PREPARING FOR YOUR
EXPEDITION
Before you can go anywhere, you’ll need to get to the Rift. This is the easiest part of your expedition: just build out your tiles into the fog of war (shrouded area) until the Rift Portal is in sight. Off you go.
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Every HV gets a Battle
Bag and Deployment Kit.
Your Battle Bag is where you’ll keep your Infusions for fights. For HVs without a Companion, there are four dedicated slots in the Battle Bag to hold Infusions for your expeditions. HVs with a Companion have five slots.
When you set out on an expedition, your Battle Bag will be stocked with a Deployment Kit.
The exact items in your Deployment Kit will depend on your HV class and whether you have a Companion, but they’ll all contain some combination of materials and useful components for crafting.
HVs with a Companion can fill their Companion Augment slot and receive 3 Molds for that slot. They’ll also get an extra item slot in their Battle Bag, a free crafting thread, and a 10% damage boost against enemies.
On your very first expedition, you won’t have any useful Infusions to put into your Battle Bag, but after your first mission, you’ll earn Infusions that you’ll be able to take with you and use during fights.
Despite this, at the start of every expedition, you’ll have an opportunity to use your Gears to access additional boosts for your battery and base stats to increase your chances of succeeding in your expedition. You can also use Gears to access more bonuses to improve your HV’s performance prior to starting an expedition.
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Give your HV a
Specialization.
Each Specialization will have an additional effect. HVs specializing in Fighter will recover a portion of their Battery upon each enemy kill. A Crafter allows a minimal craft proficiency of level 3 and gains more resources when gathering. Having higher craft proficiency means the fail rate will be less when crafting an item. Explorers consume half as much battery energy as the other specializations, allowing them to stay in the Rift longer.
Besides selecting a Specialization, each HV will also have its own base stat depending on its class.
Note: This is a one-time free selection before entering the Rift for the first time. This is locked to your HV until you enter the secret Biome for the first time in which you’ll unlock 1 new specialization. After completing a secret Biome, you’ll have the option to switch between the different Specializations. You also have the option of Refining your current Power Core through Materials.
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Choose your expedition
wisely.
Once you enter the Rift, choose which Expedition you’d like your HV to go on and which difficulty level you think it can handle. Each difficulty level has a different Energy cost for entry, Battery consumption during the expedition, and Loot types. To reach the next difficulty level, the previous difficulty level needs to be successfully completed.
There are four Biomes to choose from for your expedition, but five Biomes in all — one can only be accessed through the other Biomes. We heard it’s pretty cool. Good luck!
Note: Biome tiles function in the same way as Forge tiles, with one exception: They give you one passive vote per day. You can earn a Biome tile by completing level 1 of its corresponding Biome, then bask in the glow of your extra votes (up to +1 vote per Biome tile type each day).
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Left-click to move around.
HVs can move in all directions by simply left-clicking in the direction you desire. Use the mini-map in the right-hand corner to help orient you in your present location. The camera view will always be centered, focused on your HV.
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Collect, craft, fight.
Your expedition to new Biomes will consist of three main activities: gathering, crafting, and fighting.
There are 3 main categories of materials you can gather: Biotics, Technics, and Gemstones. Gemstones are considered most rare as a whole and can only be used to refine Materials, Molds, Power Cores, and Keys. Techstones, a type of Gemstone you can gather only in the Shimmer Biome, can be used to refine Augments.
You can craft 3 different kinds of items: Augments, Infusions, Keys.
During an expedition, you may encounter some enemies. Fight them all off before your Battery depletes!
Complete an expedition by finding the exit Portal.
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When you go out on expeditions, your HV is dependent on the amount of energy it has in its Battery, which determines how long it can hunt. The most important thing to remember is that once the HV’s battery depletes, the expedition ends.
If your HV’s Battery depletes before locating the exit portal, you will lose 50% of your HV’s Battle Bag content. To prevent this, you can choose to use Gears to refill the Battery in order to finish the exploration (you’ll get a warning that your Battery is low). The number of Gears needed to refill the Battery doubles every time if it is the same expedition.
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That secret fifth Biome.
If you successfully complete an expedition, depending on the rate of completion and difficulty level, you may have a chance to enter the Shimmer Biome to hunt for special Techstone gemstones and other special materials. Entering the Shimmer Biome is optional.
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Alright, so what if I
have a BAYC/MAYC/BAKC?
A BAYC/MAYC/BAKC will provide additional benefits to your HV when entering the Rift. Here’s the breakdown:
BAYC: 2 Crafting Threads, 2 Battle Bag slots, 1 Legendary Chest, 1 Rare Chest, 1 Legendary Key, 1 Rare Key, 1 Augment
MAYC: 1 Crafting Thread, 1 Battle Bag slot, 2 Rare Chests, 2 Rare Keys, 1 Augment
BAKC: 1 Battle Bag slot, 1 Rare Chest, 1 Rare Key, 1 Augment
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There are three types of materials you can gather. Each material will have a rarity and tier. Type, rarity, and tier will all determine what you can craft and how successful you will be in crafting.
Material types
The three types of materials you can gather are Biotics, Technics, and Gemstones.
Biotics and Technics serve as the basis for all crafting. They are easier to find.
The Gemstones are considered most rare as a whole and can only be used to refine the Molds, Power Cores, and Keys you craft.
If you are able to find the entrance to the fifth Biome, you’ll have the opportunity to gather Techstones, which are the rarest type of Gemstones for refining Augments.
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Material combinations
When you’re gathering materials, keep in mind how they work together.
Fusing a Technic material with a Mold crafts equipment.
Fusing a Biotic material with a Mold can craft an Infusion, like a battery refill.
Fusing three Biotic or Technic materials with a Mold can craft a Key.
Fusing a Material, a Mold, or a Key with a Gemstone can improve the selected elements by one tier.
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Material rarity and
crafting success
Higher rarity components of the same category (for example, all Biotic materials) will create a higher rarity item when you craft. Higher rarity materials have a higher chance to be successfully crafted (each time you craft, there is a chance you may fail to craft the item – more on that below).
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Material tier and
crafting time
When you’re ready to craft items from your materials, the crafting time depends on the material used. Each new material in the crafting station adds to the total crafting time. The higher the material’s tier, the longer the time required to process it.
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After coming back from a Hunt, you’ll likely have gathered some materials for crafting!
Choose the type of item
you want to craft.
What you can craft will be dependent on the types of materials used.
Keys are used to open loot chests.
Augments are equipable items for your HV. They are meant to improve your core stats while in The Hunt. These stats can be further upgraded with Augments of higher quality.
Power Cores are the 1 of 3 Specializations you can choose from before starting an expedition.
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Choose the Mold of your
item.
Once you choose what item you want to craft, you’ll be given an option to choose a Mold for the item.
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Good things take time.
It takes time to craft, so the rarer your materials are, the longer the crafting takes. “Crafting Threads” in your Craft tab shows what items are currently being crafted and how much longer until completion. Crafting the same Mold earns you proficiency points for that Mold. Once you reach the next proficiency level for that Mold, it becomes faster and safer to craft. You’ll see this ability in your Bonuses tab.
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Use Gemstones to Refine.
Refining a Material, a Mold, or a Key by fusing it with a Gemstone can improve the selected elements by one tier. Remember, the Gemstones you collect can only be used for Refining.
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Equip your HV with your
crafted items.
After crafting and/or refining your desired items, shift over to the HV tab. This is where you can experience the fruit of your crafting labors and equip your HV with items you just crafted. You can swap out and further refine any components you craft in order to continue beefing up your HV. Doing this will better ensure your success when the ultimate Rift Boss Battle arrives!
Note: Augments on your HV are not permanent or carried beyond playing Forge and The Hunt. BUT your overall stats from your Augments will be used to generate a Power Score that will affect your HV’s future experience beyond Season 6 and Forge…
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Crafting can fail.
Each time you craft, there is a chance you may fail to craft the item. The rarer your components, the more likely you will succeed in crafting an item. If you fail, you will lose the materials you used in attempting to craft the item. If you’re crafting an item type that you have already previously crafted, the chance of success is higher. You’ll see this ability in your Bonuses tab.
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The key to crafting Keys.
Be sure to craft the correct rarity of Key. For example, you cannot use a Common Key to open an Uncommon Chest. Once you craft a Key, look out for Loot Chests hidden throughout the Biomes on your next expeditions. Loot Chests can contain a variety of Materials or even fully crafted Augments!
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You can dismantle
Augments and Infusions.
All Augments and Infusions can be dismantled by putting them alone in the crafting station. Dismantling an item is an opportunity for you to collect needed materials, refine components, or craft something entirely new. The dismantling time depends on the material tier. Don’t dismantle all willy-nilly — there are consequences. When you dismantle, all used materials will be lost — you'll only have a chance to get your Mold back.
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During an expedition, you may encounter some creatures looking to fuck up your day.
The rules of combat.
A few hints for bonking your way to victory:
Combat starts only when your HV enters the enemy’s attack range.
Combat is turn-based, meaning your HV and the enemy will take turns bonking each other until one is defeated.
On your HV’s turn, you can do 1 of 3 options: perform a “basic attack” (defaulted selection), “special attack”, or activate an Infusion. Once you choose an option, the player turn ends and the enemy will input their selection.
Once both turns play out, the player will be able to move their HV again on the fresh turn.
When in combat, the HV can move freely, but be warned, there is a “move” bar during each battle and once that is depleted, the HV will no longer be able to move until the HV attacks.
When damage is taken, the Shield will deplete according to the amount of damage. During combat, HVs can replenish Shields with items in their Battle Bag. Once out of combat, the HVs shield will automatically be restored to 100%.
If your HV’s Shield is depleted, the battery power will start to be consumed in its place. Once the battery is empty, the expedition will end.
Shields work the same for enemies, so make sure you defeat them the first time or their shields will be fully charged if you encounter them again after fleeing.
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Keep your enemies close.
Expect these enemies to be tough, so think twice before you engage!
Every enemy has an attack range. Be careful — it may be larger than your HV’s.
Enemies also have a limited “field of view”. This means their natural attack range can be limited by obstacles. This allows your HV to start fights from a closer range, even if your enemy has more range than your HV. By taking advantage of an enemy’s “field of view”, your HV also can escape suffering minimal damage.
If an enemy happens to spot your HV first, then they get an “opportunity attack”, which means your HV can’t move on the first turn.
Enemies have Shields too. If you’re about to defeat an enemy, make sure you finish the job — if you flee early, their Shields will be fully recharged if you encounter them again.
Not all enemies fight the same — their attacks depend on the Biome they live in. You’ll learn their strengths and weaknesses through combat.
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