Hunter: The Reckoning Wayward
General FAQ
Version 0.5
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Contents
1 - Hunter in general
2 - Controls
3 - Combat
4 - Characters
5 - Experience and Edges
6 - Levels (incomplete)
7 - Secrets
8 - History
9 - Contact info, Thanks, and etc.
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Chapter 1 - Hunter in general
Hunter: the Reckoning originally started as a pen and paper RPG by White Wolf.
It goes into the World of Darkness series (rip). This doesn't really reflect
much into the console game, except that some of the characters used in stories
are present (Joshua Matthews) as well as the creeds, some of the edges, etc.
The game is set in Ashcroft, a small town corrupted by evil forces. This game
is set two years after the XBOX and Gamecube game. Two waywards have gotten
stuck in the town trying, like in the first game, to cleanse the evil. The
original group of hunters comes to the rescue, and the plot unfolds.
This game is often compared to Smash TV (for the SNES). I'm not sure about that
(I've unfortunately never played Smash TV). The game is a 1 or 2 player trip
through a series of monster-infested levels. Save innocents to gain continues
(desperately required), pick up secondary weapons to further your strength and
power. Gain experience through killing monsters, saving innocents, etc. Gain
levels to power yourself up and get new edges (special powers). Pretty simple.
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Chapter 2 - Controls
The controls are very simple and much improved from the Xbox version of the
game. Here's the basic layout:
Control pad: Manipulate camera (zoom in/out)
Left analog stick: Move your character around the screen
Right analog stick: Aim
Triangle: Change edges
Circle: Change ranged weapon
X: "action" button - used to activate glyphs, select your ranged weapon,
several other things.
L2: Jump
L1: Activate edges
R2: Ranged attack
R1: Melee attack
Square, R3, L3 - Nothing
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Chapter 3 - Combat
Basics:
Ranged attacks.
Press R2 to do a ranged attack with whatever weapon you have selected. Pressing
circle cycles through the ranged weapons you have, and X selects it (and then
draws it). Aim with the Right analog stick. The computer does a decent job of
correcting aim, which is good, since aiming with the analog stick in the heat
of battle usually means that you're pointing it in the direction of the enemy
you're trying to kill. Holding R2 is about the same as pressing it rapidly.
Ranged attacks (all of them) are limited. Even your default ranged attack. Most
character's default weapon holds 100 spare rounds, plus one clip (clip size
changes).
Melee attacks.
Press R1 to do your basic melee attack. Hold R1 to do a "charge up" attack,
which is a 360-degree attack, followed by at least one more attack (the
actual attack changes between characters). Attack once, then hit R1 and hold it
again to do a different charge attack. Press R1 multiple times to execute
combos. You can also hit R1 in midair to do aireal attacks (and when you land,
more combos). Pressing R1 twice, followed by L2 makes you do an "escape attack"
where your character often moves through enemies while attacking. Timing gets
to be a little sticky with this, and I found myself using it very little.
More advanced technique:
Tapping R2 with a character with an automatic weapon fires a burst. Again,
holding it gives you a much faster attack. Much of your Ranged attack power
depends on your Accuracy score, so if you plan on using long distance attacks,
go for characters with more accuracy (naturally).
The real complexity comes with the Melee attacks. Combos can be performed in
long strings, usually moving your character around the screen and away from one
specific enemy. The trick is to use the right analog stick to aim yourself as
you move. This way, you can kill off larger numbers of enemies while still
keeping mobile.
Also, if you press both analog sticks in the same direction, you can perform a
moving attack. These are probably the most useful tricks you can do. You can
run through crowds of rots while weakening them and taking little to no damage.
Also, many of these attacks to great damage. When tested with the Martyr, her
dashing attack can kill a rat with one (really, two) swing. When standing, it
takes three basic hits (just tapping R1 and letting the attack resolve before
hitting it again). While I haven't noticed if other characters can do this, the
Wayward has two forms of dashing attack (one where he twirls his crowbar, one
where he swings it). To get each attack seems to depend on momentum of your
character. If he was running for a short time before you attack, he will swing.
If you attack quickly after moving, he should twirl the weapon. Personally, I
prefer the twirl attack, but thats for the character section.
Jump attacks tend to do pretty good damage, and can get you and and out of
crowds fairly well. Again, the "escape attack" doesn't seem to come up often,
since when I get surrounded, I usually end up pounding on the R1 button until I
clear a hole. However, I've learned that when surrounded, moving attacks and
long combos, when combined with attack (or even speed edges like Demand) often
manage to thin the ranks quickly.
If you do find yourself surrounded by large groups of enemies, don't panic.
Often, you can escape with very little life lost (assuming you're killing
enemies somehow). Since dead enemies often drop health and conviction, you can
hold your own if you can kill a few enemies. If you can't kill the enemies, try
hitting them anyway. Oftentimes, the enemies with high HP get knocked back
easily, allowing you to escape and pick them off at a more appropriate pace.
There are many large enemies that can deal out damage in large amounts.
Occasionally, they come in groups. Again, don't panic. In multiplayer, you and
your partner can each take on one, or even both on the same and take it down
quickly. The key is to get behind such enemies and pile on the damage. With
multiples, use the moving attacks on one at a time. That way, you can dodge its
attacks as well as make yourself a difficult target for the other one.
An important tactic is to keep moving. This is especially true when you
encounter some of the projectile attackers. Sometimes you can use other enemies
for shields, but don't count on it often. A big problem arises when you start
finding big monsters who also shoot things at you. These types of creatures
make life difficult, especailly since the game tends to enjoy throwing them at
you in multiples and in waves. Killing 10 Machine Mutants in a row gets old
fast.
Don't underestimate the usefullness of running away. If you're having a lot of
difficulty with a mission, don't be afraid to dash through, pick up everything
you came fore, and get out with as few confrontations as possible. The game
throws too many powerful or tough monsters at you at some points, and many
times, you just have to cut your losses to minimize continue loss.
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Chapter 4 - Characters
Spencer "Deuce" Wyatt
Creed: Avenger
Weapons: Axe (melee), Lever-action Rifle (ranged)
Stats (coming soon)
Edges: Cleave, Ward, Smite, Impact
Pros: The 5 strength is very nice, especially combined with Cleave (and
especially when you get to that 3rd dot in cleave). He has enough power to
clear a way through hordes of enemies, and since his axe has a nice, large
swing, he can often hit multiple opponents at once. Ward makes it tough to get
surrounded, so you can take enemies at your own pace. Smite provides good
backup for when Ward fails.
Cons: Slow. Without a doubt, this is his biggest problem. Often, other
characters can leave him behind. In battle, this translates to less strikes per
given time frame. He does more damage with each hit, but the lack of speed
becomes an issue oftentimes in battle. Also, I find his ranged attack to be
fairly lackluster. It doesn't work very fast, and has a relatively small clip
size (only 8).
I tend to use him least of all. He may be strong, but the lack of speed really
throws my love of him.
Samantha Alexander
Creed: Defender
Weapons: Katana (melee), Magnum Revolver (ranged)
Stats (coming soon)
Edges: Rejuvenate, Ward, Demand, Blast
Pros: Decent speed, Decent melee attack. Above all, the reason you'll want to
play her is for Rejuvenate. Once it hits the second dot, you can heal those
around you. At the third dot, you can heal them practically all the way with
just one use. This makes the defender one of the most useful characters in big
battles. Ward is also quite important for when people are hurting.
Cons: Strength isn't great. Furthermore, while her revolver packs a punch, it
also only packs a clip of 6, which means frequent reloading. Blast also seems
fairly lackluster, at least for the first dot of it. I'll get back to that
later.
Defender is a must-have when playing multiplayer. I can't count the times I've
been saved by that katana-wielding messiah. The only thing that would make her
better was if she had more conviction, since Rejuvenate taps her out pretty
fast.
Father Esteban Cortez
Creed: Judge
Weapons: Crusader Sword (melee) (note the cross at the hilt. I thought that was
a nice touch), Crossbow (ranged)
Stats (coming soon)
Edges: Word of Power, Burden, Rejuvenate, Rally
Pros: Strong, combined with one of the best attack edges in the game (word of
power). To make things even better, he gets Word of Power as his first edge.
Better yet, he gets Rejuvenate, the strongest part of the Defender. Rally is
nice too, as it cuts down on damage you take. To tie it all together, he has
the highest conviction of any character.
Cons: Pretty slow (okay, so a tad faster than the avenger), with a fairly
sub-par ranged weapon. While it reloads fast, it doesn't pack much punch
(sometimes taking a full clip for even the shamblers). Aside from Word of
Power, the edges he gets come a little late, so he takes a while to be
incredibly useful.
While a strong character, I haven't used him quite a bit. I imagine once I get
the second dot in Rejuvenate he'll make for a strong addition, maybe even
replacing the Defender in coop games. That, however is yet to be seen.
Kassandra Cheyung
Creed: Martyr
Weapons: Twin Kamas (melee), Dual Auto-loading pistols (ranged)
Stats (coming soon)
Edges: Demand, Retribution, Burden, Blaze
Pros: FAST. Easily the fastest character. With demand active, she is even
faster and often has trouble with leaving other characters behind. She may not
be very strong, but her speed more than makes up for it.
Cons: Frail. She doesn't have much in the way of HP, and all her edges (except
Burden, because thats on the Judgement path) hurt her to use. Burden doesn't
seem to be too useful for her, as she can usually dice through the opposition
without having to freeze them in place. Blaze also seems kind of weak, but I've
only attained one dot so far.
If you can get past the sometimes weak edges, she's one of the best characters
to use. Her speed literally makes up for most of her weaknesses, as she can
take out the opposition and pick up health drops before taking enough damage to
put her into the critical. When there is health to spare (or when near a
Defender), Demand makes her a force on the battlefield.
Joshua Matthews
Creed: Wayward
Weapons: Crowbar (melee), Autopistol (ranged)
Stats (coming soon)
Edges: Cleave, Pinpoint, Enrage, Spiral
Pros: Consider the wayward a average of the Avenger and the Martyr. He's not
quite as strong as the Avenger, but stronger than the Martyr. He's not quite as
fast as the martyr, but faster than the avenger. This makes him VERY well
rounded. With cleave, he can beat through large groups with ease. Bolstered by
decent HP, and not to mention some GREAT support edges in Pinpoint and Enrage,
he's nothing to scoff. He also has a great ranged attack his autopistol has the
highest clip (24) and is only slightly slower than the Martyr's twin pistols.
Cons: Low convicion gives his edges limited use.
The wayward is easily my favorite character. His moving attacks tend to hit
often. His edges are great. His ranged attack is great. His melee attack is
great. Now to wait for Spiral to improve...
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Chapter 5 - Experience and Edges
The actual experience/level progression is a mystery that I'm working on
currently. I'll get back to that later.
As far as the edges...here's how it works. You start with one dot in your first
edge. As you progress in levels, you gain more edges and more dots in the ones
you have. There's a progression, and it goes like this:
1st, 2nd, 1st (second dot in it), 3rd, 2nd (second dot), 4th, 1st (third dot),
3rd (second dot)....
Working on the rest, but I think the general idea can be gotten.
Here's the effect of each edge.
Cleave:
Sets your weapon on fire when you activate it and until it stops flaming,
damage is increased dramatically. As you gain dots, both the conviction cost
and duration increase. The third dot lasts for quite a while and is a dramatic
increase in damage. This edge is most useful when surrounded or when you're
massively outnumbered. Keep in mind that you don't take damage while waiting
for the effect to start up.
Rejuvenate:
At the first dot, it heals just the single character that's using it. At the
second dot, it heals the character using it as well as any character close by.
The radius extends with the third dot. Also, the amount healed increases with
each dot. Unfortunately, this doesn't heal bystanders. This edge is one of the
most important edges in the game - it easily cuts down on continue use.
Word of Power:
Ranged (to some degree) attack edge. At the first dot, it damages all enemies
in a line. As it progresses, the angle grows, and the damage increases. Again,
this is highly useful. It can easily turn the tide of battles early on.
Demand:
Increases speed and damage for the user. Unfortunately for the Martyr, the
character who uses it first and probably most, it damages her. Doesn't seem to
hurt with the Defender, though. At higher levels, speed and damage are great.
Ward:
Enemies in a radius around your character can't get close. If they make it
within the radius, they back out of it. Stronger enemes (read: bosses) are
uneffected by this. As the dots increase, the radius increases. This is most
useful when you're trying to protect bystanders.
Burden:
All the enemies in a radius around your character get fixed to the spot for a
time. As the dots increase, radius and duration increase. Pretty standard. It
works well to get a breather, but I dont find myself using it often.
Retribution:
Pretty standard damage reflection edge. As the martyr gets hit, a percentage of
the damage she takes goes back to the attacker. I don't use it much, but I do
see the uses. The big problem is that it hurts to use it, and it hurts to make
use of it.
Pinpoint:
Enemies in a certain arc in front of you are "marked" for a limited time.
"Marked" enemies take more damage from your attacks. This doesn't seem to do
much against basic enemies, but works well for bosses, who tend to have large
amounts of damage reduction.
Smite:
Does damage to everything in a 360 degree radius. Again, pretty standard.
Damage increases with dots, as does range.
Enrage:
Allies in an area around you increase damage and accuracy for a limited time.
Those affected have a red fire above their head. Fortunately, unlike the PnP
game, this does not damage the player when its over. Quite effective, when you
remember to use it. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long enough to be
exceptional, but the duration increases later on.
Impact:
Dubbed as "the ranged version of cleave", although its not quite...Cleave is
activated and lasts for a duration. Impact is automatic. If its the current
edge, every ranged attack automatically applies it. It does extra damage at the
expense of an unfortunately large amount of conviction. Hopefully, it gets to
be better later on.
Blast:
Damages enemies in a line away from the defender. Not really great, especially
at low levels. Her conviction is much more appropriately saved for Rejuvinate,
or even Ward.
Rally:
Defensive edge. All hunters in the area, when activated, are given some degree
of damage reduction. From what I've seen, the first dot's radius is small
though. More as I power it up.
Blaze:
Again, this hurts when its used. However, its one of the few edges the Martyr
gets that damages enemies directly. Enemies in a radius takes damage and are
stunned for a short time. Again, like most of the first dot lv. 4 edges, it
doesn't work as well as you'd expect the lv. 4 edges should. Hopefully it
improves.
Spiral:
Damages everything in a large area. Again, not much damage at the first level,
but I EXPECT this to get better (I'm a huge fan of the pen and paper game, and
Spiral would literally eat up anything by the time it was gained. I was
disappointed that it couldn't kill rots at the first level.)
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Chapter 6 - Levels
Unfortunately, this is quite a daunting task. I imagine this will stay mostly
incomplete for a while. In the meantime, I'll hit some of the high points.
Objective types:
So far, I've seen several objective types. Here's a list and general rundown of
the idea.
Collection:
Pick up pieces of something throughout the level. This usually involves
breaking practially everything in sight that can be broken, including (but not
limited to) - Tombstones (graveyard levels), Newspaper dispensers (towns),
Trash cans (lots of places), Mailboxes (towns), Manequins (town), Tool boxes
(garage), Crates (several places), Toilets (prison levels). The list goes on.
If you think something could be broken, by all means, slash on it for a while
until something happens (or doesnt, as the case may be). Objects that can be
picked up have a nice sparkle over them, so you can see it from the otherwise
dark surroundings fairly easily (assuming you didn't pick it up after attacking
the object holding it).
Rescue:
Fairly open title, but this includes anything where you have to "release" or
"rescue" anything. A good example is the Outer Graveyard - releasing the 6 lost
souls. The idea is to run through the level, find important people or things
and either touch them, or press X over them. This one isn't too common, and
fortunately not that hard. Sometimes it works out well for you, especially when
you're supposed to be saving innocents.
Cleanse:
This one includes killing specific monsters or groups of monsters. The first
occurance of this is in the Theater District with the Optional mission of
killing the War Ghoul. These aren't often very hard, as sub-bosses (and bosses)
usually give you reason enough to kill them, and groups of enemies are
something you'll end up doing anyway.
Protect:
At some point in the level, you find a bystander and are forced to protect this
person until you can reach a certain point. These are usually difficult, since
the game tends to throw an excess of enemies at you when you pick up the
bystander. The trick is to stay close, use defensive edges, and take out
enemies before they can get to the bystander. Sounds simple, but it isn't
always (especially when you're waiting on Emma to make weapons for you). This
is when the Ward edge shines - stick close and none of the enemies can reach
you.
Miscellaneous:
There are several missions that don't fit into the above molds - running from
some enemy or thing (a train, for instance), make it to a point, etc. These
vary greatly in type and diffculty.
Thats all for now. I'm probably gonna break down and work it level by level
soon. However, I won't do this until I beat the game. Try not to be too
impatient.
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Chapter 7 - Secrets
Various Cheats
Enable Cheats/ get Nephrack Trophy
Beat Nephrack
Unlock Max Health Cheat/Pit Fighter Trophy
Use the starting melee weapon to kill all enemies in Downtown Level and beat
Downtown Level
Unlimited Ammo/Rogue Hunter Trophy
Beat Rogue Hunter
Monster Spawn On/Off Cheat
Beat the Werewolf
Unlock Max Ammo Cheat/Gun Trophy
Use ONLY your starting ranged weapon and beat Downtown kill all enemies in
Downtown
Unlock Hard level Monsters/Team Up Trophy
Beat the game using 2 players
All Weapons/Looter Trophy
Get all Silver pieces
Super Melee Damage Cheat/The machine Trophy
Beat the Machine Boss
Unlimited Lives/Warrior Trophy
Kill all Midtown enemies
No Conviction for Edges/Life Saver Trophy
In the Prison Hospital Lower Level rescue ALL the innocents
Trophys
Chaingun Trophy
Put together the chaingun
Grenade Launcher Trophy
Put together the Grenade Launcher
Deserter Trophy
In the Lower Level leave too many innocent people
Model Unlock
Unlock a model below by doing the task indicated then you can view them in the
Entertainment Center.
Emma- Rescue her
Joshua- Rescue him
Le Roi- Rescue him
Devin- Beat him
The Werewolf- Beat him
The Machine- Beat him
The Witch- Beat her
Nephrack- Beat him
Carpenter- Beat the game on Nightmare
Rot Hand- Kill 25 Rot Hands
Rot- Kill 199 Rots
Prison Guard Rot- Kill 20 Prison Guard Rots
Flamethrower Rot- Kill 8 Flamethrower Rots
Gargoyle- Kill 10 Gargoyles
Hanged Spirit- Kill 7 Hanged Spirits
Mourner- Kill 40 Mourners
Aileron- Kill 75 Ailerons
Cultist- Kill 20 Cultists
War Ghoul- Kill 2 War Ghouls
Machine Monster- Kill 20 Machine Monsters
Samantha- Unlock 8 models
Father Esteban- Unlock 12 models
Kassandra- Unlock 18 models
Note: These all came from various cheat sites. I didn't actually do most of
them, so don't hold me responsible if it doesn't work the way you thought it
did.
Also, I'm not going to put the button combinations for the cheats here, as it
doesn't really matter. To use the cheats, you must have earned them in game,
and after that, it tells you what they are in your trophy room.
Alternate costumes can be found by replaying levels. They are pickups in the
form of small silver boxes. I'm gonna get around to posting the locations of
each of them, but I've yet to finish the game. Here's what I have so far...
Outer Graveyard - To the left of the curch, in the small alcove where theres an
innocent and a gargoyle. Easy to spot.
Theater District -
Church -
Ashcroft Station -
Catacombs -
Downtown -
Emma's Workshop - (none)
Inner Graveyard -
Midtown -
Le Roi's Shop (outer) - In the third section (after the tight hallway from
hell), hidden under a toolbox between the two cars.
Le Roi's Shop (inner) - Presumably none
........
More to come.
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Chapter 8 - History
9-13-03
Finished, will post soon. Just gotta work on all the formatting technicalities.
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Chapter 9 - Contact info, Thanks, and etc.
To contact me with any info thats missing or incorrect, my email is
Mage_Thaske@yahoo.com
Thanks to the kind folks at the GameFAQs message board.
Thanks to Wanz4 especially for posting the cheats and saving me the trouble.
This FAQ is mine. I wrote it. I posted it at GameFAQs. If you want to quote
from it, take pieces of it, or repost it somewhere else, email me first. My
address is above.