Bear Hunt beginner FAQ: all your questions answered

Common stumbling points for new Bear Hunt players, in Q&A form. Skim only what you need.

Q. I can't join Bear Hunt?

An R4+ member must start the trap, and you need to have been in the alliance for a while (about 46+ hours). Right after migrating you may not qualify.

Q. Do troops die?

No. The bear doesn't counterattack, so no troops are lost. Go all-in on offense.

Q. Can I join while shielded?

Joining a rally is generally possible, but specs change with updates — check your alliance rules too.

Q. How do points affect rewards?

Rewards tie to both your cumulative points and the alliance total. Raising per-rally damage raises rewards directly.

Q. Join a strong player or lead myself?

With a thin roster, joining a strong leader with full troops is often more efficient. Once you have three strong attack heroes, leading becomes worthwhile.

Q. What is the "left hero"?

The only hero whose buff applies when you join. See the Left-Hero Checker and its article.

Q. How do I decide my troop ratio?

The basics are a marksman-heavy mix (e.g. Inf 10% / Lan 30% / Mks 60%). Community tests show that in raw damage, with marksman at 100%, lancers are about 80-90% and infantry about 20-30% — marksman is strongest. But going pure marksman loses efficiency, so mixing in lancers is standard. As marksman lethality pulls far ahead with higher generations, shift even more to marksman. Try your numbers in the Troop Ratio Simulator.

Q. Does sending more troops always mean more damage?

More, but not proportional. It is widely known that adding troops raises damage by less than the share you added. Still, sending full marches is the baseline and never hurts. The key insight: "for the same full march, leaning marksman beats spreading evenly ."

Q. Should I upgrade the arrowheads (trap level)?

Trap upgrades raise the whole alliance's anti-bear damage, up to roughly +25% attack. You donate "Explosive Arrowheads" (from Intel missions) to level it. It's an alliance-coordinated element rather than individual, but contributing raises everyone's event points.

Q. Should I use 2-hour boosts and pets?

Yes. Using all-troop ATK +10% or Lethality +10% boost items right before Bear Hunt raises points directly. For pets, prioritize attack/lethality ones like Cave Lion (ATK up to +10%) and Saber-tooth Tiger (Lethality up to +10%). Since the bear doesn't counterattack, defense/HP buffs are useless here.

GREG'S NOTE

Want the mechanics? The "How Bear Hunt damage works" article covers it systematically.

Official beginner videos

Prefer video to text? The developer's official Japan YouTube channel has a beginner guide series — here is the official primer on heroes and troops, the foundation of Bear Hunt. Learn the basics there, and come back here for the numbers.

Summary

Bear Hunt is simple: troops don't die, just hit hard. Leave fine optimization to the tools and start by joining with full troops.