Evolve Stage 2 The New Player's Essential Guide. (last updated 2017)

A Message To All Newbies

Hey. My name is ShortFuẞe.

Let me start off by saying that I am so glad you are playing Evolve. I personally have a ♥♥♥♥ computer, but no matter how much it struggles, I love playing this game. Since my computer is bad, I try to be understanding of new players. I never know what they're going through.

That said, this game is hard to balance. It is mostly balanced though. When you start off, you'll find some Monsters (or monsters in general) to be incredibly hard, maybe OP. Don't despair. Everyone started somewhere, and with time, practice, and knowledge, you'll understand the main ideas and counters to every character. Don't quit if it feels too hard. It gets better :)

I do try to give plenty of tips to make your life easier in Evolve. I hope one day to meet you in a game.

If you enjoy this, leave a good rating so that other players can see this and learn from it. If you have questions, complaints, or suggestions, please comment.

If you want more information for the Hunters, I made another guide. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=723451384

If you want to be a Monster, I made another guide just like my other one

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=725091982

Good Luck, have fun, and happy hunting

-ShortFuẞe

The Game

As far as I know, all content in this guide is correct, or as correct as I can be sure of. If a more experienced player comments, and has evidence of me being wrong, I will fix any errors as soon as possible. A lot of information I used came from another source. I'll put the link here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QLKkL3cdm62MwGnvuzWb-PlcImj1R6xoW7mXQ3-tHsU/edit

PLEASE NOTE!!! This data is no longer accurate. A lot of the information is still the same from the LEGACY game, but characters such as Lennox and Bucket have had changes, and wildlife don't have the same stats, among other things.

Evolve is a 4v1 asymmetrical shooter. 4 Hunters are pitted against 1 powerful Monster in a variety of maps and gamemodes. There are 4 unique classes for Hunters, and a Hunter team consists of one character from each of these classes. In the classic gamemode, Hunt, the Monster starts at Stage One. It must traverse the map killing wildlife, and consuming it, to gain enough energy to evolve. For every 3000 points of damage the Monster does to Hunters, it gains one point towards evolution. Once it has enough energy, it can choose to put itself in a vulnerable state to evolve, increasing it's size, damage, and being able to enhance or learn new abilities. During the selection screen, Monster players can invest four skill points into four different skills, each with three levels. The maximum Monster Stage is Stage Three, with a total of 9 skill points. This means you cannot max out every ability, so you must plan based on how the game has been going. Once the game starts you cannot change the abilities that have already been picked, so choose wisely.

The Monster must become more powerful, so it can take the fight to the Hunters, or attempt to destroy the Relay. Having all Hunters downed/killed at the same time OR destroying the Power Relay will result in a Monster victory. Time running out OR the Monster dying results in a Hunter victory.

Monsters do NOT passively regenerate health. Monsters have an armor bar that slowly regenerates, but regenerates very quickly out of combat. Hunters DO regenerate HP per second. Consuming food instantly provides some number of Armor, varying by Monster. Each section of the Monster Armor/Health bar is called a, well, bar. One increment for Armor is always worth 500 armor. The amount of HP to a bar depends on the Monster. All Hunters have 1600 HP. As a Monster, if you start taking health damage, and haven't done much damage to the Hunters, consider running away. There is one exception to this rule, but the Monster will always take damage to it's Armor before it's Health. The Armor meter is blue, and the HP meter is red.

Hunters don't have armor. They naturally regen HP , but the Monster does a huge amount of damage. Keep your Medic alive, and they will do the same for you.

Each Monster has some traversal ability. It regenerates the use of that ability every few seconds. Hunters have a jetpack. The jetpack can be used to reach farther areas. IF YOU START USING FUEL, YOU WILL NOT REGENERATE JETPACK FUEL UNTIL YOU TOUCH THE GROUND AGAIN. You can jump or walk, and as long as you don't use fuel, you will regenerate fuel. Each traversal ability/jetpack is activated with Spacebar. I will touch more on this later.

Elite Wildlife / Wildlife

Occasionally, you may see a differently colored wildlife. They are called Elite, or Albinos. These terms are interchangeable. They tend to have more HP, and are fairly uncommon. While it is dead, Hunters can interact with the corpse by pressing "E" to get a buff. The Monster must consume at least one food from the corpse to gain the buff. The buffs can vary between Hunter and Monster. For example, the Obsidian Grub buff prevents the monster from attracting/startling birds, whereas the Hunter version gives an increased clip size. Buffs only last 5 minutes, or so. Each Elite wildlife will always yield the same buff, so it's important to learn the names, shapes, and buffs for each wildlife. I will not cover every wildlife in this game, as there are already other guides that do the same. I will only bring up very important wildlife.

A general thing for corpses in this game, they fully decompose after two minutes and 35 seconds. They don't start to decompose until 30 seconds after the creature dies. Some wildlife, such as Reavers, will attempt to eat corpses that are left around. Since Reavers are hostile to Hunters, a useful tactic is to kill an Albino, collect the buff, and lead a Reaver to the corpse. The Reaver will eat it, and deny the buff from the Monster to be collected. The Monster can eat the corpse of an Elite he kills to deny the Hunters from collecting the buff, whilst gaining it himself.

At about Stage Two and Three, most wildlife will flee the Monster. Most wildlife will always attempt to attack Hunters. As a general rule, keep your distance from bigger wildlife unless it's an Elite.

"Trap Wildlife"

These are a community given name for wildlife that will trap a Hunter until one of their teammates shoots them out. These include Megamouths, Carnivorous Plants, and the Tyrant. Hunters should keep their distance. Always kill plants when you see one, since the only thing they hurt is Hunters, and they die in one shot. They can't be eaten by the Monster, so there's no downside to killing one.

The Tyrant

FOR ALL NEW PLAYERS, THE TYRANT IS CURRENTLY REMOVED FROM THE GAME BUT WILL BE BACK.

This nasty bugger goes by a few nicknames, such as the King of the Waters. He has a large amount of HP, will attempt to kill any Hunters that get close, and moves surprisingly fast on land and in water. They only stay in or very near to water. If they kill a Hunter, they will swallow the body whole, preventing Lazarus from reviving the corpse. A Hunter in a Tyrant's jaws cannot take actions except for their class ability (except the Trapper, Lazarus can additionally use his Personal Cloak on top of his Healing Burst). He also is one of a few that will attack a Stage Three Monster. He does a lot of damage, even to the Monster, so be wary. His wildlife buff provides Health Regeneration. While Hunters can pick Health Regen at the perk select screen, Monsters cannot. Taking damage while this buff is active will stop regeneration. The buff lasts about two minutes for the Monster. If the buff goes the whole two minutes, the Monster will generate 3000 health. As a Monster, I suggest having at LEAST 50% Armor before engaging a Tyrant.

Perks, Masteries, Skins, And Silver Keys

This section has been rewritten for Evolve Stage 2.

Perks

During the selection screen, you may select 3 different Perks. You must purchase them with Silver Keys. Each Perk can be upgraded. There are 3 potency levels of Perks, with the stronger ones being more expensive. You get to choose a weak, medium, AND a strong perk. PLEASE READ THIS BECAUSE THIS IS IMPORTANT. There is gear. Gear is things like Caira's Accel Field and Maggie's Trapjaw. Then there is buffs, from Albino Wildlife. Then there is Perks. PERKS DO NOT STACK WITH BUFFS, BUT DO STACK WITH GEAR. GEAR DOES NOT STACK WITH GEAR. PERKS STACK WITH PERKS. IN THE CASE OF PERK AND BUFF, THE STRONGEST BONUS OVERWRITES THE WEAKER ONE

Masteries

IN LEGACY EVOLVE THIS WAS A THING

Instead, as you play as a character and do well, you level up. Leveling up can give you Silver Keys and badges.

Badges

They can be designed. In the top right corner of the main menu is your name, keys, and badge. Make it look cool!

Silver Keys

When Stage 2 hit, Evolve went free-to-play. Instead of buying DLC and skins, you play the game to earn Silver Keys. Keys can be spent on characters, skins, and perks.

Skins

They are cosmetic and can be won through playing, or by purchasing them with Keys. They do NOT provide bonuses and should NOT be confused with variations.

Generic Tips

During loading screens, there are a few provided tips. They can be generic, class specific, or even character specific. I suggest you read them. Many guides provide tips also, I suggest reading some other guides. These are just my favorites/best ones.

Hunters

FOR ALL HUNTERS, WHEN YOU SWITCH AWAY FROM A WEAPON, IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RELOAD. If you use your primary weapon to deal damage, and you run out of ammo, switch to a different item to be productive while it reloads/recharges.

When a Hunter's HP hits 0, they don't die, they become incapped. You can spend three seconds near them, uninterrupted to help them up. Healing them will also help them up. A Hunter helped up like this will have a strike, or a down penalty. This reduces their maximum HP by ~10%. You can have a maximum of two strikes, at the third, you'll die outright.

The Hunters move slower than the Monster, DO NOT follow the Monster's footprints blindly. Use the map (default Tab, I think) to predict where the Monster is going, and go there instead. You'll save time. If the only way a monster can go is straight back, or a turn, assume they will turn.

Never go alone. If you meet the Monster, it can sneak-pounce you, which will prevent you from taking actions, and will damage you

As a Trapper, you can use the Planet Scanner. Try to conserve jetpack fuel in combat for when you need to dodge an attack, or when chasing using the Scanner. You can see the Monster through walls if you are close enough. Try to save the scanner for when you do NOT have a clue as to where the monster is.

As an Assault, try to pop the Defense Matrix once your HP is about half, and if you are being focused. You won't take much damage while the Matrix is up, and your Medic can heal you back to full.

As an Assault, be the biggest ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ distraction you can be. If the Monster tries to down your Medic, get up close and just Kick. The. Monster's. Ass.

As a Support, you do a lot of damage, but you should be helping out the team a majority of the time. Try to coordinate with the team when using your items/abilities.

For all Hunters, the Monster has a smell ability to locate you, and your footprints. While cloaked (Lazarus) , you can't be smelled, but your footprints can still be smelled. If you have the location of a Monster, try to move quickly so it doesn't run away, or have someone take a shot and Dome it.

When the Monster hits Stage Three he can attack the Relay. Some people like to wait around for them at the Relay, but you can still hunt and harass the Monster. If the Relay is unattended, the Monster can destroy it in about 15 seconds tops.

For all Hunters, you can hear the Monster smelling you at different ranges. You can hear Behemoth smelling before he can even smell you!

As a Medic, keep yourself alive, and constantly heal people. Medics and Trappers do the least amount of damage, so your Utilities are much better use. You can switch to weapons during a time when the team is doing alright, but if someone on your team is wounded, try to keep them topped up.

As a Support, you have a powerful team-wide shield. Use it when someone is taking damage, or before a strong nuke like Rock Throw hits someone.

Use Reavers to deny buffs to Monsters.

Don't shoot a fleeing Monster with armor still up, it'll just get farther away due to Combat Mode.

As a Medic, Use your Healing Burst wisely. It has a decently long cooldown, and it only heals a few hundred HP. Use it when multiple teammates are injured, or you are being focused.

Monsters

You can walk forward at the start of the game a little distance, and then sneak and head another direction. Sneaking doesn't leave footprints, however, while they are using the Planet Scanner, sneaking is almost useless. Beware the Trapper.

...and if they do have Maggie, don't be stealthy. Daisy paths directly to you, so if you're slow, you'll get caught. Just be aggressive and start killing wildlife ASAP.

On some maps, human corpses will spawn near you, which you can eat for early armor and Evo points.

IN STAGE 2 THEY REMOVED IN-COMBAT STAMINA RECHARGE. TO ALL LEGACY PLAYERS, START SHOOTING FLEEING MONSTERS. (Since some still have some abilties that recharge faster in combat, do NOT shoot Goliath, Meteor Goliath, or Wraith.)

Monster melee attacks do a lot of damage. Use them between ability casts. Melee attacks are also fairly awkward, for some Monsters, to aim. Practice offline against bots doing nothing but melee attacks. It's an important skill to learn.

Most Monsters have a large number of AoE skills. If Hunters are bunched up, take advantage of that.

Downed Hunters actually have more HP than living ones, but they take variable amounts of damage and slowly bleed out. If the enemy is guarding a downed comrade, it may be more valuable to attack living hunters and let it be revived rather than taking tons of damage in a weak attempt to finish off a Hunter.

If you are playing against a Lazarus, you need to eat the dead corpse, otherwise he'll be able to revive it to full HP with no down penalties.

Don't take on big creatures too early. Evolve Stage 2 almost cut their HP in half, so they can be taken down easily enough. Don't do it if you have no armor, though.

If you get domed early, don't mitigate (where you run around to avoid damage). Fight instead. Downing anyone drops the timer by 3.5 minutes.

Hunters have an advantage at Stage 1, are about tied at 2, and are disadvantaged at three. Try engaging once you reach Stage 2, but avoid Stage One encounters. If you do get domed early, just fight. It's not the end of the world. Do take the time to run and hide when they are disoriented.

You take bonus damage while evolving. Only evolve in a safe space.

All Monsters have some form of Initiation/Counter-Initiation Ability.

Goliath: Leap Smash/Charge

Kraken: Vortex

Wraith: Abduction/Warp Blast/Decoy

Behemoth: Tongue Grab/Rock Wall

Gorgon: Web Snare/Spider Trap

Try focusing down a Hunter if you get caught early. You'll take damage, but you'll need those down penalties for later. If they have Lazarus and you're not sure if you can down him, just dodge. Lazarus can prevent down penalties.

The Assaults (And Class Abilities)

CLASS ABILITIES

Defense Matrix is standard for all Assaults. Use it once you have been targeted and are around medium HP. If you use it when you are full, Monster will change targets, and if you're too low, you'll die.

The Mobile Arena lasts 5 minutes, and has an 80 second (I think) recharge time. Players can enter the dome from outside the dome, but can't leave once they are inside. Every Hunter can activate by damaging the monster from (55 meters, I think) 55 meters away, then holding down "F". If a Monster downs a Hunter, the duration is reduced by 210 seconds (3.5 minutes). If Hunters do a small percentage of Health damage, the dome duration is reduced by one minute.

The Healing Burst varies from Medic to Medic. Read "The Greatest Show on Shear" for more information. Each Medic uses this in a different way.

The Shield Burst covers your surrounding teammates in a small shield, that can take a surprising amount of damage. Use it to protect weakened allies and mitigate dangerous abilities.

ASSAULTS

Markov

His Lightning Gun deals a large amount of damage (about 150/s) to all enemies in a small cone in front of him. This makes him adept at killing smaller wildlife, like Trapjaw and Reaver packs. Holding the Fire button fires a continuous beam. Ammo will not be used unless the gun is actively targeting an enemy.

The Assault Rifle deals a good amount of damage, while still being fairly accurate. Good to use when you run out of Lightning Gun ammo, and you need it to recharge.

Arc Mines do a lot of damage (About 500, which is a full Armor bar), but take a few seconds to arm. You should always have the maximum three down, and you should try to place them in not-so-obvious places, like on top of cliffs, so a climbing monster will run into the mine.

Blitz Markov

The Tesla Gun has four stages. Blue, Purple, Red, and Gold. Blue does about 75dmg/s, Purple does standard damage, Red does ~225, and Gold does about ~300. To advance stages, you must keep a continous beam on an enemy. It doesn't have to be the same enemy. For example if two Minions are close together, you can switch targets without dropping the beam bonus.

The Assault Rifle fires much faster than the Stock Markov Assault Rifle, but has a smaller clip, and less damage per bullet. The DPS works out to be greater, but I believe it's also slightly less accurate.

Tesla Mine: Has four stages. After arming itself, it takes about 4 seconds to reach the next stage. A Blue Stage Tesla Mine does about 350 damage, but a Gold Stage does about 950. Yep.

For all Markov Mines, during Dome Fights, place Mines in the open, that way your Med/Trapper has some place to escape from the Monster to. Be wary, as they take some time to arm. It is worth mentioning that for all variations (except Wasteland Maggie), the variation and original are about equal in strength.

Hyde

While the Flamethrower does A LOT of damage, it's very short range. The damage is good especially because of the afterburn. The Burn DOT can be used to track a monster. If you don't think you can stay close to a target, puff them with the Flamethrower for a damage-over-time, and switch to your Minigun.

The Minigun has a very large clip, and does a lot of damage at close range. If firing on a medium range target, fire in bursts to increase accuracy.

Toxic Grenades do a large DOT in a large radius. It doesn't affect your teammates. Use Toxic 'nades to flush a Monster out of a shallow cave, or punish it for staying in one area.

Parnell

The Combat Shotgun does a lot of damage and fires very quickly. At very close range the damage becomes massive.

The Multifire Rocket Launcher has 5 rockets that fire fairly quickly. It's a good ranged option, especially against a Kraken.

The Super Soldier slightly damages Parnell, but at great benefits. His reload speed goes up, jump height goes up, Rate of Fire goes up, and a few other bonuses. It doesn't last long, so once it's up, go nuts. Make sure that you switch to the Launcher after emptying your shotgun clip to maximize DPS. The self damage is about 8-9% max HP. Your Combat Shotgun does more damage than your Launcher at close range.

Renegade Abe

From trapper to assault, the DoT adaption of a classic trapper is worth the playtime.

His shotgun now does pretty good damage, and has two shots. Regular fire button does decent damage and poisons enemies, doing damage over time. The alt-fire (mouse2) empties the clip and does very big damage, but doesn't poison.

His stasis nades now do damage. They also don't have an AoE effect, they do damage instantly upon explosion, and enemies in the explosion radius do reduced damage and take a weak dot

His tracker dart now does a strong DPS on hit, and shows an outline. It doesn't track, however, so you don't get to know the actual location of the monster.

His Matrix is called "lesser defense Matrix". I don't know if it's weaker, but I'd assume so

Torvald

The Autofire Shotgun does a good amount of damage but empties it's clip once you hit fire.

The Mortar fires 5 powerful rockets that fly in an arc. It is wonderful for punishing a monster that is camping a body or an incapped hunter. Don't use it in caves.

The Shrapnel grenade does a small amount of damage and covers the monster in weak points. Can be brutal when used with the Shotgun.

Lennox

The Plasma lance does a decent amount of damage, and each consecutive hit (on anything) within a couple seconds adds a damage multiplier, up to 2x. Getting hit by the monster, missing, or waiting too long sets the multiplier to 1x. Damage starts at 150. Second hit is 1.33x. Third hit is 1.66x. Fourth hit is 2x.

The Autocannon does good DPS with fairly accurate firing for ranged attacks. Wonderful for throwing a Dome.

The Thunder Strike launched Lennox into the air then sends her crashing down for huge damage. Does even more damage against Monsters. Can be used to initiate and draw Monster fire.

The Trappers

TRAPPERS

Maggie

The Machine Pistol does a good amount of damage. It fires very quickly, but is very innacurate at any non-close range.

You may have up to 3 Harpoon Traps. When a Monster comes in range of a trap, it will spring, harpooning the Monster. A harpooned Monster moves slowly, and cannot walk out of a threshold without first breaking the Cable. Hide the Traps just slightly out of sight.

Daisy the Pet Trapjaw will follow the Monster. Not his tracks, but the "scent" of the Monster. Daisy will lead you straight to the prey. If the Monster gets too far away, or has spent too much time in water, she will walk around confused. You'll have to walk around until she finds the scent again. The Monster has to KO Daisy along with your teammates. Daisy does no damage, but can try to revive downed Hunters. Daisy also gives a speed boost to your teammates, which it makes it very easy to chase down a Monster. She also paths directly to the Monster, so enjoy!

Wasteland Maggie

The Burst Pistol is basically the Machine Pistol except you have to press the Fire button every time.

She only has one Trap, except it sets the Monster on fire, and has a better activate range.

Daisy got a Flamethrower, and boy is it good. Daisy, the Combat Trapjaw sets the Monster on fire and does DPS. I think she has less HP to compensate. Daisy does NOT have a speed boost for this variation.

In almost EVERY situation, W. Maggie is superior.

Griffin

Griffin has Sound Spikes, tools that are placed in the ground. He has three of them. When the Monster is making a lot of noise (moving while not sneaking) the Sound Spike will ping the Monster's location, and this will update in real time until the Spike is destroyed, or the Monster leaves the area. While the Monster is sneaking, the Radius where the Monster can be detected is smaller, but it will still be detected. The Spike has very low HP and can be destroyed by just about anything. Due to that, spread them out, and hide them in bushes. When a Spike is destroyed while a Monster was being detected in it's area, the last Monster Ping will persist for a short while. If the Monster evolves, and you have at least one up, it will ping it's location.

Griffin's "Gauss Submachine Gun" (Gauss SMG) does a surprisingly good amount of damage if all of it's bullets hit. It's fairly innacurate when shot from the hip, so try zooming in.

Now for Griff's signature weapon, the Harpoon Gun. It fires a Harpoon much like Maggie's traps, except it can be aimed, and only holds the Monster as long as you are holding down Primary Fire. It can be destroyed by attacks, or releasing the button. A good strategy is to wait Monster starts his attack animation, and then release the button. This helps speed up the reload time, since the Monster can't cancel his animation. The Harpoon Gun has a lengthy reload time, so use the Harpoon when you aren't being targeted, to get the most out of the Harpoon.

Electro-Griffin

He's fun, strong, but is a little different. He's a unique, but not quite dynamic Variation.

His SMG, The Laser Storm, does VERY LITTLE DAMAGE. You also have almost no accuracy. However, each bullet applies a fairly decent slow for a short amount of time. If you keep firing on a Monster, they will be slowed for a little while. If you fire one bullet at a time, you can extend the total slow duration to be very long.

His Sound Spikes are pretty tame. They have a smaller total radius, but if the Monster is sneaking at any point in the radius, it will be detected. As with all Sound Spikes, if the Monster evolves and you have one down it'll ping it's location. The OG Sound Spikes had a radius where the Monster could NOT be detected while sneaking, but Monsters don't really sneak anymore so it's kind of meh.

The Final Lockdown: His new 'poon gun. Does dmg per second while harpooned, slows the Monster and restricts movement as usual, but the restrictions are a little weaker. The damage is actually quite high, but it has one fatal flaw that makes me pick OG Griff every time: OG Griffin's poon latch distance is 45 meters. E Griffin's is 25. E-Griffin is great in-combat but terrible outside of combat, which has it's pluses and minuses. E-Griffin has a terrible time stopping fleeing Monsters, as your Harpoon is too short, and your gun is too inaccurate.

He's really up to preference, and I personally think that the ability to stop a fleeing Monster is more valuable than a fairly strong DPS on your 'poon.

Abe

Abe, the Bounty Hunter.

Abe's Custom shotgun fires differently depending on how fast you squeeze the trigger. If you go for speed, the shotgun will fire high spread pellets. If you fire slowly, shots will be more accurate at slightly longer ranges. Fire slowly when the Monster is running, or if you need to back up to avoid being damaged by the Monster.

Abe's Stasis Grenades cover a decently sized area for a short while in a slowing effect. It arms immediately after throwing, cannot be destroyed, lasts 15 seconds, and three can be active at a time. It slows the Monster's movements. They do technically damage the Monster, but the damage is so little that you shouldn't really count it. They activate as soon as they are thrown, and stick to a wall. Despite this, they cannot be destroyed by the Monster. If you try to have 4 active, the earliest one will disappear. His Stasis Grenades are very effective against mobile Monsters.

Abe's Tracking Dart Pistol does no damage, fires very quickly, and tags the Monster for 45 seconds, highlighting it. The darts can be fired into wildlife. If a Monster eats tagged wildlife, it will become tagged for 45 seconds. As far as I know, tagged wildlife stays tagged for 35 seconds, but even if the Monster eats the corpse during the last second of the Tag duration, the Monster will be tagged for the full 45. Tag every creature you see. Tag the Monster when the Arena goes up, whenever you see it while chasing, and right as the Dome goes down.

Crow

Crow, the badass. (Legit)

Love this guy. He has a pet Batray named Gobi. He can throw Gobi in a direction, and he will fly, looking for the Monster. If Gobi spots him, the Monster becomes highlighted so it can be seen. Gobi will return to you and is on a short CD. Very useful after a Planet Scanner so you can pinpoint the location, or if you want to follow two roads, you can send Gobi down one.

His Stasis Rifle can fire quick shots that briefly slow the Monster. It can be charged for a much longer, stronger debuff.

His Kinetic Rifle can fire quickly to do good damage, or it can be charged to do slightly more. WHEN CHARGED, IT PIERCES ARMOR. BEWARE, AS THIS CAN AND WILL EVENTUALLY DO ENOUGH TO REDUCE A DOME BY 1 MINUTE.

Jack

Jack is tough to play. I've never been great with him.

He has dual energy pistols that do ♥♥♥♥ for damage, so don't bother unless you have nothing to do.

His Repulsor will stop a Monster that is moving into it's beam. This can be used to nullify traversals that are used to get closer to you. Play around with it. Also, if you jetpack boost straight into the air against a Kraken, and use the beam from the top, you'll force the Kraken to the ground.

His Satellite can be placed down, where it will emit 4 laser beams. If the beam touches a Monster it will do heavy damage. Additionally, it will ping the location of tracks, Monsters, and Albinos in it's radius.

The Medics

MEDIC

Valerie

The T1 Medic, and also considered one of the best.

The Sniper Rifle pierces the Monster, creating weak spots that do more damage when bullet-type weapons hit them.

The Medgun heals a single target, and it has a fantastic range. Use it on low health teammates that are being focused by the Monster.

The Tranq gun slows the monster and highlights them, making them visible through walls and other such obstacles.

As Val, keep your teammates healed constantly. You should be on the Medgun 70% of the time. When your team is healthy, tranq the monster once, and then fill him with Weak Points.

Try and target the head with the Armor-Piercing rifle. It does a lot of damage for your team.

Spread out your weak points. This way your team is doing extra damage most of the time.

If your team doesn't have that many bullet using Hunters, consider not picking Val, as the Armor Rifle will go to waste.

Rogue Val

The Variation of the "Selfish Medic" without being TOO selfish. Focuses on AOE healing, and self-preservation.

The Armor Piercing Sniper Rifle has changed into a regular damaging Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle. It has 3 bullets per clip, does more damage per bullet, and fires faster. It no longer leaves behind weak points.

The Medgun now heals less per second, but can heal all three of your teammates at once. The Intial target heals the most, and the two other targets heal slower. The range is now shorter.

The Tranq Rifle is now a Poison Dart Rifle. It still highlights, but instead of slowing, it does damage per second.

The Heal burst has a passive Health Regen Aura when off cooldown. When activated it ONLY HEALS VAL, but heals a hell of a lot more. It can almost become a full heal at lower HP.

Lazarus

Lazarus has a Silenced Sniper Rifle that a 10 shot magazine, fires quickly, does very little damage, and leaves weak points behind on the Monster. These weakpoints are weaker than Val's, but can be placed in much greater volumes.

Lazarus has a Personal Cloak. This hides him from sight, and prevents him from being smelled. Being lit on fire or taking damage reveals him. Combine the Cloak with the Lazarus Device for sneaky revives

Lazarus here wouldn't be nicknamed Lazarus if he wasn't a Lazarus Man, one of 1000 men that were given Lazarus devices, an awesome device that could revive the dead. Lazarus has no way to heal teammates outside of his Healing Burst, but that doesn't matter. The Lazarus device takes about 1 second to revive a Hunter. You don't have to stand still, so feel free to move slightly around the incapped/dead Hunter. Incapped Hunters come back with no strike penalty, and 60% HP, whereas dead Hunters come back with full HP, but they DO have a strike. As such it is better to Rez a teammate before they die, but if you can't, you can't. You have 30 seconds to revive a dead Hunter. (15 until decay starts, and 15 until the corpse becomes too decayed. A monster eating one meat of the Hunter sets the decay timer down by 7.5 seconds, (total 22.5) and the Monster eating both meats will prevent Resurrection.) Bucket (and I think EMET) can be revived in 45 seconds after death, but if both meats are eaten, they still cannot be revived. When a Hunter dies, keep firing at the Monster to prevent him from eating a body (called Corpse Camping).

Fun Fact: The Laz. Device can revive wildlife. With a team, kill a large Elite Wildlife and take the buff, before reviving the wildlife, forcing the Monster to kill it again. Wouldn't recommend this strategy against Tyrants or Megamouths, because then they will start nomming on you, much to your team's frustration.

Caira

Ah Caira.

Her Grenade Launcher has two modes. Napalm, or Healing. In Napalm, the grenades explode on contact with people, wildlife, Monsters, or the world, dealing damage and lighting enemies on fire, applying a DOT.

In Healing, grenades only heal Hunters, so don't worry about using it in combat against the Monster. They heal you less than everyone else, so always keep yourself healthy.

The Acceleration Field provides an AOE speed boost to your teammates. It starts at your location and stretches forward. Hunter travel speeds are about as follows during the Field duration. Regular jetpack usage < Running < Jetpack Boosting. Try to save Jetpack boosts until the end of the Adrenaline boost. It has a lengthy enough cooldown, so don't waste it.

Quantam Caira

Well she's interesting, but not bad.

Her grenade launchers now launch an AOE field of either damage or healing. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THESE STACK, AND ONLY LAST A COUPLE SECONDS. Her 3rd ability, Neutron Barrier, is no longer a speed boost. Instead, it is an AOE damage reduction. The damage reduction is slightly weaker than the assaults, and is thusly very useful if you are against a high AOE damage Monster, or if someone domed in a cave.

YOUR HEAL BURST HAS CHANGED!!!!! It is no longer an instant HP heal, instead, it does DPS to all Monsters in the area of effect for 6 seconds, and does a heal per second for all Hunters in the area for 6 seconds.

Quantam Caira is very difficult in comparison to OG Caira, and so you will definitely need a mic if you play her. I'd say she might be trickier, but with better reward if played right.

Paladin Parnell

His Heal Burst heals only himself. He has a Mutagen Shotgun that functions almost identically to Slim, dealing damage and reducing the CD on his HealBurst.

His rocket launcher now heals allies in a small radius, and the attack speed of that can be increased by Righteous Fury. This launcher is similar in function to Caira's healing 'nades.

His ability, Righteous Fury, increases his attack and reload speed, whilst also decreasing incoming damage. The reduction in damage is weaker than a regular assault Matrix.

Slim

Slim Jim, the king pin. Idk.

He has a Leech Gun. Whenever he damages something with it, little green particles effects run back to him. When they touch him, it reduces the CD of his Heal Burst. At close range, he can throw out an HB once per second.

Spore Gun.

Fires spores that do two things. First, prevents Monster from smelling inside it. Second, kills framerate (actually they fixed that).

Healing Bug. Fire it at target ally. It has global range. Heals slowly and is knocked off when the hunter takes damage. Can't be used on self. Can revive incapped if you let it.

EMET

Replay Cannon

EMET fires a tracker shot. He then fires a salvo of rockets at wherever/whatever the tracker hit. Does good damage.

Healing Buoys are little beacons that EMET throws out. They provide a weak healing aura to allies. If EMET activates Heal Burst, then all the Buoys will activate it (The Buoy one is stronger). You can use the Heal Burst while the Buoy is still in midair.

Respawn Beacon.

EMET plants a beacon that fires blue laser into the sky. This laser is VERY VERY VERY visible. Consider planting in caves. After 15 seconds, if the beacon is undamaged, all dead allies will respawn and be teleported there. Cannot be used if no allies are dead.

The Supports

SUPPORT

Hank

Hank is an all around fantastic support.

The Shield Projector provides a high strength shield at the click of a button. It won't recharge while you are holding down fire, so only pop the shield when a teammate is about to take damage from an ability or heavy attack. Then release the button to drop the shield. Rinse and repeat.

The Laser Cutter fires bursts of deadly accurate lasers that do good amounts of damage, and are amplified by weakpoints. Good if you have line of sight of the Relay and you are the last one alive, as you can guaranteed interrupt the Monster.

The Orbital Barrage drops a lot of high damage explosives from space. The first few rockets are accurate, and the next few spread slightly. Good against Monsters that are in the open and are slowed/harpooned. Can only be used where the targeted area is open to the sky. Use it to punish a Monster that is evolving in the open, or is camping a body.

Tech Sgt. Hank

The Shield Charger very slowly charges up a weaker shield than the Projector, but it lasts forever until destroyed, so your entire team can be shielded. Not as great in combat, so use it outside of combat at all times. The order of shielding goes Medic>Trapper>Assault.

The Laser Cutter fires faster than the other Laser Cutter. It is also a solid beam, has no travel time, and does less damage. It is otherwise, exactly the same.

The Orbital Drill lasts longer than the barrage, is instead an Orbital Laser, and does less total damage. It also follows the Monster around, so the Monster has to keep moving around for the entire duration to avoid the damage. Again, can only be used when you can see the sky.

Bucket

An aggressive robot support, Bucket is all about the hunt and the kill.

Bucket's Sentry Guns are decent damaging, low HP deployables. He can have three active at a time. They will attack wildlife, and if they run out of ammo, they will Self Destruct. They can be used as wards if you place them in caves, but since they're easy to destroy, they won't do too much for you. You should keep tossing them down during combat.

Bucket's Rocket Launcher is laser guided, meaning that it can be aimed after firing. It does a solid amount of damage, and doesn't fire too slowly. It can be used at long range.

They removed the UAV.

He now has a Mechanized Recharge. When used, any allies within a small radius will have their class ability recharged at a rapid rate. Very useful for double Planet Scanning to catch the monster EZPZ, or double Heal Bursts.

Cabot

Another aggressive support, and canonically Buckets partner in (anti) crime, Cabot is the leader and organizer of the Hunters. He comes packed with a Railgun, a slow firing weapon that pierces rock and terrain, dealing good damage to whatever is on the other side.

His Dust Tagging drops radioactive dust in the same targeting style as Hank's Orbital Weapons, highlighting all Wildlife and Monsters in the area.

The Damage Amplifier makes all weapons do double damage for as long as the beam is on the target. The battery of the Amplifier reduces for each point of damage amplified, up to 700 extra damage without Perks/Buffs. Use it when the Assault is firing on the Monster for easy, fast damage.

Sunny

Sunny darkens my day qq.

She has a Mininuke Grenade launcher that does big damage.

Her Shield Drone automatically protects allies it has LoS of with a shield if they are being attacked. Put it on high ground where it can see everyone.

Her Jetpack Booster provides extra jetpack fuel as long as the beam is on them. Jetpack thrust using the Booster is higher, so better boosts. Uses fuel from the Booster before the regular jetpack.

Kala

Kala is part-human, part-monster, and all creepy as ♥♥♥♥.

Her Siren missiles fire slow moving balls that do good damage. If they hit the ground or wall, they become mines that move even slower and do more damage, after arming themselves.

Her Armor Reducer temporarily removes the armor from the targeted Monster. This is very handy against Mitigating monsters. When using it, all allies should focus fire.

Her teleporters are confusing, so bear with me. When Kala uses one, it throws it down. The first one is Orange, I think. Secondary fire is purple. After a couple seconds, they can be used. They are bi-directional, so both are an exit and an entrance. They have no maximum range. NOW NOTE THIS. Once someone goes thru, they teleport to they other side. For the next couple seconds, the teleporters become a one way trip. You can get outside the dome using the teleporters. With an EMET, you can have EMET tp very far away and put down his Beacon to respawn dead allies. Also good to guard the Relay

The Monsters (Part 1 Of 2)

THE MONSTERS

Goliath

The mascot of Evolve, and an all-around brawler, Goliath is used to dishing out AOE and high single target damage.

Rock Throw is an ability where Goliath picks up a giant rock. By holding down the Rock Throw button, Goliath will hold the rock and allow you to aim. It moves at a decent speed, does a lot of damage, and hits an AOE. Goliath has to stand still while aiming and picking up the rock, so don't use it when you are in a dangerous space, like in the middle of an Orbital Barrage or standing in Hyde's 'nades. Be warned, Rock Throw has a very large knockback.

Leap Smash is an excellent traversal and damage ability. Goliath... leaps... straight into the air and comes down at the targeted location. It does a fair chunk of damage, and can be used to get extreme distances. It can be held the same way as Rock Throw, except you can move while aiming. It is similar to Goliath's Traversal Ability (Which is a forward leap. Does no damage.) When targeted at close ranges, Goliath will still jump straight in the air, so there is always a delay before impact.

Charge is a really fun ability. Goliath charges straight forward, carrying all Hunters and small wildlife with him, and doing damage. It does one instance of damage, and it does a fair amount. It can be used to get away, or for damage, or to initiate. You cannot turn while charging.

And a nice little ability called Fire Breath to finish off Goliath. Does damage, sets enemies on fire, Goliath can move around while its being used, and it is very good for hunting wildlife. It does a large amount of damage when focused on one target. It sets cloaked Hunters on fire, which allows you to see a moving thing on fire. Basically, when Laz decides to cloak, pop the breath, and you'll be able to see them.

Meteor Goliath

Basically Goliath with a few minor changes. First of all, he has more armor, his abilities all take longer to recharge, he does less impact damage with his abilities, but ALL of his attacks apply a rather potent damage over time fire. With MG, you can spread damage a little bit more, because the Medic won't be able to heal everyone at once (Unless they're Rogue Val). Most of his abilities have slightly longer ranges, such as Fire Breath. Use this to your advantage.

Kraken

The Attack helicopter of the Monsters, Kraken's unique Traversal Ability allows him to fly in the air, or while flying, dash around the sky. While in the air, Kraken's melee attacks become ranged balls of lighting.

Lighting Strike calls down a, well, lighting strike. It takes a few seconds to call down, during which, Kraken cannot move, but can look around to slowly move the position of the attack when it lands. It does lots of damage, and is a rather large AOE. Use it on enemies with no Jetpack available for good damage.

Banshee Mines are fun little deployables. When used, Kraken fires some Mines down, they travel forward. They have a brief period of invulnerability, during which, they arm themselves. When armed, they will emit a high pitched shriek that can be heard from very far away, slowly float to the nearest enemy, and explode, dealing AOE damage. They can be knocked back with damage, and I think can be destroyed. They can be put on the path you travel when being chased to alert you to the positions of the Hunters.

Vortex is fairly simple. Kraken fires a vortex of energy in a straight line, knocking back and damaging everything it hits. It can be used to knock away the enemy when being chased, as a ranged damage option, or to lock an enemy in a corner.

Aftershock is the strange one of the family. Kraken, while maintaining his current momentum, creates a little bubble around him. After a brief delay it deals a LOT of damage in a sphere around him. He can still move while using it, so make sure to move so you hit the Hunters.

While in midair, hitting the sneak button will make Kraken drop to the ground

Elder Kraken

WHEN I WROTE THIS, ELDER KRAKEN WAS TRASH. NOW HE'S GODLIKE. Elder Kraken is a more melee oriented variation of Kraken. He can be disorienting if you're used to OG Kraken. His basic attacks in air are melee, his traversal recharges faster, but he falls out of the air faster.

Lighting Strike is faster, smaller, and does less damage than OG Kraken, and can't be moved, but you can attack during the channel. It is very strong and can be hard to dodge.

Banshee Missile

E. Kraken tosses out a slow moving ball of death that explodes on contact with anything, doing massive damage. Lethal at close range.

Chain Lighting.

Similar to Aftershock, there is a small delay before the explosion. DOES NOT HIT ENEMIES ABOVE ELDER KRAKEN. Enemies the farthest away (if there are multiple enemies hit) take more damage.

Death Spiral

Shoots a large vortex that lingers for a few seconds, doing DPS. Very deadly if you can keep an enemy in it.

AS A SIDE NOTE, ALL OF ELDER KRAKEN'S MOVES PENETRATE WALLS. (Except Missle, obviously).

Wraith

Ah, Wraith. The sneaky, clever, assassin of the Monsters. She comes equipped with a fantastic skill set. She has the lowest HP stat of all the Monsters, so beware of people like the Trapper, Crow and the Support, Kala. All newbies see Wraith as OP. If you lose to her a lot, don't get discouraged. She's annoying to play against. A reminder, she is squishy. Do damage fast. Don't bunch up, but don't get too separated.

Abduction is a nice little skill. Wraith rushes forward (very far) in a straight line, stopping when she hits a small enemy, (Hunter, Reaver, Strider etc) the terrain, or the end of the skill. She then returns to her starting positon. This does damage. It can be used to take Hunters back to a location out of the way, especially if you hadn't been seen yet. It can be used to isolate a hunter, grab a fleeing hunter, or just for damage. SHE ALWAYS RETURNS TO THE CAST POINT. If she misses, use this knowledge and be prepared for her return flight.

Warp Blast is fun. Wraith quickly travels to a designated location, and after a brief pause, creates an explosion that does a lot of damage and has a high knockback. It can be used to flee, intiate, or do damage. When targeted in the air, Wraith will not fall until the explosion, which can be used to keep Wraith in the air (also known as sky-wraithing).

Wraith's Traversal is a short-range teleport-dash thing. It can be used to go into the sky, or to go down, or anywhere. It is incredibly fast, and is often regarded as one of the best Traversals in the game.

Supernova creates a miniature dome at your location. While in the dome, Wraith does more damage with each attack and has greatly increased attack speed. The effect is lost when you leave the area. Decoy's spawned while in the Supernova have it's benefits. IF YOU STAND IN THE WHITE DOME AND DON'T LEAVE, WRAITH WILL WIN. LEAVE THE SUPERNOVA. IF YOU STAND IN THE SUPERNOVA, YOU DESERVE EVERY LOSS TO WRAITH YOU GET. (Don't feel bad if you've been doing this, just learn from it and get out of there).

Without further ado, Decoy. Wraith spawns an imperfect decoy that fights with her. The decoy CAN be destroyed, but when Hunter's attack it, it will flash, alerting them that it is a decoy. The Decoy does more damage than Wraith does with it's attacks, so be wary. It is beneficial for Hunters to quickly kill the decoy. It can be buffed with Supernova, which makes it deadlier. As Wraith, it can be useful to attack someone the Decoy isn't to spread the damage and get downs easily.

The Monsters (Part 2 Of 2)

Behemoth

BEHEMOTH, OUR GOD, HAS BEEN UPDATED!

He now has a new passive, Living Fortress, that gives him stacks of damage reduction when he takes a big hit. This minimizes burst damage he receives. His traversal now doesn't get caught on wildlife, but also no longer provides the 50% damage reduction it used to. He now has more mobility while rolling.

Fissure.

Behemoth slams the ground and releases a powerful fissure that travels along the ground. The Fissure affects the ground surface, and travels up and down cliffs. It does massive damage and is the bread and butter of Behemoth

Tongue Grab.

Much like Wraith's abduction, except Behemoth doesn't move, only his prey does. Can be used on corpses and wildlife to fling them over to you.

Lava Bomb

Behemoth rears his ugly head (jk I love my little rock baby) and spits out some magma, which does damage. Then it leaves behind a sphere of lava that does damage per second and ignites enemies. Great for area denial. The ability can be re-aimed up until it fires, like Goliath's Rock Throw

Rock Wall. A unique move, Behemoth summons an arc of rock the juts up from the earth as a wall. It can be used to wall yourself in with someone for easy killings, or to eat a corpse and avoid being shot. Enemies hit by the wall take damage, and it can be aimed.

Gorgon

ALL NEW PLAYERS!!!! ATTENTION!!! I don't suggest buying Gorgon until you've played her on free rotation or have gotten better at the game.

Spider queen monstrosity thing.

Let's start off with her unique traversal, Web Sling. Gorgon fires off some web and flies in the direction she aims. When faced at a wall and close enough to it, she can hold the traversal button to use the Web Sling and stick to the wall (you will see the outline of a web when you find an appropriate wall). When holding there, and using a melee attack, Gorgon will leap off the wall and do massive damage, then starting a pounce attack. The farther she flies, the more base damage.

Acid Spit, as the name suggests, is a skill where Gorgon spits a pool of acid. The acid pool does DPS and is very strong for killing incapped players. As a newbie GET OUT OF THE ACID POOL. Learn it, or you will lose your games.

Web Snare does a good amount of damage and weakens Hunter Jetpacks. Boosts and regular movement is nerfed when you are snared.

Spider Trap launches a spider that takes a moment to arm. When a Hunter gets near, the Spider gets up and shrieks, before running towards the Hunter. When it reaches them, it swallows them doing big damage and then applying a DPS while they are inside the belly. The spider then runs off and sits still. The spider damages itself until it dies, and can be killed. This thing can ruin a Hunter's game, so kill it when you see it.

Mimic is strange. She sits still controlling a copy of herself (it's obvious which one is which). The Mimic can be moved around and can use Web Sling. It can be detonated immediately after use, which creates a sizable explosion that does a good amount of damage. If the Mimic or Gorgon takes too much damage, the Mimic explodes. Gorgon is very squishy too, but has a lot of AOE. You want to have jetpack at the ready always against Gorgon.

Life After Being New

Multiplayer.

First thing is first, check your badge, and design one that is meaningful to you.

Next thing, when you level up enough you can play Ranked.

Ranked is a little complex.

There are three tiers, Copper Silver Gold. (I think that's what they're called)

You must play 10 matches as Hunter to get ranked as a Hunter, and the same for Monster. You will be placed in one of these categories once you finish the matches, and then you will prominently display your rank in lobbies after getting ranked. It's important to have good communication and team synergy in ranked.

ACTUALLY THE RANKED INFO NEEDS CONFIRMING. I haven't had the time to check this, but it's really very simple. It will kinda walk you through the process.

NOW GO OUT THERE AND KICK SOME ASS

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=593085606

The New Player's Essential Guide. (last updated 2017)