Tips & Tricks For Surviving In Monster Hunter: World

Monster Hunter World is the first big release of 2018, and Capcom have starts the year off with an almighty bang – just check out our review! Despite a lot of improvements to the series’ format, it’s still a deeply challenging game with a wide array of systems to get lost in, so we’ve put together our top ten tips to get you heading in the right direction.

Be Prepared

Every time you head out on a quest, you need to think about what you’re going to have with you. Monster Hunter World makes this easier than ever before, with things like whetstones to sharpen your blade available indefinitely. For every encounter, the fundamentals you’re going to need are mega potions, and then potions and honey which you can turn into more mega potions when you run out.

Besides that, antidotes and nulberries will sort most ailments, while might seeds and their stronger brethren can give you a much needed boost. It’s also worth considering traps and tranq bombs, as well as the components to make more if you’re looking to capture monsters rather than kill them. Make sure to check out your combo list for crafting; it’s become more user friendly this time out, and if you’ve got the materials overall to make a more advanced item it’ll help you put them together instead of forcing you to craft separate components.

Eat Your Greens (and Everything Else)

It’s practically essential to visit the canteen for a slap up meal before setting out, as this will give you further stat boosts. Monster Hunter: World makes things easier than ever before, as your base now include a mini-canteen and the ability to swap things out from your item box. If you are knocked out during a quest, don’t forget to use the mini-canteen, as any boosts you started with will have disappeared.

Know Your Enemy

Those scoutflies are your first introduction to many of the monsters – unless you’ve played some of the earlier games. Initially, they’re there to highlight points of interest and clues so you can track down a monster, but by levelling them up you’ll be able to learn about each creature’s elemental weaknesses, what sections of their body are breakable, where their habitat is, tactics to take them down and some of their behaviour.

Make sure that you investigate every single sign a creature has left behind, even once you’ve beaten them the first time, as you’ll continue to build a picture of them for a long time afterwards. As you progress, the research centre is well worth visiting to see what you can glean.

Don’t Go It Alone

Monster Hunter World is great whether you’re playing alone or with others, but there’s nothing like smashing a monster to pieces with a team of friends. World makes it easier than ever before to play with others, and moving between online and offline sessions is as simple as selecting the option. Once you’re in an online session you can still head off alone, but other players can join you, even if you’re already mid-battle. If you’re struggling you can also fire off an SOS flare, and anyone that’s free can come to your aid like the Lone Ranger – except with a giant sword!

Choose Your Weapon

Monster Hunter World offers fourteen different weapons, and while there are similarities between some of them, they all have unique attacks, combos, strengths and weaknesses. You’re given a weak version of every single one at the start of the game and it’s well worth trying them all out to see what best suits your play style.

The Sword and Shield is a great starting point, before perhaps moving on to the Great Sword, Hammer or Lance. Weapons like the Hunting Horn or Insect Glaive are brilliant fun, and the ranged weapons feel better than ever before, but they may not be the best place to start.

Understand the Elements

Knowing about the five elements – fire, water, ice, thunder and dragon – is a huge boon to your success as a hunter. You can probably scrape by without it if you’re fast enough or have decent equipment, but knowing what element your quarry is weak to and what type of attack he’s going to be hitting you with allows you to plan accordingly. Using a water weapon against a creature that’s weak to water will see it fall much faster, just as having a set of armour with decent fire resistance will protect you better against a monster that breathes flames.

Kill, Carve, Craft, Repeat

This is ultimately the main gameplay loop, but the march forward of Monster Hunter World’s campaign can mean that it’s all too easy to get caught up moving from one monster to the next. Struggling to get past something? Sometimes you’ll need to head back down the food chain a little bit, kill off or capture a bunch of the same monster, and then use the materials to upgrade your armour and weaponry. Sure it’s grinding, but unlike previous entries you can level up your scoutflies’ knowledge of each monster, meaning that it becomes easier and easier to chase down the same target each time.

Be a Bounty Hunter

There are a ton of great new features in Monster Hunter World, one of them being Bounties. They work similarly to those found in MMOs and games like Destiny, allowing players to juggle a handful of simple tasks while out in the field. They’re pretty straightforward and often focus on gathering plants, mushrooms, and minerals. Bounties invite players to explore and interact with their environment, coughing up resource points and precious Armor Spheres as a reward, making them invaluable.

It’s Good to Talk

As you progress through the campaign you’ll encounter various NPC’s – both in Astera, and beyond – with exclamation marks over their head. Make sure you engage with them as very often they’ll have a quest for you, unlock a newfound ability or provide you with an item. Overall they’re there to progress your facilities or improve your ability as a hunter, so what’s not to like? Try to remember where they are though, as you’ll need to return to some of them a number of times and without the exclamation marks World doesn’t make it immediately obvious.

Lock ‘n’ Load

Once you’ve settled in, Monster Hunter’s Bow and Bowgun weapon have undergone massive improvements now that the series has leapt back from handheld to home console. Using one of these three ranged weapon types almost makes it feel like you’re playing a third person shooter. However, to get the most out of them, you need to do some prep work.

Your equipment screen will show which type of coatings/ammo can be used with specific Bows and Bowguns, applying effects such as paralysis and poison. It’s always wise to stock up on these special ammo types before a hunt, either crafting or buying them. They’re expensive weapons to maintain yet highly versatile, and offer a completely different style of gameplay.

As you can probably tell by now, there’s plenty to figure out in Monster Hunter: World in order to be an ace Monster Hunter. Hopefully these tips and tricks have given you a little boost to start your career off right.