Hunt: Showdown – All info about the contents of update 1.8.1

Yesterday’s developer livestream about the upcoming update for Hunt: Showdown was divided into two sections this time.
The first section was about the recent issues with servers and update 1.8 and the second part covered the upcoming update 1.8.1.

Server problems & monetization

Causes & explanations for recent problems

The recent 1.8 update and Traitor’s Moon event were overshadowed by some problems and quality drops for players. For instance, the update contained quite a few bugs and didn’t seem mature enough at some points.
The event then had to deal with server outages and many necessary hotfixes, which Crytek then tried to iron out with an extension of the event duration and refunds.

In the developer livestream, the developers admitted to these mistakes and gave some reasons for the predicament. For example, the event had been planned in conjunction with some other campaigns (Steam Sale, social media, third parties) and could not be postponed anymore.
At the same time, they probably misjudged the quality of the update after the very short test server runtime, which then also led to follow-up problems.

For the future, however, Crytek vows to improve and promises to learn from the mistakes. They want to take more time for the development of updates and hotfixes and check them even more carefully in order to minimize mistakes like the ones in the past.

At the moment, server performance is a main focus, which is being worked on at full speed, as well as exploits that exist in the game, for example in connection with the climbing system (ladders).

Monetization

The new monetization trend in Hunt: Showdown is also a hotly discussed topic, which the developers commented on in the livestream.

The first thing announced was an “In-Depth Blog & Video” on the topic, which will shed more light on and explain the current plans.

According to current plans, Crytek still wants to release updates and content for Hunt: Showdown “for many more years”. However, in order to be able to guarantee this goal, it would be necessary to become more independent of the sales figures of the base game.

Supporting arguments mentioned were the recently released content (new weapon variants, the new boss, regular events with rewards), which would only be possible through ongoing monetization methods.

However, when it comes to the monetization approach for the Traitor’s Moon event, the developers also admit to themselves that they didn’t do everything right and point out that this process is an ongoing learning process for Crytek as well.

They also announced new changes for the upcoming events. Legendary hunters will once again be available for unlocking during the event, as the weapons to be unlocked were apparently not received comparably well.

New event mechanics have also been announced for the future, although details were kept very vague.

Contents of Update 1.8.1

New quest system

The quest system was already teased in the developer livestream for Update 1.8 and now there is finally new information about it.

It is supposed to replace the previous system with daily and weekly challenges and replace them with fixed quests that you can select and complete specifically.
The rewards range from simple weapons to consumable items and blood tokens.

If you complete a quest, you will also receive reward tokens, depending on the difficulty of the quest 1-6 pieces. At weekly intervals you can reach a threshold of collected tokens, through which you will receive a small amount of blood tokens as an additional reward.
The tasks are repeatable, so once you have completed a quest, you can accept it again.

You can accept two quests at once and buy another third quest slot via blood tokens.

In the future, you will also be able to change quests you don’t like, similar to the way you can change the hunters you recruit.

New AI variants – Grunts

There are two new AI variants of Grunts that also come to the game with update 1.8.1:

• Pistol Grunts: These Grunts carry an old, rusty pistol whose handle they use as a striking tool. When they do so, a shot is released, which serves as a sort of further audio trap. However, no actual shot is fired, only the audio is played.
• Lantern Grunts: These Grunts carry around a lantern that is either off or can be lit. When they attack the player the lantern is used as a weapon and depending on its status one of two things happens….
  • Lantern is lit – the player and a radius around him are set on fire
  • Lantern is out – the player is hit and a puddle of oil spreads under him, which is easily flammable.

In the future, there will be more AI variants, which will be added gradually.

General changes for all Grunts will also be made:

• All Grunts that carry weapons will drop them after they die.
• A shot to the arm will also cause the weapon to drop.
• Held flares of the Grunts can interact with other world objects (e.g. barrels).

Other new features & fixes

• Fixed the incorrect 3rd person animations for certain weapons.
• All weapons now have proper animations when you crouch with them. This means that you are now not as easy to hit as before when you are standing behind cover.
• Ammo shells now make a sound when they fall to the ground. This should add to the mood and atmosphere.
• All Brawler variants of weapons now deal as much damage with the blow as normal brass knuckles.
• The DumDum ammo of the Nitro Express has been renamed to “Shredder”.

New legendary content

Of course, Update 1.8.1 once again includes a whole new set of legendary skins for some hunters and weapons:

• Lebel Aperture “Wolfsbane” – 800 Bloodbonds
• Springfield 1866 Compact Deadeye “Blister” – 800 Bloodbonds
• Hunter “Luna Wolf” – 900 Bloodbonds
• Hunter “Dire Wolf” – 900 Bloodbonds

Timeframe for test server release

Currently, there is no set release date for Update 1.8.1 for the test servers. This week is targeted as the release period, but it is not set in stone.

New DLC – Lonely Howl DLC

April 28 will also see the release of “Lonely Howl”, the next DLC for the Steam version of Hunt: Showdown. As always, console gamers will have to be patient until the DLC will be available for them as well.

Included this time are three legendary weapons and a hunter:

• Caldwell Pax “Ripper”
• Hunting Bow “Stalker Snarl
• Dusters “Rawhide
• Hunter “Lonely Howl