New Player Guide

Thanks to community contributor Ogruls for this updated Guide.

Despite the claim of many disgruntled new players there is a way to enjoy weeks, (if not months) of free play on theHunter by using the  mission packs and Gm$ to progress through the game. Let's see how we can get you going.

## Tutorials

First off do the Tutorials, found under the "hunt now" button when the launcher is open. Don't think you Know it all. These tutorials will help you a lot.

## Fan Guides

Now have a look through the fan guides and check out those hints and tips that are relevant to the missions you are going to be attempting.

## Missions /Earning Gm$ - Free to Play

Open the missions from the top of your hunter home page and select the activate all button on Regular mission. Later as you get more experienced doing missions you can use the filter option here as well, but for now active all as often you may complete a mission just by it being activated which is a welcome bonus. If you don't have active missions you will not earn the gm$ that they give. As you progress down a mission pack you will notice that the gm$ reward increases for each mission, so for making gm$ you are often better going as far as you can down a pack than starting on a different animal.

Select the Whitetail Deer Missions and with your .243 Bolt Action Rifle start this mission pack. You will see that many of the other animal mission packs are locked when you first begin, these will unlock and become available to you on completion of the third Whitetail mission – 'Harvest a Whitetail Deer'. With your starter weapons you can continue down the Whitetail Deer mission pack until you reach the 16th mission 'Nice Sidearm...' getting this far down the Whitetail Deer mission pack will have earned you 10,600gm$ from the missions.

A good set of missions to do now would be the  Dall Sheep and Snowshoe Hare Missions as they can be completed using the starter weapons alone, as can the Ptarmigan Missions pack but would leave ptarmigan for later once your more accustomed to the game. Each of these packs will give you 10,000gm$ on completion of the pack.

Mule Deer Missions pack should now be started and while you are doing it open The Boone And Crockett Club Missions pack to do along side it. Mule Deer and B&C will bring in another 6,100gm$ before you need to make a purchase.

If you have done the above you will have earned 36,700gm$ from missions, now is the time to make your first purchases using gm$ earned in the game. Your first purchases that will aid you the most for completing mission packs are the following, would recommend you purchase the  Elk Bugle Caller (2720gm$), the  Predator “Jack Rabbit" Caller (2550gm$), from upgrade section of store increased capacity (8500gm$) this doubles the amount of equipment you can carry. For first weapon to buy would recommend the .300 Bolt Action Rifle (11050gm$) and the Compound Bow Snakebite (8500gm$).

After purchasing the above (33,320gm$) then make a start on the Roosevelt Elk Missions pack & Moose Missions pack. You can complete down to the 15th Mission 'magnum Opus' in Roosevelt Elk, doing this will give you another 8,500gm$. The Moose mission pack you can complete in it's entirety as you have purchased the weapons required for it earning 10,000gm$.

Now you should purchase a .44 revolver and pistol scope to complete the remainder of the Roosevelt Elk missions and to continue with your Whitetail Deer mission pack.

The Coyote Missions pack can now be completed in it's entirety earning from missions 9000gm$.

Purchase the .270 Bolt Action Rifle (9333gm$) after purchase you can complete the remainder of the Mule Deer pack.

Other animal mission packs in addition to the above that can now be completed are Feral Hog Missions and Black Bear Missions.

For free to play players following the above should give you a good start in the game.

## More Mission Tips

While doing missions where possible have the animal mission page open in thehunter wiki and your hunter home page open on your browser too refer to, or open on another device such as a tablet or phone. You can also use the in game UI by pressing o on your keyboard which will bring up the mission page in game.

* Always check if a mission has fully completed by refreshing your home page, you can select the next mission from here quickly in the Available section of the mission page. Sometimes the in-game mission message will say complete but is only referring to one part of the mission not to the whole mission.
* Always let the animal harvest screen complete when harvesting for a mission
* If you have decided not to use the activate all UI then always check that you have selected the mission you are attempting. Will say this again “Always check that you have selected the mission you are attempting"

If mission does not complete when you expect it to, re-read the mission to make sure you are doing it correctly. Some missions require that the steps be carried out in the order listed, so where you see the word 'then' in a mission do it in the order stated. For others it may require a male or female animal or animal of certain score /weight.

Where a mission says 'harvest' you do not need to have killed the animal, another player with the required weapon may kill it for you to harvest. The mission will then complete for you. More on this in next section.

Doing the missions for multiple animals in the same reserve at the same time speeds up gm$ earning potential. Best way to do this is designate one animal as the main mission pack your attempting and if other animal come along, do their missions as you go.

Never feel like you have to complete an entire animal mission pack in a single game. Some missions will state 'in the same hunt', only these missions must be completed in the same game.

## The Multiplayer Option

You can join an unlocked multiplayer game by going to the "Find a Multiplayer Game" on the server lists. Most appropriate would be another player with the time and patience and an great equipment set up on the map you wish to hunt.

* Hunting in Multiplayer will allow you to complete some of the missions you may not have the weapons or equipment for yourself. You will be able to use the host's Tents, ground blinds, stands and bait sites that you do not have.
* You can also get past a mission specific weapon requirement by asking them to shoot for you if they have the correct weapon. Then you can harvest the animal and complete the mission.
* Most weapon specific mission requirements only stipulate that you harvest the animal, not necessarily to shoot it.
* Missions such as for example Euro Rabbit, Duck and goose missions etc. containing weapon specific requirements and/or the need for expensive equipment can be completed this way.

Surprisingly there are many long time players who will be prepared to mentor you. Providing you respect them and conform to any game rules they may impose, many experienced players will be only too keen to help you get started. In general when joining multiplayer games, respect other players, give other players their room to hunt, let them know if you are going to use a firearm before using it, when joining the game at a tent hit your Ctrl key so you go prone before you start to equip yourself. Only pick up another players kill if they have given you permission to do so. Remember in a multiplayer game the player hosting has the admin powers which includes kicking or banning players from their server.

## Earning Em$

It is also possible to earn Em$ by participating in the in-game competitions and those posted in the official forum. All competitions are fiercely competitive and as with the missions the in-game competitions have to be activated before you can enter. Once entered into an in-game competition, your score will be updated on to the competition leader board automatically. For forum competitions follow the rules as given and post your results as per stated requirements in the competition thread post.

Simplest rule with competitions is “you have to be in it to win it" so would recommend you join them as your doing the animal mission packs.

Following the above will give you a great feel for the game and show you what it has to offer, most players make their way through the game by using both Em$ and Gm$ to progress. Have fun, we do.

*Welcome to theHunter!*