The hunting system can take a while to get used to, but it's a very effective one. The key to hunting is to pounce at the right distance from the prey. Being too far away or too close will make the prey run away. However, ShadowClan cats have a hunting bonus, which makes hunting slightly easier.
How to Hunt[]
First of all, to get into hunting mode, press and hold the 'shift' key. Moving around like this will cause slowness however, and your cat is also a bit translucent, but still visible. This, in effect, is basically like stalking.
Movie.avi.wmv
Hunting in action.
In stalking mode, there are prey and twigs which is invisible during normal play. When prey is spotted, click on it. The game system will now, in effect, recognize this as a target. Now that it is set as a target, still holding down 'shift' move somewhat closer. As mentioned before, this can be the tricky bit because going too close or far (although if you go too far, when you come back you will most likely see the prey again) to the prey will scare them / cause them to flee. At this stage, be very careful to not step on any twigs, as this will scare off prey.
To pounce, release the 'shift' key. At the right distance, fresh kill will be rewarded.
The correct 'stalking distance' actually varies for different prey. This is why some people may find it easier to hunt mice (at the lower end of the spectrum), but others prefer hunting thrushes (at the higher end of the spectrum).
Shows the closest you can get to certain prey types, without startling them.
Also, you can hunt with apprentices or other cats (Rogues only for the second option). To do this go into hunt mode (hold down shift key) and click on the piece of prey. Not all cats have perfect accuracy so prey WILL still get away, but it can be helpful if you're on a hunting patrol (for rogues) or are training an apprentice.
This table shows how many squares you can be before startling the prey, aka the correct pouncing distance. It shows the same information as the picture above, but might be able to understand
| Prey | Distance away |
|---|---|
|
>1 |
|
1 |
|
<1 |
|
<1 |
|
1/2 |
 |
1/2 |
Prey[]
There are six types of prey, all of which are found in certain areas. The images below are to scale.
| Prey | Image | Area |
| Rabbit |
|
WindClan/RiverClan/ThunderClan (rarely) / Fourtrees |
| Squirrel |
|
ThunderClan/RiverClan/WindClan/ Fourtrees |
| Thrush |
|
All |
| Frog/Toad |
|
ShadowClan/RiverClan/ThunderClan |
| Mouse |
|
ThunderClan/RiverClan/WindClan/ Fourtrees |
| Fish | |
RiverClan / Rivers |
All the prey are hunt-able, apart from fish, which is RiverClan prey only. When at Snakerocks, there are also Adders (two tiles east of the east-most ThunderClan camp tile). They will inflict damage when walked over. Sneaking will reveal their locations, and they are 'hunt-able'. However, if successfully pounced upon, they will leave no carcass, but will disappear for a while. Any following cats will be unharmed by adders.
Hunger-Filling Stats[]
Each type of prey has its own "filling amount", as in how many hunger bars it fills. Here are the amount of bars that each prey fills.
Prey |
Amount it fills you up |
|
Fish |
One bar |
| Frogs | One bar |
|
Mice |
One bar |
| Rabbits | Two bars |
| Thrushes |
Two bars |
| Squirrels |
Three bars |
Trivia[]
- Fish are the only prey found in one territory, with that being in RiverClan.
- If smooth stones are too close to a fish, it turns into land prey.
- There is a rare bug when two pieces of prey spawn on top of each other. When pounced on, you'll get both pieces of prey. (If successful)
- Mice and frogs are the easiest prey to catch.
- The easiest way to catch a thrush is to make a "nest" with the ears of your Clan symbol.
- The thrushes are white, although in real life, thrushes are brown. This may be because the thrush sprites are from RPG Maker XP's default files.
- While playing as a rogue with other rogues following, there is a glitch that can occur when hunting mode is activated and one of the rogues who is not yet in hunting mode will walk over the prey without targeting it and it will automatically appear as fresh-kill.
- Thrushes are the only prey found in all territories.
- Fish are the only prey found in water.