In honor of the month that is home to Halloween, all the builds will be for slashers! Slasher movies are 100% a guilty pleasure of mine - as long as it's got some fun kills, I can watch most of them and I love good ones that have fun kills. While I've already got my slashers picked out for the builds, if there's any such movies you want to suggest, send them my way. Most of the builds I'll be doing will be movie slashers with this character being an exception as I already had her halfway built after a request. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for the Huntress from Dead by Daylight!
THE HUNTRESS
CHARACTER Anna
SOURCE Dead by Daylight
BUILD GOALS
o Anna was raised by her mother in the harsh environs of a Russian forest, training her to survive. Anna had to put these skills to use when her mother perished on one of their hunts
o Left alone in the forest, Anna slowly forgot her humanity as she grew into a sublime hunter. In time, she began to target humans though she would never slay young girls, who reminded her of herself
o She would kidnap these children and try to raise and protect them, but wasn’t capable of properly rearing a child, meaning these girls would die from neglect
o Her primary weapon as the Huntress is a broad axe, which she can carry in one hand as she employs her power – Hunting Hatchets
o The Huntress starts each trial with 5 Hunting Hatchets and can charge them up to increase their throwing speed. She can refill her hatchets at lockers
o Similar to other female characters at the time of her release, the Huntress had a slower movement speed
o The Beast of Prey perk activates when the Huntress gains Bloodlust, causing her to become undetectable for the duration
o Territorial Imperative reveals the aura of survivors within basements when the Huntress is close
o The last of her perks is Hex: Huntress Lullaby, which increases the regression on failed skill checks and increases in power whenever the Huntress hooks a survivor
o The add-ons of the Huntress focus on inflicting statues with her hatchets or otherwise increase their efficiency, but the Wooden Fox grants her the Undetectable status while she’s reloading
o The Soldier’s Puttee, which was taken from a soldier that the Huntress killed, increases her movement speed whenever she is out of hatchets
o She has molded the Fog of the Entity’s domain into a glass-like hatchet head known as an Iridescent Head. This reduces the number of hatchets she can carry to 1, but automatically puts targets hit by it into the dying state
o The approach of the Huntress is heralded by an eerie tune that she’s always humming
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Beastkin (Bear) Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Strength, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Animal Senses – Low-Light Vision
Background: Hunter
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Strength
o Skill Increase: Survival (trained), Tanning Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Survey Wildlife
Class & Subclass: Precision Ranger
o Class Ability Boost: +Strength
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Athletics (trained), Intimidation (trained), Nature (trained), Performance (trained), Stealth (trained)
o Class Feat: Gravity Weapon
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str 18, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10)
To open with the build on the Huntress, the beastkin heritage ties to her more animalistic senses, using bear in this instance because that was the Huntress’s nickname during development. This gives her ability to pick up low-light vision, which will aid her on her hunts. Given her name, she will obviously make use of the hunter background. The ranger class doubles down on this aspect of her character with the precision edge and Gravity Weapon allowing her to make powerful initial strikes, which fits since in her home game, she downs her victims in two hits (or one with the Iridescent Head. She already receives Survival from her background and will pick up Performance with this free skill to reference her constant humming. While the hatchets are an important aspect of the Huntress’s character, her broad axe is technically as her main weapon. As such, Strength was prioritized for this build, but in instances where people would prefer to focus on ranged combat with her, Dexterity is an equally valid choice.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Quick Draw
o Skill Feat: Experienced Tracker
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Increase: Survival (expert)
o Gear: +1 battle axe, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Far Shot
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Gear: returning weapon rune, +1 battle axe, +1 hatchet, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str 19, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10)
o Ancestry Feat: Animalistic Resistance
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Gear: +1 striking battle axe, returning weapon rune, skinsaw mask, +1 hatchet, cloak of feline rest, ring of discretion
Quick Draw is huge in validating a thrown weapon build, allowing her to draw and hurl a weapon as a single action. Meanwhile, hatchets don’t have a terribly long range, so Far Shot will help with that slightly, doubling her range to 20 feet with them. Then when she Hunts Prey, she ignores the penalty for making ranged attacks within her second range increment, meaning she can throw her hatchets 40 feet against her prey without penalty. Experienced Tracker aids her in finding escape prey while Intimidating Glare allows her to frighten a foe without a word, similar to the effects of the Huntress Lullaby. As a slasher, effects that increase the Huntress’s hardiness, such as Toughness and Animalistic Resistance, are perfect fits. Finally, the Huntress focuses on Survival, befitting her role as a hunter, and Stealth in reference to her Beast of Prey perk that causes her to become undetectable. Notably for this build, the Huntress has to keep two weapons runed up because she can’t use doubling rings or even blazons of shared power with her thrown weapons.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Hunter’s Aim
o Skill Feat: Combat Climber
o Gear: +1 leather, +1 striking battle axe, +1 striking hatchet, returning weapon rune, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Ancestral Paragon – Animal Senses (Scent)
o Skill Increase: Survival (master)
o Gear: lesser dread armor rune, +1 leather, quick runner’s shirt, +1 striking battle axe, returning weapon rune, +1 hatchet
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Deadly Aim
o Skill Feat: Terrain Expertise – Forest
o Gear: wounding weapon rune, lesser dread armor rune, clandestine cloak, +1 leather, +1 striking battle axe, +1 striking hatchet
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Pack Tactics
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient leather, cloak of elvenkind, wounding weapon rune, lesser dread armor rune, +1 striking hatchet, +1 striking battle axe
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom (Str 20, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 10)
o Class Feat: Relentless Stalker
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Gear: mask of the banshee, +1 resilient leather, frost weapon rune, cloak of elvenkind, +1 striking hatchet, +1 striking battle axe
Mimicking the charging of the Huntress’s hatchets as she readies a throw, Hunter’s Aim increases the number of actions that an attack takes for higher accuracy on it. Alternatively, if she has the advantage against her prey, she can open with a Deadly Aim attack to deal even more damage. By the time she gains Deadly Aim, her first attack against her Hunted Prey will deal 2d6 from the hatchet, 1d8 from her precision edge, 4 from her Strength, 2 from gravity weapon, 2 from weapon specialization, and 4 from Deadly Aim for 2d6+1d8+12. Relentless Stalker feels like a must-have for a slasher build, allowing her to chase down prey that tries to escape while ignoring difficult terrain, akin to Bloodlust activating. As a long-time survivor of the wilds, Combat Climber feels appropriate for the Huntress as does a Terrain Expertise in her preferred habitat of the forest. With the focus on Stealth for the perk and add-on that grants her undetectable, Swift Sneak feels like a must-have to quickly navigate unseen. She uses Ancestral Paragon to take Animal Senses a second time for the scent ability in reference to the Territorial Imperative ability. Pack Tactics doesn’t fit as well for a lone killer, but works well for a switch hitter character who wants to hurl a hatchet before closing the distance on her prey.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Diehard
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking battle axe, mask of the banshee, greater tracker’s goggles, +1 resilient leather, wounding weapon rune, +1 striking hatchet
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Distracting Shot
o Skill Feat: Shadow Mark
o Gear: +2 resilient leather, +2 striking battle axe, +2 striking hatchet, mask of the banshee, frost weapon rune, crown of the fire eater
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Hardy Traveler
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Gear: +2 greater striking battle axe, +2 resilient leather, greater goggles of night, +2 striking hatchet, mask of the banshee, greater tracker’s goggles
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Eerie Environs
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Prowess
o Gear: keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking battle axe, +2 greater striking hatchet, +2 resilient leather, greater demon mask, impactful weapon rune
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 21, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 12)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Survival (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune, boots of speed, +2 greater striking battle axe, gorget of the primal roar, +2 striking hatchet
Many of the Huntress’s add-ons focus on inflicting some sort of status condition on the targets of her hatchets, but that is apparently much harder to do with a thrown weapon over a bow or something similar. Distracting Shot at least somewhat feeds into this idea with its ability to leave targets flat-footed. A luck critical shot to open then allows her to close the distance and make a battle axe against a flat-footed target. Eerie Environs is another great horror-themed option that feels particularly useful for the Huntress and is a solid reference to her unnerving, haunting hum. Shadow Mark feels appropriate for a character themed around hunting and with the securing of that feat, the Huntress can look towards some Intimidation feats such as Intimidating Prowess to make help supplement her lower Charisma and proficiency. Diehard and Fast Recovery both play into that aforementioned hardiness well known among classic slashers and Hardy Traveler feels a solid fit given the history of the Huntress.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Greater Distracting Shot
o Skill Feat: Legendary Survivalist
o Gear: greater frost weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking battle axe, +2 greater striking hatchet
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Dire Form
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking battle axe, greater frost weapon rune (battle axe), greater frost weapon rune (hatchet), +2 greater resilient leather, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking hatchet
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Hunter’s Aim/Skirmish Strike
o Skill Feat: Legendary Sneak
o Gear: anklets of alacrity, +3 greater striking battle axe, +3 greater striking hatchet, greater frost weapon rune, +2 greater resilient leather, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient leather, anklets of alacrity, dread blindfold, +3 greater striking battle axe, greater frost weapon rune, +2 greater striking hatchet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 22, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 14)
o Class Feat: Superior Sight
o Skill Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Skill Increase: Medicine (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking battle axe, +3 greater resilient leather, mercurial mantle, dread blindfold, +3 greater striking hatchet, speed weapon rune
Building out of Distracting Shot, the Greater Distracting Shot flat-foots a target with only a single ranged strike, opening up options for the Huntress depending on the flow of the battle. For example, if she starts with a hatchet in hand, she can take a Hunter’s Aim attack at her target, increasing her chance to hit. If she doesn’t crit, she can launch another hatchet with Quick Draw to flat-foot the target until the end of her next turn. When she starts a turn without a hatchet drawn, she can Quick Draw to lob once before closing the distance and landing a battle axe blow while the target is still flat-footed. With the actions that the Huntress must manage between drawing weapons, closing the distance to her prey, and similar issues, Skirmish Strike is a good fit in the build, allowing her to potentially Hunter’s Aim a nearby target and then Step and Strike with her one remaining action. Finally, none of the capstone feats particularly stand out for the Huntress, but Superior Sight at least grants her darkvision and guarantees that her victims cannot hide from her.
Having lived through the harshness of Russian winter on her own, Legendary Survivalist feels a natural choice while Legendary Sneak further plays into her ability to become undetectable. A final increase in Intimidation helps her offset that low Charisma and Terrified Retreat can send foes running, just as victims do in DbD when she lands a blow. Dire Form is mostly just some fun to increase her reach and bump her damage up slightly, but Incredible Initiative serves a simpler purpose. In most cases, it is slashers doing the surprising and the Huntress can do this especially when she opens a closet for hatchets only to find a survivor waiting for her instead.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: The two best options for archetypes to the Huntress are both multiclass options. The Fighter Dedication doesn’t provide much initially, but offers feats such as Rebounding Toss, Dual-Handed Assault for when she’s in melee and doesn’t have a hatchet in hand, Ricochet Stance if she wants to save on runes, and Debilitating Shot as a capstone to capture the feel of her add-ons inflicting conditions. There’s also the Opportunist feat. If a target uses its last action to try to escape, Relentless Stalker is a great way to keep pace, but if they start out with an attempt at fleeing, Attack of Opportunity might be a better reaction to try to finish them off. With the Rogue Dedication, the Huntress gets the surprise attack class feature and Sneak Attacker to pump up her damage slightly. Strong Arm lets her throw her hatchets even further, but one of the greatest uses is the focus on skills, increasing the likes of Intimidation more swiftly and possibly allowing her to tap deeper into the Athletics skill as a quaternary skill.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Anna, best known as the Huntress, is a brutal survivalist and egomaniacal hunter who delivers slaughter upon humans to test her skills. The focus on Stealth taps into her Beast of Prey perk and the Wooden Fox add-on to become undetectable. Her broad axe is represented by a battle axe but her Hunting Hatchets power is accomplished through her use of hatchets and supporting feats, including Quick Draw, Hunter’s Aim, and Deadly Aim. The precision edge from her class also helps with the powerful hits that her hatchets can deliver, particularly in reference to her Iridescent Head. For her Territorial Imperative perk, the Huntress relies on senses beyond the ken of mortal men, such as her Animal Sense’s scent ability or her Superior Sight. To represent her anxiety-inducing humming and Hex: Huntress Lullaby, the Huntress relies on Intimidation to leave a target frightened and in particular, she can make use of Eerie Environs for some of that aesthetic. Her add-ons can provide a host of different statuses, but the closest the build can accomplish is the flat-footed condition with Distracting Shot and its greater form. Ultimately, this build creates a switch hitter who stalks targets, putting them off-balance before she launches her hatchets and closes in on her unfortunate victim.
Lemme know what you think and if there's any other particular builds you'd like to see.
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and are trying to get some milestones made up for. Having completed this build, I wish now more than ever that there was an archetype or something of the sort dedicated to a thrown weapon combat style. Anyway, next week's build should be child's play.
Have a fantastic Friday!
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