New Tutorial

This update introduces a complete overhaul of our new player onboarding experience. Players are now introduced to the unique gameplay of Bounty Hunt through two new tutorials:

  • The Basic Tutorial offers a narrated sequence of sections that explain the most important core elements of Hunt, like controls, Dark Sight and Clues, gunplay, and monsters—step by step.
  • The Advanced Tutorial offers the possibility to explore a specially prepared compound on your own to practice what you have learned, giving you space to explore each AI type in the game and fight a full boss (the Spider) on your own.

The Advanced Tutorial can be played seamlessly after the Basic Tutorial has been completed. Both tutorials can also be accessed directly from the menu later, but the Advanced Tutorial is not accessible until the Basic Tutorial has been successfully completed first.
The previous training missions and their rewards have been removed, as well as the assistance through short pop-ups within regular Bounty Hunt or Quickplay missions.

Basic Tutorial

Players are introduced to the game’s core elements through a guided mission with individual sections. John Victor, a veteran Hunter of the bayou, will guide them through this journey to become a Hunter themselves. Players are given custom objectives, supported by hints and corresponding entries in the manual alongside.
Upon completing the Basic Tutorial for the first time, players will be provided with a fresh Tier 1 Hunter that includes all the rewards they collected during that playthrough. Successive playthroughs will not yield a new Hunter—that only happens the first time.
New players will also receive three additional Hunters with predefined equipment and Traits in their Roster to help them take their first steps in the bayou.

Advanced Tutorial

After completing the Basic Tutorial, Hunters can either continue playing the advanced section or access it separately later. During the Advanced Tutorial, Hunters will find a clue to locate a Boss Target (the Spider) to fight and banish it. After retrieving their Bounty, they can leave with their prize.
Compared to the Basic Tutorial, the Advanced Tutorial offers neither a narrator nor a detailed guide. Hints will help players to understand important beats and learn about other monster types and tactical options available to them. Each type of enemy has their own space, separated from other enemies where possible to give players a chance to explore their unique behaviors without being overwhelmed.
When replaying the Advanced Tutorial from the menu, the currently active Hunter in the Roster, together with all their equipment and Traits, is used instead of a fresh Hunter. This allows Hunters to practice with new gear and refine their loadout and playstyle.
Equipment found in the Advanced Tutorial cannot be extracted, and the Hunter does not level up. However, when completing the Advanced Tutorial for the first time, the used Hunter will level up once and take along anything he finds. If playing for the very first time and continuing into the Advanced Tutorial from the Basic Tutorial, the initial Hunter will receive benefits from the experience points collected from both sections, claiming the one-time reward for both.

After the Tutorial

New players will see a new pop-up message after playing the Tutorial for the first time, informing them about other important topics and directing them to their Roster, where they can see their three starter Hunters (plus one extra if they complete the Basic Tutorial).
To help Hunters take their next steps, we have added additional safety nets:
Players will receive a warning when trying to load into the game without having essential gear on their Hunter or when their Hunter is missing a Health Chunk from a previous encounter.
Players will receive a warning when trying to load into the game without a teammate, informing them of their options to find other Hunters and the risks of going in alone.

Developer Note:

Updating the tutorial from our 1.0 release has been a major milestone for the team, and we are super excited to finally be able to offer a much richer and more detailed onboarding experience to new players to help them enter the world of Hunt: Showdown and become part of our growing family. We encourage our existing players to also look at the new Tutorial, tell us what you think, and help spread the word about these improvements. Hunt is going strong, and the new Tutorial will go a long way to bring more players into the game.

Combat Log Rework – First Iteration Beta

The revised Damage History feature offers an enhanced level of detail, allowing players to view events (both inbound and outbound) that occurred in the 90 seconds leading up to their demise. Inbound and outbound actions are clearly differentiated through different colors; inbound damage (damage received by the player) is shown in red, while outbound damage (damage done by the player) is shown in gray. Healing actions are denoted in green. The player is provided with specific information such as which body part was struck, the amount of damage inflicted, the source of the attack, distance from the player, and the type of event (e.g. deathblow or banishment).

Furthermore, players are able to access an extended view of each event which offers additional details including the weapon used, custom ammunition, any status effects that were applied, changes to the health bar (as a result of status effects), and special icons indicating actions, such as headshots and wallbangs. As this is the first iteration, please give us your Feedback!

Equipment

We have revised the equipment selection process to make it easier for players to choose Legendary Weapons. Previously, they were listed separately, but now they are incorporated into a rotating selection within the base category. Each selection made by the player modifies the weapon’s cosmetic appearance and becomes the default option, ensuring that when a player selects a particular skin, it remains the default choice for that weapon, until it is changed again.

The exceptions to this new system are contraband Legendaries and Legendaries obtained as a reward for weapons that are not yet unlocked. In such specific cases, these items will still be considered as separate instances, maintaining the previous approach.
As an additional feature, players can now unequip all equipment from a hunter by pressing a newly added button.

All weapons that are purchased or awarded to players will now be 100% clean, including weapons that come with recruited Hunters. Only weapons found in a Mission will remain dirty.

Solo Gameplay Changes

This update adds additional solo-only conditional effects to some existing Traits to help those Hunters daring to go into the bayou on their own, taking on teams of Hunters. Not only does Necromancer’s self-revive from Devil’s Moon have a comeback, but there are also several other Traits that give benefits to Hunters when going in solo. We are also slightly increasing the bonus for extracting with Bounty as a solo player.

Necromancer

‘SOLO: You can revive your downed Hunter.’
Solo Hunters with Necromancer can revive themselves using a button on the death screen; this option will only be active 10 seconds after death.

Developer Note:

During the Devil’s Moon Event, we enabled solo self-revive as a part of the Grounded pact, gaining some great insights surrounding solo play. Therefore, as a part of the 1.12 update, we are bringing it back to regular play, and it will now be an option available for solos regardless of Pact etc. We have increased the time needed to wait to revive from 4 to 10 seconds.

Magpie

‘SOLO: Dark Sight Boost capacity and all Boost sources are doubled.’
Solo Hunters with Magpie now have an increased maximum of 10 seconds Dark Sight Boost, instead of 5. They will now gain 10 seconds of Dark Sight Boost when they pick up the Bounty and will also gain 2 seconds back from looting a Hunter or investigating a Clue, instead of 1.

Additional Effect (for all Hunters, not just Solo): Magpie will now always give all 3 effects when picking up Bounty; the duration remains unchanged.

Serpent

‘SOLO: Interaction range increased. (50m)’
Solo Hunters with Serpent can now interact with Clues, Bounty, and Banishes from up to 50m, instead of 25m.

Underdog Bonus

Increased the value of the Underdog Bonus, granted for Bounties extracted while playing against larger teams:

  • Solo vs Duos: increased from 250 to 300 Hunt Dollars
  • Solo vs Trios: increased from 500 to 600 Hunt Dollars
  • Duos vs Trios: increased from 125 to 150 Hunt Dollars
Wildcard Conditions

In this update, we’re testing the ability to have a second contract—a Wildcard contract—that will take players to a different mission, one that is not available in the standard rotation. This opens up an interesting alternative for those times when you don’t want to play the standard rotation.

The first wildcard that we’re rolling out as a part of this test, is the Night Time of Day. If you select the Wildcard Contract in Update 1.12, you will be in a separate queue that consists of players wanting to play the Night ToD. Please note though, the Standard Contract will not include the Night ToD, as long as the Wildcard Contract is active. Please give your feedback on this initial test!

Audio

General Audio Improvements

  • Interacting with spotlights around the maps now has a sound.
  • Adjusted the sound of the wooden indoor levels. Footsteps above the player in wooden buildings should now be more easily differentiated to a Hunter moving on the same level as the player.
  • Crouching through cans and trash piles is now audible to an enemy in very close proximity.
Gameplay
Left-side Peek Advantage

Adjustments were made to the location of the Hunter model in relation to the camera, reducing the advantage gained from peeking from the left side of cover. This adjustment focuses specifically on how much of a Hunter’s head is shown when peeking, meaning that there can, in some edge cases, still be slightly more of a Hunter’s body showing, depending on the situation.

Developer Note:

With this adjustment, we have addressed an issue that we know many in the community have been asking for. Although these changes should make it much more fair regardless of the side you peek from, it’s important to mention that due to the nature of first-person cameras, this will never be perfect. We hope these changes bring it as close as possible; however, we will continue to make any additional adjustments based on your feedback.


Stalker Beetle
  • Increased Stalker Beetle explosion damage to 25.
Quickplay
  • Interacting with a Rift now shows the rewarded Trait on the right side of the screen for better readability.
Lootable Saddles

In this update, we are adding a new loot option. Lootable saddles are new additions that can be found on hitching posts or strapped to the dying horse sound trap. These saddles can have a weapon holster and/or saddle bag attached to them. The weapon holster will contain weapons frequently carried by horse riders. The saddle bag will either contain consumables or Hunt Dollars when looted. Lootable saddles spawn in both Bounty Hunt and Quickplay. In Quickplay, the Hunt Dollar reward for the saddle bags is replaced by an ammo replenishment.

Gunplay
New Weapon Variant: Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty

The growing popularity of the Winfield M1876 Centennial throughout the country brought a wide range of users who desired more flexible versions of the rifle. Some thought an increased recoil to be a worthwhile trade-off for this flexibility.
Ammo types

  • Basic – Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
  • Poison – Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
  • FMJ – Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
New Weapon Variant: Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer

Once the rifle is reduced in size, a suppressor attachment makes the Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer both dynamic and quiet. It’s well suited for hunting multiple monsters in a small area with speed and subtlety but requires some deft handling.
Ammo types

  • Basic – Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
  • Poison – Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
  • FMJ – Medium Ammo – 5+1/12
Developer Note:

With the addition of the Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer, we are adding a medium slot silenced firearm. This variant has been on our list for quite a while and will make a fine addition to Quartermaster loadouts.

New Weapon Variant: Springfield M1892 Krag Bayonet

The Springfield M1892 Krag is a repeating bolt-action rifle with a side-loading magazine. To combine the modern magazine with a classical bayonet was an obvious but exceptionally effective evolution, as it made for a fast-loading rifle that could easily fend off nearby attackers.
Ammo types

  • Basic – Long Ammo – 5+1/6
  • FMJ – Long Ammo – 5+1/6
  • Incendiary – Long Ammo – 5+1/6
New Weapon Variant: Springfield M1892 Krag Sniper

Thanks to its side-loading magazine, the effectiveness of the original Springfield M1892 Krag was unquestionable and was only enhanced with the addition of a sniper scope attached to its barrel. The fast reloading combined with long-range efficiency made this rifle a great choice for those who prefer to stay out of sight and range of their prey.
Ammo types

  • Basic – Long Ammo – 5+1/6
  • FMJ – Long Ammo – 5+1/6
  • Incendiary – Long Ammo – 5+1/6
Weapon Changes

LeMat Carbine: There has seen a couple of tweaks based on the community’s feedback. Its rate of fire has been increased a bit to make it put up more of a fight. Its iron sights have been realigned so it will feel more accurate. Last but not the least, its recoil has been decreased to allow for easier follow up shots.

Hand Crossbow Choke Bolts

  • Slightly increased the size of the choke cloud.
  • Choke Bolts now have the same slightly bigger initial area effect, compared to the lasting cloud of the regular Choke Bomb.

Hand Crossbow Poison Bolts

  • Slightly increased the size of the poison cloud.
Meta
Challenges & Questlines System Improvements
  • Shared Team Progression
    Developer Note:

    Your teammates’ actions will now count towards the progress of all active personal Challenges and Quests. This rule applies to both PvE and PvP-oriented objectives.

  • Improved Description Text Readability
  • Improved Questline Visibility
    Developer Note:

    Questlines are now accompanied by an interactive Questline Teaser Banner upon their release. The Teaser Banner is located at the top center part of the UI and is visible while in the Lobby and any other sub-screen. Clicking on the Teaser Banner will redirect the player to the corresponding Questline’s Overview Screen, after which it will disappear.

  • Additional Questlines UI Dressing
    Questlines now have their own distinct background visual.
  • Challenges Pool Update
    The pool of Challenges has been updated with some new objective types while retiring some old ones. Additionally, most existing Challenges have been rebalanced.
New Questlines

With Update 1.12, there will be 2 new Questlines in the Bayou: “The Ward of the Reptilian” and “Vengeance of the Skinned.” These Questlines offer Hunters new types of activities to pursue as well as valuable rewards to earn in 6 Acts each, such as unlocking new Weapon Variants, Legendary Equipment, and more.
Both Questlines will run for approximately 1 month each and in a sequential manner, meaning that the 2 Questlines will neither be running in parallel, nor overlapping with each other.

Equipment Unlocks

Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty

  • During the “The Ward of the Reptilian” Questline, the weapon is unlocked as a reward for completing the 2nd Act.
  • Unlocked as part of the Weapon Progression of the Winfield M1876 Centennial and costs $103.

Winfield M1876 Centennial Shorty Silencer

  • During the “The Ward of the Reptilian” Questline, the weapon is unlocked as a reward for completing the 4th Act.
  • Unlocked as part of the Weapon Progression of the Winfield M1876 Centennial and costs $137.

Springfield M1892 Krag Bayonet

  • During the “Vengeance of the Skinned” Questline, the weapon is unlocked as a reward for completing the 1st Act.
  • Unlocked as part of the Weapon Progression of the Springfield M1892 Krag and costs $426.

Springfield M1892 Krag Sniper

  • During the “Vengeance of the Skinned” Questline, the weapon is unlocked as a reward for completing the 3rd Act.
  • Unlocked as part of the Weapon Progression of the Springfield M1892 Krag and costs $610.
Early Access & Later Unlock Conditions

Initially, all new Weapon Variants will be unlockable by completing certain Acts of the corresponding Questlines. All new Weapon Variants will eventually be added to their respective unlock trees in a future update. Playing the Questlines will give players a period of “early access” to these weapons.

Loading Screens
  • Added a new filter system to loading screens, allowing for display of specific loading screens to players depending on a variety of parameters: Bloodline Rank, Prestige, Playtime, Game Mode, etc.
  • Added new loading screen hints and images tailored to new players.
  • More unique loading screens will be added in future updates to expand on this new system.
    Weapon Statistics
  • Improved accuracy of a lot of statistics.
  • Added new statistics to allow for better comparisons between weapons, tools, and consumables:
    • Throw Range: The furthest range (in meters) this can be thrown.
    • Damage (Thrown): Damage value of hitting a Hunter with its full effect.
    • Spread: The relative crosshair spread while aiming from the hip. Shotguns have a comparatively wider spread.
    • Sway: The relative amount of weapon sway while ADS.
    • Recoil (Vertical): The relative strength of the vertical recoil after a shot.
      Developer Note:

      Spread, Sway, and Recoil replace the statistic ‘Handling’ and should allow for a more accurate comparison between weapons.

    • Cycle Time: the time (in seconds) this needs to ready for the next shot, including time to reload if necessary. For Dual Wield: the time it takes for the weapon that shot first to ready again.
    • Fuse Timer: The time (in seconds) until detonation.
    • Stamina Consumption (Light): the stamina consumed with a light melee attack.
    • Stamina Consumption (Heavy): the stamina consumed with a heavy melee attack.
    • Stamina Consumption (Throw): the stamina consumed when being thrown.
  • Changed RoF (Rate of Fire) to a more realistic approach: shots fired per minute, including time to reload.
    Developer Note:

    Due to how ‘Rate of Fire’ was calculated in the past, this created inaccurate values, especially for single shot weapons. The new stat follows a more realistic approach, which leads to the RoF for weapons being closer together across the board. To still be able to compare weapons, the new ‘Cycle Time’ stat was added and the ‘Reload’ stat was made more precise.

Quickplay Recruits

Added more variation to the starting equipment for quickplay Hunters. These weapons can now appear as additional starting items:
Medium Range:

  • Nagant M1895 Silencer Pair
  • Hunting Bow
  • Scottfield Model 3
  • Scottfield Model 3 Pair
  • Sparks Pistol
  • Sparks Pistol Pair
  • Springfield 1866 Compact
  • Springfield 1866 Compact Deadeye
  • Winfield M1873C Vandal

Short Range:

  • LeMat Mark II Pair
  • Winfield 1887 Terminus Handcannon

Melee:
When choosing Melee, the regular melee tools are replaced with:

  • Throwing Knives or
  • Throwing Axes

All weapons can also be chosen in the Random pool.

Legendary Additions

  • Legendary Hunter – Worm Bite (1.000 BB)
  • Legendary Hunter – The Hornback (1.000 BB)
  • Sparks LRR Silencer – Muscadine (900 BB)
  • Romero 77 Alamo – Flat Iron (800 BB)
  • Fire Bomb – Brookes’ Burner (800 BB)
  • Weapon Charm – Ruby’s Favor (400 BB)
  • Weapon Charm – Nemean Claw (300 BB)
  • Weapon Charm – Ferryman’s Coin (300 BB)
  • Weapon Charm – Blood Relic (500 BB)

UI

Bounty Hunt UI

There are some updated UI icons in the Lobby of Bounty Hunt, including a new toggle to switch the selection of enemy team sizes. To increase the readability, we deleted the following elements: MMR Ranges, Event Information and Duration (if applicable), and the Redeem Code button (can now be found in the options).

Contextual Popups / Matchmaking Reminders

To help new players become familiar with important actions before starting matchmaking, we’ve added reminder pop-ups. These pop-ups provide information such as joining matchmaking alone, competing against teams of three, and the status and equipment of the player’s Hunter. Pop-ups can be disabled by the player and will not appear again.

Weapon Charms

Weapon Charms are now displayed with different rarity levels: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary.

World

Stillwater Bayou:

  • Slightly reduced the number of bushes to make it a bit easier to spot enemy Hunters in the forest between Darrow Livestock and Port Reeker.

DeSalle:

  • A new water entrance/exit has been added to the Boss Target lair in Weeping Stone Mill.
  • Removed roots from vegetation near the bridge north of Upper DeSalle to improve player movement.
  • Reworked and cleaned up vegetation on the east side of Pearl Plantation for better readability and player movement.
  • Reworked and cleaned up vegetation between Ash Creek Lumber and Upper DeSalle for better readability and player movement.
  • Reworked and cleaned up vegetation on the west side of Upper DeSalle for better readability and player movement.
  • Reworked and cleaned up vegetation on the north side of First Testimonial Church.
  • Cleaned up hidden vegetation for performance improvement.

Source:Hunt Showdown