Expect Instant Success¶
You will faint, this is not an unexpected thing.
Monster Hunter is a game you need to understand, and a game with hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of hours of quests. As such, it’s not a game that lays the victories on hard and fast.
There will be a few hardships along the way, especially your first big creature encounters that can easily take in excess of thirty minutes; there is a significant learning curve to the game. Obviously this guide smooths that down somewhat, but it still won’t ensure doses of gratification every five minutes.
Rush¶
Rushing gets you in situations like this, with a tiny health bar and a monster bearing down.
Ever hear the one about the Tortoise and the Hare? Yeah, Monster Hunter is a game for Tortoises. Running at a monster and expecting to combo your way to victory in ten seconds is not the Monster Hunter way. If that’s your game, go play DmC or God Hand.
Monster Hunter is a measured, delicate spirit; a game best enjoyed in careful sips over hasty glugs. Take your time with armour selection, weapon improvement, and when tackling a creature. You’ll find that far less failures arise from sure footed, contemplative play.
Expect Things¶
Monster Hunter controls exactly as Monster Hunter wants to control.
Monster Hunter is a game that confuses many people, and that is because people ‘expect’ certain things. Monsters don’t have health bars because it gives hunts a less predictable ebb and flow and makes the monsters feel less like a typical game boss, so stop asking for one.
You don’t have a ‘true’ camera lock-on; this is because in later quests you need the camera to be free to keep track of multiple big beasts at once. Weapons aren’t awkward, they’re precise. With a spot of practice you’ll be landing hits 90% of the time.
Item descriptions are occasionally a little less than helpful, so experiment with them and talk to people about them. Share your knowledge; Monster Hunter is a game about playing alongside friends, sharing accrued know-how and tricks.
Understanding why Monster Hunter doesn’t do things the ‘normal’ way is a large hurdle for some, but it’s an easier hurdle to overcome if you just accept that it exists and stop asking ‘why’.
Stop Thinking¶
Getting sent flying is a pain, especially in the arena.
A fight with any large creature in Monster Hunter can last for a long while, and it’s important that you keep your head in the game at all times. All it can take is two seconds of mind time pondering what’s for dinner and BAM, that Lagombi has slid right into your face and carved a meter off your health bar.
Three failures can instantly unravel forty minutes of game, and all it takes for an unexpected faint is an unwise decision born from over confidence or a wandering brain. Always keep thinking, and always expect a monster to be on the verge of another attack, you can think about dinner once it’s down.
Ignore Items¶
A shock trap opens up a monster for an easy slab of damage.
It doesn’t take long to understand every move your weapon can pull off, and to this end it is the items that separate the clued up hunter from the novice. Traps and well timed bombs (sonic, flash etc.) can give you moments of big damage early in a fight.
Poison knives give your team’s damage a boost, too. Then there’s the defensive side; knowing that a monster is poisonous and stocking up on Antidotes can save your life in a tight spot. Don’t forget items and Monster Hunter will be a far smoother experience.
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