Far Far West Beginner Guide: Your First Bounty Runs

Far Far West is a four-player co-op shooter set in a supernatural Wild West, and it does very little hand-holding. You spawn in a town, take a contract from the sheriff, drop into a map, shoot skeletons and hostile robots while casting spells, kill a boss, and get paid — assuming you survive the trip out.

That last part matters more than most new players expect. This guide covers the decisions that change outcomes in your first few hours.

What a bounty run looks like

Every contract follows the same skeleton, and once you see it you stop being surprised by it.

You start in town, pick a contract from the sheriff, choose a difficulty, and deploy with your squad. On the map you work through a main objective — the store description and player reports describe tasks like operating artillery or launching a missile before the real target appears. You clear waves on the way. Then the boss shows up. After it dies, an extraction window opens and you have to reach it to bank your rewards.

That is the whole loop, repeated with harder modifiers. Knowing it tells you where to spend attention: preparation in town, positioning during objectives, discipline during extraction.

The town hub is where runs are won

The town is not a lobby you click through. It is the half of the game where you get stronger. Steam's description is explicit: trade in town to upgrade guns, spells, and skills, and pick perks that define your build.

Functionally you get four things there. Contracts, handed out by the sheriff. Weapon work — weapons are not permanent ground pickups; players report you unlock them by collecting blueprint pieces during bounties, then assembling them in town for gold. Spell work, tracked separately from guns. And cosmetics for your robot cowboy and mount, which Steam confirms exist and which change nothing mechanical.

The practical takeaway: spend two minutes in town between every run. Walking straight into a contract without spending gold is the most common way new players stall.

Your loadout has more slots than one gun

New players treat this as a shooter with a magic button. It is closer to two parallel damage systems that swap freely. Steam describes switching seamlessly between a revolver and a fireball, and combining spells with teammates.

Two rules follow. Your spell is not a panic button — cast it while reloading so your damage never flatlines. And do not fill every slot with one element, because reactions between two elements are where the real damage is. See /spells/all-spells-guide.

Where to spend your first gold

Fragments and gold are both scarce, and spreading them thin is the trap.

1. One primary, upgraded repeatedly. A heavily upgraded starting gun beats three barely-touched ones at every tier.
2. A second spell slot. Two elements is the difference between "I have a spell" and "I have a combo."
3. A sidearm covering your primary's weak range band.
4. Perks last. Perks multiply a build that already works; they do nothing for one that does not.

Weapon-by-weapon logic is on /weapons/best-weapons-tier-list. The short version: pick one gun, learn its recoil, stop shopping.

Pick a specialization early

Steam names three specialization directions: damage, healing, and headshot. These change which perks are worth buying.

Damage is the default solo pick; it shortens fights, which means fewer chances to be surrounded. Healing is strong in groups of three or four where one player keeps the squad upright, and close to dead weight solo. Headshot rewards precision and pays off against elites, but punishes you while you are still learning telegraphs.

Pick one before your fifth run. Hybrids are a second-character project.

Five mistakes that end runs

1. Splitting up. Revives need proximity, so a lone player who goes down is a lost run, not a setback.
2. Skipping side objectives. Extra objectives pay extra gold, and the boss generally waits until you trigger it. Clear the map while it is cheap.
3. Greed after the boss. The payout is only real once you extract. Enemies get denser during extraction, and players report dying on the way out costs the run's loot.
4. Ignoring the storm. Steam's own copy calls storms a deadly hazard. Treat weather as a timer, not scenery.
5. Standing still to shoot. Enemies arrive from several angles. Strafe while firing and use cover between casts.

For contract selection read /guide/bounty-hunting-guide; for squad setup see /guide/coop-guide. If frame rate rather than aim is your problem, /platforms/pc-system-requirements explains which tier you are on. The roster question is covered honestly in /weapons/all-weapons-list.

A realistic first session

Do not chase the hardest contract available. Aim to finish three runs where you extract, upgrade one weapon twice, and unlock your second spell. That curve is what the town economy is built around, and it carries you further than a lucky high-tier clear you cannot repeat.