Since it left early access and finally was officially released earlier this year, Dread Hunger has seen quite the spike in popularity thanks to its unique identity as a mix between a survival game and a social deduction game. It puts players in the unique position of needing to work together to find and share resources in order to survive while also pitting them against one another as suspicion grows.
While it’s certainly fun to be one of the regular crewmates attempting to survive the cold and spot traitors, many times the true fun of Dread Hunger comes from playing as the traitorous Thralls as they attempt to sabotage and lie their way to the cold, heartless deaths of the rest of the crew. Due to the very nature of social deduction games like Dread Hunger, there isn’t one true path to getting to the end as a Thrall, however, there are plenty of things that players can do to greatly increase their odds of success.
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Tips for Killing Everyone as a Thrall
The path to victory when playing as a Thrall is something of an uphill battle as there are only two Thralls going up against six regular crewmates. During any given match, there will likely be plenty of opportunities for Thralls to strike, however, the biggest tip for the Thralls is to be patient and know which opportunities to capitalize on and which to let go. Suspicion is a slippery slope and it’s truly difficult to clear your name entirely once someone starts to suspect something so it’s important to take things slow and play the long game.
Instead of going for as many kills as possible right off the bat, work at building trust with the rest of the crew as you drag your feet to get your tasks done. Play your assigned role as given for a little while in the early game to make things truly up in the air and unpredictable in the early stages.
Once trust has been built up, work on making “accidents” happen. Attack crewmates during combat sections with wolves or cannibals and cite poor mouse sensitivity or poor gun accuracy as the true culprit for why someone was injured. Leave behind precious resources as the crew moves deeper into the frozen wastes saying you didn’t see them or are already at inventory capacity. In general, drag your feet when completing tasks to further sabotage the survival efforts of the crew.
It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on who’s where. Target anyone running off on their own by setting loose cannibals on them or, if they’re on their last life, going in to help “rescue them” from the harsh frozen conditions when in actuality you’re going out to finish them off. Knowing the locations of your crew is extremely important as well for knowing when you can be doing vital sabotage tasks such as throwing essential items into the ocean without being caught.
The final major tip for a successful Thrall run is that you should be vouching for everyone. Whether you know them or not, the other Thrall will need backup if caught in a lie, so it’s always good to vouch for people who might be in a sticky situation. Even if it turns out to not be them, by trusting other people you open the door for them to begin trusting you, an essential commodity if you’re looking to kill everyone else in a single run.
