Best route for hunter?

[Rhythm]

As I understand it hunter is hard because you have to be good enough to keep your karma high and get past the gates that otherwise you'd be able to sleep through cycles in order to max your karma out near by with. No checkpointing at a gate and then eating food three cylces in a row to get through, for example.

So in theory, if you die a couple times right before a gate, you're just down three or four cycles and if you run out of time you're just SOL / goodbye save file right?

What's the best route to go through that avoids this issue? If it means taking a harder route to ensure that I don't run out of cycles, I don't mind, I just want to do it once and never have to do it again.

[C1ipper]

Yeah, Hunter is very tough starting out, I know that I struggled a lot when I began playing as them.
My personal favorite route to get all of the "goals" for Hunter is as follows:
- Start out in Farm Arrays, go to the Sky Islands entrance.
- From Sky Islands, struggle your way to the Chimney Canopy entrance.
- In Chimney Canopy, visit the Echo, then go to the Exterior entrance.
- In The Exterior, visit the Echo, then go to Five Pebbles from the top entrance using the double spear skip.
- Visit Five Pebbles' puppet, then go through his General Systems Bus, all the way out to the lower entrance to The Exterior.
- From The Underhang, go to The Leg and enter Shaded Citadel from the gate.
- In Shaded Citadel, visit the Echo, then exit through the Shoreline gate.
- In Shoreline, reanimate Moon, then go back to Shaded Citadel.
- Go through Shaded Citadel to Industrial Complex.
- From Industrial Complex, go to Outskirts.
- From Outskirts, go to the Farm Arrays.
- Go to the end of Farm Arrays to the Subterranean Gate.
- Visit the Echo in Subterranean, then go all the way down to Filtration system, Depths, then end the game.
I hope that all of this helps, even if it is a wall of text.

[TheLegend27]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, I've read that visiting 5P gives you some extra cycles, but I don't think with that it's even possible, I'm tempted to increase the number of cycles in the remix menu, but I also kinda want to try it the hard way

[RCMidas]

Though I'm a little out of practice, my best run with Hunter involved a lot of quits for longer cycles and the following sequence:

Cycle 1) Rush to trigger the Sky Islands Echo, then sleep.
Cycle 2a) Starve to reach max Karma.
Cycle 3a) Visit the Sky Islands Echo, return to Cycle 2.
Cycle 2b) Rush to Chimney Canopy (and then Underhang if time allows), then sleep.
Cycle 3b) Visit Chimney Canopy Echo, climb the Wall to Five Pebbles, then sleep.
Cycle 4) Visit the Wall Echo, move all the way through Five Pebbles, then sleep.
Cycle 5) Rush to trigger Shaded Citadel Echo, then sleep.
Cycle 6) Visit Shaded Citadel Echo, revive Moon, then sleep.
Cycle 7) Rush to Garbage Wastes (and then Industrial Complex if time allows), then sleep.
Cycle 8) Rush to Farm Arrays (trigger Echo if you like), then sleep.
Cycle 9) Visit Farm Arrays Echo if you like, move through Farm Arrays, then sleep.
Cycle 10) Visit Subterranean Echo if you like, move through Subterranean, then sleep.
Cycle 11) Ascend.

Even taking twice as many cycles per step, you still have enough time to move through the map and visit everywhere you need to before hitting the Filtration System.

[Rhythm]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

Though I'm a little out of practice, my best run with Hunter involved a lot of quits for longer cycles and the following sequence:

Cycle 1) Rush to trigger the Sky Islands Echo, then sleep.
Cycle 2a) Starve to reach max Karma.
Cycle 3a) Visit the Sky Islands Echo, return to Cycle 2.
Cycle 2b) Rush to Chimney Canopy (and then Underhang if time allows), then sleep.
Cycle 3b) Visit Chimney Canopy Echo, climb the Wall to Five Pebbles, then sleep.
Cycle 4) Visit the Wall Echo, move all the way through Five Pebbles, then sleep.
Cycle 5) Rush to trigger Shaded Citadel Echo, then sleep.
Cycle 6) Visit Shaded Citadel Echo, revive Moon, then sleep.
Cycle 7) Rush to Garbage Wastes (and then Industrial Complex if time allows), then sleep.
Cycle 8) Rush to Farm Arrays (trigger Echo if you like), then sleep.
Cycle 9) Visit Farm Arrays Echo if you like, move through Farm Arrays, then sleep.
Cycle 10) Visit Subterranean Echo if you like, move through Subterranean, then sleep.
Cycle 11) Ascend.

Even taking twice as many cycles per step, you still have enough time to move through the map and visit everywhere you need to before hitting the Filtration System.

Just managed to get to step 3. So if I die at any point along this run, and my karma drops, am I ♥♥♥♥♥♥ or can I use the extra cycles potentially for food? I'm expecting to be at like 0 karma at some point during the run, or multiple times, idk.

[RCMidas]

The first three or four cycles are the most important. If you can avoid death until you meet the first two Echoes and enter the Underhang, you're basically done. You can keep dying all the way down to base Karma until you get a perfect run up the Wall to enter Five Pebbles, and then the Wall Echo will buff it right back up to max.

Moving through Five Pebbles can take as long as needed to avoid Karma loss - one option is expend one cycle starving and feeding on his neurons so that you don't have to worry about Karma on your way to the Shaded Citadel. The starvation cycle lets you experience multiple deaths "harmlessly" to reach the other end. Note that Pebbles will attempt to throw you out through the access shaft if you take too long - stand below the other exit and time your jump so that the returning antigravity sends you straight there.

Fortunately, though it's a long journey, the route down the Leg and back through Memory Crypts is much easier than the ascent. Again, expending another cycle in starvation might be worth it so that you can get past the latter section without too much hassle. Now, getting through Shoreline without the jetfish knocking the neuron out of hands can be irritating if you haven't turned on the Remix option preventing that, but the route itself is short enough that you can spend some time luring them near shore with fruit before crossing that final stretch.

Then, having revived Moon, you finally have both hands free - and even your stomach if you choose to leave the pearl behind or trade it to a scavenger at last. Your route to ascension is pretty clear now too, with plenty of popcorn plants and weaker lizard types until you hit the Farm Arrays again, so rushing straight through one or two entire areas each cycle is entirely possible now.

If you need to, expend a cycle or two in starvation so that you can retain enough Karma to safely pass through the gates into the next areas - Farm Arrays is nasty, requiring 5 Karma to enter from Outskirts, and Subterranean needs 4 Karma - and once you sleep in Subterranean your Karma is irrelevant due to the Depths Threshold bringing you up to full.

Note, with Downpour there is a new area above the exit of the Farm-Subterranean gate. If you are super low on time, it will be quicker to climb up there, rush to the right, and into the new shelter there; than to drop down the cliff, wriggle through the tunnels, and try to avoid all the various predators down there to reach the nearest shelter.

[Nen☆niN]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

Though I'm a little out of practice, my best run with Hunter involved a lot of quits for longer cycles and the following sequence:

Doesn't too many quits tank your score?

[RCMidas]

Yes, but I never play for score, so I don't care.

[Rhythm]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

The first three or four cycles are the most important. If you can avoid death until you meet the first two Echoes and enter the Underhang, you're basically done. You can keep dying all the way down to base Karma until you get a perfect run up the Wall to enter Five Pebbles, and then the Wall Echo will buff it right back up to max.

Moving through Five Pebbles can take as long as needed to avoid Karma loss - one option is expend one cycle starving and feeding on his neurons so that you don't have to worry about Karma on your way to the Shaded Citadel. The starvation cycle lets you experience multiple deaths "harmlessly" to reach the other end. Note that Pebbles will attempt to throw you out through the access shaft if you take too long - stand below the other exit and time your jump so that the returning antigravity sends you straight there.

Fortunately, though it's a long journey, the route down the Leg and back through Memory Crypts is much easier than the ascent. Again, expending another cycle in starvation might be worth it so that you can get past the latter section without too much hassle. Now, getting through Shoreline without the jetfish knocking the neuron out of hands can be irritating if you haven't turned on the Remix option preventing that, but the route itself is short enough that you can spend some time luring them near shore with fruit before crossing that final stretch.

Then, having revived Moon, you finally have both hands free - and even your stomach if you choose to leave the pearl behind or trade it to a scavenger at last. Your route to ascension is pretty clear now too, with plenty of popcorn plants and weaker lizard types until you hit the Farm Arrays again, so rushing straight through one or two entire areas each cycle is entirely possible now.

If you need to, expend a cycle or two in starvation so that you can retain enough Karma to safely pass through the gates into the next areas - Farm Arrays is nasty, requiring 5 Karma to enter from Outskirts, and Subterranean needs 4 Karma - and once you sleep in Subterranean your Karma is irrelevant due to the Depths Threshold bringing you up to full.

Note, with Downpour there is a new area above the exit of the Farm-Subterranean gate. If you are super low on time, it will be quicker to climb up there, rush to the right, and into the new shelter there; than to drop down the cliff, wriggle through the tunnels, and try to avoid all the various predators down there to reach the nearest shelter.

So does dying while starving make your karma go back to what it was before the previous cycle? Say I have max karma, then starve, then die, it sends me back to the cycle I got max karma on because it didn't save?

[RCMidas]

You just lose one karma level as per normal on a starvation cycle death. If you were on max karma, starving doesn't increase it, then death removes one karma. If you were on three karma, starved and got to four, then died, you revive at three. If you were on four karma, starved and got to five, visited an Echo and got to seven, you restart at seven.

[Rhythm]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

You just lose one karma level as per normal on a starvation cycle death. If you were on max karma, starving doesn't increase it, then death removes one karma. If you were on three karma, starved and got to four, then died, you revive at three. If you were on four karma, starved and got to five, visited an Echo and got to seven, you restart at seven.

Looks like I'm going to be starving every chance I get...

[Rhythm]

Originally posted by RCMidas:

Though I'm a little out of practice, my best run with Hunter involved a lot of quits for longer cycles and the following sequence:

Cycle 1) Rush to trigger the Sky Islands Echo, then sleep.
Cycle 2a) Starve to reach max Karma.
Cycle 3a) Visit the Sky Islands Echo, return to Cycle 2.
Cycle 2b) Rush to Chimney Canopy (and then Underhang if time allows), then sleep.
Cycle 3b) Visit Chimney Canopy Echo, climb the Wall to Five Pebbles, then sleep.
Cycle 4) Visit the Wall Echo, move all the way through Five Pebbles, then sleep.
Cycle 5) Rush to trigger Shaded Citadel Echo, then sleep.
Cycle 6) Visit Shaded Citadel Echo, revive Moon, then sleep.
Cycle 7) Rush to Garbage Wastes (and then Industrial Complex if time allows), then sleep.
Cycle 8) Rush to Farm Arrays (trigger Echo if you like), then sleep.
Cycle 9) Visit Farm Arrays Echo if you like, move through Farm Arrays, then sleep.
Cycle 10) Visit Subterranean Echo if you like, move through Subterranean, then sleep.
Cycle 11) Ascend.

Even taking twice as many cycles per step, you still have enough time to move through the map and visit everywhere you need to before hitting the Filtration System.

I have been skipping so many checkpoints to manage this. I'm at the point where I need to revive moon after deciding to put myself through the hell that is "dealing with it," but I sure hope I never have to play through this mode again.

[White Rider]

Originally posted by Bloody Angel:

I have been skipping so many checkpoints to manage this. I'm at the point where I need to revive moon after deciding to put myself through the hell that is "dealing with it," but I sure hope I never have to play through this mode again.

You'll love the mode the better you get with Hunter. It's a hard challenge, but getting good at it is satisfying as hell.

[Rhythm]

Originally posted by White Rider:

Originally posted by Bloody Angel:

I have been skipping so many checkpoints to manage this. I'm at the point where I need to revive moon after deciding to put myself through the hell that is "dealing with it," but I sure hope I never have to play through this mode again.

You'll love the mode the better you get with Hunter. It's a hard challenge, but getting good at it is satisfying as hell.

I wish I could say that I believe you but I don't play the game for the time limit. I like the game for the freedom, and as of now, I don't think that, after I finish the new dlc character campaigns, I'll play it again outside of coop. I've seen the story, and I don't like how unfair the game can be.

[White Rider]

Originally posted by Bloody Angel:

Originally posted by White Rider:

You'll love the mode the better you get with Hunter. It's a hard challenge, but getting good at it is satisfying as hell.

I wish I could say that I believe you but I don't play the game for the time limit. I like the game for the freedom, and as of now, I don't think that, after I finish the new dlc character campaigns, I'll play it again outside of coop. I've seen the story, and I don't like how unfair the game can be.

You don't need to play Hunter mind you if the time limit is too stressful. The first few new slugcats are unlocked just by playing Monk or Survivor. Nothing wrong with skipping him if you're really not enjoying it.

[Rhythm]

Originally posted by White Rider:

Originally posted by Bloody Angel:

I wish I could say that I believe you but I don't play the game for the time limit. I like the game for the freedom, and as of now, I don't think that, after I finish the new dlc character campaigns, I'll play it again outside of coop. I've seen the story, and I don't like how unfair the game can be.

You don't need to play Hunter mind you if the time limit is too stressful. The first few new slugcats are unlocked just by playing Monk or Survivor. Nothing wrong with skipping him if you're really not enjoying it.

Nah, I have to beat the game on hunter to play the downpour ones. The time isn't stressful, it's what the time requires- you have to move on constantly, you can't go where you want / please.