Stoneshard - Hunting Guide

With patch 0.6.1.0, of Equipment Update 2, Hunting and Skinning is beginning to take shape.

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Hunting – Tools and Tactics

Hunting – Combat

Guide to Hunting

Usually in this game, hunting isn’t the main thing you do. It’s more for getting animal skins and meat, and it’s a simple way to gain levels at the beginning. If you’re having trouble with the dungeons and fighting, you can try hunting first.

Right now, in the current game update (Patch 0.6.1.0), hunting is becoming a better way to earn in-game currency because the value of animal skins has gone up again. Before, they lowered the price to around 60 to 120, which made hunting less useful, but now they’ve raised it back up to about 120 to 360.

Just so you know, animals can now run away to a different area on the map if they see you. So if they spot you, you might lose them. However, some animals are naturally protective of their territory or are aggressive. These types will attack you if you bother them or if you stay too close for too long.

Where to Look?

Currently the best way to find animals is to venture to heavily wooded area or to the steppes. Either approach them slowly or proceed to shout to attract animals around you.

As of now, animals that will Flee when they spot you:

Deer
Fox
Hedgehog
Rabbit
Saiga
Squirrel

Animals that will be wary(Orange Question mark) when they spot you:

Bison (Need Verification)
Moose
Boar
Wolf
Bear

Hunting – Basics

Patch 0.6.1.0

Developer’s Note

Since the game was first released, pelts had been dropping with a random chance. It was meant to imply that sometimes pelts are way too damaged, and that there was no use harvesting them. However, this mechanic wasn’t well-explained – unsurprisingly, it was only confusing players when they weren’t getting any loot after killing an animal.

To resolve this issue (and to increase immersion), we’ve added a new mechanic – skinning. Killing an animal is now just a first step: in order to get pelts, meat, antlers etc, you’ll need to harvest them. To do so, you’ll need something sharp in your inventory: a dagger, an axe, or at least a sword.

For the time being, skinning is implemented as a basic skill with 100% efficiency, but once Survival skill tree is in place, you’ll need to spend some Ability Points to learn how to do it properly.

Mechanics

With the new update Hunting is starting to shape up. As stated in the Patch Notes 0.6.1.0, New Mechanics are introduced, the following new mechanics proves to be useful for hunting purposes.
Throwing. Throw weapons and other items to deal damage, distract enemies, and trigger traps.
Skinning. The chance to harvest a pelt now depends on the damage type used to kill an animal. Added new hunting trophies: dog pelts, snake skin, and bear fat.
Hearing. Increase your Perception to hear nearby enemies before seeing them.
Two new NPC: Bran the Trapper and Unar the Scribe.

Currently, Noise is uncertain as the stealth mechanic is quite questionable.

For now, skinning success rate is 100%. However, the way an animal is killed is an important factor.

You’ll get the best outcome with piercing weaponry, which won’t damage pelts too much. If you score a kill by primarily using Piercing Damage, the chance to get a pelt will be the highest.

Thus using weapons such as:

Spear
Crossbow
Bow
Dagger

Will yield the highest chances of obtaining pelts.

On the other hand, Slashing damage types fare much worse, as cuts won’t do any good to a pelt’s condition. As for using Pyromancy, you can imagine the outcome… Naturally, the market adjusts accordingly: since harvesting pelts is harder now, their value has been greatly improved.

How to Skin

Equip any sharp edge weapon, and click the Skinning Skill.
Select the animal Corpse.
Drop loots.

Example of Outcomes

Pelt Drop: Yes (killed with Bow)

Pelt Drop: No (Killed with Sword)

Hunting – Animals

Some animals are dangerous, and in some situations thread carefully.

As Bran the Trapper Says, “Respect the woods. Be patient. Focus.”

For example:

Certain Death awaits

Hunting – Loots

Loots:

Animals will drop either of these after skinning:

Pelt
Meat
Animal Specific Drops

Loot drop Scenario

Moreover, the way these animals are killed will determine the conditions and loots that it will drop.

For example, you deal majority damage with Pyromancy. Thus:

Pelt drop is Minimum to Non, as logically the skin is burnt to crisp.
Meat will be Well-Done, cooking is not required.

For example, you deal majority damage with Piercing/Bludgeon type Weapons. Thus:

Pelt drop is Highest Chance,
Meat will be Raw, cooking required.

For example, you deal majority damage with Slashing/Thrusting type weapon. Thus:

Pelt drop is Mild to Low,
Meat will be Raw, cooking required.

Pelts

In general Pelts will take up different size, that depends on the creatures for example a Wolf pelt will take up 2×3 size of your inventory. While a rabbit pelt will take up 2×2 of your inventory.

General idea if Animals is worth your time to kill:

Hedgehog: Not worth (Easy to kill but price not worth for arrows early on)
Rabbit: Not worth (Easy to kill but price not worth for arrows early on)(Pelt: 40 g)
Fox: Worth (one of the most valuable pelt and easy to kill creature)(Pelt: 160 g)
Wolf: Worth (common animal that you will hunt for pelt and XP, usually found in groups of 2-3’s)(Pelt: 150 g)
Boar: Worth (common animal that you will hunt for pelt and XP)(Pelt: 120 g)
Deer: Worth (Need range weapon for this animal/ Net)(Pelt: 145 g)
Elk: Very Worth it (Hard early on)(Pelt: 180 g)
Bear: Very Worth it (Hardest early on)
Bison:Very Worth it (Hardest early on)

Hunting – Tools and Tactics

Hunting Tools

With the new tools at hand, such as the throwing net or Bear trap. We can utilize these tools for hunting.

Claw Trap (0.6.1.5)

Usage: Placed trap 1 tiles in all direction from your player.

35 Rending Damage.Durability, 5 uses.

Fixable at blacksmith.

*Remember, Put down the trap when the target is not aware of you. If the target sees you putting the trap, it will circumnavigate the trap placed down. (I believe the devs need to change this in the case of Animal NPC, so they dont detect it.)

Throwing Net (0.6.1.5)

Usage: Throwing Object (4 Blocks or Spaces away in any visible direction)

Causes enemy to be ensnared for 3 turns. If the unit does not have mobility resistance.

No Damage. Durability, 3-4 uses.

Fixable at Tailor.

In Action:

How to easily Hunt more Animals

Currently in patch 0.6.1.5 the easiest and cheeky way to Hunt animals is first to find a Camp in a Point of Interest in the Map. Then proceed to sleep, just to save the game. Then this is the weird part.

Proceed to exit the game and open the game, then reload the save file, this will reset all the tiles you’ve seen and been too. Thus by using this method, we can continuously repeat this method until animals start to spawn in.

I’ve had encounters with wolfs, boars, bears and brigandiers spawning near the camp site.

I highly suggest if you want to hunt animals early on Pick the Take Aim skill which is good enough for hunting. Unless you prefer to go melee and use Either a Spear or Dagger that deals Piercing Damage.

Hunting – Combat

Combat

When approaching your target the animal will either flee or enter a wary state in which an orange question mark will appear on top of the sprite(Similar to other hostile NPCs)