First run: shotgun
The easiest start: the Romero forgives bad aim up close, the Nagant finishes the job. Cheap, no pain if you lose it.
Total: $226
Open in the builder →Rookie path: your first hours in Hunt
10 short steps — from your first match to your first extraction with a bounty. Mark what you've learned and take the quiz at the end.
- 🎯 What Hunt is and what a match is for
- ☠️ Death, hunters and Trainee Mode
- 🔍 Clues and Dark Sight
- 🔥 Boss, banishing and tokens
- 🚂 Extraction and the timer
- 🩸 Health, healing and fire
- 🔊 Sound is your worst enemy
- 🎒 Loadout and money
- 📈 Progress: Bloodline, levels and traits
- ⚠️ 8 rookie mistakes
- 🎓 Rookie exam
Step 1 / 10
What Hunt is and what a match is for
Hunt is PvPvE: you hunt monsters while other hunters hunt you.
- The main mode is Bounty Hunt: up to 12 players on one map, as solos, duos or trios.
- The goal: find the boss, kill and banish it, grab a bounty token and get off the map alive.
- You don't have to go for the boss at all: collect clues, loot cash registers and hunt whoever carries the bounty.
- Play your first matches as a duo or trio with a friend — learning together is much easier.
Words from this step: Bounty HuntSoloDuoTrio
On the site: Maps
Step 2 / 10
Death, hunters and Trainee Mode
In Hunt a dead hunter is gone for good — but not at the very start.
- While your Bloodline is below rank 15 you're in Trainee Mode: you don't lose your hunter on death or a failed extraction. Use this time to try everything.
- After rank 15 it's permadeath: if nobody revives you, the hunter is gone with their weapons and traits. Money and Bloodline stay.
- After every match (win or lose) 4 free hunters show up. A regular recruit costs 100 Hunt Dollars and comes with 10 upgrade points for traits.
- Don't get attached to gear: a cheap hunter with a cheap gun is a perfectly fine start.
Words from this step: PermadeathBloodlineHunter level
On the site: Death Cheat
Step 3 / 10
Clues and Dark Sight
Hold Dark Sight and the map tells you where to go.
- In Dark Sight you see glowing clues. Each one narrows down where the boss is.
- Three clues reveal the compound with the lair on the map. Walk into the lair earlier by chance — and the boss is revealed too.
- Clues pay money and XP even if you never reach the boss.
- Other teams often wait near clues: look around and listen before you pick one up.
Words from this step: ClueDark SightLairCompound
Step 4 / 10
Boss, banishing and tokens
Killing the boss is half the job. The dangerous part comes after.
- A match has one or two bosses; with only one, there's usually a wild target roaming the map too.
- After the kill the banishing starts — a little over 3 minutes. Everyone on the map sees where you are and heads your way.
- Don't stand in a doorway while banishing: take a spot that watches the entrances and wait for visitors.
- Each boss drops 2 bounty tokens, a wild target drops 1. Token carriers are visible to others in Dark Sight until they leave.
Words from this step: BanishingBounty TokenWild Target
Step 5 / 10
Extraction and the timer
The match isn't won by whoever killed the boss — it's won by whoever got off the map.
- Exits are on the map edges. Stand in the zone, wait out a short countdown — and you're out with your loot and reward.
- A match lasts 45 minutes. Once the last token is extracted, 5 minutes remain — make it to an exit.
- Anyone not at an exit when time runs out dies and loses everything they carried.
- Campers love to wait near exits: don't sprint straight across an open field.
Words from this step: ExtractionCamper / ratThird party
On the site: Maps
Step 6 / 10
Health, healing and fire
150 health split into chunks — and every time you go down costs you one.
- Health is split into chunks of 50 or 25. Healing only restores the current chunk.
- Get downed and revived by a teammate — you stand up with 50 health and one chunk short for the rest of the match.
- Fire burns chunks away for good. On fire? Put it out right away (roll on the ground or jump into water).
- Downed an enemy? Burn the body (fire bomb, fusee) or their teammates will revive them.
Words from this step: Health chunkReviveBurn the bodyBurningBleedingFirst Aid Kit
On the site: First Aid KitFire BombPhysician
Step 7 / 10
Sound is your worst enemy
In Hunt you're heard far more often than you're seen.
- Crows, chained dogs, chickens, horses, broken glass and hanging chains make noise when you pass and give you away.
- Gunshots are heard across half the map: don't shoot every monster — a knife is quieter.
- Play with headphones and listen for footsteps: sound direction is your best clue to where the enemy is.
- Give your team bearings from the compass ("270, second floor"), not "over there".
Words from this step: Sound trapsCompassCallout
Step 8 / 10
Loadout and money
Two guns, a few tools and consumables — and no need for anything expensive.
- You earn dollars for clues, bounties, kills and cash registers on the map. Spend them on hunters and gear without regret.
- Weapons take different numbers of slots: people carry a large + small or two medium ones. The Quartermaster trait lets you carry a large + medium.
- Every weapon uses its own ammo class; restock at ammo crates. Custom ammo can wait until you're comfortable.
- Always bring a first aid kit and something to burn a body with. Three ready-made cheap loadouts are below.
🎒 Starter loadouts
All-rounder: medium range
The Vetterli Karabiner handles both rooms and compound yards; the Conversion is your backup. The medical pack helps you survive a firefight.
Total: $311
Open in the builder →Long range: rifle and spyglass
The Martini-Henry hits hard at range — for players who like holding a position. The spyglass scouts a compound before the push.
Total: $315
Open in the builder →If an item isn't unlocked for you yet, take something similar instead — the idea stays the same.
Words from this step: LoadoutWeapon slotsHunt DollarsAmmo typeCustom ammoQuartermaster
On the site: Loadout builderRandom loadoutAmmo CrateQuartermaster
Step 9 / 10
Progress: Bloodline, levels and traits
Two kinds of progress at once: your account and each individual hunter.
- Bloodline (1–100) is your account level. Ranks unlock gear and traits; every base weapon is available from the start.
- A hunter levels up to 50 and gets upgrade points for traits. Lose them for good and the level goes with them.
- A level 50 hunter can be retired: their gear comes back and your Bloodline gets 10,000 XP.
- At rank 100 you can prestige: unlocks reset, and you get rewards and a prestige number.
- Workbenches in compounds unlock weapon variants mid-match — check them.
Words from this step: BloodlineHunter levelTraitPrestigeWorkbench
On the site: TraitsWorkbench: Gun Oil & BlueprintVigilant
Step 10 / 10
8 rookie mistakes
Every hunter has made each of these. Now you know in advance.
- Sprinting through sound traps — then wondering where the enemies came from.
- Shooting every monster instead of using a quiet knife.
- Rushing the lair first without checking whether a team is already inside.
- Standing in a doorway while banishing.
- Not burning a downed enemy — and getting them back a minute later.
- Forgetting the first aid kit, or fighting on half a health chunk.
- Running straight to the exit and into a camper.
- Being stingy with money for a hunter and playing with no gear at all.
Words from this step: Sound trapsBanishingBurn the bodyCamper / ratPush
On the site: Hunt slang glossaryLoadout of the day
🎓 Rookie exam
8 questions covering the key steps of the path.
🎖 Rookie path complete
All 10 steps learned and the exam passed 8/8. Next up — the daily activities:
All questions with answers (spoiler)
-
Up to which Bloodline rank does Trainee Mode last (you don't lose your hunter)?
- Until rank 15 ✓
- Until rank 50
- There's no such mode
Below rank 15 death doesn't take your hunter — experiment. review the step →
-
How many clues reveal the compound with the lair?
- One
- Three ✓
- Five
Three clues and the lair is on the map. Or just walk into the lair. review the step →
-
What happens while a boss is being banished?
- Nothing, you can leave
- Everyone on the map sees where you are ✓
- The match ends
For a little over 3 minutes you're a beacon for the whole lobby. review the step →
-
How many bounty tokens does one boss drop?
- One
- Two ✓
- Four
Two from a boss, one from a wild target. review the step →
-
How much time is left once the last token is extracted?
- 5 minutes ✓
- 15 minutes
- The match runs the full 45 minutes
5 minutes to reach an exit. Miss it and the hunter dies. review the step →
-
Why is fire so dangerous?
- It burns health chunks away for good ✓
- It slows your sprint
- It breaks your weapon
A burnt chunk doesn't come back this match. Put it out right away. review the step →
-
What's the best way to deal with a monster in your way?
- Shoot it with your rifle
- Knife it quietly or go around ✓
- Throw dynamite
A gunshot carries far — a knife doesn't give you away. review the step →
-
You've downed an enemy. What next?
- Go loot cash registers
- Burn the body ✓
- Wait for them to leave the game
Don't burn them and their teammates will revive them in a minute. review the step →
🧭 Not sure where to start? Take the “Which hunter are you?” quiz → we'll pick a loadout for you
Facts: Hunt: Showdown 1896 Wiki (huntshowdown.wiki.gg), CC BY-SA 4.0. Text — showdown.com.ua. Spotted a mistake? support@showdown.com.ua