If you are a veteran, you do not need this.

It seems easy for people to use terms like "noob", or "git gud", to cut a discussion short by showing how little they respect newcomers to the Monster Hunter franchise who do not have experience yet, or by simply being condescending towards someone who is brave to admit they are struggling with the game.

Sure we have beginner guides on Steam and even I am offering many tips and tricks for beginners who want to discover and explore the game by themselves.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2717340432
But what about those who need advice on how to actually improve their gameplay and their fun? It is not like that this game is a PvP where you need to do that. But maybe there are still things you have overlooked.

I remember very well how I did not have fun with Monster Hunter. Two weeks after I bought my first Monster Hunter game I was ready to give up on it entirely. The controls seemed clunky, I did not understand why the menues and options were so unintuitive, the weapons were no fun to play. None of them. And the difficulty was relentless punishing. Far different from what Monster Hunter Rise is today.

This guide is for those of you who were struggling like me. Like everyone.
Every Ace hunter out there once started at the same beginner level. And everyone is well aware of that, even when there are some individuals who brag more than they could afford.

And our community loves newbies. Every newbie who wants to learn enjoying the game in earnest is a potential friend and hunting partner we do not want to miss out.


There are no shortcuts in becoming "good" with the game. And being "good" in the game is something which might differ from hunter to hunter. I am going to tell you methods you probably heard or read already with some more or less additional details.

All in all, this guide is about taking the feeling of "rush" and "pressure" away from new hunters, by understanding that you can do something to improve, that we all are improving every day, and that there will be no end to improve yourself.

And along the way you maybe see some helpful, essential detail, which you overlooked before when you rushed through the game. This guide is about the first steps in how you enjoy Monster Hunter Rise to the fullest.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2745633361

First, let us start with the very core of Monster Hunter.

It is more than just "slay a monster, loot a monster, make armour out of monster parts and repeat".
It is about personal growth, how you start as a fledling hunter and develope skills over the time that even the greatest challenges which await you become managable.

Allow me to present you an excerpt from my other guide in regards of that matter:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It might sound banal, and yet a lot of people have troubles in describing what is Monster Hunter actually about. A general description would sound something like this:

"In Monster Hunter you are playing boss fights in different arenas".

Does not sound wrong, if you reduce it to the essentials, right?
A lot might even think "that sounds familiar ~ like Dark Souls". In fact, I would even say Monster Hunter is one of those games which are parents to the nowadays known as "souls-like-genre".

A common mistake made by a lot of younger players is how they miss out on what forged a strong Monster Hunter community in the past. Having the game considered as niche title among many mainstream games, with hardships heavily foreign to western audiences. Monster Hunter is so much more than just a matter of boss fights, rinse and repeat. It is about creating your own story, in a game which does not have much of a story itself. It is about challenges and overcoming those challenges.
It is about personal growth.

Different than many modern games the personal growth is not based on numbers which says how many experience points you gain after a battle, and how much your STR or CON grew in numbers. It is pure a matter of personal experience and real skill growth. Of course crafting armours can be considered a similar growth in numbers. But the core manifests in the armour and weapons you craft being a reward and proof that you have overcome the challenge to gain them. Something which is not reflected in experience points.

It is not the multiplayer part of the game which makes it so special to veterans like me. It is the fair challenge which the game is offering in a steady progression curve. Fair because it is entirely up to you to make the approach in hunting a monster. The amount of preparation, observation and training, the choice of weapon and tactic - the game gives you only enough for you to have a basic understanding. What you do with the tools is up to you. And before you notice you have grown from a fledling into an Ace hunter.

And when you start jumping into battles with a grin, you will think back of all the hardships you have overcome to reach that point of progress which allows you to grin. That kind of personal growth alongside your own personal story is what makes Monster Hunter ever so special.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did it catch your interest in becoming that good that you can start to grin when looking back at your beginnings? Then you are on the right track here!

This game is more than just hack and slay and finish off all achievements.
I would even say: if you dare to reduce Monster Hunter to just that, this game is not for you.

If you started with the unfortunate setup that you checked or even tagging along with veterans without them mentoring you, you might find yourself in a disheartened situation. I know exactly how that feels.

The problem with the lack of mentors is: teaching Monster Hunter is not easy. It resembles somewhat trying to teach an adult to swim who has never swam. The initial hurdle is so big and hard to explain, that even if you manage to explain it properly it can still be hard to understand.

Trust me: teaching an adult to swim is a royal pain, as you need to get rid of their fears first in regards of them having their head submerged in water - in a situation where they have the impression of not having any control at all at the beginning.

This is probably a "roundabout way" to tell you: do not compare yourself with veterans by watching "speedruns videos" or entertaining videos in which hunters show off their long-year-trained skills.

Do not take their "standards" as the actual standards for you. You will get there in due time. But them too started once as a beginner.

In fact, hunting a monster as a beginner is absolutely normal when it takes 30-40 minutes.

Are you surprised by me telling you that number?

Well, it is correct that most hunts later on are done within 5-15 minutes.

But those are done by experienced hunters who know what they do and can afford on skipping things you still need to find out.

You sure do not need to learn the arabic numbers again when you can already multiply and divide. But try asking that from a child who cannot even count to 100 and you are just unfair. In this case: unfair towards yourself. You deserve better than being treated unfair by anyone.

So, when you take as a beginner longer than a veteran, then it is not because you are not good with the game. It is simply: we veterans remember.

We veterans remember movesets from monsters we know from previous installments.
We veterans remember that you just need a to grab a few stuff within 4-6 minutes before we can already craft the next better weapon to make our hunts faster.
We veterans remember which tools to take along to survive.
Tools which are explained "much later" in the game.

Just alone the better weapon can cut the hunting time in half.
Adding experience to the calculcation cuts the time in another half. And so on.

You too can get to that. But that is not the standard you start with.
That is not the standard anyone starts with. Even if you knew all the stuff before, even if you read it before or watched countless videos - it is the experience which make veterans what they are.

And you have just started your journey to make that experience.

Fun fact: veterans envy you, exactly because of that.
The feelings and impression you get at a first timer are priceless!

Have you ever played Street Fighter?
I loved that game and played it a lot in several arcades. It was always the same game and yet the different character selections with all their different movesets made it feel again and again like different games to me whenever you tried tackling the arcade campaign until you are either challenged by someone better on the other side or you ran out of coins.



Gaming was so expensive back then!

I see similarities between different characters in Street Fighter and different weapons in Monster Hunter. Playing the game with a different weapon can have the impact as if playing a different game.

I will recommend to you to be open minded towards all weapons.
All weapons are equally great, given the situations and battle setups.
But despite that simple fact there will be always one weapon you will favour upon.

To start improving, start by picking that weapon of choice for yourself. You do not have to stick forever with that weapon, but you should start by focusing your learning and energy into one, before you go for others.

That comes with two essential benefits:

• a) one weapon is easier to memorise than all 14 at once
  
  
• b) attack combos inputs combinations are similar - once you learned one, it is easier to learn the others

My first weapon of choice back then was the Charge Blade.

I have been sitting for good two to three hours copying the moves in my game as seen on the YouTube video I used for learning. Repeating every move several times until I got a feeling for that certain combo. And even once those hours were done, I was still far from mastering the weapon. But it was enough to beat my first monster. And that feeling was awesome!


There is no shortcut to that.
There is however the relieving knowledge that you do not need to use the whole arsenal of moves your weapon has to offer to you. Memorising the essentials while keeping in back of your mind there is more, suffice fully for a good start.

Some weapons might even feel "meh" or "ew" at the very beginning. Far from what veterans' videos might suggest. But that too is a normal part of the game. Like you do, the weapons start at a rudimentary level and might not feel as sharp and cool as they will turn out later on.

It will be better. Much better. And Monster Hunter Rise happens to be the most rewarding game in the franchise when it comes to weapon developement. None other had so many options to make your personal playstyle as unique as it can be while giving you the best fun only you can have!

As you can tell from the linked video, it looks very old. Because it is. And yet it is still mostly up to date! That is how veterans can act seemingly so easily with new installments of the franchise games. It does not take much to adapt. So you can still use these old video tutorials you can find on gaijin hunter's channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_whBZGkXmc&list=PLDR3ta7VqKrwkrYeHyqSKcFEcJSCWZ26L&index=3
But asking you to rely only on old videos without giving you alternatives might be too much, especially since we all have individual tastes when it comes to speaker/guide's commentary. gaijin hunter does not offer many new Monster Hunter Rise weapon tutorials videos, so please check also alternative channels like these

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91DW_Uws93k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6INwpynUR1M
Important Note: I have linked here videos specifically about the Charge Blade so you have an easy time to compare those guides. But as a matter of course those channels offer much more, guides for every weapon you can pick in Monster Hunter Rise. Please do not take the impression with you that the Charge Blade is getting my exclusive recommendation. In fact: I mastered and love all weapons. It is just the Charge Blade I have started out with, hence me sharing this story with you.

The Training Area can be accessed right away at the start of the game. All you need to do is to "discover" the small boat at the Buddy Plaza which brings you there. Once you have been there, you can fast travel to it from anywhere via the map menu. The Toadversary is not only a static punching bag. You can also make them shoot and stomp and some more, to try out weapons and combos with all the time you need. No danger. No rush. No pressure.


The Training Area is the perfect place to train your handling of weapons safe and sound!
Look up the Hunter Notes for some extra tips you might have missed!

• That you can access the Training Area together in Multiplayer?
  
• That any consumable item you use there will not be consumed?
  
• That a secret awaits you at the top of the area?

More secrets you get from the Informant.

Those are the general three categories in which weapons are sorted.
And it is an important part of understanding your weapon.

For more details about elemental damage, affinity (chance for critical hits which deal 25% more damage) and weapon sharpness (green = 100% damage aka 1,00x multiplier, white = 132% damage aka 1,32x multiplier e.g. which comes on top of the other boni) please check out other guides, as I will cover here only the very basics for beginners.

As in: the sharper your weapon is, the better it cuts and the more damage it does.
Sounds simple? It is that simple. And all what you need to know for now.

In general, very little. It is the effect they bring along which make things interesting.

A monster's physiology is based on actual living beings, which have a head, a body and limbs - legs and tails etc. While a monster has a total amount of health points, each separate part of a monster have individual "part health points" if you will. Now this is where it gets interesting.

You can weaken a monster by breaking parts off.

Cutting its tail, breaking its claws, removing shielding scales, damaging their wings and applying headaches which stun them. Just to mention a few examples.

Whether you attack a monster on its head, tail, body or legs - it all matters.
And as you can tell, some weapons are doing for certaineffects the job better than the other.

Hammer for K.O. attacks against the head and Long Sword for cutting off tails as the most obvious.

A strong sweeping attack against the legs of a monster can even topple the mightiest beasts when you catch them off guard and weakened!

Piercing is kinda special as it is almost exclusive to ranged weapons with their special ammunition types. A kind of damage which can pierce through multiple parts of a monster at once, dealing multiple hits at once. It is considered an especially strong way to deal damage towards a monster.


Within the game you will have access to Hunter Notes which take records of a monster's physiology and strength and weaknesses against elements. With that you can also learn details about the weakspots of monsters and figure out why you might struggle against them (e.g. do not try to use fire elemental weapons against fire monsters - use water elemental weapons instead for the extra damage! Like ~ Squirtle having and advantage over Charmander that is!)

There you can not only learn about which kind of weapon type might deal the best damage to a monster, but you can also learn where to strike for the best damage output. Learning the weapon type matters.

Being open minded about learning all the weapons have so many advantages. Not only will you be able to enjoy the game more but there is also the simple advantage you have against specific monsters. You will encounter Basarios e.g. at some point. A monster which has a defense rock solid! While it might feel hard to fight against it using e.g. Dual Blades, it becomes a whole different fight with a Gunlance which bypasses defenses with its shelling, or water elemental piercing arrows. You might be surprised how easy some challenging battles can turn out, once you figured out - not only how to use your weapon - but also which weapon works best. That is one of the many reasons why veterans who mastered all weapons have it easy, Because we remember those kind of things you are still learning.

This topic will not be of much relevance to you until you reach the endgame.
The only important thing to tell you at this point is, ignore all the "meta" and "armor build suggestions" you can find on the internet.

As a beginner your priority is not to "max-out" things to "do the most damage" or anything like that. It fact, it would only do more damage to your personal fun if you go for such.

... you might wonder.

There are two main reasons why I am suggesting you here to ignore / skip the information you find on the internet or even being given by people you play often with.

First: you do not start your drivers' license practise courses and test with a Porsche or Ferrari sports car. As a beginner you want something simpler, easier to understand and to get used to before you take the chance in crashing an expensive car.

Second: whether the people who share those builds do it on purpose, giving you bad advices, or they are victim of time is hard to tell, but most of the "meta stuff" you can find nowadays are outdated. And the more important reason is: such premade builds will force upon you a very specific playstyle which might not fit your personal signature.

It is true that by the endgame there are certain things which describe "the upper end" and seemingly everyone aims for that specific set. But it is not true that everyone enjoys playing like that. By the end of the day the best armour and related armour skills for you will be those which enhance and supports your personal preferences. Nothing more, nothing less.

But again, that is endgame talk. Until then: the higher the defense numbers, the better!

A good video to get you started with armour skills would be this one


Essential armour skills which you will notice often in multiplayer are

Stun Resistance Level 3
prevents you fully from getting stunned after being beaten to often by the monster

Flinch Free Level 1
prevents you from getting flinched by your fellow hunters' attacks

Evade Extender Level 3
gives you a big boost in mobility for dodging out attacks

Wirebug Whisperer Level 3
allows you to use Wirebug related movements and attacks more often

Understanding your weapon and how to use it is less than half of the whole story what makes a Monster Hunter a Monster Hunter.

Look at foreshadowing writing: it is about Monster and Hunter.

Now, knowing that "you stab with the pointy end" is by far not enough. And knowing a monster's weakspots is only a small part of the whole story. To improve and become a good hunter you need to learn "what kind of weapon is the monster using" aka its move patterns.

Same like you, as you cannot shoot arrows with a Sword and Shield, a monster is limited in its actions by its natural physiology.

Every monster comes with almost unique move sets and patterns which are always "telegraphed" (game "slang" for announced / telltale signs).

And again, the best demonstration video I know is an old one. Old but gold, if you will.


Amazing, is it not? I mean, you can see by that if veterans are playing with such knowledge for years and years, then it is no wonder they got to the point where they are now. You can get to that point too, much faster even. How so? Because you are learning from a veteran.

In previous installments of Monster Hunter the Sword and Shield used to be standard weapon. Now, when learning a monster properly, I recommend you go with your weapon of choice, to get a proper feeling. Ever wondered why the Sword and Shield was the standard next to the Great Sword? Or why my personal choice fell on the Charge Blade? First: every weapon is equally good. How good they are depends - as mentioned before - fully on the situation you are in. The Sword and Shield will never deal as great the damage as a Greatsword can, but due to the fact you attack faster with it and have other benefits, it is equally great. By the end of the day it is a matter of personal preference which one you favour.

That put aside, the battle will feel already much different just by being able to block or not. When you become better in the game, you will always prefer a dodge roll and dive-evade over a shield block. But until then having a shield is great, especially when it comes to learning the basics. So why not give it a try? When learning a monster you can learn its pattern first with shield up. And the better you become, the more you observe, the more you try to dodge it attacks.
Think about it!

My very first Monster Hunter Rise guide on Steam was in fact just a few lines which describe my personal Camera Settings. That is because as a series veteran I knew from the very beginning that the default setup can be improved. It was always like that.

Understanding weapons and monsters is like understanding a dance.
You memorise the moves and the melody. But to complete it you also need to pay proper attention towards you dance partner and your surroundings. Otherwise it might be easy to get hurt or even fall.

So, having a proper and comfortable Camera Settings setup for the game is another essential part of improving one's hunting ability. Normally I would say such things are a personal matter. But in this case it can make such a huge difference that I consider it as essential to share the settings with you.

Even if you prefer it different, give the settings at least a try or some consideration.
It can make your hunts significantly more comfortable and therefore more enjoyable.

Camera Shake: Off
Camera Style: Do Not Focus on Target
Target Camera Controls: Type 3
Target Camera Vertical Settings: Don't Match Height
Focus Camera Restrictions: No Restrictions
Camera Terrain Adjustments: Off
Dynamic Camera Settings: Off
Camera Distance: 100

In addition to the mentioned Camera Settings which I consider most important, here are some additional settings I am using myself and can recommend to you to give it a try for improving your hunting experience.

Motion Blur: Off
Lens Distortion: Off
Vignette Effect: Off
Depth of Field (DOF): Off

Character Names: Don't Display
Player Silhouette: Type 2
Hit Effects: Less
Player Hit Effects: Display at 25%
Other Player Hit Effects: Display at 25%
Health & Stamina Gauge: Fixed
HUD Map Type: Detailed Map

Button Hold Settings: Short
Sheathe Settings: Manual Sheathe
Transition to Wall Running Off (In Combat Only)
Buttons for Wyvern Riding: A (Weapon Sheathed)


These two images show how I am using the minimap.
As you can see, with these kind of settings I have a quick and easy access to what is important nearby.

Monster Hunter is a Singleplayer game whereas the Multiplayer is just a bonus.

Putting all kind of jokes aside, but that is how most of the games feels to veterans mainly. The reasoning is simple: online Multiplayer was always special back then. I used to trade Pokémons via my Nintendo Game Boy link cable. That used to be an incredible highlight for the Nintendo Game Boy.

I think the earliest when Monster Hunter became more and more a Multiplayer orientated game was with Monster Hunter: World. At least for the people outside of Japan.


Before that the Multiplayer was more limited to playing with friends in cafés, clubs or when just for a while when one came over. A break between doing homework.

What is important for you to understand here is: it is unusal playing Multiplayer straight from the beginning together. At least for me. There is too much unspoken subcontext in that statement, like "I do not want to embarass myself in front of others by playing bad" and "I do want to contribute properly towards a hunt and can only do that if I know things already".

In fact: how are you supposed to play multiplayer if you are not knowing the basics yet?
It would be like joining a soccer team right away because it looks fun without knowing the rules.

No one will stop if you want to jump straight into Multiplayer action.
But is that actually what you want, spoiling each others fun and denying yourself the fun you could have if you know how to properly?

Thank goodness Monster Hunter Rise addresses that issue by introducing a whole branch of the game which is for your personal Singleplayer experience.

That branch of the game is also often called "the Tutorial". For good reasons. No installment before ever offered such a great and smooth New Player Experience in which you learn the ropes slowly, but steadily as it has been introduced there.

The challenges you find there are intentionally easy and yet still rewarding.

Multiplayer makes you great too. But we get to that later.

What you should take out from this section is, that the Singleplayer experience you are going to have will differ strongly from the Multiplayer experience. Not only will you encounter a health points scaling of monsters, but you will also learn how much easier it becomes, when you are not the monster's sole target, while the monster is the sole target of up to four hunters.

Please take your time in finishing the Village Quests first before going for the Multiplayer content, aka Gathering Hub. And once you are ready for the Gathering Hub content, you will notice right away that the real lion's share of the game's content still awaits you.

Now, what differs a veteran from a beginner is: "Let me solo her. All of them."

Only when you manage all the challenges the game is throwing in Singleplayer, only then you can and you will start feeling like an Ace Hunter.

Yes, and no. With the exception of Rampage Quests all quests are designed to be doable in Singleplayer within a reasonable time. Multiplayer is really just a bonus, if you will.

And even the Rampage Quests are easily doable in Singleplayer.

To quote (loosely) an amazing hunter who coined our community so much:

The best hunting party is made of four solo hunters.

Sounds funny of the redundancy, but it is simple enough to understand: if you need to rely on others in your hunt to be successful, you are no good hunter. Of course there are exceptions in quests by design, but the general design is clear: every hunt is doable in Singleplayer.

Knowing that it must be awesome for you to understand that you can later even manage the most diffcult of all challenges the game has to offer, right? You will get to it!

Number of Players

Monsters' Health

1x Hunter

100%

2x Hunters

140%

3x Hunters

180%

4x Hunters

210%

Those are the numbers you can find on Japanese forums (they still call it old school classic bulletin boards ) in regards of how the monster's health scale in Multiplayer.

Village Quests monsters are even weaker, by circa 50%, in comparison to Gathering Hub Quests monsters.

So assuming all four players do 100% damage, and eventually have Hunting Horn support, alongside the fact that the monster always put their focus on only one hunter, it is a power difference of circa 8:3

4x 100% + Hunting Horn (4x +30% possible damage buff) + number advantage = circa 540%-560% possible damage output versus a monsters' health point upscale of 210%. There is zero doubts that in Multiplayer the challenges are by far much easier than what you would experience in Singleplayer. Despite you can take along only one Buddy instead of two.

And that is without taking into consideration that hunters are helping each other e.g. by throwing a Flash Bomb to get another hunter released from a monster's grab before they get strongly hurt by the monster.

The hunting experiences between Singleplayer and Multiplayer differ so strong, that you cannot count yourself as Ace Hunter if you have to rely on others' support all the time. Only when you experience the challenges in Singleplayer with success, you can and will improve as an individual hunter.

What Multiplayer is really great for is an exchange of information, tips and tricks and thoughts of how to deal with certain situations with approaches you might not have considered. Playing together with seasoned hunters can give you new ideas and insights just by observing them how they play. And asking for advice is just the cherry on top which can help you further improving!

Here, have some tips ready for your first Multiplayer hunt
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2738776619

We are closing in to the end of the guide, and I like to share some words about what I consider most important in your endeavours to improve as a Monster Hunter. Which is You and time.

Monster Hunter Rise does not start as an easy game where you can easily jump in and out as a beginner. I doubt that there are many games like that, in which you know everything right from the start what to do without having much knowledge from other sources... Snake or Pong mayhaps?

Anyroads, what I like you to understand to improve is that you ought yourself to enjoy the game in your pace. In a pace which is comfortable to you, independent from other factors.

To give you an example:
I have no troubles as a veteran to manage four hunts per hour, each endgame with 15 minutes in average. And yet the greatest fun I am having is by playing two hunts per hour with an average hunt time of around 25 minutes, with enough time inbetween for having a break. On days on which I could do e.g. 16 hunts it is not uncommon for me to end up with only four hunts and the rest is spent chatting and laughing with my fellow hunters.

At first some might think "why spending the time like that when you are tight on time to hunt?". Well, it turned out that everyone involved in my hunts and laughter enjoyed the "low paced" version more. We spend basically the time together in which normally each hunter would do things on your own. As in: if you are busy just hunting with your friends - when do you take care of your weapons and armour? Think of the lumberjack with the dull axe who has to put in extra hours and keep insisting they are too busy and have no time to sharpen their axe (because work takes so much longer with their dull axe). By putting in breaks between hunts, giving it a lower pace and such, you can have much more joy together. And the time is effectively spent together instead of being alone.

That is one example for how you could do Multiplayer.
By the end of the day it is important that you feel comfortable. The game is meant to be joy and fun to play with. If you do not have that, stop playing. Simple as that. And make sure not to forget to make breaks.

It is about your health after all, and what is more important than that and your happiness?

While the audience on Steam, in regards of new players, is seemingly very low, I still hope these tips on how to become a better hunter reaches the ones who may have use for this.

Monster Hunter can be a game which is not easy to start with, but I assure you: the fun you are going to experience, the sense of achievement and progress - they are definitely worth it with this kind of game.

And if you found out that this game is not for you, do not worry! Everyone has their own tastes, and you should always spend your time with what gives you joy most!

I truly hope that this guide was helpful to you in enjoying the game a little more.
And who knows ~ maybe one day you are the kind of veteran hunter who will pass on the torch to the next generation of players. It sure would make me happy if you share the fun and joy of Monster Hunter.

Nobody is good at something. Not straight away.
You have to adapt and work on it to become perfect.
People may think of me as a good huntress with my experience and playstyle.
But I know there is still more to learn and do.

Thank you for reading and as always ~