Steel Hunters – Trenchwalker: Hunter Guide (Tips & Strategy)

Starter Guide to Trenchwalker

Ву Shields.

• Real Name: Gabriel Sey
• Inception age: 29
• Place of birth: Cape Town, South Africa
• Gender: Male

System Overview

Burst Carbine

Trenchwalker has access to a four-round or two-round burst rifle as his weapon of choice. It deals moderate damage at most ranges but can struggle in long-range engagements.

Mods

• Hammer
• Cluster

Mainframe System

Core System that enhances stats and abilities.

Mods

• Painkiller
• Stimulant

Leech Gun

Pistol with high damage and structure regain for Trenchwalker on successful hits.

Mods

• Drain
• Siphon

Hybrid Grenade

Throws a grenade that damages enemies and heals allies.

Mods

• Harmacist
• Infection

Gameplay

General Stats

Being a medic does come with some drawbacks, limiting Trenchwalker to 7000 structure points and 2100 shields and making him one of the more fragile Hunters.

General Playstyle

Trenchwalker is in the unique position of being one of the few Hunters that is able to heal themselves and allies. Though this does come at a price. Trenchwalker is heavily reliant on his abilities and with no escape options he can become a sitting duck if those abilities are on cooldown.

Trenchwalker is best suited to mid range engagements, he can preform well at close range but really drops off at long range compared to other long range hunters. His kit leans more towards supporting himself and his team but beware, certain abilities in his kit have the potential for explosive DPS if an enemy is caught out of position.

Systems

Weapon System

Trenchwalker has access to a four-round or two-round burst rifle as his weapon of choice. It deals moderate damage at most ranges but can struggle in long-range engagements.

Hammer

This mod is geared towards players who really just can’t get enough of their abilities, I mean whats not to like? This weapon fires two round bursts at their target, provides a flat bonus to ability power (this can significantly affect how your abilities preform, from increased healing to damage), reduces the cooldown for the Leech gun depending on damage dealt and reduces the cooldown on the Hybrid grenade as long as all shots in the burst hit a critical point (again those big glowy red bits!). In conclusion if you want your abilities off cooldown quicker, this is the mod you want.

Cluster

This mod is for you damage lovers out there. Cluster is the flat damage option of the two, its bonuses include; a four round burst, ADSing increasing damage, a successful quick time reloading event (hitting the reload button again when the cycle in the reload reaches the green portion) increasing the ammo capacity in the next magazine and finally, if all rounds from a burst connect on a target a damage boost will be applied for a duration. More dakka right?

Mainframe System

Painkiller

This mod is designed for players who prioritize resilience and want to stay in the fight as long as possible. It shortens shield regeneration delay, improves healing capabilities with increased repair kit efficiency, and provides resistance to critical hits when the shield is active.

Stimulant

This mod is designed for players who favor an aggressive playstyle while providing strategic advantages in combat. It enhances damage against enemy summons, enables Trenchwalker to overcharge his Structure points by up to 10% (overheal), and makes Hybrid Grenade Cooldown instantly reset when reviving a squadmate.

Abilities

Ability 1: Leech Gun

Likely one of the highest burst damage abilities in the game, unlike Weavers Minigun with sustained damage, Trenchwalker’s leech pistol will take surprising amounts of health from an enemy and even better.. give you a portion of that damage dealt back as health.

This is Trenchwalker’s lifeline in combat. His rifle alone isn’t enough to outperform other more DPS-focused Hunters but this pistol can turn the tide, often surprising the enemy. Furthermore, he is also able to heal his allies by shooting them instead on later levels.

Drain

This is the mod you want if you want to feel like a true gunslinger where it is all about stacking buffs. To break it down, each consecutive hit increases damage dealt to the next shot, at present you can have between 5-6 shots with this pistol. The next bonus is just flat damage increase to critical spots (just hit those glowy red parts already!). On higher levels, the fourth shot deals even more additional bonus damage.

Siphon

Siphon is the way to go if you really want to lean into Trenchwalker’s supportive abilities. Increased ability energy, reduced cooldown, and a slower decay on higher levels will provide more consistent opportunities for pressure and sustain.

Keep in mind that maneuverability is quite limited with the pistol active which allows enemies to simply hide and wait for the ability to run out. Compared to drain, this mod is more focused on supporting your ally instead of an aggressive playstyle on your own.

Ability 2: Hybrid Grenade

This ability is a level 3 unlock, this grenade works of impact principle, meaning it will deploy exactly where you fire it, with no bouncing mechanics. While this grenade can damage enemies, it truly shines when used on yourself or allies, as it heals a generous amount of structure points without a channeling time like repair kits. This means you can keep fighting while healing and turn around desperate situations.

Harmacist

The mod you want if you want to blanket an area in healy goodness or ouchy pain. In other words this mod will allow you to extend the hybrid grenades range while also increasing the duration of the effect for a sizeable amount, all of this while gradually stacking heals (or pain if enemy) up to a certain amount while standing in the area of effect on later levels.

Infection

If you are really suffering and need a quick recovery this is your mod. While it doesn’t have the nice bonus of gradually stacking healing it does however get the bonus of a large tick rate increase, meaning that your heals are applied faster than normal.

It also replenishes energy for the Leech Gun if standing inside and provides a lingering effect on higher levels. If you leave the area of effect or the hybrid grenade duration expires, you receive a few more seconds of healing. It helps a lot when an enemy Hunter knocks you out of your effect!

General Strategy

During the early game Trenchwalker’s Leech gun, while strong, is not fully complemented until he receives his level 3 Hybrid Grenade. It does allow him to dominate the lower level Guard Drones and enables some serious poke in early-game skirmishes.

Just make sure to stay with your teammate as you will need their support if you are pressed by an enemy Hunter like Fenris / Ursus due to Trench’s lack of mobility. Mid to late game, depending on cores acquired and mods selected, Trench is a capable fighter and can stand toe to toe with most other hunters, when he has his abilities available.

Be sure to manage your cooldowns effectively, try not to leave yourself without any as just having one of your abilities available is enough to deter most enemy Hunters from pushing into you. It is also worth noting if you have an aggressive Hunter as a teammate (Razorside / Fenris) it is always a good idea to let them take the lead, let them push into the enemy team, find a good vantage point from where you can assist.

Once your teammate takes enough damage (around 50%hp left) fire your grenade from cover on top of them. By this point it is likely the enemy team will have advanced out of cover to try to confirm the kill, only to be surprised with a now-healing Hunter who is able to fight back.

Advanced Tips

• Trenchwalker benefits from extended fights due to his unique healing abilities compared to other Hunters. Try to drag out fights as much as possible to out sustain your opponents. Use your cooldowns to negate the abilities of enemies.
• As example, healing grenade can be used to push a Weaver away from his barrier. Leech Gun is mainly a zoning tool but can also be used to add substantial damage when finishing off a target. Try to use it as soon as your Structure starts depleting to gain the most value.
• As mentioned in the Healing Grenade section, the substantial amount of healing, especially when combining both abilities, can be used to surprise careless opponents that are out of position. This will allow you to quickly turn around a Structure disadvantage into a winning scenario.
• Timing and positioning are key especially when deciding to support your ally or fight another Hunter. Melee attack can be used to knock enemies back into the Grenade radius.

Highlighted Synergies

Trenchwalker prefers more front-line Hunters like Razorside and Ursus that can provide a buffer zone and keep enemies at bay. Aggressive and mobile companions can also work when preferring all-in fights. Trenchwalker struggles with more long-range Hunters, Heartbreaker and Prophet, as there is no way to create additional distance. Being caught in close range with them is a death sentence.