Teeth & Scales - The Rest of the Sunstalker Gear (Patreon)

We've previously explored just how incredible and game expanding the cycloid scale armor can be, but as I wrote in the previous article the Sunstalker is a triple S platinum expansion extrodinaire because not only is the armor amazing; but there is not a single bad piece of gear in the entire crafting list. That's what we're going to explore here today, all of the various weapons and items you can craft – and I am so thrilled that I can say there's not a single duff piece among them. Every single one of the other best expansions/monsters has at least a couple of duds amongst its repertoire; the Gorm has the Gaxe and Gorment Armor, the Dragon King has all of its non-Nuclear weapons, the Dung Beetle Knight has the Beetle Bomb (which I kind of like, but it's way overpriced and unreliable) and the perennial Slenderman has stuff like Dark Water.

The Sunstalker isn't like that, every single item is either unique or one of the best in its class (apart from the Arrows, but that's power creep for you – can't blame the arrows) and that makes the Sunstalker an incredible fun experience to hunt. You don't have to go in saying 'right we need the Cat's Eye' and grind over and over for some specific resource, you can slam in swinging and slap that tentacled freak around like a piñata for whatever comes out. It'll almost always be all good and useful.

I cannot stress strongly enough how every single monster in the game should be compared to the Sunstalker in order to see where things have gone right or wrong. I often criticise areas of the game where things are not as good as they should be due to a misguided need to cling to outdated 1980s/1990s tabletop RPG mechanics – but the Sunstalker has absolutely none of this. It's Adam at his best, his magnum opus and really a true example of what Kingdom Death's quarry design should be. I could gush about it for a lot longer, but I think it's better we get into the individual pieces and discover why this monster is a cut above the normal fare.

Sunspot Dart

1x sunstones, 3x bone

Level 1 Specific gear card

These darts are the single strongest survival regeneration item in the entire game. While they are a thrown weapon with no weapon proficiency and they have a limit of just 3 activations, for every single hit you score with this weapon every adjacent survivor will gain +1 survival. That means baseline this weapon potentially offers 4 survival per hit per attack (4) for a total of 3 activations. That's up to 48 (4*4*3) survival waiting to be uncorked.

Now in truth because of weapon accuracy you're not going to score that many hits with the weapon, it's a 7+, so even in the blind spot you'll typically only get an average of 2 hits, but that's still a LOT of survival.

You also need to be a little cautious when using this weapon because of the reactions it will provoke from the monster, but it does have Deadly. That means you can leverage any +luck you have on the given survivor – which is important because this weapon does not have a high level of strength. It doesn't really need it because wounding is not the main goal of using this weapon, but avoiding reactions does help reduce the damage they can inflict.

The other major issue with the darts is the fact that they use a Sunstone resource. That's something which is also needed for the Sunspot Lantern and if you want to use the Ink Sword you may not have time/space to also gather the resources for these darts. It depends on your plan and if you have room to hunt the L1 Sunstalker three times or not.

Sunspot Lantern

2x sunstones, 1x scrap, 1x salt

Level 1 Specific Gear Card

Essential for people who want to use the Ink Sword, this lantern is one of the more interesting ones without having a high level of power. For the user it's a very neat, if uninspiring, stat buff plus a couple of good green affinities. This can help a wielder get an active Monster Grease a lot.

The power of this item however is something that isn't fully realised without its partner being weilded by another survivor. It is one of the few overt two survivor combos in the game (along with spear & shield) and it involves the lantern survivor standing between the monster and the ink sword assassin who lurks behind them. It's honestly a super cool image to think about, this one person holding up the lantern and it casting a long, super dark shadow just behind them. We'll talk more about how this works in the Ink Sword entry below.

Note that this item is not correctly worded on the card, it is confirmed that you should be putting the Sunstalker trait card Light & Shadow into play for any showdown where you have the Sunspot Lantern present.

Sunshark Bow

2x huge sunteeth, 1x organ, 1x sunshark bone, 1x salt

My personal pick for the number one best bow in the entire game, this melee range bow is the single most powerful non-rare weapon in the entire game due to how it can be combined with Dragon or Phoenix Armor to deal massive strength attacks.

It is essentially a huge blade with a string attached to it, and it gets every single advantage bows have (apart from the range) plus a massive level of strength that no other weapon comes close to achieving. I've written about this in the past a lot, so I'm not really going to belabour the point here too much more – this weapon is amazing, flexible and has a lot of surprising combos that no other bow can achieve.

Quiver and Sunstring

1x inner shadow skin, 4x hide, 1x brain root, 1x salt

Speaking of combos, this is one of the more obvious ones, when you combine this Quiver with the Sunshark Bow and Dragon/Phoenix Armor you suddenly have a mobile blizting character who will devastate monsters on every single attack they make (while also behaving like a crazy anime character). I personally prefer Dragon Armor for this combination, but in a game without the Dragon King Phoenix Armor is an excellent alternative.

You can also place this on any archer type and when it's activated it'll ensure that your bow DPS survivor gets to sit far, far away from the fight and deal damage in a comfortable fashion without most monsters even getting a chance to target them.

It is also one of the only items that effectively gives you +2 extra slots on your grid (as long as it's arrows you want) and that's another big part of what makes the Sunshark Bow/Quiver & Sunstring/Dragon/Phoenix Armor build such an absolute powerhouse in this game.

Sunshark Arrows

3x small sunteeth, 1x bone, 1x sunshark fin, 1x salt

These used to be the strongest attacking arrows in the game, but the new Gigalion Arrows do the same thing, except they are far stronger. If you don't have a Gigalion, then these arrows are still an incredible boon for any bow user (except the Sunshark Bow which already has sharp). My personal preference for an arrow loadout is 1x claw arrow, 1x hollowpoint Arrow and the sunshark arrows for pure damage when it's needed.

Great arrows, but you may not need them if you're hunting Giggles.

Shadow Saliva Shawl

1x shadow ink gland, 1x salt, 1x stink lung, 1x shark tongue

The one true alternative to Monster Grease, the Shadow Saliva Shawl, in addition to being a tongue twister and a half, is a really interesting item in that it grants you a massive reward as long as you obey its restrictions.

This won't work with heavy, soluable or shield gear – so it's not an option for tanking/bruiser builds because of how they operate around shields, but it is a great option for offensive Cycloid Scale Armor survivors who get hit occasionally or Crystal Skin survivors.

It's also very interesting how it can be used to give slow to weapons, this opens up an area where you can take some weapons that have too much speed and bring them into a more managable speed that combos with the Wisdom Potion (and it doesn't affect tools, never forget this in combination with the Manhunter's Toolbelt and a pickaxe/sickle).

Denticle Axe

1x 1000 year sunspot, 1x salt, 1x black lens, 1x iron, 1x bone

Level 2 Specific weapon

It's hard to say if the Xmaxe, Lantern Glaive or Denticle Axe is the best late game axe available right now, what I can say is that the only real downside to the Denticle Axe is that it requires similar resources to the Skleaver and that can be an issue for players who want both weapons in the same campaign.

The Denticle Axe is a premium 'assassin' weapon, ideal for Cycloid Scale survivors who plan to be in the blind spot of the monster all the time. Outside of that use it's a very simple weapon, it has high strength, it has devastating when used correctly and it smashes monsters into little bits. It's close to the perfect axe and any campaign with a Sunstalker needs to seriously consider if they want to go after this.

Sun Lure and hook

 (Pictured here with the Harpoon, because using this item on the hunt without the harpoon is a serious risk)

1x sunshark blubber, 1x scrap

One of the only pure support items in the game, the Sun Lure is cheap to construct and has a massive upside with its ability to generate extra resources through fish and skip massive parts of the hunt. You also eventually unlock the Filleting Table and that innovation will pay out year after year.

It's better with the Sky Harpoon, so you should always try and pair those where possible.

Skleaver

2x 1000 year sunspot, 1x salt, 1x black lens, 1x sunshark bone

Level 2 Specific weapon

I'd rank the Skleaver as the best Grand Weapon in the game outside of the Perfect Slayer, but it's really close due to how powerful the Juggernaut Blade and Calcified Zanbato both are (we are REALLY spoiled when it comes to Grand Weapons). Fortunately you only need to worry about that when you're considering campaigns with both the DBK and Sunstalker in the same mix. If you're in that position, well first world problems I guess.

As mentioned in the previous article, the strongest place to use this is with a Cycloid Scale Armor survivor, because they can boost its already impressive strength up even further thanks to sharp. You'll also find a lot of neat things which can be done with this weapon if you have additional speed. Grand Weapons become very strong when you can use them multiple times per attack while also keeping the weapon proficiency active.

Sky Harpoon

1x sunshark bone, 1x scrap, 1x salt

Anything with an auto-wound ability has to be carefully considered because of how powerful automatic wounds are. Now, while the Sky Harpoon isn't a fantastic spear on its own due to its relatively weak stats when compared to other weapons, its combination with the Sky Lure cannot be undervalued and when it's used with Dragon/Phoenix armor then it will shine in a way that few other weapons can manage. It is also a ridiculously cheap weapon to construct and that makes it a great option from the Level 1 Sunstalker.

You might not carry this one into the late game because the Lantern Glaive is still a thing, but you could get many years worth of action from one of these.

Ink Sword

1x 3000 year sunspot, 4x hide, 1x shadow ink gland, 1x iron

Level 3 Specific Weapon

Needs Sunspot Lantern to enable it

Oh. Boy. Say hello to the deadliest weapon in the game. If you love luck, critical wounds or resource farming then this is the weapon for you. The Ink Sword is an expensive ask for any settlement, but when you have it, its cruel power will make short work of any monster in the game outside of those who are critical wound resistant (Butcher for example). Fast, Deadly and accurate, this weapon is the very thing you should try and craft for players who like to roll lots of dice.

About the only downsides to this sword are the fragile keyword, the requirement for the Sunspot Lantern and the high crafting cost. It's very challenging to craft both this and the Ink Blood Bow in the same campaign.

Ink Blood Bow

1x 3000 year sunspot, 5x organ, 3x shadow tentacles, 1x iron

Level 3 Specific Weapon

Speaking of which, say hello to the second strongest bow in the game and the best choice for anyone who wants to be a long range sniper. This bonkers weapon does have strong competition from both the Arc Bow and the Vespertine Bow, but overall its high strength, excellent range and superb design pushes it ahead of anything else for me. I absolutely love the Ink Blood Bow, though I do rarely get to craft it because the Ink Sword is normally the priority.

Outside of that, well it's a bow, you know what to do with a bow. Pick either the Sunstalker or Dragon King Quiver, grab the best arrows you can and go nuts. The bleeding bonus on this weapon isn't that great, it's hard to leverage bleed tokens, you can do some stuff with 'story of the young hero', bleeding fighting arts like Unconcious Fighter and bandages to manage the situation if they get out of hand, but it's not an essential part of the weapon's power. More a neat little side trick you can make use of if you want.

Superb bow, immense fun for people who like to play with archery and it even has some crunchy mechanics if you want to play with the bleeding token mechanics.

So; as mentioned, there are no duds in the Sunstalker suite of gear cards at all, everything you've seen here has its place in a strategy if that is the direction you are seeking to go and that's nothing short of incredible work. Truly the Sunstalker is Adam's Magnum Opus, now People of the Sun just needs a revision to make it shine as much as the quarry does.

What we have still left to walk through are: the Sunstalker Showdown. A Visual Guide to the Sunstalker and a separate return to People of the Sun with the intention of creating a Visual Guide to that!