Summary
Combining the joys of a battle royale with the fears of a gut-wrenching survival horror,Hunt: Showdown 1896is one of few that have successfully adventured into this genre. This first-person shooter takes the environmental hazards and monsters of PVE and adds the danger of other players attacking, which meansplayers should have the right set-upif they wish to survive.
Hunters can purchase traits to better their chances, which can be either accessed on them readily at recruitment or purchased onto the character as the player ranks up. With over fifty traits available to players, picking the right ones to survive may be down to personal preference, but some traits are essential to winning.
Updated on June 11, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat:After the engine update, Hunt: Showdown 1896 continues to grow as one of the best hardcore extraction shooters in the market. Content-wise, the game received a new map and a new wild target and hosted a series of balance changes for the existing traits.
Recruiting hunters and purchasing traits for them is still one of the major progression methods in Hunt: Showdown 1896 to make the hunters stronger after every successful extraction. However, it is important to know which traits will benefit the hunter and even their teammates the most.
14Gator Legs (3 Points)
Move Faster In Deep Water
Staying hidden isa crucial strategy to survivingagainst the monster, and other hunters, that players will face while exploring the map. Many of these places where hunters will find themselves have vast amounts of deep water that can be a pain to trek through.
Gator Legs makes wading through the deep waters a lot quicker and easier, while also making them silent when crouching in it. This makes for a great ambush point for when other players walk by or allows for a quick escape if a player is overrun.
13Necromancer (4 Points)
Revive Allies From A Distance
For hunters facing dangers with friends, having the Necromancer trait equipped can help in keeping the party alive. Through the power of Dark Sight, a player can revive an ally from a distance of 25 meters for a sacrifice of 25 of their own health.
Like any battle royale, there will be times that players are swarmed by multiple teams of enemies, being able to quickly revive an ally without putting themselves in danger can be the key to turning the tides of battle.
12Lightfoot (5 Points)
Become Silent
As mentioned in Gator Legs, keeping deadly silent is a crucial way of staying alive inHunt: Showdown1896.While the prior perk helps the player stay silent in the water, Lightfoot keeps the player quiet everywhere else with ease.
Players that have this trait equipped on their hunter will be able to complete plenty of fast-paced activities without a single snap of a branch, this includes vaulting, jumping, climbing, and falling. Being able to pass without a trace can be crucial while trying to avoid unwanted conflicts.
11Ghoul (3 Points)
Gain Life Through Death
Using the PVE tothe player’s advantageis a great way to stay alive. Found consistently across the map, Grunts are a constant pest that will attack a hunter. Usually, there isn’t a reason to face them unless a player has the Ghoul trait.
With this trait, every close-up kill of a Grunt will let the player gain back a fraction of their health. Although it is only 5 health restored, this is much better than not restoring any health at all and having to waste med kits.
10Serpent (4 Points)
Investigate From A Distance
It’s crucial to search for clues in order to succeed while playing the Bounty Hunt mode ofHunt: Showdown 1896, these moments can be incredibly dangerous, especially when playing with friends. Commonly, a team member would play as a distraction while the other runs to collect the clue to find the location of the monster.
Using Serpent avoids this risk, players can collect clues using their Dark Sight from a range of 25 meters with ease. It can also be used to collect bounties or banishable targets from a safe distance, making it quite a versatile trait.
9Greyhound (5 Points)
Run For Longer
Sometimes in survival, the best course of action is to run while there is still a chance. Players may commonly find themselves in a situation where they have been overrun or outmatched, and on those occasions, the best option is to run like the wind away.
Greyhound may not make a player faster, but it does allow them to sprint for roughly double the normal duration possible. This gives that extrachance to escape danger, be it a meathead foe or a player that doesn’t have the trait equipped.
8Relentless (Not Purchasable)
No Losses
This trait can only be obtained during the game either by looting bosses when banishing them or through other loot that has a chance of dropping traits. The main reason why players can’t purchase Relentless is because it will be erased from the character once it is used. However, the player can stack three of these traits in a single run.
When Relentless is available, the player will not lose a health chunk when downed. So, when the player is revived by teammates, they can use healing items to fill in all health chunks. This is, of course, a trait to consider only when playing in a group.
7Doctor (9 Points)
Double The Incoming Health
A Player’s health can automatically regenerate a fraction of its health when they are attacked unless burned. In the cases where it doesn’t regenerate, this health can be restored by using a Vitality shot or a First Aid Kit.
Using a first aid kit will only recover one bar of health unless the player has the Doctor trait equipped that doubles the effects of them. It is surprising how useful this trait can be during a battle royale, as it means a player is less likely to use up all their healing items.
6Kiteskin (1 Point)
Land Lightly
Players can accidentally down themselves easily inHunt: Showdown 1896by jumping off a building that is a little too high for the player. Gettingtrapped on a roofcan be the end of two deaths, be it by another player or the fall damage from jumping off in hopes of escaping.
Kiteskin allows the latter to become a viable option, as this trait reduces fall damage by 50%. Players are more likely to survive jumping from a roof, taking significantly less damage and reducing the need to use a first aid kit.
5Packmule (4 Points)
Get Extra Items
No player can complain about the chance of earning more items. Packmule is a great trait to equip on a hunter, as it allows a player to easily earn back any items they may have lost or used. It doesn’t even require the player to do anything.
By simply looting dead hunters or opening an item box, a player is confirmed to have a free extra tool or consumable to use on filling a blank hunter with equipment or replacing a recently used item from a conflict.
