Monster Hunter Rise, and the act of monster hunting, is all about preparation. If you run off into battle against a giant armoured creature wielding dual blades, things probably won’t end well. You need to gather information on how to tackle each monster, and take precautions against every eventuality.
In this guide we’ll be laying down the basics of what you should do to prepare for every mission. Any challenge MH Rise throws at you will be made far easier with the tips in this guide.
You won’t always have the necessary items and gear to be effective in every encounter, but multiplayer friends are always there to help, and you can always focus on optional missions before you move forward in MHR.
Eat Dango
While Monster Hunter World had the chef palico and his team of cooks, in Kamura Village you’ll be eating freshly pounded dango, with a variety of flavours. Eating a set of dango will grant you buffs before the fight, such as increased health, increased stamina, boosted item collection rates, and other unique modifiers that you can tweak depending on what your goal is in any given fight.
You should always eat a set of dango, and if you have favourites you can save your favourite set and eat that each time without having to choose individually.
Check The Target’s Weakness
If you already know which monster you’re going after, then you should take a look at the Hunter’s Notes in the menu, where you’ll find details on all of the monsters that you have already captured and hunted.
These notes will tell you what elements any given monster is weak to, which body parts take a lot of damage, and what weapons are best used on each body part. You can use this information to coordinate with your team, or decide which loadout is best to roll with in this situation.
Equip Your Gear And Switch Skill
Now that you know the weaknesses you should be aiming for, you need to equip that complementary gear, with a primary focus on which weapons are most effective, and what armour will defend you best in regards to resistances. If you’re up against a venomous creature, then poison resistance might serve you better than overall defence.
Remember your Switch Skill, too. Most of the time you should change this based on your playstyle, but certain attacks can work better against particular monsters. You can change all of your gear and skills at the Item Box.
Stock Up On Items
While you’re in the Item Box, make sure to restock any important items, and store anything you don’t need. You will always pick up plenty of plants and insects in Monster Hunter Rise, but you don’t need to carry them at all times. Put them in the Item Box, and then use the Item Box’s crafting feature to make use of it all.
You should assign item loadouts to take with you into battle. You should save a variety of these loadouts, some with items to help capture monsters, some with antidotes for venomous monsters, barrel bombs, and so on. This will help you be prepared for whatever task you end up facing.
Loot The Supply Box
Once you get into the map where your big adventure is due to take place, the first thing you should do is run over to the Supply Box - that’s the blue chest, whereas the Item Box is the red chest - and here you’ll find a bunch of items that are totally free, but will disappear once you leave the mission. You should use these items first when fighting monsters.
Also, even if you’ve loaded into the map, it’s not too late to complete any of our suggestions in this guide. You can still access the Item Box and eat dango in the tent in any base in the map. So you can run inside, change gear, eat dango, and get back to the fight, if you need.