How Bear Hunt works
The strategy on this page is community opinion from player guides, not game data. Bear Hunt (also called Bear Trap) is an alliance event that an R4 or R5 starts at the alliance Pitfall. For 30 minutes, members attack the Bear in rallies; single marches cannot hit it. Rewards such as Forgehammers and hero gear materials scale with your personal damage and the alliance total. The rally leader supplies every stat in the rally: research, Governor Gear, Charms, pets, buffs and all three of their heroes' skills. Joiners add their troops and one hero skill, nothing else. So the event rewards strong leaders, well-chosen joiner heroes and as many rallies as the alliance can fit into the half hour.
Who should lead and who should join
Lead if you are among the strongest
Only the strongest members should lead, since their stats apply to every troop in the rally. Guides suggest Amadeus or Helga for infantry, Petra or Margot for cavalry and your newest archer hero, such as Yang, Ava or Luna. Leaders set a troop cap per joiner (spare rally capacity divided by the open slots) so the rally fills with as many people as possible.
Rally leaderJoin with the right first hero
Put a joiner hero in your first hero slot. Only the first Expedition skill of that hero counts, and only at a high level. With no good joiner levelled, send troops with no hero in that slot: a weak skill can take a place a stronger one needed.
Rally joinerFree players
Build one joiner to 4 stars (475 shards), where its first skill reaches level 5. Chenko, Yeonwoo and Amane are the budget picks. Join the strongest leader's rally rather than leading your own. Once your next reward tier is out of reach, give your rally spot to a teammate close to theirs.
Spend shards on one joinerSpenders
Spending raises the stats that matter when you lead: troop attack and lethality from gear, Charms and research. Mighty Bison adds squad capacity to every rally you start, and the Master Valora raises Bear Hunt squad capacity. Extra march queues let you send more S+ joiners to other rallies.
Lead and fill more ralliesJoiner heroes for Bear Hunt
| Hero | Generation | First Expedition skill | At level 5 | Joiner tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amadeus | 1 | Battle Ready | Lethality +25% | S+ |
| Amane | 1 | Tri-Phalanx | Attack +25% | S+ |
| Chenko | 1 | Stand of Arms | Lethality +25% | S+ |
| Yeonwoo | 1 | On Guard | Lethality +25% | S+ |
| Margot | 4 | Warbringer | Attack +25% | S+ |
| Vivian | 5 | Crouching Tiger | Enemy damage taken +25% | S+ |
| Ava | 7 | Dissolution | Enemy defence -25% | S+ |
| Wee & Woo | 7 | Artillerymen | Attack +15%, Lethality +10% | S+ |
| Luna | 8 | Driving Light | Attack +25% | S+ |
| Hilde | 2 | Noble Path | Attack +15%, Defence +10% | A |
| Liz | 8 | Alloyed Agent | 50% chance each turn of Lethality +50% | B |
How joiner skills stack
- A rally uses at most 4 joiner skills, one per joiner. Higher skill levels take priority, so a level 5 skill beats a level 4 one.
- Effects of the same type add: four lethality joiners give +100% lethality.
- Effects of different types multiply: two lethality and two attack joiners give 1.5 × 1.5 = 2.25 times the damage, about 12.5% more than four of one type.
- Chance-based skills such as Jabel's, Marlin's or Petra's do not stack with each other, so one per rally is the most worth sending.
- Defensive and growth skills add nothing against the Bear. Guides list Jabel, Gordon and Edwin among heroes never to send.
- Joiner skills reach level 5 at 4 stars. Gear on a joiner hero does not matter.
Troop ratios favour archers
| Source | Stage or line-up | Infantry | Cavalry | Archers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army calculator | Bear preset | 10% | 10% | 80% |
| kingshotmastery.com | Generation 1 | 10% | 30% | 60% |
| kingshotmastery.com | Generation 2 | 10% | 20% | 70% |
| kingshotmastery.com | Generation 3 | 10% | 10% | 80% |
| kingshotmastery.com | Generation 4 onwards | 1% | 10% | 89% |
| kingshot.net | Amadeus or Helga with Petra | 5% | 25% | 70% |
| kingshot.net | Amadeus with Margot | 5% | 30% | 65% |
Timing and marches decide how many rallies you join
- Upgrade the Pitfall to level 5 before the first hunt: each level adds 5% Attack, up to +25% for 1,900 Hunting Arrows in total.
- There is no cooldown between attacks. March time is the limit, so move your city close to the Pitfall and recall gatherers before the start.
- The Bear deals no damage, so you lose no troops. kingshotmastery.com also lists no stamina cost.
- Save a Bear formation preset so you can join with one tap before a rally fills. Activate combat pets before the hunt.
- Leaders launch in waves at the start so rallies return at different times and joiners always have one to fill.
- In the last 5 to 7 minutes, everyone opens a rally so returning marches have somewhere to go.
Where guides disagree
- Troop ratio: this site's Army calculator uses 10/10/80. kingshotmastery.com moves to 1/10/89 from Generation 4 and says to keep at least 5,000 infantry; kingshot.net suggests 5/25/70. All say to check the march preview on your own account.
- Attack joiners: kingshotguide.com says to use Amane and Hilde with caution, as weaker than lethality. kingshotguides.com and kingshot.net say two Amanes with two Chenkos beat four Chenkos.
- Which joiner skills count: kingshotguide.com says the 4 highest-level skills, ties going to whoever joined first. kingshotmastery.com says the first four joiners set them and later joiners replace only lower-level skills. Both agree level 5 skills win.
- Vivian, Wee & Woo and Ava: kingshotmastery.com calls their stacking unconfirmed. A kingshotguides.com reply groups Vivian with the lethality joiners.
- Heroes in slots 2 and 3: kingshotmastery.com says they only add march capacity; kingshotguides.com commenters dispute whether they change anything.