Embarking on Monster Hunter Wilds offers an exhilarating adventure filled with formidable creatures and dynamic environments. This guide provides essential tips, covering weapon selection, understanding core mechanics, and effective resource management. Equip yourself with these insights to navigate the Forbidden Lands successfully and become a skilled hunter.
Essential Tips & Tricks for Mastering Monster Hunter Wilds
Master Monster Hunter Wilds with these essential tips, covering combat, exploration, and preparation to help you hunt efficiently and survive the game’s toughest challenges.
Master Your Essential Combos
Relying solely on light and heavy attacks will only take you so far in Monster Hunter Wilds. While button-mashing may work against smaller monsters, you’ll eventually need more strategy to survive. Mastering basic weapon combos early on will better prepare you for the game’s toughest battles.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask for Help
There’s no shame in calling for reinforcements—after all, Monster Hunter is designed to be played with others. Wilds is the first game in the series to let you summon NPC hunters for assistance, so even if you prefer to play solo, you can still get some backup when needed.
The difficulty in Monster Hunter Wilds adjusts based on the number of hunters in your party. While this means monsters will become tougher, it also means they’ll have more targets to focus on, rather than just you and your Palico. If you’re struggling, don’t hesitate to ask for help.
Choose a Weapon and Commit to It
At the start of Monster Hunter Wilds, you’ll have 14 weapons to choose from, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique playstyle. While experimenting in the training grounds is encouraged to find the best fit for you, we strongly recommend sticking with one weapon throughout most of the campaign—and even into the endgame—once you’ve made your choice.
Every weapon is complex and takes time to master, requiring hours of practice to fully understand its mechanics. This is especially true for more challenging options like the Switch Axe or Insect Glaive. While certain weapons may have advantages against specific monsters, your best approach is to commit to one weapon until you’ve mastered it completely.
Loadouts Simplify Battle Preparation
Item management in Monster Hunter Wilds can be tedious, especially when you’re eager to jump into a hunt. Instead of manually restocking potions, antidotes, and traps before every mission, save yourself time by setting up a loadout.
Start by organizing a well-rounded inventory in your item pouch—one you’d be comfortable taking on any hunt. A good setup includes Mega Potions, Antidote, Nulberry, Dung Pod, Flash Pod, Hot Drink, Cool Drink, Shock Traps, Tranq Bombs, Well-Done Meat, and Rations.
Once your inventory is ready, head to your tent, select Transfer Items, then choose Item Pouch. Press the left stick to open the loadout menu, access the submenu, and select Register Loadout. With this saved setup, you can quickly refill your items before every hunt, ensuring you’re always prepared.
Avoid Grinding Until You Need To
Monster Hunter Wilds offers a vast array of weapons and armour sets to craft, each requiring different monster parts and resources. While it might be tempting to pause the campaign and farm monsters for upgrades, especially if you’re just a few materials short, it’s not necessary.
You can comfortably progress through the main story using a basic bone or iron weapon, so there’s no real need to grind until you’ve completed the campaign. Remember, Low Rank gear will quickly become obsolete once you reach High Rank, so there’s no point in building a diverse collection of elemental weapons and armour—most of it won’t matter in the endgame.
Monster Weaknesses Aren’t Crucial Until the Endgame
Exploiting a monster’s elemental weakness can significantly speed up hunts in the endgame, but during the campaign, it’s not a major concern. Rather than investing time in crafting a variety of elemental weapons, focus on progressing through the story. Save your resources for the endgame, where these strategic choices will truly make a difference.
Remember to Eat
Eating before a hunt provides essential buffs that you won’t want to miss out on. A good meal boosts your health and stamina to their maximum, increasing your chances of survival in battle. However, these effects are temporary, so you’ll need to eat again after a few hunts to maintain the benefits.
To eat, equip your portable BBQ grill from the quick access menu and select Grill a Meal, then choose Recommended Meal. If you have extra ingredients, you can add them for additional perks, which are listed beneath each ingredient’s name. If you’ve gathered Raw Meat from herbivores, you can also Grill Meat to eat during combat for a quick health and stamina boost.
Gather Almost Everything
Your Seikret rides aren’t just for chugging potions and sharpening your weapon while chasing a monster to its next location. Since your Seikret follows the monster’s trail automatically, you can take advantage of the journey to gather valuable resources along the way.
Think of Seikret rides as a mini-game—see how much Bitterbug, Adamant Seed, and Honey you can collect during fight intermissions. Every item you pick up will come in handy for crafting later. This is especially true for harvesting parts from defeated monsters. Even if you don’t need them for crafting, extra materials can always be converted into Armour Spheres.
Focus on Wounds to Speed Up Hunts
In Monster Hunter Wilds, you can target a monster’s wounds to deal bonus damage, making hunts more efficient. By repeatedly attacking the same spot on a monster’s body, you’ll eventually expose a wound, which can be identified by holding the left trigger and looking for glowing red areas.
Every weapon has a unique attack designed to instantly destroy wounds, known as a Focus Strike, Focus Slash, Focus Blow, Focus Fire, Focus Blast, or Focus Assault. To perform this move, hold the left trigger and press the right button. While each weapon’s Focus attack varies slightly, all of them deliver massive damage and can stagger the monster instantly.
Hop on Your Mount for a Break
One of the biggest changes in Monster Hunter Wilds compared to Monster Hunter World is the introduction of the Seikret. This bird-like mount is highly versatile and can assist you in battle in multiple ways. With a simple button press, you can summon your Seikret and instantly mount up—even while running or, more often, when knocked down after a monster’s attack.
Use your Seikret whenever you need to retreat or catch your breath. While mounted, you can sharpen your weapon, drink potions, and even switch weapons—all while staying mobile. Take full advantage of this to stay prepared without losing momentum in a fight.
Equipping a Secondary Weapon
One key tip to keep in mind in Monster Hunter Wilds is that you can equip a secondary weapon. To do this, first forge an additional weapon, then navigate to your camp/tent menu and follow this path: Equipment → Change Equipment → Secondary.
While exploring the world map, you can switch between your primary and secondary weapons by pressing right on the D-pad or “X” on your keyboard. Your character will briefly ride their Seikret mount to perform the weapon swap.
Having a secondary weapon is particularly useful when facing tough enemies, allowing you to adapt to different combat scenarios. You can also equip two weapons of the same type with different elemental properties—such as fire and lightning—to maximize your effectiveness in battle.
Enhancing Exploration with Fast Travel and Seikret Auto-Movement
In the Forbidden Lands, you’ll traverse various biomes, and while walking is an option, using your Seikret mount is a much faster way to get around. Marking a monster, resource node, or point of interest on the map and pressing up on the D-pad will prompt your Seikret to move there automatically.
The lower-left corner of the screen displays additional travel options, including fast travel points. These allow you to quickly return to key locations such as your main base or any Pop-up Camps you’ve discovered.
Conclusion: Mastering Monster Hunter Wilds takes strategy, preparation, and adaptability. By understanding weapon mechanics, managing resources efficiently, and utilising your Seikret mount, you can navigate the Forbidden Lands with confidence. Apply these tips, refine your hunting skills, and embrace the challenge to become a true master of the hunt.
