A new player guide for Hunt: Showdown. I’ll be going over weapons, tools, consumables, perks and a little bit of basic strategy.
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Contents
Introduction
All credit goes to LinkCelestrial!
Welcome to my Hunt: Showdown new player guide. I’m going to be going over weapons, tools, consumables and perks and what I think is good and why. I’m not the final voice here and everything is subject to get patched at some point, so please use this guide to form your own opinion and find the stuff that works for you. I’ll also cover some basic strategy at the end.
Weapons – Primary Rifles
I’m going to be covering weapons with bullet’d lists for their variants. I may expand beyond bullet’d lists in the future if it’s what people want. The base variant determines where all variants end up in this guide for now.
Crossbows
I love crossbows in this game. Be warned they’re all virtually useless without the perk bolt thrower, which is unlocked very late in the game, as well as they’re unlocked late. Otherwise the rate of fire is pathetic and if you miss you’re a goner.
- Crossbow – One shot to the body in close range, procs bleed so it can kill to an impressive range or put your opponent in a position where they either have to bandage or die which means you can kill them easily. The sight is good (IMO) but hard to get used to. Great for blitzing the map because you can kill everything easily.
- Crossbow Explosive – On paper it’s great, in practice it’s bad. It doesn’t one shot unless it’s a direct hit to the upper chest or head, and it has horrible drop to the point that I’d say the Romero 77 has better range.
- Crossbow Shotbolt – This emits a shotgun blast on the impact zone. What that means is that it’s one of the most reliable one shot weapons in the entire game. The downside is you can’t get your bolts back, and it’s loud, which kinda defeats the purpose of a crossbow. Because the blast happens at the source you can also use it as decoys which is better than you might think.
- Hand Crossbow – Everything you know and love with the crossbow minus the ability to kill people. It can one shot but it has a way lower effective range and harder drop on the bolts. Buyer beware. It’s usable enough.
- Hand Crossbow Poison – Useful only in meme builds. Does not one shot, but does leave a cloud of poison. Can kill non-spider bosses relatively quickly, but all bows are surprisingly good at it.
Lebel 1886
It’s a relatively new weapon to the game, so it has no variants yet but I expect some soon. It’s basically a budget Mosin, which, spoilers, is still really good. It has one of the best iron sights in the game, long ammo, two shots to the body, great penetration and low damage drop off. It has a slow reload and you lose a bullet every time you reload unless you have Bullet Grubber. In general, I’ll run a Mosin over it because the lower rate of fire really kills it for me. Still a solid choice, if you pick it over the Mosin because of the sights I won’t judge.
Mosin Nagant M1891
Large ammo weapon, two shot kill, low damage fall off, maximum penetration and . The downside is that you lose ammo when you reload unless you have the perk bullet grubber and you need a perk in order to stay ADS’d between shots.
- Mosin-Nagant M1891 – This is the basic version. A very solid weapon, even without the perks that make it better.
- Mosin-Nagant M1891 Bayonet – I personally think bayonet versions are the best when it comes to the pseudo-melee weapons. As per usual though, I don’t think the cost increase is worth it when you can just buy a knife.
- Mosin-Nagant M1891 Sniper – The tradition with snipers, I don’t like the scope but you might. The iron sights on the Mosin aren’t the best in the world so maybe give it a shot.
- Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez – One of the best medium weapons. Fantastic with quarter master and a shotgun so you can cover all ranges. The sway is pretty hard core.
- Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez Mace – See above. It’s a blunt melee though so it’s useful for immolators, but not overly. Unlike most pseudo-melees you don’t actually lose any control so it’s basically a strict upgrade.
- Mosin-Nagant M1891 Avtomat – A ten round mag, full auto action, two shot kill. Sounds insane? It is. It kicks harder than a spooked horse and it’s impossible to only fire one shot (short of some janky interactions with swapping weapons). The latest weapon you unlock in the game. I’ll touch on it more in the strategy section but it’s very limited in where it’s effective.
Nitro Express Rifle
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. It uses special ammo and is a one shot to the body. Two barrels as well, sounds amazing right? Well it has the worst sight in the game and is kinda inaccurate. It also doesn’t always one shot and has the highest recoil quite possibly ever. It’s unlocked very late, so if you see it you’re probably picking it off a dead hunter. If you do, be warned. It’s a temperamental mistress.
Sparks LRR
One of my personal favourites. A shot to the body will bring players down to 1HP remaining which means you can kill them with literally any follow up you choose. It’s an unforgiving weapon though, if you miss or their partner is ready to come at you, you’re going to be in a bad spot.
- Sparks LRR – See above.
- Sparks LRR Silencer – Imagine taking away all the damage from the weapon that’s entire thing is doing damage. Plus adding massive bullet drop. In other words it’s garbage.
- Sparks LRR Sniper – I don’t personal like sniper scopes in this game, but it’s up to you. If you like sniping and are good at getting to vantage points while being sneaky, this is the weapon for you.
Vetterli 71 Karabiner/Bayonet/Deadeye
It’s a medium rifle with okay iron sights. Two shot kill, semi decent range and penetration. Internal magazine which is a pro or con depending on how you look at it. The bayonet version is fine, but again I prefer the knife due to the cost difference and stamina drain. The deadeye version is my favourite scoped weapon in the game. If you wanna rock a scope, in my opinion, this is it.
Winfields
Lever action, high rate of fire, most variants have a fairly large ammo capacity too. The downsides are that they use the weakest ammo, compact, and therefore are usually three shot kill to the body and have high damage fall off. They reload one bullet at a time, which is an upside or a downside depending on your view.
- Winfield M1873 – The basic variant. Usually my personal go to for a balance of cost effectiveness and goodness.
- Winfield M1873 Aperture – If you like this you can save a bit of money while getting a full sized Winfield as it’s cheaper than the base variant, but the general consensus is that aperture sights are bad.
- Winfield M1873 Swift – It comes with a speed loader that loads 7 rounds at a time. It makes the reload hella fast, but you have to have at least 7 bullets out to take advantage of it. You unlock it so late in the game that there’s better things to use, but it’s considered the best version by most people.
- Winfield M1873 Talon – While it looks hella cool, it’s not worth the raised cost in my opinion. The melee takes a lot of stamina so it struggles versus groups and you can just take a knife.
- Winfield M1873C – The C is for cheap. It’s actually for compact, you get a considerably smaller magazine, but it also handles better. A go to early game for a cheap loadout that’s easy to use.
- Winfield M1873C Marksman – With the effective range that the Winfield has I simply can’t recommend using a scoped variant, especially with the loss of mag capacity.
- Winfield M1873C Silencer – Hunt is an audio focused game, if silenced weapons were actually good everyone would use them. Spoiler: they’re not. Usable for PvE, useless for PvP. If you want a silent option to clear out hives and such, stick to throwing knives or the silenced Nagant pistol.
Weapons – Shotguns
Hunt: Showdown shotguns are not like other game’s shotguns. They are designed to be realistic, which means you can one shot people to impressive ranges but you’re going to need to be able to aim. They all do rending damage, which procs bleed, so they can put enemies in a bad position even if they don’t kill. All shotguns in this game gain no benefit in spread by crouching or ADSing, so hipfire is your best friend.
Cadwell Rival 78
This is the traditional shotgun. Fairly reliable one shots, side by side barrels. It’s exactly what it says on the package, and it’s good.
- Cadwell Rival 78 – This is most people’s go to shotgun. If you like the playstyle, rock it. It’s good. You have to be kind of close but the second shot gives you some safety if you are off target or decide to try for a kill at longer ranges.
- Cadwell Rival 78 Handcannon – This is one of the few medium weapons that I think doesn’t suck. It’s not the most reliable one shot, but you have two and that’ll usually do it unless you aim like a potato or are trying to shoot through a wall.
Crown & King Auto-5
Unlocked late in the game this semi-automatic five round (with one in the chamber) shotgun used to be meta defining. Crytek has done a good job keeping it viable and chopping back at its power. It has low one shot range and high kick. You can spam out shots to kill someone if you get it, but they’ll usually have a chance to react. If you see one on a dead hunter, give it a go. It also eats bosses, if you can handle burning your ammo.
Romero 77
This is going to one shot fools to an impressive distance, if you can keep it centered on their chest. In my opinion, the worst shotguns but they’re totally usable especially as a new player. Give them a shot, I’d say or two but you have to reload first.
- Romero 77 – The base variant. It’s solid if you can get the one shot and reload before their partner comes at you, or if your partner is ready to take the other guy out, or you can duck into cover. Just don’t charge in single barrel roaring.
- Romero 77 Talon – Due to high stamina usage and the cost increase I’d generally recommend you grab yourself a knife instead. It’s usable if you like it, though, and can surprise people with the fact that you can shotgun and then melee very quickly.
- Romero 77 Handcannon – The main appeal of the 77 is that you gain the ability to one shot at long range. If you bring the handcannon you’re now using a medium weapon at the cost of losing that ability. I just can’t say this is a good option because it fails to one shot too frequently, and you’re often dead in CQB before you can reload.
- Romero 77 Hatchet – See above and tack on the talons description.
Specter 1882
My personal favourite shotgun. It’s unlocked at blood rank 55 so it’s going to be out of reach for new players, but it’s a strong option. Pump action with 5 rounds, fairly reliable one shot, hella reliable two shot.
- Specter 1882 – The base version. Like all versions you need bullet grubber to not lose a round when you reload it, and the (completely useless) perk iron devastator to stay ADS’d while shooting it.
- Specter 1882 Bayonet – The ability to kill armoured in two charged attacks and hives in one is pretty solid and worth the downsides, but not worth the cost increase in my opinion.
- Specter 1882 Compact – You sacrifice not only effective range, but also one ammo capacity for the option of running a medium sized Specter. I personally think that the Rival 78 Handcannon is the best medium shotgun, but this is still serviceable.
Weapons – Pistols
In my personal opinion pistols are the least balanced weapons in this game. I don’t mean they’re overpowered or useless, I mean that as you progress you will begin to unlock things that outshine the other pistols like the sun outshines a candle. Picking good pistols off of dead hunters can give you some real ground early in the game as most experienced hunters run Cadwell Pax or better.
Bornheim No. 3
Further down this list is a weapon called the Dolch. This is baby Dolch, and that’s insane. You get it at rank 21, so it’s actually within a new players reach and it might just become your best friend. Three shot kill, but it’s semi-automatic with a five round magazine that can reload amazingly fast if you empty the whole thing, AND it’s accurate as hell. I expect this to get nerfed at some point. In my opinion one of the top 5 small slot weapons in the game. Some people do prefer the Nagant Officer but I’m not one of them.
Cadwell Pistols
I’m going to cover the entire Cadwell pistol family here.
- Cadwell Conversion Pistol – It’s better than the Nagant. Honestly that’s the only redeeming quality. You’re going to use this because you have no better option. It’s three shots to the body, using compact ammo. Single action, classic slow revolver reload. Handles surprisingly well.
- Cadwell Conversion Chain – This exists for one reason and one reason only, and that reason is the perk called Fanning. One of the first times you’ll feel powerful in this game is going to be using Fanning with one of these. It handles a little worse than the normal conversion but the recoil is lessened. Otherwise they’re the same functionally.
- Cadwell Pax/Claw – This is one of the outstanding secondaries in the game. Medium ammo, two shot kill, handles decently well, solid amount of backup ammo and you can fan it if you want to. I personally will run the Uppercut over this weapon most of the time but that’s a matter of preference or ammo synergy. The claw knife is strictly worse than the real knife. It has stubby range and it takes four charged attacks to kill an armoured and that’s really what makes it bad in my opinion.
- Cadwell Conversion Uppercut – Another of the outstanding secondaries. Long ammo, two shot kill, good penetration and low damage falloff. Basically running a rifle in a small slot. It has pretty heavy sway that can be hard to master but it hits like a truck, and you can fan it. Compared to the Pax it has more sway and less ammo, but better penetration and less damage drop off.
Dolch 96/Precision
A ten round magazine that fires semi-automatic and uses medium ammo. That means it kills in two shots and can fire those shots very quickly. This gun is strong as hell and can feel very unfair in the hands of a skilled hunter that can land both those shots. Crytek has worked to make it so you’re not completely screwed against it, it kicks hard and requires Bullet Grubber to not lose a bullet every time you press R, but don’t be fooled, this is one of the best weapons in the entire game. It’s unlocked late but if you see one on the ground I’d consider it a must grab. There’s also a precision version which is totally viable if you’re looking for a medium slot weapon, the sway reduction of the precision version is very good.
Lemat Mark II Revolver
This gun is unlocked far too late in my opinion. It’s a shotgun and a revolver, it holds 9 compact ammo rounds and 1 shotgun shell. The shotgun can only one shot to about 5 (or was it 3?) meters and changing modes takes a bit of time. Sadly the compact ammo is Nagant levels of bad, the gun is expensive and it’s unlocked really late. More of a novelty weapon than anything, but it has fantastic iron sights and can be fun to use Fanning on due to the high round capacity.
Nagant M1895
Arguably the worst weapon in the entire game, at base. Has some redeemable qualities in the variants. Compact ammo so it has high fall off and is three shot kill to the body.
- Nagant M1895 – Low damage, pathetic rate of fire, slow reload. Only useful to bring more ammo for your Winfield, and I mean that.
- Nagant M1895 Officer – From zero to hero. This is the only dual action pistol in the game right now. Dual action means that pulling the trigger also pulls back the hammer. This means that it fires pretty fast which makes it my go to early game
- Nagant M1895 Officer Brawler – See above, only with slightly reduced recoil, higher sway and a built in brass knuckle. I personally like it, but it’s not worth the extra money over the base officer most of the time. It’s perfectly serviceable but you’re gonna hear this a lot from me when it comes to pseudo-melee weapons, just bring a knife.
- Nagant M1895 Silencer – Silenced weapons are useless for PvP. You can, however, bring this as a way to kill hives easily and take out grunts from a distance. Also useful for animal cages. Taking this can allow you to move a lot faster, at the disadvantage of crippling yourself if you aren’t using your primary.
- Nagant M1895 Precision – Imagine that you had a Nagant, and instead of fixing its problems like you could with the officer, you stapled a piece of wood to it. It takes a medium slot too! It is usable as a long range option with medium stuff but it leaves much to be desired.
- Nagant M1895 Deadeye – I have been known to take this as a long range option sometimes. That’s only because I like the deadeye scope. I honestly can’t recommend it.
- Nagant M1895 Officer Carbine – A large slot Nagant. High rate of fire, fairly accurate, decent iron sights. It’s an all around solid primary. I personally prefer Winfields but it’s a solid budget primary option and I think everyone should try it and decide what they think.
Weapons – Melee (+Knife vs Knuckles)
Unless you’re doing a meme build you are always going to bring a melee weapon with you. If you’re not rocking a pseudo-melee you’re bringing one of these. The ability to kill fairly quietly and quickly is hella important in this game.
Bomb Lance
This is an extremely unconventional weapon. If you want to go fast and quiet there’s nothing better. With one of these in your hands there isn’t a single thing in the game that threatens you. Except hunters. Light melee one shots Grunts, charged one shots Hives and armoured and it can even break down doors in just two charged melee attacks. The charged melee also sweeps a wide area which means you can kill multiple grunts, or even hunters, in one swipe. The bomb part one shots everything but bosses. It’s a late unlock and not very popular. Filling a large slot with a weapon that’s pretty much only good for PvE or CQB with hunters is a bold move. It’s something to look forward to trying. I personally like to pair it with Quartermaster and an Obrez to help cover more ranges.
Combat Axe
Underrated. Yes, you are using a medium slot for a melee weapon. However it’s practically free and it one shots grunts with lights, Hives and Armoured with charged and charged this plus a lantern kills meat heads. One shots hunters with charged and is viable for killing bosses that aren’t spider fairly quickly and quietly. If there was a better early medium weapon than the Nagant Precision for ranged engagements it could see time in the spot light. As a new player you can run it on budget builds especially if you’re just going for some clues and XP and don’t want to get into it with other hunters.
Machete
One light kills grunts, one charged for hives and three charged for an armoured. This is the “PvE” oriented melee as it does not one shot hunters with a charged attack unless it’s to the head. It lets you move through compounds a lot faster as you can kill mobs easier, but you are sacrificing running a pistol for that. It is better than the knife, but whether or not it’s worth it is up to you.
Sabre
One charged for grunts and Hives, two for armoured. The “PvP” oriented melee as it kills hunters in one charged attack to the chest. It’s more expensive than the machete, bit if I’m deciding to run a build with melee I prefer the Sabre as I don’t think light meleeing grunts is worth not one shoting hunters, but the Sabre does unlock kind of late.
Knife/Brass Knuckles
Most of the time you’re running two guns and one of these. In my opinion, and the opinion of most of the people that play Hunt, the knife is the better option.
Knife
- One shots grunts with a charged to the head or upper chest.
- Can one shot Hives with a charged to the head or two shots otherwise.
- Three shots armoured with charged attack.
- Can one shot hunters to the head with a charged melee? If not close to it.
Brass Knuckles
- One shots grunts with charged to the head only.
- I’ve never even tried to kill a hive with it.
- I died the last time I fought an armoured with it.
- Very stamina efficient.
- Stubby range that I find feels really bad and leads to missed punches.
- I’ve never killed a hunter with it. Died both times I tried. Have died to it once though I don’t know what it took cause I got shot first.
From this comparison you can see that the knife wins. You have to avoid armoured and Hives fairly religiously, or bring something else to deal with them. In a pinch the knife is also considerably better at killing hunters.
Tools
These cover different rolls from diverting the enemy, to healing you, to setting stuff on fire. You’ll find what you like to run with best, but always bring a medkit.
Decoys/Blank Fire Decoys
They utilize the handy aim assist firing arch. The regular decoys make sounds like a hunter walking over glass, the blanks make a random gunfire noise, usually a Winfield. They’re not very useful for distracting mobs usually, as the hightened aggro range from being alerted usually means they’ll come after you pretty quick. They are both fantastic for breaking lanterns over dog kennels and chicken coups and for baiting hunters into things. Experiment with them, they can be very useful. I generally prefer the normal decoys as I often bring them just to take out kennels quietly. They both also benefit from the perk Decoy Supply which allows you to restock them at ammo crates, but I find that I never make it through all my decoys anyways.
Electric Lamp
It’s a trap. Honestly one of the worst and most useless items in the game. Nowhere is dark enough that you need it and there is no scenario where you want to be seen, so why light yourself up? The one use case is to attempt to blind enemy hunters on night maps but I honestly cannot recommend this item to ever be used.
First Aid Kit
Comes with three charges, each charge heals for 50 points. Hold right click and then left click to use, otherwise you’ll just punch. Can also be used on your partner to heal them, hold right click while close to them and then hold left click. The doctor perk allows you to heal for 100 per charge which is, quite honestly, insane. This item should be strapped to your side like a good melee. Honestly it’s a must have. It’s 35 dollars for 150 points of healing you can segment out or share with a friend. Once you unlock this at blood level 9, don’t leave home without one. Seriously it’s a game changer.
Flare Pistol/Fusees
These are going in the same section because they’re functionally the same. They emit a hella bright light that can be blinding on night maps, some people attempt to use that to their advantage and you can too if you’d like. They can also break kennel lanterns and kill armoured or hives in one shot, as they do set mobs on fire. Killing hives or armoured with fire makes a lot of noise (due to the screaming) but is a safe way to do so. Both come in packs of three.
Quad Derringer
It’s a 4 barrel pistol. It’s relatively quiet and can one shot hives and grunts to the face, as well as being useful as a way to deal with dog kennels. Because it is loud I’ll general not take it, but it’s a viable option if you like it. You can also do a meme build where you take no guns and kill a hunter with it, as it is one shot headshot in close range, then steal his guns so he gets revived with nothing. Personally I prefer quieter ways of doing what this does, but it is an option on the table.
Spyglass
Useless. The lens, like all long range scopes, is cracked. This is the main reason I hate it. The other reason I hate it is because it’s pretty useless, honestly. You should be able to see fine without the zoom for this item taking up your tool slot.
Throwing Knives
Get good with these. They are fantastic. They are one shot upper chest/head to grunts and one shot headshot on hives and hellhounds. The real perk is that they are very quiet and safe, if you get good with them. Their downside is inability to kill armoured and the fact that you can lose them. They can also be used to break lanterns for kennels, but you’re not going to get that knife back.
Trip Mines
These set down a wire that when walked through will trigger the effect. These are a recent and very welcome addition to the game (at least IMO I know some people hate them). They allow you to set up defense at the boss compound or anywhere else you need to hold out. Fun fact, even if it’s not your trip mine you can disarm it and put it somewhere else, so be warry that they are not a foolproof defense and try to place them where they’re in good choke points that are hard to see.
- Alert Trip Mine – Sets off a flare and fireworks. Outside the flare can be seen from fairly far away and it can be heard from at least a compound over. Very useful for letting you know when somebody decides to move through somewhere.
- Concertina Trip Mine – Concertina is one of the coolest things in this game. If this is set off it spits out barbed wire everywhere and makes a decently loud pop. The wire slows and bleeds anything that tries to move through it. A very effective area denial tool, just be wary that if it goes off, you can’t walk through the wire either without painstakely, and loudly, meleeing it out of existince.
Consumables
I’m going to put these into categories based on what they do but there’s a lot of separation in these.
Ammo Box
Refills half of your extra reserve ammo. So remember to reload first. Both partners can use it, as it has two charges, but be aware that enemies can also grab it. It’s one of the most expensive consumables in the game. If it was a tool you’d get it back every time, but as a $125 consumable it’s hard to justify. It’s mostly used for the Nitro, Bomb Lance and Crossbows as they can’t restock at normal ammo crates or boxes.
Antidote Shot
This makes you immune to poison for the entire match. That means hives are a joke, spider is a joke and you can do some meme builds with hive bombs and the like. In general, I’d say it’s not overly useful but if this is something you want to bring every match because you hate poison, I won’t fault you for it. $25 is fairly cheap.
Chaos Bomb
Makes it sound like there’s a rootin tootin gun fight going off for about 30 seconds. Most players can recognize it by now, but it is very useful for causing chaos, or drawing the entire map to one location. I almost never bring these personally but if it sounds fun to you give it a try.
Concertina Bomb
Lays down a thicket of barbed wire in a large AoE. The barbed wire causes bleed and slows people and monsters moving through it. Used to be great for killing bosses, now it’s not so good. Fantastic for area denial, throw one down on the direction you don’t want people to come in when you’re banishing and forget about that area. Can also be used offensively, throwing directly at people, but I don’t recommend it. A strong option, especially for only $15 at level 30.
Dynamite/Frag Grenade
You are crippling yourself if you don’t bring some for of explosive. If you find yourself in a situation where you need one, there’s no replacement. They all one shot hunters within decent ranges of the blast and are great for flushing out campers.
- Dynamite Stick – The basic version. Fairly cheap, unlocked very early and it does its job, like a grenade in most games.
- Dynamite Bundle – For four times the cost you get about three times the boom. The math does not check out but it is worth more money, as the blast radius increase is insane, as is the damage. It’s unlocked much later though.
- Big Dynamite Bundle – $110 dollars of boom. The game says it the best, “A bundle of many dynamite sticks. When something really needs to be blown up…”. Last I checked this will one shot any of the bosses, if you can hit them. It has an insane blast radius but reduced range over other explosives, you are throwing more weight after all.
- Frag Bomb – Designed to kill hunters, if we’re straight honest. I once died to one I was 15m away from even though I was on full health. In my opinion the best bang for buck as explosives are generally used vs hunters anyways.
- Waxed Dynamite Stick – This one does something all the others can’t, and that’s explode in water. I don’t think it’s overly useful personally, as most engagements aren’t near water and it does have a worse blast radius. Up to you if you want to cover the additional option for $10 more over a regular stick. It is unlocked quite late at bloodline 52 though, so that decision is a ways off.
Fire Bombs
I’m going to cut right to the chase here, the main reason you’re bringing one of these is to burn the body of a dead hunter. That makes them incredibly strong, but in my personal opinion really chops down which ones I’d use. They are also all effective short term area denial tools.
- Fire Bomb – The basic one. It’s only $12 and it’s unlocked at rank 2. In my opinion you should always be running fire so you can force somebody out if you manage to get a pick on one partner in a duo. It’s cheap and it does what you want, why not bring one?
- Hellfire Bomb – This costs $50. For the extra money you get an actual explosion on impact, but it won’t usually kill. I don’t often throw moltovs at live players, so I don’t personally see the use for this. It is technically strictly better than the fire bomb, though, so I can see why people would use it. It also has a larger radius (I believe) so leads to less misses and is a better area denial tool.
- Liquid Fire Bomb – Can be used on water. In the rare circumstance that you killed somebody in water it’s invaluable, but that happens very rarely for a $25 consumable unlocked at bloodline 56.
Flash Bomb
At the time of me writing this the flash bomb is completely over powered. It has a hit marker if it gets a full blind and it blinds for 8 seconds of pure white screen. For the low price of $15 at bloodline 23. It will get nerfed, so be aware.
Hive Bomb
A portable hive swarm. Unlocked very late at bloodline 73. There’s no better tool for flushing out campers, assuming your aim is good and they aren’t using antidote shots. Can also aggro you though, so be careful.
Poison Bomb
Not meta at all. The poison cloud lasts an amazingly long time, which means you can accidentally wall yourself in. Very rarely kills. As an area denial tool, I’d rather use Concertina and as a killing tool I’d rather use dynamite.
Stamina Shot
Do you want to grab an axe and smash the bosses head in completely quietly? That’s what this is for. You can also use it right before you melee charge a hunter but the main use is killing bosses. It’s useful against Butcher mostly, as Spider is hard to melee and Assassin has invincibility phases.
Vitality Shots
These come in two flavours, weak and normal. Weak heals for 50, costs $15 and is unlocked at bloodline 1. Strong heals to full, costs $75 and is unlocked at bloodline 15. The ability to heal yourself to full after taking 149 damage from a Sparks, or 125 from a Mosin is absolutely worth it in my opinion. If you need a vitality shot, there is no replacement. I rarely enter the bayou without one on me. Yes, it’s $75 but it could save your life.
World Items
There are various things you can find laying around the bayou. Some of them are actually very useful and you should keep an eye out for them, even if you don’t need them then and there, knowing where a spare lantern or medkit is can be game changing.
Ammo Boxes
Small boxes that hold ammo. Red is compact, blue is medium, yellow is long, purple is special (Nitro and Crossbows only) and the slightly thicker green box is shotgun ammo.
Ammo Crates
Big red boxes. These refill reserve ammo for both weapons, assuming you’re missing some. How much you get is based off of what weapons you’re carrying. I believe it’s 2 shotgun shells, 5 compact ammo, 3 medium and 2 long (correct me if I’m wrong). Cannot be used to recover crossbow blots, Bomb Lance projectiles or Nitro ammo.
Axe/Sledgehammer
As far as I’m personally aware, it’s the same as the Combat Axe. They both one tap grunts with lights and can kill everything else but meat heads and bosses in one charged (the sledge takes two charged for armoured iirc). This means these are exceptionally strong melee weapons that can make quick work of almost all AI in the game. They also are throwable with the Tomahawk perk, but sadly it’s not very effective.
Bear Traps
These are red, commonly found in sets of three in boxes around compounds. Hold right click to begin placing, then press left click to place when the indicator is green, if it’s red it will not place. These make a good lot of noise when stepped on, which is the main purpose of using them, to hear when somebody comes into the compound. They don’t do a lot of damage but they do proc bleed. If you encounter them in the wild, you have a few options. Go another way, try to skirt around them (lots of hunters place their bear traps sub-optimally), melee them to set them off or crouch down, get up close and press F to disarm. Meleeing and disarming both set them off but you don’t get hit.
Lantern
Don’t get them confused with the lamps you can only turn on and off, these are red and have a carrying handle. You can turn it off with X so you don’t glow and they don’t explode on impact. Turned on, they’re basically a moltov. Usable for killing armoured and hives very quickly but they do scream, burning bodies, area denial, killing Meatheads safely (two lanterns, let the first one finish burning before you throw the second, might require a melee attack after as well). They also put out some very good damage vs Assassin and Spider though Butcher is immune.
Medkit
These have two charges but can only be used once per person. Heals to full, takes a short period to interact with. Useful as heck. Being close to one in a gunfight can give you some surprise fast healing.
Traits
I’m going to be going over each trait, what they do and whether or not I think you should grab them. Some outliers will be noted with a + next to them, those are the ones you should shoot for in general, some of them unlock a bit late as a new player. Some absolute hot garbage will be marked with a -, unless they’re buffed in the future they are not worth it. This has to be split into two sections because there’s a lot to go over.
Adrenaline
Instantly regain stamina when on critical health. Generally if you’re on critical health, you’re fresh about to die stamina or not. The best use for this is having full stamina when you get revived (I’m pretty sure that’s how it works as I’ve used it that way but I may be misremembering, correct me if I’m wrong). It’s also unlocked really late at bloodline 83.
Beastface+
Reduces the range that crows, ducks, dog kennels and chicken coups will react to you at. A very solid perk, some people say it’s necessary but I have to disagree, you can live without it but it’s nice quality of life. Grab it when you have room.
Bloodless
Halves the damage from bleeding over time. This is actually good, lots of things proc bleed and it can be a real lifesaver, however it is not a priority perk.
Bolt Seer-
You can see bolts and throwing knives better. That’s what it claims, I have found it completely unhelpful. I will change the – to a + if they make the outline closer to partner outlines and less like the last dying flicker of a 10 watt lightbulb.
Bolt Thrower+
Cuts down the reload time on crossbows by a staggeringly high amount. Absolutely necessary perk for running bows. Unlocked far too late in my opinion at bloodline 84.
Bulwark
Reduces explosion damage by 25%. Do you hate getting blown up? You’ll probably still die but this might help sometimes. It’s also 6 trait points which is a lot. Too situational for my taste.
Bulletgrubber+
You don’t lose a round when reloading the Specter, Mosin-Nagant, Dolch, Bornheim or Lebel. Nichely useful but if you’re running one of those guns you want this so you can reload freely. Also has some of the coolest animations in the game.
Conduit
Heals you for 50 when you pick up a clue. It’s a semi-expensive perk at 4 points and I don’t consider it worth it. If your partner opens the clue you don’t heal, and you should eventually get to the point in the game where you don’t take damage going through compounds. Get it if you have points to spend and nothing else to buy.
Deadeye Scopesmith
You stay scoped between shots with deadeye variant weapons. Much more helpful on a scope than the iron variants but again, take it or leave it. Nice QoL perk.
Decoy Supply
You restock decoys from ammo crates. For one point, this should be good but I never run out of decoys before a match is over anyways. If you become some sort of decoy master it might be for you.
Determination+
Stamina comes back faster. A plus because it includes both sprinting and melee stamina, a staple that most people pick up eventually on every hunter that lives to see extraction more than once.
Doctor+
Makes medkits heal for 100 per charge. If you read my medkit description you should know how I feel about this. Amazing perk, very expensive but you can basically heal to full (as your last health chunk is 50) three times a game for $35 and 8 trait points. Fantastic.
Fanning+
Lets you pretend you’re McCree from Overwatch. Fanning is insane, you can empty most pistols in fractions of a second with it. A must buy if you’re intending to run a pistol that supports it, though it is a bit of a drain and unlocks closer to mid game at bloodline 36.
Frontiersman+
Lets you carry an additional tool. Before tripwires, I didn’t care about this perk, but for one trait point it’s fantastic.You are investing more money in somebody that might die but that goes anytime you buy anything.
Gator Legs
Consume less stamina moving through water. A niche perk but at a very reasonable cost of only 1 trait point. If you hate water, have covered the basics and have a point to burn, go ahead and get it. If you for some reason like water go ahead and get it I guess?
Ghoul
You heal for 50 when you loot dead hunters. This is the press F to interact button and doesn’t work on burned bodies. I like it, as you can save meds if you manage to win a gun fight and have time to loot however I can’t deny that it is quite niche. Not a priority.
Greyhound
Allows you to sprint longer before running out of stamina. A great perk you should usually pick up at some point. It does not increase sprint speed, so it is most useful crossing the map to extract or chase a bounty.
Horneskin-
Reduces melee damage taken by 25%. This is a – because it costs 6 trait points which can be way better spent. It’s very niche in use as most enemies that are real threats do rending damage.
Iron Devastator-
You can stay ADS’d between shots on the Specter (only weapon this applies to as of writing this). You don’t even need to ADS with shotguns as their spread doesn’t change, which makes this a pretty horrible perk even for 2 points.
Iron Sharpshooter
You stay ADS’d between shots with Mosin-Nagants, Lebels and Karabiners. A solid perk but I would not say it’s even close to necessary to use the weapons involved, take it or leave it.
Kiteskin
This reduces your falling damage by 50%. With it you can jump off anything in the game and live, which is cool but you still scream like a banshee when you take falling damage. If it both reduced and muted it’d be fantastic, as it sits it’s barely ever used because you’re rarely going to be on something you could jump off of, never mind worrying about damage in those scenarios.
Marksman Scopesmith
Lets you stay scoped between shots with marksmen rifles. See Iron Sharpshooter ect. It’s a perk that you can use if you want.
Mithridatist-
Halves the duration of poison. It exists, it’s not bad, it’s very niche. If you hate poison enough to buy this you should consider an antidote shot instead.
Packmule
Carrying an additional consumable for only 3 trait points is quite reasonable, if you see yourself wanting another by all means, go for it. Only disadvantage is you do have to pay for the extra consumable, and if you die you just wasted even more money.
Physician+
This reduces the time it takes to bandage, that includes med kits, stopping bleeding and putting yourself out if you’re on fire. It’s an outstanding perk and high priority for most people.
Pitcher
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Lets you throw things that use the aim helper farther, so pretty much everything but throwing knives and tomahawk world melees. It used to let you snipe people with dynamite, now it’s just a small QoL perk. Take it or leave it.
Quartermaster+
Allows you to take a large and medium weapon. This gets a plus but it is not an always take. It gets a plus because it allows you to use very strong builds, like a shotgun and a rifle. I’d call it necessary with the Bomb Lance most of the time so you can bring an Obrez to cover ranged engagements.
Resilience-
DO NOT get this. You get revived with one health chunk, which is 50HP, which means you’re one shot to pretty much literally every gun in the game, and dead to all threatening mobs if they get to you. Get physician and bandage faster instead, use a vitality shot, or get Doctor (if you can) do anything but buy this. It’s horrible.
Salveskin
Fire damaged health heals back faster. If a chunk is destroyed by fire though, it’s still gone. It’s not a bad perk but I don’t personally buy it often as it’s pretty niche.
Sniper Scopesmith
Stay ADS’d between shots for snipers. As per usual, nice QoL perk, not necessary, up to you if you wanna grab it.
Steady Aim
Gradually lessens sway when aiming with rifles. There are actually good scoped rifles, so this perk is useful, however it is not necessary. If you enjoy scoped guns I’d highly recommend it.
Steady Hand-
Weapon sway decreases as you look through the scope of a pistol. That means the Nagant Deadeye, and I’m gonna be honest that’s not a good gun and you don’t really want to pair it with a 5 trait point perk.
Tomahawk-
You can throw world item hammers and axes, you can’t throw an axe if you bring one. It does pathetically low damage and that’s why I cannot recommend this perk at all. It’s better to melee things with the axe then it is to yeet it across the map. 10/10 for fun points though.
Vulture
Allows you to loot loot’d hunters. As long as they’ve been looted by someone else, not you. I also don’t think it works if you burn them, or they’ve been burned. I don’t think it’s worth having because you rarely find dead bodies that you didn’t make, and if you do they’re likely burned, and if you hit all these criteria you’re probably gonna get a medkit charge back. I’m not going to call it bad I just don’t think it’s useful enough.
AI and How to Deal with Them
I’ll be covering each AI, what they do and how to deal with them.
Armoured
This is a big tanky boy that can kill you in 2-3 hits. He’s fairly fast but you can outrun him. He is a bullet sponge, he can take a billion shots and keep coming at you. Shotguns knock it down but the real way to kill an armoured is with a melee weapon.
Knives will kill in 3 charged shots if you aim for the head, same with the machete and medium sized pseudo-melee weapons (I believe).
Calvary Sabre is two charged shots to the upper body and all full sized pseudo-melee weapons are as well.
The world Axe, Bomb Lance and equipable axe all one shot with a charged attack. The world sledge hammer two shots.
Flares, both from fusees and the flare gun, will one shot it. It does scream before dying, though.
Grunt
This is your normal, average everyday zombie. He is squishy and non-threatening, but can overwhelm you in groups if you’re not careful. Torch variants will light you on fire and knife variants will make you bleed. Don’t let them do that. With careful stamina management you can easily take out groups without having to shoot.
Every actual weapon in the game will one shot headshot them, including throwing knives (silenced and Derringer might not due to dropoff at longer ranges). Use your melee weapon to do it without telling the whole server where you are. Most melees require one charged attack to the head to kill, the Bomb Lance, Machete, world melees and Combat Axe can kill with a light melee attack to the head.
Flares, both from fusees and the flare gun, will one shot. Please don’t waste them on grunts though, they scream.
Hellhound
They usually travel in packs. They will do about 20 damage to you and proc bleed so you need to be careful. If you spend too long fighting them you’re going to lose health chunks to bleed damage. They bob and weave to attempt to avoid your melee attacks so you’re going to have to get good at dealing with them. Melee weapons with reach shine here.
All ranged weapons, including throwing knives, one shot headshot, unless it has a metal cage on its head in which case compact is 3 to the body, medium is two as is long ammo, and special ammo is all one hit (bows, bomb lance and Nitro but please don’t shoot hellhounds with them). All melee will one shot with a charged attack, except the brass knuckles which need a head shot. Get good at meleeing them, the key is to rush them down and not run out of stamina.
Flares, both from fusees and the flare gun will one shot (iirc), do be careful as they take a moment to burn.
Hive
They have a surprisingly small aggro range if you manage to keep your head down. You can one shot melee them to the head with the knife, or one shot melee them to the body with any of the bigger melees. If you rush in fast enough you can melee kill them without taking much damage, or even any damage at all. Sneak up first, then charge for the last 5-10 feet. Their head is to the side, that thing sticking out of their chest is the hive! All ranged weapons one shot hives to the head, I highly recommend doing so if they send a swarm at you because they will end your journey into the bayou and you won’t see your kids again. Completely avoiding them altogether is also a strong option if you’re not prepared.
Flares and fusees are an extremely good way of dealing with hives, though a bit loud as they do scream.
Immolator
He is faster than you, do not run. He can open doors, do not hide. You only have two choices if one aggros you, fight or pray. In general you should avoid these like the plague unless you or your partner decided to bring the Dusters or the Mosin-Nagant Obrez Mace. In the event that one does aggro you, DO NOT SHOOT OR STAB IT. Shooting or stabbing an Immolator makes them light on fire and go into a frenzy. If it’s your only option, shot it fast and hard and lots. What you want to do if you get aggro’d by one of these is one of four things,
- Get to high ground. They cannot climb, and you can freely shoot it or smash it to death with the butt of your rifle.
- Get to water. It can’t ignite in DEEP (not shallow, deep) water and you are free to stab or shoot it.
- Tag team it with your partner. Use the charged melee on your large weapon (hopefully you have one) to hit it with the butt of your rifle. This is blunt damage. If your partner works with you, you can keep it stun locked until it dies and kill it with relative ease.
- Pick up a sledge hammer and end its whole career.
You can also shoot them if you see them far away in your bath. They will ignite, scream and run around for about 45 seconds, and then die. They can also aggro nearby mobs or hunters while doing this. This is my preffered method if I’m on my way to extraction with the bounty.
Leeches and Meatheads
These two come hand in hand. Meatheads are big boys and they will two or three shot you. They are, however, completely blind. The leeches act as their eyes, and will go towards you then scream, if they scream the Meathead is on you and you need to run. It can’t even fit through doors, nor can it climb so both of those are good options if you’re being chased. Overall the group has a surprisingly low aggro range if you keep crouched you can usually sneak by without incident. If you need to kill one, first ask yourself why? They take a lot of time to kill. Unless you have a Nitro, Crossbow or Bomb Lance. The Nitro will one shot, the Crossbow I believe four shots and the Bomb Lance two shots with charged melee and one shots with the bomb part. Otherwise your best option to kill these is to either throw two lanterns at it, just make sure you let one burn out completely before throwing the next, or throw one lantern then finish it off with a charged melee from a world or Combat Axe.
Water Devil
If the water is moving, it’s trying to kill you. They scream when they aggro you, hearable from about half a compound away. They can kill you incredibly fast and always proc bleeding, so you need to get out of the water and bandage up or perish. They take a considerable amount of damage, not worth trying to kill unless you have to. I suggest just avoiding it. If you do need to shoot it, just do so until it stops moving, then move fast. The only mob in the game that respawns.
Non-Threatening AI
The general case with these is avoid them, or bring something to deal with them.
Crows/Ducks
If you get too close they will make a ton of noise and fly into the air, not only alerting hunters of where you are, but what direction you’re going. If you remain crouched and careful, you should be able to skirt around them. If you spook them they eventually come back (I was told this but have not confirmed). They can also be killed with fire, either lanterns or consumables that make fire.
Dog Kennels/Chicken Coups
Red cages that hold either dogs or chickens. They will begin making noise if you’re near them, and will go into a frenzy if you get too close that can be heard from a long ways away. Hitting the lantern above them will kill all of the dogs/chickens and silence them. Tools like throwing knives and decoys can be invaluable for dealing with these. Watch for broken lanterns! That means hunters have been through there. Also look out, if there’s an explosive barrel next to the cage it will go off if you break the lantern.
Horses
Can only die to a headshot from melee, throwing knives, quad derringer or real guns. It’s extremely difficult to pull off, but in worst case scenario rush and kill it with melee before it makes the noise twice, the idle noise is one neigh. If it makes two, people will know you’re there. Also note that if you hear two people are there. They have a fairly low aggro range if you crouch and move slow.
Basic Boss Strategy Guide
Some basic information and tips. There are multiple ways to kill each boss, I’m not going to cover all of them just some basics.
The Spider
He’s been nerfed but he’s still extremely fast. He has two attacks, one where he pounces on you, dealing significant damage and leaving you poisoned. The other he just shoots a cloud of poison at you that lingers for a while. This is generally a time consuming fight.
General Tips
If he stops moving, he’s about to attack. If it screams, it’s probably about to attack.
Dealing enough damage to him will stop him from attacking, which means if you keep the pressure on it should be a pretty easy fight.
His pounce can also be dodged, but don’t rely on that.
He is extremely hectic to fight if you’re trying to kill hunters at the same time so try to do it quick.
He’s virtually impossible to melee to death as he’s very fast and spends most of his time on the roof.
Poison has no effect on him.
Strats
1. Kill It With Fire – Simply throw lanterns at it until it dies. They do about a quarter of its health straight up, but can double dip if spider runs back through the flames. Wait until he’s done burning before throwing another lantern, the DoT does not stack but it does take additional damage if it’s standing in fire. A fairly silent option.
2. Shoot It About 20 Times- This is the only other basic option. I generally blend this strat with Kill It With Fire, I try to initiate with a lantern and throw any I find in the compound. The key to spider is to keep the pressure on, it will micro stun if it’s damaged enough during windup of its pounce, and that’s its only dangerous attack.
Even after all my hours in Hunt, spider still manages to jump scare me. He’s intimidating, but once you get the hang of it it’s just going to take some time to kill him.
The Butcher
Imagine a Meathead on steroids, but also fire. But also it’s immune to fire. Has three attacks, one where he just runs up and bops you, can be dodged with skill, one where he fires a fireball, the aim is incredibly bad so this attack shouldn’t bother you, and one where he goes on a frenzy flailing around and setting fire to everything.
General Tips
Butcher is surprisingly easy to kite, even in frenzy mode. If he’s in frenzy mode just make sure you don’t backtrack over his flame or you’re going to have a problem.
His head is fake! It even falls off if you shoot it enough, his weak spot is the shoulder area on the armless side. For once in your life, don’t aim for the head.
Rending damage is best, so shotguns and slashing melees are the most effective, but not by a whole lot.
When he dies, he swings once more during his death animation. Dying to that is embarrassing.
Strats
1. StaminUP – Bring a stamina shot, either bring a strong melee or pick up a world axe (he takes more damage from the axe). Stamina shot it up, kite and bop it. If you played Call of Duty: Zombies and were good at training this will come naturally to you.
2. Fly A Kite – Grab or bring a strong melee and just kite him. It’s like the above but it requires more skill. This is, in my opinion, the best way to do this because it’s silent but it requires skill and a pinch of luck.
3. Door Camping – This is a semi-viable strat for all bosses but I feel like it’s best on butcher. Pick a door that’s safe, so you don’t get killed, and simply go in and out of the boss building, either meleeing till you’re out of stamina or shooting till you need to reload. This is extremely safe vs the boss but very dangerous if other hunters pull up.
Before his buff, he was a joke. Now, he requires some serious skill to kill without a big dynamite bundle.
The Assassin
The newest boss. He procs bleed, has invincibility phases and plays mind games. It has two attacks, one where it makes a chugga chugga noise and charges you, and another where it yeets a knife at you. Both do high damage and proc bleed, the chugga chugga does more damage.
General Tips
After you do enough damage he will clone himself, he is immune during the cloning phase.
The clones will chugga chugga charge you but they do minimal damage, they do however cover your vision in bugs which is gross and annoying.
You can melee the clones with any weapon to destroy them. After he clones, use your primary’s melee to break the clones then go back to shooting.
His charge will be interrupted if he takes enough damage.
Using a medkit will simultaneous stop bleeding and heal you, don’t waste time stopping the bleeding and then bandaging up.
Strats
1. Kill It With Fire – Yes, again. It’s a swarm of insects, what’s a better option? It’s more resistant to fire than spider, though. Same a spider, wait for the fire to stop before you throw more. Try to get it to hit the patch again to keep the DoT going.
2. Aggro Swapping – When it charges you, run out of the building, then go back in. Your partner and you can swap aggro back and forth like this and kill it fairly safely, but it is slow and you are vulnerable to being killed by other hunters. It’s a viable strat with all bosses but it’s best on Assassin IMO because your partner can rack up damage while it’s chasing you.
Assassin is a pulse pounding fight, but the more you understand what’s going on the easier it will be.
Basic Strategy
Hunt accomodates many playstyles. I’m going to break them down into four categories. Most people play a blend of all categories.
The Traditionalist
This is how most people believe the game is meant to be played (there is no way the game is “meant” to be played, do what works for you).
The goal is to move as fast as possible without making any unnecessary noise. The result, when it works out, is that nobody knows where you are so every engagement, whether it’s fighting the boss, getting the drop on hunters, contesting the banish or chasing down the bounty carriers, is on your terms.
To pull this off, do not shoot unless absolutely necessary. Bring answers for every question the game asks, something to break kennel lanterns, something to kill horses, a way to deal with each mob.
You need to learn when it’s better to skirt around something or eliminate it. The more tools you bring to deal with different AI, the less time you waste going around things and having to pick between through or around.
This playstyle is easy to understand but very hard to execute, there are a billion things in this game that make noise and can alert players to your existence. If you pull it off, though, you will usually be the one picking fights because nobody knows where you are until the banishing or shooting starts.
The Speedrunner
This playstyle TACTICALLY doesn’t care about noise, not stupidly. This means that they will shoot if it’s the fastest way, or spook birds to shave time off the rush to the boss. That is the goal, the first to the boss so you can kill it and your fighting happens either during the banish while you have the compound locked down, or after it while you have darksight boost. The difference between this and traditional is that they will aggressively and loudly deal with obstacles in their path, if that’s the fastest route.
To do this effectively, you need to keep your ears and eyes peeled. If you end up attracting other hunters and getting into a gunfight, you’re probably not going to be the first to the boss unless you make it quick.
You’re going to need to know the map, so you know where the clues are and if it is faster to scare the crows or not.
You need to have good chemistry with your partner and agree on when it is worth it to make noise, or you’re going to have a bad time. Especially if what is right for fast brings you into a gunfight you lose, if your playstyles don’t mesh and that happens it’s going to be a bad time.
The Stalker
These are the people that show up 30 seconds after you spooked crows and then end your entire career. They focus on silence above all else, move towards clues, but immediately depart from that objective when they catch wind of nearby hunters.
To pull this off you need to be patient, you need to be silent, and you need to make the first shot count. Very often when stalking players the first, second, third shot you get isn’t worth taking. If you don’t down one of the players on your first pull of the trigger, you may have just wasted 5 minutes stalking people. If the first thing somebody knows about you is that you just downed their partner, you’re in a very good position.
You need to have good sense of direction and understand where people go and why. If you hear crows SE and show up to that compound and nobody is there, you’re being quiet looking for somebody that’s gone and wasting a lot of time.
This playstyle is probably the hardest to pull off, the most rewarding to succeed at and the most frustrating to play against.
The Shooty Shooty Bang Bang
You don’t not care about noise, you encourage it. This is what most players call “going loud”. Every AI can be answered with a bullet and every sound trap can be ignored, or run past. The goal with this playstyle is to get in gunfights. If that’s why you’re here, consider doing this. It can be a lot of fun but The Stalker can show up and ruin your entire run in one placed shot.
If you play like this, 99% of the time you are not going to be the one that gets the first shot. You have to be good at shooting and a little lucky. A small bonus is that sometimes if you play like this everyone will avoid you because people that don’t care about noise are scary.
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