Beginner's Guide | How to Play MHW
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Welcome to our complete beginner's guide for Monster Hunter World (MHW). Read on to find different tips and tricks for how to get up and running in the game or refresh your memory if you're a veteran player!
List of Contents
General Beginner Tips
| General Tips |
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Understand the HUD
- Health Bar - the green bar at the top of the screen is your HP. Whenever you get damaged, this bar decreases, and some of it turns red. This red portion of the bar will heal over time if you don't get hit!
- Stamina Bar - below the Health Bar is the stamina bar. This bar is consumed whenever you sprint, guard, or dodge.
- Sharpness Gauge - displays the sharpness of melee weapons. This gauge decreases every time you land an attack. Using a Whetstone will restore the weapon's sharpness.
- Weapon Special Status - certain weapons will have special gauges or statuses, such as Charge Blade Phials, Bowgun Ammo, or the Long Sword's Spirit Gauge, displayed here.
- Mantle Status - the mantles you bring on hunts will be displayed here. The mantle's icon will be fully colored when it is ready to be used and will slowly lose color when in use.
- Party Members Status - displays the HP of your party members, including their buffs or debuffs beside their HP bar.
- Scoutfly Notifications - everything your Scoutflies highlight as interactable will show up here.
- Mini Map - a small portion of the map is displayed on the bottom left of the screen, along with all the nearby gathering nodes and large monsters. Some of the statuses of large monsters can be seen here, like the eye icon on large monsters that normally stays yellow when engaged in combat and will change to red when enraged. A skull icon will also start flashing next to their icon when the monster is close to dying.
- Slinger Display - the currently equipped slinger ammo and how much there is left is displayed here.
- Item Bar - the currently selected item is displayed on the item bar on the bottom right of the screen. When using bows or bowguns, the currently selected ammo or coating will be displayed on top of the item bar.
Familiarize Yourself With the Controls
Heading to the Training Area to figure out basic controls and weapon combos will go a long way in helping you get familiar with the weapon of your choice. Take advantage of the button guide on the left part of your screen when in the training arena to explore the moveset of weapons!
Close Range Weapons Recommended for Beginners
Using close-range weapons is recommended for beginners to practice the Monster Hunter tradition of hit-and-run tactics. The Sword & Shield or Great Sword are especially good for this and provide high damage output with general ease of use for those just starting out.
On the ranged weapon side of things, the Bow is a good choice. Bowguns can be more complicated and require you to change out ammo types, so stick with the Bow until you get used to how ranged weapons work.
Visit the Ecological Research Team Frequently
Make sure to give the Ecological Research team a frequent visit to level up your research levels on monsters. This will unlock more information about the monster in the Monster Field Guide.
Information like their elemental weaknesses, parts that can be broken or severed, and even the drop rate of their materials will be shown if you get their research level high enough.
Upgrade the Ancient Tree
Completing optional quests or delivery quests for the Botanists will unlock and upgrade the Ancient Tree. This will let you passively farm items like Honey, Herb, Blue Mushrooms, and more, making crafting hunting items that much easier, as you don't have to go and gather these yourself.
Take note that you can stack fertilizer effects by applying a new one after a quest. You then have to maintain their duration by re-applying the same fertilizer before their effect duration runs out or using the Soft Soil fertilizer to increase the duration of all active fertilizers.
Discover New Monsters in Expeditions
Some of the monsters in the game won't be directly introduced in the story but can be found in their respective locales once you reach certain story points.
Make sure to check the map every once in a while for large monsters labeled with a (?), then launch an expedition to discover these new monsters!
Monster Strategy Guides and List of All Monsters (Base Game)
Combat Beginner Tips
| Combat Tips |
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How to Prepare for Hunts
Stock Up on Basic Hunting Items
Always make sure you have essential items stocked up before going on hunts. Potions, Mega Potions, Nulberries and Antidotes for statuses, and Hot or Cool Drinks depending on the environment. These items should be your most basic needs for every item loadout.
For those really difficult battles or when you have plenty to go around, bringing Herbs and Honey to craft your Potions and Mega Potions back will also go a long way.
Other items like Flash Pods or Dung Pods are situational but are used to control monsters by blinding them or making them transfer to another area.
| Item | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nulberry | Medicine | A mysterious berry that cures various blights. |
| Potion | Medicine | Restores a small amount of health. |
| Mega Potion | Medicine | Restores a moderate amount of health. |
| Antidote | Medicine | A cure for poison. |
| Cool Drink | Medicine | Provides temporary relief from extreme heat. |
| Hot Drink | Medicine | Provides temporary relief from extreme cold. |
| Honey | Plant Material | Highly nutritious honey. Combine this with Potions to craft Mega Potions for maximum potency. |
| Herb | Plant Material | A primary ingredient in potions. |
| Dung Pod | Slinger Ammo | Slinger ammo that releases a strong odor on impact. Causes certain monsters to flee. |
| Flash Pod | Slinger Ammo | Slinger ammo that flashes brightly on impact. Fire it right under a monster's nose to blind it. |
Eat Meals to Increase Your Stats
Make it a habit to visit the Canteen to grab a meal before going on hunts. Eating these meals will provide you with bonus stats and skills, depending on which ingredients you choose to make the meal.
If not for a specific Food Skill, make sure to get the maximum HP and Stamina bonus to make your hunts go smoother.
Canteen Ingredients | Food Guide
Use Dive-Evade to Dodge Big Attacks
Some of the monsters will have a big attack that will deal a lot of damage to you if you get hit and might even 1-hit KO you. Once you've figured out the signs that the attack is coming, you can use Dive-Evades to get a lot more i-frames during dodging.
To execute a Dive-Evade, sheath your weapon and start running directly away from the monster. Once your hunter starts running while panicking, hit the dodge button to make your hunter leap to dodge that big attack!
Take Advantage of the Guardian Armor and Defender Weapons
Guardian Armor is a free set of armor given to players at the start of the game. Players begin the game with it equipped, and it boasts massive defense boosts.
This armor can be used all the way to the start of the Iceborne DLC as long as you keep upgrading it, but if you're struggling with hunts towards the end of the base game, consider trying to make some of the late-game armor.
The Defender tree of weapons provides excellent damage with easy upgrade requirements. Make use of this tree to get through the base game without spending too much time trying to upgrade your weapons.
How to Decide on a Build
Set Bonuses are not always important
Armor pieces you equip can activate set bonuses if you equip enough pieces of the set, granting you the set bonus skill. However, most of the time, the skill this provides does not contribute much to the build and can be ignored.
Some Weapons Want Specific Skills
Weapons like Dual Blades, Hammers, Bows, and Bowguns consume a lot of stamina to deal damage or perform a lot of dodges to reposition. So armor skills that reduce this stamina consumption is ideal to really use these weapons comfortably.
| Skill Name | Skill Explanation |
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Constitution
Max Lv: 5 |
Reduces stamina depletion when performing stamina-draining moves such as evading, etc. |
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Marathon Runner
Max Lv: 3 |
Slows down stamina depletion for actions which continuously drain stamina (such as dashing). |
Meanwhile, weapons that take advantage of shielding like the Lance, Gunlance, Sword and Shield, and Charge Blade, can use skills that help mitigate knockback, block more attacks, and give a slight attack boost after blocking.
| Skill Name | Skill Explanation |
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Guard
Max Lv: 5 |
Reduces knockbacks and stamina depletion when guarding. |
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Guard Up
Max Lv: 1 |
Allows you to guard against ordinarily unblockable attacks. |
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Offensive Guard
Max Lv: 3 |
Temporarily increases attack power after executing a perfectly-timed guard. |
General Purpose Skills
Some skills aren't reliant on what weapon you are using but are generally good to have in a build. Skills that boost health, mitigate damage, boost attack, or boost affinity are some of the skills that can just work in any build.
| Skill Name | Skill Explanation |
|---|---|
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Attack Boost
Max Lv: 7 |
Increases attack power. Also improves affinity at higher levels. |
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Critical Eye
Max Lv: 7 |
Increases affinity. |
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Weakness Exploit
Max Lv: 3 |
Increases the affinity of attacks that exploit a monster weak spot. |
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Divine Blessing
Max Lv: 3 |
Has a predetermined chance of reducing the damage you take. |
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Health Boost
Max Lv: 3 |
Increases health. |
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Critical Boost
Max Lv: 3 |
Increases the damage of critical hits. |
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Agitator
Max Lv: 7 |
Increases attack power and affinity when large monsters become enraged. |
Use Decorations to Add or Level Up Skills
When building armor sets, adding decorations is usually the way to get all the skills you want if they aren't in the armor pieces or increase the level of the skill it already has.
So always get all the decorations you get as rewards from quests because you'll never know when you might use them for a build!
Best Progression Builds for Low Rank/High Rank
Always Look if You Can Upgrade Your Weapons
Frequently visit the Smithy to see if you are able to upgrade your weapons, to see whether you have the materials or they are already obtainable. Keeping your weapons upgraded can make the hunts go much faster!
Utilize Palico Gadgets
Whether you're out going on Solo Hunts or trying to farm for monster materials, using the right Palico gadget can make it go much easier.
From providing heals and buffs to gathering extra monster materials during fights or even grabbing the attention of the monster to give some room to breathe, the versatility of these Palico Gadgets should not be underestimated.
So make sure to befriend the Grimalkyne group in each locale to unlock their respective Palico Gadget!
All Grimalkyne Locations & Palico Gadgets
Call For Help if Hunting Solo is Too Tough
When firing an SOS flare, you can receive help from another player online. If you find yourself in a pinch, get help from another player to finish the quest.
You can fire an SOS Flare as soon as a quest begins by selecting Fire SOS flare from the Quest menu.
Farming Beginner Tips
Go For Investigations When Farming Monster Materials
Investigations provide extra quest rewards upon completion, and the higher the tier of the reward, the higher the chance to get that low % drop from the monster. Investigation reward tiers can go from Bronze to Silver and to Gold, with the amount of rewards being randomized.
Pay attention to the details of the quest as this can also be randomized! Lower time limit, lower or higher amount of faints before quest fail, higher reward money, or even less allowed players to join the quest.
Specific Event Quests Give Armor Spheres or Decorations
When you're low on Armor Spheres or in need of a variety of Decorations, look to completing some Event Quests as specific ones provide them as rewards.
| Quest Name | Rank | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| ★7 Rollin' With The Uragaan | Low/High Rank | Armor Spheres |
| ★9 The Name's Lavasioth! | Low/High Rank | Decorations |
| ★9 The Greatest Jagras | Low/High Rank | Decorations |
| M★6 Brand New Brute | Master Rank | Armor Sphere |
| M★6 The Wrath of Tunder Descends | Master Rank | Decorations |
All Beginner Guides
Monster Hunter World Guides
Stat Guides
| Stat Guides | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What Does Attack Do? | What Does Defense Do? | What Does Elemental Resistance Do? | |||
| What Does Affinity Do? | What Does Elemental Attack Do? | What is Elderseal? | |||
How to Track Grimalkynes
| Grimalkyne Tribes | ||
|---|---|---|
| All Grimalkyne Tribes and Rewards | ||
| Bugtrappers | Protectors | Troupers |
| Plunderers | Gajalaka | Boaboa |
Monster Hunter World Related Guides
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|---|
| Equipment & Skills | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Weapons |
 Armor |
 Layered Armor |
 Mantles |
 Skills |
 Set Bonuses |
 Food Skills |
 Charms |
 Decorations |
 Palico Equipment |
 Pendants |
 Best Builds |
Monsters & Materials |
 Monsters |
 Quests |
 Collabs |
 Materials |
 Assigned Quests |
 Optional Quests |
 Event Quests |
 Maps |
Other |
 Beginner Guides |
 Guiding Lands |
 Updates |
 Characters |
 Furnitures |
 Iceborne Guides |
 Tier Lists |
 Message Boards |
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