Hunt: Showdown 1896 Best Builds

Hunt: Showdown 1896 has a long list of weapons, special ammunition, tools, and traits, making it overwhelming to create an effective loadout. There is a lot of diversity, allowing players to find a loadout that best matches their play styles and preferences. There are loadouts built to fight at a distance or up close and many others employ a mix of the two.

Traits such as Quartermaster make it possible to equip a medium-slot weapon alongside a large-slot weapon. Other traits make weapons more effective, such as the Fanning supercharge pistols' ability to be deadly up close. Consumables must be carefully chosen to complement a loadout and the desired playstyle of the players. This list will have options for players who want to save money, as well as for those who want to splurge when it comes to loadout prices.

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Updated January 19, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat: Hunt: Showdown 1896 is one of the games where the meta is quite unstable, as developers apply balance changes quite often throughout the year, and a big part of that is because there are many weapons with customized bullet types. But that's not all, because traits are also as crucial as weapons.

As a result, the players need to make multiple trials and errors after every update to find the perfect build in the game. However, this also depends on the playstyle, as some gamers prefer sniping from long distances, while others rather rush in with close-range weapons.

12 Springfield & Scottfield

Weapon Prices: 115

• Pros: Budget
• Cons: Weak against a full trio

The Springfield is a budget weapon that is great for early-game beginner loadouts. The damage of the Springfield hits hard at 132 to the chest and works great for medium to long distances. By itself, the Springfield is an average weapon with no outstanding qualities, but this changes with DumDum ammo. DumDum ammo causes bleeding to injured enemies and will force them to stop their bleeding and use valuable time. If enemies do not stop bleeding, they have around 6 seconds until they die due to blood loss. Any variant of the Springfield will work as long as players use DumDum ammo.

As for the secondary, the Scottfield Model 3 Spitfire is an excellent pairing. The high damage and rate of fire will allow players to take down enemy hunters swiftly. Since DumDum ammo removes bullet penetration, adding Full Metal Jacket bullets to the Scottfield is essential.

Explosives pair well with this loadout. Using dynamite at enemy hunters affected by bleeding from DumDum ammo will force them to relocate and may cause them to bleed out. Using the penetration power of the Scottfield and guessing where bleeding hunters are hiding can also result in a few kills.

11 Rival 78 & Uppercut

Weapon Prices: 564

• Pros:
  • Powerful shotgun
  • Great range coverage

• Cons:
  • Costly

This loadout pairs well with solo players due to how aggressive it allows them to be. While the Romero 77 has the best range and damage for all shotguns, the Caldwell Rival is a close second and has an extra bullet slot. It's affordable and will not require special ammo when paired with the Caldwell Conversion Uppercut. This weapon will allow players to push buildings with a guaranteed one-shot with a range not too far from the Romero.

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When not fighting indoors or near corners, the Uppercut will shine. The Uppercut is expensive but packs a powerful punch. The Conversion Uppercut is effective for a long range and has great penetration power. If players want to save money, use the Caldwell Pax or Caldwell Conversion equipped with Full Metal Jacket bullets.

Concertina Bomb and vitality or regeneration shots are essential for this loadout. A Concertina bomb will block an area and the health shots will keep hunters at full health. One downside to this loadout is tackling bosses, which will drain weapon ammo. That said, many bosses have a weakness that allows players to defeat them faster. The spider has two weaknesses that allow players to defeat it quickly. Explosives and the Sledgehammer will turn the spider boss fight into a piece of cake.

10 Frontier 73C & New Army

Weapon Prices: 131

• Pros:
  • High ammo count
  • Budget

• Cons:
  • Weak at long-range

The Frontier 73C is a cheap compact ammo rifle that punches above its price. The weapon has lots of ammo and has great range and damage. With high handling, aiming at enemies from a distance will be possible. Securing kills with the Frontier 73C is easy as it has a high rate of fire and high damage. All Frontier variants are among the best weapons for PVP as they are powerful in the right hands.

The Caldwell New Army is an excellent choice for the Frontier 73C as it uses compact ammo and will provide players with more bullets. The New Army is a high-rate-of-fire pistol that is intended for close-range fights. Players can rapidly fire at the chest area and will only need two bullets to down an enemy hunter. The New Army has slow muzzle velocity, which makes it a bad choice for medium-range fights.

Grabbing a large regeneration syringe will prevent players from frequently needing to heal. This loadout profits from regen syringes as it works well at medium range, providing players with ample time to heal up before their next peek.

9 Crossbow & Conversion

Weapon Prices: 105

• Pros:
  • Strong One Hit Kill Potential
  • Budget

• Cons:
  • Poor long-range coverage

The Crossbow is a close-range nightmare for enemy teams and has long-range, one-hit kill potential, as long as players aim for the chest. The shot bolt is an improvement over the default bolt for PVP, giving better one-hit potential across longer ranges. The main downside of the shot bolt lies in its inability to be picked up after being fired.

The Conversion is great for mid-range fights when the crossbow won't be cutting it. Cheap and with more spare ammo than most pistols, the Conversion is a great secondary to cover medium-range for players, while the Crossbow shines in close-range fights. Leaning on the stealth aspect of the Crossbow will leave enemies confused and unsure of who is firing at them.

8 Bomb Lance & Scottfield Spitfire

Weapon Prices: 307

• Pros:
  • Excels at compound PVP
  • Great PE potential

• Cons:
  • Weak at fights outside compounds

Most fights occur in this game in a convoluted compound full of buildings and walls, giving this build a place to shine for close-quarters battles. The Bomb Lance should be equipped with a steel ball and regular ammo to give it viability as a shotgun and an explosive ranged beast. The regular explosives of the Bomb Lance can take out more than one hunter in indoor fights, and will shred through bosses.

The Spitfire is the sidekick weapon, which compensates for the Bomb Lance's long reload animation. The high rate of fire and average muzzle velocity help pull its weight for close and medium-range fights.

7 Lemat Carbine & Katana

Weapon Prices: 230

• Pros:
  • PVE Coverage
  • Great medium & close range coverage

• Cons:
  • Low shotgun shell count

The Lemat Carbine is a two-in-one weapon: a regular pistol with a built-in one-shot shotgun that isn't a gimmick to use. Switching to the shotgun mode is fast and is a lifesaver when being pushed near a doorway, giving an easy kill if players land their shotgun shot.

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The regular pistol mode for the Lemat Carbine is an excellent standalone weapon with good ammo count, fair recoil, and high damage. The Katana is great for a last resort at close range and excels at handling bosses and any PVE situation. Grabbing a stamina shot and the martialist trait will make the Katana viable for slicing away bosses quickly, even for solo players.

6 Romero 77 Shorty & Vandal

Weapon Prices: 81

• Pros:
  • Excellent range within compounds
  • Budget

• Cons:
  • Shorty requires reloading after each shot

No other shotgun outshines the range potential of the Romero, which boasts the longest one-hit kill potential out of all shotguns in the game. The Romero Shorty also comes with a similar damage rate, but a shorter range and smaller spread size.

The Vandal will handle all other ranges that Romero cannot. With the Quartermaster trait, this loadout covers all fights players will be in. Adding high velocity to the Vandal makes altercations at longer ranges easier as the increased bullet velocity makes it easier to land shots. If players are choosing to go with full custom ammo on this loadout, grabbing an ammo box is recommended to ensure players don't run out during critical moments.

5 Mosin Obrez & Chu Ko Nu

Weapon Prices: 365

• Pros:
  • Covers close and medium ranges perfectly
  • Can handle teams

• Cons:
  • Not ideal for longer ranges

The Mosin Obrez doesn't lose much viability by being a two-slot rifle, though it struggles to handle long-range sniper fights easily. With a muzzle velocity of 550m/s, the Mosin Obrez will handle damaging enemies at a medium distance, requiring less bullet drop compensation. The Spitzer Ammo for the Mosin Obrez is a great option for players wanting extra bullet penetration and muzzle velocity reaching 820m/s.

And when it's time to get up and close, Chu Ko Nu will be there to shine! This is one of the most unique weapons in Hunt: Showdown 1896 that doesn't make much noise while remaining quite deadly within a short range. Chu Ko Nu's fast rate of fire covers the player's mistakes and doesn't give the opponent a second chance.

4 Hunting Bow & Haymaker

Weapon Price: 427

• Pros:
  • Strong for both long and close range fights
  • Silent executions

• Cons:
  • It is hard to master Hunting Bow

Hunting Bow is extremely deadly but also quite difficult to use. Due to its short drop range, the players must be experienced enough to know how to aim with a Hunting Bow. That's why only dedicated hunters play this weapon, and they are menacing!

The silent nature of Hunting Bow makes it excellent for solo players, as they can eliminate an entire squad without allowing them to locate the origin of the attacks. One shot from a Hunting Bow deals 250 damage and causes the enemy to bleed.

Now, what works great next to Hunting Bow is a dual-purpose revolver like Haymaker. This weapon comes with two barrels: one for long-range gunfights that deals 122 damage per shot, and one for close-range battles that comes with four 12-gauge buckshot bullets.

3 Drilling & Centennial Shorty Silenced

Weapon Prices: 628

• Pros:
  • Excellent at medium-range
  • Solid indoor potential

• Cons:
  • Pricey
  • Quarter Master

While pricey and difficult to use at first, the Drilling is a powerhouse of a weapon. While it only has two rifle shots, it fires in rapid succession and down enemy hunters before they run to cover. If players get too close for comfort, the built-in shotgun of the Drilling is more than capable of acting as a stand-alone shotgun to dominate close fights.

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Silenced weapons have a massive advantage in Hunt: Showdown 1896, giving enemy players trouble finding the shooter's location. The Centennial Shorty Silenced is great for ambushing players and remaining hidden. The Drilling and the Centennial Shorty Silenced share medium ammo and will boost the total ammo reserves for players. The iron eye trait will make landing follow-up shots with the Centennial easier.