After many hours of playing Monster Hunter Stories, there are several useful things I’ve discovered along the way. Here’s a list of my top 20.
1. If the Kinship gauge is full and ready for the “Ride On” maneuver, but your Monstie is low on HP (and/or sick from something like poison), go ahead and engage the Kinship Skill attack. His HP will be partially or fully restored when the attack is employed.
2. Fight the sleeping Pink Rathian (and the Poison Bloom Rathian) in Perennial Pass after you and your best Monstie have made it to level 30 or above. When you do fight them, make sure to use a creature that has both ice and fire attacks. You can achieve this type of creature through the Rite of Channeling.
3. Take the time to explore Monster Dens. There’s a huge amount of great items to be found inside. When you enter the nest area, Navirou will encourage you to hurry up, grab an egg and leave. But, don’t. Stay and gather up what’s around the nest. If you do have to fight a monster, then hunt/acquire right after the fight because you can’t collect items once you have an egg in hand.
4. Grab honey whenever you see it. It’s a key ingredient in the recipes of many worthwhile items such as Mega Potions (which restore 300HP).
5. Go swimming anywhere there’s blue (not purple) water, including inside Monster Dens. You can find valuable Black Pearls that can be sold for 400 zenny.
6. Take the time to complete Subquests. They’re a great way to earn zenny, really good rewards such as recipes/combo books, and EXP. Also, the higher your EXP level, the higher the level of Subquest and the better the reward. (And, believe me, you’re going to need to earn as much zenny as possible to purchase / upgrade some really spectacular armor and weaponry in the 2nd half of the game).
7. When you enter Dr. Mangeler’s inner sanctum and have a choice of rooms to go into, explore each thoroughly. Check out every display/display case. Certain ones will allow Navi to find an item.
8. If you’re low on HP and hearts after a big fight, Catavan to one of your homes or a hidden Felyne Hideout (with a secret healer) to be fully restored. This will save on using precious inventory items like Vital Essence and Mega Potions.
9. When you have a head and body of an enemy to have to take down, go for the head first. If you have a head, body, and tail, defeat the head 1st and tail 2nd.
10. You can fulfill most Subquests multiple times. After you turn in a Subquest and reap the rewards, you can then “accept” the Subquest again, which opens it back up to be accomplished once more.
11. When you enter a new area, be sure to “accept” the Subquests that involve slaying monsters before you start exploring. If you slay a monster and then go to open up the Subquest that has to do with taking it down, your previous action will not count. You’ll have to kill the monster all over again. (This isn’t the case when it comes to Subquests related to gathering/finding items).
12. When you’re in a head to head with an opponent in battle, remember this:
– Power beats Technical
– Technical beats Speed
– Speed beats Power
13. Most monsters with multiple attacks, perform their strikes in a different order each time you fight them. However, the Lagombi attacks in the same order every time. This is his pattern:
Speed
Snowball
Speed
Power
14. If you accept a Subquest that involves acquiring a certain type of egg and then showing it to someone, make sure you do indeed show it to that person before taking it to the Stable to be hatched.
15. Smoke Bombs can be useful items to have in your Battle Pouch if you’re going to take on big monsters that you may or may not be able to beat. This ensures you can make an escape if you see that the fight is futile.
16. Be sure to check your Monsterpedia every so often. Bonus Boxes will appear each time you hatch a new Monstie or slay a new monster. Go in and tap on each box to receive the reward.
17. Early on it may be intimidating to take on some of the bigger monsters such as a Yian Kut-Ku (with a ? on his HP stat), but don’t let that stop you from trying. If you’re successful, you can earn a large amount of EXP for leveling up.
18. Don’t toss away your Bottle Caps. Even though you’re told they’re worthless, they’ll have a use later in the game via a Subquest.
19. When you hatch multiples of the same Monstie, you may be tempted to release all but one into the wild. Don’t do this right away. You may want/need access to their genes when the Rite of Channeling becomes available.
20. When the Channeler in Darj Mountain Cabins gives you a riddle to solve, you’ll need to add the Monstie that he’s describing to your team to fulfill this Subquest.
(Pic Source: IGN.com)
