Hunters,

Story Challenges are a new feature which we added to the game in Update 2.6 and will keep expanding on. Story Challenges provide you with new rewards, unique lore, as well as some new challenges to take on. We’re excited to announce that there will be a new Story Challenge titled “Game of Skill” releasing on the 10th of February which will celebrate the Lunar New Year. This new Story Challenge will be a Premium one and will cost 1250 Blood Bonds and will be available for purchase until 7th of April 2026. It includes even more rewards than the first Premium Story Challenge:

• Ironshod Bandit (Hunter & Player Profile Avatar)
• Bandit’s Oath (Mosin-Nagant)
• Centering Breath (First Aid Kit)
• Rich Man’s Luck (Cavalry Saber)
• Game of Skill (Player Profile Badge & Frame)
• Green Dragon (Player Profile Title)
• Event Points, Hunt Dollars, Bloodline XP, etc.

As this will be a Premium Story Challenge, the value of items are reflected in both the price, and the time you need to invest. The value of the whole bundle is cheaper than if you were to purchase items individually.

When we first launched Story Challenges, we had a lot of feedback from the community and we made sure to immediately act on it. Some of the key changes included making sure that there were no time limits once purchased, more value was added, and the player objectives were challenging enough to be fun but not overwhelming. We have continued to keep this feedback front of mind with “Game of Skill”.

When it comes to the difficulty of Challenges we saw in the “On the Winds of Midwinter” that the majority of players were able to complete the challenges within two weeks of play. We’re continuing to keep a close eye on challenge difficulty balance with Game of Skill and the future Story Challenges we put out. We want these to present you with a fun set of challenges that feel rewarding for your time and skill. We don’t want Premium Story Challenges to become multi-month grind fests for our players.

We have previous Year of the Snake items in the in-game Store too, so you can get your hands on Zhuge Liu (Hunter), Spring Rain (Chu Ko Nu), and the Snake Bell (Charm). These items are bundled together for a discount in the Coiled Serpent Bundle. You can also claim the Gift of Peace charm for free in the Store. These items will be available between the 10th Feb to the 17th March 2026.

Other Updates

As we ease into the end of the event we have some more good news. We’ve decided to extend Pledge Marks into the core game instead of being exclusive to events only. This means that any Pledge Marks you earn during this event will be rolled over into the core game and you’ll carry them when the event ends. All previous Pledge Mark sources will be available after the event ends apart from the 25 Event Points source.

You will now see various themed Supply Points that can spawn in the world and are shown on the map with custom icons. These all have some unique loot that you can spend Pledge Marks for:

• Postal Supply Points:
  • Has an assortment of Sealed Envelopes and a guaranteed Pledge Mark Envelope.

• Clockmaker’s Supply Points:
  • Has Destiny’s Dial, a chance of a Tarot Card, and the chance of a Sealed Bounty.

• Sealed Hoard:
  • Has a Health Restoration Kit, a chance for a Scarce Weapon Box, or a Full Ammo Resupply Box.

Finally, a new Battle Pass will be available when our new Update launches in March. While we acknowledge that there is no free path for the Game of Skill Story Challenge, we want to make clear that with every major update there will be free additional free Story Challenges available to all players.

We hope you enjoy the upcoming Story Challenges and we look forward to sharing more in our next update… coming soon!

Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team