ICARUS Hunter Build

Nothing is more important to a hunter than the element of surprise. On Icarus, situational awareness is a prized commodity. Hunters are masters of their surroundings and use the natural resources in a biome to ward off the dangers of weather, predators, and scarcity. A Hunter Talent Build will help you or your prospecting team thrive on Icarus better than any of its natural denizens.


Those brave enough to hunt the mutated fauna on Icarus pride themselves on their talents for stealth, awareness, and resourcefulness. The key talents for the Hunter Build will require 14 Talent points. The optional talents increase the total to 27 Talent Points to further improve character stats and unlock additional useful recipes. Some optional talents require investing in prerequisites. You can save some points for other specialties if you choose not to max out certain talents. The brackets next to each talent show the [Tree – Tab] where the talent is found.

Note: This is a partial list from the beta version of ICARUS when the talent trees were not fully established. It will be expanded in future updates.

  1. talent hunting swiftstalkerSwift Stalker [Survival – Hunting]: 3 points
    • +3/5/10% to movement speed while crouched. Knife takedowns are easier when you can stalk targets faster than they can walk. This is very helpful early in missions.
  2. talent cooking blueprintadvancedfoodrecipeLeather Breakdown [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Make rope from leather without the Textiles Bench. Lots of armor and tech takes rope, and skinning tends to produce much more leather than necessary. This is very helpful in the Desert biome, and the only way to produce rope in the Arctic biome.
  3. talent hunting withoutasoundWithout a Sound [Survival – Hunting]: 3 points
    • -5/10/15% perceived threat while in stealth. Reduces the chance of confrontation when encountering predators in the field.
  4. talent hunting chaseemdownChase ’em Down [Survival – Hunting]: 3 points
    • +10/25/40 Maximum Stamina. More Stamina lets you use your bow and knife more often, and run more, making animal hunts and confrontations easier and safer.
  5. Strong Shoulders [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • +5% Movement Speed while Carrying an Animal. This is nice, but we take it mainly to progress down the tree.
  6. talent hunting smallanimalsensesSense Small Animals [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Highlight small animals while aiming. Rabbits are very difficult to see in the brush, let alone target. They are easier to kill as little light bulbs.
  7. talent hunting mediumanimalsenseSense Medium Animals [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Highlight medium animals while aiming. Predators like the lioness love to stalk in the brush, and wolves and snow leopards can be concealed by rocks. Highlights strip away the advantage of camouflage and cover.
  8. talent hunting largeanimalsensesSense Megafauna [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Highlight large animals while aiming. While wolves, bears, and polar bears advertise their presence with sound, it is easy to miss when the comm is filled with the jibber-jabber of fellow prospectors. An early warning can be life-saving, and enables safer travel.
  9. talent building stonecarryingStone Hauling [Construction – Building]: 3 points
    • -10/20/40% carry weight of stone buildables. It is very helpful to have something solid between you and your enemy. With a portable stone enclosure, your best offense is an impenetrable defense.
  1. talent cooking blueprintadvancedfoodrecipeBlueprint: Ghillie Armor [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Unlock the ghillie armor blueprints. While it provides minimal armor, it greatly reduces threat perception and requires no leather, fur, or advanced materials to craft.
  2. talent hunting polarbeararmourBlueprint: Polar Bear Armor [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • Unlock the polar bear armor blueprints. The ultimate in Arctic protection from weather and damage, and it gives you something to do with a pile of polar bear pelts.
  3. talent resources densepackingDense Packing [Survival – Resources]: 3 points
    • +5/10/20% carry weight capacity. The more equipment and resources you can carry, the safer and easier traveling becomes, and the more you can bring back from a hunt.
  4. talent resources luckylumberjackWood Breakdown [Survival – Resources]: 1 point
  5. talent exploration healthyexplorerRobust Explorer [Survival – Exploration]: 3 points
    • +10/25/50 to base health. Go after big game more confidently with the equivalent of another food perk in base health.
  6. talent blades runningwithaknifeRunning With Knives [Combat – Blades]: 3 points
    • +2/5/10% to movement speed with knife equipped. One should never travel in the open without a knife out, and some prospector once said the slowest is the first eaten. The speed bonus from Running With Knives is greater than Swift Survivor.
  7. talent hunting healthbarsHealth Bars [Survival – Hunting]: 1 point
    • See animal health bars. While not striclty necessary, it’s convenient, and lets you make somewhat better decisions in the heat of the hunt.

Click the button below to see a visual representation of the above-mentioned Talents.

icarus hunter talent build tree
The tree with all listed Talents (key and optional) unlocked
Credit: IcarusBuilds.app

We hope you are enjoying ICARUS and find this hunter build useful. Please leave your comments and questions below, and then go back down to Icarus and track your next bounty.

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SurvivalSherpa
SurvivalSherpa

SurvivalSherpa is an avid gamer spending most of his time at the nexus of the survival, crafting, building, and role playing genres on any platform, especially to test indie titles in EA. AFK, life is about work and education in STEM fields, reading fantasy, and sipping great coffee in the Pacific Northwest.

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Stort_Steve
Stort_Steve
2 years ago

How do you unlock the polar bear blueprint

Bobby
Bobby
2 years ago

What is the best weapon for the hunting talent tree and what would u upgrade in that/those weapons?

Last edited 2 years ago by Bobby