Anybody playing this could give me some tips? I just got it on a steam sale.
After a dozen tries I managed to succeed at killing a bounty and escaping intact. The sensation was awesome. But it was all due to my partner (which I randomly picked after giving up going alone).
I think I got a single hunter kill in my first 20 hours. Now my KD is 1.4 so yes, git gud is the only way.
I'm not sure if it's the same in other regions, but playing trios with randoms put a lot of pressure off your back, and players in Asia are supremely chill. Stick together, ping stuff and enemies, play a lot to learn boss lairs location, move fast but smart, minimize the amount of walking in open areas, as long as you don't get shot in a field then teammates will always get you back up. If you can sit in a bush and observe hunters crossing by then do it, just be prepare to move once opening fire.
For combat, don't try to fight fair, if you have nades then throw them, if you're stuck inside a compound then just camp a door that you think they will walk through, if you don't have a close range weapon then just stay in position and put pressure, don't try to revive teammates unless it's safe to do so, and don't be afraid to back down. Don't skim on any kind of nade, fire bomb, choke bomb and of course health items. For guns, everything is viable, the only thing that matters is experience. Whenever I'm tilted as hell, I pick up my Springfield with dumdum rounds, that shit has super high bullet velocity it's pretty much hitscan. Or you can go with Vetterli or Martini or Winfield, just find a (cheap) gun that you feel comfortable with.
If you have to fight AI, like a hive on a roof or a pack of dog, don't hesitate blasting them. Making sound is bad but losing health is worse. Always pack health and at least 1 vitality/regen shot, and try not to use them before fighting other hunters. Never fight hunters when you have less than full health, that could go from 0 to 100 real quick.
For bosses, some basic counters are: butcher is weak against bleed damage (sharp weapons like axe or sword), assassin is weak against blunt damage (hammer) and poison (poison arrow), spider is weak against fire damage (lantern, fire bomb, fire ammo), scrapbeak is weak against pierce damage (pitchfork, bayonet). Sticky bomb is useful against all except assassin (the bomb drops to the ground when he disintegrates), but it will also damage loot from scrapbeak. If you want to run smash and grab then pack a stamina shot, find a heavy melee weapon and go wild. Antidote shot is also useful against spider. If scrapbeak drops concertina then you can break it with axe or shovel Bosses go into rage mode after losing 25% of their health (I think?), they gonna scream and that's when you should run away for a bit. Big important reminder is that if there's hunters near boss compound then the boss icon will flash red in dark vision.
For traits, sort the menu by points and prioritize taking these: Salveskin (fire deals less damage), Mithridatist (screen gets less fucked from poison), Bulwark (because I know too many beginners died from explosive), Gator Legs (cuz fuck water), Ghoul (free heal!), Beastface (avoid crows), Physician/Doctor (heals faster/more). The rest are niche and situational, Necromancer is good but you have to make sure downed teammate isn't in enemy's range, Bulletgrubber is useful for guns that lose remaining bullets after reloading, Pitcher if you play super aggressive, Vigor and Serpent if you're ready to solo.
A very good weapon/utility that I feel not a lot of people bother to learn is the crossbow. The iron sight is funky so it's hard to aim, but it's super versatile against AI and hunters, can kill horse and dog/chicken cage from safe distance, can pack poison and explosive (very fun to meme around) AND choke bomb, is underrated against bosses. IMO learn xbow, I promise it gonna be worth it.
Also a technical note: I find the anti aliasing in this game to be pretty terrible, the image is all jagged to hell and sometimes has heavy ghosting in all settings which is detrimental in a game where you often have to look and shoot at tiny pixels. Try playing the game on 1440p (use DLDSR if you have a RTX card and 1080p monitor like me) and SMAA T2X, it's the best way to make the game actually look proper.