Hunter Traits and Progression
Hunt: Showdown has two progression tracks running in parallel. Your Bloodline is your account-level rank that permanently unlocks weapons, items, and traits in the store. Your Hunter is the individual character you bring into matches, who earns XP, gains trait points, and dies permanently if killed.
Understanding how these two systems feed each other is how you progress efficiently and recover quickly from losing your best hunter.
Bloodline Progression
Your Bloodline rank goes from 1 to 100. As of the 1896 relaunch, all base weapons and their standard ammo are available from Bloodline rank 1. Ranking up your Bloodline unlocks traits, weapon variants, and cosmetic rewards.
How you earn Bloodline XP:
- Extracting from matches (flat XP bonus for surviving)
- Killing AI enemies (Grunts, Hives, Armored, Immolators, Meatheads)
- Killing enemy hunters
- Finding clues
- Killing and banishing bosses
- Picking up bounty tokens
Key unlocks by Bloodline rank:
| Rank | Notable Unlock |
|---|---|
| 1 | All base weapons and standard ammo available from the start |
| 16 | Fanning trait (critical for pistol builds) |
| 36 | Quartermaster trait |
| 100 | Full trait access. Prestige becomes available. |
Weapon Variants: Instead of Bloodline rank gating, weapon variants (Marksman, Deadeye, Sniper, Precision, Silencer, Uppercut, etc.) unlock by earning XP with the base weapon family. Use the Winfield enough and you unlock its Aperture, Swift, and Marksman variants. Use the Nagant and you unlock the Silencer, Precision, and Deadeye variants.
Bloodline unlocks are permanent within a prestige cycle. Once you unlock a trait or variant, you can buy it for any hunter as long as you have Hunt Dollars. Losing a hunter does not re-lock anything.
Hunter Leveling
Each individual hunter earns XP independently. Hunter levels go from 1 to 50.
- Levels 1 to 25: Every level grants upgrade points that you spend on traits for that hunter.
- Level 25: Your hunter becomes eligible for retirement (explained below).
- Level 50: Your hunter is maxed. All further XP earned in matches converts directly to Bloodline XP at a bonus rate.
When your hunter dies, their level, traits, and gear are gone. You start fresh with a new recruit.
Retiring Hunters
When a hunter reaches level 50 (the maximum), you can retire them from your roster. Retirement removes the hunter permanently but awards a flat 10,000 Bloodline XP bonus.
Retirement is only available at level 50. You cannot retire hunters early. This is a deliberate change from older versions of the game. If you remember retiring at level 25, that option no longer exists.
When to retire:
- You want to push your Bloodline rank to unlock a specific weapon or trait.
- The hunter's current loadout is not worth keeping (cheap gear, mediocre traits).
- You need to free a roster slot for a better recruit.
When NOT to retire:
- The hunter has a strong trait build you cannot easily replicate.
- The hunter is carrying expensive gear you want to keep using.
- You are already at Bloodline 100 (retirement XP has no benefit unless you are about to prestige).
Maxing vs. Retiring
| Strategy | Benefit | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Max to 50 | Bonus Bloodline XP on every match. Strong trait build. | Losing a level 50 hunter with 15 traits hurts. |
| Retire at 50 | Flat 10,000 Bloodline XP payout. Frees a roster slot. | You spent many matches building this hunter only to delete them. |
The best approach depends on your goal. If you need to push Bloodline XP fast, retire at 50 and cycle through hunters. If you have a hunter with a perfect trait build, keep them alive and farm Bloodline XP through match performance. Use the Death Cheat trait to protect high-value hunters during those final dangerous levels.
Traits
Traits are individual perks that modify your hunter's abilities. You spend upgrade points (earned from hunter leveling) to equip traits from the trait menu.
Traits come in three categories:
Permanent Traits
Standard traits that stay with your hunter until they die. These are the backbone of your build.
Combat and Gunplay:
| Trait | Effect | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Fanning | Allows rapid hip-fire with single-action pistols. | High. Turns pistols into close-range weapons. |
| Levering | Allows rapid hip-fire with lever-action rifles and shotguns. | High for Winfield and Terminus users. |
| Bulletgrubber | Catches the ejected round when you interrupt a bolt-action or lever-action reload, saving ammo. | Medium. Prevents wasted rounds on long-ammo weapons. |
| Iron Sharpshooter | Reduces scope sway when aiming down sights. | Medium for long-range players. |
| Scopesmith | Removes scope glint when aiming. | High if you use scoped weapons. Without it, enemies see your glint. |
| Steady Aim | Reduces hip-fire crosshair bloom. | Medium. Improves snapshot accuracy. |
Movement and Stamina:
| Trait | Effect | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Greyhound | Increases sprint speed. | High. Getting to clues, bosses, and extractions faster is always valuable. |
| Determination | Faster stamina recovery. | High. Pairs with Greyhound for sustained mobility. |
| Lightfoot | Reduces fall damage and noise from jumping/landing. | Medium. Good for vertical maps like DeSalle. |
| Gator Legs | Faster movement speed in water. | High on Stillwater Bayou. Low priority on dry maps. |
| Kiteskin | Reduces fall damage. | Low priority. Only relevant on DeSalle and Mammon's Gulch. |
Utility and Awareness:
| Trait | Effect | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Quartermaster | Increases your loadout point budget by 1. Lets you carry larger weapon combinations. | Very high. Opens up powerful pairings like rifle + shotgun. |
| Doctor | Fully heals a health chunk instead of partially healing it when using a Medkit. | High. Stretches your healing resources across longer matches. |
| Physician | Faster Medkit use speed. | Medium. Good in fights where you need to heal between exchanges. |
| Vulture | Lets you loot dead hunters even after they have been fully searched. | Low. Niche use for finding extra supplies. |
| Packmule | Extra item from ammo boxes and supply points. | Medium. Keeps your ammo and consumables topped up across the match. |
| Serpent | Interact with clues and bounty tokens from a distance (30m). | Situational. Lets you grab bounties without entering the lair. |
| Vigilant | Highlights traps (trip mines, bear traps, concertina) through Dark Sight. | Medium. Prevents cheap deaths from traps in compound fights. |
Burn Traits
Marked in red, burn traits are consumed after a single use. Once triggered, the trait is permanently gone from your hunter. You must spend upgrade points to re-equip it.
| Trait | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Necromancer | Revive a dead teammate at range through walls. Single use, then gone forever. | Extremely powerful in squad play. Must be repurchased with upgrade points after every use. |
| Resilience | Revive with more health chunks restored. | Useful in trios where revives happen frequently. |
Scarce Traits
Marked in blue, scarce traits cannot be purchased. They are found during matches as pickups on the map or rewards for killing bosses.
| Trait | Effect | How to Find |
|---|---|---|
| Ghoul | Gain health from killing AI enemies. | World pickup near AI clusters. |
| Conduit | Gain a boost to your Dark Sight duration from finding clues. | Clue interaction reward. |
| Whispersmith | Reduces the sound of your weapon switching and reloading. | Boss kill reward. |
| Tomahawk | Throw melee weapons (axes, hammers) farther and harder. | World pickup or boss reward. |
| Shadow | Reduced noise from movement. | World pickup only. Cannot be bought. |
Dual-Classification Traits (Burn + Scarce)
Some traits carry both the Burn and Scarce tags. They are consumed on use AND can only be found in-world, making them the rarest and most valuable traits in the game.
| Trait | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Death Cheat | Your hunter survives one lethal hit during the match. | Saves a fully-built hunter from permadeath. Cannot be rebought. Must be found again. |
| Rampage | Increased fire rate after a kill. | Extremely aggressive snowball trait. One use per match. |
| Relentless | Reduced stamina cost on melee attacks after a kill. | Strong for melee-heavy builds. |
| Remedy | Gain health on a successful kill. | Sustain during chain fights. |
Recommended Builds for New Players
The Survivor (Levels 1 to 30)
Focus on staying alive and extracting. Kills and bounties come later.
Priority traits:
- Greyhound (run faster, escape fights)
- Doctor (get more from each Medkit)
- Determination (recover stamina faster)
- Physician (heal faster under pressure)
Loadout: Vetterli 71 + Caldwell Pax. Cheap, effective, replaceable.
The Bounty Hunter (Levels 30 to 60)
You are comfortable fighting. Now optimize for boss kills and extractions.
Priority traits:
- Quartermaster (carry larger weapon combos)
- Fanning or Levering (depending on your sidearm)
- Greyhound
- Doctor
Loadout: Berthier + Uppercut or Winfield (with Levering) + Pax.
The PvP Fighter (Levels 60+)
You are hunting other hunters, not just bosses.
Priority traits:
- Quartermaster
- Fanning
- Scopesmith (if using scoped weapons)
- Bulletgrubber
- Greyhound
- Necromancer (burn trait, for squad play)
Loadout: Mosin-Nagant or Berthier + Uppercut. Bring Concertina Bombs and Fire Bombs for area control.
Prestige
Once you reach Bloodline rank 100, you can Prestige. This resets your Bloodline rank to 1, re-locking all weapons and items. In return, you earn:
- A prestige badge displayed on your profile.
- A one-time reward (choice of bonus Hunt Dollars, a random Legendary weapon skin, or a random Legendary hunter skin).
- The satisfaction of doing it again.
Prestige is optional. If you like having the full arsenal available and do not care about prestige badges, there is no gameplay benefit to resetting. Many experienced players sit at Prestige 0, Rank 100 permanently.
If you do prestige:
- Your Hunt Dollars reset to 8,000. Do not stockpile currency expecting it to carry over.
- Your contraband items and variant unlocks are wiped. You keep Legendary skins.
- Accept that your first 20 to 30 ranks after prestige will be rough. All base weapons are still available, but you lose your variant unlocks and need to re-earn them through weapon XP.
- Prestige goes up to 100 levels. Each prestige level has its own badge. Reaching Prestige 100 is an extreme long-term grind (thousands of hours).
The Hunt Dollar Economy
Hunt Dollars are earned through gameplay and spent on hunters, weapons, tools, and consumables.
Income sources:
- Extracting from matches (base payout scales with how much you did in the match)
- Killing enemy hunters (bonus per kill)
- Finding clues and banishing bosses
- Completing daily and weekly challenges
Spending priorities:
- Recruit hunters with good starting traits (saves you upgrade points)
- Buy weapons that match your playstyle and current Bloodline tier
- Stock consumables (Vitality Shots and Antidote Shots are worth the cost)
- Do not buy gear you cannot afford to lose. If one death wipes your bank account, you are overspending.
If you run out of Hunt Dollars, use free hunters. The game always offers a few free recruits with basic loadouts. They have random (often mediocre) traits, but they cost nothing. Use them to rebuild your bank on budget runs.