Monster Hunter Rise: Our tips for hunters old and new

Monster Hunter Rise

The fateful day has arrived and now Monster Hunter Rise is available in the best stores and in digital download. The new Capcom title is an extraordinary addition to the Nintendo Switch line-up and represents a fundamental turning point for a series that becomes more and more modern and engaging with each iteration. As we explained in our review, the watchword this time is: freedom. The possibilities afforded by the Thread Bug and Swap Skills are just the tip of the iceberg and the quality of the gameplay reaches extraordinary heights. It will be up to Capcom to exploit these excellent foundations to carry out support worthy of the name; in the meantime, we are sure that many players will be approaching Monster Hunter for the first time thanks to this episode. To them, and to all veterans who may need a freshening up, we offer some advice to better deal with the monsters that threaten the village of Kamura.

The perfect item bag

Every hunter begins the adventure with the bag practically empty ... unless you have played the demo, and in that case you will be entitled to a little extra which includes Mega Potions, Blinding Orbs and other tools. Within a few hunts you will find yourself with an inventory full of objects that you will need sooner or later, but it will be necessary to put some order in your pockets and tackle the missions with the right arsenal. Here is what we suggest you always carry with you: Potions, Mega Potions, Antidotes, Nulberries, Rations or well-cooked Steaks, Blinding Spheres, Sleep Spheres, Covered Trap, Electric Trap, Barrel Bombs, Honey. The latter, which you can still find in every map, will be used to create Mega Potions if necessary or First Aid +. You can also modify the Shortcut Features to set creations on shortcuts, so you don't have to open menus during a fight.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Bishaten. Over time, you will integrate this starter item bag with other consumables that will help you in single and multiplayer hunts, such as Life Sap and Life Dust that also heal your battlemates, Health Pills or Pills ancient to restore all health and stamina, materials to craft new fly traps (Trap, Net, and / or Electric Bug), and so on. The important thing, however, is that you memorize your perfect inventory. Interact with the Item Chest, choose Organize Items, then Item Set to access a series of slots where you can save various inventories. Before leaving for a hunt, simply select one to change the item bag on the fly and, at the same time, restore all the consumables you have used, automatically transferring them from the Item Box. Get used to this practice right away and it will save you a lot of headaches.

Wyvern mount

Monster Hunter Rise: the Rakna-Kadaki. Monster Hunter World players will have to come to terms with a new way to start hunting now that the Claw Grapple is no longer there. Don't despair, though, as the Wyvern Mount takes its place, and in a sense it grants much more freedom in how you approach the fight. The first thing you need to know is that the objective of a mission is usually much more resistant to the Wyvern Mount than the other monsters that roam the map. This means that the best way to start a hunt is this: instead of going straight to the target, first reach another monster in its vicinity, and unleash a few silkworm Attacks to tame it. After that, get on the monster's back and reach your real target. Hit him with some Power Attack, reminding you to dodge any response that would greatly reduce the wyvern mount's duration, and then execute the rideable Punisher when available to deal massive damage.

Monster Hunter Rise: Hunters vs. Magnamalo. At this point, the monster you were riding will unseat you and run away, leaving you alone with your target, possibly lying on the ground for a few more seconds in which you can hit it freely. After he gets up, the monster will still be stuck in place for a few moments, but it will begin to struggle to free itself: you can still attack it, but you will have to be more careful and perhaps this could be the right time to collect the residues around. Every blow you landed with the monster you rode, in fact, caused some residue to fall, that is, the same materials that you will need to make weapons and armor. At this point, you have a choice: you can start the real fight, or you can run it and look for the other secondary monster on the map to repeat the procedure and inflict even more damage. Sooner or later you will still have to face your target on foot, but remember that you can ride him too.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Somnacanth. It must be said that the target could become rideable while attacking it with another monster, but if not, in case you manage to tame it during a normal fight, here is another tip to inflict even more damage on it for free: prepare the Barrel bombs and place two under his face while he is tied up and just waiting to be ridden. You will have one last barrel bomb left in your bag, so quickly use the wire bug to jump over the monster and use it to drop it on him, also triggering the detonation of the ones you placed just before. Since any attack is enough to get on the back of a monster stunned by the Wire Bug, you will inflict a ton of damage and take its reins at the same time. At this point you can throw it several times against a wall, or go look for another monster on the map to attack it a little and get its residues too. Do not end this fight with a rideable Punisher, or the target monster will flee: instead, throw it at the other monster to flank them both and gain some extra attacks.

Primary and secondary missions.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Almudron. Monster Hunter Rise offers missions in a quite peculiar way: they are divided between village and hunting base, with the latter more suitable for multiplayer mode. Initially you will only be able to complete the low-grade missions, but if you pass all the so-called key missions in the village, then followed by the urgent missions, you will unlock the high rank and can start it right away without first completing the low-grade missions offered in the hunting base. It's a smart shortcut that allows you to become familiar with the single player game and immediately move on to the most difficult challenges that you can face even with your friends. Despite this, we suggest you never neglect any mission, because by completing some that apparently are useless, you will unlock new secondary tasks to complete.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Tigrex. Check the map of the village every time you return from a mission: some villagers may have something to tell you or a task to entrust you. Most of these assignments offer very useful rewards which could be new types of dango at the canteens, new schematics for weapons or armor, accessories for the Canyne, Maxi-bugs wire and so on. Sometimes it will be enough for you to defeat a certain number of small monsters, other times you will have to find collectibles, materials or complete specific missions. This is how you will unlock Trading Skills as well, so keep your eyes peeled. Also, before leaving for each hunt, remember to access the secondary Objectives menu at the Mission Desk. These are super easy tasks that you complete practically on your own while you play: you can accept up to five at a time and reward you with materials and Kamura points: the latter are used to do a lot of things, including sending Canyne and Felyne on missions on their own or paying the dango to the cafeteria.

The Fury mode

Monster Hunter Rise: the silkworm attack Sword Whirlwind and shield. At some point, you'll unlock the Fury mode, basically a type of mission that is inspired by the tower defense genre. To continue in the campaign you will necessarily have to pass this first, difficult test, and then you can face other missions of the same type, which will become available at the mission desk. Consider that some monsters and materials are only obtained in Fury mode, so it is important to understand how this gameplay works: the initial tutorial is very useful, but we want to add some advice based on our experience. The first is to tackle these missions in multiplayer. They are very feasible even alone, but we are convinced that together with friends, coordinating the strategy by voice, they are even more fun. At the beginning you can only place a certain number of automatic and rideable ballistas: we suggest you place them all before starting the battle, placing the rideable ones in the strategic points that will be more comfortable for you to reach as you move around the map.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Mizutsune. Remember that you can change your weapon if necessary by holding the A button, but if the enemies were to destroy it, you will have to wait for a long recovery period. Make a mental note of the position of the levers that control the Dragonman and the Shatter, then prepare to repel the hordes. Monsters marked with a blue gate are the most dangerous, as they will attack the gates directly, and if they destroy them all it will be Game Over. Those marked with a red icon will point right at you, especially if you are riding a siege weapon, while those in flight, marked with a green icon, will focus on the weapons you have placed. Obviously the former take precedence, but you will have to try to distribute the damage in order to take them all out. Remember that they are not very resistant and that you can fight them even on foot, especially when the temporary bonus is active which will cause you to inflict a frightening amount of extra damage.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Barioth. You can also ride monsters and fight them like this: it is a very smart strategy, because it allows you to inflict a lot of damage and, above all, keep them away from gates and siege weapons. Try to meet the bonus requirements to get more rewards at the end of the game, as well as a nice evaluation of your deeds. As you defeat the monsters, the base will level up and you will unlock new siege weapons such as cannons and flamethrowers, but above all villagers like Master Fugen or the twins Hinoa and Minoto. We advise you to keep these "cards" for the final battle, or for moments of crisis, since their attacks inflict enormous damage and can stun the most ferocious monsters, such as the Apex that appear only at the end of the mission and which often will be their own the ones you want to kill: with their special materials you can upgrade the weapons of the Fury line, which you will unlock only after passing the first mission of this type.

Weapons and armor

Monster Hunter Rise: the Aknosom. It may seem like an obvious suggestion but we can not help but tell you: try all the weapons, especially if this is your first Monster Hunter. If not, try them anyway. Some have changed a lot since Monster Hunter World: the Hunting Horn, for example, is totally different at first and you'll need to unlock some Trading Skills to make it look like the old version. The new one, however, is much more user friendly, and we dispassionately recommend it to those who are starting to hunt for the first time. Director Yasunori Ichinose said that the team has made changes to the Long Sword to dedicate it to novices, and this is partly true, but we still think that Sword and Shield are more suitable for them, as they allow them to parry attacks. , within certain limits, and to consume Potions and other items without putting away the weapon first. Monster Hunter Rise, however, offers a revamped training room, full of options, where you can try out weapons, combos and Silkweave Attacks. You can reach it by boat in Companions Square.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Royal Ludroth. As for armor, Monster Hunter Rise uses the same skill system seen in Monster Hunter World: we say this for those who played Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate on Switch, which instead used the old points system. Each piece of equipment therefore offers one or more levels of one or more skills: putting together various pieces with the same skills, the levels add up, unlocking greater bonuses. Players who come directly to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne will find that some abilities in the meta are now much rarer; Also, most armor, especially low-grade armor, doesn't give significant bonuses for each skill, so you'll often have to combine pieces of different armor to build a set that suits your play style and the weapon you wield. In the endgame - that is, when you have now defeated all the monsters and the focus shifts to improving the equipment - the thing becomes complicated with the manufacture of jewels and amulets that allow greater creativity, but you will have to sweat the proverbial seven shirts to perfect the your hunter. In the meantime, our suggestion is to have fun and experiment.

Monster Hunter Rise: the Tetranadon.