Monster Hunter Rise has finally given players something that they have been dreaming off for years: a second buddy. That’s right, you can finally have two furry friends running around with you while you beat monsters to death in MH Rise, and the canine Palamutes have been added to the roster, in addition to the existing feline Palico critters.
You can hire many buddies of all different breeds and designs, and even when they’re not helping you in battle, you can use them to collect items, and they can continue their training without you. You can take two of either kind of buddy into every solo mission, and they both act as excellent companions.
There’s a lot to take in to make the most of your buddies, both when they’re in battle with you, and when they’re not. If you want to hire a troupe of powerful buddies, capable of helping you farm items and battle monsters, you need this guide. Just read on below for everything you need to know in MHR.
The Buddy Plaza
The Buddy Plaza is to the right of the main square in Kamura Village, over a bridge into a forested area. This is where you will find everything you need for buddy management and the tasks they can undertake, though much of this will also be manageable from the Palico assistant in your home.
When you first visit the Buddy Plaza you’ll be taken through several tutorials at once, which can easily become overwhelming. Don’t worry about the details too much, as we are going to take you each step more slowly here.
Hiring Buddies
Buddies can be hired from the Buddy Scout. You can have 21 Palicos and 21 Palamutes total, so you have a lot of flexibility to start things off. You should start out by hiring a few powerful pals to aid you on adventures, and complete tasks for you while you undergo missions.
The variety of buddies you can purchase changes after each mission you undertake, so if you don’t see the buddy you like immediately, you can try again next time, or select Scout, which allows you to design the buddy you wish to hire.
Training Buddies
The Buddy Expert is the small Palico near the entrance to the Buddy Plaza, and you can go to him to train up your buddies. He will throw them into the Buddy Dojo, where you can have up to six buddies all training at once.
You can have them go up against up to ten rounds, and each round will cost 100 points in order to begin - after just a few missions you will have more than enough points. Put your low-level buddies in here and they will quickly grow and become more capable, whether it’s for the purposes of item farming, or battling alongside you.
Buddy Gear And Skills
At the Buddy Board you will be able to change a huge variety of factors for the buddies you take out in missions. You can equip gear, skills, behaviour, and more.
You will unlock buddy gear as you progress through the game and level up your buddies, and gear for Palamutes is focused on battle efficiency, while your Palico takes a support role.
You should take care to equip your skills, as your buddies will learn new skills as they level up, and it’s too easy to go without any skills equipped whatsoever for the longest time. Make sure to jump in occasionally as you level up your buddies.
Finally changing behaviour will alter which monsters your buddies target in battle you can have your Palico or Palamute target small monsters so they don’t get involved during battle, for example, or you can have them exclusively target large monsters. By default they will attack both without thinking about it too hard, which is also perfectly effective for a majority of situations.