R.E.P.O. | Monster guide: Huntsman

The Huntsman is a Level 3 monster in R.E.P.O. who roams the map completely blind, navigating with his rifle and relying entirely on sound and touch to locate targets. He has a hearing range five times greater than most monsters, meaning a single careless footstep or a dropped item can bring a 100-damage shot your way from across the room.

Behavior

The Huntsman wanders aimlessly, occasionally humming to signal his presence nearby. When he detects a noise, he projects a line of detection spheres toward the source. If you or the noise source is within 12 units of him, he aims and fires. After firing four shots, he enters a Leave state, shaking his head and sighing before retreating to a quieter area. During this retreat he mostly ignores noises farther than 5 units away, though if something disturbs him close up or if interruptions accumulate, he will fire again before resetting his counter. If he physically touches you or an item you are holding, he fires immediately. He cannot reach players hiding under furniture or at elevated spots, but he will still shoot toward any noise coming from those areas. Voice and text chat both count as in-game noise, so talking near him can draw a shot.

Hidden usefulness

The Huntsman's shots can damage and stun other monsters, not just players. If you position another monster between yourself and the Huntsman and make noise, there is a chance he fires into the monster's back. A safer version of this is throwing an item near another monster from a distance, which triggers the Huntsman's shot without putting you directly in his line of fire. His shots also affect valuables and semibots caught in the noise radius, so with careful setup he can do your dirty work for you. The Huntsman will also react to the sound of Birthday Boy's balloons being popped, which can create accidental friendly fire between monsters if the timing works in your favor.

Weaknesses

The Huntsman's blindness is his biggest weakness. He cannot see at all, so crouching while moving produces no noise and lets you move freely around him, though his movement speed does outpace crouched walking. He is also vulnerable to stair physics: he trips and falls down any descending surface, taking physics damage and becoming stunned briefly. Because of this, his own pathing can kill him without any direct player involvement, especially on maps with frequent stair tiles. When stunned, his strength breakpoint drops to 1, making him trivial to pick up and carry.

Strategy

• Crouch-walk whenever the Huntsman is nearby. Moving while crouched makes no sound and is the safest way to navigate around him.
• Avoid picking up or bumping into items when he is close, any sound near you will be attributed to you.
• Throw an item in a different direction to bait him into shooting at it, then reposition while his 1.5-second cooldown runs.
• If you need to grab him, bait out a shot first so he is in his cooldown window before you close the distance.
• On maps with stairs, lure him toward a descending staircase using noise from behind cover to let the fall damage chip him down.
• Do not use voice or text chat when he is in range.

How to kill

The staircase exploit is the most reliable method. Make noise from a safe position near the top of a staircase to lure the Huntsman into walking down it. He will trip, stun, and take physics damage. Repeat this process from cover, keeping him cycling between the stairs and your noise source. With 250 HP and each fall dealing cumulative physics damage, this can kill him entirely without you taking a single hit. If you want to finish him faster, bait one of his four shots first to put him into cooldown, then close in and grab him while he is stunned from a fall since his strength breakpoint drops to 1 when stunned. Once grabbed and lifted, he is neutralized. For a direct kill with weapons, 250 HP means you will need multiple hits from strong equipment. Melee during his 1.5-second post-shot cooldown is the safest window, but keep in mind that touching him or an item you are holding will trigger an immediate shot if he is not already in that cooldown.