Tips for Accurate difficulty?

[local cryptid]

I won't lie, I made the mistake of starting in easy mode, which just allows you to run down prey and foes no problem with no consequences and now I'm paying the price trying to get the Accurate achievements. I'm so bad that I can't even finish the "Hunt 2 Elk" mission. I try to find the weakest elk by test biting, but I receive so much damage before I can take one down. Any tips and tricks are greatly appreciated!!
This is in Singleplayer btw, as I unfortunately can't find anyone to do the Multiplayer achievements with me :(

[Jelibaen]

The weakest elk in the herd tends to be the first one to turn and run away when you approach. Also aiming your bites for the side or the neck is better than the hind legs - you don't take as much damage!

[💫Fable💫]

Similar to what Jelibaen said, the weak elk also tend to have their head held/thrown back while they are running.
Run the elk down for a few minutes before attacking. This lowers the elk's stamina, thus decreasing the damage they do to you, and increases the chances of them falling. You'll probably want to do some test bites like you're already doing. While you're still alone or have a mate, I'd also recommend only going for calves if possible. However BE CAREFUL, as the mothers can deal some crazy damage if you get stuck on the calf. Watch the mother while you're hunting the calf. This will require patience but is important to practice as a new Accurate player.
A strategy I tend to do is hold a bite for 2-4 hits (meaning the damage dealt -- kinda hard to describe. but for example, I'm biting an elk and every damage dealt there is 30 being done to the elk, 15 done to me. Let the numbers pop up around 2-4 times) before letting go. This way the elk won't kick you off and you won't deal extra damage. Also, let go if the elk is initially dealing more damage to you than you are to it (ex. you're dealing 20 damage to the elk but you're taking 40 damage). You'll want to watch your stamina so you can do as much damage as possible, so only sprint when you really need to catch up (also if there's some water near by, drink some! You'll get extra stam + food boost).

Sorry that's a lot lol. Let me know if you got other questions or want more tips. :)

[DragonOvLeaves]

I would wait for an elk to fall down before biting it. If you can latch on before it gets up, you can do a lot of damage to it with very little damage done to you. Depending on how much health it still has after it gets back up, you may want to run it down some more before finishing it off. Also, when they stand their ground, dodge their kicks a few times before you bite them. Kicking depletes their stamina and allows you to do more damage while taking less damage.

[Zabuka94112]

I've got several tips:

1. Give your wolf the highest health possible. Stamina if possible should be your next best stat. But Health is the most important for Accurate gameplay especially when you're still a lone wolf. Later if you have a large pack, it becomes less crucial since you can share the damage more evenly by letting others do the biting.

Hunting elk:

2. Rather than biting the elk immediately, follow them for as long as possible. They will run out of stamina eventually, and be reduced to little more than a walking speed, and less able to kick to hurt you. Those that are more injured will lose stamina faster. It will take several minutes of chasing them to see any of these effects, because they're built for running. You gotta be patient and just wait.

(This becomes less feasable with a larger pack because the NPC wolves are likely to just go in and start biting immediately, but hopefully by that point they're strong enough to take one down anyways.)

3. Many times when elk fall, they will get up against almost immediately. Don't go in for a bite unless they stay down for more than a second. Ones that are more injured take longer to get back to their feet.

4. If you are patient enough, it is entirely possible to chase an elk long enough that they fall over enough to reduce their health to the lowest point where they (seem) to stop falling. I used this to hunt bull elk as a lone wolf on an accurate game before the Saga. This still leaves bull with more than enough health to fight back and kill you, so don't go for them unless you Really Really Really want to have a challenge lol. Using it for cows and calves works well. Again, this will take a *whole lot* of patience.

5. Whatever you do try not to get yourself run over. This is sometimes difficult, lol. Try to stay behind the running herds, and don't get ahead of any individuals if you can help it. Getting trampled will do devastating amounts of damage and can even kill you if you've got low health.

6. When an elk is standing still or at least moving slower, try to circle to target the throat. This does more damage and hurts you less, but you must be prepared to move away instantly if you get knocked off, especially if you're hunting a bull or spike elk.

On a similar note, an antlered bull elk that has been knocked down, or has such low health it's dragged to the ground, can and WILL try to stab you the instant it gets back to its feet. Do not loiter in front of them.

-- Elk that mock-charge out of a standing herd at you are likely to have lower health, despite their bravado. (which is why they're faking being Oh So Brave And Strong)

--Any elk that stop to rear up on their hind legs when others are running are likely to have lower health, especially in harsh seasons. They're already in the "last stand" range of the fight

--sitting down a safe distance away will help your stamina recover faster so you can keep biting. You can also switch to walking if the elk is weak enough.

Mates:

Picking a helpful mate is crucial in Accurate mode in a way that doesn't really matter in Easy. Get picky. Watch how the dispersal wolves interact with one another and how energetic they are.

Wolves that sit and lie down a lot, and only ever walk rather than run, are on the lazier end of the Lazy-Energetic spectrum, and will be less likely to help with hunts, initiate hunts, and, later, less likely to go off on their own to hunt/help maintain territory.

Wolves that do confidant emotes (tail straight up, high wagging tail) are closer to being Bold than Caution, and are again more likely to quickly join in on hunts and threaten rivals. If you made your wolf bold, this can lead to very bold pups that are likely to wander off on their own or leave the tall grass when predators are near.

Wolves that sit far away from you and don't seem super interested are more likely to be Loners rather than Social, so they are more likely, later, to go off on their own to maintain territory or hunt.

Above all else, you definitely don't want a lazy mate. They won't really help with hunting as much as you need them to, so you'll be the one taking most of the damage.

Cautious mates can be more helpful for the long-distance chase style of hunting, since they won't force you to commit to Killing That Elk Right This Instant. You'll be able to chase the herd long enough to wear down their stamina, and then you can start biting.

Carcass fights:

Unless you've got a huge pack to back you up, you can pretty much kiss any carcass bears or a cougar is at goodbye. They're super difficult to threaten into fleeing unless you can bite them a lot, which isn't very feasible if you're on your own or only with a mate or a few yearlings.

Coyotes can and will kill you if you're not careful and are already low on health. With the Saga, they're able to bite you by just standing next to you, without the usual "latch on" animation. Pay attention,and try to drive them off fully.

Whenever possible, try to carry away chunks of meat. Sometiems you can get lucky and a fox will distract the larger predators long enough for you to jump in to steal some food. If they run far enough away to chase it, eat as much as possible, and the second they turn back around, grab a chunk and run.

If you've got a major jaw injury, just grab a chunk and run, don't try to eat at the carcass itself. Your stamina drain will force you to drop it at some point, but hopefully far enough away you're not in immediate danger.

Howling can sometimes help scare away competitors, especially if you're got a large pack to back you up and add volume. It's not likely to work if you're on your own though.

General tips:

Any time you come across water, drink it. This will fill your hunger a bit, and give you a good stamina boost.

Any rival territory hex at less than 60% can be instantly neutralized by marking over their scent post. Making your own scent post instantly brings your hex up to at least 60%.

You can move scent posts at any time by making twice in the same place. If you already control the hex, this will instantly bring it to 100% as long as it's been a while since you marked there last.

You can slowly but more safely lower the strength of a rival hex by marking every short distance, without immediately alerting the pack to your presence. Howling will tell them exactly where you are, so only do that if you're really confidant you can claim the hex before they get to you, or that you can win the fight.

You can mark the locations of favorite dens on the map, so that you always know which area of your territory needs to be the most protected, even when dens aren't shown on the map. This also helps you find them again later if you need to.

(Edit: Forgot, for wolf fights with multiple rival wolves, pick the wolf with the highest flight meter, and attack them. They are the most likely to already be injured, and you can likely kill them, or at least threaten them into fleeing first. Usually, if you kill a rival wolf, they will all flee. This is not always the case, but 9/10 it works.)

Just for fun:

Name every single NPC wolf you meet. It makes the game instantly more interesting to keep seeing the same wolves over the course of the years.