If you’ve played Far Cry 3 then you already knew to expect some hunting activities in order to upgrade your gear in Far Cry 4. Holsters don’t just appear out of the sky, so being able to acquire the necessary skins is essential if you want more than one weapon. Of course, holsters aren’t the only item needing invaluable upgrades, so you may find yourself doing a bit more hunting than you initially planned for.
To help get you through all the savage beasts that you will undoubtedly cross paths with, here are six tips that will get you set up even early in the game. Keeping these in mind throughout your journey will help you master the art of the hunt.
Bring the Right Hunting Tool
Nothing is more important than having the right gear for any given task. Being in the right area at the right time will get you nowhere if you don’t have the right weapons. Of course, any weapon can usually get the job done, but you are rewarded for approaching hunting with a bit of finesse.
Far Cry 4 rewards you for clean kills by providing double skins. This means you’ll be able to get all of your desired upgrades with only half the amount of animal blood on your hands than you normally would have. The only way to get clean kills is to use arrows, your knife, throwing knives, or bolts. These methods provide not only clean kills but are also completely silent.
Of course, throwing knives, arrows, and bolts are scarce in the early game. Getting a kill allows you to recover the spent ammunition from corpses but you’ll be hard pressed to find a missed shot in all of that grass. Bring a gun with some decent stability if you need to make the job quick and dirty.
Stay Quiet and Hidden
Wild animals tend to be… well, wild. Being wary of any and all moving things in their immediate area comes with the territory of being a wild beast. These are animals that have been dealing with humans for years so rest assured that you are not the first to come hunting their friends and family.
Wariness leads to them being quick to act when frightened. While hunting, you want to be sure to remain somewhere out of sight like a bush or off in the distance. If you can’t be seen you can’t scare your prey away so easily. Remaining hidden allows you to set up your shot and may even grant you the opportunity to kill more than one beast in a single group.
Silence is also golden while staying hidden. Being out of sight is just one aspect, making sure not to make too much noise is just as important. Missing a shot will send any animals running. Also, running while hidden will clue any beasts into your presence. Keep a low sound profile and you should be just fine while picking off any of Kyrat’s fauna.
Know What You’re Hunting
While hunting, you will come across animals that have been separated into two categories: wildlife and predators. Knowing which one you are up against makes all the difference when you make your approach. If you are unsure what category you’re up against, just pull out your camera. When you tag an animal you will find out whether it’s regular wildlife or a predator. Tagging animals also provides the added benefit of being able to see them through walls, grass, trees, and any other obstacles.
Animals categorized under wildlife are normally docile. You’ll often find them grazing or relaxing and they will run once they realize you are there. You can chase them if you’d like, although a lot of them are freakishly fast. They are very easy to kill, rarely requiring more than a single arrow or throwing knife to bring one down.
But then you have predators, the bad ass denizens of Kyrat that put all the gun toting enemies to shame. Hunting one of these critters can sometimes prove to be a fatal affair. Look at the honey badger for instance. They are small and cute but once they sense you all hell breaks loose. They are deceptively fast and they do quite a bit of damage. The last thing you will remember is shooting some furry beasts that kept dashing towards your feet before the screen fades.
Rhinos are even worse. They are huge living tanks that exhibit no fear as they run you down even as you’re chucking grenades and molotov’s at them. Always enter with a plan of execution and an escape plan for just in case you find yourself cornered by huge angry predators.
It is also a great idea to use the environment to your advantage.
Take the High Road
Animals that cannot fly cannot attack you on higher ground. This is especially important to remember while hunting predators since those tend not to run away. This provides you ample time to take careful shots and even get some clean kills on those you would normally use a grenade launcher against.
Another thing is animals tend to take the same path to get to a high point no matter how many times you climb it. If you are on a point that can be accessed by an animal it will walk around to get to you, if you jump off it will walk back the way it came. You can use this to keep more vicious hunting targets at a safe distance while you heal, reload, or just continue to pump death into them.
Using height to your advantage also makes the bow much easier to use. you don’t really have to worry about how much the arrow drops while shooting downward. Being on a ledge and raining down sharp death on those helpless pigs helps you rake in the clean kills. That equals more skins, and more Karma experience, which are always good things.
Hunting Syringe
In a perfect world, the animals you are hunting would just stand still and allow you to strike them down with ease. Unfortunately, Kyrat isn’t a perfect world, and the animals will run, hide, or sometimes even attack. It is very easy to lose sight of one of the many creatures you will come across in the tall grass or dense woods located throughout the world. Sometimes, you may not even get to find them.
Fortunately enough for you, there is a way to locate all living things in an area called the Hunting Syringe. After gathering enough experience and completing some tasks you will be able to purchase the ability to craft the Hunting Syringe through the path of the elephant. Once in the area you want to scout out just inject yourself and all of the animals and enemies in the area will become visible just as if you had tagged them with your camera.
This will prevent you from scaring away the more rare targets before you can even find them. It will also highlight any not so friendly beasts that may want to grab your attention.
Don’t Become the Hunted
While hunting your prey, it is only natural to become focused. To see nothing but your target as you hide in the bush making nary a sound. You’d been looking for whatever animal it happens to be for a while now and just one more skin will get you that coveted upgrade. You now have your shot lined up and right before you pull the trigger you are blindsided by a wild tiger.
It is easy to forget that none of the other animals disappear just because you are focused on one. Kyrat is teeming with all sorts of dangers that never sleep and they’re all just waiting for you to slip up. Being aware of your surroundings is crucial through all parts of Far Cry 4, including hunting.
The game is never cheap in its methods of causing your demise. Every single animal in the game makes a unique sound just like in real life. Learn the sounds for the deadliest animals and become accustomed to the type of environment they enjoy. Staying aware as you hunt makes for a really fun experience.
How have you fared while hunting down the various wildlife found throughout Kyrat? Have any cool hunting experiences? Feel free to share.
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