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Actions
Each turn, the tributes must choose the action they will perform the following turn and specify how they will carry out the action they chose the previous turn.
The selected actions cannot, with few exceptions, be repeated until a certain number of turns have passed, usually between 2 and 3.
Some actions can be enhanced by investing energy in them, which always carries a risk, as it is possible to die as a result. For example, if someone chooses to throw a punch, investing 2 extra energy points, but before throwing it they are hit and are left on the verge of death, they will die from the punch. Suicide by enhancement is only available to tributes with living teammates and is considered a sacrifice. That is, if you are the last person on your team with energy, you don't have to worry about dying this way.
And without further ado, let's look at the possible actions. "VN" means "Normal Version" of the action and "VP" means "Enhanced Version." “R” indicates the number of turns required to repeat the action. In enhanced versions, the parentheses indicate the extra energy cost, and if it says *, it means that the action can only be enhanced 4 times at once, affecting the same tribute, even if the action is duplicated.
Track (R: 2)
VN: You receive information about the movements that occurred in your space up to 3 turns prior (who arrived and from where, and who left and where they went).
VP: You also receive information from 1 turn prior (1).
Sometimes you arrive at a location looking for another tribute and discover that they are no longer there. Tracking can provide clues to their whereabouts if they were there previously. Tributes who move by pushing leave no trace.
Move (R: 3)
VN: You can move to an adjacent space or remain in the same space.
VP: Move one more space (2). You can pass through the same space multiple times in a single turn.
Moving spaces is obviously useful, but it's important to avoid doing so if you think you might need to move again before three turns have passed. It's also worth noting that moving more than one space requires spending energy. Moving three spaces costs four energy points, moving six costs ten, and so on.
Take (R: 2)
VN: You can take up to two items in your space, whether they are raw materials or crafted items. Crafted items must be visible on the map. You can take one crafted item and one raw material without any problem. Depending on the type of space you are on, the obtainable materials have the probabilities indicated in the following table.
| Wood | Metal | Gunpowder | Herbs | Oil | Leather | Magnet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field | 25% | 25% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 5% | 5% |
| Lake | 30% | 15% | 5% | 25% | 15% | 5% | 5% |
| Harem | 20% | 15% | 10% | 20% | 20% | 10% | 5% |
| Lab | 5% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% | 5% | 10% |
| Dining Room | 20% | 15% | 10% | 25% | 20% | 5% | 5% |
| Bunker | 15% | 30% | 20% | 5% | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| Hall | 30% | 30% | 5% | 10% | 5% | 10% | 10% |
| Coliseum | 30% | 30% | 15% | 5% | 5% | 10% | 5% |
| Forest | 35% | 5% | 5% | 25% | 10% | 15% | 5% |
| Mountain | 20% | 25% | 10% | 20% | 5% | 5% | 15% |
| Desert | 25% | 20% | 10% | 20% | 5% | 15% | 5% |
VP: Pick up up to 1 more item (1).
Picking up items from the ground is the most common way, along with synthesizing, to obtain them. If you want to pick up more than 2, you have to pay 1 energy point for each additional item. Whenever you pick up crafted items, keep in mind that other players will be able to tell someone is in that space because they'll disappear from the map. Towards the end of the game, revealing your position this way can cause you to lose immediately, and you might be better off gathering materials. On the other hand, materials require an extra synthesis turn to become useful.
Throw (R: 2)
VN: You can throw up to two objects onto your space or an adjacent space (they don't have to overlap), making them available for pickup.
VP: Throw the object one space further away (1). Throw another object (1).
This action has three main uses: getting rid of things you don't want to use or synthesize, attracting enemy attention, and discharging grenades you've activated so they explode elsewhere. Each additional throw costs 1 energy point.
Rest (R: 3)
VN: Restores 2 energy points and allows you to enhance an action on your next turn by paying 1 less.
Recovering energy 2 points at a time when you have 12 points in total, and only being able to do so every 3 turns, might seem too slow. But 2 energy points here can make all the difference. If you're short on energy, don't underestimate this option. Nor is it useful if you want to enhance an action without taking too many risks later. For example, it's a way to escape the desert without expending much energy or to benefit more from the advantages of the dining area.
Take Cover (R: 2)
VN: All hits received during the turn reduce your energy by 2 points. It also prevents unwanted pushes. With a shield, hits reduce energy by 11 points. It does not protect against other attacks. You can choose to shield another person in the space instead of yourself, taking their hits, but suffering normal damage if the hit was directed at the person shielding.
Taking cover can easily protect you from punches and boomerangs, and can be key to withstanding blows designed to kill you by the skin of your teeth. With a shield, it protects you from everything except scythes and bombs, which are the ones that reduce energy by more than 11 points in their standard form, excluding enhanced hits. This is very useful if you know you're about to be attacked or suspect someone might try to push you without your consent. Also, if a bomb is about to explode and you have no idea where it is, you can prevent yourself from getting seriously hurt by being caught off guard. Another valuable option when playing as a team is to allow someone to push you into a potentially dangerous square using a shield, ensuring that no matter what happens, you'll arrive safely. Within this last option, it's also worth noting the possibility of sending someone with a shield to detonate an antipersonnel mine when the whole team needs to pass through a square containing one. Using a shield also makes it easier for your teammates to verify that you're with them by hitting you.
Dismantle (R: 2)
VN: Dismantle up to 2 objects to obtain their materials.
VP: Dismantle up to 1 additional object (1).
The usefulness of this action is twofold: it allows us to obtain the basic materials of a manufactured object if we want to use them for something else, and, on the other hand, it ensures that an object that we are not going to use for several turns, such as a flail, does not become a burden.
Synthesis (R: 2)
VN: Several materials are combined to create an item (singular). The materials required for each item are given in the following table. Synthesizing waist packs increases their carrying capacity by 2.
| Wood | Metal | Gunpowder | Herbs | Oil | Leather | Magnet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boomerang | 1 | ||||||
| Arrow | 2 | ||||||
| Sword | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Shield | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Flail | 2 | ||||||
| Grenade | 1 | ||||||
| Mine | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bullet | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bomb | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Camouflage | 3 | ||||||
| Medicine | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Adrenaline | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Waist Pack | 2 | ||||||
| Armor | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Replicator | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Radar | 2 | 2 |
VP: Ability to synthesize up to 1 more item (4).
Examples of valid syntheses: using two metals to create a flail or using one herb and two oils to create adrenaline.
Synthesis is the primary source of items for tributes and the only way to obtain crafted items if they are not collected early on or ordered from the Capitol. If you never craft anything, you will likely be at a disadvantage. If you manage to get leather, the most valuable item, seriously consider synthesizing armor.
Use Medicine (requires having medicine) (R: 2)
VN: Restores 8 energy points to a tribute in your space, respecting the maximum energy. It is consumed.
VP: Use another medicine (1).
Without much more to add, it's worth noting that medicine is, with few exceptions, the fastest way to restore energy. It's at least 4 times faster than resting.
Activate Grenade (requires having a grenade) (R: 2)
VN: You activate a grenade that stays with you and explodes 2 turns later, subtracting 6 energy points from all tributes in the space. You can give the activated grenade to another tribute or throw it. It is consumed. The explosion can be heard 2 spaces away.
VP: Activate another grenade (1).
Grenades don't drain much energy, but they have the advantage of being able to do so from a distant space and by surprise if thrown on the turn they're set to explode. If your enemies outnumber you and you don't have many options, throwing two grenades at once isn't a bad idea.
Activate Antipersonnel Mine (requires having a mine) (R: 2)
VN: You bury a mine in the space. When a tribute enters (even yourself if you return), it explodes and drains 11 energy points from all tributes in the space. Running over it also triggers the explosion. Everyone is notified that it has been activated, but not from where. It is consumed. The explosion can be heard up to two spaces away.
VP: Activate another mine (1).
Activating mines is an excellent idea if you place them in spaces you know your enemies will have to pass through, especially if they can't be bypassed. Placing two mines in the same square can almost certainly result in the death of anyone who steps on them, as they subtract 22 energy points between the two. When outnumbered, this is one of the best strategies. Furthermore, if one mine isn't enough to eliminate an enemy, the sound it makes will likely attract others who will finish them off, as they will suspect the enemy is low on energy.
Activate Bomb (requires having a bomb) (R: 2)
VN: You activate a bomb in the space it explodes in 3 turns, subtracting 13 energy points from all occupants of that space and 7 energy points from all occupants of adjacent spaces. It is consumed. The explosion can be heard 3 spaces away.
VP: Activate another bomb (1).
The bomb is the most powerful weapon in The Hunger Game, second only to the scythe, as it drains a lot of energy and does so in up to 7 spaces (the space where the bomb is located and adjacent spaces). However, when activating it, you must move 2 spaces away within the next 3 turns, which is impossible with normal movement. You need to move in a boosted manner, use pushes, or use adrenaline to escape the bomb you place, among other options.
Use Radar (Requires Radar) (R: 3)
VN: You receive a notification informing you of the location of mines and bombs on the island.
The radar is a heavy load, but it's the only way to safely avoid unwanted explosions. One way to avoid carrying it is to dismantle it when not in use and resynthesize it when needed. It's advisable that at least one tribute on each team has it.
Use Adrenaline (Requires Adrenaline) (R: 3)
VN: Allows you to perform two actions at once when consumed. These actions can be repeated and can coincide with those of any other turn. If you use Adrenaline to consume more Adrenaline, you gain more extra actions for the turn. If you rested the previous turn, the boosting effect applies to each of the Adrenaline's actions. It is consumed. You can't have sex while using Adrenaline.
Adrenaline allows you to do a lot of crazy things. The most obvious strategy is to enter a space and attack without giving the other players time to react. But there are other options, such as picking up an object and moving while leaving a false trail of your current space, resting twice in quick succession, or any other combination that might prove useful. The options are almost endless. And that's not even considering combining the use of multiple adrenaline boosts in the same turn. It's undoubtedly the best item in the game, with the caveat that you lose it if you use it. If you see that an enemy has adrenaline and you don't, the wisest course of action is probably to move away and avoid being spotted.
Replicate (requires a replicator) (R: 4)
VN: You create a replica of yourself that you control in the same space with a maximum of 2 energy points. This action costs you 5 energy points. Your replica will be indistinguishable from you and will remain on the island performing the actions you specify until it is killed. Replicas do not share advantages.
There is no problem creating multiple replicas at once. Replicas' items are independent, and if they die, they fall back into the space they are in. If the tribute who created the replica dies, all replicas die with them. For the purposes of disguise, being recruited by the Cult, and similar actions, only the original body counts.
Sex (R: 3)
VN: If two or more tributes choose this action and are in the same space, you recover 5 energy points. There are two drawbacks: people in the same space can always hear you, and the energy is recovered at the end of the next turn, losing 2 energy points on the current turn.
VP: You can recover 2 extra energy points at the cost of being heard from 1 more space away (0 *).
After medicine, this is the best way to replenish energy and is at least twice as fast as resting (although you recover 5 energy points beforehand, you lose 2). However, it has the problem of requiring another person to want to have sex with you. And if that person is on your team and doesn't need to recover, it makes you both lose a turn. Nevertheless, spending your turns hiding, collecting, synthesizing, and having sex as a team is a way to get far.
Push (R: 3)
VN: You push another tribute to an adjacent space.
VP: Push one space further while maintaining direction (3). Push another tribute (5). Tributes moving across activated mines or deserts with a push are unaffected.
The push is one of the most versatile actions, whether to get rid of enemies on your space (by pushing them into mines, for example) or to push allies to convenient locations, saving them from having to move and allowing them to perform another action directly on the destination space. Not to mention the possibilities of combining pushes on the same tribute from several different spaces. Therefore, one of the best ways to ambush a team clustered together on a space is to push someone while attacking with your strongest weapon, ideally adrenaline. Whenever you find yourself on the same space as someone else, it's important to consider the worst possible place they could push you, and even if you don't see anyone, never stop thinking about the possibility of someone pushing you onto them. The push should not be viewed as a defensive strategy in case they enter your square, as it is very easy to counteract through agreements.
Punch (R: 3)
VN: You hit another tribute, subtracting 2 energy points.
VP: Subtract 2 more points (2 _). Hit again (the same or another) (3).
This is the most basic action for subtracting energy from another tribute. It only subtracts 2 points, although it can subtract as many points as you spend using your own energy, so it's possible to subtract 10 points with a punch by spending 8 energy points. You can't do more than that because you can only power up each punch 4 times. If you wanted to subtract 12 energy points from the same tribute with punches, the _ restriction would prevent it. The punch is very useful, on the other hand, for gently hitting other tributes and discovering if they're on your team, especially if they're blocking and you want to avoid spending sponsorship points, since mutually confirming you're teammates costs 10 points.
Use sword (requires having a sword) (R: 3)
VN: You hit another tribute, subtracting 7 energy points.
VP: Subtract 3 more points (2 *). Hit again (the same or a different tribute) if you have 2 swords (1).
The sword is the cool version (in terms of gameplay) of the punch. Instead of subtracting a measly 2 energy points, it subtracts 7, and by powering up the sword strike 4 times, you can subtract 19 points, enough to knock down an armored tribute. With two enemies in your space, you can strike each one, subtracting 10 points, for example, by paying 5 energy points when you have two swords (1 to repeat the sword strike and another 4 to power up each one once). Pushing a teammate with their sword ready onto the enemy is one of the most common lethal combinations. If you tried to subtract more than 19 energy points from a single tribute with sword strikes, the * restriction would prevent it.
Use flail (requires having a flail) (R: 3)
VN: Strike all tributes in the space, subtracting 7 energy points. You can choose not to hit some.
VP: Subtract 2 more points (2 *).
The flail has the effect of a grenade but in your own space, with the added benefit of not being consumed and being able to be powered up up to 4 times. Thus, by investing 8 energy points in a flail, you can subtract 15 points from all enemies in the space, which would typically kill them all, though you never know. A well-placed, empowered flail combined with a push can wipe out entire teams in the blink of an eye.
Use Boomerang (requires having a boomerang) (R: 3)
VN: Can be thrown to travel 2 adjacent spaces, subtracting 1 energy point from a tribute in each space before returning. If it doesn't hit anyone, it is consumed.
VP: Increases the travel distance by 1 space. The trajectory must always be a closed loop (from one space to an adjacent one) and end 1 space away from the thrower (1).
The boomerang is an excellent way to scout the area without exposing yourself too much and discover whether the people it hits are on your team or not. It's not one of the best weapons, but it's better than nothing.
Shoot Arrow (requires an arrow) (R: 3)
VN: Hit a tribute in your space, subtracting 6 energy points, or in a nearby space, subtracting 2 energy points for each space away. This cost is consumed.
VP: Shoot 1 space further while maintaining the same direction (2). Subtract 2 more energy points (2 *). Shoot another arrow (1).
Arrows are the best way to take down nearby enemies without being seen. By firing two at once, which costs 1 energy point, you can subtract 8 energy points from a tribute in an adjacent space hit by both arrows. Or, if one arrow kills a tribute, the second arrow can hit another tribute in the same space, if there is one. Arrows can also be fired as far as desired by paying more energy. For example, paying 8 energy points makes an arrow travel 3 spaces while subtracting 2 energy points, or alternatively, you can spend 12 energy points to subtract 1 space. If you let other tributes know your position by picking up objects or otherwise, it's not uncommon for arrows to hit you out of nowhere.
Fire Bullet (Requires Bullet) (R: 3)
VN: You hit a tribute in your space, subtracting 11 energy points. Energy is consumed. The shot is heard 2 spaces away.
VP: Fire another bullet (1). Fire 1 space further away while maintaining the same direction (3).
The bullet is the most efficient way to subtract energy without using energy to boost, and therefore one of the most fearsome weapons. If you suspect someone might shoot you, it's best to move out of their line of sight as quickly as possible. A mercenary with a bullet becomes an extremely tough opponent. The downside is that they typically reveal the shooter's position and are not particularly easy to craft.
Steal (R: 3)
VN: You take an item from another tribute in the same space.
VP: Steal another item (4).
If you're short on items and you happen to be sharing a space with enemies, trying to steal something from them can be a good option. It has its risks because you're exposed for a turn, but sometimes it works out. Stealing can also be useful if you need an item from a teammate and they're not interested in spending a turn giving it to you. Finally, it can be the winning strategy against tributes who have replicators, armor, or shields. It costs 4 energy points for each additional steal.
Give (R: 2)
VN: Give up to 2 items to another tribute in the same space.
VP: Give up to 1 additional item (1).
Essentially, it's useful for passing items to other tributes you want to help or, conversely, passing them activated grenades if you want to mess with them. It's not a particularly mysterious action.
Use Scythe (Requires owning a scythe) (R: 3)
VN: Subtracts 99 energy points from an enemy in the same space.
If you get hold of a scythe, kill everything you find while you can. If you encounter someone who has one, run like there's no tomorrow! There's not much more to say about it here.
Listen (R: 3)
VN: You are informed of which people are 0 spaces away from you and 1 space away from you, without specifying exactly who. The 0-space information is useful if any tributes are invisible.
VP: Listen 1 space further away (3).
Listening is the standard way to gauge how many people are around you and who they are. Sometimes, considering other information, it allows you to pinpoint the positions of the enemies you hear if there aren't many other possibilities. By investing a significant amount of energy, such as 8 points, you can listen up to 5 tiles away, allowing you to gather data from almost the entire island. If two tributes coordinate their listening from different tiles and combine the data, it becomes even easier to pinpoint the exact location of any enemies they've heard.