Monster Hunter Wilds offers various mechanics, items, and settings that are not immediately obvious but can drastically improve your gaming experience. MeinMMO author Christos Tsogos was unaware of many of these and wants to spare you future woes on your journeys.
What are these tips and tricks? With Worlds, I got a taste of the Monster Hunter universe, and Wilds begins a new odyssey full of fun, but also frustration. The heart of the game, the brawls with the giant beasts, is the main draw. Many things remain unexplained despite the intrusive tutorials, if you’ve, like me, turned them on.
That’s why, after nearly 60 hours, I have compiled a collection of tips and tricks to make your battles less frustrating and enhance your gameplay experience.
If you’re looking for even more tips and tricks, feel free to check out the collection from our colleague:
With our directory, you can also quickly jump between the individual points:
Use counterattacks and parry attacks
Counterattacks and parries are a very useful feature in Monster Hunter Wilds, especially when you want to slow down wild monsters. Depending on the weapon, you can perform the so-called “offset attacks.” With them, monsters are knocked back at the right moment, and you can then counterattack. This is not only practical; it also looks epic. The weapons include:
- The great sword
- The insect glaive
- The morph axe
- The hammer
- The hunting horn
- The heavy bowgun
If you hit the monster with an offset attack just before it strikes you, you knock the monster back and gain a brief window to attack. You can even practice the timing by interacting with the machine in the training area of the Windebene.
Do not neglect your capsules
There are countless capsules, known as “slingshot ammunition,” that you can fire with your slingshot. I continuously ignored them, as I am not a big strategist, but many of them have useful properties that you should utilize. These mainly include:
- Lightning capsule – to blind the monsters
- Howl capsule – temporarily incapacitates certain monsters
- Dungkapsel – separates monsters from other monsters (practical for herd animals)
There are also additional projectiles that lie on the ground during hunts or are dropped by monsters. These are practical as well since they can poison enemies or help sever limbs. So be open to new tactics – not like I was.
Apex monsters have mechanics that simplify the fight
Apex monsters are the boss monsters from the respective regions that you will discover on your journey. They not only have powerful attacks but can also use their environment as a weapon. But did you know that the arenas in which you fight are specifically designed to help you cope with your battles more easily?
The Rey Dau has slingshot ammunition in its nest that can ground the terrain. This denies the monster the chance to electrically charge itself.
The Uth Duna, on the other hand, has an attack ready that throws a whole wave of water at you. However, in the last arena, you can use your grappling hook to pull yourself into a safe area when the Uth Duna wants to dunk you.
So keep an eye on your surroundings; you might find features that no one has discovered yet.
You can find all monsters in our huge list along with weaknesses:
Helper hunters are useful, cheap, and save a lot of time in battle
Later battles can become tough, especially if you’re performing multiple 5-star hunts in a row. This takes a lot of time and can quickly become boring. Coop with real players is not always the optimal solution, as you have to share your money share of the hunt with them, and they often don’t match your pace. That’s why you should make use of helper hunters.
They are very useful, heal you even during the fight, cannot die, and fight effectively against any monster – plus they do not require a share of your payment after a hunt – so you come out completely as a winner. Therefore, activate your SOS signal with Alma so that you fire it off every time before a hunt.
Loot your supply bag for useful items before a hunt
Before you mount your Saikrii, Alma will inform you that your supply bag has been filled. Depending on your hunted target, it is equipped with items such as healing potions, antidotes, and even ammunition for your slingshot – so exactly what you should need for the respective target.
This can be practical if you forget to restock your item pouch, which can happen quickly when farming.
You can sort your item pouch
Your item pouch is a collection full of items that you can use on your hunt. It accommodates all tools, potions, antidotes, and rations. However, when you’re starting out as a newbie, this pouch will be unsorted, and you’ll carry all sorts of junk with you. This is fatal, especially when you’re looking for a specific item during a fight and are busy scrolling due to the large number of items.
So sort your item pouch before the hunt and save your favorite collections in the loadout. Depending on the hunt, you may need to capture monsters alive – so the setup can change considerably. This way, you save yourself stress in battle and are also quicker in selection.
You need two items if you want to capture a monster
Capturing a monster is a philosophy in itself; you can do a lot wrong and jeopardize the mission. For this reason, you need to know how it works in the first place; otherwise, you’ll be like me and accidentally kill one of the poor creatures.
For the hunt, you need two things:
- The tranquilizer in the form of a bomb
- At least 2 pieces – preferably more
- The trap
- There are shock traps and pitfall traps; we recommend the former
Then equip both items in your pie menu to have them readily available. Now you need to weaken the monster until you see a skull over the monster icon on your minimap. Follow the monster to its last refuge and bombard it with your tranquilizer bombs.
If the monster appears sleepy to you, you can activate the shock trap or pitfall trap. The monster will then automatically be captured. However, you can also activate the trap first and then throw the tranquilizer bombs.
Don’t worry about your loot; you’ll receive the same amount of materials as if you had slaughtered the monster.
Useful settings that you should activate
Along with tips, there are also useful options in the settings that you should toggle on or off. The first can be found under controls labeled “Automatic sheath.” Disable it to prevent your hunter from unexpectedly sheathing their weapon in or out of battle.
Another setting under controls on page 2 can be found under melee weapon aim/focus mode control. Change it to “press” instead of hold. This saves you finger strength and allows you to use the mode much more comfortably than always having to hold the button tightly.
You should also consider the following adjustments:
- Minimap: Rotation – Fixed
- Hide other Saikrii – On
- Auto-explore (Saikrii) – Off
Adjusting the minimap will help with your orientation, and disabling auto-explore will ensure that your Saikrii doesn’t wander aimlessly to places without any mark.
Those were my 8 tips for you to make your hunts more relaxed. Do you perhaps have tips, tricks, or settings that other hunters should take into account but are not very well known? Then feel free to share them with us in the comments. More about Monster Hunter Wilds can be found here: Monster Hunter Wilds: All guides, beginner tips, and information at a glance
