Crytek has released Blood Testament for Hunt: Showdown 1896 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The event asks the whole community to earn points by killing monsters, defeating targets and interacting with Blood Wells. Shared progress unlocks permanent stages for every player, including a dynamic Blood Moon and the Chupacabra Burn Trait. Update 2.9 arrives alongside the event with a slide-action shotgun, expanded trait loadouts, an adjusted rating decay system and compensation after confirmed cheating cases.
Table of Contents
The event advances through shared progress
Make Them Bleed is not an individual path that each hunter completes alone. Actions across the community add to the same milestones, and the large gameplay changes remain available when their stages open. Individual players still earn event points through ordinary hunt tasks, so participation does not require abandoning the bounty. The practical choice is whether a Blood Well is worth exposing a position. A team should finish the current threat check before interacting, because a visible event object can attract another squad.
Blood Moon alternates between two conditions
The intense phase covers the map in red light and makes monsters faster and more aggressive. Heavy clouds create a darker phase with lower visibility and calmer creatures. The shift changes both sound and timing. Fighting an agitated group can reveal a squad to distant hunters, while the dark phase makes silhouettes harder to read. Players should identify the phase before crossing open ground and keep a quiet alternative route. The moon is not only a visual effect; it changes the cost of moving through PvE pressure.
| Stage | Community unlock |
|---|---|
| 1 | Dynamic Blood Moon time of day |
| 2 | Chupacabra Burn Trait |
| 3 | New threat in Incursion areas |
| Patch | Shotgun, 15-trait loadouts and fair-play changes |
Chupacabra trades an animal for a health chunk
The new Burn Trait lets a hunter restore one missing health chunk by drawing it from a horse, cow or caged animal. Because it is a Burn Trait, using it should be treated as a limited recovery decision rather than a permanent healing loop. Animals also produce sound and can mark a team’s location. The safest target is not automatically the nearest one. A hunter should compare the value of the restored chunk with the risk of noise, travel and another team holding the compound.
The final stage changes Incursion areas
Crytek has deliberately kept the last community unlock less specific. It will introduce a new threat in Incursion areas and move Blood Testament into its most dangerous form. The exact threat remains unconfirmed. Players can prepare by learning the existing Incursion routes and preserving flexible loadouts. When the stage opens, the first matches should be used to observe its behavior. Confirm the threat’s triggers and escape options before building a strategy around early clips or rumors.
A slide-action shotgun changes close-range rhythm
Update 2.9 adds a new shotgun with two variants and broader combat adjustments. A slide action has its own cadence between shots, so a player must understand when the weapon is ready again instead of copying the timing of a different shotgun. Testing both variants in a controlled session is more useful than judging them from one successful ambush. Range, ammunition and follow-up speed determine whether it belongs in a compound push or as protection for a longer-range primary.
Fifteen trait slots make loadouts easier to organize
Hunters can now arrange loadouts with as many as 15 traits and expand their hunter slots. Extra room does not remove the need for priorities. Traits that solve common survival problems should remain easy to recognize, while event experiments can occupy separate positions. A consistent order also speeds up preparation after a lost hunter. Players returning after a break should rebuild one simple loadout first, then add specialized variants after they understand the current economy and combat tuning.
Rating decay is meant to soften a return
The revised MMR decay system aims to place returning players into more suitable matches after time away. It does not promise easy opponents or restore lost mechanical sharpness. A player should use early games to rebuild sound reading, weapon timing and map habits before treating the rating as a verdict. The patch also continues work on hidden information for extraction points, supply points and scout towers. That system changes what can be known safely, so old route assumptions deserve a fresh check.
Players can receive Hunt Dollars after a confirmed cheating case
The Fair Play Follow Up system reimburses Hunt Dollars when the game confirms that a player was killed by a cheater. Compensation cannot restore the lost match, but it reduces the economic damage and gives a visible result after enforcement. Reports should still describe the suspicious behavior accurately rather than being filed after every defeat. A clear report helps investigation, while ordinary tactical mistakes belong in replay review. The system works best when players separate frustration from evidence.
