Bear Hunt & Bear Trap Guide: Best Formations, Hero Tier List & Max Rewards
Quick Answer — Bear Trap Formation by Generation: Gen 1: 10/30/60 · Gen 2: 10/20/70 · Gen 3: 10/10/80 · Gen 4+: 1/10/89 (Infantry / Cavalry / Archers)
Best joiner hero: Chenko → Amadeus → Yeonwoo. No good hero available? Send troops only — that's genuinely better than sending the wrong hero. Max rewards unlock at 1.2 billion total alliance damage. Primary reward: Forge Hammers.
Most alliances plateau around 800–900 million damage and can't figure out why. Nine times out of ten it's the same two problems: someone's sending Jabel as their joiner hero, and the R4 is opening too many rallies at once. Fix those two things alone and you'll jump closer to that 1.2B cap faster than you'd expect.
Bear Hunt — most players call it Bear Trap interchangeably, and we'll use both throughout — is the single most important recurring alliance event for gear progression. Every Forge Hammer you'll ever need flows from here. Miss events consistently and your gear falls behind in ways that are genuinely hard to recover from.
Want to master Bear Hunt? See the full Bear Hunt guide (this page). For gear progression, check the Gear Guide. For Hero Roulette and gem spending, see the Gem Spending Guide. Unsure what to buy in the Alliance Store? The F2P Guide covers Alliance Store priorities and more.
This guide covers the full picture: basic mechanics for newer players, the by-generation formations most guides get partially right, the joiner hero decisions almost everyone gets wrong, and the coordination math that R4/R5 players need but rarely find documented properly. Whatever your level, there's something here that'll move your numbers.
Jump To
- How the Event Works
- Best Troop Formation by Generation
- Joiner Hero Tier List
- Rally Host Heroes by Generation
- Pitfall Upgrade System
- Pets: What Helps and What Doesn't
- Damage Mechanics Explained
- Alliance Coordination — R4/R5 Guide
- The 30-Minute Timeline
- Strategy by Player Type
- Pre-Event Checklist
- What NOT to Do
- FAQ
How the Event Works
Duration: 30 minutes per hunt
Frequency: Every 2 days — triggered manually by R4 or R5
Type: Alliance Cooperative PvE
Cost: Nothing — no stamina, no troop losses, no injuries, no resources consumed
Damage Cap for Max Rewards: 1.2 billion total alliance damage
Primary Reward: Forge Hammers (the main crafting material for hero gear upgrades)
The One Thing That Changes Everything
The bear does not fight back. There are no injuries, no troop losses, nothing. Every defensive stat on your account is worthless for this event — Lethality and Attack are the only two stats that matter, full stop.
This sounds obvious but it has huge implications. It means any troop formation built around survivability is wrong here. It means heroes with defensive or economic skills in a joiner slot are actively harmful — not just useless, but actively displacing someone else's better skill. It means the entire game for 30 minutes is simply: deal as much damage as possible, as many times as possible.
Why Lethality beats Attack: Both are multipliers in the damage formula. But most players' Lethality stat starts far lower than their Attack, meaning every point of Lethality added gives a bigger proportional damage boost than the same point of Attack would. That gap is the entire reason Chenko — whose first skill is a flat +25% Squad Lethality — is the best Bear Trap joiner in the game.
What Rally Leaders vs. Joiners Actually Contribute
This table is the foundation of everything. Host and joiner have completely different jobs.
| Contribution | Rally Leader | Rally Joiner |
|---|---|---|
| Own troops | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Combat Research bonuses | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Governor Gear & Charms | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Hero Equipment stats | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| All 3 hero skills | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Pet bonuses | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Cosmetic buffs | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Hero skill contribution | All 3 heroes, all skills | 1st hero's 1st Expedition skill ONLY |
This is where most players get it wrong. As a joiner, the only hero thing that matters is your first hero's first Expedition skill. The game picks the top 4 highest-level joiner skills per rally and ignores the rest. If your first hero has a weak or defensive skill, you are physically taking away a slot that could've gone to someone with Chenko. Sending no hero at all is better — your troops still contribute fully to the rally's damage.
One nuance on skill stacking worth knowing: flat buffs like Chenko's +25% Lethality are additive and stack across multiple joiners. Four Chenkos in one rally compounds significantly. Chance-based skills like Jabel's do not stack — two Jabels gives you exactly the same result as one. Keep this in mind when your alliance is coordinating who sends what.
Best Troop Formation by Generation
The formation shifts toward Archers as you progress through generations because the math behind which troop type deals the most damage changes with your hero stats. Here's the full progression.
Formation by Generation
| Generation | Infantry | Cavalry | Archers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen 1 | 10% | 30% | 60% | Cavalry heroes have the strongest stats at this stage |
| Gen 2 | 10% | 20% | 70% | Archer heroes are catching up — shift the split |
| Gen 3 | 10% | 10% | 80% | The 10/10/80 most players learn and never update |
| Gen 4+ (Universal) | 1% | 10% | 89% | The actual endgame standard |
If you're Gen 4+ and still using 10/10/80, you're leaving damage on the table every single event. The endgame formation is 1/10/89 — not 10/10/80. Update your formation preset now.
One hard rule regardless of generation: always keep at least 5,000 Infantry troops in absolute numbers. Bear Hunt's damage formula punishes dropping below this floor disproportionately — the percentage on your screen can look fine while your actual damage takes a hit. Calculate the absolute count, not just the ratio.
Why You Can't Just Go 100% Archers
The instinct is to push Archers as high as possible since they deal the most damage — and that's right. But Infantry and Cavalry exist in your formation to activate their hero's troop-type specific buff skills. A hero like Helga gives massive percentage bonuses to Infantry stats. Remove Infantry from your march and you throw away that entire buff. The minimum percentages for Infantry and Cavalry exist purely to trigger those hero bonuses, not for their own damage contribution.
Finding Your Personal Optimum
For Gen 8+ players or anyone deep into a generation: when your Archer Lethality exceeds your Cavalry Lethality by more than roughly 358 points, start nudging Cavalry down in 5% increments and Archers up accordingly. Test by adjusting the split on the march screen and watching your estimated single-hit damage — the split that gives the highest number is your current personal optimum. Takes two minutes and is worth doing after any major gear or research upgrade.
Joiner Hero Tier List
As a joiner your entire hero contribution is one thing: your first hero's first Expedition skill. The second and third heroes you bring only increase your march's troop capacity — their skills do nothing for the rally.
Joiner Tier List
| Tier | Hero | Skill Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | Chenko | +25% Squad Lethality | Best joiner in the game |
| S-Tier | Amadeus | +25% Squad Lethality | Equal skill — but see the hosting vs. joining decision below |
| S-Tier | Yeonwoo | +25% Squad Lethality | Same tier when properly leveled |
| A-Tier | Amane | Attack boost | Valid second choice — Attack × Lethality both factor into damage |
| A-Tier | Hilde | +15% Attack | Reliable, not chance-based — solid fallback |
| A-Tier | Thrud | Archer + Infantry specific Attack | Not chance-based, slightly weaker than Hilde but underrated |
| B-Tier (Max One Per Rally) | Marlin, Zoe, Jaeger, Petra | Chance-based buffs | One is fine. Stacking multiples is a waste — they don't compound. |
| Never Send | Jabel, Gordon, Edwin, Longfei, Helga, Diana | Defensive or economic skills | Troops only is genuinely better |
On Longfei specifically: He has two defensive skills and only one offensive skill, making him actively worse than even some B-Tier options. A lot of players assume newer generation heroes are automatically better for this event — not true. Longfei is a trap. Don't send him as your Bear Hunt joiner.
The Chenko Decision: When to Send, When to Hold
- Fewer than 4 Chenkos in the rally? Send Chenko as your first hero — you're filling a valuable slot.
- 4 Chenkos already present? Send troops only, or use a blue hero for capacity. A maxed blue hero in slot 1 can accidentally overwrite a weaker Chenko skill and reduce the rally's total Lethality.
- Always check the yellow flag menu inside the rally before confirming your join — it shows which 4 joiner skills are currently active. Five seconds of checking prevents a mistake that costs your alliance damage.
Amadeus: Host or Joiner?
This is genuinely one of the more nuanced decisions in Bear Hunt. Amadeus as a host provides strong buffs to the 15 players in one rally. Amadeus as a joiner contributes his S-Tier Lethality skill to multiple different rallies throughout the 30 minutes.
If your Helga is well-developed (4–5 star, solid Widget), let Helga host your main rally and use Amadeus to join several others. The combined damage contribution across the full event will typically be higher than having Amadeus anchor one rally the whole time. If no one else can host at a competitive level, Amadeus hosts — no debate.
Secondary Marches
If you have secondary marches available, use Chenko or Amadeus on those to join different rallies simultaneously while your primary march is in another. Strong accounts contributing skills to 2–3 rallies at once is one of the highest-leverage moves available to top-tier players. If you have this capability and aren't using it, start.
Rally Host Heroes by Generation
As host, all three of your hero skills apply to the entire rally. This is where individual hero investment has the most leverage in Bear Hunt — your upgrades benefit every player who joins you.
Gen 1 Rally Host
Best: Amadeus · Jabel · Seo-yul (or Quinn)
F2P: Howard · Jabel · Quinn
Formation: 10% Infantry / 30% Cavalry / 60% Archers
At Gen 1 you're working with limited options. Amadeus is the clear best host because his raw Infantry stats are the highest available. The thing to avoid here: don't use Diana even if she looks strong on paper — she's an economic hero and her skills contribute nothing to bear damage. Quinn outperforms Diana here because Quinn has a damage-increasing skill.
F2P Gen 1 players: your primary job is Intel Missions daily and joining every rally you can. Your individual damage is secondary to keeping the Pitfall maxed and showing up consistently.
Pitfall Upgrade System
The Pitfall should be at Level 5 before the first rally launches. The +25% Attack bonus applies to every troop in every rally for the full event. Not maxing the Pitfall costs your entire alliance damage — it's not optional and it's not close.
Pitfall Upgrade Table
| Level | Arrows Required | Running Total | Attack Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | 200 | +5% |
| 2 | 300 | 500 | +10% |
| 3 | 400 | 900 | +15% |
| 4 | 500 | 1,400 | +20% |
| 5 (Max) | 500 | 1,900 | +25% |
The Arrow Math
- Every member earns 24 arrows per day from Intel Missions
- 40 active members × 24 = 960 arrows/day
- 960 per day over 2 days = 1,920 arrows — enough to max the Pitfall every cycle
One thing almost no guide mentions: stop donating once the Pitfall hits Level 5. Extra arrows aren't banked for the next enhancement — they're wasted. R4/R5 should post in alliance chat when the cap is hit so members don't burn arrows unnecessarily.
Intel Mission completion should be a clear alliance expectation, not a casual suggestion. One member skipping daily arrows is small. Across a 40-person alliance with inconsistent completion over 2 days, the gap is the difference between a Level 3 and Level 5 Pitfall — a real 10–15% damage penalty across every rally before anyone even launches.
Pets: What Helps and What Doesn't
This section gets skipped in almost every Bear Hunt guide, which means a lot of players are activating useless skills before this event without realizing it.
Pets Worth Activating Before Bear Hunt
| Pet | Relevant Skill | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Mighty Bison | Squad Capacity +15,000 (2h) | More troops per march = more damage per rally. Critical for rally hosts. |
| Black Panther | Troop Lethality +10% (2h) | Direct damage buff — Lethality is the stat you want most |
| Giant Rhino | All Squad Attack +10% (2h) | Solid flat attack multiplier across all troop types |
| Moose (Rally Capacity variant only) | Rally Capacity +150,000 (2h) | For bear callers only — increases how many joiners your rally can hold |
Activate these right before launching or joining your first rally. The 2-hour window comfortably covers the full 30-minute event. Don't forget — unused activated skills are wasted cooldowns.
The Pet That Does Absolutely Nothing Here
The Moose's "Horror Stare" skill is completely useless in Bear Hunt. Horror Stare reduces enemy Squad Health. The Raging Bear does not have a Health bar — it only has Defense. The skill targets a stat the Bear doesn't have, so it contributes zero damage. If you've been activating this before Bear Hunt thinking it helps, stop — you're burning the cooldown for nothing.
This is probably the most commonly wasted pet activation in the game. The Moose is strong in PvP. Just not here.
Damage Mechanics Explained
You don't need to understand formulas to play Bear Hunt well. But knowing the mechanics behind the meta will help you make smarter decisions as new heroes arrive and the game evolves.
Why Lethality > Attack (The Intuition)
Both are multipliers in the damage formula. If your Attack is 10,000 and your Lethality is 2,000, adding 500 Lethality increases that multiplier by 25%. Adding 500 Attack only moves it by 5%. Same raw number of points added, dramatically different proportional result. That gap explains the entire Chenko meta — she's not S-Tier for no reason.
Expedition Skills vs. Widget (Exclusive) Skills
Not all hero skills behave the same way:
- Expedition skills (standard hero skills) — additive. They add flat percentages that stack linearly.
- Widget Exclusive skills — can be additive or multiplicative. Multiplicative skills scale proportionally with your existing stats.
A multiplicative 10% Widget boost on a high-Lethality account is worth dramatically more than a flat +10% additive boost. This is why maxing the Widget on your key heroes — Chenko, Amadeus, Helga — is such a high-priority investment. The return scales with how strong your other stats already are.
The 5,000 Infantry Floor
Bear Hunt's damage formula has a specific threshold: dropping below 5,000 Infantry troops in absolute numbers causes a disproportionate damage loss. The percentage on your formation screen can look correct while your absolute count is under the floor. At Gen 4+ with 1/10/89, calculate the absolute number — if 1% of your march is fewer than 5,000 troops, nudge the percentage up until you're above it.
How the +25% Pitfall Bonus Interacts With Archers
The Pitfall Attack bonus applies equally by percentage to all troop types. But since Archers have the highest base Attack, they receive the largest absolute boost. This is another layer of why Archer-heavy formations extract more value from a maxed Pitfall than balanced ones.
Stat Priority Order
Roughly in order of impact for mid-to-late game: Archer Lethality → Archer Attack → Troop Deployment Capacity → Cavalry Lethality. Push these through Governor Gear (goggles and boots first), Academy Research, Islands, War Academy, Governor Charms, and Chief Gear. Long term: T11 Archers and Truegold upgrades compound across every event you'll ever do.
Alliance Coordination — R4/R5 Guide
If you're leading your alliance's Bear Hunt, this section covers what most coordination guides skip.
Schedule Both Traps Strategically
You have two Hunting Traps. Don't just pick times that work for you personally. Poll your members to find the two time windows with the most participation overlap, then schedule Trap 1 and Trap 2 accordingly. A slightly inconvenient time with 38 active members beats your preferred time with 22.
Cluster Your Rally Leaders Near the Pitfall
Before the event starts, your strongest rally leaders should teleport close to the Pitfall. March time directly caps how many rallies they can lead in 30 minutes. Leaders within 15 seconds of the Pitfall can run significantly more rallies than ones 90 seconds away. This is a real and significant damage difference, not a minor optimization.
Joiners don't need to be right next to the Pitfall — just within a reasonable marching distance so they're not burning a third of the event in transit.
Solving the Instant-Fill Problem (The Formula)
The biggest operational Bear Hunt problem: rallies fill in 3 seconds and half your alliance can't get into anything. Here's the exact fix.
Calculate your per-joiner troop cap:
- Take your strongest host's total Rally Capacity (e.g., 1,132,210)
- Subtract their Squad Capacity (e.g., 162,210)
- Available joiner space = 970,000
- Divide by 14 available joiner slots = ~69,285
- Round to a clean number: 69,000 troops per joiner
Post this cap before every Bear Hunt. Tell everyone to set their formation preset to exactly this troop count. Strong players get capped, rallies stay open longer, everyone participates. Simple change, real damage increase.
Managing Hero Skill Slots as Host
You can kick joiners who bring the wrong hero. If someone joins with Jabel or Edwin while the 4 skill slots aren't full, remove them — but explain why in alliance chat. Most players don't understand the mechanic. Building a culture where people know why it matters is more valuable long-term than just kicking silently.
The Strong Group Strategy
For alliances with 4–6 genuinely elite players: hold your rally restricted for 10–15 seconds to let these players join first, then open it. The difference in total damage when all 4 joiner skills are Chenko-or-better vs. a mixed pool is substantial. Once those players are locked in, open the rally to everyone else.
The 30-Minute Timeline
| Phase | Time Window | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Hunt | 5 min before | Recall gathering troops, activate pet skills, equip Lethality gear, confirm formation preset |
| Opening | 0–5 min | Top hosts launch rallies immediately; strongest joiners fill those first |
| Mid-Hunt | 5–23 min | Continuous cycling — troops return, rejoin immediately, repeat |
| Final Push | 23–30 min | Everyone opens a rally, regardless of account strength |
The Final Push is the one that surprises people. In the last 5–7 minutes, every member — even weaker ones — should open a rally. Not because their rally will be strong. Because opening a rally creates spots for stronger players whose troops are returning from previous rallies. More open spots in the final minutes = more attacks before the timer expires = more total alliance damage. It's a simple mechanic that a lot of alliances leave on the table.
There's no personal cooldown between Bear Hunt attacks. Your only bottleneck is march time. That's why castle positioning near the Pitfall matters so much — it's not cosmetic, it's directly limiting how many rallies you can participate in over 30 minutes.
Strategy by Player Type
F2P Strategy
Your goal is consistent contribution — showing up every event, donating arrows, joining as many rallies as possible with the right setup. You're not carrying the alliance but you're not deadweight either.
- Intel Missions every day without exception. Your 24 arrows are more impactful toward the alliance's total damage than they look individually.
- Don't host unless you're genuinely top 10–15 by power. Hosting before you're ready wastes 15 joiners' contribution.
- Save shard pulls for Chenko. Her joiner skill is the single best return-on-investment for a non-hosting F2P player in this event.
- If you don't have a leveled S-Tier joiner hero, send zero heroes. Not Jabel. Zero.
- Save your formation as a preset. One-tap joining before a rally fills matters more than you'd think over 30 minutes.
Don't skip this event. Bear Hunt is your primary consistent source of Forge Hammers. Missing even a handful of events compounds into a gear progression gap that takes weeks to close.
Pre-Event Checklist
Run through this before every Bear Hunt. The mistakes always happen on the events where you skip the checklist.
- Complete Intel Missions and donate your 24 Hunting Arrows
- Confirm Pitfall is at Level 5 (+25% Attack) in the alliance building tab
- Recall all gathering troops — use an Advanced Teleporter if they're far out
- Load your formation preset with the correct ratio for your generation
- Equip Lethality-focused Governor Gear and Charms
- Activate pet skills (Mighty Bison, Black Panther, Giant Rhino) timed to start with the event
- Move your castle within 25 seconds march time of the Pitfall
- Set first hero slot to your best joiner hero — or clear it if you don't have one leveled
- Check alliance chat for host assignments and any troop cap from R4/R5
Reward Breakdown
Primary Rewards:
- Forge Hammers — The main reason this event exists for most players. Essential for hero gear upgrades and difficult to accumulate consistently outside Bear Hunt.
- Resources — Large RSS quantities scaled to personal damage contribution
- Lucky Hero Gear Chests — Random chance at Mythic equipment
- Alliance Tokens — Spendable in the alliance shop
How Rewards Scale:
- Personal rewards based on your individual damage dealt
- Alliance bonus rewards based on total alliance damage
- Maximum rewards unlock when the alliance hits 1.2 billion total damage
Smart Milestone Play: Once you've locked in a reward tier and the next one is out of reach, consider giving up your spot to an alliance member who's close to their next milestone. You've already secured your rewards — it costs you nothing and directly helps someone else progress. Good alliances coordinate this in the last 5 minutes.
What NOT to Do
Ranked by how much damage they actually cost — not just how common they are.
#1 — Sending the wrong joiner hero. Jabel, Gordon, Edwin, Longfei — any hero with a defensive or economic first skill — is actively harming your alliance's damage by occupying a slot that could go to Chenko. If you don't have a good hero leveled, send zero heroes. Say this out loud: zero heroes is better than the wrong hero.
#2 — Weak players hosting rallies. Your stats as host apply to everyone in the rally. An underpowered host with weak buffs leading 15 joiners wastes everyone's participation. R4/R5 should designate hosts beforehand and make the list visible to the alliance.
#3 — Skipping Intel Missions. 24 arrows seems minor. Across a 40-person alliance with inconsistent completion over 2 days, you end up with a Level 3 Pitfall instead of Level 5 — a real 10–15% alliance-wide damage penalty before the first rally even starts.
#4 — Troops out gathering at the event start. There's no personal cooldown between hits. Every minute your troops are stuck on resource tiles at the start of the event is direct damage lost that you can't get back. Recall everything beforehand.
#5 — Everyone opening rallies at the same time. When 10 hosts all launch simultaneously, the joiner pool scatters across all of them and each rally gets diluted hero skill quality. Stagger openings so joiners concentrate in fewer, higher-quality rallies early.
#6 — Running 10/10/80 when you're Gen 4+. The endgame formation is 1/10/89. A lot of experienced players learned the Gen 3 ratio and never updated their preset. If this is you, it's an easy fix with real impact.
FAQ
What is the best troop formation for Bear Hunt / Bear Trap in Kingshot?
It depends on your generation. Gen 1: 10/30/60 (Infantry/Cavalry/Archers). Gen 2: 10/20/70. Gen 3: 10/10/80. Gen 4 and beyond: 1/10/89. The endgame standard is 1/10/89 — not 10/10/80. If you're Gen 4+ and still on the Gen 3 ratio, update your preset. Always keep at least 5,000 Infantry troops in absolute numbers regardless of the percentage.
Is it actually better to join Bear Hunt with no heroes?
Yes. If your best available first hero skill is weak, defensive, or chance-based, joining with zero heroes is the correct play. The game selects the top 4 joiner skills per rally. A bad skill from you displaces a better skill from someone with Chenko. Your troops still contribute fully to the rally's damage without the hero. This is how the mechanic actually works — not a myth.
Why is Chenko better than Jabel as a joiner?
Chenko's first skill is a flat +25% Squad Lethality — reliable, additive, stacks with other Lethality buffs across the rally. Jabel's first skill is chance-based: it doesn't fire on every hit, and chance-based skills don't stack with each other. Over hundreds of hits in 30 minutes, a consistent Lethality multiplier is far more valuable than a probabilistic proc. Four Chenkos in a rally compounds to a huge combined buff. Four Jabels gives the same result as one.
Should Amadeus host or join rallies?
If your Helga is well-developed (4–5 star with solid Widget), let Helga host your main rally and use Amadeus to join multiple others throughout the event. The combined Lethality skill he contributes across several rallies often outweighs his benefit anchoring one rally as host. If no one else can host competitively, Amadeus hosts — no debate.
Does hero gear matter for joiners?
No. As a joiner, your Governor Gear, Charms, and research stats don't transfer to the rally. Only your troops and your first hero's first Expedition skill contribute. Hero gear only matters for rally leaders, whose personal stats apply to the entire rally. Joiners: invest in leveling the hero skill, not the equipment.
Do territory bonuses or banners help in Bear Hunt?
Territory bonuses only apply when defending your city from attack — they don't apply when you're the attacker. So no, territory bonuses don't carry into Bear Hunt. Cosmetic buffs from island decorations and skins do apply for the rally leader specifically, so if you're hosting, those active. Joiners' decorations don't affect the rally.
How often does Bear Hunt happen in Kingshot?
Every 2 days. R4 and R5 can schedule it manually or by timer. You have two Hunting Traps — schedule them at different time windows to maximize participation across time zones rather than doubling up at the same slot.
What should I do if my troops are still gathering when the event starts?
Use an Advanced Teleporter to instantly recall all marching troops including gatherers. This is one of the highest-value uses of that item — worth keeping a few in stock specifically for Bear Hunt. If you don't have one, wait for troops to return and join whatever rallies are still active with the time remaining.
Why doesn't the Moose pet work in Bear Hunt?
The Moose's Horror Stare skill reduces enemy Squad Health. The Raging Bear doesn't have a Health stat — it only has Defense. The skill targets something that doesn't exist on this enemy and contributes zero damage. Save it for PvP events where Health reduction is meaningful. This is one of the most commonly wasted pet activations in the game and it's worth telling your alliance about it.
What's the fastest way to improve Bear Hunt damage as F2P?
In order of actual impact: (1) Level Chenko's first Expedition skill — highest single return investment for a joiner. (2) Upgrade goggles and boots in Governor Gear for Lethality. (3) Prioritize Lethality research in the Academy. (4) Never skip Intel Missions. These four things alone will noticeably move your contribution within a few events.
Is Thrud worth using as a joiner?
More than most players think. Thrud's first Expedition skill is Archer and Infantry specific, making her slightly weaker than Hilde overall — but critically, it's not chance-based. That makes her more consistent than any B-Tier hero. If Hilde isn't available, Thrud is a legitimate A-Tier backup that most tier lists overlook.
Wrapping Up
Bear Hunt is 30 minutes every two days. The alliances that hit 1.2B consistently aren't always the strongest — they're the most organized. Correct formation for your generation, right heroes in the right slots, Pitfall at Level 5 before the first rally, and a coordinated Final Push at the end. That's the formula.
The non-negotiables:
- Endgame formation is 1/10/89 — update from 10/10/80 if you're Gen 4+
- Joiners: Chenko → Amadeus → Yeonwoo → Amane/Hilde → troops only. Never send a defensive or chance-based hero.
- Pitfall to Level 5 before every event — Intel Missions are mandatory, not optional
- No defense. Pure damage. Maximum Archers.
- Final Push: every member opens a rally in the last 5–7 minutes
- Moose pet skill does zero here — use Mighty Bison and Black Panther instead
Miss Bear Hunt events and your gear progression stalls in ways that take weeks to recover from. Show up prepared, coordinate with your alliance, and 1.2B becomes routine.
Related Guides
- Governor Gear Guide — Optimize Governor Gear for maximum Bear Hunt damage
- Widget Guide — Prioritizing Chenko and Amadeus widgets for S-Tier joiner skills
- KvK Preparation Playbook — How Bear Hunt Forge Hammers feed KvK gear readiness
- Molten Fort Guide — The other major alliance DPS event worth understanding