I am sincerely thrilled to see so many new players getting into Monster Hunter thanks to Monster Hunter Wilds. It’s been weeks since launch and Wilds is still seeing close to a million peak concurrent players – and that’s just on PC alone. My social media feed is filled with Monster Hunter memes and reactions from newcomers to some of the series’ most iconic (and idiosyncratic) conventions, and I hope all of them have had a great experience and intend to stick with the game as it grows over the next couple years. No gatekeeping from the old guard here, I promise.
Related
If You Don’t Carry These 12 Essential Items, You’re Probably Playing Monster Hunter Wilds Wrong
Monster Hunter Wilds has a lot of items, but these are the ones you should always have on you.
But… Can I offer some constructive criticism? I’ve got a little advice that’s going to help you a lot on your Monster Hunter journey. See, don’t take this the wrong way, but a lot of you are in desperate need of a little etiquette lesson on how to properly hunt with other people.
I don’t think it’s your fault; new hunters should always have veteran friends around to show them the ropes. There are a lot of little things you’re expected to do when playing online that you probably don’t know about, so let me be your Monster Hunter mentor. Follow these rules if you want to become a better, or at least less annoying, hunter to play with.
Stop Waking Up Sleeping Monsters
Despite how it may seem, monsters don’t just randomly fall asleep in the middle of battle. If the music quiets and you see your prey lying down for a nappy time, you need to put your weapon away immediately. Someone on your team intentionally put that monster to sleep and now they’re going to obliterate its face for you, unless you get in the way and ruin it.
A sleeping monster takes a massive amount of bonus damage from the next attack – but only a single attack. That means if you’re not using a weapon that can do big damage with one hit, like a great sword, hammer, or heavy bowgun, then it’s not your job to wake the monster up. All you should be doing is dropping a mega barrel bomb in front of its head and waiting for the heavy weapon hunter on your team to wind up for a homerun. If you don’t have bombs, you’re still helping just by standing down.
Focus On The Right Spot For Your Weapon
Different weapons excel at doing different things, and when hunting with other people it’s important to focus your damage on the part of the monster’s body that’s most vulnerable to your weapon. When the monster gets knocked over, you don’t want all four hunters wasting precious time by jockeying for position in front of its head.
Hammer and partbreakers should always get priority on the monster’s head, while those with severing weapons should be focused on trying to cut off the monster’s tail. It’s much harder to cut the tail with more players, but getting that extra material is incredibly valuable. If everyone does their job the hunt will go more efficiently and be more rewarding, and you won’t frustrate your teammates by getting in their way.
Equip Shock Absorber
If you’re playing online, you need to have the Shock Absorber skill. This isn’t negotiable. Unless everyone else has it equipped already, you need to bring Shock Absorber to every hunt. I know it takes up one of your precious armor slots. Be the better teammate anyway and bring Shock Absorber.
This skill eliminates collision between you and your teammates. You won’t be able to trip them, and they won’t be able to trip you. Getting tripped by your teammate is one of the most annoying things that can happen on a hunt, especially if you’re using a slow weapon that requires lots of setup or long combos. You can avoid a lot of resentment from your teammates simply by using this very inexpensive single-slot skill.
Stick With A Hunt, And Don’t Be The Reason Your Team Fails
This is the most obnoxious thing people do in Monster Hunter. It’s not a new problem or something unique to amateurs, but right now Wilds is at the height of its popularity and there’s bad actors everywhere you look. This is a really basic concept: if you answer an S.O.S., then you should be prepared to: a) help and b) stay until the mission is complete.
There’s a lot of lousy things people try to do. Some will answer an S.O.S. and then AFK in camp for free rewards, or spam S.O.S. calls looking for gold crown monsters and then leave as soon as they find out there isn’t one. The worst thing people like to do is come into a hunt, cart twice, and then leave before someone (probably them) carts again and fails the mission.
Don’t be this person. Don’t be any of these people. If you join someone’s hunt, do it with the intention to earnestly give your best effort to help them complete that hunt. You don’t want to be the reason someone else has a bad time. At least, I hope you don’t.
- Released
-
February 28, 2025
- ESRB
-
T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor