theHunter: Call of the Wild

This is similar to my guide for "Goldmember", but I've updated it (10/01/2019) to include DLC (as much as I can)

After scoring a kill and harvesting your trophy, you will be awarded with a score. The scoring thresholds are as such

0 - 399 - No Rank
400 - 599 - Bronze
600 - 799 - Silver
800 - 949 - Gold
949 - 1000 - Diamond

It should be noted that it is not possible to score a Diamond rating on females EXCEPT Gemsbok

This is because females either do not have a trophy rating (antler animals) or their trophies will never be large enough to net the highest score (in the case of bears, foxes, coyotes etc)

In order to score a diamond rating, you will need all three of your bonuses to be at 100%

Quick Kill
You earn 100% quick kill bonus by dropping the animal on the spot
Update - 06/02/19
As of the update on 5th Feb, this is now easiest earned with a double lung shot (on any animal) using the highest caliber allowed on the animal (eg: .270 for Wild Boar, .338 for Moose, etc).

Integrity
Integrity bonus is awarded at 100% by killing an animal with the "correct" caliber of weapon. The smaller the animal, the smaller the "permitted" caliber. For ease I have listed the maximum caliber allowance for rifles on below - All animals (including DLC), listed alphabetically

Axis Deer - .243
Black Bear - 7mm Regent Magnum
Blackbuck - ,243
Blacktail Deer - .243
Blue Wildebeest - 7mm Regent Magnum
Brown Bear - .338 Rangemaster
Canada Goose - .223 Docent
Cape Buffalo - .470 Nitro
Cinnamon Teal - .223 Docent
Coyote - .243
European Bison - .470 Nitro
Fallow Deer - .243
Gemsbok - 7mm Regent Magnum
Jackrabbit - .22LR
Lesser Kudu - .270
Lynx - .243
Mallard - .223 Docent
Moose - .338 Rangemaster
Mule Deer - 7mm Regent Magnum
Musk Deer - .223 Docent
Puma - 7mm Regent Magnum
Red Deer - 7mm Regent Magnum
Red Fox - .223 Docent
Reindeer - 7mm Regent Magnum
Roe Deer - .243
Roosevelt Elk - .338 Rangemaster
Scrub Hare - .22LR
Side Striped Jackal - .243
Springbok - .243
Warthog - .270
Water Buffalo - .470 Nitro
Whitetail Deer - .270
Wild Boar - .270

Anything larger than the caliber listed will result in integrity being less than 100%, and Diamond rating being un-attainable

Consecutive Harvest
Each time you start a new hunt you will start with this at 0, and it raises by 20% for each kill you harvest, after the first kill, so you will need to kill 5 animals before hunting for "trophy" scores

1st Kill - 0%
2nd Kill - 20% (this is your first "consecutive harvest")
3rd Kill - 40%
4th Kill - 60%
5th Kill - 80%
6th Kill onwards - 100% bonus

SCORING THE DIAMOND RATING

With all of your bonuses at 100%, you now want to hunt high scoring males
Without perks this can be difficult to establish, so as a rule of thumb you want to be trying to use the animals "difficulty" as a benchmark
To score a Diamond rating you need to be hunting the highest difficulty levels for each animal, as "difficulty" is an indication of trophy size (and most of the time you can visibly see this)

The difficulty levels go from 1 (Trivial) to 9 (Legendary) but not every creature can hit level 9.
Listed here are the maximum difficulty levels for each animal, and (where known) the maximum "Trophy Rating" for each animal (These numbers are still a work in progress for the latest DLC reserve)
NOTE
There is a skill which you can unlock which will tell you the trophy rating "range" when spotting an animal. It is not necessary for the trophy score to be the absolute maximum, but if, when spotting an animal, it's "trophy score" range doesn't go up to the number listed below, your animal will almost certainly not score a diamond rating.

3 - Very Easy
Cinnamon Teal
Jackrabbit - (6)
Mallard - (2.1)
Musk Deer - (276)
Roe Deer - (277)
Scrub Hare - (6)
Whitetail Deer - (213)

5 - Medium
Axis Deer
Blackbuck
Blacktail Deer - (210)
Blue Wildebeest - (162)
Canada Goose - (9.2)
European Bison - (300)
Fallow Deer - (237)
Gemsbok
Lesser Kudu - (35)
Moose - (245)
Mule Deer
Reindeer - (904)
Roosevelt Elk - (404)
Springbok - (116)
Warthog - (63)
Wild Boar - (159)

9 - Legendary
Black Bear - (24)
Brown Bear - (29)
Cape Buffalo
Coyote - (59)
Lynx - (28)
Puma
Red Deer - (276)
Red Fox - (15)
Side Striped Jackal - (31)
Water Buffalo

PLEASE NOTE
The level of the creature is merely an indication, and on occasion you will find that even a max level won't be quite enough to net you Diamond, if their trophy rating is at the bottom of the scale (these will score somewhere between 920 and 949 in my experience)

Good luck

There are 5 requirements for a diamond rating:
• Passing the Harvest Check
- Correct ammo for the animal
- No more than 2 shots on target
- Intact trophy organ
- Hit a vital organ
• A Diamond rated animal.

Please note that Consecutive harvests and quick-kill bonus no longer apply to the score and only affect Xp/Cash gained. (Quick kill will be high from earning a organ shot anyway)

Harvest check
The harvest check is a set of 4 objectives to achieve when you hunt any animal to maximize your score.
- Integrity / Correct Ammo
To get this bonus you need to kill the animal with the correct ammo class for that species.
You can check what class your ammo is for by selecting it in the inventory. A good set for every class (without buying DLC) :
- Ranger .243 – Starting Rifle, is able to hunt any animals classed from 2 – 6. Use Polymer-tip bullets once available
- 7mm Regent Magnum – Good for hunting animals classed 4 – 9. Use Polymer-tip bullets once available
- Caversham Steward 12G Shotgun – Once you unlock birdshot you can hunt animals classed at 1.
At the bottom of the guide is a reference for each map with all the animal details you will need.

- No more than 2 shots
To pass this check you can have no more than 2 hits on your target.

- Intact Trophy Organ
To pass this check you can’t damage the animal’s trophy organ. (Antlers/Horns/Tusks/Skull)

- Hit a Vital Organ
For this you need to hit one of these:
Heart – Lung – Liver – Neck – Brain (Note: for Skull trophies hitting the brain will fail the trophy organ check)
For birds and hares this automatically completes once shot.

Diamond Rated Animals
The most important requirement is that the animal has a potential diamond rating.
Each animal in the game has a trophy rating, with a maximum possible score. Depending on the score is potentially what you can achieve.
None – This is for any animal that has no trophy organ (e.g. female deers)
Bronze – This is for any animal with a trophy rating less than 20% of its maximum.
Silver – This is for any animal between a trophy rating of 20% & 60% of its maximum.
Gold – This is for any animal between a trophy rating of 60% & 90% of its maximum.
Diamond – This is for any animal that has a rating of 90%+ of its maximum.
^{** – The harvest check can downgrade the trophy rating if not achieved. Each of the 4 requirements can downgrade the rating. (A diamond rated animal would score a “none” rating if you failed all 4 harvest check criteria)}
A diamond rated animal is usually quite easy to spot as their horns/Antlers/Tusks are very impressive.
It is worth unlocking level 2 of Spotting Knowledge which can be found under the Ambusher skill tree. This skill will show you a score range that this animal will award you once hunted.

- Trophy Type:
There are 6 types of Trophy:
Weight – Antlers – Fangs – Skull – Horns – Tusks
Each animal species will fall under 1 of these.

- Animal Difficulty:
Each animal will also have a difficulty rating that can be viewed when spotting.
Difficulty ratings go from 1 to 10.
The animal’s level will determine their trophy size as well as how alert they are. The higher the level the quicker they can spot, hear or smell you.

To get a Diamond you want to be on the look out for the maximum level for that animal.
In rare circumstances an animals level 1 below maximum can produce a diamond, likewise a max level animal is not a guaranteed diamond.
Max Levels:

- Diamond Farming
Diamonds can be farmed but it is luck dependent.
To increase your chance of spawning diamond rated animals you need to hunt that species.
This can be done by hunting every single trophy rated animal you see or by camping out need zones and killing 1 or 2 and checking back later.
When you kill an animal, it has a chance to upgrade/stay the same/downgrade a level. It’s best to find several need zones with large herds, set up a tent nearby and jump between them. Kill 1 or 2 but no more as this has a chance of despawning the need zone.
If you do your run at each need zone and still have a heat spots on the map, go somewhere and hunt a bunch of other animals to remove it.
Once you’ve completed a run, quit to menu and reload. This instantly respawns the hunted animals (With new levels) otherwise you have to wait 6 in-game days for them to spawn.

Animal/Map Guides:
Layton Lake

Hirschfelden

Medved-Taiga - DLC

Vurhonga Savanna - DLC

Parque Fernando - DLC

Cuatro Colinas - DLC

Yukon Valley - DLC

Silver Ridge Peals - DLC

Te Awaroa - DLC

If you're like me with over 100 hours of gameplay and no Diamonds yet, I recommend the following...

Very similar to using the Jager side mission for the Albino achievement, this achievement can also be done via the story on Hirschfelden.

The second to last story mission for Marwin Tressler is to harvest a specific Boar in the Mullerwald logging area. This boar, named "Wurst" or "Sausage", is a Diamond opportunity. I found him almost smack in the middle of the highlighted area for the mission. He is a Level 5 (Medium) boar. Make sure you have the appropriate weapon and ammo (I used the .270 w/ polymer tip ammo) and get a vital hit on him (broadside in the lungs is the best option). If you miss the vitals on the first shot, you can shoot him one more time and still have a chance at Diamond but the second shot must be in the vitals if the first was not.

Happy hunting!