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However, players who have just entered the monster-hunting scene will likely want to get good fast. After all, it feels great hunting down powerful monsters and getting their parts for rare equipment. Unfortunately, mastering the art of hunting takes time and effort. Just what pro tips can newbies follow to become apex hunters?
10 Space Matters To The Team
Hunters who want to go pro know how crucial timing and precision are when it comes to securing kills. However, players might find themselves surprised when their attacks – especially wide slashes and AOE bursts – knock their Palico off-balance. Thing is, this same caveat happens to player allies whenever they’re in the range of an attack.
In the context of hunting, accidental “hits” might disorient allies. As such, it’s important to maintain a blocking with allies whenever approaching an enemy. Long-distance fighters should stay as far back as possible, with melee fighters “switching” positions with rooms to both hit and miss attacks.
9 Expeditions & Investigations Gather Intel
Hunters might be interested in trying out two new modes in World: Expedition and Investigation. In Expedition, players can roam around an area without any active hunts, enabling them to explore regions in their own time. Monsters might randomly roam in these areas, but Expedition isn’t ideal for hunts. Rather, players should use this mode to explore maps and understand the nooks and crannies they can use to their advantage.
Meanwhile, Investigation focuses on finding information on specific types of monsters. This mode guarantees monsters of the type you choose to Investigate. Hunting these monsters give special rewards as well as Armor Spheres that can help upgrade equipment.
8 Monsters Wear Out, Too
Any hunter knows monsters get weaker with broken body parts. Moreover, crafters know breaking certain body parts will give them awesome loot later on. However, pro teams should always remember that broken body parts also deal less damage. As such, while breaking certain body parts require skill, doing so might make the battle a bit easier for teams.
For instance, tail whips from broken tails not only get reduced range but also deal reduced damage to players. Likewise, broken wings and other limbs might debilitate a monster’s defenses.
7 Rotations Let Everyone Cover, Heal
Multiplayer hunts fail when powerful monsters such as a Rathalos catch the party off-guard with their formation. However, what players don’t realize is that their formations fail when they don’t take rotations into consideration. Aside from attacking their prey simultaneously, players should understand when to retreat to heal and when to cover for hunters who want to do the same.
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For instance, when players plan on tackling a huge opponent, it’s expected for melee fighters to wear out their weapons and take the brunt on aggro. As such, teams should consider swapping out their melee fighters to heal and sharpen their weapons before fighting. Likewise, covering players should dish out as much damage to take some of the aggro, and even lure the monster away from their allies.
6 Armor & Resistance Make The Difference
Hunters understand that successful hunts aren’t always about powerful weapons. As such, it’s important for hunters to always upgrade their favorite pieces and make sure they have sets and pieces available when fighting certain kinds of enemies. This advice works very well with higher-tier opponents.
For instance, players will likely realize that the Diablos has a bit of Fire and Thunder resistance, which means they should avoid using weapons of these elemental variants. Instead, they should use Ice weapons as they damage it the most.
5 Weapon Balance Exists
Contrary to popular belief, all weapons in World have their respective uses. While choosing between 14 weapon types might be tricky, hunters should make an effort to gain mastery in at least two to three of these weapons. In the context of World, mastery means understanding how these weapons affect movement, understand their resource management, and knowing which monsters to hunt with them.
Ideally, the Sword and Shield add decent combos and speed to players. Meanwhile, Great Swords offer massive melee damage while Bows let players go ranged.
4 Use Small Critters To Distract Monsters
Aside from the cover, hunters can take advantage of smaller critters in the area to provide buffs to the team or debuff opponents. Certain insects and creatures grant status effects of health boosts when consumed or triggered. However, perhaps the most interesting of these items are yellow toads which can shock monsters.
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As such, players should consider exploring different areas to interact with the various creatures in them. These creatures may be saving graces players need to paralyze monsters, grant them quick buffs, or even distract the enemy.
3 Utilize Cover To Distract Enemies
Monsters can be quite dumb, especially when hunters play “peek-a-boo” with them. Players in tight spots should consider hiding inside shrubs and bushes, especially when facing monsters in areas with these objects. They can use this opportunity to heal or sharpen their weapons.
Moreover, hunters who want to go pro can actually set up traps and position their escape to cover in order to lure prey into these traps. Teams can find this a valuable strategy, as this opens monsters for ambushes when they lose sight of their main melee hunters.
2 Use Monster Retreats To Restock
It can get annoying for parties whenever monsters retreat for healing. However, teams shouldn’t chase monsters that fly away to their nests or retreat to farther areas. Instead, teams should use this opportunity to restock on health items they are lacking or to remove debuffs with potions and other food.
Doing this not only restore the party to fighting condition, but this also serves as a great way to regroup and plan their next strategy. This tactic is also a great way to scout the area for other threats and to figure out other zones their target may be using as a hiding spot.
1 Can’t Play Favorites
In MMOs, players usually have “favorite” sets to accompany them in raids, missions, and even PVP matches. However, games such as Monster Hunter: World rely more on player skill compared to style. This factor means that while hunters can look great in awesome gear, they should fine-tune their loadout to accommodate certain enemies. Thankfully, World lets players do this through loadout lists.
With these lists, players can create special “sets” that they can rename into whatever they’re aiming to achieve. They can place their ice resist sets in a dedicated “Ice” loadout, alongside other specifications. This process makes choosing weapons and armor much easier for hunters and their teams.
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