How to Play Guide for Hunt: Showdown

This page will serve as a basic **how to play guide for *Hunt: Showdown***. While there is very little information available at this time, we urge you to check back often, as new information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.

## Basic gameplay

More detailed information about the game modes are here: Game Modes

Every Bounty Hunt mission follows the same basic course:

1. Track your target through a hostile sandbox environment.
2. Kill your target-the boss monster(s).
3. Banish its soul to hell and collect the resulting Bounty Tokens.
4. Get off the map before another Hunter incapacitates you and steals your prize.

Every match is unique, varying depending on factors such as difficulty, time of day, boss type, and Hunter level. Up to twelve players, solo in pairs or trios (also influenced by the chosen option in the lobby), compete for the prize.

In Soul Survivor the rules have some changes to them:

1. Each player tries to collect four Rifts
2. The first player with four rifts becomes the Wellspring
3. As the wellspring the player absorbs its energy while the other players try to kill him
4. Once the energy reached 0 the hunter with the wellspring wins and can keep the Hunter

## Controls

There are two Control Schemes in Hunt: Showdown
**Hunter** and **Gunslinger**. Read more about the difference in detail here

### **Movement**

* SPRINT - hold [SHIFT] + [W] (Sprinting will exhaust your Hunter. When exhausted, you can still run, but at a slower pace).
* JUMP - [SPACE]
* VAULT - [SPACE] + move towards an object
* MOVE UP AND DOWN A LADDER - hold [W] / [S]

### **Combat**

Hunter:

* MELEE ATTACK - press [LMB]
* HEAVY MELEE ATTACK - hold [LMB]
* AIM A WEAPON - hold [RMB]
* FIRE A WEAPON - hold [RMB] + press [LMB] (If you press [LMB] without aiming, you will perform a melee attack. You must aim before shooting).
* RELOAD - [R]
* TOGGLE WEAPON SIGHT (precision aim) - hold [RMB] + [SHIFT]

Gunslinger:

* MELEE ATTACK - press [V]
* HEAVY MELEE ATTACK - hold [V]
* FIRE A WEAPON - press [LMB]
* RELOAD - [R]
* TOGGLE WEAPON SIGHT (precision aim) - hold [RMB]

### **Other Interactions**

* VIEW MAP - [TAB]
* DARK SIGHT - hold [E]
* SELECT EQUIPMENT - [MOUSE WHEEL] / [1 – 0]
* USE SELECTED EQUIPMENT - hold [RMB] + press [LMB]
* INTERACT WITH ITEMS/DOORS/LADDERS - [F]
* TOGGLE WEAPON MODE - [X] (also can turn of lanterns)

## Tips and tricks

*Sound is a Key Part of the Game*

More so than most games, Hunt: Showdown relies on sound for your survival. There are all kinds of traps that make noise and can draw the attention of both other players, and creatures. Gun fire, running through water and even walking along wooden planks can also create noise.

It's important while playing to be aware of this so that you don't create too much sound, but also are actively listening for it. Hear gunshots in the distance? Slow your approach so you don't run face first into someone's rifle. Hear dogs barking or zombies groaning? Another player is likely nearby and disturbing the peace. It's a key part of the game, so when you play, ensure that you can hear the game clearly, and are always mindful of what sounds you're making.

*The Health Bar*

* Health will regenerate over time, but only so far as to fill the currently damage bar. To refill other empty bars, you will need to find health kits.
* Large bars are worth 50HP, small bars are worth 25HP.
* When you die, getting revived by a friend will permanently lower your health by 1 bar.
* Health can be upgraded before a match in the Hunter screen, but costs tokens which are only obtained while winning matches.

*Damage Types*

* **Bleeding** causes a continual loss of health. To stop bleeding, press [F], and hold until the process is complete. If you do not stop bleeding, you will continue to lose health until you are incapacitated. While you are stopping bleeding, you cannot do anything else and are more vulnerable to attack.

* **Poison** does not inflict damage over time, but while poisoned, health does not regenerate. The poison will wear off on its own over time or can be cured with an Antidote Shot.

* **Burning** causes a continual loss of health for as long as you are burning, simultaneously damaging your maximum possible health, and disabling you permanently. To stop burning, press [F]. If burning reduces your health status to 0, you cannot be revived and will immediately die permanently.

*This is a PvEvP Game*

Part of what makes Hunt: Showdown an interesting game is the conflict between handling the monsters and the other hunters. Every where you go, you are bound to run into Grunts, Hives, Meathead's, and other enemies.

When you get into a fight with other people, use this to your advantage. Are there a group of Grunts nearby? Lure them towards it. See a red barrel around a corner? Run past it and hope they follow. Even the simple act of keeping them distracted while a grunt walks up on them can be the difference between a quick win or a long fought loss.

*Choose Your Hunts Wisely*

It can be easy to grab a hunter, pick a contract and start slaying some grunts, but this can lead to near impossible to win the bounty. Why's that?

Certain contract monsters have different strengths and weaknesses, so choose your weapons, tools, and consumables wisely. For instance, the Butcher is weaker to shotguns than other types, while the Spider will take damage from any gun but is incredibly fast. This means that if you don't have shotguns, but you're trying to take down the Butcher, you'll be in for a much tougher fight. Before selecting which contract you want to kill, consider your items and how easy it will be for you to beat them!

*Banishing the Contract*

Killing a contract monster is only 1/3 of the task. Once it's dead, you need to Banish it to Hell. This process takes several minutes and while it happens a burning effect will mark your location on the map to other players so that all players in the match are alerted that it's begun.

You do not need to stay near the corpse during the ritual—it will continue even if you’re not in the area and cannot be paused or canceled. But you need to protect the area so that you can claim the bounty once it appears. During this time, you will want to stay in a safe area and move only when necessary so that you can hear your surroundings. If you're in a two-player hunt, one of you should stay near the banishing creature while the other acts as a lookout, as the other players will surely be in a rush to find you.

When the banishing is complete, two bounty tokens will appear in place of the monster’s corpse. Collect them (each Hunter can only collect one) and prepare yourself for the showdown, as other surviving players flock to your location in hopes of stealing the prize. Tread carefully, the Bounty Tokens will continue to act as a spirit anchors. This anchor manifests itself in the form of flashes of lightning visible in Dark Sight. This means the location of a Hunter carrying a Bounty Token is visible to other Hunters.

Now you can either head directly for an extraction point in order to exit the map and collect your bounty or, if there are two contract monsters, risk going after the second target monster on the map.

## See also

* Official Manual (currently out-of-date, retrieved 30 June 2019)
* Release Date
* System Requirements