Hunt Showdown can be intense, fun, and satisfying when fighting other players. Yet, it can also be extremely punishing if you make a small decision.
The player-versus-player elements of Hunt: Showdown are nothing new to any gamer familiar with first-person shooters. Although, Crytek made them feel unique, unforgettable, and intense with a mix of an incredible sound design with their use of spatial audio, weapons that feel heavy, and most importantly, the way it makes most of your senses hunt other players. This beginner’s guide to Hunt: Showdown will cover some essential tips for new hunters and advanced tactics for all players.
Use the Environment to Your Advantage in Hunt: Showdown
As we mentioned in our review of Hunt Showdown, sound decision-making and critical thinking are often more vital in Hunt than fast reflexes. Every hunter must be aware of the surroundings, items, and possible traps during a confrontation. Knowing and using what is provided by the level will give you an advantage in a gunfight.
- Light oil pools or smash hanging lamps to block an entrance with fire, or turn them off and shoot them to leave an oil pool that you can use later by throwing a flare, lantern, or incendiary ammo.
- If you spot a team or are approaching enemy players, make sure you have cover, a way to push, and retreat in the safest way possible.
- Concealment works if you are slowly pushing a boss lair and you are trying to be stealthy with no cover around by moving from concealment to concealment until you reach your destination or find some cover. Staying concealed works better if you use hunters with dark clothing such as The Headsman, Felis, or the Reptilian.
- Place Alert Trip Mines near barrels to make them blow up instantly as soon as an enemy hunter runs through them.
Sound can Be Your Ally, but It May Swap Side without Warning
In Hunt, you will be using your ears as much as your eyes. Take advantage of Crytek’s good use of sound to navigate through the map, plan your attacks, and be prepared for upcoming enemies pushing your position.
- Learn the position of sound traps in your surroundings.
- Learn the sound of every ground surface.
- Use Hunt 3D model viewer and zoom out to learn how every weapon sounds at a certain distance.
- Use blank fire decoys to get the enemy’s attention away from you.
- Be aware of explosives being lit to be thrown at you. You can use this to either decide to run away or push an enemy hunter while they are cocking a throwable.
- Use decoy fusees or choke bombs as a cheap option to throw at enemies’ locations and lure them away from their cover.
Remember to Have Patience
Patience is one of the most important guiding principles we can give to any beginner player starting in Hunt Showdown. Patience will bring bounties to you.
- If you spot an enemy player, you better be sure before pulling the trigger. Missing a shot can turn tides and take away the advantage you had over them, especially if they didn’t know of your presence beforehand.
- When a teammate dies, usually, our gamer instinct will kick in and our first thought will be to push to assist them and finish the fight quickly. Trust us on this one, DON’T. Take your time to reposition and flank. If you die, you will go out having given them a tough time.
- Strive away without getting too close as slow or fast as you need to.
- Do not ignore grunts during the gunfight. They will get you killed more than you expect if you don’t deal with them.
Know Your Weapons and Ammo and Play to Their Strengths
It’s not the gun you have, it’s how you use it. If there is something to praise the developers for, it’s the great balance done on this game. Every weapon and ammo types are useful and can be lethal in the hands of the right hunter. Yes, an AVTOmat can be a very powerful weapon, by overtrusting its limits will get you killed and back at the lobby in a matter of seconds. In the next part of our Hunt Showdown beginners guide, we will cover the best ways to use the different types of weapons and ammo in the game.
- Make sure you know the capabilities of your gun such as muzzle velocity, range, and damage. You can not treat a Winfield the same way you would treat a Sparks which has a four-second reload time compared to a lever-action with semi-automatic fire.
- During a fight, try to identify through sound the gun that the enemy is using. If you are fighting a team fortified inside a building and you hear a shotgun, maybe rushing the compound is not the smartest decision.
- Bolt action rifles do a high amount of damage so if you are not confident of landing a bullet on an enemy’s head, go for a body shot and quickly switch to your sidearm and finish the job.
- Shotguns can be great for holding rooms and angles either by rushing mixing them with a flash grenade or waiting for them in a corner as they try to kill you.
- Hip fire is better for most weapons, if your target, is 50 meters close or less than that.
There are Many Different Ammo Types to Choose From
There are many choices to customize your hunter and your killing style in Hunt: Showdown. You can go with conventional ammo, or you can bring in one of the special types shown below in our beginners guide to Hunt: Showdown.
- Incendiary ammo: As the name suggests, incendiary ammo will burn a small chunk of health with one bullet. If you manage to hit an enemy two times, they will light on fire.
- Full Metal Jacket: Gives your weapon better penetration but damage drop off will be sooner
- Poison ammo: This is highly recommended to be used only for PVE to deal with grunts and sound traps. Poison ammo is also a great choice to defeat some bosses very quickly. If you really want to use it for PVP, we recommend using it in a weapon with a high rate of fire.
- DumDum ammo: This ammo type will give a bleeding effect to enemies.
- Spitzer: Increases muzzle velocity and penetration but lower damage
- High Velocity: Increases muzzle speed but increased recoil
- Penny shot: This ammo is used for shotguns it’s very useful if you want a higher spread with more damage through each one. Keep in mind this ammo contains a lesser amount of pellets.
- Slugs: Increased accuracy on shotguns by using a single, solid projectile.
- Flechette: Creates bleed effect and has a higher range than buckshot.
Ammo types that create an annoyance such as poison, bleeding, or burning can be used to push enemies while they try to stop the effect.
Beginners Guide to Using Your Equipment Effectively in Hunt: Showdown
It’s no secret that in a middle of an intense fight we might forget about our arsenal at hand. We sometimes end up wasting a lot of equipment that could have made a difference in the fight. If you carry equipment or tactical gadgets in Hunt and have the opportunity, USE IT. Do not save it for the next fight or next match.
Be more Effective with First Aid Kits and Vitality Shots
- First Aid Kit restores 50 health points
- Weak Vitality Shot restores 75 health points
- Vitality Shot restores all health
A hunter has 150 health. If you have a hunter with three big health bars, which represent 50 health points each, and you lost 2, you can use a Weak Vitality Shot to restore a full bar, half of the other, and the rest will be restored automatically. This can save you some blood bonds and carry more Weak Vitality Shots.
Physicians and Doctors are great upgrades to run with First Aid Kits. Physician will make you use First Aid Kits faster. Likewise, the Doctor will make them more effective by restoring two health bars.
Make Them Feel like the Prey They Are
Hunt Showdown will feel no shame for you and will punish you if you are not decisive.
Take control of the fight by having them pushing angles YOU want them to push or moving into places you wanted them to be. This of course like any other recommendation in our Hunt Showdown beginners guide will require tons of practice and patience.
- Close paths and force them into your sights: Force them into angles you want them to be and that you are ready for. By blocking entrances, throwing something to lure them out
This tip can work a lot better if you have a teammate watching your back.
- Shoot and move: Don’t give them any free hits on you by peaking the same angle twice. Attack and reposition to make them feel uncomfortable
- Control their downed buddies: Once you manage to kill one of their friends, you or a teammate hold an angle to watch the body and prevent the revival. Also, you can throw lanterns or firebombs to burn the burry and force a move from them to try to rescue the fallen hunter.
- Use explosives and flashbangs to create chaos on their side
- If you are waiting for an enemy team to come out of a building, remember that they are the ones that need to come to you, and let them make the first mistake.
Wrapping Up Our Hunt: Showdown Beginners Guide
We hope the advice in our beginners guide for Hunt Showdown can help you to start winning more gunfights and get more kills. Remember that everything is a matter of practicing, adapting, finding your own strategies, and most importantly, dying and dying over again in the game. Have a good hunt!
For more insightful guidance, check out our other articles and guides, such as our list of advanced Hunt Showdown tips and tricks to save your Hunter’s life.
