($422) Base model with a Talon melee mod (see Melee section for more details).
  
• Lebel 1886 Marksman ($397) Mid-range Marksman scope is excellent at all ranges save very close. Combined with the 630m/s velocity (>800 with Spitzer), it has an arguably bigger niche than the Mosin Sniper.

Mosin-Nagant M1891 (Rank 72, $290-$1500)
The Mosin is the most powerful general-purpose weapon in the game for a multitude of reasons. Massive damage, long range, decent rate of fire, decent handling, and a fast reload (when the magazine is empty) make this weapon a beast, though only for a high price. Its plentiful variants are good for most situations, including the sawed-off Obrez, the Sniper variant, and the machine gun.
Damage: 136
Range: ~300m
Rate of Fire: 34rpm
Velocity: 615m/s (550m/s on Obrez)
Ammo Types: Incendiary, Spitzer
Pros

• Almost always kills in two shots.
  
• Incites a good bit of fear in your target.
  
• Overall good handling, though with a hefty recoil.
  
• Stellar penetration of Long bullets.
  
• Plenty of variants, including the ludicrous Avtomat, a 15-shot auto-rifle, and the Sniper scope.
  
• Overall strongest (and most expensive) Rifle for its versatility.
  
• Spitzer ammo is incredibly powerful with the Sniper scope.
  
• Much prettier than the Lebel.

Cons

• Ejects the chambered bullet when reloading and only has the fast reload with an empty clip.
  
• Long ammo can be scarce. Ammo problems compound with ejected rounds when reloading.
  
• Incendiary ammo is of little use on Long bullets.

Notable Variants

• M1891 Obrez ($290-$350) Sawed-off Mosin that fits as a secondary with quartermaster but suffers numerous penalties, namely horrendous control and recoil. Cheaper, but impractical at long range except to very experienced players. Don't bother with the Mace, trust me. It sucks.
  
• M1891 Bayonet ($540) As base but with attached Bayonet for great melee but slightly worse handling. You should have another weapon for point-blank so it's usually not worth it.
  
• M1891 Sniper ($540) Has a sniper scope, making this the best long-long-range weapon in the game, doubly so with Spitzer ammo.
  
• Mosin-Nagant M1891 Avtomat ($1500) Full auto variant with a 15-shot clip. See Avtomat for a full description, as this is far from a standard rifle.

Mosin-Nagant 1891 Avtomat ($1250)
The Mosin Avtomat is a nightmare weapon deserving of its own section, as it plays unlike standard rifles. The most expensive gun in the game, at $1250, it packs more than just a "punch". A 15-shot machinegun with ZERO to spare, with the Mosin's damage. Any hunter within ten meters will be mincemeat to this monster's spray. Just lower your weapon and hold down the trigger.

All that said, it comes with a lot of very significant drawbacks. For starters, it carries no backup ammo and only recovers a couple bullets from each ammo box, making a backup Long weapon a necessity. Dual Uppercuts will give you the most ammo to spare, adding 18 bullets (plus the 12 actually in the guns) but leaves you with no medium/long range option but the Mosin which is very much not meant for the role. It fires a 3-shot burst minimum with high recoil, which means tap-firing is out, and has atrocious handling which makes landing a headshot extremely difficult. All this means that while each bullet carries the same huge damage at long range as the Mosin, actually landing the two needed to kill (much less a headshot) is a much bigger chore.

Damage: 136
Range: 250m
Rate of Fire: 400rpm
Velocity: 615m/s
Pros

• Most powerful close-range weapon, able to rip hunters apart crazy fast.
  
• 15-shot clip allows for 5 bursts of 3 (the minimum burst allowed) spaced close together.
  
• Can be paired with another long ammo weapon to buff up ammo capacity and pickup rate.
  
• Insanely intimidating. Nobody wants to mess with that many Mosin bullets.
  
• Has the same penetration as the Mosin, allowing you to pump rounds through walls with impunity.
  
• Cost was reduced from $1500. So now it's very affordable c:

Cons

• Cannot tap fire effectively. Minimum is a 3-shot burst, which is not very ammo-friendly.
  
• Recoil was recently increased and makes automatic fire useless at all but close ranges.
  
• Only carries 15 bullets with zero in reserve, making an Uppercut or an Obrez a necessity for both ammo capacity and long range. Also, ammo boxes don't hurt.
  
• Frenzy mechanic makes the Avtomat far worse at boss-killing than Sticky Bombs or the Bomb Lance.
  
• If you die with it, you will be mad. Thing's $1250.

Overview
There are three weapons that I would classify as "Snipers" as opposed to Rifles in Hunt, based on their high damage, range, and most distinctively, one-in-the-chamber clip size. This necessitates some strategy changes versus the more versatile Rifles, which are more able to hold their own at closer ranges by laying down more continuous fire. Compared to other weapons, Snipers are very reliant on use of a complementary sidearm to fill in the close-range gap and finish off targets hit with the Sniper before they get to cover. The Officer or LeMat (for the Shotgun) are usually the best bet, though Dual Pistols or a revolver with Fanning are also good choices if you have the perks for them. Avoid Handcannons.

These weapons require skilled use and practive to make every shot count, as your volume of fire is extremely low compared to regular Rifles but your per-shot damage is very high. Each of them has a scoped variant that is almost always better than iron sights, and each of which is far more affordable than the scoped Long Rifles. With scopes, these are truly effective snipers (provided you can master their varying projectile speeds, a process which can take a lot of time and frustrating misses). When using a scope, always take Steady Aim and aim for the head. Non-dual pistols (or a Winfield Vandal if you have Quartermaster and Levering) are best for a sidearm as you will want something that handles well in ADS around the 40m mark, within which scopes can be very unwieldy against moving targets.

In general, however, the Long Rifles can do the same job but better, with higher muzzle velocity and the rate of fire to stand their ground in closer range engagements without needing to fall back on a secondary. The chief advantage here is that these weapons are far more affordable and require no perks to maximize their effectiveness (unless you use a scope and want Steady Aim), making them a good starter weapon for a low level hunter you plan to transition into stronger weapons later.

As of 1.5, new ammunition types have been added that add more variety to how you can play. While this normally requires that you forgo standard ammo (and the findability thereof) for the specialist type, the single-shot rifles have the great benefit of being able to split their ammo supply into two types, able to be switched on the fly by pressing X. This will unload your current shot and replace it with the new one.


Springfield 1886 ($33-$73)
The Springfield is pretty inferior to the other snipers in all but reload speed, but at $38 for the base variant and a rank one unlock, you're kind of getting what you're paying for. Still, this gun has its uses and is notable for being the only sniper with a sawed-off variant, allowing you to use a lot more builds with Quartermaster.

Damage: 132
Range: 175m
Rate of Fire: Single shot, 2s reload.
Velocity: 490m/s (440m/s on Compact variants)
Ammo Types: Dumdum, Explosive
Pros

• Good damage at close and medium range, plus decent handling and superior zoom.
  
• Can score one-hit kills to the chest at close range on slightly wounded Hunters.
  
• Carries a lot of bullets, 24 total.
  
• Explosive ammo is great for flushing out campers and breaking doors.
  
• Lots of variants, including Medium-sized Compacts.
  
• Looks pretty neat and has a funky reload.

Cons

• Headshot range is lower than other snipers, even after the buff.
  
• Muzzle Velocity is decent but awkward - no other gun matches up.
  
• Has an obstructive hammer on the right that can get in the way of sighting sometimes.
  
• Uses medium bullets which have mediocre penetration.

Notable Variants

• Springfield Compact ($33) Sawed off variant with worse handling and muzzle velocity of 440m/s.
  
• Springfield Marksman ($73) A good, cheap sniper, though the 175m headshot range can bite you now and again.
  
• Springfield Compact Deadeye ($46) Not bad, actually. A good buy for 46 bucks. Has a lot of sway but it's still good for scoring headshots at close/medium range - use Steady Hand to greatly increase accuracy after aiming for a few seconds.

Martini-Henry IC1 ($122-$164)
The Martini is a huge step up from the Springfield. It trades a slightly slower reload and slow muzzle velocity for higher damage and substantially more range. I don't have terribly much to say about this. It's good, but I prefer the Sparks for its muzzle velocity and 149 damage hit.

Damage: 143
Range: 250m
Rate of Fire: Single shot, 3s reload
Velocity: 400m/s
Ammo Types: Incendiary, FMJ, Explosive
Pros

• Excellent damage at all ranges, plus decent handling and superior zoom.
  
• Frequently scores one-hit kills to the chest at close range on even slightly wounded Hunters.
  
• Has a noticeably faster reload than the Sparks, making it better up close.
  
• Long ammo has great penetration characteristics.
  
• Carries 20 bullets, making ammo management a breeze.
  
• Can also take explosive ammo with better performance than the Springfield's.
  
• Has the best melee variant in the game, the Riposte.
  
• Has two different scope options.

Cons

• Very low muzzle velocity can impair its long range use, though 400m/s matches the Winfield so if you're good at that, then this is an easy switch. FMJ and Explosive ammo further worsens this issue.
  
• Iron sight can be very obstructive when trying to lead a target.

Notable Variants

• Scoped Martinis ($145-$173) Both Deadeye and Marksman scopes are effective on the weapon, though its low muzzle velocity renders it better with the closer-ranged Deadeye in my opinion.
  
• Martini Riposte ($164) Base model with a sabre attached, the best melee mod in the game.

Sparks LRR ($130-$199)
The Sparks might be my favourite gun. I don't think its the best by any stretch but it is satisfying as hell to blast people with. It has the highest single-shot damage of any gun in the game (save the Nitro but I don't count garbage) at a whopping 149 and carries that damage very well even at long range. If an enemy has taken any damage whatsoever, they're dead if you hit them in the chest from 30-ish meters or less. Additionally has great variants of the Silencer and Sniper.

Damage: 149
Range: 250m
Rate of Fire: Single shot, 4s reload.
Velocity: 533m/s
Ammo Types: Incendiary, Poison
Pros

• Highest single-shot damage at all ranges (excepting the Nitro and Shotguns up close).
  
• Frequently scores one-hit kills to the chest at close range.
  
• Looks very cool and has an awesome reload with some great Legendary variants.
  
• Long ammo has great penetration characteristics and the Sparks carries a nice 17 bullets to compensate for its low rate of fire, making ammo management easy.

Cons

• Noticeably longer reload than either of the other options, making you more reliant on a secondary weapon and leaving you more vulnerable after a miss.
  
• Though faster than the others, Muzzle Velocity is still slower than the Long Rifles.
  
• Weak ammo choices - Incendiary is mostly good for blowing up barrels and Poison is only good on the Silencer to drop any Infected save the Meathead in one hit.

Notable Variants

• Sparks LRR Silencer ($150) Makes almost no noise in exchange for a 300m/s velocity and 144m headshot range (still respectable). Also has an obtrusive sight and poor handling, but this is still a fun and viable weapon, far more so than the silenced Winfield in general.
  
• Sparks LRR Sniper ($199) Sniper scope makes this a monster for long-range headshots on a budget. Pair with Steady Aim for maximum effect.

Nitro Express Rifle (Rank 88, $1015)

This weapon is the epitome of min/maxing in Hunt. Boasting the highest damage in the game, it is the true big game hunter. And with two tubes, what doesn't fall to the first shot certainly will to the second. This all comes at a cost, however, as the Nitro has the worst handling in the game, tied with the sawed-off Mosin, and a measly six bullet maximum capacity.

The other awful quirk of the Nitro is its damage falloff. Up to about 35m, it is a one-shot kill to the chest. Past about 50m, however, its damage drops abhorrently. Therefore, its use as a true "Sniper" is nonexistent unless you can clap a good headshot.

Which is hard, because the OTHER awful, terrible, horrific quirk about the Nitro is its aperture sight. Which is absolutely, unbelievably, infuriatingly worthless for its intended role as a close-range blap cannon. It has nonexistent peripherals and a magnification that is VASTLY beyond what you need for the effective range of 40m, plus a very tiny peephole that means even holding a stationary angle is almost impossible. It doesn't matter how good you are at aiming with any other gun: this sight is unusable. If your target is moving, you won't hit them. You won't even see them. It's as simple as that.

If you couldn't tell, I hate this gun. I recently used it a lot to master it and it was miserable. It's hilarious when it works, sure. You feel like a god just ripping someone's chest cavity open with an elephant-killing bullet. But here's the thing. it almost never works. Thanks to that sight it has, and the fact that even point-blank with 364 damage, it can't kill on an arm hit. The only honest advantage this gun has is that it'll shoot through just about anything, be it metal, wood, stone, a thicc tree, another player, your crumbling sense of self-worth as you lose a thousand bucks every time you bring this thing, whatever. Truly insane penetration, but this is only functionally useful against a target that's close and stationary behind a tree that nothing else can sink through. It's not atrocious at getting headshots at medium range, but literally any other gun is better.

Damage: 364
Range: 250m
Rate of Fire: Two shots, 4s reload
Velocity: 550m/s
Ammo Types: Dumdum, Explosive
Pros

• Able to one shot any hunter up to about 35m, or even to the lower torso at about 20m.
  
• Piercing damage makes firing through walls (or trees, or even players) more effective.
  
• Peep sight is decent for trying to spot players in small gaps through walls; coupled with the great penetration ability, this is arguably where it shines most.
  
• Explosive ammo has a pretty large AOE and does damned good damage at the cost of the weapon's stellar penetration. Increases the one-shot range to ~70m, which is massive (Unsure, needs further testing).
  
• Dumdum ammo still has some penetration and inflicts Heavy bleeding.
  
• Kills bosses hella fast and can one-shot Meatheads.

Cons

• Despite high displayed Range stat, damage falloff on the Nitro is massive past about 50m.
  
• Cannot one shot kill if you hit a limb/shoulder, even at point blank range (trust me, I've tried).
  
• Only 6 total bullets of the rarest (Special) variety. Only gets two bullets back per pickup.
  
• Can only carry 4 shots of Explosive ammo, and only replenishes 1 per pickup.
  
• The sight is totally worthless. Infuriatingly so. Completely invalidates the $1015 price tag.
  
• Recoil is the most extreme in the game, making resetting the sight for that crucial second shot difficult.
  
• Hipfire is atrocious.
  
• In most cases, a shotgun with Slug ammo is vastly more usable.

Overview
Shotguns are the favoured sidearm/close combat weapon of most hunters. Easy to use and devastatingly powerful, they can be your best friend. However, they are inherently unreliable weapons; their shots are modeled as individual pellets which means that often, a well-aimed shot well within kill range fails to get the kill or rarely misses altogether, or that a shot that from BEYOND the kill range just happens to land more pellets than it should.

A couple of general notes and tips about Shotguns. One, all shotguns have the same number of pellets and the same damage potential, the only difference is spread (also tethered to velocity). A shotgun listing lower damage than another means it has greater spread and will still do the dame damage point blank. Second, sawed-off variants (Handcannons) have extremely high spread, making them unreliable (using buckshot) and necessitating specialized ammo for use beyond 7m. Third, it seems that hipfire was patched at some point such that it is constant for Shotguns, regardless of movement or crouching. It can even be reliably used while jumping/falling, unlike other guns.

The stats of shotguns are a little different. The Damage stat indicates average damage for a 10m shot (factoring spread and damage falloff), and the Range stat indicates the max range at which a shot is usually lethal. However, spread is unpredictable and these numbers are not guaranteed except on Slug rounds.

With the addition of ammo types in 1.5, shotguns have seen an explosion in use and versatility. A good thing, too, seeing as Shotguns have been facing a fair bit of power creep lately. Slugs, especially, revolutionize the Shotgun by more than doubling their one shot range and allowing two shot kills up to nearly 50 meters (on full-lengths).

Romero 77 ($34-$62)
Damage: 200 (Handcannon: 140)
Range: 15m (Handcannon: 10m)
Rate of Fire: Single, 3s reload.
Pros

• Very cheap with melee variants, neither of which hinder performance.
  
• An excellent budget option, provided you are able to aim well in a pinch.
  
• Doesn't need any perks to maximize usage.
  
• Tightest spread of the shotguns, giving it a full 3m range advantage over the second place contestants for both long and short variants.
  
• Has many ammo options and is able to split its ammo into two types, adding more versatility.

Cons

• Single-shot with a three second reload, making a miss very dangerous for the user.
  
• Breaching on a squad is risky with only one shot between reloads.

Caldwell Rival 78 ($85-100)
Damage: 175 (Handcannon: 85)
Range: 10m (Handcannon: 7m)
Rate of Fire: 2 shots, 4s reload
Velocity: 400m/s
Pros

• Has two shots, giving you a backup in case the first doesn't kill.
  
• Doesn't need any perks to maximize usage.
  
• Poor spread is entirely negated through special ammo.
  
• Handcannon truly shines with Flechettes.

Cons

• Often fails to kill thanks to its much-higher spread than the Romero.
  
• Carries only 10 shots, 8 on the Handcannon, making Custom Ammo management a hassle.
  
• No special/melee variants on either the handcannon or full length.

Specter 1882 ($164-223)
Damage: 185 (Bayonet: 175 Handcannon: 85)
Range: 12m (Bayonet: 10m Handcannon: 7m)
Rate of Fire: Pump-action, 40rpm
Velocity: 425m/s
Pros

• More able to deal with a squad as you have 5 shots before having to reload.
  
• Has a good total shell count of 14 (11 with the Handcannon).
  
• Poor Handcannon stats are mitigated with Flechettes.
  
• Better spread than the Caldwell.
  
• Able to take slugs.

Cons

• Pump is somewhat slow.
  
• Ejects a shell on reload if you don't have the Bulletgrubber perk.
  
• Kicks you out of ADS during pumps without Iron Devastator (which unlocks at rank 65 despite the only gun that uses it being rank 36), meaning you need 2 perks for a total 8 point cost to make this weapon really shine.
  
• Bayonet variant increases spread, making it useless in my opinion (except with Custom ammo).

Winfield M1887 Terminus ($289-$309)
Damage: 185
Range: 11m
Rate of Fire: Lever-action, 36rpm
Velocity: 425m/s
Pros

• Able to abuse the hell out of Levering, essentially becoming a hipfire Crown.
  
• Carries 7 shots over the Crown and Specter's 5, with a respectable overall 14 capacity.
  
• Handcannon with Flechettes inflicts massive bleed at respectable range with Levering.
  
• Able to deal with full squads without needing to reload.

Cons

• Worse spread and rate of fire than the Specter, if marginally.
  
• Also ejects a shot without Bulletgrubber.
  
• Worse than the Specter until you add Iron Repeater and Levering (meaning 11 total points are needed to take full advantage).

Crown & King Auto-5 ($600)
Damage: 185
Range: 12m
Rate of Fire: Semi-auto, 120rpm
Velocity: 425m/s
Pros

• By far the best shotgun, with a 5-shot capacity and the same respectable spread as the Specter.
  
• Faster than the Specter with the same per-shot performance, and doesn't eject shells when reloading.
  
• Doesn't need any perks to maximize usage.
  
• Able to deal with multiple players easily.

Cons

• Blows through its 5 shots very quickly if care isn't taken and only carries 10 overall.
  
• Can only take Penny Shot, which can help offset the ammo disadvantage but is weaker against players.

Overview
Pistols that use Compact ammo saw a massive buff to their damage and range stats, making all but the Bornheim capable of two-shot kills up close and greatly increasing their medium range trading capability to levels far above even the pre-buff Winfield. This has made the loadout of a long Shotgun and a Pistol far more viable, as the Uppercut isn't the only thing that packs a punch anymore.

Fanning!: Single-action revolvers (all Caldwells, non-Officer non-Precision Nagants, LeMat) are compatible with the Fanning perk which allows you to massively increase rate of fire from the hip at the cost of recoil. Some weapons work better with fanning than others; heavier weapons fire slower, which makes them slower to insta-kill but more accurate at range and less requiring of tap-firing. In general, limit bursts outside of point-blank to one or two shots before giving a brief moment to reset the reticle and control recoil.

Dual Wielding!: Any pistol can be paired with another of its model to take a Medium slot. This is, in my opinion, unambiguously overpowered as they retain significantly better accuracy than can be achieved with Fanning (they even have a limited ADS function which desperately needs to be removed), are easier to control, carry twice the ammo, and can even fill the niche of a full-length Shotgun for a Medium slot and a much greater effective range. They can massively increase reserve ammo for primary weapons while also adding massive close range firepower to almost any build with Quartermaster. Dual pistols legitimately bother me as, in a game where good aim is prized, here's this option where you get 12 (or more) chances to RNG spray your enemy down at effective ranges upwards of 30m with no real downside.


Nagant M1895 (~$20-$60?)

The first unlocked pistol, mostly good for its ammo capacity and good variants.

Damage: 91
Range: 73m
Velocity: 330m/s
Rate of Fire: 40rpm (63rpm on Precision variants)
Ammo Types: Poison, High Velocity
Pros

• Good rate of fire and high ammo capacity.
  
• Precision variants have excellent handling and a significantly higher rate of fire.
  
• Great Fanning characteristics, with max Rate of Fire and tighter spread than other pistols.

Cons

• Shares the Conversion's drawbacks, namely poor long range performance and penetration.
  
• Precision variants are incompatible with the Fanning perk.

Notable Variants

• Nagant M1895 Precision ($29-$42) Added Rifle stock which makes the weapon take a Medium slot, but massively improves handling and rate of fire. Great for scoring close/medium range headshots. Has another Deadeye variant that can better capitalize on the good accuracy, especially with Scopesmith and Steady Hand. Works best with High Velocity ammo.
  
• Nagant M1895 Silencer ($53) Trades reduced damage and range for a very good silencer, making the weapon perfect for quietly taking out Infected. It has particularly broken Fanning characteristics, with extreme rate of fire and almost no recoil, plus a very tight spread even at ~20m range. Works best with Poison Ammo.

Caldwell Pax ($100)
An up-gunned Caldwell Conversion pistol that uses Medium ammo for higher damage and range, but the Pax didn't get the same buffs as other pistols so it is only marginally better than the Conversion in damage, range, and rate of fire, with its main draw being that it has better penetration and can share ammo with better weapons.

Damage: 110
Range: 86m
Velocity: 330m/s
Rate of Fire: 46rpm
Ammo Types: Dumdum, Incendiary
Pros

• Slightly better than the Conversion in almost every metric.
  
• Has a melee variant, albeit a mediocre one, the Claw.

Cons

• Marginal performance increase over the Conversion for 4x the price.
  
• Reduced ammo capacity vs the Conversion.

Caldwell Conversion Pistol ($24-$50)

A more generic pistol broadly similar in overall performance to the Nagant. The recent buff MASSIVELY increased its utility to the point of being better than the pre-buff Winfield rifle, and while still inferior to the new rifles, it is still much more able to hold its own.

Damage: 104
Range: 84m
Velocity: 300m/s
Rate of Fire: 44rpm
Ammo Types: Dumdum, FMJ
Pros

• Looks and sounds really cool.
  
• Surprisingly good damage and range for the price.
  
• Fires extremely quickly with Fanning (note that the Chain variant is slower).
  
• Both special ammo types have broad usage.

Cons

• Lower rate of fire than the Winfield, and very slightly lower than the Pax or Nagant.
  
• Mediocre handling and ADS zoom means putting the extra range to use can be a challenge.

Notable Variants

• Caldwell Conversion Chain Pistol ($33) As base with with a whopping 17-shot chain plus 24 to spare. Intended for use with fanning, where it becomes a hipfire machinegun.

Caldwell Conversion Uppercut ($275)

I love this weapon. Not because it's amazingly good (though it packs a helluva punch up close), but because it's wacky and fun. It's just a super-powered Calwell (and is technically a variant thereof), bearing huge damage and an appropriately increased recoil. Nerfs have made it far less nutty than it once was, but it's still a solid choice and the go-to backup for a shotgun build if you have the money.

Damage: 130
Range 96m
Velocity: 410m/s
Rate of Fire: 40rpm
Ammo Types: Incendiary
Pros

• Very fun and satisfying to score kills with.
  
• Excellent close range damage, able to one-shot a player at that critical 125 health threshold.
  
• Inherits the great penetration of Long bullets.
  
• Perfect as a backup for Shotguns.
  
• Shares ammo with the Long Rifles, making management for them much easier.
  
• Sounds and looks really cool.

Cons

• Very noticeable damage falloff compared to Rifles of the same caliber.
  
• Slower rate of fire and longer reload time than the standard Caldwell.
  
• Handling is poor and recoil is strong, making long range use difficult.
  
• Only carries 15 total bullets.
  
• Incendiary is bad on it.

LeMat Mark II ($95)
This is a unique weapon in that it is actually TWO weapons. First, it is a Revolver with broadly similar performance to the Caldwell, trading a bit of damage and range for more bullets in the cylinder. The real draw, however, comes from the shotgun tube it carries (accessed by pressing X). Unfortunately, the stats for this weapon aren't displayed in-game but it seems to perform at a slightly lower level than the Caldwell Handcannon (which is to say it isn't reliable past very close range) and only has the one tube.

Damage: 97
Range: 79m
Velocity: 300m/s
Rate of Fire: 42rpm
Ammo Types: Incendiary, FMJ / Starshell, Dragon Breath, Slug
Pros

• Has a shotgun tube, giving it a very wide effective envelope.
  
• Shotgun can use Slug ammo to vastly increase its utility (albeit at great cost).
  
• 9 shots in the cylinder.

Cons

• Individual performance of Pistol and Shotgun components is below average to compensate.
  
• Slow Fanning rate of fire, not that you need it anyway with a built-in shotgun.
  
• Switching between the Pistol and Shotgun can't be done while pulling back the hammer, meaning you need over a full second to switch after firing.

The few semi-automatic pistols occupy a very important niche to many players. They are the ideal backup weapon for single-shot and long rifles as they can fill the rate of fire gap at close range and have a higher chance of finishing off a player wounded by a Sparks or Mosin. They have less zoom and are generally easier to handle up close than rifles. And finally, they have the Dolch, which is flat out broken and only balanced out by its prohibitive cost.

I recommend their use for any loadout with a high-powered or scoped primary weapon, and caution you from using them with a shotgun. One trend I notice is that people like to bring a Bornheim as a secondary with a Shotgun, which is a complete waste of a slot and money. Single-action revolvers are stronger at longer ranges and don't have nearly as much trouble conserving ammo, so I recommend using one of those instead (or opting for a sawed-off Winfield with Quartermaster if you can).

Nagant Officer ($66-$80)

The Officer is by far the most affordable of the semi autos and is also the easiest to use. Its recoil is easily manageable and its rate of fire is much more sensible, plus it has the exact same ballistics as the single-action variant and the decent two-shot kill envelope that comes with it. I use this weapon often and it seldom disappoints. The Officer Carbine is technically a variant of this weapon, but will be in its own section as its use is so different.

Damage: 91
Range: 73m
Rate of Fire: 100rpm
Velocity: 330m/s
Ammo Types: Poison, High Velocity
Pros

• Ideal to finish off wounded hunters up to mid range.
  
• Good stopping power up close and easily able to score two-shot kills.
  
• Easiest to control of the semi autos.
  
• Brawler variant has built-in Dusters at no cost to handling.

Cons

• Ammo is more limited than in the single-action family, 21 down from 28 total shots.
  
• Coming with those Nagant ballistics is the same atrocious penetration of Compact ammo.
  
• Rate of fire is lower than the other semi-autos, making it less powerful in a point-blank spray.
  
• Drum can drain fast and the reload is pretty long, meaning you need to make your shots count.

Bornheim No. 3 ($201-$306)

I'll be honest, I don't understand the Bornheim. As of last year they nearly tripled the price and also nerfed the damage, making it flat-out worse than the Officer for triple the price. The only advantage the Bornheim has is a high maximum rate of fire that only comes in handy at point-blank, but is offset by its pathetic 74 damage. 1.5 has brought Incendiary rounds to the table, though, which are the perfect fit to the weapon in that you can easily light people on fire with rapid fire, low-damage shots. Otherwise, this weapon is not remotely worth the cost and it is baffling to me that they haven't reduced it. Despite this, I see it run constantly (and am almost never killed by it). The Bornheim is only useful for Incendiary ammo and to finish off wounded players, it is (contrary to what a lot of players seem to think based on how often I see it) NOT meant to be your medium range option for a Shotgun pairing.

Damage: 74
Range: 68m
Rate of Fire: 210rpm
Velocity: 380m/s
Ammo Types: Incendiary, High Velocity
Pros

• Good for finishing up wounded hunters up close.
  
• Superb rate of fire is great for spraying at very close range.
  
• Fast clip reload (with the non-extended variants).
  
• Probably the best fit for Incendiary ammunition in the game.
  
• Fairly manageable recoil despite the rate of fire.
  
• Stocked Match variant is very accurate even when spraying.
  
• Good muzzle velocity.

Cons

• Shockingly little ammo, with only 16 total shots (19 on the Extended variant).
  
• Ammo problems compounded by the need for Bulletgrubber; without it the Bornheim ejects a round whenever you try to reload.
  
• 74 damage means it takes at least 3 hits to kill a healthy hunter barring headshots.
  
• Staggeringly overpriced for its very niche use and inability to two-shot.
  
• High-velocity ammo is pointless as it severely hampers control and isn't necessary with a 68m range.
  
• Derringer in a seventh the cost and does the same damage.

Notable Variants

• Bornheim No. 3 Match ($224) Adds a stock for less sway and less recoil at the cost of a medium slot.
  
• Bornheim No. 3 Extended ($306) Adds an extra 3 bullet capacity to the clip and 3 bullets to your overall capacity.

Dolch 96 ($750-$790)

The Dolch is the best pistol. End stop. Possibly the best gun. It boasts good damage, good range, excellent velocity, a crazy rate of fire, and all while carrying more bullets than any non-compact pistol. A 10-shot clip means you need to actively try to miss shots to not score kills, especially when each bullet boasts 110 damage. The recoil is very strong, however, and a lot of players try to fire too fast without resetting their sight. The full potential 163rpm is not meant to be used practically - give a half second or so between shots, reset your aim, and you will win almost any fight.

All this, however, makes it one of the least satisfying weapons to score kills with. It simply isn't fun getting kills with a weapon you know is much stronger than any competition. I almost never take it for this reason - I (and most other players) consider it to be an unsporting weapon mostly used by tryhards looking for easy wins. That's not to say it's true, but it's not very fun to use and far less fun to face. I am of the honest opinion that they should remove it from the game entirely.

Damage: 110
Range: 86m
Rate of Fire: 164rpm
Velocity: 440m/s
Ammo Types: None
Pros

• Superb all-round performance, unambiguously the best/most versatile weapon for close/mid range.
  
• Excellent stopping power up close and easily able to score two-shot kills.
  
• Carries a good ammo count of 20.
  
• Precision variant is highly accurate.
  
• Precision variant is shattered. Absolutely and ridiculously overpowered.
  
• Fast reload with a stripper clip when empty.

Cons

• Only takes Special ammo and can't customize its ammunition.
  
• Recoil is very strong and necessitates good control.

Nagant Officer Carbine($155-$211)

While technically a variant of the Officer pistol, the Carbine is more akin to a fast-firing rifle. The addition of a stock and longer barrel greatly increases handling and range, allowing it to dominate the close-mid range field and making it splendid at headshots. Or at least it used to, before a massive nerf to recoil. With how long the weapon kicks up in the air after shooting, your effective rate of fire is equal to or worse than a Winfield with Iron Repeater.

Damage: 104
Range: 92m
Rate of Fire: 100rpm
Velocity: 360m/s
Ammo Types: Poison, High Velocity
Pros

• Great firepower, broadly comparable to the Winfield shot-for-shot but with better handling and a vastly superior rate of fire.
  
• Holds a much larger two-shot kill range than the standard Officer.
  
• Needs no perks to maximize its usage. Deadeye benefits from Steady Aim, which is only 3 cost.
  
• Deadeye variant is extremely powerful in skilled hands, especially with Steady Aim.

Cons

• Recoil was massively increased (on the unscoped variant) to the point that it's worse than the regular Officer.
  
• 21 shots runs out very quickly on a main, semi-auto weapon.
  
• While great for close range chest shots, aiming for the head is vital past about 40m.
  
• Poison ammo severely reduces stopping power, but can be good for disorienting.
  
• High Velocity ammo is great but also increases recoil, forcing you to work harder to keep on target.

Overview
Crossbows are a very interesting addition to a Hunter's arsenal. In skilled hands, they can fill the same role as a Shotgun at greater ranges and with more versatility, but they are much more difficult to handle and much more punishing to miss with up close. The full-sized Crossbow can take down Hunters with a single shot to the chest at 25+ meters (or any range with the stronger but slower special ammo types), while the small-sized Hand Crossbow can to the same at around 15m-20m and has more utility-based ammo options. The Bolt Thrower perk is an absolute must for PvP as it greatly cuts down on the huge reload times of both weapons.

Crossbows are especially noteworthy for being the only weapons in the game (save the Bomb Lance) that have projectile drop, meaning you need to not only account for leading your target for a slow muzzle velocity, but also account for drop by aiming above your target's head at longer ranges. Further, the two weapons (and both ammo types on the Large Crossbow) have different projectile speeds and therefore require different amounts of vertical compensation at the same ranges. The sights of both weapons are designed with this in mind and have space underneath the aim point to keep your target in sight when aiming high. This takes a lot of getting used to and makes the sights very clunky to people not familiar with them, so I recommend taking them to the Training mode so you can familiarize yourself with the aiming patterns and projectile drop of each weapon.

Both are great for environmental use, being able to silently kill Grunts and Hives and allowing you to retrieve your spent bolts to reuse later (if using base ammo). The Hand Crossbow particularly excels in this role since its reduction to Small size, making it a great sidearm on all-range versatile weapons like the Winfield or Karabiner. Its Poison Bolts are excellent against all targets except Hives and the Spider, but can't be retrieved after use. It is the only tool in the game (save the Poison Bomb) that can kill Crows and Ducks quietly with AOE damage.

Since Update 1.5, the various ammo types have been changed from being different Crossbow variants to being optional ammo types, up to two of which can be taken on the weapon. You can switch between them with X, which removes the current bolt and replaces it with the new one. If you have Bolt Thrower and switch ammo types with the weapon unloaded, the full long reload animation will play. I believe this is a bug with the Crossbow that should be fixed before too long; until then, it is faster to reload with your current ammo type and then switch out the bolts after the reload is finished.

Hand Crossbow ($35)
Being able to take a Crossbow in a Small slot is incredibly useful, especially when that crossbow is as versatile as this. The shots are slower and noticeably less powerful (one-shot range is in the area of 10m shorter or more) than those of its Large counterpart, but are also faster to reload (especially with Bolt Thrower) and come with much more versatile options. See the Ammo Types section for more info on this, but know that I highly recommend the use of Poison Bolts as they are incredibly powerful and multi-purpose.

Damage: 195
Range: 45m
Rate of Fire: Single shot, 5s reload
Velocity: 100m/s
Ammo Types: Poison Bolt, Chaos Bolt, Choke Bolt
Pros

• Able to one shot up to ~15m-20m on a chest shot and 45 on a headshot.
  
• Inflicts Medium bleeding on any hit with base (or Chaos) bolts.
  
• Silent shooting is excellent for confusing players.
  
• Excellent for PvE, especially with Poison Bolts.

Cons

• Much less powerful than the large Crossbow and has much more projectile drop.
  
• Ammo types offer excellent utility but lack the savage damage of the Explosive and Shot Bolts.
  
• Reload without Bolt Thrower is still very long, making it much more risky than a shotgun up close.

Ammo Types

• Poison Bolt ($25) These are by far the best option for the Hand Crossbow and also the first to unlock. They do a constant 127 damage at all ranges (further testing may be needed but this was the case with the old Poison ammo before 1.5) and leave behind a lingering poison cloud for ~2 minutes. This lets them one-shot 125 health Hunters and usually lets you one-shot even a 150 health target if they don't immediately leave the poison cloud, but said cloud is completely powerless if the target is under the effect of an Antidote Shot (If you know how much damage the bolt impact causes to a target with an Antidote Shot, please let me know). They one-shot any Infected at any range and is excellent against Bosses (but are useless against Hives and the Spider). Can kill a Meathead with 2 shots if you fire them quickly. Finally, they can quietly kill Crows which is extremely useful.
  
• Chaos Bolt ($10) Causes the same effect as a Chaos Bomb but for only a few seconds. This is generally far more convincing as they only fire one or two shots and can be fired much further, easily confusing enemies and making them turn around if fired over their heads.
  
• Choke Bolt ($20) Makes a smoke cloud that is smaller and has a shorter duration than the Choke Bomb. Not the best, but can be fired at the outside of a wall to check for enemies just behind it.

Crossbow ($55)
The full-length Crossbow is optimized for use against other Hunters rather than the environment, with ammo types that offer minimal utility but massive damage. Base bolts retain their effectiveness versus Infected and are especially useful in that they can one-shot an Immolator to the head at ~15m (though not silently as with the Poison Bolts). The reload is longer but so is the effective range, both in that the damage is higher and the projectiles are fully 50% faster (with base bolts).

Damage: 260
Range: 47m
Rate of Fire: Single shot, 6s reload
Velocity: 150m/s
Ammo Types: Explosive, Shot Bolt
Pros

• Great one-shot kill range, comparable to Shotgun Slugs.
  
• Inflicts Medium bleeding on any hit with base bolts, frequently leading to a kill on hits just outside of the one-shot range.
  
• Deals great damage to Bosses.

Cons

• Reload is long even with Bolt Thrower.
  
• Ammo choices are great but come with velocity (and therefore maximum range) penalties.
  
• No utility ammo options, only different ways of dealing direct damage.

Ammo Types

• Explosive Bolt ($70) Has a small stick of dynamite that explodes instantly on impact and can instantly kill Hunters on a direct hit while also breaking down doors and detonating barrels. This comes at a MASSIVE hit to velocity, reducing it to a mere 60m/s, forcing you to aim MUCH higher than other bolt types to land the hit and restricting its maximum useful range to under 40m. Good at flushing out targets and excellent for finishing off wounded enemies. Can one-shot any Infected, including the Meathead.
  
• Shot Bolt ($80) Has a buckshot shell on the tip that fires off on impact, allowing it to one-shot kill a 150-health Hunter at any range on a direct hit to the body and allowing it to do damage through walls (if the target is close behind them). The reduced velocity of 100m/s matches up perfectly with the Hand Crossbow's drop. Can't one-hit kill on a limb shot. Also excellent for disorienting players, many of whom will think that someone is shooting at them from very close with an actual shotgun. The best all-round PvP option of any bolt, balancing range, damage, and aimability.

Right now, there are too many melee weapons and variants for me to want to track them all. Instead, I'll detail the main melee tools and then give a broad breakdown of what to look for in the stats and how to best use melee.

Overview
Melee combat is an essential component of Hunt's PvE aspect, being the most simple way to score a silent(ish) kill on a zombie. However, many players fail to realize how powerful it can be against other Hunters. Many melee weapons are capable of killing a player from full health easily, and those that can't are sure to do it in two.

Most players don't expect a rush into melee range (nor do they expect a person to be waiting just around a corner with an axe raised), and will very frequently miss their shots as long as you don't run straight at them. It's a risky play, especially if the enemy has a shotgun or fanning/dual pistols, but it can be extremely effective. When done right, a melee rush will score the kill more often than not. It takes a lot of practice to learn when it's appropriate to rush into melee range and how to keep enough control to score the headshot, but hey. We all get our brains blown out now and again trying to work out this game.

Always be aware that Melee attacks are accompanied by a fairly loud grunt when you don't have the Silent Killer perk. Further, you audibly suck your breath in when readying a melee attack (also muted by Silent Killer) which can alert nearby players if you're camping a corner.

When looking at a melee weapon, there is more to know that just the base stats. Different weapons have different stamina costs and have different hitboxes that can work for or against you. Any weapon with a sweeping attack (especially the Talon) has a tendency to hit the arm rather than the torso, making it less likely to kill. As a general rule, if a weapon has more than 150 damage, aim for the chest. If it has less, aim for the head to guarantee the one shot. The easiest to use are usually Bayonets/Sabers, which have a long reach and enough damage to safely one shot kill on a hit to the chest. But most common against players is a knife fight, which requires nothing but experience in aiming and timing.

Damage will be rated as Light/Heavy as opposed to being broken up by range. Also note that all bladed Melee weapons apply Rending damage to boot, but not when used in a thrust to apply Piercing damage (Knife, Bayonet).

IMPORTANT! Bugs
Most can be spotty and unreliable, some weapons more than others. Attacks don't always register (failing to drain stamina and apply hits), or swing but miss targets that are clearly in hitting range. Until this is fixed, use melee at your own risk. The most guilty weapons are by far the Winfield and Romero Talon variants, which I have plenty of experience missing obvious hits with. Beyond this, swings seem more likely to miss when the attacker is sprinting or crouching. While this has been improved in steps over many patches, melee still isn't always 100% reliable.

Dusters ($15)
Damage: 31 / 72
Dusters are more effective against groups of infected and require much less stamina per swing than a Knife, but do less damage to players, the Armored, and Hellhounds. I recommend them for loadouts which already feature a bladed weapon/attachment, such as a Talon or Bayonet, such that you always have something that can safely deal with an Immolator.

The Nagant Officer Brawler includes Duster melee attacks.


Knuckle Knife ($15)
Damage: 58 / 92
Unlocked by using Dusters. The Knuckle Knife has a blunt light attack with decent damage, needing two hits to kill a Grunt and four for an Immolator, but has a crude knife on the end used in thrusting heavy attacks. While each individual attack is less powerful than can be achieved with the specialized Duster or Knife, the Knuckle Knife is perfect if you're using two medium-slot weapons with poor melee as it can handle all AI types safely and quickly. More stamina efficient than the Knife, but less than the Dusters.


Knife ($20)
Damage: 52 / 105
The go-to melee weapon is simple, reliable, and powerful. I've won many a gunfight by just charging an unexpecting opponent with a Knife after firing my Shotgun, and it has rarely let me down. Be sure to aim for the head, or you won't get the one-shot kill. If you land a stab that doesn't kill, switch to light attacks as they are faster, have a wider hitbox, and further apply bleeding damage.

Heavy Knife ($25)
Damage: 72 / 120
The biggest draw of this weapon is that it can one-shot Grunts on light attacks, making it far more effective against hordes. The Armored takes two heavy swings and one light. It isn't as effective against players, however, as hitting the head is much harder in the side-to-side sweep. It does, however, apply moderate bleeding on any hit, which means two light attacks is enough to kill a player pretty quickly.

Every Hunter has four slots for Tools and another four for Consumables. Tools are fixed to their slots and remain with the Hunter until their death; even if you use all charges of a Tool in a match, you will still keep them when you extract. Consumables, as the name implies, are lost once used and will need to be replaced either by using Toolboxes found throughout the map or by buying new ones once the match is over. In general, I highly advise that you fill out all of your slots every game, even if with cheap options. There isn't really any good reason to enter a game at less than full strength when so many options exist that cost next to nothing.

I'll start by going over the Tools. The Melee tools (Knife and Dusters, plus their variants Heavy Knife and Knuckle Knife) are covered more in the Melee section so look there for info. To put it briefly, always carry one Melee Tool, unless you have a melee weapon variant that you don't intend to swap out through the game. The Knuckle Knife is the most versatile of these options so I usually go for that if I have it unlocked. I'll use Dusters if I have a bladed melee mod such as a Hatchet or Bayonet for use against Immolators.

Tools: Utility

• First Aid Kit ($30): Every Hunter you take should have one of these, without exception. They allow you to heal 50 health with 3 charges, or a full 100 if you have the Doctor perk. Bandaging takes longer than using a Vitality shot but also pauses Bleeding and removes the effect once done.
  
  
• Spyglass ($8): Probably the most underused tool in the whole game. The Spyglass is dirt cheap and can be outstanding for spotting players in distant buildings, through thin gaps in walls at medium range, or those hiding in bushes. When looking through you can use the ADS key to greatly increase your zoom to far beyond the level of a Sniper scope, letting you spot enemies and line up shots you couldn't find with your iron sights or even a lesser scope. While these opportunities don't come up every game, to get even a single kill out of an $8 purchase is well worth it. If you don't already have a scope and have a free tool slot, I highly recommend you start taking a Spyglass.
  
  
• Choke Bombs ($25): When playing as a squad, I always recommend carrying Choke Bombs. They have 2 uses and create a large smoke cloud that extinguishes flames, disperses poison gas, disrupts sight, and causes any player to run through to violently cough for about 5 seconds after leaving the area, both revealing their location and causing their aim to kick around. While the most common use is to extinguish an ally who is being burned but is too risky to revive, they can also be used to impair the sight of distant snipers while you revive (the obstruction is far less effective up close, though) or guard a building entrance or block a window, as there is no way to disperse the smoke early.
  
  
• Quad Derringer ($30): If you're ever considering taking a Bornheim, it's usually better to take this instead. I mean it; the Derringer does the same damage and has the same ammo count at a seventh the cost while freeing you to take a more specialized sidearm. It's also inaudible past about 50m, making it great for picking off Hives or animal pens. The main drawback is its abysmal muzzle velocity, but the weapon is intended for very close range use. Can be surprisingly useful on builds with big, slow-firing main weapons to fill in close-range firepower, especially if you're good at aiming for the head.

Lighting

• Electric Lamp ($5): Generally not very useful. If you have lighting issues (as I do, with a bright window and white blinds) that make seeing in the dark a challenge, this can help. But it also makes you very easy to spot. At night or in a dark room, you can disorient enemies by pointing the light in their eyes but the cost for doing this is revealing your position early. Mostly good for unlocking the Fusees.
  
  
• Fusees ($10): Throwable flares with 3 charges that cast bright light for a long duration. Can also be used to kill Hives or the Armored, as well as detonating explosive barrels or breaking the lanterns of dog/chicken pens.
  
  
• Flare Gun ($25): Similar use to the Fusees but able to be fired a much longer distance, at the cost of a significantly shorter duration. They fall slowly and cast light in a huge radius. Can be very useful on Night maps to illuminate players hiding in dark forests and also does surprising fire damage on a direct hit (if you're that desperate).

Decoys

• Decoys ($8): A bag filled with 12 little bits that can be thrown, alerting mobs and noisemakers near the landing point and potentially making your enemy think you're somewhere else. Can also break lanterns above animal pens. Works best with Pitcher as the base throw range isn't very far so you can't make yourself seem very distant.
  
  
• Blank Fire Decoys ($45): Has half the charges at only 6 but is much more reliable; these ones trigger a random gunshot noise on landing which is much better for reliably distracting, especially with Pitcher. If you throw them too closely together, though, most enemies will clue in based on the rhythm and inconsistency in which guns seem to be present.
  
  
• Decoy Fuses ($60): The most pricey but also very useful. These (3 or 4, I don't have them unlocked this prestige) decoys perfectly mimic the sound of dynamite being lit and thrown, only to never actually explode. This can flush enemies out of cover very reliably, and works best if you throw a real grenade after a couple of decoys.

Trip Mines
The trip wire family is the most fun to use, if less reliable. They are best for covering choke points and either delaying or alerting you to a push. Most players are very aware of tripwires and will see them unless they are very well hidden, meaning they don't get triggered much of the time. However, even if spotted, they are noisy to disarm (without Poacher which nobody uses) and can thereby reveal enemies without ever being triggered. If placed directly next to a vaultable object, especially a window, they can't be spotted early and are very reliable. The biggest downsides to their use are their relatively high cost and just how often your allies will run into them without constant communication.

• Alert Trip Mines ($45): A pack of 4 plantable tripwires that make a lot of noise and throw a flare into the sky upon being triggered. While this can be useful for revealing locations, its more practical use is to create actual landmines: when placed close to an explosive barrel, the launched fuse will instantly detonate it, letting you instantly kill unsuspecting players with a red barrel or burn out a health chunk with a yellow one. Just be careful not to walk into your own mines and let your allies know not to do the same.
  
  
• Poison Trip Mines ($60): Probably the least useful of the mines. They only have 2 and don't do a lot of damage if an enemy just runs through, though they do apply intense Poison which is extremely disorienting and lasts 20 seconds. The poison cloud they create also lingers a couple minutes. But an enemy with an Antidote shot can just walk straight through it, making Concertina mines much more reliable.
  
  
• Concertina Trip Mines ($90): Each of these 2 wires will throw out a bundle of concertina wire which damages enemies and halts them in their tracks for a couple seconds, leaving them easy prey. Can also be manually triggered by the planting player to leave the wire blocking an entrance, preventing enemies from disarming them without effect. Works best if you hang around a nearby corner and poke as soon as the wire is triggered when the enemy is stuck, surprised, and injured.

There are a lot of perks in the game with more added almost every major patch. Here I will list my favorites and try to class them by utility and value. In general, it is best to prioritize perks that improve weapon handling for whatever your main weapon(s) is. This usually means some type of Sharpshooter or Scopesmith. After that, Beastface is a solid option, as is Necromancer. Following that you can pick whatever you think will be the most useful - I'll give my general thoughts and vague ratings here, but different playstyles will suit different perk builds and it's up to you to figure out what works best for yours.

Top Tier

• Beastface (3 Points): Dramatically reduces your odds of triggering crows and caged dogs, letting you move much faster when traversing the map quietly.
  
• Bulletgrubber (6 Points): Long rifles, the Specter, Terminus, and semi-auto Pistols (besides the Officer) all eject a round when reloading. This perk lets you recover that round, letting you reload freely without worrying about your ammo count and all with a snazzy animation.
  
• Bulwark (2 Points): Reduces the lethal radius of grenades, but only slightly. Best for its effect on explosive bullets, dramatically reducing the pressure they can put on you.
  
• Doctor (8 Points): Though expensive, this perk lets you fully top off your health way easier and cheaper than vitality shots. Coupled with Frontiersman, you might not even need shots at all.
  
• Gator Legs (2 Points): This has gone from one of the worst perks to one of the best - it very noticeably increases your speed when in water and makes you much harder to hit. While it's usually best to avoid fighting in water, sometimes you just have no choice. This is a lifesaver in such situations.
  
• Ghoul (4 Points): Being able to heal from environmental/AI damage on the fly and without burning healing supplies is hugely valuable and will prevent you from running around at 125 because you didn't want to waste a med kit only to be one tapped by a Mosin.
  
• Levering (3 Points): If you are using any weapon in the Winfield family, levering is a must. For just 3 points it hugely increases close range firepower and is the main reason that the Centennial and Terminus are viable weapons at all.
  
• Lightweight (5 Points): The second best stealth perk as it allows you to quietly vault and climb ladders to greatly increase your maneuverability while stealthy.
  
• Necromancer (4 Points): In my mind, this is the best perk in the game. Allows you to revive friendlies from ~20m in 10 seconds at the cost of 25 health. Most enemies won't be watching the downed body in a fight, they'll be looking for people going towards the body. That said, try to make sure they're not directly in the line of fire when revived as a matter of courtesy.
  
• Quartermaster (6 Points): Greatly expands your build options and makes sawed-off weapons way more viable. New ammo types for Handcannons make them a much more worthwhile sidearm, and the Vandal makes a great versatile Medium backup.
  
• Resilience (2 Points): Getting back up with 100 health can easily mean the difference between life and death, or at the very least will save you some healing supplies. Works best with a 50-25-50-25 chunk spread.
  
• Sharpshooter / Scopesmith / Devastator (Varies): If you are using a weapon that would benefit from one of these perks, prioritise it. They greatly improve your effective rate of fire and target tracking when in ADS.

Mid Tier

• Bolt Thrower (4 Points): An absolute must if you intend to use a Crossbow against players, but not as important if it's mostly for the environment.
  
• Bloodless (4 Points): The addition of Dumdum and Flechette ammo types makes bleeding much more commonly encountered and Bloodless can help you survive an extra few seconds to get into cover.
  
• Determination (3 Points): Makes dealing with hordes and Immolators way easier by significantly chopping the time it takes for stamina regen to restart.
  
• Frontiersman (8 Points): Good for first aid kits and any trip mines you might like to bring, but too expensive to be worth taking over two other strong perks.
  
• Greyhound (4 Points): A good perk, especially for making a break for it with the bounty. But stamina regen is generally quick enough that you aren't covering a ton of extra ground.
  
• Fanning (7 Points): Used to be absolutely essential until the addition of Levering and dual pistols, which do the same job but more accurate and cheaper. Still good on builds without Quartermaster or a Winfield primary, but you could also just take a Nagant Officer and not need to fan.
  
• Kiteskin (1 Point): Fully halves falling damage. It might not be as practical as I give it credit for, but I very much enjoy having it as a teritiary perk.
  
• Packmule (3 Points): Allows you to pick up double the supplies per toolbox found / player looted. Excellent for keeping grenade supplies and medkits topped up.
  
• Pitcher (6 Points): Can occasionally make or beak an opportunity to throw a grenade through a window or over a wall, but for 6 points it doesn't come into play terribly often. It does help with decoys, though.
  
• Salveskin (5 Points): Can easily save a health chunk in Butcher fights and can sometimes save your life when your body's burning and your partner can't get to you quickly. Not a priority pick, but good nonetheless.
  
• Silent Killer (5 Points): Decent, but in most cases you need to melee, the enemy has likely already heard you. Best for hiding your inhale when readying a swing to camp a corner.
  
• Steady Aim/Hand (3/2 Points): Pretty significantly reduces sway after a few seconds of aiming, making it that much easier to put shots on target. Not essential, but worth taking if you have a scope.

Bottom Tier

• Adrenaline (1 Point): Doesn't come in handy enough to justify the slot.
  
• Bolt Seer (2 Points): Now that special ammo is more common, you don't need to recover every spent bolt.
  
• Conduit (4 Points): Ghoul does the same job much better.
  
• Dauntless (2 Points): People usually cook their grenades too long for you to be able to defuse them. I've never once gotten use out of this perk.
  
• Decoy Supply (1 Points): Useful for saving toolboxes for what actually matters. It's worth the single point, but isn't worth one of your fifteen max perks unless you make heavy use of decoys or decoy fuses.
  
• Hornskin (3 Points): Most players just don't use blunt attacks against you unless VERY desperate.
  
• Mithridatist (3 Points): Rarely comes into play and entirely unnecessary if you use an Antidote Shot.
  
• Poacher (2 Points): Disarming traps usually doesn't come up enough to warrant a perk for it.
  
• Tomahawk (2 Points): I'm not going to lie and tell you this isn't my favorite perk in the game, but I will tell you that it's pretty much useless except for the laughs.
  
• Vigilance (2 Points): You don't need dark sight to spot most traps. Keep your eyes peeled, don't waste a perk slot.
  
• Vulture (3 Points): I take this perk regularly, but not because it's very good. I just like having as much Dollars as possible. Only one player needs it in a team of three.
  
• Whispersmith (2 Points): If you're so close to an enemy that they can hear you switching weapons, just don't switch weapons.

The map in Hunt is populated with a range of hostile mobs known in the lore as Infected (many just call them zombies), from the relatively harmless Grunts to the extremely powerful Meathead and jank as hell Immolator. These are not the main threat of the game, even a solo Hunter won't have much trouble as long as they keep their head on a swivel and don't run into big mobs with no stamina, but they are a threat nonetheless and become twice as deadly when there are also enemy Hunters around.

The AI of these mobs is simple yet unpredictable, as they will very often ignore someone standing a few feet away in favor of charging someone else twice as far. Agro ranges can be extremely inconsistent, especially with Hellhounds and the Immolator. In general, AI have three states:

First, the Passive state, in which they shamble around within the area they spawned or play dead/eat corpses in the case of Grunts. Different Infected have different levels of awareness in this state, with Grunts and Armoreds generally being the dumbest (besides the blind Meathead), and Hellhounds and Immolators being the easiest to alert (Immolators will sometimes notice you crawling through brush twenty meters away so keep your distance wherever possible.)

Second is the Alert state, which is triggered when an Infected notices you or a sound you make but hasn't yet pinpointed your location. Entering this state prompts each Infected to make an auditory cue and start walking at a faster pace towards the last place they saw or heard you. Armoreds, Hives, and Immolators make very loud noises, capable of being heard clean across most compounds, so keep an ear out for it and avoid alerting them when players are nearby.

Third is the Combat state, when the Infected sees you or hears you clearly enough to know exactly where you are. This will usually prompt a second auditory cue, after which the Infected will run at you as fast as it can along the shortest path it can map out and tries to attack you. Some are much better at pathing than others, notably the Immolator which will run clean around a compound with its X-Ray vision to find the one gap in the fence that will let it beat the fear of god into you. Most Infected can be easily outrun if you don't feel like fighting; Hellhounds and Immolators are the only ones that will catch a sprinting Hunter. Otherwise, melee to the head is the best way to deal with them.

Grunt
Grunts are by far the most common Infected type and spawn just about anywhere. They don't do anything special but sometimes play dead; if you see moving cloth on a corpse, that ain't a corpse. Otherwise, they are weak and easy to deal with. A melee hit to the head with any melee weapon or mod will kill them, two for gun-buts (one light and one heavy with a Rifle). Some carry torches, other carry cleavers, but they're all easy to kill. Occasionally a Doctor Grunt will spawn which does poison damage and drops a health kit when killed.

Armored
The Armored is far more dangerous than the Grunt, but still easy to deal with. Despite appearances, it is faster than the Grunt once it gets close enough to start properly charging. It also does far more damage, about 45, and can break down doors. It also makes a very loud noise when Alerted that Hunters can hear from a long way (and also ent-like ambient noises that let you know when there's one nearby). Any melee hit will stagger it and three knives to the head will put it down for good. If you don't have time or stamina, a single good hit to the legs will break them and restrict it to a very slow shamble (this is especially useful when entering a boss compound, as you can leave them alive with broken legs to act as sentinels that alert you to nearby enemies). They tend to spawn more in buildings or near clues.

There is also the Concertina variant, which is covered in razor wire and can be a big pain as it causes Rending damage (ie Bleeding) when you get too close or hit it in melee, unless you hit it with the end of a bayonet. They also take ~25% less damage from melee and ~25% more from bullets. Lanterns or Flares, however, are easier.

Hive
Hives are, in many cases, the most dangerous Infected because they will get you no matter where you hide. Upon agro, rather than charge you, they will send a swarm of wasps at you that will chase you for a long way and do fairly strong poison damage. The swarm can, however, be dispersed with a couple melee hits (Blunt works best, ie Gun butts and Dusters), and you can outrun them if they haven't already reached you. Killing the Hive instantly kills its active swarm. Killing them can be a bit of a hassle, though, as their head hangs off their left side and can't be hit from certain angles, plus the poison damage messes with your sight. If it is on the ground, just charging it with melee is the best call. Otherwise, you might need to consider shooting it or running away if it's on you. They often spawn on buildings or high walkways where they have good line of sight and are hard to reach.

Immolator
Nobody likes an Immolator. They have an insane and wildly inconsistent agro range, and once it's on you the only option is usually to kill it because it is so fast and relentless, plus it can beat down doors. They swing fast and do very little damage a hit, but far more dangerous is their ability to explode when hit with bullets or anything bladed for a LOT of fire damage. However, this ability can be turned against your enemies; if they have a flaming friend attacking them, shoot it once (in the body so it doesn't die) to give enemies a nice explosive surprise. Four gun-buts to the head or a few duster punches take them out, but hit detection can be wonky on these guys more than anything. Poison ammo is the safest way to kill them. NEVER engage enemy Hunters while you're near an Immolator.

Hellhound
Hellhounds spawn in packs of 2-4 in mostly open areas. Alerting one alerts the group, and they are among the better mobs at finding a Hunter, plus they can fit through spaces big enough for a crouching Hunter. Their hits cause pretty minor Rending damage, but they can still spell danger for a lone Hunter without stamina or a good weapon and the bleeding gets worse with every hit. Knives work best, as they are a one-shot with a heavy swing, but be sure to run straight into them when you swing because they will attempt to dodge backwards if attacked (when not lunging). Otherwise, avoid swinging wildly and watch out for the ones with helmets, as they need to be hit in the body.

Meathead
Meatheads do the most damage of any Infected, being able to two shot a Hunter, but are also the easiest to avoid. They are completely blind and stick to a small radius, usually blocking the entrance to a compound or standing on a clue, but you can usually sprint straight past them as long as you don't bump them and tank a hit. They will spawn a big group of leeches at their feet now and again, which will roam a small distance and are much more able to find and follow the player. Killing a leech (they only have 1 health) can alert (but not agro) the Meathead. However, leeches inflict Poison damage and the Meathead can 'see' Poisoned Hunters from a fair distance. So if you get hit, or pull a Hive, run. On death they have a 50% chance of dropping a perk, which makes them worth killing if you have the tools to do it quickly and safely. They're also a good way to unlock Explosives as a dynamite stick right at their feet will instantly kill them for a free 200+ XP. Never try to melee one unless you REALLY know what you're doing.

It's useful to know that when Alerted by damage, they will do a single running swing in the direction of the damage, then turn around exactly 180 degrees and do a standing swing at the ground behind them. After that, they'll go back to normal until Alerted again. This is the most predictable and consistent AI behavior in the game.

How I Hunt
I play this game very aggressively. If I think there is a fight to be had, I will almost always go in unless I have no chance of winning (wounded, alone, etc). I will also always go for the boss unless I'm solo and know that enemies are still around. I find that this is the most fun way to play the game, even if it doesn't result in the highest K/D ratio. I will run toward shots so long as they're close enough for me to get to with reasonable certainty that the enemy will still be there, as getting into fights means taking out competition.

This probably goes without saying, but it's also important is to stay as quiet as possible when not in a fight. Go toward enemies making noise, don't draw them to you with your own. Many fights are won with the element of surprise because you find you opponent before they find you. Basically, situational awareness and initiative are essential. But most important to know is that camping and avoiding fights, while a good way to survive, is very boring. PvP gunfights are where the game is at its most exciting, and I recommend seeking them out if you're looking to have real fun.

Courtesy (and Self-Care)

• When playing with random allies, don't goof around. Try your best to help them not die.
  
• If your ally dies, do your very best to revive them and don't just run away. Later on, they might do the same for you.
  
• Don't revive your allies if they're in the line of fire. That's called farming and it's extremely frowned on.
  
• If you're the type without much patience for allies dying and don't like risking yourself to revive them, you're better off playing solo. Nothing wrong with taking a sniper and picking off targets from the sidelines.
  
• When matching with random allies, you can see their stats by clicking their name. Don't feel too bad if you would rather leave than play with allies that have poor stats - games like that can get extremely frustrating and it isn't your responsibility to carry anyone.
  
• Related, you're well within your right to leave if you see an ally with a terrible or gag loadout.
  
• Always report cheaters/hackers, even if they're on your team. Cheaters make the game a worse place for everyone involved and deserve to be banned as quickly as possible.

Playsyle Tips: General/Loadout

• Tier 1 Hunters with white or blue shirts are incredibly easy to spot. Try to avoid using them.
  
• Always carry a melee weapon and make sure you have a Blunt option for Immolators, even just a rifle butt.
  
• Always carry at least a mid-ranged weapon. This can even be a pistol.
  
• Watch for redundant weapons. A Winfield+Pistol is mostly useful for the extra ammo.
  
• Likewise, a Shotgun + Dual Pistol has a lot of range overlap, yet I see it run constantly.
  
• The Bornheim should never be your long-range option.
  
• Play fun, not cheap. Take varied loadouts, keep multiple Hunters, and make things interesting.
  
• Even if trying to save money, don't take bad loadouts; a Springfield + Nagant Officer is cheap and effective, and always bring some tools and consumables.
  
• When playing cheap, never shy away from a fight. You don't have much to lose and are likely to come out with much better gear if you win.
  
• You seldom need to buy Lebels, Mosins, or Uppercuts yourself if you just loot them off enemies.
  
• Use Consumables. Grenades are expensive but extremely powerful. Vitality shots are life.
  
• Sticky Bombs or a Bomb Lance are great tools to have to kill the boss.
  
• Always bring an Antidote Shot; it will frequently save your life and the used slot is easy to refill with a tool box.

The Environment and Noise

• Voice and text chat are both locational and can be heard / seen by nearby enemies.
  
• Any sound you hear yourself make, your enemies can also hear. This includes switching weapons, entering Dark Sight, grunting due to bleeding, and sighing after healing.
  
• Sprinting through water is extremely noisy. Use bridges or boardwalks wherever possible.
  
• Avoid sprinting in tight locations. You'll often alert noisemakers you didn't know were there.
  
• Dying horses and caged dogs will idly whinny or bark without being alerted.
  
• Ravens are the most common noisemaker. Listen for their resting squaks.
  
• Look for lanterns and remember where they are for later use.
  
• Note the locations of explosive casks and stay away from them.
  
• Some people leave Alert Tripwire traps on explosive barrels, turning them into landmines.
  
• Don't walk over small fires. They do surprising damage.
  
• Familiarize yourself with the map; spectating allies (or enemies when dead) is the best way to learn new positions.

Fighting Players

• Play like there is always an enemy aiming at you - NEVER stand still unless you are positive that nobody knows where you are.
  
• Don't run in a straight line when in an open area. Make diagonal movements, jump now and again, don't make yourself an easy headshot.
  
• Avoid getting into a fight where there are Infected around, especially Hives, Hellhounds, and Immolators.
  
• Always assume an enemy has 150 health. If they get to cover, assume they used a Vitality shot and are back at full health.
  
• When healing, make sure to hold the trigger down until you see your health go up. It is very easy to cancel your heal by preemptively switching weapons.
  
• If you need to heal and are also bleeding, know that using a First Aid Kit (not a Vitality Shot) will also pause bleeding and end the effect on completion, allowing you to skip a step and save time.
  
• Assume movement. Smart enemies will relocate pretty quick after making significant noise.
  
• USE movement. Break line of sight and displace often in a firefight. The longer you stay in one place, the easier you are to hit.
  
• You are especially easy to hit if you keep poking the same spot.
  
• Wide flanking maneuvers are very effective, especially when coordinated with an ally.
  
• Avoid chasing a fleeing enemy. You're either walking into an ambush or are wasting your time.
  
• When in a gunfight, try to find angles that only expose you to one enemy at a time. If you can't do this, either stay in cover and wait for relief from allies or try to move to a new location.
  
• When throwing an explosive, cook it for a few seconds before throwing it (unless you're in danger of being rushed) and listen for enemy footsteps to know where to throw.
  
• If you hear a very nearby enemy prime a bomb, the best counter is often to rush out and shoot them while they are defenseless. Even if you blow up, you will have killed them, too, and probably would have blown up anyway.
  
• Camping downed enemies is scummy, but it works.
  
• Always assume your ally's body is being camped.
  
• You can kill a downed enemy permanently by lighting them on fire and waiting for it to go out. This makes them unlootable.
  
• If trying to extinguish a downed burning ally but they're in a bad position, you only need to tap the revive button to put them out; you don't need to stand there the whole revive.
  
• Or just throw a choke bomb, but know that you will be revealed if you go for the revive before the cloud disperses, as will your just-revived ally.
  
• Have provisions for close range. Most engagements occur within 50 meters and many within 10.
  
• Very few players expect a rush into melee range and most panic and miss when faced with it.
  
• Even a Nagant pistol can two-shot up close. Don't underestimate your enemy's firepower.
  
• Experienced players can spot you through small cracks in a wooden wall. When indoors, look for walls with no gaps as you are safest when near them.
  
• Jiggle side to side when in combat. You're much harder to hit when moving even a little.
  
• If shot at from an uncertain position, sprint for cover. Serpentine, Babou, SERPENTINE!
  
• Don't drop into a crouch in a gunfight. You are much easier to hit.

I've been playing this game since early access and have a lot of experience with it. I think the devs have done a good job of balancing things out (when you consider that weapons aren't made to be 'equal', only 'fair'), but I also have some thoughts on further changes that can be made in the interest of balance and bringing certain tools out of obscurity. While I have no expectation for anyone at Crytek to read this and take my suggestions, I feel like writing them down so here they are.

If any of you who cared to make it this far have any other thoughts on changes you think make sense, let me know - I like speculating on these things!

• Flare Buffs: Is it weird to anyone else that the flare, which is by a massive margin the hardest weapon to hit with in the game, gains no benefit from landing a headshot? Even a direct hit to the FACE with a FLARE only does 20ish fire damage, which is ridiculous since literally any other weapon in the game would be an instant-kill. Even if it did 40 fire damage on a headshot, it would still be a stupid idea to use in combat vs anything else, so why not just let us have some fun with it?
  
  
• Dual Pistol Nerfs: I said it before and I'll say it again: the ability to further zoom in and tighten spread to nearly half the dispersion radius on dual pistols is wholly overpowered and completely makes both Handcannons and Fanning (which, by the way, costs more than Quartermaster and doesn't let you carry double ammo) obsolete. Dual pistols need some kind of drawback. Their lower net fire rate versus Fanning is negated by their vastly increased effective range and ammo count, and the fire rate isn't even an issue at all when using dual Officers. The ability to ADS should be significantly nerfed, as the ability to place headshots at 20-30m with such frequency based solely on the merit of RNG is neither fun nor fair to face off against in a game that is all about proper placement and good aim under pressure.
  
  
• Bornheim Buffs: Just give the thing more ammo; 16 shots is garbage on a gun that costs $201 and can't possibly two-shot even point blank. That or reduce its price as it being over triple the price of the much-more-powerful Officer with the only advantage of a faster reload is insane to me.
  
  
• Iron Devastator: Pretty please move this perk way down the unlock ladder - there's no good reason for the Specter to unlock at 36 while the one perk that applies solely to it and isn't even very useful outside of slugs unlocks at 65.
  
  
• Perk Limit: As more perks get added, more and more face power creep and become less viable options. While many of these are cheap, the slot they eat up isn't worth it when you get so many upgrade points (especially with the addition of findable point packs on the map) to just take better perks. Upping the count to 20 would be a good way to bring some perks out of obscurity, or instituting some kind of system that separates perks into Primary/Secondary lists with independent caps so the more niche perks don't take up the space of the more ubiquitous and versatile ones.
  
  
• Blood Bonds for Perk / Health Stripping: 25 Blood Bonds is waaaaay too much to respec a single perk or health chunk. For that price, I would expect to be able to strip all of my chunks and my perks, given that 25 Bonds is less than most get in the average lifespan of a given Hunter's career. Two and a half games to get rid of one perk is ????
  
  
• Store UI: The UI for the store and weapon selection was designed when there were far fewer weapons and no Legendary options. Navigating it gives me a headache and the sorting of weapons in the roster selection seems to follow no algorithm whatsoever. Clean things up, make icons more compact, make variant display collapsible, do something to fix it.