Knowing how to conduct yourself in a hunt is one of the most important things for a new Monster Hunter player to pick up. However, proper preparation is key to a successful hunt and can be just as daunting and obscure as some of the combat mechanics. In this guide, we will discuss how best to set yourself up for success before your hunts.
Crafting Gear In Monster Hunter Wilds
Perhaps the most important aspect of pre-hunt preparation is making sure you have the appropriate gear for the job. Crafting weapons and armor is one of the core pillars in a Monster Hunter game’s DNA – that is: hunt a monster to carve its parts, carve its parts to get better gear, get better gear to hunt harder monsters. And so on.
New players may be a little uncertain about using their precious materials on new armor or weapons when they may have better options down the line. Contrary to that, I would highly recommend visiting the smithy and upgrading your weapons and armor as frequently as possible. After every hunt! You will get better gear as you progress, but that gear will most often need better materials than you start out with. In the meantime, you can use those early game materials to get better gear to help you reach those better monsters and materials. Craft more, not less. Worst comes to worst, you can always hunt a monster again for more materials, more hunting practice, and more enjoyment. That’s never a bad thing!
How And Why You Should Eat Before A Hunt
You can’t give your all on an empty stomach, and that’s true for your hunter too! While Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t have a survival game-style starvation mechanic, you are at a definite disadvantage if you don’t eat before a hunt. Eating will increase your hunter’s health and stamina, along with providing any number of buffs depending on the meal. We’ve established eating is important, but how are you meant to keep your hunter fed?
Well, unfortunately it’s actually more of a pain when you start the game than it is post-story. Once you’ve fought the Quematrice in the Village of Whispering Winds mission, you will unlock the portable BBQ grill. Use this in the field to grill a meal from various food items. Once you unlock the Grand Hub area after the main story, though, feeding your hunter can get a lot easier! You’ll be able to use meal tickets to get canteen food, freshly cooked by some adorable Felynes! Before then, you can occasionally get a home-cooked meal from any of the settlements that you’ve befriended so far. These will usually be superior to your BBQ grill food, so are worth accepting if the chance arises.
What Are Decorations And Melding
Once you’ve completed the Long-forgotten Flame mission and defeated the Nu Udra, you will get an offhand comment about having unlocked decorations. Despite their name, these are not decorative by any means and are actually very beneficial as part of your pre-hunt preparation. From your tent, you can go into the equipment menu and select ‘change equipment’. On controller, you can edit your decorations by pressing right on the D-Pad. These can be equipped onto your weapons and armor, with weapons and armor having different equippable decorations, and different types of gear having different amounts of available slots for decorations. Picking the right decorations for your build can be a task in itself, one that you don’t really need to bother with until the post-story content, but it can make a big difference for the harder hunts.
Melding isn’t unlocked until the Through the Dusk mission towards the story’s endgame, so you won’t have to worry about it for a little while. However, it’s worth mentioning in tandem with decorations, as Suja’s melding pot allows players to convert unused materials and decorations into new, possibly superior, decorations.
Preparing for a hunt doesn’t need to be stressful, and careful preparation can make your life much easier when it comes to the hunt itself! With this guide to simplify the process, you’re all ready to embark on your hunts! Before you know it, you’ll be a veteran monster hunter! Let us know your hunt preparation routines in the comments! Want some beginner-friendly tips for the hunts themselves? Check out our Monster Hunter Wilds hunt tips!
