Blood Testament Chapter 2: developer stream recap

Crytek's developer stream went through Chapter 2 of Blood Testament, which arrives next week, and gave an early look at Chapter 3, which won't get a stream of its own. The next stream is planned for update 2.10, in December.

Fair Play in September

• 1,474 cheating bans, from the anti-cheat and internal detection.
• 231 console bans for mouse and keyboard.
• 109 bans for conduct in the game: offensive names, insults and hate speech.

PlayStation Plus

Hunt is a PS Plus Game of the Month from October 6 to November 2. It also launches in new markets on PlayStation, Brazil, Panama and South Africa among them, and the official site has player guides for newcomers under Game → Player Guides.

Chapter 2

Inferno and the Firefighter supply point

• Inferno returns with a high chance on every map in its first week; Crytek will adjust the odds from there based on feedback.
• It stays for the rest of 2.9 (Chapters 2 and 3) and shares the rotation with Blood Moon and the other times of day.
• The Firefighter supply point comes back with it: a guaranteed Flame Rifle, plus a chance of a Trait and tarot cards.

Bile Weavers and the new Blood Weaver

• The Bile Weavers return with 20 new infested compounds across the four maps, and five of them are picked at random each match. The webs open new routes, such as balconies you can reach without a ladder.
• In Chapter 3 the 20 compounds from the previous infestation join the pool, for up to 40 possible locations.
• The Blood Weaver is a new variant built around bleeding: bites, eggs and its ranged attack all make you bleed. It only shows up during Blood Moon, which also makes it stronger; at other times of day the Bile Weavers take its place.
• To tell them apart, Bile Weaver eggs now have a poison color, and the red eggs belong to the Blood Weaver.
• The Bile Weaver nests do not return this time, only the compound changes.

Community event: All Hallows Cleave

Five stages. Progress starts with killing Weavers or destroying their eggs, and each stage changes how it advances.

• Stage 1: a new tarot card that works like a scouting map, revealing the hidden information on the map.
• Stage 2: Hunt Dollars and event points.
• Stage 3: Temperance, a tarot card that gives back the last Trait your Hunter lost in the mission, either burned (Necromancer for solos, for example) or stolen with Siphon.
• Stage 4: Hunt Dollars and event points.
• Stage 5: the Long Derringer.

Unlocked cards join the world pool and the Dark Tribute, and everyone gets three of each card when its stage unlocks.

Long Derringer

• A tool that fires the classic black-powder Long Ammo of the Sparks and the Martini-Henry; it does not take the Mosin-Nagant's ammo.
• One round loaded and two spare, but it shares the Long Ammo pool with the rest of the loadout.
• Hits hard at short and medium range and is inaccurate at a distance, like Slugs and the regular Derringer.
• 116 damage: below the 125 threshold, so it does not down a Hunter who has lost a single health chunk.

New Hunters

• Sophie Laurent, the Protégé: star of the Chapter 2 DLC, Bound by Blood. Lynch's apprentice and the second to try the blood serum. The pack brings White Fox, Skin Deep and Primrose.
• Jed: center of Cursed Kin, the Halloween premium Story Challenge, written as a dime novel. Jed brings the Slasher axe.
• Sister Tabitha: a nun who wears a mask to hide her corruption and hunts the serum drinkers with the Righteous.

Chapter 3 preview

• As the Crow Carves: a Legacy Chronicle that brings back the plague doctor of 2021, now the Plague Surgeon. The story tells how Bloodskin came to be.
• Reap the Harvest: another five-stage community event, around Thanksgiving.
  • Stages 1 and 3: Hunt Dollars and event points.
  • Stage 2: the Lancaster.
  • Stage 4: the Lancaster Cleaver.
  • Stage 5: a random Legendary Hunter, with a fallback for players who own them all.

Lancaster

• A four-barrel Medium Ammo pistol. The rotating firing pin gives it a very high rate of fire.
• 4 rounds loaded and 12 spare. Reloading throws away the rounds still in the barrels, so timing matters.
• Can be dual wielded, and has High Velocity and Poison ammo.
• 110 damage; muzzle velocity of 250 m/s, 325 m/s with High Velocity.
• The Lancaster Cleaver adds a heavy knife to the gun, the first weapon of its kind, with cheap stamina melee against Hunters and the horde.

Twitch Drops

• From October 26 to November 9, during Twitch Frightfest, with 24 rewards.
• Gifting two subs gives the Headtaker again. Players who already own it get a random Legendary Hunter from a pool of 61, and those who own all of them get 10,000 Hunt Dollars.
• The crosses badge returns: a free version for 60 minutes of viewing and a paid Blood Testament version.

Store

• Pre-orders for the dime novel and the necklace close next Tuesday.
• Shipping is free above €135 or $175, depending on the region, and every package is insured. Crytek is also talking to shipping partners about the costs.
• Coming soon: a plushie, Blood Testament prints with Displate and, at some point in October, the permanent return of the Cowboy Beetles.

Q&A

• 15-player lobbies: Crytek is working through the feedback from this year's test before running it again. No date.
• Region lock and ping restrictions: still in progress; more news maybe in December.
• FOV slider on consoles: still on the list, no date.
• 2D map replay: still planned, no news yet.
• Bloodskin leap stun challenge: it is a bug, and a fix is underway, with no date.
• Older bosses: no big reworks planned, but tuning continues, like the recent change to the Assassin's time to kill.
• Bosses outside compounds: that role belongs to the wild targets, like Rotjaw and the Hellborn.
• Pumpkins: there will be destructible pumpkins in the Halloween update.