Update 2.1 – Harvest Of Ghosts | Hunt: Showdown 1896

Hi guys, rex here! Halloween is right around the corner, and with it comes a new event – Harvest of Ghosts. The event features a battlepass with brand new item and skin unlocks, new pacts and sealed rewards as well as well as multiple UI and balance changes. We are also getting a brand new game mode called Bounty Clash. In this video I will cover all of the most significant changes, so without further adeau – let’s dive into it! 

With the new event, we are getting three pacts as per usual, and each of the pacts comes with a passive trait that is acquired by pledging to the pact, as well as a conditional effect on a specific trait that makes it more powerful than usual. 

1. Pacts 

This time around, we are getting the three following pacts: 
 
The wilderness pact 

With this pact you gain the surefoot ability, which allows you to sprint with first aid kits, consumables and throwables. Additionally, you will move faster whilst crouched. 

If you are pledged to the wilderness pact and have the beast face trait assigned, wildlife will not notice you – similar to last event, and you will not break branches by stepping on them. 

The pact of omes: 
With this pact you gain the Blast Sense trait, which allows you to see gunshots and loud explosions within 200 meters through dark sight. As you can see on the screen, the visual que is larger when the shots or explosions are close, and smaller at a distance. 

The Pain Sense trait has been introduced to the game. This is a reworked version of poison sense, which I will cover a bit later. When you are pledged to the pact of omens, pain sense will allow you to see enemies who are low on stamina in dark sight. 

The smugglers pact: 

Gunrunner is making a return. With this trait, you can now carry two large weapons and the quartermaster trait is applied to your hunter. 

If you are pledged to the smugglers pact and assign the greyhound trait, you will also be able to sprint faster whilst carrying a bounty.

2. Sealed rewards

With this update, sealed rewards are returning to the game as well as a central sealed cache on each map. This update brings all the same sealed rewards as before, as well as a new reward called sealed traits, which contain a random burn or scarce trait that can be acquired for a pledge mark. 

3. Event points 

Event points can be acquired in various ways, as per usual. I’ve listed all of the different ways you can acquire event points on the screen. 

4. New equipment 

The bomb launcher 

This new weapon is a variant of the bomb lance, and brings all the same features minus the lance itself. This is a 2 slot weapon, which opens up new loadout opportunities without the need for the quartermaster trait. The bomb launcher can run all the same ammo types as the bomb lance which includes the default sticky bomb ammo, dragon breath, steel balls and waxed explosive charges. Additionally, we are getting a brand new ammo type called “harpoon” which is a large bolt that deals a lot of damage and causes bleeding on impact. These harpoons can be picked up similar to regular bolts and arrows. 

Next up we have the Maynard Sniper 

This new sniper rifle features a two stage reload with the placement of a percussion cap. The Maynard fires medium ammo as well as dumdum and high velocity ammo and packs quite a punch as it deals 144 damage. 

On the topic of scoped weapons, the centennial pointman is making it’s way into the game 

This is a smaller variant of the popular centennial rifle. This compact rifle takes 2 weapon slots and features a marksman scope, making it the first compact marksman rifle in the game. This variant runs regular medium ammo as well as dumdum, FMJ, High velocity and poison ammo. 

The auto 5 just got a tiny sibling; the auto-4 shorty 

This shortened variant of the auto-5 brings a lot of damage and quick fire rate but has strong recoil. It can run all the same ammo types as the auto-5, namely buckshot, flechette, pennyshot and slugs. 

Finally, the rival is now amazing! 
Or at least it can be used for a macing, if you know what I mean. The rival mace is introduced with this patch, so for all of you club-enjoyers out there this should be a welcome sight! 

On another note, we just got a brand new explosive variant; dark dynamite satchels 

This explosive can be placed on surfaces and interacted with through dark sight by yourself or your teammates from up to 50 meters distance. The satchel deal damage similar to a dynamite bundle and can be defused with the dauntless trait. In order to blow up the charge, simply enter dark sight and hold down your fire button whilst aiming at the charge.  

A new ammo type has been introduced to the hand crossbow; revive bolts 

This new ammo type heals on impact and can revive dead teammates. The bolts deal no damage, making it a support item exclusively. Despite the fact, I can see this ammo type being tremendously powerful if used correctly, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out!

5. Trait changes 

We are getting some interesting changes to traits with this update. First off, conduit will now grant two clues instead of one when a solo player interacts with a clue, making this trait a solid choice overall.  

The poison sense trait has been reworked to now include other conditional effects as well. More specifically, with this trait enabled you can now see players through dark sight if they are bleeding, burning or poisoned, and as previously mentioned if you are pledged to the pact of omens you can also see players that are low on stamina through dark sight. 

Lightfoot has been reworked to include the previous surefoot effect that allowed solo players to crouch quietly. This should make this trait a nobrainer for any solo player going forward as the trait will offer tremendous value for the points. 

The berserker trait has been made a scarce trait, which means it will now be obtainable without the need for pledging, although it will likely be harder to acquire overall. 

Finally, bulwark will no longer protect you from the bomb lance. This change is fantastic for any bomb lance or bomb-not-a-lance enjoyers out there, as it will make the gameplay experience a lot more consistent and predictable.

6. UI changes 

This update brings a number of UI changes, including the following: 

• The gear selection screen has been made much more user friendly as you can now see everything on one page and modify it more easily 

• A new play button was added at the top of the screen 

• More hotkeys were added which should make the UI easier and quicker to use 

• KDA numbers are now accessible from the player details in lobby 

• Teammates hunter levels are now visible in lobby 

• Recruited hunters will now be selected automatically 

• Affordable and unaffordable traits are now differentiated, where traits turn red as you are no longer able to afford them 

• Grid view is now the default which should make it easier to get an overview. 

• You can now set a default health setup in the UI, which should save us all some time when setting up our hunters for the next game. 

There might be more UI features that I haven’t covered, but this should be the most significant changes. 

7. Scope changes 

Scopes have received a new drop helper which is designed to assist players in predicting drop distances. When a player fits perfectly within the two marked lines, you are at the drop distance of the weapon. If a player is larger than the helper, you are closer and will not need to worry about drop, however if the player is smaller than the drop helper that means you are out of range and need to aim higher. 

8. Melee weapons & tools 

It may or may not please you to hear that the throwing spear has received significant balance changes. The throw damage has been reduced to 200, and a throw to the legs will now only deal 110 damage meaning it will no longer kill unless the player is low on health. The velocity of the throw has been reduced to 40 meters per second and the drop has been increased, making it a lot harder to land throws at a distance. Pull out damage with the spear has also been reduced and you can no longer sprint with the spear unless you have the surefoot trait assigned. Furthermore, the spears light attack damage has been reduced to 70 and the attack speed reduced. The heavy attack damage has been reduced to 147, meaning it will no longer oneshot a player from full health. 

All other melee weapons except the katana have been buffed with increased damage and less stamina consumption. 

Throwing knives have been buffed with increased damage, throw rate and accuracy, which should make them a lot more useful overall. 

9. Other gameplay changes: 

Bounty tokens value is now 125 regardless of the search area of the bosses. This should make the smaller search area more attractive than before and the overall income more consistent. 

Blueprints have been nerfed to only yield one random unlock instead of 3. 

Beetles will now spawn in soul survivor mode 

Hellborn can now spawn north of Blackthorn Stockyard 

Finally, the weather/time of day conditions fog, Sunset and Sundown are now back in rotation. 

10. Bounty Clash 

A new game mode has been introduced; bounty clash. This game mode allows up to 12 players to queue in with a loadout of their choosing and fight over an already dead boss target in a single compound. Once a player banishes the dead boss target, the progression starts as per usual and the bounty can be picked up once it’s complete. Each match lasts 15 minutes and there are 2 available extraction points that work just like any extract point in regular bounty hunt. You may choose to queue in solo or in a duo or trio. A final thing to note is that your MMR will be used to matchmake in this mode, but will not be affected by the outcome. 

That’s it for this update video! If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer! If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to the channel and leaving a like on the video! It really means a lot. Thank you for watching, and until next time, I’ll see you – in the bayou!  ments and I’ll try to answer them as soon as possible! Alternatively, you can ask me when I am live. I stream 5 days per week over at Twitch.tv/REXNOR, so don’t forget to drop a follow! I’ll leave a link in the description. Thank you so much for watching, and until next time – I’ll see you, in the bayou!