How to hit Heartshots in Nightingale

Heartshots are one of the tougher tasks you have to complete in Nightingale. You have to hit the target in a particular way, and it’s not always clear if you’ve landed one, especially when trying to complete tasks and challenges around this mechanic.

Landing a Heartshot against a target takes a bit of practice. The method I use is not perfect, and it might take you a reasonable amount of time to truly get the hang of it. However, it does become easier the more you play Nightingale, and you unlock additional equipment. Here’s what you need to know about how to hit a Heartshot in Nightingale.

How to get a Heartshot in Nightingale

A Heartshot is when you land a projectile hit against a target, hitting their heart and immediately killing them in Nightingale. You can land these attacks against the wild animals you encounter in your realm, so you typically have to do this while hunting or defending yourself against a large predator.

You can only land a Heartshot against an enemy by hitting them in the chest, which means you want to aim the shot close to their heart. Each animal’s spot is close to the same, underneath their chest, between their ribcage. However, landing that hit is extremely difficult in Nightingale, and I’ have’ve been able to land these attacks with a Slingbow, but I have a much better time using a type of gun like the Lancaster Pistol. I recommend going out of your way to grab Mechanical Gears and have that resource at your camp when crafting firearms.

The Lancaster Pistol was the first firearm I unlocked and could make in my Nightingale world. It becomes much easier to land Heartshots against a wild animal with it, likely because a firearm fires at a much faster rate than the Slingbow does. You have a far better chance of hitting a target’s heart and landing that critical hit than you would with a Slingbow. If you haven’t crafted a firearm yet, I recommend seeking an Essence Trader in a Provisioner World and speaking with them to see what crafting recipes you can unlock. They should have upgraded Crafting Workbenches for you and resources you can buy using T1 Essence.

From there, it all comes down to luck in Nightingale. You want to aim for an animal’s upper chest, and between their arms. If you can hit this spot, there’s a good chance you might get a Heartshot, but it won’t always happen. Again, a firearm has a much better chance of landing these hits.