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This page will serve as a basic how to play guide for Fear the Wolves. While there is very little information available at this time, we urge you to check back often, as new information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.
Basic gameplay[ | ]
Fear the Wolves is a battle royale game that takes place in the zone around Chernobyl. Between 60 to 100 parachute into the area with only the clothes on their back; only one leaves.
Players begin by selecting their region and pressing Play and waiting for the matchmaking system to group together enough players. After that, a "prematch" will begin with the all the characters in the area around the helicopter that will take everyone into the zone, and more players may enter the match at this time, the total number visible in the survivor count at the top right of the screen. There will be an ongoing countdown until the match begins.
Deployment[ | ]
The first major tactical decision to be made is right at the beginning of the match. Players will find themselves aboard the helicopter as it flies straight across the zone. After a moment, a prompt will appear to deploy, an action that begins a skydive down to the zone. It isn't necessary to deploy right away, and it's worth taking a moment to survey the ground below to choose a landing zone. But don't wait too long, because when the helicopter reaches the opposite edge of the zone, remaining players will be forced to jump.
An additional consideration is that the parachute doesn't deploy immediately. Players have an option of staying in free fall until the parachute automatically opens, which is best for getting to a nearby landing zone quickly, or deploying earlier to land at a more distant location. The chosen landing zone has a significant effect on player strategy during a match because it determines the weapons, mods, and gear they are likely to find. There are roughly five distinct options:
- Landing in a unique location with large buildings
- As a general rule, the more unique the location, the better the gear available. The electrical plant is a prime example of this kind of location. Landing at these makes for a high risk, high reward strategy, as you're likely to land with at least a half dozen others, and wolves are usually already patrolling these locations. Players opting for this approach should expect to be in combat quickly and should aim for getting inside or onto buildings as quickly as possible. The benefit to this approach is that better weapons like assault rifles are usually inside the buildings, along with other better gear like heavier armors. Sniper rifles, rare enough even in these locations, aren't likely to be found anywhere else.
- Landing in a cluster of large buildings
- This can be less risky than unique locations because wolves may not be present and fewer players may opt for the same landing zone, but it's still generally going to be more than one. While there's still a fair chance of better gear, shotguns, submachine guns, and lighter gear might be the best available. Heavier armors and comparable gear are rarely available here, and assault rifles are likely only a little less rare.
- Landing at a lone large building
- Note that "lone large building" in this case means a building without other large buildings nearby; there may a number of smaller buildings like houses in the area. This is a good compromise between risk and reward. Players stand a fair chance of being the only one going to a specific lone building, permitting them to gear up peacefully. The downside is players are not likely to find the best gear here, but are still likely to find a bigger firearm than a pistol, such a shotgun or submachine gun, along with lower quality or midrange gear.
- Landing at a cluster of small buildings
- This is a low risk, low reward strategy. Odds are very low that another player will choose the same location for landing, but odds are also low that anything better than a pistol will be available. There's even a fair chance there will be no firearms there at all; sometimes a cluster of houses offers nothing beyond consumables and some low end gear.
- Landing in the middle of nowhere
- This may be tempting for cautious players, but isn't advised to plan to land here. It's only a little less risky than landing near small buildings, but nearly guarantees a long delay in finding any useful gear or weapons. That said, this can be a fair backup plan for a cautious player finding themselves on the way to the same landing zone as another player.
Hazards[ | ]
The other players are far from the only threat in the zone. The environment itself will become increasingly hostile as a match goes on.
Adrenaline and radiation hazards will begin affecting large square regions in the zone, serving to effectively "shrink" the map over the course of the match:
- Adrenaline hazards show up as red diagonal lines on the map, and as glowing red dots in the air of affected region. Players within will suffer radiation damage if they do not sprint or do not have an oxygen with remaining supply. Players within a region about to be affected by such a hazard will received a warning at 60, 30, and 5 seconds before the hazard is present.
- Radiation hazards will replace adrenaline hazards. These appear as solid red areas on the map and as glowing green dots in the air of affected regions. Sprinting offers no protection from radiation hazards, though oxygen supplies are still useful. Players in the region receive advance warnings at 60, 30, and 5 seconds before the hazard comes into effect.
Before a region is affected by these hazards, however, anomalies start to appear here. These are clear shimmering domes that can be difficult to see. They can deliver heavy radiation damage quickly to players who wander within, though there is usually a short delay. Oxygen supplies provide immunity as long as they last.
The radiation damage from the above hazards is particularly problematic as it lowers maximum health as well. This can be seen on the health bar as red diagonal lines on the right side; a player's health will not regenerate beyond this point even with consumables unless they specifically heal radiation damage.
Mutated wolves are another hazard present throughout the match. At first, they are usually only found at the more unique locations or in clusters of large buildings. Throughout the rest of the match, they appear mostly in regions soon to become adrenaline or radiation hazards. These wolves attack in great leaps, delivering powerful strikes as they pass. They are usually a low threat to armed players, but only if they're spotted at a distance.
Fallen players and spectators have some control over yet another hazard: the five minute weather cycle. It begins with a 30 second vote that only the spectators can see and participate in, allowing them to vote for one of three weather conditions. The winning weather conditions then affects the entire zone for two minutes and forty seconds, after which one minute and fifty seconds pass before the next vote starts. There are five possible weather conditions:
- Wind: reduces movement speed and weapon accuracy.
- Rain: reduces vehicle handling
- Storm: reduces movement speed, weapon accuracy, and vehicle handling
- Heat: reduces movement speed, weapon accuracy, and visibility of anomalies
- Fog: reduces visibility
Vehicles[ | ]
Many clusters of small buildings will have a functional jeep that players can drive. It has it's own health, but players in jeeps can still be directly attacked as they lack enclosed cabins.
Airdrops[ | ]
Planes will fly over the zone periodically and drop supplies, often containing high end weapons and other valuable gear. Before a plane drops a package, a smoke canister attached to the package will begin issuing pink smoke, and this continues until after the package lands. Players who see planes are advised to go for its airdrop only if they see the smoke; finding the airdrop otherwise is unlikely.
Evacuation[ | ]
Evacuation is one of the two ways to win a match, but a very risky one. When most of the map is affected by adrenaline and radiation hazards, the helicopter will fly back into the zone, create a perimeter of pink smoke on the ground below, and drop a rope in the middle of that perimeter to bring a player up. All other players receive a notice when one begins to evacuate, and the evacuating player is an easy target for anyone nearby for a few moments. It is often a better idea to win by being the only remaining survivor. It's usually an awful idea to try to evacuate without thoroughly checking the area first, and even then, it remains a big gamble.
Default controls[ | ]
| Common | |
|---|---|
| Forward | W |
| Backward | S |
| Strafe Right | D |
| Strafe Left | A |
| Sprint | Left Shift |
| Jump | Space |
| Crouch | Left Ctrl |
| Interact | F |
| Combat | |
| Attack/Use item | Left mouse |
| Aim | Right mouse |
| Reload | R |
| Next weapon | Mouse wheel down |
| Previous weapon | Mouse wheel up |
| Primary weapon 1 | 1 |
| Primary weapon 2 | 2 |
| Secondary weapon | 3 |
| Melee weapon | 4 |
| Switch to melee / weapon | H |
| Throwables | G |
| Consumable | J |
| Toggle Firing Mode | B |
| ADS | |
| Hold Breath | Left shift |
| Driving | |
| Accelerate | W |
| Brake / Reverse | S |
| Turn right | D |
| Turn left | A |
| Parachute | |
| Forward | W |
| Interface | |
| Map | M |
| Inventory | Tab |
| Delete map marker | Delete |