Before delving deeper into the guide. Monster is not an easy role to get into. As the first minute of the game plays a huge impact on the pace of the match, having to keep track of 4 different people, learn many different mechanics, and weapons that the game has to throw at you. With any learning experience expect to lose games. It happens to the best of us. It can be a frustrating experience. I hope this guide will help new players understand more than the absolute bare minimum and make the experience as a new player a bit more tolerable and easy to digest.


As a monster main I love this game, and I would love to see more people enjoy and have fun playing Monster! know the experience can be hard, but that's why I am making this guide! Hope you enjoy.

You have 15 seconds at the start of the game where you can run around disguised as a teen, you can end this at any time pressing a button the channel time is (.75 seconds) Transforming duration takes (1.5 seconds)



Generally (Unless you're dollmaster) Staying in your teen form the entire duration is a fine. You want to spend your first moments of the game always looking for a teen or multiple.


The first 45 seconds of the match can dictate the pace of the game. During this period you can always be certain that no teens have any weapons. This is the time where you can be fully aggressive trying to apply as much pressure as you can. Getting those first few hits or even a down within this time will help you flow into the match when the teens do start pumping out weapons.

What do you want to Achieve at this point?

Here are 2 decent scenarios that can play out.

• Getting 1 down
  
• Hitting 2-3 Separate Teens

Why are these acceptable scenarios?
Getting 1 down incapacitates that teen from making / finishing a weapon they may have started since this is the first sub minute of the game, having them continue the craft on the weapon making you potentially deal with 1 less weapon for a bit. Also another Teen will have to come for the pick up, if the teen has a weapon you are essentially taking out 1 weapon to potentially catch out another survivor who may be out of position or still crafting.

Hitting 2-3 teens may not seem like much, but it will get those teens off crafting stations for a bit, if other teens are close by the Disruption from your scream will also prevent them from crafting weapons for about 7 seconds. Potentially catching out one of the injured or uninjured survivors.

Here are 2 great scenarios that can play out

• Getting 2 downs
  
• Hitting 3-4 Separate Teens

Why are these great scenarios?
Getting 2 downs means half of the team is down, 2 potential weapons you don't have to worry about, a teen with or without a weapon will have to go for the pickup, and the teen that was picked up will have to continue their weapon. Making it harder for the teens to setup an ambush or push. Their general weapon economy will be low.

Hitting 3 separate teens will allow you to have your enrage up for the 4th hit. If you can manage to find the last survivor with or without a weapon you will be able to one hit down. Now you have 3 teens injured and 1 down at this point. Weapons become riskier to use for teens if they aren't setting up an ambush when injured, because without a Brett perk called (Vice Grip) they will lose their weapon upon being downed.

Note : These aren't the only scenarios that can pan out I think it's nice to at least have a goal / idea of what a good / great / and or bad starts can look like. If you are unable to achieve those example goals listed above at the start of a match, it does not mean the game is over and you just lose. It will just naturally be harder.

Now, what if you had a bad start and were not able to get those first few hits in the first 45 seconds of the game? At this point you will have to respect the fact that the teens will have at least 1 weapon, if not more. During this situation you want to make sure you are aware of a couple of things.

• Make sure you are not out in the open, stick to areas where you have a lot of POV blockers and obstacles to avoid easy weapon uses and ambushes.
  
• Always check corners when attempting to enter ANY room.
  
• Sound is very important in this game, make sure you are listening to footsteps, running, breathing from teens that are close, Any props that are moved around in a room etc , chairs boxes.
  
• As the Monster you cannot play agressive all the time sometimes you do have to wait for power cooldowns, or for a Teen to over-push with their weapon or for someone to be caught in a bad spot
  
  *These are just some examples of things to look out for when you are playing from a rough start*
  
  At this point you lost your ability to be aggressive at the start. You will need to play defensive, and wait for an opening. Ideally this won't happen every game but the games you do, you will need a backup plan and know that blind aggression is no longer an option.

*Soon*
I don't like branching VHS matches into Early/Mid/Late game, as realistically the Early game is what I would consider the 1st minute or so of the game. Past that is just the Mid / End game. That is what I am calling this section for now I plan to add different scenarios and situations you might find yourself in during the point of the game where you may have taken a few stigmas, or if the team all has weapons etc.

Right after hitting a teen every monster will scream and will lock your camera into the air for about 3 seconds. Giving teens time to make distance away from you, it will also Disrupt all teens within your scream radius (28 Meters) for about 7 seconds.



Injured teens will leave a trail on the ground called "Chromatic Aberration" I like to call them Glitch Marks. They do not stay for a very long time. They generate about every (1.5)-(2) seconds, they will fade about every 2-3 seconds



Sound plays an extremely important role in tracking as Monster. I highly suggest playing this game using a headset.

Here are some examples of sounds that you should be looking out for when tracking a teen , mid chase or out of chase.

• Footsteps.
  
• Breathing
  
• Teens searching Vending machines or Waste Bins.
  
• Crafting sounds, each crafting station makes it's own unique sound when a or multiple teens are actively crafting.
  
• Props moving like boxes , chairs , etc like picture used above.

A general rule of thumb I go for is after hitting a teen if you were unable to follow their glitch marks, or footsteps and lose track of them. After about 10-15 seconds just move on and try to find someone else. It's generally not worth the time investment frantically looking for someone and potentially putting yourself out of position for an ambush.


Every monster has a tracking ability to help you locate teens that are specific to the Monster.
Using their power in conjunction to the tips previously will help you get a better grasp of where teens are to prepare for an ambush, or when you can attempt to be aggressive and apply pressure.


Doll Trap
Doll Masters main form of tracking Teens is their Doll Trap ability. When the dolls are set it can track teens in ANY state besides death up to 15-22 Meters away the Dolls icon will change to yellow. Any teen outside of that range the icon will be set to neutral a grey color.



Echolocation
The Wart will send out a pulse that is map wide. After 2.5 Seconds an image of all teens will be shown at the time Echolocation was used. for 8.5 seconds.


Hunt
The Werewolf will enter it's "Hunting State" for 25 seconds, It will detect ALL teens up to 24 Meters away. You will hear a heartbeat sound that will grow faster the closer the teens are. (The fastest the heartbeat will go will be if a teen is within 6 Meters of you / The slowest the heartbeat will go is 24 meters from you,)

Note : All weapons are default no mods for the sake of consistency and general understanding

The flamethrower at starts (0 meters) and moves up to it's maximum range of (9 Meters) It takes about half a second for it to reach it's maximum range.

Crafting Time : 42 Seconds
Wind Up : Fast (Takes time to reach max range)
Total Charges : 10 seconds
Range : 9 Meters


General Tips :
Since flamethrowers have a slow start-up if you catch a teen trying to bait you at an incorrect distance it may lead to a hit. A generally safe distance for Flamethrowers is about 10-12Ms if a teen is keeping that distance away from you try not to push.

Weak Against -
Wart : If teens are positioned incorrectly Wart can easily leap and get an easy hit even without armor.

Werewolf : If you channel her howl just outside of about 6-7 M range even if they wind up the flamethrower you should be able to get it off without being threatened.

Strong Against -
Doll Master : Doll master doesn't have any mobility in body to get away from a flamethrower, Good teens will always use their flamethrower on dolls to destroy them, generally flame thrower is good against dolls.


The firebomb takes about half a second to wind up before throwing. It's the fastest Burn weapon to craft. Teens can only move at about 20% movement speed while holding up the fire bomb.

Crafting Time : 35 Seconds
Wind Up : Slow
Total Charges : 1 bottle
Throw Distance : 20 Meters
Area of Effect : 3.2 Meters
Burn Time : 10 seconds
Fade time : 2 seconds


General Tips :
Fire bombs have a pretty noticeable audio cue when a Teen is winding up the throw. Since it takes about half a second to wind up before they throw it you have some time to react. The Fire Bomb is a really good ambush, and area denial weapon, unarmed teens could lead you to someone who has a Fire bomb. Try to get the teens to use it as an Area denial. as it is a bit weaker wasting the weapon (Unless they have Bottled up.)

Weak Against -
Wart : Armor / Leap combo negates a lot of the Fire bomb's power. If a Teen is the using Bottled up mod you can Armor and eat their extra Fire Bomb charge.

Strong Against -
Doll master : If you are mis-positioned teens can throw a fire bomb into a room that you are controlling a doll in. Since Dollmaster does not have much mobility on his body it could be hard to react as teens could already finish the wind up when you stop controlling a doll to check who is nearby.

Werewolf : Howl has a base range of 30 Meters, However someone with a fire bomb can wait outside the range and get a long range kill on you, Howl also has a 1 second channel time and puts you at a full stop. (Meaning if a teen is fast enough they can wind up and throw a fire bomb at you for the kill since windup for fire bomb is about half a second.)

The Solar Flare is a sentry weapon, it activates upon the Teen summoning it which takes a little under a second. After it is summoned the Teen needs to wind-up before the Flare starts to fire. The wind-up takes a little less than half a second. Teens move at about 10-15% move speed while firing the Solar Flare.

Crafting time : 42 Seconds
Placement time : (.5) - (.7) Seconds
Total Charges : 8.5 Seconds
Range : 8.2 Meters
Wind up : Medium

General Tips :
While the Solar Flare is summoned if you stand nearby it will slowly start to deplete it's charges. The charge in which it depletes increases over time. The higher the pitch the Solar Flare emits will indicate this is happening. Standing just barely inside it's range allowing you to immediately walk outside it's range even if the Teen starts firing it is the best way to drain it's charges. Forcing the teen continue losing charges, or dismiss it.

Weak Against -
None :

Strong Against -
ALL monsters : Solar Flare is the only weapon in the game that can properly Area denial. Making you take alternative routes. Teens can keep their teammates safe while crafting or healing. This weapon is hard to deal with try to run out it's charging as much as you can.

Wart : Just armor up and try to eat the weapon, watch out for other weapons before eating a flare.

Doll Master : Summon a doll and force the teens to use the weapon or eat it with the doll.

Werewolf : Make sure the Teen who has the Flare is within your Howl's range before using it.

The Cross's range is 7 Meters, It takes a quarter of a second for it to reach max range in a cone in front of the Teen. Think of it as a faster but shorter range Flame thrower.

Crafting Time : 42 Seconds
Total Charges : 7 Seconds
Range : 7 Meters
Wind up : Fast


General Tips :
Since the Cross is one of the starter weapons it will be a weapon you will see very often. It is a pretty strong weapon against every Monster. The Cross is an extremely good solo ambush weapon. If you suspect a Cross is in play you will need to respect corners a bit more so than other weapons. Due to it's very fast wind-up, and how fast it can reach it's maximum distance. It's max range is a bit shorter than a Flamethrower. If a teen over-pushes you it can typically lead to a hit.


Weak Against -
None :

Strong Against -
All Monsters : Cross can catch a lot of monsters that are not respecting their corners. The Cross is the perfect solo ambush weapon. However the Cross does struggle to successfully push a Monster. If you are positioned correctly you can usually force the Teen to use a lot of charges, and even sneak in a hit if you are aggressive and keep your distance while they are kiting.

Wart : Due to it's lower range you can usually armor up and leap pretty safely against a Cross. Be patient when getting close Teens can back away and continue to kite through your armor. If they know the timing they can time it as your armor is about to break to get the kill.

Werewolf : Howl / and beserk combo if you space it about 8-9 meters you should be able to get the hit, as long as the teen with the Cross is not leading you to teammates unaffected by your howl.

DollMaster : Typically eating crosses with your doll is your best bet in my opinion. You will have to gauge whether or not someone is nearby enough to get the follow up on the stun for a kill. A lot of good teams will pump out Crosses even after the Purify stigma is taken against you to have an efficient way of getting rid of dolls.


Crafting Time : 42 Seconds
Total Charges : 2 shots
Wind up : Slow
Area of effect : 2 meters
Purify Time : 6 seconds



Crafting time : 27 Seconds
Warm up time : 1.4 seconds
Total Charges : 7 seconds
Wind up Time : Slow

Crafting Time : 42 Seconds
Wind up Time : Medium (For first swing) Fast (all swings after)
Total Charges : 10 swings
Trail Duration : 1.5 Seconds



Crafting Time : 42 seconds
Summoning time : 2.7 Seconds
Total Charges : 25 seconds
Damage Radius : .75 Meters



Crafting Time : 27 Seconds
Warm Up Time : 1.4 seconds
Wind up Time : Medium
Total Charges : 7 seconds

Crafting Time : 42 seconds
Wind up time : Very Fast
Total Charges : 28 Shots
Range : 40 Meters


Crafting Time : 42 Seconds
Summoning Time : 2.1 Seconds
Wind up time : Slow
Range : 8 Meters
Total Charges : 55 Seconds


Crafting Time : 27 Seconds
Required Charges : 3
Wind up : Slow
Total Charges : 22 Seconds
Damage Radius : 1.2 Meters

There are currently 3 Monsters in VHS Ultimately it is up to you who you want to play first. Whoever you have the most fun with is who you should play. However I will give some basic insight as to why you might want to play each of the 3 Monsters.

I will be giving a quick overview of the monster assuming you know their abilities already.

Note : These are also all my opinions there is no right or wrong.


Difficulty : Hard
Mutations Dependent? : No

Perks : *Rate from Bad / Decent / Good / Great*
Ambush : Bad
Deadly Bite : Decent
Hidden Agenda : Tier 3 Decent / All other tiers Bad.

Strengths

• High Map Control
  
• If you like puppet like playstyle from other games.
  
• Has high potential for comebacks
  
• Great at shutting down weapons

Weaknesses

• Low mobility
  
• Can be easily rushed with weapons
  
• Once a lot of your dolls are disarmed it's hard to regain pressure

In my opinion the current best monster in the game. No other monster can shut down crafting stations, have a high presence on the map at all times as Dollmaster can. He is insane at making comebacks, a lot of inexperienced teens will have a hard time dealing with your dolls. Dollmaster at last stigma is a power house , due to him being able to lock down the last 2 stations with his dolls and run around eating stun weapons with his body.



Difficulty : Medium
Mutation Dependent? : Somewhat | Savage Mutation is almost a must have.

Perks : *Rate from Bad / Decent / Good / Great*
Ruthless : Great
Scream Fest : Great
Body Count : Decent | T3 Good

Strengths

• Fast can get around the map.
  
• Has an excellent early game.
  
• Able to be Aggressive if Teens are swarming / Grouped up with weapons.

Weaknesses

• Can feel very cooldown dependent.
  
• Struggles against teens who are properly split up , and spacing your howl
  
• Teens with good spacing are hard to deal with, almost near impossible to catch up to in some scenarios.
  
• Tracking the entire team is a bit harder to do.

Werewolf may be the worst Monster (does not been she is bad) in the game currently, however I do think She has some redeeming factors. You can easily get a down or potentially 3-4 hits in the early game giving you a lot of pressure fast. If you let the match slow down which will at some point, it will be hard to recover. Werewolf also feels extremely cool-down dependent requiring you to use both Berserk , and Howl to catch up to teens in certain situations. Werewolf also struggles with teens properly splitting up and having weapons ready outside your howl radius. Mechanically Werewolf isn't the hardest, but I do think they are a hardest Monster to play and do consistently with.

Difficulty : Easy
Mutation Dependent? : No

Perks : *Rate from Bad / Decent / Good / Great*
All Consuming : Decent
Easy Target : Great
Lethal Weapon : Decent

Strengths

• Has an amazing gap closer and slowdown ability
  
• Can make both defensive and aggressive plays
  
• Amazing in the 1v1
  
• Decent mobility
  
• Can shut down weapons easily.

Weaknesses

• Can't deal with multiple weapons very well.
  
• Teens that know how to properly kite you with their weapons are a struggle to deal with
  
• Using your abilities too early can cause you to be extremely vulnerable.

Wart is an extremely simple Monster, I think he is the easiest monster to pick up and play. A lot of his Strengths do make-up for his weaknesses. I would argue he could be as good as Dollmaster or slightly better in the right hands. Armor let's you deal with weapons a lot easier than the other Monsters, Leap can allow you to do aggressive plays on Teens who push a bit too much, or who may not be ready for it. Wart has the 2 best perks in the game even with the nerfs. So playing him first may be the best option to secure Lethal weapon, and Easy target on the other Monsters.

This is to show some examples of what you should be aiming for at max level.
Every Monster at max level will get 30 perk points. (Max level being LV.95)

• Easy Target 1
  
• Deadly Bite 3
  
• Ruthless 3
  
• Body count 2 or All Consuming 2

Why These Perks?
- Easy Target 1 : will allow you to know when teens are grouped up giving you a general idea where to go if you are feeling lost. Since Wart already has decent Macro level Tracking with his Echolocation using Easy target 2/3 uses a lot of extra perk slots.

- Deadly Bite 3 : Good teams will use Chompies very efficiently being able to see the aura of a teen using a chompy for 5 seconds every 30 seconds will allow you to know where teens are using chompies and when the chompie will start restoring their health. Being able to potentially waste a chompie use.

- Ruthless 3 : Ruthless is a very good perk it will allow you to whiff a basic attack and potentially get another shot if you are taking damage from a stigma, as well as makes lunge techs between door-ways safer and faster to recover from.
-Bodycount 2 or All Consuming 2 : This really depends on your playstyle. I personally am not a huge fan of Feasting, however Bodycount will help you know when Teens are fully recovered.


Leap :
Throttle -
+ The speed of the Leap when not taking weapon damage is increased by 24%
- The focusing time of the Leap is increased by 35%.

Throttle is probably Warts best Leap mutation. Being to quickly catch up to teens faster as well as getting fake out doorway leaps. The increased focus time doesn't really affect the usage of being aggressive with your leap unless you are out in the open which you don't want to do either way.

Acid Armor :
Fluid -
+ The base speed at which the W.A.R.T can move while Armored and not taking damage is increased by 5%.
- The activation time of Acid Armor is increased by 20%.

Paired with Throttle being able to catch up to Teens with weapons while armor is up max both mutations great for being aggressive. The activation time will take some time getting used to. It will help you recognize situations where you may be armoring up too early as well.

Echolocation :
Detect -
+ When Echolocation is used, the Afterimages of armed teens will appear in a different color than unarmed teens.
- Echolocation's base cooldown is increased by 25%.

Detect will let you know when teens have weapons, making it a lot harder for them to ambush you. It will help you re-position accordingly. The information of knowing that Teens have weapons makes the longer cool-down justified.

(Deafen is also a great option for Echolocation as well. Depends on your play style.)

*Soon*

Questions that people asked me, or ones I feel like people may want to know my opinions on : Comment for any other questions you would like to ask me! :)

I also stream on twitch! I play plenty of VHS on there as well if you would like to see my gameplay
https://www.twitch.tv/unseenvision_

Q : What are your thoughts on Early Access?
A : Some of my opinions have changed and I will do my best to update the guide to reflect those changes!