Duo Hunters

**Duo Hunters**, also referred to as **Pack Hunter** in some menus and often simply referred to as **2v8** by the community, is a gameplay mode featured in *Identity V*. It is found in the Violent Struggle section, along with Blackjack, Chasing Shadows, Frenzy Rhapsody and both Tarot modes. It was first introduced on October 4th, 2018 alongside a small Event organized to celebrate its addition.

The maps that appear during this mode are Lakeside Village, Moonlit River Park and Eversleeping Town, as they are the largest. Previously, a much larger version of Eversleeping Town was available in regular matches of Duo Hunters, but it was later made exclusive to Custom Mode for an indefinite amount of time. Larger versions of Golden Cave and Eversleeping Town are however planned to be added to the mode in the future.

## Availability

Duo Hunters is only available for 2 hours at a time in three different parts of the day.

* 6:00-8:00 Server Time
* 16:00-18:00 Server Time
* 21:00-23:00 Server Time

One of the sessions may be closed prematurely during periods of Server maintenance or hot-fixes.

## Gameplay

### Survivors

Survivors are placed into a group of 8, and there can be multiples of any character. Rather than two hits, each Survivor can take three hits. Survivors must decode 7 Cipher Machines in this mode in order to open the gate, or Survivors may decode 3 Ciphers to allow the Dungeon to spawn on the map. Once 4 members remain or other circumstances, a Crowbar can be purchased from one of the Phone Booths, which can open the Dungeon.

Survivors who have been put into a Rocket Chair or have been wrapped in a cocoon (Soul Weaver's Trait) will be unable to be rescued for a certain period on their first time - on Rocket Chairs they will be surrounded by metal spears during this period. The amount of time they cannot be rescued is dependent on what character is chaired. In Pack Hunter, once the Survivor is able to be saved, the elimination bar progresses faster than in the normal gamemode, and there is no line at the halfway point. After being rescued, Survivors can be placed back onto the Rocket Chair another time before being eliminated. The second time a Survivor is chaired, there will be no countdown.

### Hunters

There are two Hunters paired as a team against the eight Survivors. They can use the chat function before the match begins to communicate with each other. Like in normal matches, Hunters can see the chat of the Survivors, but Survivors cannot see the Hunters'. Hunters cannot use the same character, and certain characters are not available (Dream Witch, Photographer, "Undead", Clerk and Hermit). They have their own messaging system in-game.

### Phone Booths

Added to this mode are small Phone Booths, which contain a "shop" when interacted with. Any player can use this shop to make a purchase using points earned from the match. They can buy various enhancement pills, or specific items. The most popular items for Survivors to purchase are Flare Guns and Euphorias.

* This list is ordered according to the in-game list from the Phone Booth.

## Strategy Guide

### Beginner's Guide

The game requires the participation of 2 Hunters and 8 Survivors. Players can gain points based on their performance. Both Survivors and Hunters can buy items with points from the 5 phone booths on the map. Items include those from the normal game mode and the Duo Hunters mode.

Survivors can take 3 hits before being knocked down. The first time a survivor is placed on a Rocket Chair, the chaired Survivor will enter the confinement stage, in which the Survivor cannot be rescued from the Rocket Chair. When the confinement stage ends, a short rescue stage begins in which the Survivor can be rescued.

There are 11 Cipher Machines, and the base time required to decode them has been increased. The Survivors need to decode 7 Cipher Machines before they can open the Exit Gate. In this mode, the damage of Detention and Terror Shock remains unchanged. The reduction of the Cipher Machine progress caused by Hunter's first Abnormal is also lowered.

### Advanced Guide

#### Survivors

* **Purchase Items**: For example, Focus Potion. The decoding speed in Duo Hunters mode is much slower than that in the normal mode. Survivors can consume Focus Potion to speed up the decoding by 50%. It is recommended that you buy the Focus Potion once you have 4000 points.
* **Duo Decoding**: Decode a Cipher Machine with other players together to not only increase the Cipher Machine progress but to gain more points quickly than decoding alone. When Hunters approach, escape in different directions. When the Hunter goes after the other Survivor, you can continue to decode.

#### Hunters

* **Trait Choice**: Peeper and Teleport are two common Traits, as most 2v8 Maps are large. This allows Hunters to locate survivors and teleport to Cipher Machine or Exit Gates to apply pressure.
	+ Excitement is a great choice to secure chairing a survivor.
* **Essential Talent:** Because survivors are more aggressive in this mode due to having more access to tools to stun the hunter, it is recommended to bring Desperate Fight Tolerance and Addiction.
* **Double Hunter:** Double Hunters can down a single survivor quickly or to assist one another in situations where they are many survivors for their teammate to handle.

### Pro Tips

* **Essential Talent - Mutual Support**: It's difficult for 8 Survivors to cooperate well. After unlocking Mutual Support, injured Survivors who are not being pursued by Hunters can see each other. This way, you will have an easier time rescuing injured teammates.
* **Make Good Use of Quick Message**: When Survivors are heading to rescue teammates on Chairs, remember to send Quick Message. In Duo Hunters mode, most Hunters I will not choose to stay near the Chair when a Survivor is placed on it for the first time because of the Confinement Stage. Once the Confinement Stage ends, nearby Survivors can immediately rush to rescue their teammates and fully heal them. This way, the Survivors who are placed on the Chair for the first time have a much higher chance to survive.
* **Increase the Chance of Body Block**: A Survivor rescued from the Chair always gets off the Chair from its left side (the right side in the rescuer's view). If the Hunter decides to stay near the Chair, the rescuer should move to the right side of the teammate after rescuing him/her, which can greatly increase the chance of body block.

## Response

There are pros and cons to this gamemode, but it is often chaotic and can be difficult to balance. Queue times for Hunters tend to be long, and many Hunters complain about the high availability of Flare Guns for Survivors which can result in a loop of being stunned. Survivors have a greatly decreased decoding time due to the increased number of teammates, and often complain about Hunters double-teaming against singular Survivors.

### Initial Reception

The community finds the mode interesting and fun, but complain that Survivors are at more of a disadvantage than Hunters due to slow decoding and the Hunters' perks. For example, the High Octane Potion Pill, when purchased by a Hunter, will increase the speed of elimination by 35%, compared to the Survivor Persona web trait which allows them to slow down the elimination progress speed to a maximum of 9%.

People also complain that playing as a Hunter in this mode takes a long time to be matched into a game. In general, Pack Hunter matches tend to take much longer than regular matches, due to there being twice as many players involved.

Certain Survivors like Priestess and Doctor are very powerful in this gamemode.

## Trivia

Although Photographer isn't allowed in this game mode, a sound file for him, specifically him using the phone booth, is unused in the files, possibly meaning he was originally meant to be playable in the mode at one point before being scrapped.

## Gallery

Duo Hunters' transparent icon
1. ↑ https://weibo.com/6140485374/KDurcdpoA