We kick off the first Vagrant Rant guest writing week with a guide piece written by ZaonTheFirst, a JRPG afficianado with a taste for the grind. Having played over six hours of the new Monster Hunter myself, I can tell you that the game is hella confusing for newcomers and these tips have already helped me immensely.
—Written by ZaonTheFirst—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
So, you’ve just picked up your copy of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on 3DS or Wii U. You’ve jumped into your first boss monster quest and immediately you think “HOW THE *^@!$ DO I PLAY THIS GAME?!”… If this is you, don’t worry. I used to be like that too… many years ago…
ANYWAY, you’re in luck because because this is a list of tips on “How newcomers can make the most of their Monster Hunter playthrough”.
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1. Have the correct mindset.
This is arguably the single most important tip. If you charge into even the lower rank boss monster quests with the God of War, Devil May Cry, generic-hack’n’slash-game mindset, I GUARANTEE you will have a bad time. Unlike the aforementioned games, you’ll be focusing on something a lot more than actually attacking. What is that, you may ask? See below.
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2. Dodge! Dodge! Dodge!
(Note that because of how some of the weapons function, you’ll be dodging a lot more with some than with others).
In this game, you will find yourself dodging more than attacking the monster, and even then, that’s only half of it. Character positioning is just as important in staying alive during a quest as dodging the monster’s attacks. When fighting a boss monster, you must ALWAYS have these two things in mind:
– When should I dodge?
– Where am I going to dodge to?
At this point, most people say to me “If I spend this whole quest dodging more than attacking, the quest will take forever!”, which in fact brings me to my next tip…
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3. Patience!
Capcom did not put a 50-minute time limit on EACH Monster Hunter Quest just for the lols. Patience is a crucial part in finishing each Monster Hunter quest successfully. If you’re not in it for the long run (and I mean the LONG run), to be honest, the game probably isn’t for you. Just maintain your cool, don’t get greedy, and you will soon get the long sought after “Quest Complete!”.
Okay, now that the general tips are out of the way, let’s move on to tips for when you’re actually playing the game.
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4. Make Moga Woods your best friend.
This place is kind of like White Forest/Black City in the latest Pokemon games, except it gets ‘expanded’ the more you progress though your single player quests. A free-roam area is one of the best additions to the Monster Hunter game because it makes farming resources SO much easier! One thing you should always remember in terms of resources: They ALL have their uses. Refrain from selling them as much as possible, because you never know when you may need them! What resources should you be farming, I hear you ask?
– Blue Mushrooms and Herbs: Combine these two to make a Potion. Enough said.
– Honey: Combine Honey and a potion to make a Mega Potion. ENOUGH said.
– Iron Ore: Iron Ore is crucial for crafting armour and weapons during the earlier stages of your playthrough. Buy a Pickaxe from the girl in the village and go to Areas 1, 4, and 12 to mine iron ores, as well as other things like crystals (Note: Crystals are essential for higher level weapons and armour, so keep them too).
– Machalite Ore: Same thing as Iron Ore, except this can only be found in Area 12.
-Raw Meat: Essential for making Well-Done Steaks. Why are Well-Done Steaks important? Consuming just one Well-Done Steak DRASTICALLY increases your Stamina gauge. Enough said? Good. Let’s move on (Don’t worry, I’ll explain how to ALWAYS cook a Well-Done Steak successfully later in this guide).
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5. Experiment with each weapon, pick one, and stick to it.
Before the days of Monster Hunter Tri/Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, if you wanted to experiment with different weapons, you’d have to pick a weapon, pick a quest, and finish the quest, even if you hadn’t used the weapon before. This was a great inconvenience for most players, and made the learning curve of this game steeper… but those days are over now because of Moga Woods. You can just walk in, swing your weapon around, and walk out without any penalties! So pick a weapon and try it out! Once you find a weapon you like, stick to it! Personally, I’d rather have an entire team of proficient Great Sword users than have one player proficient in their weapon, and the rest of the team not as proficient in their weapons. Depending on how this guide is received, I can probably write a guide on the pros and cons of each weapon type in the game, but for now the easiest weapon to get used to would probably be the Great Sword and Long Sword because the basic strategy for both is simple: unsheathe attack/ unsheathe attack, then attack multiple times. If you’re using a Long Sword, dodge (make yourself safe), sheathe weapon (I’ll explain the importance of this next), repeat.
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6. Sheathe your weapon when you’re done attacking!
You are a lot less mobile while your weapon is unsheathed than you are with your weapon sheathed. There will be moments wherein you’ll HAVE to run and dodge (e.g fighting the Barroth), and having your weapon unsheathed will make running and then dodging impossible, which will make you lose huge amounts of health. It might be something you have to get used to, but it will reduce the amount of times you take insane amounts of damage. On that note, I may as well add:
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7. Use your unsheathe attack as much as possible!
This is done by running up to the monster (without holding R) and tapping the Y button. It is important that you are moving because tapping Y whilst standing still will unsheathe your weapon without the attack… which is pretty much useless. Your unsheathe attack is the fastest attack for any weapon, and it is also cancellable with a dodge if you’re out of position and/or the monster moves out of the way at the last second, so use it!
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8. Prioritise your weapon over your armour.
There is really no point in having really good armour and a not-so-good weapon because you’ll be spending most of your time dodging. Therefore, you won’t need to worry about taking hits. Besides, if you feel as if you want more defenses, upgrade with armour spheres. (unless you’re a Lance/Gunlance user… but even then, this tip still applies because of your overpowered shield). So, focus on optimising your weapon.
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9. Learn to cook a Well-Done Steak!
Keeping your stamina at its maximum is crucial because most of what you do during a boss monster quest involves consuming stamina in some way. This includes dodging, running and certain special attacks. Also, when fighting a boss monster, the rate at which your stamina goes down doubles, making high stamina even more important! To always cook a Well-Done Steak:
1. Use you BBQ Spit. A song should start playing. keep paying attention to the colour of the meat.
2. Press ‘A’ as soon as the meat changes colour AFTER the song stops.
If you follow these steps, you should get a Well-Done Steak.
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10. Use the Monster Hunter Wikia!
The wiki can help you plan out how much resources you need for a weapon or set of armour and how much money that will cost. It can also tell you the weak points of boss monsters and which parts on the monster’s body are severable! Use it! It’s there to help you! Follow this link!
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That about all you need to put you in a good starting position, so have fun and happy hunting! I hope this guide was useful!
Vagrant Rant 