An extremely mobile but fragile survivor with homing attacks and the unique ability to attack while sprinting at full speed. Huntress has the lowest HP of any base game survivor at 90, but compensates with Blink mobility, auto-targeting primary attacks, and Laser Glaive's multi-bounce on-hit proc chains. She scales hard with crit items due to Flurry's double-scaling crit mechanic.
Huntress's kit is built around one defining trait: she can fire all her primary skills and Laser Glaive while sprinting at full speed. This makes her the best kiting survivor in the game. Keep moving, let the homing attacks track, and use Blink to stay out of danger. Laser Glaive and Backup Magazine are her core AoE and chain-kill tools.
Huntress is unlocked by default alongside Commando from the start of the game. No challenge required. Three challenges unlock alternate skill options.
Finishing Touch challenge: land a killing blow with every hit of a single Laser Glaive. Find a group of 7 weak enemies and throw one glaive through them all.
One Shot, One Kill challenge: collect and carry 12 Crowbars simultaneously. Use the Artifact of Command to guarantee Crowbar drops.
Piercing Wind challenge: complete Rallypoint Delta or Scorching Acres without dropping below 100% HP. Play on Drizzle and avoid all damage through the stage.
Huntress's item priorities are attack speed, crit chance (for Flurry's double scaling), and on-hit proc items that benefit from Laser Glaive's multi-bounce. Backup Magazine is her single most impactful item - an extra Laser Glaive charge is enormous for both clearing and sustain through proc chains.
Attack speed directly increases Strafe's fire rate and shrinks the gap between Flurry volleys. More crits per second with Flurry means more 6-arrow salvos. Also speeds up Laser Glaive's throw animation. Stack early.
10% crit chance per stack. At 10 stacks: 100% crit chance, meaning every Flurry fires 6 arrows instead of 3 for 4x damage per volley. Huntress scales harder with crit than most survivors because of Flurry's crit mechanic.
Adds an extra Laser Glaive charge. Two glaives per cooldown window means you can chain-bounce through an entire room before the first charge starts reloading. One of the highest value items on Huntress.
On-crit: +12% attack speed, stacks up to 3 times. Every Flurry crit triggers Predatory Instincts. At 100% crit with 3 stacks: 36% permanent attack speed on top of Soldier's Syringe, significantly increasing volley frequency.
25% chain lightning on hit. Laser Glaive procs on-hit items on each of its bounces independently. Up to 6 Ukulele proc rolls per glaive throw, giving Huntress far more AoE than her kit suggests.
Explosion on kill. Laser Glaive's kill procs cascade into Will-o'-the-wisp explosions that can chain-kill entire groups. Combined with Ukulele chain lightning, Huntress can clear rooms faster than almost any survivor.
10% missile on hit. Laser Glaive's multiple bounce procs give AtG frequent rolls per throw. High-damage Ballista shots also proc AtG consistently on single targets.
Movement speed extends Blink and Phase Blink distance (both scale with move speed). More speed also lets Huntress outrun enemies more reliably between skill uses, extending her kite range.
Huntress lives or dies by how much damage she avoids. Keep sprinting constantly - Strafe and Flurry fire automatically while moving. Use Laser Glaive on groups to chain through multiple enemies and proc on-hit items. Use Blink to stay at range or dodge burst damage. Save Ballista for the teleporter boss.
Primary: Flurry once unlocked and once you have some crit chance - it outscales Strafe significantly with crits. Utility: Phase Blink once unlocked for the 3-charge repositioning uptime. Special: Ballista - strictly more single-target damage than Arrow Rain (2700% vs 2090%) and far better proc coefficient.
Laser Glaive animation cancel: Activate Blink or Arrow Rain during the Laser Glaive throw animation to cancel the long startup and keep moving. This lets you throw the glaive and immediately reposition without losing mobility uptime.
Fall damage prevention: Blink, Phase Blink, Laser Glaive (needs a target), and Arrow Rain all reset vertical momentum. If falling from a fatal height, any of these skills cancels fall damage. Arrow Rain also launches you upward even mid-air, letting you extend jumps.
Flurry vs Strafe timing: Use Strafe in the early game before you have crit chance. Switch to Flurry once you have 3-5 Lens-Maker's Glasses stacked - the 6-arrow crit volley pulls way ahead of Strafe's single arrow at that point.
Backup Magazine priority: Get Backup Magazine as early as possible. Two Laser Glaive charges let you chain-clear rooms that would otherwise require waiting 7 seconds between bounces. Three charges with additional Backup Magazines essentially gives Huntress on-demand room clearing.
Huntress is available by default from the start of the game alongside Commando. No challenge or progression is required. Three skill variant challenges exist: Finishing Touch (Flurry), One Shot One Kill (Phase Blink), and Piercing Wind (Ballista).
Yes. Strafe, Flurry, and Laser Glaive can all be used while sprinting at full movement speed. This is Huntress's defining trait and the foundation of her kiting playstyle. Use this constantly - never stand still while attacking.
Ballista is better in nearly all situations. It deals 2700% total (3x900%) versus Arrow Rain's maximum 2090%, has a much better proc coefficient than Arrow Rain's 0.2, and the backwards teleport doubles as a built-in escape. Arrow Rain can be better in Simulacrum where crowds are dense and bosses are rare, but for normal runs Ballista wins clearly.
Stack Backup Magazine for extra Laser Glaive charges first, then Soldier's Syringe for attack speed and Lens-Maker's Glasses for Flurry's double crit scaling. Predatory Instincts stacks attack speed from Flurry crits. Ukulele and Will-o'-the-wisp chain-kill through groups when Laser Glaive procs them on each bounce.
Flurry's crit check happens once before the volley fires. On a successful crit roll, 6 arrows fire instead of 3, each dealing double damage. This means a crit volley deals 6x100% = 600% versus a normal volley's 3x100% = 300% - four times the base damage, not two. This is unique to Huntress and makes crit chance items scale harder for her than almost any other survivor.