Hunting a turkey with a bow in Soulmask
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Soulmask Complete Hunting Guide — How to Hunt

The hunt is on!

Soulmask is a survival game, meaning the main aspects of the game are staying well-fed and hydrated. Going hunting is a great way to stay stocked up on food for your camp. Not only will you harvest a lot of valuable materials and food from animals, but you will also earn hunting promotions. Here’s all you need to know.

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How to Hunt Animals in Soulmask

Hunting is an important part of the Soulmask experience and an activity you will want to take up at some point. Even if you didn’t choose the Rich mask in character creation, you can still excel and earn Hunting Promotions as you discover and hunt new animals.

All animals have worthwhile materials you can use as food or crafting. Tracking them down and killing them, though, will require more finesse than you think. Here are some tips for a successful hunting trip.

Best Weapons for Hunting

Using the proper weapon when hunting is very important. The way you take down an animal matters because you can damage parts of it, preventing you from harvesting all its materials. The cleaner the kill, the more materials you can harvest.

In general, I would suggest using a bow for hunting or any other ranged-type weapon, like a spear. Bows and arrows, however, are the best for range, speed, and precision. You’ll be able to take down animals much quicker and cleaner when using them (plus, if you have the Rich mask, you’ll do extra damage).

Here are some crafting recipes for weapons you can use (you’ll be able to make even better ones as you progress more, but these are good starting points):

WeaponMaterials
Beat Bone BowBeast Bone x3
Thick Rope x2
Branch x5
Bronze BowBronze Ingot x6
Leather Rope x5
Branch x5
Iron BowIron Ingots x6
Leather Rope x5
Branch x5
Steel BowSteel Ingot x6
Leather Rope x5
Branch x5
Iron SpearIron Ingots x10
Premium Leather x5
Premium Hardwood Handle x2
Steel SpearSteel Ingots x10
Delicate Leather x5
Premium Hardwood Handle x2

If you’re using a bow, make sure you also create some arrows for it under the ‘Other’ tab. Then, drag them from your inventory and place them on top of the bow to load them. Once you have one of these weapons, you’ll be ready to start the actual hunting process.

How to Sneak Up on Animals

When you’re hunting, you can’t just run full speed ahead toward the animal. You’ll do better damage and avoid any messy strikes by sneaking up on the animal and attacking them when they don’t expect it. This is especially important because animals can detect you, either by seeing you or hearing you, and will attack you or run away.

To sneak up on an animal, press Ctrl on your keyboard to crouch. This way, you’ll be harder to detect. Then, move very slowly. You can use the Life Perception with Q key while you’re doing this to easily view the animal nearby with a red outline around it.

If the animal starts to detect you, you’ll see an eye or ear meter above them. It will begin to fill as they detect you more or lower if they don’t notice you. If it fills all the way up, it has fully detected you and, depending on the animal, will either attack or run away. You’ll want to avoid this as much as possible, so be aware of your surroundings, how fast you’re moving, and what gear you are wearing so you can stay as silent as possible.

While you’re undetected and in range of the animal, pull back your bowstring and aim toward them by holding M1. The crosshair on the screen will indicate where your arrow will go. However, you’ll also want to pay close attention to the dot in the center and what color it turns.

When the dot in your crosshairs turns red, it means you are aiming precisely over the animal, and if you release the arrow, it will hit. Even if the dot is red, it doesn’t mean you’ll be getting the best shot. You’ll still want to ensure you are aiming for the animal’s weak spot. This is usually the head, but you can also check your Hunting Gallery in the Hunting menu (K) to view what it is for each animal you’ve discovered.

Let go of M1 while you’re aiming to release the arrow and send it flying toward the animal. If you hit a weak spot, they will take a lot more damage. Depending on what the animal is, one arrow may be enough. However, for tougher animals, you may need to hit it once or twice more to take it down. Try to be as quick as possible with any following attacks because the animal will notice you once you take that first shot.

How to Harvest Animal Materials

Once an animal is killed, you can harvest the materials from its corpse. However, to do so, you’ll need a Butcher’s Knife. Switch to the Butcher’s Knife in your shortcut items or inventory, then approach the corpse. Swing at it to start harvesting the materials from it.

You can keep swinging the knife several times, collecting as many materials as possible. Once the animal’s corpse disappears, you’ll know you’ve collected them all. Depending on the quality of your hunt, there will be more or less materials to harvest.

How to Make a Butcher Knife

There are several different Butcher’s Knives you can make, just like any other weapon. Since butchering an animal depletes the knife’s durability, you may want to craft a few to have some on reserve. The better the quality of the knife, the longer it will last. Here are some crafting recipes for them (if you don’t want to make a brand new every time, there’s always the option to repair):

KnifeIngredients
Stone Butcher’s KnifeStone x3
Branch x1
Beast Bone Butcher’s KnifeBeast Bone x2
Wooden Handle x1
Bronze Butcher’s KnifeBronze Ingot x3
Leather x2
Hardwood Handle x1
Iron Butcher’s KnifeIron Ingot x3
Premium Leather x2
Premium Hardwood Handle x1
Steel Butcher’s KnifeSteel Ingot x3
Delicate Leather x2
Premium Hardwood Handle x1

How to Earn Hunting Promotions

The more you hunt, the better your hunting skills will grow. You’ll actually receive separate level-ups just for hunting, which will lead to Hunting Promotions. Hunting Promotions will unlock increased slaughtering outputs, slaughtering speeds, better concealment, less noise, and more damage overall to animals.

You can check your Hunting menu by pressing the K key. Here is where you’ll see your progress on the Hunting Promotions, as well as your Hunting Log and Gallery. Each promotion has different requirements you’ll need to reach to level up. Here’s a look at them all:

PromotionRequirementsReward
Beginner HunterUnlock 5 Creatures in Gallery
Achieve Trip Milestone – 1 in 10
Slaughtering Output +10%
Elite HunterUnlock 10 Creatures in Gallery
Achieve Trip Milestone – Fine Pelt
Slaughtering Output +15%
Noise -5%
Concealment +5%
Top HunterUnlock 15 Creatures in Gallery
Achieve Trip Milestone – An Experience and Calculating Marksman
Slaughtering Output +20%
Noise -10%
Concealment +10%
Preys can be made into specimen
Hunter MasterUnlock 20 Creatures in Gallery
Achieve Trip Milestone – Uncommon Loot
Achieve Trip Milestone – Beneath the Claws
Slaughtering Output +25%
Noise -15%
Concealment +15%
Preys can be made into specimen
DMG to Creatures +3%
Legendary HunterUnlock 40 Creatures in Gallery
Achieve Trip Milestone – Hunter or Prey?
Achieve Trip Milestone – Don’t Be Poisoned to Death
Achieve Trip Milestone – Suncover Shadow
Slaughtering Output +30%
Noise -20%
Concealment +20%
Preys can be made into specimen
DMG to Creatures +6%
DMG to Weak Spot +5%
King of HuntingUnlock 50 Creatures in Gallery
Achieve Trip Milestone – Mythic
Achieve Trip Milestone – Face Off
Achieve Trip Milestone – Stylish Ice Sculpture
Slaughtering Output +50%
Noise -25%
Concealment +25%
Preys can be made into specimen
DMG to Creatures +10%
DMG to Weak Spot +10%
King’s Breath (creatures weaker than you will not attack first)

Now that you know the ins and outs of hunting, you can get out there and start honing your craft. Don’t forget, you can also assign Tribesmen jobs to hunting, especially if they are proficient in it. However, you won’t be earning those Hunting Promotions unless you do it yourself.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Check out GameSkinny’s Soulmask guides hub!


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Abby Smith
Abby Smith is a super nerd and video game fanatic who grew up playing games on a variety of platforms. Since graduating, she has worked in the online journalism field for over three years. She likes to spend her free time binge-watching Netflix, reading all genres of novels, and playing all the best new video games. She is currently a full-time Staff Writer for GameSkinny, and as an alumni from Full Sail University, also enjoys dabbling in creative writing such as short stories, scripts, and comics on the side.