Hunter

Version 0.28: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

The Hunter is a type of fighter who specialises in missile weapons. A Hunter starts with either some throwing weapons or a ranged weapon and some ammunition, as well as a short sword and a set of leathers.

Preferred Races

Hill Orc, Minotaur, Kobold, Ogre, Gnoll, and Troll are the recommended races if you pick a Hunter background.

Racial Restrictions

Felids are forbidden from becoming Hunters, as they cannot use ranged weapons.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +1 ranged weapon (shortbow, hand crossbow, hunting sling, or throwing weapons) & ammo
  • Ranged weapons start with 20 of the appropriate ammo
  • Javelin users start with 6 javelins and 2 throwing nets (The javelins are replaced with 4 large rocks for large races and 10 boomerangs for small races.)
• +0 short sword
• +0 leather armour

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Fighting: 2
• Chosen Weapon's Skill: 4
• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 1

Choosing Hunter adds 4 to your starting Strength, 3 to your starting Intelligence and 5 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

Hunter is your archetypical ranged combat background. Species with great aptitude in any ranged weapon, including the fast Spriggans, are great picks. Choosing Hunter also allows melee-centric species immediate access to throwable weapons, which can be used to soften up approaching monsters.

Characters relying on ranged combat should still be on the lookout for a better backup weapon than your +0 short sword, in case you run out of ammo in the early dungeon.

History

• Prior to 0.24, small hunters started with tomahawks instead of boomerangs.
• Prior to 0.15, Hunters that chose javelins started with only 5 and did not have throwing nets.
• Prior to 0.14, Hunters started with 20 gold.