Just by virtue of completing the expedition to Elder’s Pass you’ll have unlocked new optional quests at the Quest Board, including the following six star quests:

And seven star quests:

Furthermore, if you return to Elder’s Pass there’s a good chance you’ll encounter a Bazelgeuse (hardly a new foe at this point) and an Azure Rathalos. Discovering the latter should unlock some quests pertaining to it:

Endeavor to complete these quests, as completing optional quests may unlock more quests. If a delivery request or optional quest is mentioned below and it doesn’t appear for you in-game, it may be due to you not having completed enough high rank quests in general, or a specific quest earlier on. With that out of the way, let’s get to work!

A Relatable Tale¶

Talk to the Chief Botanist and he’ll tell you a tale of woe you can relate to. Apparently he was traveling with the Third Fleet Captain on her airship when a flying menace put a stop to their trip, and in response he’s posted the quest Talons of Ire and Ice so that hopefully some kind hunter might clear the skies of this monster. While the task at hand - kill a high rank Legiana and Odogaron in one trip - isn’t enviable, he promises an upgrade to the Ancient Tree if you succeed, so it’s definitely worth trying.

Shattering the Grass Ceiling¶

After completing enough high rank optional quests (this triggered after completing Brown Desert, Green Queen) you should find an Easygoing Fiver walking about the Tradeyard. Talk to her and she’ll give you the delivery request Shattering the Grass Ceiling, which tasks you with handing over a Great Girros Hood+ and 900 Research Points. Succeed at this task and you’ll obtain the Ancient Catalyst fertilizer, which works like normal Catalyst fertilizer in that it speeds up cultivation rates, although this king among fertilizers boosts the cultivation rate to three ticks per quest.

Soft Soil¶

Find the Laid-Back Botanist near the Botany Research station and it’ll tell you about some research it’s performing… which naturally results in a delivery request. This request, A Gentle Earthen Bed requires you to turn in three Dragonbone Relics and 1,000 Research Points. Dragonbone Relics are relatively rare harvests from bonepiles, so you’ll just have to get out there and start digging… preferably with a bounty to back you up. Complete this delivery request to unlock the Soft Soil fertilizer. This fertilizer, when applied, extends the duration of all other fertilizer effects by five ticks… so if you want to have everything active at once without having to worry about switching fertilizers anymore, this is the stuff for you!

Cultural Exchange: Gajalaka Linguistics II¶

After completing the expedition to the Elder’s Recess you should find the Lynian Researcher waiting for you near the Ecological Research station. Talk to him and he’ll tell you what progress he’s made with the Gajalaka doodles, which draws him (pause for pun) towards the Elder’s Recess. Naturally, however, the place is dangerous, and he could use an escort. This starts the critical bounty Cultural Exchange: Gajalaka Linguistics II, which is more or less just an invitation to find the Lynian Researcher in the Elder’s Recess during an expedition and complete his Gajalaka-related task. This - and the other researcher’s tasks - will be covered below in the section Second Expedition to the Elder’s Recess.

Bazelgeuse Beatdown¶

Next head over to the pen where captured monsters are stored and talk to the Smart Biologist, who excitedly tells you they’ve located the lair of the Bazelgeuse, a monster who likely plagued your earlier search for Pink Rathian clues, and could use a good beating. He’ll give you the quest Bazelgeuse in the Field of Fire, enticing you to do just that.

A Pair of Monster Pair Quests¶

Chat with the Armory clerk and… yeah, you know how this goes. More hunter tools, and this time she needs you to complete the optional quest The Red and Blue Crew, the goal of which is to defeat a high rank Rathalos and Azure Rathalos in the same mission. Yikes. Depending on how many optional quests you’ve done, she may have another quest for you, too, and if so, talk to her again to get the quest A Fiery Convergence, which is another two monster hunt - this time a Lavasioth and a Uragaan.

GAINS Versus Gajalaka¶

As usual, everybody’s favorite character, the Meowscular Chef is looking to make GAINS after the most recent assignment, so talk to him and you’ll pick up the quest Chef Quest!: Gajalaka Lockdown), the goal of which is to smack around ten Gajalaka.

Investigating Nergigante¶

While you’re out doing optional quests and satisfying delivery requests be sure to search those blue tracks to further your investigation of Nergigante. When you have gathered enough Nergigante research talk to the Chief Ecologist and he’ll tell you about Nergigante’s peculiar diet. Seems like the hunters should just leave the beast alone, right? Anyways, after that he makes a profoundly unscientific assertion before referring you to the Commander. Talk to the Commander, after which you’ll be sent to The Handler, who will also babble quite a bit. After all of that, the assignment A Wound and a Thirst will be posted.

Below you’ll find the optional quests and delivery requests A Meow for Help, A Scalding Scoop, Cultural Exchange: Gajalaka Linguistics II and Chef Quest!: Gajalaka Lockdown, follow by quests involving new monsters. High rank versions of old monsters weren’t recorded, as although they’re stronger, they fight in nearly identical ways, but new monsters deserve proper introduction… basically if it has a new entry in the Monster Field Guide, you’ll find its corresponding quest covered below.

These large monster hunt quests include Dodogama Drama (Dodogama), Rathalos in Blue (Azure Rathalos), Two-Horned Hostility (Black Diablos), Lavasioth, Monster of Magma (Lavasioth), Ore-Eating Occupier (Uragaan) and Bazelgeuse in the Field of Fire (Bazelgeuse). The dual monster quests Talons of Ire and Ice (Odogaron and Legiana), The Red and Blue Crew (Rathalos and Azure Rathalos) and A Fiery Convergence (Uragaan and Lavasioth) will finish the section up.

Whew. After all that optional content, you’ll find the continuation of the main storyline in the assignment A Wound and a Thirst. Do as much or as little as you please before moving on… or ideally, you’ll do some of these quests while gathering intel on Nergigante.