Huntsman

“

"Now, hold on," you keep saying. "Aren't bows and arrows primitive and harmless?" Why don't you ask the dinosaurs? Except you can't, because the cavemen bow and arrowed them to death. — Huntsman publicity blurb

”

The Huntsman is an unlockable primary weapon for the Sniper class. It is a hardwood longbow held together with black tape. When equipped, the Sniper will carry Arrows in the case carried on his back.

In exchange for decreased damage at longer ranges as well as a smaller ammo count, the Huntsman requires less time to achieve a fully-charged, maximum damage shot and allows the Sniper to move at a faster speed while charging (45% compared to 27%). The weapon can be charged whilst the Sniper is falling or jumping, but he cannot fire until safely on the ground.

Since the Huntsman is not outfitted with a scope, the Sniper must get closer to his target to use it effectively. Pressing primary fire quickly will release the arrow quickly, albeit with less power behind it, allowing the player to be able to fire accordingly against quicker classes such as the Scout. If the arrow is drawn for longer than several seconds however, the accuracy greatly decreases - shown by the Sniper's hands shaking with tension - and the shot will always go wide of the crosshair. This can be avoided by pressing the alternate fire button, which brings the arrow back to its idle position. Arrows, being projectiles, have a tendency to arc over long distances, yet this effect is reduced based on the strength of the charge behind the shot. Arrows travel around 1875 Hammer units per second (about 80 miles an hour) in a snap-shot; fully charging the Huntsman for 1 second therefore increases speed by around 25%. Unlike the Sniper Rifle, the Huntsman cannot be fired underwater. Arrows embedded in objects or enemies cannot be retrieved for additional ammunition.

The Huntsman also has an added cosmetic effect. Enemies killed with an arrow, if near a map object, will be pinned to it via the arrow.

A friendly Pyro can set fire to the Huntsman's arrows with their Flamethrower, Backburner, or Degreaser. Doing so will give the arrow the ability to inflict fire on a successful hit. Additionally, the Arrow can be lowered without losing the lit arrow, ready for a later shot.

A player taunting with the Huntsman equipped can perform the Skewer taunt attack.

Similar to most projectiles, a fired arrow can be reflected by an enemy Pyro.

Damage

See also: Damage

• Base: 50 (0% charge), 120 (100% charge)
• Bodyshot: 44-58 (0% charge), 103-137 (100% charge)
• Headshot: 150 (0% charge), 360 (100% charge)
• Mini-Crit: 67.5 (0% charge )), 162 (100% charge)
• Critical hit: (humiliation or Kritzkrieg only): 150

Note: Distance from the target does affect the Huntsman's damage, except for on a headshot as Critical hits never have distance falloff. 100% charge damages are 0% charge damages x2.4. Damages are approximate and determined by community testing.

Function times

• 100% Draw: 1.0
• Inaccuracy starts: 5.0
• Attack Interval: 1.94

All times are in seconds. Times are approximate and determined by community testing.

Related Achievements

Beaux and Arrows Kill a Heavy & Medic pair with the bow. Jumper Stumper Kill a rocket or grenade-jumping enemy in midair with your Sniper Rifle or the Huntsman. Pincushion Hit an enemy with 3 arrows, without killing them. Shafted Stab an enemy with an arrow.

Dropped Dead Kill a Scout in midair with your Sniper Rifle or the Huntsman. Dead Reckoning Kill an enemy with an arrow while you're dead. Robbin' Hood Take down an intelligence carrier with a single arrow. William Tell Overkill Pin an enemy Heavy to the wall via his head.

As a Crafting Ingredient

Huntsman Reclaimed Metal Sydney Sleeper + =

Dead Ringer Huntsman Tribalman's Shiv + =

Trivia

• The Huntsman was first announced publicly on May 12, 2009 in the Team Fortress 2 Blog. It was the first weapon announced for the Sniper vs. Spy Update.
• The Huntsman's view model was originally left-handed.
• If a flaming arrow results in a kill, it produces its own special kill icon. The flaming arrow from the Huntsman will only give a kill point to the Sniper. No points are given to the Pyro who lit the arrow.
• Huntsman arrows can collide with other projectiles (such as rockets and other arrows) in mid air. When this occurs, the arrows will break. (See Video)
• Arrows stick to any enemy, even Scouts under the effects of Bonk (although it will still cause no damage). Huntsman arrows can also stick to most environmental objects.
• Arrows can stick to friendly buildings without damaging them.
• The Sniper has the ability to taunt with the Huntsman even while stunned. (See Video).
• According to the "Sniper vs. Spy" Publicity blurb, the Huntsman originally had 18 arrows. It is unknown why some were removed.
• Due to the arrow's classification as a projectile, it has a large hitbox. Combined with player hitboxes, the Huntsman often scores hits on targets that it appears to miss.
• The Huntsman can be fired into any sufficiently deep enough body of water to kill opponents, though upon contact with the surface of water, the projectile's trajectory arc will alter heavily.
• Misfired arrows (firing the arrow after readying it for more than five seconds) will always deal minimum damage, and cannot headshot.
• Should the Sniper be stunned with the Huntsman drawn, the arrow will be released as if normally fired and may injure or kill opponents.
• If a Pyro ignites your arrow and you switch to Sniper Rifle (or Sydney Sleeper) the flame effect will stay on the primary and secondary weapons even if you change classes.
• Any corpse pinned to a surface by an arrow will be kept constant by all players, overruling any client ragdoll settings they may have in place.
• Just like the other Sniper primary weapons, the Huntsman suffers no damage falloff over long ranges.

Gallery

• Huntsman 1st person cropped.png

  1st person view.

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  Full 1st person view.

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  Projectile.

See also

• Huntsman Strategy
• Sniper Rifle

External links

• The Sniper Update- The Huntsman
• TF2 Official Blog- The arrow, the wall and you.