Monster Hunter Wilds Beginner Tips

Despite being the most accessible Monster Hunter entry to date, Wilds can still be overwhelming to new players. The knowledge barriers that come with a 21 year old franchise are understandably tough to overcome.

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Luckily, the community is always ready to help, so don’t be ashamed of sending an SOS signal when you’re in trouble, or asking veteran hunters some questions. With that in mind, we’ve created a list of some of the best Monster Hunter Wilds beginner tips to help you get started.

Focus Mode Is Extremely Powerful

Focus Mode

Focus Mode is a new addition to the Monster Hunter series, and it has fundamentally changed the way the game works. Regardless of if you are just getting into the franchise, or if you dipped your toes into World or Rise, you should get used to Focus Mode as early as possible.

Holding down L2 on the controller will turn it on, allowing you to not only aim your attacks, but to redirect moves in ways that are not possible without it. If you’re using a Long Sword, for example, you can fully rotate your character while holding Special Sheathe and using Focus Mode. Without you, you are unable to rotate at all.

Do Not Waste Your Damage On Mounted Monsters

Mounted Monster

Multiplayer is a main part of Monster Hunter Wilds, and fellow hunters do make the job easier, but you need to learn how to best make use of your companions. When you see someone mount the monster you're hunting, you might see it as an opening to land some free damage.

The logic is sound, but doesn’t apply. When being mounted, monsters take heavily reduced damage by other hunters. Use that time to sharpen your weapon and heal, or to prepare a slower attack.

Hitting Wounds Is The Priority

Hitting Wound

Wounding is a mechanic new to Monster Hunter Wilds and, much like Focus Mode, considerably changed the way the game functions. In this entry, on top of learning which areas of the monster you should focus on, based on your weapon type and the monster’s weaknesses, you need to master the art of wounding, which will supersede all other tactics.

Damaging a monster in a specific area multiple times will make it turn gray, giving a visual cue that a wound is about to appear. Once enough damage has been dealt, the wound opens. Any attacks on a wound will deal bonus damage, and once a threshold is hit, or a focus strike connects, the wound will be broken.

Breaking wounds nearly always flinches the monster, often toppling it. Breaking blue wounds on tempered monsters is a guaranteed topple every time. On top of this, connecting a focus strike on a wound will always stop a monster in its tracks. Chain wound breaks together and avoid breaking them when the monster is already toppled to achieve has much crowd control on the monster as possible.

Experiment During Low Rank

Experimentation Is Fun

A lot of you will feel intimidated by how much time is required to master weapons, and will possibly stick to a single choice for the first few hours of the game. We would recommend the exact opposite. Low rank is quite easy in Monster Hunter Wilds, hunts are short and monsters aren’t too dangerous, even if you make a few mistakes.

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Try out as many weapons as you're interested in during this part of the game. Crafts are cheap and easy to farm, and Gemma can even recommend some equipment if you need it. Once you reach High Rank, experimentation is still possible, but heading into the later stages of the game with a better understanding of all or most weapons is definitely a bonus.

Always Check Your Supply Items

Alma's Supplies

In the middle of the chaotic battles in Wilds, it is easy to completely miss the tiny text boxes that appear. So you might’ve entirely missed the fact that Alma gives you free stuff during every single hunt, depending on which monster you are facing.

These items are entirely free, and some of them, identified with EZ, disappear once the quest finishes, so they’re literally wasted if you don’t use them. They are usually healing items or rations, but she’ll also sometimes give you traps and tranq bombs if you’re on a capture quest.

Just hop on your Seikret and press the left arrow button to check them out.

Passively Farm Resources, Especially Honey And Herbs

Farming Herb

You’ll have noticed by now that all maps in Monster Hunter Wilds are filled with stuff. Your minimap is constantly blinking with all sorts of icons, which can get a bit overwhelming. Don’t obsess with collecting everything that you pass by, or you won’t actually be doing much hunting, but don’t ignore them entirely either.

It’s good to strike a balance between the do, doing some passive resource farming during hunts or when you’re waiting around for that last friend that was “almost ready” 15 mins ago. We recommend stocking up on honey and herbs especially, and these can be collected while on the move on your Seikret by just aiming and pressing Circle/B. They’re needed for Mega Potions, and in Monster Hunter, you can never have too many of those.

Use Environmental Traps

Arkveld Caught On A Vine Trap

On top of the traps that you can craft to capture or simply stun monsters, Wilds’ maps are filled with deadly contraptions that can turn the tide of a battle. These are always identified on your minimap, and monsters’ paths will often take them close to one of them at some point in a fight.

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Activating these can do anything from trap the monsters, deal a ton of damage and topple them, or serve as a distraction. Either of these options will give you an easier fight, so it is always a good thing to keep in mind. To trigger these, just aim and press Circle/B when the prompt shows up.

Don’t Fight On An Empty Stomach

Meal Boosts

Now here's some advice directly from your grandma. Never go into a hunt on an empty stomach. Inside your tent you can cook a delicious meal (while we’re waiting for the palicos to finish getting their kitchen ready), which not only looks perfect, but will boost your stamina and max hp for at least 30 mins.

If you don’t want to spend time learning how cooking works yet (we do recommend you explore this later on), you can just pick a recommended recipe and drop whatever ingredients the game recommends so the meal comes with bonus effects and lasts longer.

And to conclude, the most important Monster Hunter Wilds beginner tip, have fun with the game. Despite a lot of technical flaws, this game is a hell of a good time, especially so with friends. Do not obsess over meta gaming and farming for “the best X or Y” if that’s not your thing. If it is your thing, do it, this game will keep you interested for hundreds of hours, but it is not a prerequisite.

Just enjoy your hunts, as long as they’ve been authorized by the Guild, of course.

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