Murder Circus ENCORE – Everything You NEED To Know! | Hunt: Showdown 1896

Hi guys, Rex here!

Update 2.6 is right around the corner, bringing the encore of Post Malone’s Murder Circus, a new battle pass packed with rewards, and a variety of updated features and mechanics.

In this video, I’ll break down the most interesting changes coming with this update.

As always, the full patch notes will be linked in the description for those who want every detail.

But without further ado — let’s dive into it!

1. The Murder Circus Encore

The Murder Circus is back — bringing new challenges, returning troupe traits, a tougher Ursa Mortis, a reworked Shredder, and fun new way to earn event points. This encore expands on the original format with updated mechanics and features.

The circus itself is an enclosed compound that appears at one location on every map. Inside, you’ll find all the familiar rewards that can be unlocked with Pledge Marks:

• A box restoring all ammo and tool charges
• Sealed cash registers
• A full restoration med kit
• Posters granting XP, Dark Sight Boost, or a Four-Shot Boon
• A master clue revealing all boss locations
• And depending on the boss layout, a sealed bounty token
• Inside the main circus tent you’ll also find the Shredder, which I’ll cover shortly.

Event points are gained in multiple ways, all of which are listed on screen. You’ll gain a pledge mark for every 25 event points, and you’ll gain 2 by banishing a boss in clash or 3 for becoming the soul survivor.

And speaking of Pledge Marks — a brand-new type of poster has been added: the Pledge Mark envelope, which grants between 1 and 3 Pledge Marks. These can spawn around the map, similar to the regular XP or bloodline posters.

As before, pledge marks can be looted from downed hunters up to your maximum of 6 at any given time. Once you reach that cap, remaining pledge marks are left on the body for others to loot.

Tarot Cards have also carried over into this update, and you’ll now find three of them spawning inside the circus.

And of course, the Circus offers fun activities for the whole family — from the High Striker, to balloon popping, to fortune teller machines and festive party animals — which brings me to my next point!

2. Ursa Mortis

Ursa Mortis has returned along with the circus and is now more aggressive than before.
It now has increased health, higher damage, and can even break through the Circus fence while chasing hunters. Explosives no longer knock it down, and its roar now triggers traps around the arena.

Expect a tougher encounter this time.

3. The return of the Shredder

The Shredder is making a comeback — but with a complete mechanical overhaul that makes it far more technical than before. It’s a scarce weapon found in the main circus tent and must be unlocked for 2 Pledge Marks.

The old heat-seeking behavior is gone entirely, as the frag blades have been removed — leaving the Shredder with regular ammo only. Blades now ricochet based purely on physics instead of homing in on targets.

The weapon does not come pre-charged when equipped, so you’ll need to manually charge it by pressing X or the fire button before you can shoot. After each shot, there’s an automatic charging animation, which slows down its overall rate of fire compared to before. Once charged, the blade will gradually lose speed and stop spinning entirely unless you keep it maintained. If you holster the weapon, the blade continues spinning for a short duration, allowing you to re-equip and fire quickly as long as it hasn’t fully spun down.

Blades also no longer pierce Hunters or AI — they now stick into bodies like arrows, bolts, and throwables, making them easier to retrieve.

Overall, the Shredder is still powerful, but it’s now a much more skill-based weapon with a noticeably higher learning curve compared to its earlier version. I’ll be covering the Shredder in depth in a full mastery video soon!

4. Event Traits

The Troupes are back, but this time you can pledge to as many as you want if you have the Pledge Marks.

First off, Blademancer makes a return!
While using Dark Sight, retrievable ammo in front of you returns automatically to your inventory. The range is 100 meters, same as before, and as a bow main – I am obviously excited for the return of this trait!

Next up, we are seeing the return of Corpse Seer.
With this trait, looting a downed hunter grants Dark Sight Boost, same as before.

Then there’s Crack Shot.
This trait reduces sway and increases zoom for rifles and stocked pistols (excluding shotguns and sawn-offs).

Next, we have Bruiser.
This brand-new trait reduces melee stamina consumption and significantly reduces flinch upon taking damage, which could have an interesting impact on PVP, I’m sure!

And finally, we have a brand new trait: Communion.
With this trait you can now enter dark sight and spend 15 health to heal a teammate for 75 and cleanse their status effects, allowing you to take on the medic role!

5. High Striker & Fortune Teller Machines

The brand-new High Striker booth lets you earn event points by dealing melee damage to it.
There is always one at the circus, and they can also spawn on regular supply points. All High Strikers in the mission share the same progress, meaning you can beat your previous score to gain some extra points later. The higher the melee damage, the more points you earn up to a maximum of 40 per match!

We are also seeing the return of the Fortune Teller machines, which grant various rewards such as traits, buffs, hunt dollars, dark sight boost or restoring a lost health chunk for the small cost of one pledge mark per spin!

6. Player Profile Cards

Update 2.6 adds Player Profile Cards, a new way to display your achievements and progression.

Cards can show:
• An avatar
• Up to three badges
• Up to three stat trackers
• A title
• A frame

These appear on kill screens, match summaries, the lobby, and during match intros.

I’m personally very excited for this addition as I’ve wanted proper stat tracking and related achievements in Hunt for years.

7. Story Challenges

Story Challenges introduce chapter-based objectives that reward cosmetics, Hunters, and progression items. They work similarly to the Weekly Challenges you’re already familiar with, but this time you must complete each part in sequence to unlock the next.

As you progress through a Story Challenge, you’ll unlock new versions of a progression Hunter, along with lore entries that unfold the character’s story step by step. It’s a pretty cool addition — and easily the most interactive and engaging way we’ve had to unlock new Hunters so far.

8. Map Screen Updates

The map screen has been updated for better clarity.

Trait icons are now sorted by the order you acquired them, with indicators showing those picked up during the match.

Several map visuals have been updated with new icon designs, as well as an updated boss-target border.

A new challenge widget also lets you keep track of your Weekly and Story Challenges from the map screen.

9. Ping & Compass Improvements

Players can now have two active ping markers at once — including a regular or danger marker, as well as an additional marker that stays attached to objects. You can now remove your own pings by simply pinging them again – a long overdue change that I’m very happy to see!

You can now ping a wide range of interactable objects, which makes callouts clearer and more precise. Marker behavior has also been improved: danger pings fade after 2 seconds, regular pings fade after 15 seconds, and object markers last for 24 seconds.

All pings now appear directly on the compass, and they fade slightly while aiming down sights, so they don’t block your view. The compass itself has been redesigned for better readability.

10. Gunplay Updates

The Centennial Wildland now has increased spread, from 17.5 to 22.5.

And as mentioned in my mastery videos, the Wildland and Homestead are now permanently available through Locked Weapon Boxes which can now be found in Watchtowers.

These boxes require 3 Pledge Marks to unlock.

Next up, let’s take a look at some gameplay changes coming with this update!

11.1 – The Doused Effect

A new status effect has been added, as moving through deep water now applies the Doused effect for 15 seconds.

While doused:
• You ignite less easily
• Charcoaled health recovers faster
• And your footsteps become louder and easier to track

11.2 – Recovery Nerf

Recovery Shots and Relentless now restore chunks with 24 points of charcoaling, temporarily reducing your maximum health. This is a significant nerf to both, as it will take far longer to get your health back during a fight.

11.3 – Burn Trait Limit

Burn traits can no longer stack, meaning you can only have one charge for relentless, remedy or rampage as opposed to 3 before this update.

11.4 – Beetle Spawns

The Beetle pods can once again spawn any Beetle type, like they used to before.
This was reverted based on community feedback, and I’m glad to see it back — Beetles offer strong utility and fun mechanics, allowing you to think outside of the box and outsmart your opponent!

12. Water Bottles

The Water Bottle is a new throwable with several unique interactions.

On impact, it creates a splash of water, applying the Doused effect and extinguishing most fires.
But throwing a water bottle into an oil fire causes it to erupt into a large burst of flames.

Since the water bottle can’t be stored, it will drop to the ground and break if you switch to another item or weapon.

The water bottle is extremely effective against Immolators as a direct hit will kill them, even though they are elite AI… Yeah.

13. AI Updates

Immolators now react dynamically to water.

They become Doused when hit by the splash from a water bottle, walking through deep water, or in heavy rain, making them slower, weaker, and unable to ignite.

The Assassin has had its health reduced, which is a welcome change, as it previously took much longer to kill than other bosses.

14. Meta & UI

Rich Presence has been added for Steam and Discord so friends can see your current Hunt status, such as whether you’re in a lobby or in a game. This is on by default but can be turned off from the privacy settings.

Brand new players now face fewer monster types early on, and bot difficulty now scales gradually for a smoother learning experience.

And finally, Weak Shot icons have been updated to make them more distinguishable from regular shots.

15. Bug Fixes & Improvements

There is a very large number of bug fixes and minor improvements in this update.
They are too extensive to cover here, but as always you can find the full list in the patch notes linked in the description.

And that wraps up the Murder Circus Encore!

This video covered the most important and interesting gameplay changes coming with Update 2.6. If you want even more details, make sure to check out the full patch notes listed in the description!

If you found this video helpful, don’t forget to like & subscribe! Let me know in the comments: What are YOU most excited for with this update?

Thanks for watching — and until next time, I’ll see you in the bayou!