Welcome to my Hunt: Showdown new player guide. I'm going to be going over weapons, tools, consumables and perks and what I think is good and why. I'm not the final voice here and everything is subject to get patched at some point, so please use this guide to form your own opinion and find the stuff that works for you.

Guide is I need of heavy updates and many things have changed. Will happen soon.

I'm going to be covering weapons with bullet'd lists for their variants. I may expand beyond bullet'd lists in the future if it's what people want. The base variant determines where all variants end up in this guide for now.


Crossbows in this game are the definition of risk and reward. They are very satisfying to succeed with and powerful tools overall due to being silent as noise is a huge factor in Hunt. I can't recommend running any Crossbow without Bolt Thrower, but it's unlocked very early and the Hand Crossbow can be paired with decent guns until you get the full sized Crossbow

• Crossbow - One shot to the body in close range, procs bleed as well though so it can kill to an impressive range or put your opponent in a position where they either have to bandage or die which means you can press your advantage. The sight is good (IMO) but hard to get used to. Great for blitzing the map because you can kill everything quietly and quickly, except armoured.
  
  
• Crossbow Explosive - On paper it's great, in practice it's bad. It doesn't one shot unless it's a direct hit to the upper chest or head, and it has horrible drop to the point that I'd say the Romero 77 has better range. It's a dissapointment to use.
  
  
• Crossbow Shotbolt - This emits a shotgun blast on the impact zone. What that means is that it's one of the most reliable one shot weapons in the entire game. The downside is you can't get your bolts back, and it's loud, which kinda defeats the purpose of a crossbow. Because the blast happens at the source you can also use it as decoys which has won me more than a few firefights.
  
  
• Hand Crossbow - The effective range lost by going down to the hand crossbow is quite massive. If you hit your shots and use it at close ranges it should serve you well.
  
  
• Hand Crossbow Poison - Useful only in meme builds. Does not one shot, but does leave a cloud of poison. Can kill non-spider bosses relatively quickly, but all crossbows are surprisingly good at it.

The Lebel is a fantastic weapon. It uses long ammo so it's two shot kill to the body, has high muzzle velocity, low damage drop off and good penetration. Compared to the Mozin it has a bigger magazine, slower fire rate and slower reload due to not using stripper clips. On paper the Mosin is better, but they are close enough that personal preference should trump that. One of the best iron sights in the game. It's unlocked fairly late but may become your go to gun, give it a shot.

• Lebel 1886 - Everything I said above. Pair it up with Bullet Grubber so you don't lose ammo when reloading (which you should do with all varients) and Iron Sharpshooter to stay ADS'd between shots.
  
• Lebel 1886 Marksman - This is my favourite scoped weapon in the entire game. The scope is very nice and it pairs up with the Lebel's strengths very nicely. Pair it up with Marksman Scopesmith so you stay ADS'd between shots.
  
• Lebel 1886 Talon - Talon is probably the worst pseudo-melee varients. I suggest you bring a knife or dusters instead, but you can use it if you want to save a tool slot.

Large ammo weapon, two shot kill, low damage fall off, maximum penetration. The downside is that you lose ammo when you reload unless you have the perk bullet grubber and you need a perk in order to stay ADS'd between shots. Considered one of the best weapons in the game. As a new player you're not going to be able to buy one, but I highly recommend picking it up off dead hunters if you get the chance.

• Mosin-Nagant M1891 - This is the basic version. A very solid weapon, even without the perks that make it better it's a great choice.
  
  
• Mosin-Nagant M1891 Bayonet - I personally think bayonet versions are the best when it comes to the pseudo-melee weapons. I will personally not usually shoulder the extra cost and increased sway but you can do so if you want to save the tool slot.
  
  
• Mosin-Nagant M1891 Sniper - The scope has a lot of zoom, which can be too much in close to midrange firefights. It does exactly what it says and can let you pick people off from ranges where they can't fight back. Needs Sniper Scopesmith to stay ADS'd between shots.
  
  
• Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez - This is a meduim slot weapon. The only thing it loses for going down in size is control, but it loses a lot of control and has quite possibly the highest sway in the entire game. It is absolutely worth using especially with quarter master and a full sized shotgun, if you can handle the sway.
  
  
• Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez Mace - See above. It loses no control for being a melee weapon varient which sounds fantastic, but is not. The melee is very stuby and hard to get used to, it will take practice and isn't any better than the Dusters.
  
  
• Mosin-Nagant M1891 Avtomat - A ten round mag, full auto action, two shot kill. Sounds insane? It is. It kicks harder than a spooked horse and it's impossible to only fire one shot (short of some janky interactions with swapping weapons). The latest weapon you unlock in the game. I don't want to share this tip because the less good Avtomats out their the better, but ADS at all ranges with this gun and tap fire, the hipfire is absolutely useless.

It uses special ammo, which can only be restocked from special ammo boxes, and is a one shot to the body. Two barrels as well, sounds amazing right? Well it has the worst sight in the game and is kinda inaccurate. It also doesn't always one shot and has the highest recoil quite possibly ever. It's used best as a kind of shotgun because the damage dropoff is severe. It also eats bosses for breakfast if you hit them in their weak points. It's unlocked very late, so if you see it you're probably picking it off a dead hunter. If you do, be warned. It's a temperamental mistress.


One of my personal favourites. A shot to the body will bring players down to 1HP remaining which means you can kill them with literally any follow up you choose so they're often paired with Bornheim No. 3s and Cadwell Conversion Chain Pistols with fanning. It's an unforgiving weapon though, if you miss or their partner is ready to come at you, you're going to be in a bad spot.

• Sparks LRR - See above.
  
  
• Sparks LRR Silencer - Silenced weapons are usable (they didn't used to be). I enjoy this weapon quite a lot, but you are losing a lot of effective range and some stopping power. Be ready to follow up with a quick shot from your secondary to confrim the kill, and don't be suprised if it takes more than one additional shot if you're using compact.
  
  
• Sparks LRR Sniper - People that utilize this weapon correctly are absolutely terrifying. Sniper scopes have a very large zoom, so you can lose a lot in close to medium range fights but you will also be able to pick off people that can't even fight back if you pick your battles and play exepctionally well.

It's a medium rifle with okay iron sights. Two shot kill, semi decent range and penetration. Internal magazine which is a pro or con depending on how you look at it, but you do not need Bullet Grubber to make it work. It's unlocked very early so I suggest picking it up and sticking with it if you like it.

• Vetterli 71 Karabiner - With Iron Sharpshooter you can stay ADS's between shots. It does well if you hit your shots, but you can be outranged by long ammo weapons.
  
• Vetterli 71 Karabiner Bayonet - Bayonet is the strongest melee varient in my opinion. You get a bit of increased sway but it's not more than is managable. You can pay the extra to save the tool slot if you wish.
  
• Vetterli 71 Karabiner Deadeye - Deadeye scopes have the least zoom, so I find them effective at all but the most extreme ranges. If you enjoy deadeye varients this is something to go for. Pick up Deadeye Scopesmith to stay ADS'd between shots.
  
  
  Winfields
  Lever action, solid fire rate and a ton of reserve ammo with solid magazine sizes and no Bullet Grubber needed to keep all your ammo when you reload. The downsides are that it uses the worst ammo type, compact. That means three shot kill to the body at all but the closest ranges, low muzzle velocity, the worst penetration (besides shotguns which don't count) and the lowest effective range. You need a perk to stay ADS'd between with all varients. If you're going to use a Winnie, go for the head. Also press your ammo advantage and spam shots.
  
  
  • Winfield M1873 - By the time you unlock the non-C varient Winfields, there are a bunch of other toys to play with and I personally don't use the Winfields anymore. If you do like them, this is a good balance of cheap and effective.
    
    
  • Winfield M1873 Aperture - If you like this you can save a bit of money while getting a full sized Winfield as it's cheaper than the base variant, but the general consensus is that aperture sights are bad.
    
    
  • Winfield M1873 Swift - It comes with a speed loader that loads 7 rounds at a time. It makes the reload hella fast, but you have to have at least 7 bullets out to take advantage of it. You unlock it so late in the game that there's flashier things to use, but it's considered the best version of the Winfield by most people.
    
    
  • Winfield M1873 Talon - While it looks hella cool, it's not worth the raised cost in my opinion. The melee takes a lot of stamina so it struggles versus groups and you can just take a knife or dusters.
    
    
  • Winfield M1873C - The C is for cheap. It's actually for compact, you get a considerably smaller magazine, but it also handles better. You also unlock it way earlier so it's a go to for a cheap, reliable gun.
    
    
  • Winfield M1873C Marksman - With the effective range that the Winfield has I simply can't recommend using a scoped variant, especially with the loss of mag capacity over full sized Winfields.
    
    
  • Winfield M1873C Silencer - Usable for PvE, useless for PvP. If you want a silent option to clear out hives and such, stick to throwing knives or the silenced Nagant pistol. I can't recommend this weapon at all.

Hunt: Showdown shotguns are not like other game's shotguns. They are designed to be realistic, which means you can one shot people to impressive ranges but you're going to need to be able to aim. They all do rending damage, which procs bleed, so they can put enemies in a bad position even if they don't kill. All shotguns spread is static, it is not affected by ADS, crouching, walking or sprinting, so hipfire is your best friend.


This is the traditional shotgun. Fairly reliable one shots, side by side barrels. It's exactly what it says on the package, and it's good.

• Caldwell Rival 78 - This is most people's go to shotgun. If you like the playstyle, rock it. It's good. You have to be kind of close but the second shot gives you some safety if you are off target or decide to try for a kill at longer ranges.
  
  
• Caldwell Rival 78 Handcannon - It's not the most reliable one shot, but you have two and that'll usually do it unless you aim like a potato or are trying to shoot through a wall.

Unlocked late in the game this semi-automatic five round (with one in the chamber) shotgun used to be meta defining. Crytek has done a good job keeping it viable and chopping back at its power. It has low one shot range and high kick. You can spam out shots to kill someone if you get it, but they'll usually have a chance to react so I suggest getting up close and personal. If you see one on a dead hunter, give it a go. It also eats bosses, if you can handle burning your ammo.


This is going to one shot fools to an insane distance, if you can keep it centered on their chest. It's actually disgusting the ranges this can kill at, but you got to make sure you don't overestimate its abilities or you're going to be in trouble. Give them a shot, I'd say or two but you have to reload first.

• Romero 77 - The base variant. It's solid if you can get the one shot and reload before their partner comes at you, or if your partner is ready to take the other guy out, or you can duck into cover. Just don't charge in single barrel roaring.
  
  
• Romero 77 Talon - Due to high stamina usage and the cost increase I'd generally recommend you grab yourself a knife instead. It's usable if you like it, though, and can surprise people with the fact that you can shotgun and then melee very quickly.
  
  
• Romero 77 Handcannon - The main appeal of the 77 is that you gain the ability to one shot at long range. If you bring the handcannon you're now using a medium weapon at the cost of losing that ability. I just can't say this is a good option because it fails to one shot too frequently, and you're often dead in CQB before you can reload.
  
  
• Romero 77 Hatchet - See above, however you gain a very solid melee variant. The Hatchet kills grunts in one light which is not bad at all.

My personal favourite shotgun. It's unlocked somewhat late so it's going to be out of reach for new players, but it's a strong option. Pump action with 5 rounds, fairly reliable one shot, hella reliable two shot.

• Specter 1882 - The base version. Like all versions you need bullet grubber to not lose a round when you reload it, and the (completely useless) perk iron devastator to stay ADS'd while shooting it.
  
  
• Specter 1882 Bayonet - The ability to kill armoured in two charged attacks and hives in one is pretty solid and worth the downsides, but not worth the cost increase in my opinion.
  
  
• Specter 1882 Compact - You sacrifice not only effective range, but also one ammo capacity for the option of running a medium sized Specter. That being said, it is a beast and competes with the Rival 78 Handcannon for best in slot meduim shotgun.

In my personal opinion pistols are the least balanced weapons in this game. I don't mean they're overpowered or useless, I mean that as you progress you will begin to unlock things that outshine the other pistols like the sun outshines a candle. Picking good pistols off of dead hunters can give you some real ground early in the game as most experienced hunters run Cadwell Pax or better.


Further down this list is a weapon called the Dolch. This is baby Dolch, and that's insane. You get it very early, so it's actually within a new players reach and it might just become your best friend. Three shot kill, but it's semi-automatic with a five round magazine that can reload amazingly fast if you empty the whole thing, AND it's accurate as hell. I expect this to get nerfed at some point. In my opinion one of the top 5 small slot weapons in the game. Some people do prefer the Nagant Officer but I'm not one of them. The extended variant has an eight round magazine but only ever reloads one bullet at a time. In my opinion it is worth the downside.


I'm going to cover the entire Cadwell pistol family here, so buckle up there's a lot.

Caldwell Conversion Pistol

It's better than the Nagant. Honestly that's the only redeeming quality. You're going to use this because you have no better option and you want to unlock other variants. It's three shots to the body, using compact ammo. Single action, classic slow revolver reload. Handles surprisingly well.

Caldwell Conversion Chain

This exists for one reason and one reason only, and that reason is the perk called Fanning. One of the first times you'll feel powerful in this game is going to be using Fanning with one of these. It handles a little worse than the normal conversion but the recoil is lessened. Otherwise they're the same functionally. When you do fan it, do yourself a favour and tap fire, don't hold.

Caldwell Pax/Claw

This is one of the outstanding secondaries in the game. Medium ammo, two shot kill, handles decently well, solid amount of backup ammo and you can fan it if you want to. I personally will run the Uppercut over this weapon most of the time but that's a matter of preference or ammo synergy. The claw knife is strictly worse than the real knife. It has stubby range and it takes four charged attacks to kill an armoured and that's really what makes it bad in my opinion.

Caldwell Conversion Uppercut

Another of the outstanding secondaries. Long ammo, two shot kill, good penetration and low damage falloff. Basically running a rifle in a small slot. It has pretty heavy sway that can be hard to master but it hits like a truck, and you can fan it. Compared to the Pax it has more sway, a slower reload and less ammo, but better penetration and less damage drop off.


A ten round magazine that fires semi-automatic and uses special ammo. That means it kills in two shots and can fire those shots very quickly. This gun is strong as hell and can feel very unfair in the hands of a skilled hunter that can land both those shots. Crytek has worked to make it so you're not completely screwed against it, it kicks hard and requires Bullet Grubber to not lose a bullet every time you press R, but don't be fooled, this is one of the best weapons in the entire game. It's unlocked late but if you see one on the ground I'd consider it a must grab. There's also a precision version which is totally viable if you're looking for a medium slot weapon, the sway reduction of the precision version is very good.


It's a shotgun and a revolver, it holds 9 compact ammo and 1 shotgun shell. The shotgun requires you to be up close and personal to one shot and changing modes takes a bit of time. This gun is mostly considered a novelty weapon, however it is one of my favourites because it's fun to use and has very nice iron sights. Also pairs very well with fanning due to the high ammo capacity.


Arguably the worst weapon in the entire game, at base. Has some redeemable qualities in the variants. Compact ammo so it has high fall off and is three shot kill to the body.

• Nagant M1895 - Low damage, pathetic rate of fire, slow reload. Only useful to bring more ammo for your Winfield and to grind the variants.
  
  
• Nagant M1895 Officer - From zero to hero. This is the only dual action pistol in the game right now. Dual action means that pulling the trigger also pulls back the hammer. This means that it fires pretty fast, however it's unlocked after the Bornhiem No. 3 so I can't say there's any reason to use it.
  
  
• Nagant M1895 Officer Brawler - See above, only with slightly reduced recoil, higher sway and a built in brass knuckle. I personally like it, but it's not worth the extra money over the base officer most of the time. It's perfectly serviceable but as I've said before, just bring a knife or dusters.
  
  
• Nagant M1895 Silencer - Near useless for PvP. You can, however, bring this as a way to kill hives easily and take out grunts from a distance. Also useful for animal cages. Taking this can allow you to move a lot faster, at the disadvantage of crippling yourself versus Hunters.
  
  
• Nagant M1895 Precision - It has a fire rate increase as well as a big sway decrease. It is a very underrated weapon and can put in work if your aim is good.
  
  
• Nagant M1895 Deadeye - I have been known to take this as a long range option sometimes. It's a usable weapon but don't let the scope fool you into thinking that you can engage at long ranges as you're still firing compact.
  
  
• Nagant M1895 Officer Carbine - A large slot Nagant. High rate of fire, fairly accurate, decent iron sights. It's an all around solid primary. Since the Winfield got nerfed, I think it's the best compact ammo primary but it takes a long grind through the late unlocked Officer tree in the book of weapons to get your hands on it so it's outshined by other guns in my personal opinion.

Unless you’re doing a meme build you are always going to bring a melee weapon with you. If you’re not rocking a pseudo-melee you’re bringing one of these. The ability to kill fairly quietly and quickly is hella important in this game.


This is an extremely unconventional weapon. If you want to go fast and quiet there’s nothing better. With one of these in your hands there isn’t a single thing in the game that threatens you. Except Hunters. Light melee one shots Grunts, charged one shots Hives and armoured and it can even break down doors in just two charged melee attacks. The charged melee also sweeps a wide area which means you can kill multiple grunts, or even Hunters, in one swipe. The bomb part one shots everything but bosses. It’s a late unlock and not very popular. Filling a large slot with a weapon that’s pretty much only good for PvE or CQB with hunters is a bold move. It’s something to look forward to trying. I personally like to pair it with Quartermaster and an Obrez to help cover more ranges.


One charged for grunts and Hives, two for armoured. The “PvP” oriented melee as it kills hunters in one charged attack to the chest. It’s more expensive than the machete, but if I’m deciding to run a build with melee I prefer the Sabre as I don’t think light meleeing grunts is worth not one shotting hunters, but the Sabre does unlock very late.


Underrated. Yes, you are using a medium slot for a melee weapon. However it’s practically free and it one shots grunts with lights while the charged attack one shots Hives and Armoured. One shots hunters with charged and is viable for killing bosses fairly quickly and quietly. It can be paired with the Nagant Precision for ranged engagements to make a fairly viable build, but you're not going to be in an advantage at any range but within axeing distance. As a new player you can run it on budget builds especially if you’re just going for some clues and XP and don’t want to get into it with other Hunters, but I recommend you get into it with other Hunters anyways.


One light kills grunts, one charged for hives and three charged for an armoured. This is the “PvE” oriented melee as it does not one shot hunters with a charged attack unless it’s to the head. It lets you move through compounds a lot faster as you can kill mobs easier, but you are sacrificing running a pistol for that. It is better than the knife, but whether or not it’s worth it is up to you.


Most of the time you’re running two guns and one of these. Most people that play Hunt think the Knife is better.

Knife

• One shots grunts with a charged to the head or upper chest.
  
• Can one shot Hives with a charged to the head or two shots otherwise.
  
• One charged attack for hell hounds.
  
• Three shots armoured with charged attack.
  
• Makes immolators blow up in your face, I believe it's only 3 charged attacks though.
  
• Can one shot hunters to the head with a charged melee. If all else is failing you can actually stab people to death.
  
  Brass Knuckles
  
  
  • One shots grunts with charged to the head only.
    
  • One charged headshot for hives, two body shots otherwise.
    
  • Four charged attacks and one light to kill armoured
    
  • Two charged attacks to kill hellhounds, but it does ragdoll.
    
  • Immolators hate these. Takes some time to kill but is very safe.
    
  • Stubby range that I find feels really bad and leads to missed punches.
    
  • Very stamina efficient.
    
  • I’ve never killed a hunter with it. Died both times I tried. Have died to it once though I don’t know what it took cause I got shot first.
  I have gone back and forth between these over time, but due to the Immolator being nerfed you are more than okay without the Dusters because the knife is safer versus Hellhounds, other Hunters and faster to kill armoured.

These cover different rolls from diverting the enemy, to healing you, to setting stuff on fire. You'll find what you like to run with best, but always bring a medkit.


They utilize the handy aim assist firing arch. The regular decoys make metalic clank sounds, the blanks make a random gunfire noise (I don't believe Bornhiem, Lebel, Mosin, LeMatt are in the pool but I could be wrong), usually a Winfield. They're not very useful for distracting mobs usually, as the hightened aggro range from being alerted usually means they'll come after you pretty quick. They are both fantastic for breaking lanterns over dog kennels and chicken coups and for baiting hunters into things. Experiment with them, they can be very useful. I generally prefer the normal decoys as I often bring them just to take out kennels quietly. They both also benefit from the perk Decoy Supply which allows you to restock them at ammo crates, but I find that I never make it through all my decoys anyways unless I'm trying to unlock something in the book of weapons or I'm pelting an ally Hunter for the memes.


It's a trap. Honestly one of the worst and most useless items in the game. Nowhere is dark enough that you need it and there is no scenario where you want to be seen, so why light yourself up? The one use case is to attempt to blind enemy hunters on night maps but I honestly cannot recommend this item to ever be used. Extract with one twice to unlock Fusees and then throw them in the trash.


Comes with three charges, each charge heals for 50 points. Hold right click and then left click to use, otherwise you'll just punch. Can also be used on your partner to heal them, hold right click while close to them and then hold left click. The doctor perk allows you to heal for 100 per charge which is, quite honestly, insane. This item should be strapped to your side like a good melee. Honestly it's a must have. It's 65 dollars for 150 points of healing you can segment out or share with a friend. Once you unlock this, don't leave home without one. Seriously it's a game changer.


These are going in the same section because they're functionally the same. They emit a hella bright light that can be blinding on night maps, some people attempt to use that to their advantage by blinding enemies and you can too if you'd like. They can also break kennel lanterns and kill armoured or hives in one shot, as they do set mobs on fire. Killing hives or armoured with fire makes a lot of noise (due to the screaming) but is a safe way to do so. Both come in packs of three.


It's a 4 barrel pistol. It's relatively quiet and can one shot hives and grunts to the face, as well as being useful as a way to deal with dog kennels. Because it is louder than decoys or fusees I'll general not take it, but it's a viable option if you like it. You can also do a meme build where you take no guns and kill a hunter with it, as it is one shot headshot in close range, then steal his guns so he gets revived with nothing. Personally I prefer quieter ways of doing what this does, but it is an option on the table.


Useless. You should be able to see fine without it, and if you can't, what are you going to do when you see something far off?


Get good with these. They are fantastic. They are one shot upper chest/head to grunts and one shot headshot on hives and hellhounds. The real perk is that they are very quiet and safe, if you get good with them. Their downside is being trash for killing armoured and the fact that you can lose them. They can also be used to break lanterns for kennels, but you're not going to get that knife back.


These set down a wire that when walked through will trigger the effect. These are a recent and very welcome addition to the game (at least IMO I know some people hate them). They allow you to set up defense at the boss compound or anywhere else you need to hold out. Fun fact, even if it's not your trip mine you can disarm it and put it somewhere else, so be warry that they are not a foolproof defense and try to place them where they're in good choke points that are hard to see.

• Alert Trip Mine - Sets off a flare and fireworks. Outside the flare can be seen from fairly far away and it can be heard from at least a compound over. Very useful for letting you know when somebody decides to move through somewhere and has jump scared me many times.
  
  
• Concertina Trip Mine - Concertina is one of the coolest things in this game. If this is set off it spits out razor wire everywhere and makes a decently loud pop. The wire slows and bleeds anything that tries to move through it. A very effective area denial tool, just be wary that if it goes off, you can't walk through the wire either without painstakely, and loudly, meleeing it out of existince. People have also begun to adapt and just charge straight through it, so be ready to round the corner guns up if one of yours goes off.

I'm going to put these into categories based on what they do but there's a lot of separation in these.


Refills half of your extra reserve ammo. So remember to reload first. Both partners can use it, as it has two charges, but be aware that enemies can also grab it. It's one of the most expensive consumables in the game. If it was a tool you'd get it back every time, but as a consumable it's hard to justify. It's mostly used for the Nitro, Bomb Lance and Crossbows as they can't restock at normal ammo crates and purple boxes are rare.


The weak one gives you temporary poison immunity which is useful for spider or if you're bringing poison bombs. The full strength version makes you immune to poison for the entire match. That means hives are a joke, spider is a joke and you can do some meme builds with hive bombs and the like. In general, I'd say it's not overly useful but if this is something you want to bring every match because you hate poison, I won't fault you for it.


Makes it sound like there's a rootin tootin gun fight going off for about 30 seconds. Most players can recognize it by now, but it is very useful for causing chaos, or drawing the entire map to one location. I almost never bring these personally but if it sounds fun to you give it a try. A good strategy is to throw one a compound or two over before you start the banish.


Lays down a thicket of barbed wire in a large AoE. The barbed wire causes bleed and slows people and monsters moving through it. Used to be great for killing bosses, now it's not so good. Fantastic for area denial, throw one down on the direction you don't want people to come in when you're banishing and forget about that area. Can also be used offensively, throwing directly at people, but I don't recommend it. You can also throw it ontop of bounty tokens or downed enemies to force a fight.


You are crippling yourself if you don't bring some form of explosive. If you find yourself in a situation where you need one, there's no replacement. They all one shot hunters within decent ranges of the blast and are great for flushing out campers. They generally have a four second fuse timer, so keep that in mind if you decide to cook it, or it gets thrown at you!

• Dynamite Stick - The basic version. Fairly cheap, unlocked very early and it does its job, like a grenade in most games.
  
  
• Dynamite Bundle - For four times the cost you get about three times the boom. The math does not check out but it is worth more money, as the blast radius increase is insane, as is the damage. It's unlocked much later though.
  
  
• Big Dynamite Bundle - The game says it the best, "A bundle of many dynamite sticks. When something really needs to be blown up...". Absolutely chunks bosses but I can't recommend doing that. It has an insane blast radius but reduced range over other explosives, you are throwing more weight after all.
  
  
• Frag Bomb - Designed to kill hunters, if we're straight honest. They kill to good range and proc bleed. In my opinion the best bang for buck as explosives are generally used vs hunters anyways.
  
  
• Sticky Bomb - Sticks where it's thrown. It also has double the fuse timer of regular dynamite. Nichely useful when you don't want your dynamite to bounce, but the doubled fuse timer kills it for me personally.
  
  
• Waxed Dynamite Stick - This one does something all the others can't, and that's explode in water. I don't think it's overly useful personally, as most engagements aren't near water and it does have a worse blast radius. Up to you if you want to cover the additional option for more over a regular stick.

I'm going to cut right to the chase here, the main reason you're bringing one of these is to burn the body of a dead hunter. That makes them incredibly strong, but in my personal opinion really chops down which ones I'd use. They are also all effective short term area denial tools.

• Fire Bomb - The basic one. It's cheap and unlocked very early. In my opinion you should always be running fire so you can force somebody out if you manage to get a pick on one partner in a group. It's cheap and it does what you want, why not bring one?
  
  
• Hellfire Bomb - This costs $70. For the extra money you get an actual explosion on impact, that chunks majorly. The fire, however, lasts for less time. It's worse as an area denial tool, and much more expensive as a body burner, but insane when thrown directly at an enemy.
  
  
• Liquid Fire Bomb - Can be used on water. In the rare circumstance that you killed somebody in water it's invaluable, but that happens very rarely and you could use poison or concertina as well. I don't think it's worth it.

This has been nerfed down but is still broken. You can be looking directly away from it and still get blinded. It will give you a nice handy hit marker if you blind somebody, in which case you should rush them and end them. Be wary that most people that get blinded will run towards their nearest ally.


A portable hive swarm. There's no better tool for flushing out campers, assuming your aim is good and they aren't using antidote shots. Can also aggro you though, so be careful.


Lasts for an amazing 5 minutes and actually does solid damage to anybody that sits in it for any period of time. This is an area denial item, and can be paired with the antidote shots for some surprising results.


Do you want to grab an axe and smash the bosses head in completely quietly? That's what these are for. You can also use it right before you melee charge a hunter but the main use is killing bosses. It's useful against Butcher mostly, as Spider is hard to melee and Assassin has invincibility phases.


These come in two flavours, weak and normal. Weak heals for 75, costs $25 and is unlocked at bloodline 1. Strong heals to full, costs $85 and is unlocked through use as the last item in the tree. The ability to heal yourself to full after taking 149 damage from a Sparks, or 125 from a Mosin is absolutely worth it in my opinion. If you need a vitality shot, there is no replacement. I rarely enter the bayou without one on me. Yes, it's $85 but it could save your life. If your health bar layout has a 50 at the end, you can justify using the weak to save money but it's still riskier.

There are various things you can find laying around the bayou. Some of them are actually very useful and you should keep an eye out for them, even if you don't need them then and there, knowing where a spare lantern or medkit is can be game changing.


Small boxes that hold ammo. Red is compact, blue is medium, yellow is long, purple is special (Nitro, Dolch, Bomblance and Crossbows only) and the slightly thicker green box is shotgun ammo.


Big red boxes. These refill reserve ammo for both weapons, assuming you're missing some. How much you get is based off of what weapons you're carrying. I believe it's 2 shotgun shells, 5 compact ammo, 3 medium and 2 long (correct me if I'm wrong). Cannot be used to recover crossbow blots, Dolch ammo, Bomb Lance projectiles or Nitro ammo.


As far as I'm personally aware, it's the same as the Combat Axe. They both one tap grunts with lights and can kill everything else but meat heads and bosses in one charged (the sledge takes two charged for armoured iirc). This means these are exceptionally strong melee weapons that can make quick work of almost all AI in the game. They also are throwable with the Tomahawk perk, but sadly it's not very effective. The Axe is generally better and is more stamina efficient, if you're going to choose between them.


These are red, commonly found in sets of three in boxes around compounds. Hold right click to begin placing, then press left click to place when the indicator is green, if it's red it will not place. These make a good lot of noise when stepped on, which is the main purpose of using them, to hear when somebody comes into the compound. They don't do a lot of damage but they do proc bleed. If you encounter them in the wild, you have a few options. Go another way, try to skirt around them (lots of hunters place their bear traps sub-optimally), melee them to set them off or crouch down, get up close and press F to disarm. Meleeing and disarming both set them off but you don't get hit.


Don't get them confused with the lamps you can only turn on and off, these are red and have a carrying handle. You can turn it off with X so you don't glow and they don't explode on impact. Turned on, they're basically a moltov. Usable for killing armoured and hives very quickly (but they do scream), burning bodies, area denial, killing Meatheads safely (two lanterns, let the first one finish burning before you throw the second, might require a melee attack after as well). They also put out some damage vs Assassin and Spider though Butcher is immune.


These have two charges but can only be used once per person. Heals to full, takes a short period to interact with. Useful as heck. Being close to one in a gunfight can give you some surprise fast healing, and knowing where one is can save you meds after a fight.

I'm going to be going over each trait, what they do and whether or not I think you should grab them. Some outliers will be noted with a + next to them, those are the ones you should shoot for in general, some of them unlock a bit late as a new player. Some absolute hot garbage will be marked with a -, unless they're buffed in the future they are not worth it. This has to be split into two sections because there's a lot to go over.


Instantly regain stamina when on critical health. Generally if you're on critical health, you're fresh about to die stamina or not. The best use for this is having full stamina when you get revived (I'm pretty sure that's how it works as I've used it that way but I may be misremembering, correct me if I'm wrong). It's also unlocked really late but costs only one trait point.


Reduces the range that crows, ducks, dog kennels and chicken coups will react to you at. A very solid perk, some people say it's necessary but I have to disagree, you can live without it but it's nice quality of life. Grab it when you have room.


Halves the damage from bleeding over time. This is actually good, lots of things proc bleed and it can be a real lifesaver, however it is not a priority perk.


Bolts and Throwing Knives are visible in dark sight. It's actually a decently impressive range, so the perk is useful if you find yourself losing things constantly.


Cuts down the reload time on crossbows by a staggeringly high amount. Absolutely necessary perk for running bows.


Reduces explosion damage by 25%. Do you hate getting blown up? You'll probably still die but this might help sometimes. Too situational for my taste.


You don't lose a round when reloading the Specter, Mosin-Nagant, Dolch, Bornheim or Lebel. Nichely useful but if you're running one of those guns you want this so you can reload freely. Also has some of the coolest animations in the game.


Heals you for 50 when you pick up a clue. It's a semi-expensive perk at 4 points and I don't consider it worth it. If your partner opens the clue you don't heal, and you should eventually get to the point in the game where you don't take damage going through compounds. Get it if you have points to spend and nothing else to buy.


You can put out live explosives by interacting with them. Sounds insane, but I have personally never managed to actually pull it off. Most Hunters are good enough about cooking their explosives, and fire explodes on impact which can bait you into doing dumb things. You can, however, put out fusees which I have done a lot.


You stay scoped between shots with deadeye variant weapons. Much more helpful on a scope than the iron variants but again, take it or leave it. Nice QoL perk.


You restock decoys from ammo crates. For one point, this should be good but I never run out of decoys before a match is over anyways. If you become some sort of decoy master it might be for you.


Stamina comes back faster. A plus because it includes both sprinting and melee stamina, a staple that most people pick up eventually on every hunter that lives to see extraction more than once.


Makes medkits heal for 100 per charge. If you read my medkit description you should know how I feel about this. Amazing perk, very expensive but you can basically heal to full (as your last health chunk is 50) three times a game for $65 and 8 trait points. Fantastic.


Lets you pretend you're McCree from Overwatch. Fanning is insane, you can empty most pistols in fractions of a second with it. A must buy if you're intending to run a pistol that supports it, though it is a bit of a drain at 7 trait points.


Lets you carry an additional tool. Before tripwires, I didn't care about this perk, but for three trait points it's fantastic.You are investing more money in somebody that might die but that goes anytime you buy anything.


Consume less stamina moving through water. A niche perk. If you hate water, have covered the basics and have a point to burn, go ahead and get it. If you for some reason like water go ahead and get it I guess?


You heal for 50 when you loot dead hunters. This is the press F to interact button and doesn't work on burned bodies. I like it, as you can save meds if you manage to win a gun fight and have time to loot however I can't deny that it is quite niche. Not a priority.


Allows you to sprint longer before running out of stamina. A great perk you should usually pick up at some point. It does not increase sprint speed, so it is most useful crossing the map to extract or chase a bounty. No + because it's quite low priority over other good perks.


Reduces melee damage taken by 25%. It's very niche in use as most enemies that are real threats do rending damage, but it is something you can get.


You can stay ADS'd between shots on the Specter (only weapon this applies to as of writing this). You don't even need to ADS with shotguns as their spread doesn't change, which makes this a pretty horrible perk even for 2 points.


Allows you to stay ADS'd between shots when firing lever action rifles. So the Winfields. I don't personally think it's investing trait points into using the Winfield but if you're going to rock a Winnie you should get this.


You stay ADS'd between shots with Mosin-Nagants, Lebels and Karabiners. A solid perk but I would not say it's even close to necessary to use the weapons involved, pick it up when you can.


This reduces your falling damage by 50%. With it you can jump off anything in the game and live, which is cool but you still scream like a banshee when you take falling damage. If it both reduced and muted it'd be fantastic, as it sits it's barely ever used because you're rarely going to be on something you could jump off of, never mind worrying about damage in those scenarios. All that being said, 1 trait point is quite the steal.

You are much sneakier, you can vault, drop and climb pretty near silently. I don't believe it mutes the damage taken sound from fall damage, though, so I consider it a pickup eventually perk.


Lets you stay scoped between shots with marksmen rifles. See Iron Sharpshooter ect. It's a perk that you should get if you're using that weapon type.


Halves the duration of poison. It exists, it's not bad, it's very niche. If you hate poison enough to buy this you should consider an antidote shot instead, which is why I put a minus on it.


Carrying an additional consumable for only 3 trait points is quite reasonable, if you see yourself wanting another by all means, go for it. Only disadvantage is you do have to pay for the extra consumable, and if you die you just wasted even more money.


This reduces the time it takes to bandage, that includes med kits, stopping bleeding and putting yourself out if you're on fire. It's an outstanding perk and high priority for most people.


Oh how the mighty have fallen. Lets you throw things that use the aim helper farther, so pretty much everything but throwing knives and tomahawk world melees. It used to let you snipe people with dynamite, now it's just a small QoL perk. Take it or leave it.


Lets you place and disarm traps quietly. Placing is largely irrelevant but disarming is absolutely insane, allows you to crack open enemy defenses without them being any wiser. I would put a plus on it, but it being useful assumes you were late to the banish and want to push them, which is niche.


Allows you to take a large and medium weapon. This gets a plus but it is not an always take. It gets a plus because it allows you to use very strong builds, like a shotgun and a rifle.


I feel like the Devs read my guide and buffed this. You revive with 100hp, so if your first health chunk was a 50 you can get right back into it. This can really give you some breathing room when you get revived because you will be ready to go without stopping to heal a fair chunk of the time. It won't save you from getting one shot by guns that prey on people that are down health chunks, though. It is niche as you have to die and get revived for you to get any value out of it.


Fire damaged health heals back faster. If a chunk is destroyed by fire though, it's still gone. It's not a bad perk but I don't personally buy it often as it's pretty niche.


You melee without making noise, which is fantastic, but the perk is expensive. I can't call it a must grab because throwing knives exist, and it's not going to be useful every single game.


Stay ADS'd between shots for snipers. As per usual, nice QoL perk, get it when you can if you're using a sniper.


Gradually lessens sway when aiming with rifles. There are actually good scoped rifles, so this perk is useful, however it is not necessary. If you enjoy scoped guns I'd highly recommend it.


Weapon sway decreases as you look through the scope of a pistol. That means the Nagant Deadeye, which isn't the best gun ever and requires a medium slot. It is cheap at two trait points so I recommend you do grab it if you are using the Deadeye.


You can throw world item hammers and axes, you can't throw an axe if you bring one. It does pathetically low damage and that's why I cannot recommend this perk at all. It's better to melee things with the axe then it is to yeet it across the map. 10/10 for fun points though.


Nearby traps are highlighted with dark sight. It's a very close range but it can be useful when sieging, however only really being useful when sieging means that it's a very niche perk as if you get to the bounty first, you're probably not going to get any value out of it.


Allows you to loot loot'd hunters. As long as they've been looted by someone else, not you. I also don't think it works if you burn them, or they've been burned. Outside of trios, I would call this perk extremely niche as you're not often going to stumble across dead, looted bodies that you didn't make. In trios, this allows your whole team to loot every body assuming the Vulture player goes last, which I consider a pretty big deal.

I'll be covering each AI, what they do and how to deal with them.


This is a big tanky boy that can kill you in 2-3 hits. He's fairly fast but you can outrun him. He is a bullet sponge, he can take a lot of shots and keep coming at you. Shotguns knock it down but the real way to kill an armoured is with a melee weapon.

Knives will kill in 3 charged shots if you aim for the head, same with the machete and talon variants, as well as the Romero Hatchet.

Calvary Sabre is two charged shots to the upper body and all bayonet variants are as well.

The world Axe, Bomb Lance and equipable axe all one shot with a charged attack. The world sledge hammer two shots.

Flares, both from fusees and the flare gun, will one shot it. It does scream before dying, though.


This is your normal, average everyday zombie. He is squishy and non-threatening, but can overwhelm you in groups if you're not careful. Torch variants will light you on fire and knife variants will make you bleed. Don't let them do that. With careful stamina management you can easily take out groups without having to shoot.

Every actual weapon in the game will one shot headshot them, including throwing knives (silenced and Derringer might not due to dropoff at longer ranges). Use your melee weapon to do it without telling the whole server where you are. Most melees require one charged attack to the head to kill, the Bomb Lance, Machete, world melees and Combat Axe can kill with a light melee attack to the head.

Full sized and medium non-melee variant weapons kill in one charged melee followed up with a light melee (make sure you hit in the head), useful for unlocking things.

Flares, both from fusees and the flare gun, will one shot. Please don't waste them on grunts though, they scream.


They usually travel in packs. They will do about 20 damage to you and proc bleed so you need to be careful. If you spend too long fighting them you're going to lose health chunks to bleed damage. They bob and weave to attempt to avoid your melee attacks so you're going to have to get good at dealing with them. Melee weapons with reach shine here.

All ranged weapons, including throwing knives, one shot headshot, unless it has a metal cage on its head in which case compact is 3 to the body, medium is two as is long ammo and the Dolch, and special ammo that isn't the Dolch is all one hit (bows, bomb lance, Crossbows and Nitro but please don't shoot hellhounds with them). All melee will one shot with a charged attack, except the Dusters and Nagant Officer Brawler which need a head shot. Get good at meleeing them, the key is to rush them down and not run out of stamina.

Flares, both from fusees and the flare gun will one shot (iirc), do be careful as they take a moment to burn. Laying down a lantern and having them charge at you through the fire works too.


They have a surprisingly small aggro range if you manage to keep your head down. You can one shot melee them to the head with the knife, dusters and Brawler, or one shot melee them to the body with any of the bigger melees. If you rush in fast enough you can melee kill them without taking much damage, or even any damage at all. Sneak up first, then charge for the last 5-10 feet. Their head is to the side, that thing sticking out of their chest is the hive! All ranged weapons one shot hives to the head, I highly recommend doing so if they send a swarm at you because they will end your journey into the bayou and you won't see your kids again. Completely avoiding them altogether is also a strong option if you're not prepared.

Flares and fusees are an extremely good way of dealing with hives, though a bit loud as they do scream.


He is faster than you, do not run. He can open doors, do not hide. You only have two choices if one aggros you, fight or pray. In the event that one does aggro you, DO NOT SHOOT OR STAB IT. Shooting or stabbing an Immolator makes them light on fire and go into a frenzy. If it's your only option, shot it fast and hard and lots. What you want to do if you get aggro'd by one of these is just smash their face in with the butt of your rifle, assuming you didn't bring a melee variant, cause if you did it'll light on fire. They used to be extremely threatening but now a single Hunter can take it down with charged melees to the face, though it's far safer with a friend to keep it stun locked. If you have the Dusters or the Obrez Mace, you can solo it with complete eaze.
You can also shoot them if you see them far away in your path. They will ignite, scream and run around for about 45 seconds, and then die. They can also aggro nearby mobs or hunters while doing this. This is my preffered method if I'm on my way to extraction with the bounty.

These two come hand in hand. Meatheads are the big boys and they will end your career in two or three hits if they get onto you. They are, however, completely blind. The leeches act as their eyes, and will go towards you then scream and unleash a poison cloud. If that happens, the Meathead will be after you. If you get poisoned, by anything, run because the Meathead will lock onto you like a heat seeking missle from undead hell. You can usually avoid Meatheads, though you have to make sure you skirt by the leeches as well as they are fairly agressive. If you need to kill one, first ask yourself, why? They take a lot of time to kill. Unless you have a Nitro, Crossbow or Bomb Lance. The Nitro will one shot, the Crossbow six shots and the Bomb Lance four (need to test) shots with charged melee and one shots with the bomb part. Otherwise your best option to kill these is to throw lanterns at it till it dies, just make sure it burns out all the way before throwing the next one. I believe it takes a staggering three lanterns now, but you can do two and then risk meleeing it with a world melee or combat axe. Dynamite is also a good option, and because they're worth 200xp is a good way to unlock other explosives. If you're not using a bundle, though, start with a lantern or two first. Oh, if you kill a leech the Meathead will go into a frenzy as well so have fun with that. If you're carrying the bounty you can just shoot it from far enough away that it doesn't aggro you, but don't forget it takes a lot of lead.


If the water is moving, it's trying to kill you. They scream when they aggro you, hearable from about half a compound away. They can kill you incredibly fast and always proc bleeding, so you need to get out of the water and bandage up or perish. They die in two shots of long or meduim ammo, and I believe four compact. If you kill one, all nearby Water Devils will despawn as well, but they respawn in ten seconds so move quick. They are the only AI that respawn.

The general case with these is avoid them, or bring something to deal with them.

Crows/Ducks

If you get too close they will make a ton of noise and fly into the air, not only alerting Hunters of where you are, but what direction you're going. If you remain crouched and careful, you should be able to skirt around them. If you spook them they eventually come back.They can also be killed with fire, either lanterns or consumables that make fire. You can also blow them up, but at that point you aren't accomplishing anything.

Dog Kennels/Chicken Coups

Red cages that hold either dogs or chickens. They will begin making noise if you're near them, and will go into a frenzy if you get too close that can be heard from a long ways away. Hitting the lantern above them will kill all of the dogs/chickens and silence them. Tools like throwing knives and decoys can be invaluable for dealing with these. Watch for broken lanterns! That means hunters have been through there. Also look out, if there's an explosive barrel next to the cage it will go off if you break the lantern.

Horses

Can only die to a headshot from melee, throwing knives, quad derringer or real guns. It's extremely difficult to pull off, but in worst case scenario rush and kill it with melee before it makes the noise twice, the idle noise is one neigh. If it makes two, people will know you're there. Also note that if you hear two people are there. They have a fairly low aggro range if you crouch and move slow.

Some basic information and tips. There are multiple ways to kill each boss, I'm not going to cover all of them just some basics.


Spider is very very fast. He has two attacks, one where he pounces on you, dealing significant damage and leaving you poisoned and knocked down. The other he just shoots a cloud of poison at you that lingers for a while. He also has a frenzy mode where he makes angry noises and bites you, this can do a lot of damage and poisons. This is generally a time consuming fight.

General Tips

If he stops moving, he's about to attack. If it screams, it's probably about to attack.

Dealing enough damage to him will stop him from attacking, which means if you keep the pressure on you can keep yourself safe, until he rages.

His pounce can also be dodged, but don't rely on that.

He is extremely hectic to fight if you're trying to kill hunters at the same time so try to do it quick.

Melee is viable, but difficult and risky due to the enraged mode.

Poison has no effect on him.

Strats

1. Kill It With Fire - Simply throw lanterns at it until it dies. They do about an eighth of its health straight up, but can double dip if spider runs back through the flames. Wait until he's done burning before throwing another lantern, the DoT does not stack but it does take additional damage if it's standing in fire. A fairly silent option. Try to kite him back into fire so he takes more damage per lantern. You're almost always going to have to finish him off with gunfire or melee.

2. Shoot It About 20 Times- This is the only other basic option. I generally blend this strat with Kill It With Fire, I try to initiate with a lantern and throw any I find in the compound. The key to spider is to keep the pressure on, it will micro stun if it's damaged enough during windup of its pounce.

Even after all my hours in Hunt, spider still manages to jump scare me. He's intimidating, but once you get the hang of it it's just going to take some time to kill him.


Imagine a Meathead on steroids, but also fire. But also it's immune to fire. Has three attacks, one where he just runs up and bops you, can be dodged with skill, one where he fires a fireball, the aim is incredibly bad so this attack shouldn't bother you, and one where he goes on a frenzy flailing around and setting fire to everything.

General Tips

Butcher is kiteable, even in frenzy mode. It can be very difficult but with practice you should be okay. If he's in frenzy mode just make sure you don't backtrack over his flame or you're going to have a problem.

His head is fake! It even falls off if you shoot it enough, his weak spot is the shoulder area on the armless side. For once in your life, don't aim for the head.

Rending damage is best, so shotguns and slashing melees are the most effective, but not by a whole lot.

When he dies, he swings once more during his death animation. Dying to that is embarrassing.

Strats

1. StaminUP - Bring a stamina shot, either bring a strong melee or pick up a world axe (he takes more damage from the axe). Stamina shot it up, kite and bop it. If you played Call of Duty: Zombies and were good at training this will come naturally to you.

2. Fly A Kite - Grab or bring a strong melee and just kite him. It's like the above but it requires more skill. This is, in my opinion, the best way to do this because it's silent but it requires skill and a pinch of luck.

3. Door Camping - This is a semi-viable strat for all bosses (and the number one way to deal with spider frenzy and butcher rage) but I feel like it's best on butcher. Pick a door that's safe, so you don't get killed, and simply go in and out of the boss building, either meleeing till you're out of stamina or shooting till you need to reload. This is extremely safe vs the boss but very dangerous if other hunters pull up.

Before his buff, he was a joke. Now, he requires some serious skill to kill without a Nitro or Bomb Lance.


The newest boss. He procs bleed, has invincibility phases and plays mind games. It has two attacks, one where it makes a chugga chugga noise and charges you, and another where it yeets a knife at you. Both do high damage and proc bleed, the chugga chugga does more damage.

General Tips

After you do enough damage he will clone himself, he is immune during the cloning phase.

The clones will chugga chugga charge you but they do minimal damage, they do however cover your vision in bugs which is gross and annoying.

You can melee the clones with any weapon to destroy them. After he clones, use your primary's melee to break the clones.

The cloning phase lasts for 15 seconds or until somebody gets damaged by the real assasin, it might make sense to take a hit to speed it up if there are medkits around.

His charge will be interrupted if he takes enough damage.

Using a medkit will simultaneous stop bleeding and heal you, don't waste time stopping the bleeding and then bandaging up.

Strats

1. Kill It With Fire - Yes, again. It's a swarm of insects, what's a better option? Same a spider, wait for the fire to stop before you throw more. Try to get it to hit the patch again to keep the DoT going, which isn't too hard because he will come to you very frequently.

2. Aggro Swapping - When it charges you, run out of the building, then go back in. Your partner and you can swap aggro back and forth like this and kill it fairly safely, but it is slow and you are vulnerable to being killed by other hunters. It's a viable strat with all bosses but it's best on Assassin IMO because your partner can rack up damage while it's chasing you.

Assassin is a pulse pounding fight, but the more you understand what's going on the easier it will be.

Hunt accomodates many playstyles. I'm going to break them down into four categories. Most people play a blend of all categories.


This is how most people believe the game is meant to be played (there is no way the game is "meant" to be played, do what works for you).

The goal is to move as fast as possible without making any unnecessary noise. The result, when it works out, is that nobody knows where you are so every engagement, whether it's fighting the boss, getting the drop on hunters, contesting the banish or chasing down the bounty carriers, is on your terms.

To pull this off, do not shoot unless absolutely necessary. Bring answers for every question the game asks, something to break kennel lanterns, something to kill horses, a way to deal with each mob.

You need to learn when it's better to skirt around something or eliminate it. The more tools you bring to deal with different AI, the less time you waste going around things and having to pick between through or around.

This playstyle is easy to understand but very hard to execute, there are a billion things in this game that make noise and can alert players to your existence. If you pull it off, though, you will usually be the one picking fights because nobody knows where you are until the banishing or shooting starts.


This playstyle TACTICALLY doesn't care about noise, not stupidly. This means that they will shoot if it's the fastest way, or spook birds to shave time off the rush to the boss. That is the goal, the first to the boss so you can kill it and your fighting happens either during the banish while you have the compound locked down, or after it while you have darksight boost. The difference between this and traditional is that they will aggressively and loudly deal with obstacles in their path, if that's the fastest route.

To do this effectively, you need to keep your ears and eyes peeled. If you end up attracting other Hunters and getting into a gunfight, you're probably not going to be the first to the boss unless you make it quick.

You're going to need to know the map, so you know where the clues are and if it is faster to scare the crows or not.

You need to have good chemistry with your partner and agree on when it is worth it to make noise, or you're going to have a bad time. Especially if what is right for fast brings you into a gunfight you lose, if your playstyles don't mesh and that happens it's going to be a bad time.


These are the people that show up 30 seconds after you spooked crows and then end your entire career. They focus on silence above all else, move towards clues, but immediately depart from that objective when they catch wind of nearby hunters.

To pull this off you need to be patient, you need to be silent, and you need to make the first shot count. Very often when stalking players the first, second, third shot you get isn't worth taking. If you don't down one of the players on your first pull of the trigger, you may have just wasted 5 minutes stalking people. If the first thing somebody knows about you is that you just downed their partner, you're in a very good position.

You need to have good sense of direction and understand where people go and why. If you hear crows SE and show up to that compound and nobody is there, you're being quiet looking for somebody that's gone and wasting a lot of time.

This playstyle is probably the hardest to pull off, the most rewarding to succeed at and the most frustrating to play against.


You don't not care about noise, you encourage it. This is what most players call "going loud". Every AI can be answered with a bullet and every sound trap can be ignored, or run past. The goal with this playstyle is to get in gunfights. If that's why you're here, consider doing this. It can be a lot of fun but The Stalker can show up and ruin your entire run in one placed shot.

If you play like this, 99% of the time you are not going to be the one that gets the first shot. You have to be good at shooting and a little lucky. A small bonus is that sometimes if you play like this everyone will avoid you because people that don't care about noise are scary.

Executing this is easy, winning with it is hard.

The concept I have come up with, and brushed on a few times, is that the game asks you questions in the flavour of the different AI and obstacles you face in game. Each question requires an answer, and which answers you pick should cater to your playstyle. Early in the game, you are going to have limited options, but that's okay.


You're going to come across every single AI at some point in your run, unless your run is cut short or you're very lucky. You're going to need to decide what to do when you get to them, do you kill it, go around it, run past it? Most AI can be answered with a melee weapon, but Hives, Immolators, Meatheads and Water Devils may require other options.


The primary answer is to go around, but there's a good list of options for dealing with dog kennels, chicken coups and horses. The throwing knife can cover all three.


Often answered with lanterns and world melees, or whatever guns you have on you, they're still worth considering when you're putting your build together.


What are you going to do when other Hunters roll up? Generally the obvious answer is "shoot them" but also consider ranges. If you have a Hand Crossbow and a Romero Handcannon, what happens when Hunters roll up at medium range, or long range? Running is always an option, but you don't want to force yourself into that.


At this point I'm going to assume you've read my entire guide. If not, that's okay there's a lot of text. I'm going to give a quick example and the rest should make sense from there.

In order to deal with most AI you're going to want some form of melee weapon. If you pick knife, you cover everything but Meatheads, Water Devils, Immolators and to an extent Hives. So you have question one mostly answered.

Then for question two, you can bring fusees. Now you have a doubled up answer to Hives, you can take care of chicken coups and dog kennels, and just skirt around horses.

For question three, you decide on world items, lanterns, the axe and sledgehammer.

For question four, you're running a Winfield and a Cadwell Conversion. This means you're ready for close to medium but don't have long range overly covered. Having a full-sized rifle also means you can cover immolators to an extent.

With this setup, you have to shoot or skirt around Water Devils, Horses, Meatheads and long range engagements with Hunters, but you have most of the bases covered. You don't need an effective answer to everything, you just need to be aware. I'm going to brush on how some of my suggested loadouts cover each obstacle as well.

These are some builds I would recommend going into the Bayou with as a newer player. Right off the bat I'm going to tell you that I (almost) always bring some form of melee, a medkit, a vitality shot, an explosive and a fire source.


Primary - Winfield (any varient)

Secondary - Cadwell Conversion

Tools - Knife, Medkit, Fusees

Consumables - Dynamite Stick, Fire Bomb, Weak Vitality Shot

This build can answer most AI fairly easily if you have some spare Fusees for hives. When it comes to bosses, compact is surprisingly alright because of sheer volume but lanterns and/or world melees are recommended. It also doesn't require any perks, but gets better with Fanning and Iron Repeater.


Primary - Hand Crossbow

Secondary - Nagant Precision

Tools - Knife, Medkit, Alert Trip Mines

Consumables - Dynamite Stick, Fire Bomb, Weak Vitality Shot

Due to having the crossbow you can deal with hives, dog kennels, chicken coups and horses easily which frees up a tool slot for trip mines. Requires Bolt Thrower to really be combat ready.


Primary - Nagant Precision

Secondary - Combat Axe

Tools - Throwing Knives, Medkit, Alert(Concertina) Trip Mines

Consumables - (Weak) Stamina Shot, Dynamite Stick, Weak Vitality Shot

The combination of Combat Axe and Throwing Knives lets you deal with all AI but Water Devils and Meatheads with ease, freeing a slot for Trip Mines (if you have them unlocked). The stamina shot lets you deal with the boss easily, or go ham after other Hunters in an all in with the Combat Axe. The Nagant Precision means you're not screwed if you get attacked at range but you shouldn't lean on it too heavily, especially vs long ammo. Tomahawk makes this build infinitely more fun, but I can't tell you it's better.


Primary - Vetterli 71 Karabiner

Secondary - Cadwell Pax

Tools - Knife, Medkit, Fusees

Consumables - Dynamite Stick, Fire Bomb, Weak Vitality Shot

Named for how most people mispronounce the Vetterli. It's the long range early game build and has a "standard" package for dealing with AI. The build is stronger with Fanning and Iron Sharpshooter.


Primary - Romero 77 (any full sized variant)

Secondary - Nagant M1895/Cadwell Conversion

Tools - Knife, Medkit, Fusees

Consumables - Dynamite, Flashbomb, Weak Vitality Shot

If/when you get the Pax, it's strictly better for covering your ranged options when you run a shotgun. The Uppercut is an option as well much latter when you can run "better: shotguns. Has a "standard" AI dealing with package, and a Flashbomb lets you push people, if you happen to have it unlocked or pick one up off a recruit, otherwise bring fire.


If you don't have one of the things listed unlocked yet, try to substitute, double up on something else that's already there (more fire bombs) or leave it empty.

I consider,

Tools - Knife, Medkit, Fusees

Consumables - Dynamite Stick, Fire Bomb, Weak Vitality Shot

The default setup for tools and consumables. If you have better explosives, fire or the full sized vitality shot upgraded, swap them in if you're willing to pay the extra cash. The knife, medkit, fusees option should only really be deviated from when you have additional options to cover what they cover and you should always bring a medkit.

The items are in the order of the slots I like them in, I just like having knife/dusters on 3 and medkit on 4, do what you want.

I have gone into a game with double chain pistols and won, I have gone into a game with a perfect, expensive loadout and lost. The idea I'm putting forward is to pick things that give you the most options, but you can make almost anything work if you try.

These are some of my favourite builds to run around with. Feel free to copy them, or take inspiration from them. These builds assume you are higher level. If there is a slash it's either/or, if there's a comma it's separating slots.


Primary - Sparks LRR

Secondary - Bornhiem No. 3/Chain Pistol + Fanning

Tools - Knife/Dusters, Medkit, Fusees/Throwing Knives

Consumables - Dynamite Bundle, Hellfire Bomb, Vitality Shot

This is one of my absolute favourites. The goal is to land a hit with the Sparks and then follow up with a quick shot from the Bornhiem or Chain Pistol. It covers all standard AI options and if you bring the Chain Pistol with Fanning can make short work of bosses when going loud. You can swap to the Silenced Sparks and then drop the Fusees/Throwing Knives for your preferred trip mines.


Primary - Lebel/Mosin

Secondary - LeMatt + Fanning

Tools - Knife/Dusters, Medkit, Fusees/Throwing Knives

Consumables - Dynamite Bundle, Hellfire Bomb, Vitality Shot

Very simple to use build. Just shoot them with the Lebel/Mosin if they're far away, the LeMatt with Fanning if they're close and the LeMatt shotgun if they're in your face. Covers all AI in the standard fashion.


Primary - Specter Bayonet

Secondary - Uppercut/Obrez + Quartermaster

Tools - Throwing Knives, Medkit, Concertina Trip Mines

Consumables - Dynamite Bundle, Flashbomb, Vitality Shot

Running the Specter Bayonet lets you cut the knife for throwing knives, and free up space for trip mines. I find the Specter Bayonet reliable enough that I'll usually run it, but I do swap back to the traditional tools/consumables setup subbing in the flash for the fire if I'm not running the bayonet, or I'm running a different shotgun. The Pax is sometimes in my secondary slot instead of a long ammo weapon. Sometimes I even run the LeMatt for more shotgun ammo, especially with the Crown & King.


Primary - Bomblance

Secondary - Uppercut/Obrez + Quartermaster

Tools - Throwing Knives, Medkit, Dusters/Trip Mine

Consumables - Dynamite Bundle, Flash Bomb, Vitality Shot

I absolutely love the Bomb Lance and run this build, or a variation of it, a lot. Running the Bomb Lance means you can run Throwing Knives in the knife slot, then you can run trips if you want or dusters if you're scared of Immolaters. The flash bomb is primarily to get the edge on people with shotguns, as the Bomb Lance preforms poorly vs them.

Time for the bonus section, meme builds.


Primary - Literally anything, Combat Axe is extra props.

Secondary - Poison Hand Crossbow (+ Quartermaster if needed)

Tools - Knife/Dusters, Medkit + DOCTOR, Fusees/Throwing Knives

Consumables - Antidote Shot, Poison Bomb x2, Hive Bomb (Pack Mule)

The point of this build is to abuse the Antidote Shots power and spread poison everywhere, then just walk through it unscathed and destroy the scared, disoriented Hunter on the other side. Running Medkit + Doctor lets you skip a Vitality Shot more safely, but if you're memeing this hard you're unlikely to care.


Primary - Combat Axe

Secondary - Combat Axe

Tools - Dusters, Medkit, Fusees/Throwing Knives

Consumables - Flash Bomb x2, Vitality Shot

Why double Axe? So when you inevitably die and they go to loot you they can shake their heads at your poor choices. So you aren't tempted to stray from your destiny.


Primary - Avtomat

Secondary - Dolch Precision + Quartermaster

Tools - Throwing Knife, Medkit, Dusters, Flare Gun (Frontiersman)

Consumables - Ammo Box, Big Dynamite Bundle x2, Vitality Shot (Pack Mule)

I ran this once, well before 1.0, and died to a Winfield less than 5 minutes in. The best part? They couldn't take both my guns because they couldn't have possibly had Quartermaster so more money went down the drain.