Alucards Guide to Greatness (Strategy Guide)(outdated)

German / Deutscher Guide: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1333737836

Important: This guide was created for the "early access"-Version of the game. Some points (like traits or the max players per map[12 at the moment]) aren't correct anymore, but most of the Guide is about "movement and important behaviors / beginner faults" and that is still up to date and probably informative for you.

This Guide will NOT explain the basics of the game (there are plenty of Guides that do this really well and extensive).
I want to tell you about the strategies, gamesence and some useful hints if you are a beginner or don't know why you always get shot.

Feel free to like, share, post critics or more ideas

Foreword

Hey my name is Alucard, I’m from Germany and I wanted to share some experience I've made in the game. (I'm Prestige-Level, have a decent K/D and playing this game since early closed alpha).

Obviously i'm not a native English speaker, so I hope you understand me.
In this guide i won't (!) explain the absolute basics (there are plenty of good guides around).
I want to explain some tactics, hints and why you probably get shot so often.

(i will probably add some screenshots later, for less text)

At least i wanted to thank my mom and dad i'm really proud of… ok just kidding, lets get started ;)

General (-basics)

• There are actually 10 players on a map. So it can be 5 teams, 10 solos or anything mixed in between. If the matchmaking reached the maximum wait time (you can see the counter), the match starts whether it's full or not.
  
• Finding clues, finding the boss lair, the boss kill, extracting with the bounty and leveling up in your bloodline (in ranks where you don't unlock an item) gives you money.
  
• The game is designed to play in duos, if you queue as solo, you will still get queued against duos.
  
• If you're running out of money and can't afford another Tier 1-Hunter, you will get a free Tier 0 Hunter. Obviously it's a pretty bad Hunter with low health and bad weapons. (Probably you have to sell all your stuff in the Stores "owned" section to get the Tier 0-Hunter. Some also mention, that you have to drop below 3$ with buying and selling items)
  
• Because many are curious, here some facts: max. health is always 150. Headshots are always one-shots. There is no bullet-falloff, but there is bullet speed that differs per ammo. There is also a (huge) damage-falloff with further distance.

Teamplay

• seriously one of the most important things is: get a regular mate. Playing with randoms can be frustrating, you don't know their skill, you have to talk in-game and you can't coordinate silently in-fight. Write in the Steam-Forum "Looking for Group" and find some decent Mates.
  ( http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/5/ )
  If you are german or german-speaking, you can also join our Discord-Community (Link is in the german-guide)

Upgrade-Points

• You get upgrade-points for every level of your hunter (max. is 50)
  
• You should always spend these points on health first (if you lost a bar). 150 HP is an absolute must-have, otherwise you can be easily one-shotted.
  
• Don't put a large HP-Bar (50hp) at last.
  If you get downed and revived the bar is gone and that has 2 disadvantages:
  1) you loose much HP, so it's harder to stay alive this round
  2) it's much more expensive to buy a large HP-Bar.
  
• I prefer the following HP-Bar-Setups: 50-25-50-25 or 50-50-25-25 (for solos, probably 50-50-50 is the best way)
  
• Traits are important improvements of your hunters. I just show you my priority in upgrading it.(surely it depends on your Bloodline-Level (unlocks) and your free Upgrade-Points. I will sort them from 5 "must-have" to 1 "don't buy")
  5: Doctor > Greyhound
  4: Determination > Physician > Fanning (if you are playing single-action pistols)
  3: Packmule > Bulletgrubber (if you are playing Mosin, Dolch, Spectre) > Sharpshooter/Scopesmith (depends on you scope / iron sight) > Bloodless
  2: Mithridatist > Salveskin > Hornskin (nice but expensive) > Quartermaster (expensive and only usefull if you need a "mid" weapon as secondary) > Resilience > Bulwark
  1: Kiteskin > Frontiersman
  (There are some more traits for scopes i haven't mentioned, because i acutally "can't" play scopes)

Loadout

• Never go in a match without a first aid kit and/or vitality shot. The vitality shot can save your life in a gunfight and you can carry more than one of it. It stops bleeding and refills you HP instantly (except if you got downed or burned a bar, those bars are gone)
  With the first aid kit you can also heal your partner, if you are close to him and you health bars are full.
  
• On lower ranks i would suggest a loadout like Winfield + Chainpistol (+Fanning trait). With this setup you are prepared for the most common distances of a fight.
  
• Don't use lights at night! They are like a shining arrow over your head, saying "here i am, kill me". Seriously you can be seen over huge distances or even inside buildings. Do whatever you have to do to see in the dark but don't use the lights.

Sound

• Sound is everything, so my advice is, be as stealthy as you can. Only use your guns on a player or in extremely dangerous situations (e.g. you got to close to a hive or hounds). Beside that, do everything with melee or run around stronger NPCs.
  
• To hear sounds precisely, you probably have to turn around to locate where it comes from. If sound comes from you back, it can be distracting.
  
• Also check your sound settings if you can't locate Sounds. Most Gamers have (virtual) surround headsets, try to turn of "surround" because it can distract the sound location.

Movement

• Don't sneak too much. Yeah, you should sneak if crows or horses are nearby and you don't want to make any noise, but i always prefer to walk or even run because you are much harder to hit. (a spotted sneaking enemy is a 99% one-shot)
  
• Be aware that you are not "invisible". Especially as Tier1 you have light clothes and you can be easily seen. Movement or "unnormal" colors in bushes can be easily seen by a trained eye (even at night) so either you are sure nobody spotted you while sitting in thin bushes or you are hiding in really thick bushes. In my opinion you should always set your priority in movement over stealth.
  
• Don't camp because "everybody is killing you". Believe me, newcomers that are camping are an "easy snack" for us "old dogs". You probably don't know the map, how to hide or aim and we know the camp-spots, so we can clear them easily.
  
• If you are finding the boss lair, but you are not sure if there are players around or probably still alive, you should just trigger the boss (money + exp), then walk around to other places to probably surprise and encounter other players. (Less enemies = better chances to get the bounty)
  
• Don't stand still. Not in a window, not while aiming, never! Always strafe, especially in a fight. Wait for you opponent to shoot while strafing, if he misses, stand still, shoot, strafe again and repeat. Standing still is an insta headshot, believe me.

Enivronment

• Look out for Barrels, they can be as useful as dangerous for you. Don't get too close to them but if you see an enemy, lookout if there is any barrel or burning Lamp nearby.
  
• Don't try to cover behind solo trees. Every rifle or shotgun can shoot through wood and so you can easily get killed even behind cover. Always remember, wood is more a visual cover than a physical.
  
• Also lookout for medkits. If you get in a fight, it's good to know where you can heal yourself without using your own stuff.
  
• Extraction Points makes noises if an enemy is close by. So watch out if the horses or the boat makes noises when you come close. While the Extraction-Radius is around 25m, the Noise-Radius is around 70m (or more, im not 100% sure). So you will hear the noises before you hit the extraction zone.
  
• Each monster or "environmental animal" has different status of alertness. Normals + Armored for example, mostly first react with sounds, then slowly walk at you, then run. It also depends if you are running/walking/sneaking and if you are in their visual range. I will explain the different status of alertness from low attention > high attention > alerted.
  
  Horse: makes random noise > makes louder noise and raise its head > neighing loudly
  Crows: random noise > makes loader noise and raise their heads > Fly away while loudly crowing
  Hounds: random howls or crackles > standing still, growls > run growling at you
  Hive: random crying noise > louder noise, release the swarm and move towards you> sending the swarm at you while loudly screaming.
  Meathead: it's a bit special. Afaik it can't see you, just hear you. So its leeches try to do sounds on you. If you sneak and the leeches don't get you, you can easily hide pretty close.

Orientation / Mapknowledge

• Remember the spawn points - so you can speculate where enemies could spawn nearby.
  luckily meanwhile there is a spawnpoint-map:
  
  
  (Source, Thx to Mr. Mojo Risin)
  
• Learn the map, try always to run in cover and move in directions where you can fall in other peoples backs (they are probably all running towards the next hint or boss)
  
• Learn the states of doors and windows. The most of them always spawn in the same state. So you can predict if someone probably is/was there.
  
• When there is a hole in a Clue, somebody had already used it.
  
• communicate your mate the compass coordinates, if you hear or see something (obviously best way over 3rd party voice system like Teamspeak or Discord)

Monsters

• Hives: Hives can be one-shotted in the head (hanging beside) and so it can also be one-hitted with melee. But you should really concern about this option, because you whether have to run straight into it or sneak in its back (what makes you an easier target). If you fail, you still can kill it with a second body-hit but it's truly dangerous.
  
• Armored: Armored are much more vulnerable to blades than to shots or blunt weapons. The best way to kill them is either to burn them (they will just move a few meters until they die) or to melee them with a knife / machete. With a knife you need 3-4 full charged melee hits, probably less if you directly hit the small head. You can also hit their legs and break their leg-armor. They will get much slower and can't charge at you.
  
• Hounds: Hounds are really hard. They can hit you up to 75 HP, often appear in groups, can get alerted really fast and are a bit buggy, so they are hard to hit. Normally one can be easily killed with melee, but you'll often get problems with their movement. Also a headshot is a one-shot, so if you have the silencer-pistol with you, you're probably very lucky. If its not absolutely necessary, you should really avoid them.

(Special-)Weapons

• Handcannons: Handcannons are sawn-off shotguns, that can be equipped as secondaries without any trait. But as disadvantage, they have a huge spread and low distance. So if you want to one-shot someone, you must get really (!) close.
  
• Mosin Obrez: The Obrez is the only sawn-off rifle and can also be equipped as secondary without any trait. But its range is lower and the sway is much stronger compared to the "normal" Mosin.
  
• Pistols: Pistols can be used for several actions. The most important (beside their primary use) is, that they can extend the ammo of your rifles. (The most Caldwell and Nagant Pistols share the same ammo with the Winfield. The Caldwell Conversion Uppercut the same with Mosin and the Dolch the same with Vetterli). While the Chainpistol, the Uppercut or the Dolch can be really usefull in close combat or at the boss, the Silencer is the only quiet weapon and can be used for sneaky attacks or to distract the enemy (shoot crows, barrels, and so on while nobody can follow your position).

Fighting / Killing

• you should always try to "choose" fights of your choice, so if you hear shots you must decide: 
  will they get in your backs? are you able to go around / be safe? is it probably better to interrupt them? (if you are sneaky and get close, you are always in advantage)
  
• always expect it's a duo. So if you kill one, one of you should watch the downed player and the other should look around for something moving.
  
• burn players if you are unsure if they have a mate (otherwise they can be revived and probably fall in your back). You can use a Molotov (equipped item) or lanterns / lamps (randomly placed in the map)
  
• coordinate shots with your mate. It's always easier if you both shoot at the same time at the same target
  
• if you are in a fight, especially if your enemy is a solo or you downed one of a duo, you should push into them. Normally one should stay in longer range (for observation) and one goes at close combat.
  
• Dynamite can be cooked. If you click and hold left-click while aiming with Dynamite, you will light it up (but beware, from now on you can't turn it off). After a short time you will see, that the "aim-angle"-line will shorten. So you can, for Example, throw Dynamite that explodes mid-air. This can be very useful, because enemys or the boss can't run away. (But as i said, be really careful with this, it's easy to blow up yourself with a too long cooked dynamite)

Hints / Gamesence

• Don't get greedy, really don't do! As a high-level i can tell you, I've also learned it the hard way. If you feel too safe, you are about to die. Always be aware and always expect the worst.
  
• Count kills and shootouts. You are 10 Players on the map, you are 2, 8 to go. Calculate -1/2 with every shootout you hear, so you know at least a bit, how many people could be still alive.
  
• When you banish a boss, you will get your health back (also your "lost" bars [when you got downed or fire burned it])
  
• If you want to know more detail about the ammo-types (like max distance, speed, damage-falloff and penetration-falloff) you should read the official News about the Weapon-System
  https://www.huntshowdown.com/news/inside-hunt-s-weapon-system-with-david-west

Mythbusters

In this section i want to collect officiall responses to questions that are asked often or where there are some rumors about it.

• Will this game be Free2Play? No.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788202026559924/#c1693788202026563482
  
  
• EasyAntiCheat installs malware/spyware! Absolutely not true.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384126868555/?ctp=8#c1693788384128598652
  
  
• Will there be a wipe? It's not planned, if no huge changes are needed.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788202026712816/#c1693788202026799779
  
  
• Will there be a notification about how many players are left in a match?
  No, its intended that you dont know how many are left.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384128744338/#c1693788384128775735
  
  
• Is there a way to add randoms i played with? Not yet, but its planned to improve adding randoms.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384140748025/#c1693788384140894340
  
  
• Butcher is invincible to headshots! Yes it's true, the pighead is fake (it's just a mask).
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384141532742/#c1693788384141572045
  
  
• Will there be bigger teams as just duos? Actually not, probably in the future, but nothing is planned so far.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384141988486/?ctp=2#c1693788384142081128
  
  
• Whats about a ingame-notifcation when the server restarts. It's planned.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384145023855/#c1693788384145032149
  
  
• Won't i be able to play, if i loose all my money? No, you need to sell everything in the Stores "owned"-Tab and will get a free T0-Hunter if you can't afford a T1-Hunter.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1698293068433176990/#c1698293068433186254
  
  
• Solo players use teamslots, so at maximum 5 teams/solos can be on a map. Wrong! There can be 5 duos or 10 solos or anything in between.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1698293255137401747/#c1698293255137628468
  
  
• Is there a timelimit? Yes, it's 60 Minutes from "Get Ready" at the start. You will get a "5 Minutes left" warning before the game ends.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1698293703767443469/#c1698293703767507337
  
  
• Will there be a solo-only mode? Actually it's not planned.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/2949168687311408478/#c2949168687311424694
  
  
• Can you hear or see if someone is in a team, when you burn his body? No, there are no indication gives if someone has a partner or not.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1698293255138258547/?ctp=4#c2949168687311519944
  
  
• Camping is a real problem, fix that! Camping is not really a problem, because its one of the worse tactics someone can do. But there will be probably changes to ensure that there is not only one strategy to win.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/2949168687310251619/?ctp=4#c2949168687311855617
  
  
• Is there any Controller support? Actually not, but it's planned in the future.
  
  http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1698293068426587623/#c2949168687328235227

Sorry Cry_Ic3man2k for stalking :P

Stream / Videos

A little "selfish" section here. Many people of my Community asked for some streams of my games.
Sadly my Internet isn't very well (i'm planning to upgrade it) so actually i'm "just" uploading some highlight-videos.

But if you are interested, here are my Channels (german-speaking included):

https://www.twitch.tv/alucardnosfera/videos/all

https://www.youtube.com/user/YourAlucard/videos

Useful-Links

Another usefull Guide about Sounds you should be aware of:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1358566044

Official Tips for New Players:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384127035401/

Weapon-System explained by the Devs:
https://www.huntshowdown.com/news/inside-hunt-s-weapon-system-with-david-west

Known Issues and possible Fixes:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/594650/discussions/4/1693788384126969312/

Official Discord:
https://discordapp.com/invite/huntshowdown

Official Hunt support page:
https://huntshowdown.kayako.com/

Official Feedback Page (for new Ideas):
https://feedback.huntshowdown.com/

Epilogue

So thanks for you patience, this Guide will grow over time.
If you have some critics or more ideas, post it in the comments

Changes

10.06.2018

• added a Guide to "Useful-Links"

27.05.2018

• changed several things in "General (-basics)"
  
• fixed typo in "Teamplay"
  
• changed / added several things in "Upgrade-Points"
  
• changed several things in "Loadout"
  
• changes something in "Environment"
  
• updated map in "Orientation"
  
• added several things in "Orientation"
  
• added several things in "Hints / Gamesence"

23.04.2018

• added something in "Orientation / Mapknowledge"

22.04.2018

• changes something in "Upgrade-Points"
  
• added something in "Environment"
  
• added something in "Fighting / Killing"
  
• added section "Stream / Videos"
  
• added something in "Useful-Links"

23.03.2018

• added section "Mythbusters"
  
• added something in "Teamplay"
  
• added something in "Monsters"
  
• added something in "Environment"
  
• added something in "Loadout"
  
• added something in "(Special-) Weapons"

18.03.2018:

• added something "Fighting / Killing"
  
• added something "Loadout"
  
• added something "General"
  
• added something "Environment"
  
• added section "Monsters"

[Alucard Nosfera™]

Actually you get a Badge when you reach certain prestige level which can (afaik) also be seen ingame on your hunter (as some kind of necklace).
But they made clear that probably there will be more reward, but never something gameplay changing (so probably just cosmetics like the badge)

[ICHI]

One question i got:

Is there an actual gain in prestiging my bloodline?

Can't find any clear information about the prestige mechanics on the official website nor the patch notes.

I understand totally the challenging concept of prestiging though. =)

[ICHI]

Thx a lot, your guide put me from the sheep to the wolf in the food chain,already rank 100 after 1week,20k in the wallet and having a lot of fun fighting prestigious ppl :) i should insist on one crucial point though:we've to stay tuned with the dev and be aware of any change about weapons and balistic,so important to define what stuff is worth spending money on it and how to pick a gunfight with that stuff.

Exemple:last update nearly double the cost of the crown&king auto, decreasing his extra ammo pool and increasing recoil,need to know that when u're fan of this peculiar gun.
sources: https://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791460418881/announcements/detail/1707319928418465088

Thanks again and good hunt!

[Alucard Nosfera™]

Very thanks for this kind word :) I actually came today from a festival and will now (after 1 or 2 days of rest) update the guide part by part

[UnknownMarksman]

Honestly I tend to send the new players from 3 streamers to this guide, and tell them that once this guide is fully updated that its worth a while to keep up on as its a definitive guide to explaining all the goodies on the game in the advanced. Alucard Nosfera, I apreciate this guide being up and hope you might be able to even replace the old video to show all the cool stuff you did originally off. Also tanks for listening to use when we find something as well that can help. The players on this game are getting really good. I just personally miss the headshot kill range, I started losing my rifle play because its just not reliable anymore for me to personally use them.

[Jyrophor]

This was not complaining or anything just a reminder for other people. You have done a good job on this guide and everyone has holidays :D

[Alucard Nosfera™]

I know, sadly i'm pretty busy atm. But from next week on i have 2 weeks holiday and i hope i can update the guide :)

[Jyrophor]

Outdated

[clarkeveritas]

Thanks, there is a free weekend right now so I'm giving it a shot..... took me a few rounds but I've got the hang of it. Kinda funny.... i kept going into rounds and messaging my partner (random people) that I was inexperienced and I'd just follow them.... but everytime they ended up being less experienced than me so I had to actually be the mentor of the group. Love the game but I think a few extra maps and boss types would do wonders. Very unique game, though, although my somewhat beefy computer is having trouble getting it to run very well.

[Alucard Nosfera™]

You can, but now everybody starts with 150 HP (so "maxed out"). If you lose one chunk (being downed or losing from fire) but are able to extract, than you can still rebuy it with upgrade points (if you got enough)