Monster Hunter Wilds starter's guide

Welcome to the Forbidden Lands

Monster Hunter Wilds is the most approachable entry in the series yet, with plenty of newcomer-friendly features and an extensive suite of accessibility options that allow everyone to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

You’ll gradually learn all the essentials while you play, so here are twelve additional tips to enhance your experience.

Monster Hunter Wilds preparation tips

Before you head out

Be the best hunter you can before venturing into the field.

1. Know your weapon

The Training Area at Base Camp is the perfect place to familiarise yourself with your weapon before you head out into the field. However, if you want to use them to their full potential, press the Options button to open the main menu, navigate to the Info tab and select Play Guide -> Weapon Controls. Here you’ll find detailed guides for every weapon, from individual moves to useful combos.

2. Eat a balanced diet

Eating before a hunt has always been an integral part of the Monster Hunter experience. Monster Hunter Wilds gives you even greater control over meal preparation by allowing you to cook while at a base or, thanks to the Portable BBQ Grill, anywhere in the field. Use different ingredients to trigger a range of stat boosts and passive skills; they’re only temporary, so eat regularly!

3. Radial gaga

The Radial Menu, accessed by holding the L1 button, is a fast way to trigger your favourite and most-used items, gestures and communication shortcuts. These menus are fully customisable and will scale based on how many objects you place in them, up to a maximum of 12. You can create up to eight Radial Menus, giving you freedom to create groups of items and actions to suit different situations.

Monster Hunter Wilds exploration tips

Exploring the Wilds

Use the environment and ecosystem to your advantage.

4. Pop up, pop in

As you progress, you’ll be able to pitch Pop-up Camps in the Forbidden Lands. These give you a lot of the same options you’ll find in base camps, without the need to trek back in the middle of a hunt or a resource-gathering investigation. Suitable sites are given a risk rating based on how likely it is a monster will discover and destroy it, although it only costs a few Guild Points to repair the damage. Add some personality by customising your tent and the outside furniture!

5. A great catch

Early on, you’ll add the Capture Net to your inventory, which can be used to net the diverse endemic wildlife that you’ll find throughout the world. Equip it to your Slinger, aim with the L2 button and press the R2 button to fire when the target reticle changes colour. It’s a useful way to earn Guild Points - and it’s great fun to populate your Endemic Life Field Guide.

6. Pod power

The Slinger is an incredibly useful multipurpose tool, particularly its ability to fire a variety of pods with different properties. Maintain a healthy supply of dung to craft dung pods, which are useful for dispersing packs or herds of monsters or, in a pinch, driving an attacking monster away to give you valuable breathing room. Be sure to experiment with the pods you find on your investigations!

7. Gather on the go

Your Slinger is also incredibly useful for grabbing resources as you ride to your next destination. If you look at the centre-left of the screen, you’ll see that it lists all items that are within range; while you can manually aim at them, it’s easier to use the up and down directional buttons to select the resource you want and press the circle button to automatically scoop it up.

Monster Hunter Wilds combat tips

During the hunt

You'll need every advantage you can get when battling a monster - here are three ways to help even the odds.

8. Your feathered friend

Seikrets aren’t just a great mode of transport – they’re also a useful ally in the heat of battle. Sharpening your weapon, and replenishing your stamina and health usually leave you wide open to attack, so call your Seikret and perform those vital actions on the move while keeping a safe distance from your target.

9. Seikret weapon

Your Seikret can also hold a second weapon – this can be a different weapon or the same type with different properties. While riding, press the right directional button to switch between the two. Meanwhile, pressing the left directional button accesses your Seikret’s item pouch, which is periodically stocked with useful supplies.

10. Stay focused

Holding the L2 button activates the all-new Focus Mode, which lets you use the camera to focus your attacks with more precision, reducing the likelihood of a costly missed strike. It’s also your ticket to inflicting major damage; while active, Focus Mode highlights wounds that can be hit with a Focus Strike (R1 button). If you’re on target, you’ll destroy the wound, stunning the monster and rewarding you with bonus resources.

Monster Hunter Wilds resource tips

Smithing and crafting

Make the most of the wealth of materials you'll gather during quests.

11. Go the extra mile

It’s rare that you’ll get all the resources you need to craft additional armour sets and upgrade weapons after one hunt. After you clear Assignments, check the Quests board when talking to Alma and you’ll find new Optional Quests with the same monster, which provides a useful way of earning new resources and rewards.

12. Get crafty

Using gathered materials to craft useful items is essential to keeping your inventory stocked up with everything you’ll need in the field. Access the crafting menu while you’re in a tent or via the main menu (Options button) during a hunt, although you’ll need to be in a tent if you want to use the resources you have in storage. You can also toggle individual items to be auto-crafted when you gather the right combo of resources, which is a great time saver.

Monster Hunter Wilds quick tips

Advanced essentials

Other useful tricks to enhance your hunting experience.

Mantles provide a variety of useful effects in the middle of a hunt. To quickly put on or take off your mantle, press the L1 and R2 buttons.
It’s still possible to fire Slinger pods while you’re in Focus mode – simply press the L3 button.
There are six trophies related to earning miniature and gold crowns for hunting particularly small and large monsters. Using the Binoculars on a monster will immediately tell you if it’s crown-worthy.
Further still, using the Binoculars to spot a monster with a gold crown triggers the A Keen-eyed Observation trophy.
Tucked away under the BBQ Menu tab in your tent is the option to Rest*. Selecting this lets you change the environment and time of day, which becomes very useful for triggering certain monsters, aquatic creatures and endemic life.

*This option will be temporarily locked during a certain story event.

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Monster Hunter Wilds

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Platform:: PS5
Release:: 27/2/2025
Publisher:: CE EUROPE LIMITED
Genres:: Action
Voice:: English, French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish
Screen Languages:: Arabic, English, French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Mexico)

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Monster Hunter Wilds: New hunter’s handbook