Way of the Hunter: Beginner’s Guide – Everything You Need to Know

Hunting simulators are quite the niche genre of gaming – you’ll probably notice a couple of different ones crop up every few years on Steam, or for individual platforms like the Wii U. However, they really don’t get the same sort of attention as the big AAA titles or the smaller ‘indie’ buzz-worthy games.

Enter ‘Way of the Hunter,’ a new hunting game featuring an enormous open world environment, filled with a variety of different animal species that can be lured, tracked, and hunted. For those looking at purchasing or jumping into Way of the Hunter, but feeling overwhelmed by the massive scope of the game, read on for a complete beginner’s guide: here is everything you need to know.

Everything You Need to Know in Way of the Hunter

During the story of Way of the Hunter, you will take control of the protagonist ‘River,’ who’s Grandfather owned a hunting lodge in the Pacific Northwest (where else?) – as he fell ill, River had to take over the lodge in his place.

As you can probably tell, the ‘story’ aspect of these hunting games is not a strong point. However, the richness and vast open environment definitely is and this is how you’re going to be able to best approach playing the game as a newcomer.

Stealth – first and foremost, is an integral aspect of the game. Animals you are trying to hunt will spawn in varying locations on the map at certain times. These include grazing locations and sleeping locations. If you hunt the animals at a certain time of day, or in a specific spot where they nest – they’ll migrate and change the location to a different region of the map.

To hunt in some regions of Way of the Hunter, you will need to ‘purchase’ authorization. Money is essential to bettering your campaign, as you need it not only to purchase weapons – but also to advance forward in terms of which areas of the game you can access.

Way of the Hunter offers a character progression system that is based around “perks.” Progression in this game is done by completing various different ‘activities’ – travelling to a certain location, for example, may progress a specific perk.

The Role of Perks in Way of the Hunter

The perks are separated into three different categories, which includes:

• Rifles
• Shotgun
• Hunting

In Rifle, there are (2) subcategories: “Bolt-Action,” and “Lever-Action,” which correspond to the type of rifle you’re using in-game.

Under both ‘Bolt-Action’ and ‘Lever-Action,’ the perks are the same – just for the different type of rifles being used. Both these subcategories have 6 levels, which can be unlocked by hitting an animal in the arteries, lungs, or heart multiple times.

The perks are:

• Catch Your Breath: Hold Breath + 25%
• Monster Lung Capacity: Hold Breath Refill + 30% Faster
• Gunslinger: Faster Chamber Load + 25%
• Quick on the Draw: Faster Aim Down + 25%
• Taming Kickback: Less Recoil on Rifle + 20%
• Steady Hands: Less Sway + 20%

The ‘Break-Action’ perks are the subcategory of the shotguns and can be earned the same way as the perks for the rifles. They all remain the same, except for the addition of ‘Eye Align,’ which is obtained by shooting birds in flight and earns faster weapon alignment to the animal +20%.

The perks under ‘Hunting’ include the subcategories ‘Hiker’ (traveling walking); Outdoorsman; Explorer; and Strategist.

Traveling Across the Map and Accessing Your Vehicle

Way of the Hunter also involves many other important aspects, such as traveling from one location point on the map to another, currency, selling pelts and animals you hunt, and upgrading your character through the game.

The game offers a ‘Fast Travel’ feature – however, this may leave you stranded without your vehicle. One way to access this is through the ‘computer’ at the lodge. Go through the tabs and look for the tab specifically that indicates “Car.” From this tab, select a vehicle and your car will appear outside the lodge.

At the same time, if you stumble across a ‘parking sign’ on the map, you can access a similar option menu once prompted to interact with the sign. Again, you’ll see an available list of cars, and once selected, it will appear near the sign.

Currency in Way of the Hunter – The Role of Money

When traveling in Way of the Hunter, you’ll come across various lodges, cabins, campsites, and landmarks – campsites and lodges specifically will be a priority of interest for you, as you can focus on these to earn some good money. These can be found all over Nez Perce Valley and the Transylvania maps, so keep an eye out.

Money is important in the game, as it will help you purchase much-needed weapons and upgrades from the shop available to you.

You’ll be selling the animals you kill – deer should be the primary first choice, as they’re one of the earlier animals you’ll come across in-game and a much easier target. Whitetail Deer are worth more than Mule Deer, for example, so it is worth paying attention to tracking a Whitetail, as they can net you significantly more ($600) compared to $400-$500.

Something to keep in mind is that your hunting will have an impact on the population of that corresponding animal – hunting too much of any specific animal can cause a decline and imbalance, the same as hunting a single-sex animal can cause the population to dwindle away.

With these aspects in mind, hunting deer is a great way to make some money earlier on in the game, in addition to taking on the aforementioned missions scattered throughout.