Family Abilities and Attributes Explained

We’ve covered the Victims in great detail and now it’s time to sit down with the Family and get to know them. Read on to see all Family Abilities and Attributes, explained.

Now that the Family trading cards have all been shared and you’ve had a chance to read over the backs, it’s time to shed a little more light on what exactly these Abilities and Attributes mean, in terms of Family gameplay.

Much like on the Victim side, everyone has a job to do, a role to fill in the composition of each match. Whether that is Seek, Hunt, Trap, Bane, or Maim, taking down the Victims is specified work, and work that this cast of maniacs is exceptionally proficient in. They also all have their trade offs, their own little deficiencies that help balance the whole, making it much more effective to work as a team while still being possible, albeit slightly more difficult, to go about things lone wolf style. Also similar to how the Victim side is structured, this all can be tailored via the metagame, where players can tune the Family to their liking.

Family Attributes fall into three categories: Savagery, Harvesting, and Endurance. These Attributes differ depending on the Family member you are playing as, and can be tuned to your liking by unlocking Attribute points within the Skill Tree and assigning them to one of the three categories. On top of Attribute points, certain Perks within the Skill Tree will also buff an Attribute category by equipping it, but more on Perks once we cover the full metagame. For now, let’s talk about the main three Attribute categories.

Savagery: This Attribute directly affects the amount of damage you deal with melee hits, but should not be seen as simple strength. Think of Savagery as a proficiency level for killing in game, used in conjunction with Endurance as a way to determine the full potential for damage dealt.

Harvesting: Harvesting affects the amount of blood you gain for Grandpa when interacting with Victims. It does not, however, affect the amount of blood gained from buckets around the map. Melee hits, grapples with Victims, and executions are the specific interactions that can fill your blood vial, dependent on your Harvesting stat.

Endurance: Similar to the Victims Attribute, Endurance affects the stamina drain and recharge rate. On the Family side, however, melee strikes also drain stamina, making the Endurance Attribute important for dealing damage as well as mobility.

So you see, these Attributes all work together to make up the type of killer any given Family member is. Considering you cannot attack without any stamina left in the pool, Savagery and Endurance are tied together in interesting ways. Mix in the fact that your Harvesting rating will affect how much blood you will walk away with after each altercation and you can start to see how the balancing shapes up with our cast of cannibals.

Now it’s time to take a look at Seek, Bane, Trap, Hunt, and Maim.

The Cook: SEEK

The Seek Ability allows the Cook to lean in and listen carefully to any strange sounds he might hear around the map. If a sound is detected, he can focus in on it, revealing the location of the Victim unfortunate enough to be making the most noise.

Sissy: BANE

Sissy picked up some unique skills in her travels, like her Bane Ability. Craft poisons from local plants then blow the powder in the faces of Victims or use them to contaminate items around the map.

The Hitchhiker: TRAP

The Hitchhiker is handy with a pile of bones and his Trap Ability is an extension of that. The macabre artist can place traps around the map that alert him when an unsuspecting Victim steps in.

Johnny: HUNT

Johnny is a stalker, a predator, and like any true predator, he’s a skilled hunter. His Hunt Ability allows him to see and track the fresh footsteps of Victims around the map.

Leatherface: MAIM

This one is pretty self explanatory. Leatherface carries the saw, the saw is the Maim Ability. He can utilize it in a variety of ways, not least of which is to dismember any Victims he might get his hands on.

These Family Abilities can all be tuned up further in the metagame, and each Ability has its own breakout tree within the greater Skill Tree where players can customize aspects like cooldown, usage, etc. More on that as well as Perks and how they intersect with Abilities and Attributes in the full metagame breakdown still to come. But we aren’t quite done here yet…

Each Family Member also has additional unique characteristics, that don’t necessarily function quite the same as their Abilities but are more just a part of who they are. Let’s list those off, now.

The Cook: He can add additional locks to doors around the map, starting the match off with three in his inventory. These locks can be removed and added back into his inventory, should he choose to relocate one of them. The Cook can also close crawl spaces, causing Victims to need to reopen them quietly.

Sissy: Sissy is light on her feet, similar to The Hitchhiker, but also crafty, sneaky, and sinister. Because of this, not only can she traverse through gaps and crawl spaces, she can also utilize hiding spots to get the jump on Victims.

The Hitchhiker: He is a slippery one, and his traversal is a perfect example of that. He can play as the persistent pursuer that is tough to shake off, chasing Victims through gaps and crawl spaces. His high Endurance marks means he’s swiping at you relentlessly while doing so.

Johnny: Aside from being able to actually track you through the map, Johnny can also put his frame to work for him by being able to instantly barge doors as well as close crawl spaces in game. His hits are also concussive, delivering an extra layer of disorientation on attack to helpless Victims.

Leatherface: The destructive type, Leatherface can destroy crawl spaces, barricades, and doors. Barricades being one of the few items that can give Victims a bit of separation from the more nimble Family members like Sissy and The Hitchhiker, this destructive option changes the routes present in the map each match.

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more on metagame and that additional layer of modifiers to everything we’ve covered with both sets of trading cards and the accompanying Hub posts.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to continuing the conversation on our official subreddit, r/TXChainSawGame.