In Monster Hunter Wilds, managing buffs is crucial for survival and efficiency. This guide will show you how to check your buff duration without returning to camp and explain everything you need to know about cooking meals.
Checking Food Buff Time
In Monster Hunter Wilds, you can check the remaining duration of your buffs by holding down the L1 button (or the equivalent on your controller) to access the quick action menu. The remaining time for your active buffs will be displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, above your health and stamina bars.
Additionally, it’s important to note that buff timers do not decrease while you are in town or at base camp; they only count down when you are out in the field.
Cooking Meals in Monster Hunter Wilds
At its core, Monster Hunter offers plenty of cozy elements beyond the thrill of the hunt. You build a community, dress up yourself and your Palico in stylish outfits, and enjoy relaxing activities like fishing and bug-catching. Among these, cooking has always been a staple of the series—after all, no seasoned hunter can head into battle on an empty stomach, making a visit to the canteen essential. Here are some different ways through which you can gather resources and cook a meal.
Portable BBQ Grill
If you’ve played previous Monster Hunter games, you might recall the Portable BBQ Grill as a tool for grilling meat to restore Stamina, while full meals were prepared at base camps. However, with Monster Hunter Wilds’ semi-open world format, the BBQ Grill now serves both purposes. When you set up the grill, you’ll have three options:
- Grill a Meal: Functions like the traditional Canteen, allowing you to prepare full meals.
- Grill Meat: Works just like the classic BBQ Grill, letting you cook individual pieces of meat.
- Rest: Lets you skip to a specific time of day or weather condition using hunter points (though it’s unrelated to cooking).
This change makes cooking more flexible, ensuring you’re always ready for the hunt, no matter where you are.
Rations and Steaks: Keeping Your Stamina Up
In Monster Hunter Wilds, you can take Rations and Steaks into battle to keep your Stamina bar at its maximum length. Rations are provided for free, while Steaks must be crafted from Raw Meat carved from monsters—usually the herbivores in each region. However, since meals also fully restore Stamina, you won’t need to rely on Rations or Steaks much until you start tackling longer hunts.
How to Get Rations
Rations can be collected from Tom at the Ingredient Center in the Windward Plains base camp. In other biomes, they’re available at the support desk, where you also manage pop-up camps and view add-ons. These supplies are replenished frequently, so as long as you keep picking them up, you’ll never run out. Additionally, your Seikret pouch will contain some Rations at the start of each hunt.
How to Get and Cook Steaks
Steaks are made by cooking Raw Meat on the Portable BBQ Grill. The cooking mini-game determines the quality of the steak, with three possible outcomes:
- Rare Steak: Restores one chunk of Stamina.
- Well-done Steak: Restores two chunks of Stamina (the best option).
- Burnt Meat: Not ideal, but still edible.
Unlike in real life, Well-done Steak is the preferred choice in Monster Hunter Wilds, as it provides the highest Stamina boost.
“Grill Meat” Cooking Mini-Game
When you select the Grill Meat option, your hunter will begin cooking a rack of six pieces of meat over an open flame. Unlike previous games, where you had to cook each piece individually, Monster Hunter Wilds lets you grill multiple at once—though you can only carry up to five Well-done Steaks at a time.
To get a perfect Well-done Steak, you’ll need to time your button press (Cross/A) correctly. Watch for when your hunter flips the meat—the first moment it turns slightly dark is your cue to press the button. If you wait too long, the meat will darken further, resulting in Burnt Meat, which is still edible but the least effective option.
If you successfully grill Well-done Steak, you’ll enter a second mini-game where you slice the meat. Time your cuts to the music—a perfect hit will trigger a sparkle effect. There’s no penalty for missing the timing, but landing perfect cuts earns you bonus meat.
Grill a Meal
The “Grill a Meal” option replaces the Felyne Kitchen/Canteen from previous games, allowing you to cook for yourself. Preparing a meal before a hunt provides various benefits, including boosts to max health and stamina. Meals are divided into three categories:
- Recommended Meal: The game suggests ingredients it believes will enhance your performance on the next hunt, based on your current build.
- Custom Meal: You select the ingredients and cook a meal tailored to your preferences.
- Favorite Meals: You can save meals you’ve previously made for quick and easy access.
Unlike previous Monster Hunter games, meal effects in Wilds persist beyond a single hunt, allowing you to carry buffs through multiple encounters before needing to cook again. The duration of these effects depends on the ingredients used, with a meal consisting of a Ration, an Additional Ingredient, and a Finishing Touch typically lasting around 50 minutes (more on these components below).
When preparing a Custom Meal, you’ll have access to three ingredient sections, though the third one unlocks as you progress through the game. Each section is further divided into three categories: Rations, Additional Ingredients, and Finishing Touches.
Trading
Trading is a key mechanic introduced through the various villages in the game. You’ll come across certain NPCs who will offer to trade with you, and this is one of the primary ways to collect cooking ingredients in Monster Hunter Wilds. These NPCs may also provide other items, including rare monster parts in some cases. Look for an icon depicting a hand holding a bag with two arrows pointing in opposite directions to identify them (refer to the screenshot below for clarity).
Typically, NPCs will want to trade items unique to the area, marked on the map with a question mark symbol. These items are mostly useless outside of trades, making it important to pick them up. Once you reach High Rank, Nata will act as the village intermediary, allowing you to trade without needing to travel between villages. All trades can be done through him at any base camp.
