Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is a battle royale by Sharkmob which casts players in the role of kindred participating in a bloodhunt on the streets of Prague. Players must navigate the streets and rooftops of the city, gather weapons and resonant blood, and do battle with other vampires to come out on top at the end of the night. Complicating matters further are the soldiers of the Second Inquisition, who have claimed sections of the city and serve as additional obstacles or, potentially, an additional source of blood and weapons.
RELATED: Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodhunt: Crossplay Explained
Powers
Of the various vampire clans found in Vampire: The Masquerade, the Nosferatu are known for their skill in three vampiric disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, and Potence. The Saboteur specializes in Obfuscate, the art of vampiric invisibility and concealment.
They have access to the Nosferatu Clan Power, “Vanish,” allowing them to disappear suddenly, traveling at high speed for a short time before reappearing. This skill is useful for navigating Prague and gives them excellent speed moving in any direction, though should be used sparingly to ensure it isn’t on cooldown when needed most. It is most effective for escaping or repositioning should combat go badly, or for vanishing away after killing part of a group to avoid their attempted revenge.
The Archetype Power of the Saboteur is “Sewer Bomb,” allowing the Saboteur to plant a proximity explosive that releases toxic fumes when activated. The bomb usually triggers as a result of enemy motion near it, but can also be activated manually by shooting it. This can be used for startling unsuspecting players, detonating the bomb before the proximity sensor has activated (displayed as a sphere around the bomb visible only to the player who placed it), or even detonating the bomb in the air immediately after throwing it.
Observant foes can also detonate the bomb from a distance with their own weapons, so picking good spots to conceal the presence of an explosive is critical. It is also important to note that Saboteurs and their allies do not take damage from their own sewer bombs.
The Passive Power of the Saboteur is “Unseen Passage” and allows the Saboteur to become semi-invisible when crouching. This is activated by crouching for about a second or so and makes the Saboteur very difficult to spot by rendering them see-through. They do retain their outline and slightly distort anything seen through them, so an observant player can still notice them, even at a distance.
This skill is therefore useful for making the player harder to notice while creeping around the streets of Prague, or to obscure their location on rooftops while sniping. It’s worth noting, however, that the act of firing a weapon will temporarily disable the power, so players should keep this in mind.
Preferred Weapons
The Saboteur plays excellently with weapons that are effective at mid-long range, especially the sniper and marksman rifles. The sniper rifle is excellent for picking off foes from the rooftops but has a long reload time and a small magazine. The marksman rifle is better suited to gunfights, sporting a larger magazine but lacking the sniper rifle’s excellent scope.
The heavy crossbow is also an excellent choice for the Saboteur, with each bolt deploying a toxic gas cloud over an area. This pairs wonderfully with the Sewer Bomb and the cloud’s damage stacks with damage dealt by a Sewer Bomb cloud, potentially creating a short-lived but highly dangerous cloud of damage over time, while also allowing the Saboteur to force enemies out of cover and into the path of other weaponry.
Assault Rifles remain a solid option for any build, performing tremendously well at any range, while dual pistols and dual crossbows can be useful in close-mid range combat, with the crossbows providing a small explosive burst useful for manipulating foes into shifting position.
Preferred Resonances
In Vampire: The Masquerade, blood carries with it various effects based on the emotional state of the person it was taken from. In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt it is highly important for players to seek out the right kinds of “resonance” from the blood of civilians around the map in order to strengthen themselves.
The Saboteur lives and dies on its ability to enter and exit combat freely, and on its use of Sewer Bombs to control the area. As a result, Melancholic (purple) and Phlegmatic (teal) resonance should be the top priority, shortening the cooldowns of Vanish and Sewer Bomb respectively.
Melancholic resonance reduces the cooldown of clan powers by 10%, then 25%, and then 50% as the player acquires more of it. Phlegmatic resonance does the same for archetype powers, so picking these up as they become available is important. Diablerizing other players or draining Second Inquisition soldiers will unlock extra slots, allowing the player to store more resonance.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is available on PC and Playstation 5.
MORE: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt: Brujah Vandal Guide
