Best Monster Hunter World Tips, Tricks and Secrets

Best Monster Hunter World Tips, Tricks and Secrets, Guide
Tips and guides from an experienced Monster Hunter.


MHW Tips Gained From Thousands of Hunting Hours

Information about games these days are all over the internet. It can be difficult to find all helpful and relevant information in one place. In this guide, I try to gather all necessary knowledge (in my opinion) in order to learn how to play Monster Hunter & Monster Hunter World in general. For in-depth information, use the included resource guide. (Note: This guide was published on May 31, 2018. Monster Hunter World is being continuously updated and some information here might be outdated after the said date.) 

 

Beginner To Advanced Tips, Secrets, & Resource Guide


Before anything else, I believe that it is important to have good resources of information about Monster Hunter. The fastest way to learn is by watching videos on YouTube. I highly recommend these 2 YouTube channels first:

You don't have to watch all their videos at once. Play the game first. Take your time. Have fun. Learn how the game works by yourself. If you're a beginner, don't compare yourself to advanced and experienced players. When the time comes that you need to know or learn about something, then go to these guys.

Next, a good and reliable online database for quests, weapons, items, ingredients, etc. is also extremely useful:

Overview


  • Beginner Tips
  • Advanced Tips
  • Secrets
  • Resource Guide

Beginner Tips


Locate An Item Box

Before you can even pick or change weapons in the beginning, you must first locate an item box. One can be found at the Tradeyard in the western part of Astera, next to the Field Research Team. The others can be found near the Workshop entrance, your room, next to the kitchen, and the Gathering Hub. Your item box contains 1 set of all weapons. You will always need to come back to your item box later for item restocking, item sets, and equipment sets.    

Choose A Weapon That You Like

There are many weapons in Monster Hunter, but try focusing on one weapon first. Every weapon CAN be good and effective, but it ultimately depends on what works for you and what gives you the most fun. Based on my past Monster Hunter experience and opinion, there are just some weapons that can hunt certain monsters faster, but that doesn't mean that it is the best weapon, or that it is the best weapon to use for that particular monster.  You also need to take armor skills and playstyle into consideration. And speedruns shouldn't be the basis for making monster hunting fun. There are many ways to play and enjoy Monster Hunter.

Why do you need to focus on one weapon first? Because you can test it on different monsters. What you need to learn about Monster Hunter is that for each weapon, you can't use one single strategy or playstyle for all monsters. Each monster will teach you to adapt. This is one of the reasons why this game is fun. Because it doesn't treat its players like idiots. If you still feel that you can't pick one, consider these two things:

  • before you change weapons, try watching videos online. Watch how others use your chosen weapon for that monster you're hunting. If you see that others can use your chosen weapon effectively, then you should take your time to practice. You will be surprised.
  • if want to change weapons because you truly believe that weapon isn't your style, go ahead. It isn't a crime. This is how you find what weapon works best for you.

Practice How To Use Weapons At The Training Area

To enter the training area, go to your room and talk to the Housekeeper. Alternatively, you can also open the map and directly select the training area. If you're absolutely not familiar with a certain weapon, you can freely practice its moves and combos at the training area.  

Best Weapons For Beginners?

For experienced players, I'm sure you've heard it countless times that there are weapons suited for beginners, such as the sword and shield and the dual blades. However, this shouldn't restrict beginners from choosing the weapon they'd love to use. Even if a certain weapon is considered for "advanced" players, any player can eventually be good at one weapon if they use it frequently enough. If you're a beginner and don't want to take too long in learning how to use one weapon, then I believe that you should use the Great Sword first.

Why the Great Sword? It uses a hit and run playstyle. It involves charging your weapon for it to have  maximum effectiveness. This kind of playstyle teaches players to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack a monster. And this I believe, is the core principle of Monster Hunter.

Learn about the monster's movements, and then carefully choose when to attack and what type of attack to use. Don't be too overconfident, aggressive, and careless. Advanced monsters will certainly break your smug face.

Don't Be Overwhelmed By Numbers and Stats.

When I first played Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the 3DS, there were so many details I didn't know anything about. A lot of these came from weapon damage numbers and item usage. The problem with past Monster Hunter games is that there are many important details that the game doesn't explain clearly. Even the tutorial is clear enough or sufficient. Just don't be overwhelmed. You will eventually learn these stats by yourself. For advanced stats such as true raw damage or weapon damage calculations, use the power of the internet, especially the resources I've mentioned above.

But This Stat Is Important: Weapon Sharpness

Every time you hit a monster, you lose sharpness. When you have the opportunity, you must always sharpen your weapon using the whetstone. Some weapon moves also decrease sharpness. The more "sharp" your weapon is, the more damage you deal. Weapon sharpness also determines whether your attacks will land or bounce off. However, even the highest level of sharpness can't break through very tough parts of some monsters, such as Nergigante's black spikes. Weapon sharpness is presented in specific colors. The highest level of sharpness in previous Monster Hunter games is purple sharpness. In Monster Hunter World, white is the highest level of sharpness. Next to it is blue, green, yellow, orange, and then red. You will never want to use a weapon with orange or red sharpness. In lower ranks, you cannot usually upgrade your weapon to blue or white sharpness.

Pick Up and Collect Everything. Everything Can Be Useful

For beginners, you should know that your resources play a valuable role in your hunts. When first starting the game, you should stock up for healing item ingredients such as blue mushrooms, herbs, and honey. However, you must not ignore collecting everything else you see. Some can be used for upgrading armor, crafting bombs, and more.  During my first Monster Hunter game, I became so frustrated whenever I ran out of potions because a few more ingredients could have potentially made my hunt a success. Collecting and picking up all kinds of items every time I had the opportunity became automatic. Trust me, Monster Hunter will certainly teach you what's important. Collecting items will also give you more knowledge on items and their usage.

Pre-Hunt Activities

Here is a list of highly suggested pre-hunt activities in Monster Hunter World (Astera Map):

  • Canteen (Meowscular Chef): always eat a meal before hunting to get helpful food skills
  • Field Research Team: check for completed bounties, take on a new bounty, submit delivery quests, and manage investigations.
  • Botanical Research: Select items to cultivate (multiply) and collect cultivated items.
  • Ecological Research Team: Submit new discoveries to level up your Monster Field Guide after collecting monster tracks or breaking parts; check monster research levels
  • Argosy Captain: can automatically acquire useful items in exchange for research points.
  • Provisions Stockpile: stock up on items such as basic potions, bombs, and ammo

Canteen Quests

To upgrade the canteen's ingredients, you must finish canteen quests. Some canteen quests can only be obtained by collecting a specific item in an area. Upgrading canteen ingredients gives a better chance of activating food skills.

Canteen Recipes

When eating at the canteen, there are pre-made meals you can choose  from. However, if you need to have a particular canteen skill for a hunt like Felyne Specialist which increases the potency of abnormal status attacks, you will need to select a combination of ingredients. To get better chances of activating canteen skills , you will need to collect ingredients and finish canteen quests. Here is Arekkz Gaming's Canteen Guide

Study Item Recipes

At first, learning about items and item recipes can be overwhelming, because there are  just a lot of items in the game. Item recipes are here to help you. It can be accessed through your item box. Take your time and check the list of item recipes. Some item recipe names won't be displayed until after you get the ingredients needed to create the item. This is the reason why it is important to pick up everything you see. You will eventually unlock more recipes simply by collecting items.

Always Remember To Bring Items That Will Be Helpful To You

Almost any experienced hunters will tell beginners to always bring a set of helpful items. These items are highly suggested:

  • potion
  • mega potion
  • lifepowder (for additional healing, even if not in a team)
  • herbal medicine (faster item consumption speed compared to antidote and also recovers a small amount of health)
  • stat boosting items: demon drug, armor skin, etc.
  • traps: shock & pitfall
  • tranq bombs (for monster capture)
  • large barrel bombs and mega barrel bombs
  • dung pod
  • flash pod
  • max potion
  • cooked meat
  • energy drink

The following items are situational:

  • screamer pod
  • cool drink
  • ancient potion
  • farcaster

Bring Additional Ingredients

There is a limit to how many of each item you can bring in a hunt. But what if you're having a hard time and need more potions and traps? You can always go back to camp to resupply, but this isn't always the best option. You can't always easily go back to camps. One reason is because you can't fast travel if you're engaged by a monster (shown by a red highlight around your mini map). Another reason is because you can save more time if you don't have to travel back to camps. These are the reasons why you should always try to bring additional ingredients whenever possible. For example you can only have:

10 Mega Potions in your inventory. 

But you can create more if you bring additional herbs, blue mushrooms, and honey. This is assuming that you have consumed at least 1 Mega Potion.    

Go On Expeditions To Stock Up On Resources

If you need to stock up on items, you can always go to expeditions. There is no time limit on expeditions so you can freely explore the area and collect everything you need. Going on expeditions is also a good way to collect monster tracks and increase your monster research levels. There will also be certain monsters appearing during an expedition. You can hunt these monsters and get their materials. If you're focused on gathering resources during expeditions, use skills that complement gathering such as Botanist and Entomologist. See Arekkz Gaming's gathering armor set.

HP and Stamina Bar

Your HP and stamina bar can be raised to their maximum levels by eating items and eating at the canteen. This is the reason why you should never forget to eat a meal before hunting. Monster Hunter World made it more convenient to eat meals by allowing players to eat at camps at any time during the quest.

You can raise your HP Bar by using:

  • nutrients
  • mega nutrients
  • max potion
  • ancient potion
  • the Health Boost armor skill

You can raise your Stamina Bar by using:

  • cooked meat
  • energy drink
  • ancient potion
  • the Anjanath Will armor skill (equip 4 pieces of Anjanath armor)

Use Your Monster Field Guide To Learn Monster Weaknesses and Weak Spots

In the past Monster Hunter games, there was no Monster Field Guide to show monster weaknesses and weak spots. Knowing these is very important. You deal more damage by attacking a monster's weak spot. There is also a skill called Weakness Exploit which increases your affinity (critical hit chance) when hitting weak spots. Certain monsters are also weak to elemental damage and status conditions such as paralysis and sleep. You can also identify which monster parts are breakable or severable. Breaking monster parts can give a higher chance of getting a rare reward. Severed parts give you additional carves which can also reward a rare item. A list of monster carves and rewards are also provided by the field guide. Always consult your Monster Field Guide for valuable information.  Get better info on your field guide by collecting monster tracks and breaking parts.

Check The Supply Box, But Don't Rely On It Too Much

Supply items are items obtained from the supply box located near camps. At low ranks, supply items can be useful since they can provide you with healing items and other helpful items. For quests that require you to capture the monster, traps are provided in the supply box. However, you should not always depend on items from the supply box. In High Rank, you can be dropped in front of the monster at the beginning of the hunt. This is the reason why it is always important to bring the necessary items before staring hunts.

Use The New Detailed Map

In previous games, the in-game map was very limited. Gathering point locations and monster locations were difficult to find and remember. Monster Hunter World's new map is full of detail.  Any experienced player will definitely agree. Take your time to learn how to use the map to easily locate what you need.  

Use The New Slinger Accessory and Look For Wedge Beetles

The slinger can be equipped with projectiles such as stones and a variety of ammo. Stones thrown from the slinger can be used to hit monsters or destroy fragile structures in the environment. The Slinger can also be used to attach yourself to Wedge Beetles in order to avoid areas that hinder your movement speed. Wedge Beetles also help you move quickly to an elevated place, or access hard to reach areas. Always keep an eye out for Wedge Beetles.

Use Your Flash Pod, Especially For Anything That Flies

Flash Pods are one of the necessary items you should bring in a hunt. Any flying monster can be stunned by Flash Pods. Just aim it at a direction where the monster can see the flash. Blinded monsters can't target a single hunter and will blindly attack for a while. Flying monsters are also briefly stunned when they drop to the ground.

Use Traps

Traps make hunting faster. Unfortunately, even experienced hunters forget to use traps or are just simply lazy.  Trapping monsters is one of the most effective ways to break monster parts. Traps also allow a monster to be captured when it is low on health or limping.    

Use Barrel Bombs

Barrel bombs can cause significant damage, especially on sleeping monsters. They are also a good way to break monster parts.  There are different ways to use barrel bombs. Use these guides:

Craft An Armor Set From One Monster

My monster hunting addiction started when I learned how to create an armor set. I loved its design. Each armor set has a similarity with the monster it was created from. The Azure Rathalos armor set from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate had small wings on its back and shared the same color scheme with Azure Rathalos. Crafting an armor set that you like can be a good way to:

  • teach yourself about armor skills and what they do
  • practice on hunting a particular monster since you will need to hunt it more than once to complete its armor set

In Monster Hunter World, some armor skills like Critical Element can only be obtained by equipping more than 1 piece of armor in a set, or through decorations. Critical Element is now renamed as Rathalos Mastery, and can be obtained by equipping 2 pieces of Rathalos armor.

Learn Armor Skills and Create Your Own Combinations

Armor skills are one of Monster Hunter's core features. They are passive skills that are obtained from equipping pieces of armor. Monster Hunter World uses a new armor skill system. In previous games, each piece of armor would provide a certain number of points to a specific skill. To activate an armor skill, you needed to have a total of 10 points from different armor pieces. In Monster Hunter World, each piece of armor can instantly activate an armor skill. For a more detailed explanation, watch Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Obtain Useful Items From The Argosy Captain

The Argosy Captain in the Astera Tradeyard can give you useful items which are not easily created or acquired such as Screamer Pods and Nourishing Extracts (used to create Mega Demon Drug). Always give him a visit after every hunt. If the captain is not available, try finishing a couple of hunts.

Use The New Radial Menu

If you have ever experienced playing an MMORPG like World of Warcraft, then you probably already know that using shortcuts for activating skills can be very helpful. Monster Hunter World uses a new Radial Menu to create shortcuts for items, item recipes gestures, emotes, and even its new S.O.S. feature.  Here is a video guide on how to use it.

As an experienced Monster Hunter player, I found the new Radial Menu really useful compared to the previous item shortcuts.

Use Item Loadouts and Restock (Combines With Radial Menu)

To make organizing and restocking items faster, you can create Item Loadouts from any item box. Item Loadouts are extremely useful, especially when changing between different ranged weapons, because not all ranged weapons can use the same ammo types. Item Loadouts also make it faster to restock items. After you have consumed items in a hunt, you can go back to your item box and select your previously selected Item Loadout to restock all items. However, restocking will fail if you don't have enough ingredients. Your Radial Menu shortcuts can also be saved in an Item Loadout.

Use Equipment Loadouts

There are so many different combinations of armor and armor skills in Monster Hunter. You can also get a better combination of armor skills from mixed sets. Equipment Loadouts make it easier to switch between combinations of armor, weapons, charms, tools, and decorations.

Use Botanical Research

Aside from gathering items through expeditions, cultivating items is another way of stocking up on items. Botanical Research allows you to multiply items while you're hunting. Always check here after coming back from hunts. Gathering items on expeditions and cultivating items is the most effective way to stock up on items.

Use Stat Boosting Items

Stat boosting items significantly affect the difficulty and duration of hunts. You can boost your stats by eating at the canteen and by using the following items:

For attack boost:

  • might seed
  • might pill
  • demon drug
  • mega demondrug
  • power charm (permanent effect as long as in inventory)
  • power talon (permanent effect as long as in inventory)

For defense boost:

  • adamant seed
  • adamant pill
  • armorskin
  • mega armorskin
  • armor charm (permanent effect as long as in inventory)
  • armor talon (permanent effect as long as in inventory)

Choose Your Preferred Target Lock Type

Monster Hunter World features several ways to lock on to your target. Target locking is essential in hunting because you need to be precise with your attacks. You also need to keep the monster within your view to know what it is doing. Since the game is currently available for the PS4 and Xbox One, target locking can also be achieved manually by using the right analog stick on the  console controller.  However, you can adjust the target lock type to be similar to the previous games. Go to "Options" in the "Settings" tab (on the far right of the menu) and select "Camera."

Play Solo (More HR Points and Less Monster Health)

One of the most effective ways to learn Monster Hunter is by playing solo. By playing alone, you will learn to be more careful and be more vigilant of monster attacks. This makes you a better hunter. In multiplayer, there is a tendency to disregard the monster's attacks and just depend on the help of other hunters to compensate for your mistakes. Unlike in previous games, monsters have lesser health when playing solo. Your hunter rank (HR) will also increase faster if you manage to finish hunts on your own. This is helpful because there are quests that require you to be at a certain hunter rank level.

Monster States

Monsters in Monster Hunter don't have an HP bar or a status indicator, but there are visual cues that show their current condition.

  • enraged: monster will usually roar before being enraged. An enraged monster will typically be faster and more powerful. Enraged states varies with each monster
  • low stamina or hungry: drooling, looking exhausted, or slow movement is an indicator of low stamina. Exhausted monsters are easier to attack and they stay longer in traps.
  • sleeping: monster will do a sleeping animation before being completely asleep. Any attack on a sleeping monster will do double damage.
  • paralyzed: immobilized and twitching
  • poisoned: purple drool coming out of its mouth
  • stunned / knockout (K.O.): stars shown above its head
  • mounted: a player has successfully mounted the monster. There will be a message displayed when this happens
  • limping: an indicator of low health. Limping monsters can be captured by any trap and a Tranq Bomb

High Rank Transition

This is one of Monster Hunter's challenging tasks. Going into high rank means more powerful monsters which do more damage and have more health. Armor crafted from low rank won't be effective since you can usually faint in just a few hits.  You will also need to upgrade your weapon since green or yellow sharpness won't be that effective in high rank. See Arekkz Gaming's guide about high rank armor.

Talk To All NPCs and Do All Quests

Monster Hunter has always rewarded players who complete all quests. Be sure to talk to all NPCs in all maps. Check if they have a yellow exclamation point in the map. This means they have something to say or a quest to give. There are also quests that are unlocked by doing other quests. The special Mantles in Monster Hunter World are obtained by doing a series of high rank quests that require you to be at a certain hunter rank level. 

Advanced Tips


List of Known Changes In Monster Hunter World Compared To Previous Games (a comprehensive list but not guaranteed to be 100% complete)

  • extensive character customization
  • interactive and destructible environment. You can destroy fragile structures such as hanging rocks to deal massive damage to monsters
  • new option to display damage numbers
  • changes to all weapons and their playstyles
  • new slinger accessory; flash bombs, dung bombs, and sonic bombs are now accessed though the slinger - (See Arekkz Gaming's guide on Slinger ammo)
  • whetstones and bug nets are now infinitely usable
  • no more pickaxes needed to gather from mining spots
  • rare monster items (Rathalos Gem, etc.) can now be bought from the Elder Melder by using the Gold Wyverian Print which is obtained from completing limited bounties
  • collecting monster tracks and breaking monster parts unlock investigations. Investigations give better rewards compared to other types of quests. 
  • a new S.O.S. feature lets you ask for help from other players during a quest. At the same time, there is also an option to look for S.O.S. flares
  • a new squad feature that can make it easy to connect with players on the same squad
  • players can now join all posted quests, even if the quest leader has already started it. However, you cannot join if the quest has reached its maximum player capacity. Rewards are also reduced if you join at a later time.
  • you can now eat meals and change loadouts in camp during an active hunt
  • trap placement or assembly is now faster
  • new special move animations when bringing down a monster from a mounted state
  • new sliding attacks
  • tranq bombs aren't projectiles anymore but rather thrown directly at the hunter's feet with a small area of effect
  • a new mantle equipment that provide specific skills for a limited time
  •  new boosters equipment that also provide specific skills for a limited time
  • new Grimalkyne Palicos that can help during hunts and give unique Palico equipment
  • a new highly-detailed map compared to previous games
  • a new layered armor system that can change your appearance without affecting armor skills
  • a new item wishlist feature that notifies players when they have the required ingredients to craft an equipment
  • a variety of pets can be caught and displayed in your room
  • new large emoticons in chat
  • a new radial menu
  • a new armor skill system
  • new elderseal status to weaken elder dragons
  • some armor skills can be obtained as an armor set bonus
  • alpha  and beta set armor sets
  • an detailed in-game monster field guide that show monster weaknesses and weak spots
  • a new system of tracking monsters. Paintballs are replaced by scout flies which get better at tracking after collecting monster tracks.
  • new strong tempered monsters which give rare rewards
  • multiplayer mode adjusts monster health
  • online log in bonus

Unlock Camps To Quickly Move Places

Not all camps in Monster Hunter World are easily unlocked. You can save a lot of time going around the map by finding the locations of all camps. You also need to deliver some items in order to unlock them. See Gaijin Hunter's guide on how to find and unlock all camps.

Unlock Unique Palico Equipment From Grimalkyne Subquests

Aside from the Palico equipment you can craft in the workshop, you can also obtain unique Palico equipment. These give your Palico a unique skill. To unlock them, you need to first find the Grimalkynes on each map and complete their quests. See Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Playing In A Team

There are some things you should consider when playing in at team.

  • be aware of your team's health and use a lifepowder when needed
  • use stat boosting items like demon powder and armor powder
  • watch where you land your attacks. Your attacks can stagger or interrupt your allies and can prevent them from dodging or executing a move. If possible, don't stick too close to your allies too much, especially when you know that your attacks can disrupt them. Change positions and hit a different part of the monster.
  • use the game's built-in voice chat, the PS4's voice chat, or an external voice chat application such as Discord for better communication
  • do your best not to hit sleeping monsters

For more tips when playing in a team, watch Arekkz Gaming's guide.

A Tip For Monster Hunter World's Online Multiplayer Problems (PS4)

Based on personal experience, I've encountered problems when trying to play with friends online. This is because of the infamous 5038f-MW1 error. It took me hours just to find a working solution. Use a static I.P. address for your PS4 and put it into a DMZ (demilitarized zone). Use this helpful guide.

Use Falling Rocks Or Structures To Deal Massive Damage

Certain structures in Monster Hunter World are destructible. There are also huge falling rocks or pointed rocks in some areas that deal massive damage to monsters and briefly stun them. Use any projectile such as bowgun ammo or slinger projectile to cause these stones to fall on monsters. See Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Use The "Superman Dive"

Some monster attacks (like Nergigante' aerial dive attack) can't be avoided by a simple evade animation because the invulnerability duration isn't enough (unless you have a high Evade Window skill level). Use the "superman dive", an evade technique that has a long invulnerability duration. To do this, look away from the monster (the opposite direction from the monster) and press the evade button while dashing. See Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Herbal Medicine Is Better Than Antidote

Herbal medicines have a shorter item usage duration compared to the traditional antidote. It also heals a small amount of health. I learned this from Gaijin Hunter.

Tripping Monsters

Some monsters (usually those that stand on 2 legs)  will usually trip when hunters focus their attacks on the legs. Tripped monsters are vulnerable for a few seconds. Try tripping these monsters:

  • Bazelgeuse
  • Rathalos
  • Rathian
  • Radobaan

Use The New Sliding Attacks

Monster Hunter World added new sliding attacks for all weapons. These can be performed when sliding down from an incline or slope. Some sliding attacks are aerial attacks, which can be used to mount monsters.

Use "Kick-Off" Spots For Continuous Aerial Attacks

There are certain locations where you can continuously perform jump attacks as long as you're near a "kick-off" spot. Use these locations to quickly mount monsters or break hard to reach parts. See Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Augmenting Weapons and Armor

This is part of the endgame or postgame. Your equipment can be further upgraded by acquiring rare materials obtained from elder dragons or tempered monsters. See Arekkz Gaming's augmenting guide.

Farming Tempered Monster Tracks To Unlock Tempered Investigations

Tempered monsters are classified according to threat levels.  When you collect a monster track from a threat level 1 monster, you can unlock a random threat level 1 tempered investigation quest. Use the following helpful reddit post as a guide:

  • Threat level 1: Pukei-Pukei, Tobi-Kadachi, Anjanath, Barroth, Jyuratodus, Rathian, Paolumu, Radobaan
  • Threat level 2: Rathalos, Azure Rathalos, Pink Rathian, Diablos, Black Diablos, Bazelgeuse, Uragaan, Lavasioth, Legiana, Odogaron
  • Threat level 3: Kirin, Teostra, Kushala Daora, Nergigante, Vaal Hazak

You can also use PWARGaming's guide in farming tempered monster tracks.

Farming Tempered Elder Dragon Tracks

Tempered elder dragons give rare rewards  but elder dragon tracks are not easily found. There is way to farm their tracks. Watch Arekkz Gaming's guide.

Tempered Elder Dragon Characteristics and Elderseal

Tempered elder dragons offer the greatest challenge. Elder dragons can't be trapped, but are still vulnerable to flash pods and status effects.  Monster Hunter World introduces a new elderseal status, which can prevent the elder dragon auras. Weapons with elderseal are usually crafted from Deviljho, Nergigante, Vaal Hazak, and Xeno'jiiva .

Here is some basic information on the unique characteristics of the following elder dragons:

  • Kushala Daora: uses a wind aura to deflect projectiles and stagger hunters who get close.

tip: use poison on it, cut its tail, or break its head to prevent it from using its wind aura often. You can also use the Windproof armor skill.

  • Teostra: uses a flame aura to continuously damage those who get close and deflect projectiles.

tip: its head is still vulnerable to projectiles when flame aura is active. Use a Health Booster when engaging it with a flame aura

  • Vaal Hazak: uses a "Miasma" aura that can cut your health in half after being exposed to it.

tip: use the Effluvia Resistance armor skill to prevent your health from being halved.  

Attack Boost Stacking

Using attack boosting items and meals can stack. This means that you can eat an attack boosting meal, use a Mega Demon Drug, use a Might Pill, use a Might Seed, use a Demon Powder, and their effects will stack, giving you a significant attack boost.  See Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Use And Unlock All Mantles And Boosters

Quests to unlock mantles and boosters require you to  hunt a certain number of tempered monsters from each threat level.  Mantles and boosters are support items which give temporary bonuses as long as they are active. Watch Arekkz Gaming's guide on how to obtain them all.

Status Damage and Status Ailments

Status ailments can only be inflicted after a certain amount of status damage (poison, paralyze, sleep, blast, exhaust) is dealt. Status ailments cannot be applied instantly.  Different monsters have different resistances to status aliments. Also, monsters will develop a resistance to a status ailment being used against it. This means that it will take longer to paralyze a monster again once it has been paralyzed at least one time. See Arekkz Gaming's guide on status damage.

Elemental Damage

Elemental damage is simultaneously applied with raw damage. Using an elemental weapon that a monster is weak to can cause more damage compared to non-elemental weapons. However, this isn't always the case since motion value also plays a role in total damage output. The total damage output of non-elemental weapons can be outperformed by high elemental damage weapons when used in combination with rapid attacks, or attacks with a low motion value. For an in-depth guide, watch Arrekz Gaming's video.

Motion Values

In simple terms, motion values determine an attack's damage output. Attacks that take a longer time to execute do more damage. For example, a charged Great Sword attack has a high motion value and does significant damage, since it takes a long time execute. Low motion value attacks are fast attacks and do less damage compared to high motion value attacks. Motion values help hunters decide which attack move should be used in different situations. Watch Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Damage Calculation

Monster Hunter stats can be misleading. There is a noticeable difference when you look at the damage of Great Swords compared to Dual Blades. However, the displayed attack stat isn't an accurate representation of raw damage. The calculation for the total actual damage output is different for each weapon. Watch Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Decoration Drop Rate

Decorations for useful armor skills such as Handicraft, Critical Boost, or Attack are difficult to obtain. They require hunting tempered monsters repeatedly. To save time and know which tempered monsters drop the best decorations, watch Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Secrets


Decorate Your Poogie

Aside from being a really cute pet that gives you a cheerful welcome after hunts,  Poogies don't have any noticeable benefits for the hunter (unfortunately). However, if you have some free time while waiting for the next hunt, you can look for awesome costumes for your Poogie. They are all located in Astera. See Gaijin Hunter's guide.

Hide Your Head Armor

For the first time in the series, you now have the option to hide your head armor. Simply go to the options menu, and select Head Armor.

Easily Connect With Others Using The Squad Session and PS4's Join Session

You don't have to input that really annoying room I.D. when you have a squad. You can choose the Join Squad Session option when starting the game to easily connect to your squad's online session. If you're playing on the PS4,  you can easily join a friend's online session if you add them as a friend on PSN. Select the Monster Hunter World icon from the PS4 main menu and a Join Session button will appear below (this is assuming that you have added that friend on PSN and they are currently playing Monster Hunter World).

Resource Guide


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Reddit:

Playstation EU Community (English Forums):

Monster Hunter Official YouTube Channel:

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“Whether it's being a Grey Warden or a professional Witcher, Juancho can enjoy being both, as long as he exists in a fantasy world that's an expression of his experiences learned in real life..”
Gamer Since: 1986
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: Ni No Kuni 2 Revenant Kingdom
Top 3 Favorite Games:The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Dragon Age: Origins


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