The Hunter

The Hunter is one of the Gungeoneers in the game Enter the Gungeon. The Hunter is equipped with the Rusty Sidearm, Crossbow, and Dog.

Story

1,147 years prior to the Hunter's adventure into the Gungeon, she travelled to Blacksword Manor to defeat Dr. Wolfenclaw; however, she was captured and stored in a Cryo Pod until the events of Enter The Gungeon. It is unknown how she escaped the Cryo Pod.

Past Kill

If the Bullet That Can Kill The Past is used on The Hunter, she will be brought back to the front entrance of Blacksword Manor before her capture. After entering the manor the Hunter will eventually come across a strange machine. Dr. Wolfenclaw will appear and greet the Hunter, saying that he's thrilled to be able to use her in his latest experiment. The Hunter responds by saying that she will not let him have his way with her and that she's come to stop him and his twisted religion. Dr. Wolfenclaw will then summon a circle of bullets, trapping The Hunter. The player will be given the option to use a Blank to destroy the trap. Dr. Wolfenclaw will initially be surprised by such advanced technology, but claims that it won't matter and decides to unleash his monster upon The Hunter. Should The Hunter defeat the monster, she will be relieved that it is finally over and leave the manor with Junior.

When entering the past, The Hunter will have Colt 1851 and Sticky crossbow as available weapons.

The Hunter will also be holding Dog as items.

Defeating the Hunter's past will unlock Wolf and Dog.

Strategy

The Hunter starts out with the smallest loadout of all the Gungeoneers, having only 3 items to work with compared with the usual 4. However, the tools that The Hunter is given are strong enough for her to hold her own within the Gungeon's depths. The Hunter's main weapon, the Rusty Sidearm, can best be described as average. It has decent damage but with a mere 6 shots in a single magazine and slower bullets than most starting guns, it forces the Hunter to constantly be on the move. Arguably the best part about the Hunter is her secondary weapon, the Crossbow. It's the strongest of the starting guns in terms of damage and can 1 or 2 shot every basic enemy on the first floor except for Gun Nuts which take around 5. The extreme range provided by the Crossbow allows the Hunter to stay much farther away from enemies compared to other Gungeoneers and thus, take less damage on average. The Crossbow is also extremely ammo efficient to the point where it's quite possible for it to clear the majority of the first floor (including the boss) alone.

The Dog is the Hunter's only passive, but it has the potential to be quite useful over the course of a run. Upon completion of a room, the Dog has a 5% chance to dig up a pickup. The pickup chance is completely separate from room rewards, so it's possible to get both at once. The pickups uncovered by the Dog can be coins, hearts, armor, blanks, keys, ammo and maps. Keep in mind that the Resourceful Rat will steal any armor and ammo left in the room, so they should be used/picked up immediately if they appear. Hearts can be left behind for later pickup in the event that the player takes damage. The Dog will also bark at Mimics, though this feature is less beneficial for more experienced players.

Overall, The Hunter is an all-around solid Gungeoneer as the Dog is able to provide free resources, while the Crossbow gives a viable alternative to the otherwise average Rusty Sidearm until more powerful weapons are found. Due to this, the Hunter probably has the strongest early game of the 4 main Gungeoneers.

Notes

The Hunter's alternate costume bears a resemblance to her dog, Junior, who waited until the Hunter returned to her past.
Despite the past item being the item for dog, the dog itself will instead appear as the wolf.

Trivia

Her pose resembles Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales.
The icon on her belt references to Sam Stone, the main character of the game called Serious Sam.
The Hunter's past may be based off of the Wolfenstein series.
The Hunter may have drawn influence from Susannah, a character from Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series.