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Monster Hunter Nowis an augmented reality RPG developed by Niantic, where you can explore your neighborhood and hunt popular monsters from the Monster Hunter franchise. While hunting in Now is simplified compared to the main games, there’s still a bit of skill involved in taking down monsters and using their body parts for your equipment.
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Monster Hunter Now has a slow-paced progression system, designed to have you coming back each day rather than grinding out sets of armor all at once. If you’re someone who wants to start a new game off on the right foot, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ll take a look at a few tips for beginners to Monster Hunter Now, including some best practices for starting off strong.
Diversify Your Armor Set
Upgrading your equipment is a slow process in Monster Hunter Now. At every level, you’ll need a ton of materials and Zenny. Because of this, we recommendusing armor pieces from different monstersto spread out the types of materials you need.
For example, if you were using an entire set of Jagras armor, you’d needfive times the number of Jagras materialsto upgrade your armor. However, if you instead used a mix of Jagras, Kulu, and Pukei armor, you’d need much less Jagras parts. Doing this will let youupgrade your armor more frequently, as you can’t repeatedly target-hunt the same monster over and over.
Save Your Potions And Paintballs
PotionsandPaintballsare two consumable items that can be extremely useful, but are alsoequally as rare. If you’re able to help it, we recommend holding on to these as long as you can, and only using them when absolutely necessary.
Instead, you’re able to useFire-Aid Medsto heal, and rely onPalico Paintballsto tag monsters for you. You canpick up a few First-Aid Meds for free from the shop every day, and you can evenregenerate your health slowly over time. Unless you’re on an intense exploration, try to rely on your First-Aid Meds before dipping into your Potion supply.
Experiment With Weapon Types
You will start your journey as a hunter in Monster Hunter Now with the Sword and Shield, but you’llunlock the Greatsword by completing Chapter 2and theLong Sword, Light Bowgun, Hammer, and Bow upon reaching Hunter Rank 15.
So far, these are the only weapon types in the game. Once you’ve unlocked them, we recommend crafting a few andtrying out their playstyles. As with the main games, your weapon choice is everything in Monster Hunter. Plus, having around a few weapons of different elements will be extremely helpful for targeting thedifferent weaknesses of new monstersas you progress.
Prepare Carefully
Preparation before a big hunt is a staple in the Monster Hunter series, and it’s no different in Now. As you complete the main quests and progress to new chapters, you’ll unlock monsters withhigher star ratings. These monsters havemore health and deal more damage, but dropmaterials of a higher grade.
Before you progress to the next star rating, we recommendtaking a good look at your equipment. If you’ve been just barely hunting monsters within the time limit, it might be a good idea togrind out a few more upgrades before moving on. If you move to the next star level before you’re ready, you may find yourself facing monsters you can’t defeat at all.
Gather Everything
In Monster Hunter Now, you’ll need a variety of materials as you upgrade your weapons and armor. While you’ll mainly be using large monster material parts, you’ll also need more common materials likeIron Ore, orSharp Claws. To ensure you have enough of these items when the time comes, we recommendgathering every single thing you come across.
Gathering nodes can be gathered automatically by your Palico when you walk near them, but small monsters need to bemanually huntedto get their materials. Additionally,attacking small monsters can build up your weapon’s SP gauge, making subsequent large monster hunts a bit easier.
Target Weak Spots
Every large monster has aweak spotthat can bebrokenif youattack it enough. Breaking this weak spot will earn youadditional material dropsafter a successful hunt. Plus, if you craft and upgrade theKulu Headpieceto Grade 2, you’ll get theLock On skill, which lets youtarget a specific area on the monsterwhile a melee weapon is equipped.
Breaking monster parts is one of the easiest ways toearn more materialsfor very little extra effort. Plus, breaking a part willstagger the monster, letting you get a few extra hits in before they can attack again. Be sure to utilize this mechanic to make every hunt go a bit smoother.
