15 Tips and Tricks for Beginners: How to Start Strong

This is a beginner's guide to Monster Hunter Rise (MH Rise) and the Sunbreak DLC on the Switch, PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Game Pass. Check here for 15 tips for beginners, the best beginner weapons, and tricks to start hunting strong!

Monster Hunter Rise Beginner's Guides
MH Rise Beginner's Guide	Sunbreak Beginner's Guide

15 Tips for Beginners

#1: Clear Village Quests First

As a beginner, you will want to learn the basics of hunting in the game before diving into harder content. We recommend going through the Back to Basics Training Quest first. Master Utsushi will teach you about your surroundings, how to move around, and how to gather and carve materials.

After you have completed that training quest, you can progress through the Village Quests before taking on any Hub Quest so that you will have an idea of the progression in the game.

Village Quest Guide and List of Key Quests

#2: Try to Master One Weapon

Practice makes perfect. Pick the weapon you are most comfortable with and find the most fun out of!

After trying out all the different weapons, we recommend beginners pick a single weapon to focus on for getting through the Village Quests to eventually get the hang of using it.

The main weapon of your choice can become your go-to weapon later whenever you are trying out something else and need to switch in a pinch.

Use the Training Area and Arena

If you want to practice your weapon, head over to the Training Area. Trying out different weapons on a target dummy will be quick there since there is a nearby Equipment Box.

You can also try out Arena Quests, which can help you hone and test a weapon's complexity through preset equipment and live monsters.

Best Starter Weapons

#3: Adjust Your Settings

It is always good to check on your game settings before you do anything else! Little changes in detail, camera movement, and control can be a game-changer.

For example, Monster Hunter World veterans are more comfortable with Focus Camera, while older Monster Hunter vets welcomed the return of the Lock-on Camera.

List of Settings and Recommendations

#4: Always Take Supply Items

Good hunters always prepare a well-stocked inventory. However, since resources can be rather limited for beginners, the supplies provided by the chests at the main camp of each locale can be of great help for making it through hunts.

These usually contain EZ Rations, First Aid-Meds, Traps, and Ammos & Coatings. Some quests even have supplies like Flash Bombs that can be useful against the specific target.

#5: Use the Wirebugs

The Wirebug is one of the new additions in Monster Hunter Rise and is central to its gameplay. Wirebugs can be used to climb high terrain, recover from monster attacks through Wirefall, and even be used for unique Silkbind Attacks!

You always start out a hunt with two (2) Wirebugs. But you can add one more by grabbing one as an Endemic Life out in the wild! Make sure to keep an eye out for them.

How to Use Wirebugs

#6: Always Wyvern Ride Monsters

Riding monsters is extremely useful! It allows you to either force a fight between two monsters, making them deal massive damage to each other, or to launch the monster into a wall several times to momentarily topple the monster, giving you a window of opportunity to execute your strongest attacks.

You can choose to activate Wyvern Riding by attacking or through manual activation when your weapon is sheathed. Simply go to the menu, open up Controls and look for Buttons for Wyvern Riding.

Wyvern Riding:
How to Mount and Ride Monsters

#7: Bring Your Buddies

Palicoes and Palamutes are both helpful companions that provide invaluable support during hunts.

Palicoes have lots of utility, like healing, placing traps, and even giving you additional monster parts. Meanwhile, Palamutes can help improve mobility while having an offensive presence when fighting monsters.

Ride Your Palamutes

Palamutes stand out with their ability to be mounted. With their dashes, they will allow you to navigate the map quickly. Melee weapon users will also find the ability to sharpen while riding very useful to avoid leaving themselves open to attacks.

Palamute Guide and Controls

#8: Interact with Endemic Life

Interact and collect Endemic Life, such as Permabuffers (Spiribirds) and Temp Buffers (Butterflame) while on a quest. These can aid you by providing buffs to your current stats. Hunting Helpers like the Paratoad and Firebeetle can also make hunts easier by inflicting different status and blights on monsters.

Make it a habit to study the locations of Endemic Life and pick them up every now and then since they will make your hunts quicker and more comfortable.

List of Endemic Life

#9: Capturing Monsters

If you need to capture a monster for a quest instead of slaying it, remember that you will need at least two Tranq Bombs and a trap (either a Pitfall Trap or a Shock Trap). Capture Quests will typically have these available in the supply box.

You can trap the monster first then deploy two Tranq Bombs or the other way around. The important thing is using two Tranq Bombs and a trap once it's weak enough!

How to Capture Monsters:
Capture vs. Kill

#10: Always Eat Dangos

Always eat some dango at the canteen before embarking on your quest for increased health and stamina. All dangos also have special effects that can improve your hunting ability.

Do not worry if you have forgotten to eat, going to any camp in the locale lets you order Dangos during quests.

For beginners, we recommend the following dango available from the start. As you progress, you'll unlock more dango. Make sure to try out different dango combinations that will suit your playstyle.

Dango	Effect
Bestnut	Dango Defender (Lo) Low chance for decreased damage taken.
Sharp	Dango Polisher (Lo) Shortens your weapon sharpening time.
Balancing	Dango Feet (Lo) Prevents you from getting knocked on your butt.
Wealthy Man	Dango Money Maker Slightly increases zenny earned at the end of a quest.
Medicinal	Dango Medic (Lo) Slightly increases health recovered from items.

List of Dangos and Effects

#11: Save Up Items for Melding

Knowing about Melding is crucial as this becomes important for builds later in the game. When you meld, you spend materials and Kamura points to create valuable talismans. On top of your hunter armor, the best talismans will have the right skills and slots to boost your playstyle even further.

Finding the right talisman will take a while. Talismans melded may be random depending on what method you use!

How to Use the Melding Pot

#12: Unlock the Argosy Early

As you progress, you will want to make sure that you always have enough crafting ingredients and materials on hand.

The Argosy works as the quick supplier for rare items and materials. All of these can be exchanged with Kamura points.

If you find certain items hard to find, you may be able to find them being sold at the Argosy. Also, make sure to accomplish both the Economic Stimulation and Cultural Exchange requests that unlock extra submarines for increasing Trade Requests!

Argosy and Trading Guide

#13: Familiarize with Loadouts

To keep your items and equipment managed for every hunt and situation, we recommend that you invest into creating loadouts for your hunter.

You can manage loadouts for both your Equipment and Items through the Equipment Box. Make sure to check them out and update them with new gear from time to time!

Best Item Loadouts

#14: Customize Your Shortcuts

The Radial Menu (or Hotbar for PC players) is your best friend. Spend time to go into the menu and customize how you can quickly access your items and gestures!

You will want to have important items assigned already to this menu, and another set in case you plan to communicate quickly in multiplayer. Gunners will also want to set these to quickly craft ammo without needing to restock at camp.

Editing the Radial Menu

#15: Check for Add-On Content

The Courier brings a lot of add-on content such as free items and equipment that can help you get started as well as Event Quests with extra rewards. You'll be able to receive these as long as you have an internet connection. Check back with them whenever they have something new to give away!

Free Rewards: How to Get Free Gifts

Best Starter Weapons

Monster Hunter Rise boasts a total of 14 weapon types, each with its unique combos and moves. Some combos could be hard to execute even for veterans, but with enough practice, it can be achieved.

Below are the weapon types we think are best for beginner players of MH Rise:

Best Starter Weapons
Sword and Shield	Dual Blades	Long Sword	Hunting Horn	Light Bowgun

For a more in depth breakdown on the best starter weapons check out our full article below!
Best Starter Weapons

Individual Weapon Guides

All Weapon Guides
Great Sword	Long Sword	Sword and Shield	Dual Blades
Hammer	Hunting Horn	Lance	Gunlance
Switch Axe	Charge Blade	Insect Glaive	Bow
Light Bowgun		Heavy Bowgun

If you are just looking for the best weapon overall, head over to our Weapon Tier list page to see how we've ranked each weapon type in Monster Hunter Rise.

Weapon Tier List

More Tips and Tricks

Monster Hunter Rise is a fun game, but you might need help to effectively play the game! Check out our list of Tips & Tricks for things that may help you!

All Tips and Tricks

Monster Hunter Gameplay Loop

Starting off, you'll have weak equipment and barely any skills to make hunting more efficient. To improve your gear, you'll need to obtain materials by gathering in locales and hunting monsters. Having stronger equipment will give you a better chance at taking on harder quests to make even better weapons and armor.

Hunt Monsters for Materials

Monsters will mostly be hunted through quests, requiring you to defeat one or more targets for their parts. You'll also find monsters in gathering and delivery quests as well.

List of All Monsters

Craft Stronger Gear

After hunting or successfully defeating a monster, the materials you gather can be used to make stronger armor and weapons at the Smithy. You can also improve your Buddies' equipment!

Raise Your Hunter Rank

Hunter Rank (HR) is a way of showing how much experience you have in hunting. Early on, you can only increase your rank by completing Urgent Quests. After unlocking your HR Cap, you'll start earning HR points after every hunt to increase your rank. The higher your HR, the more challenging quests and monsters are made available to you!

Once you finish enough Low Rank quests, you can gain access to High Rank quests and more monsters. The same is true once you can progress to Master Rank with the Sunbreak DLC expansion.

How to Unlock High Rank

What If I Cannot Defeat A Monster?

Learn Monster Attack Patterns

Most great hunters know monster attack patterns by heart, and a single movement can give them an idea of the next move! Learning when to hit their weak spots and how to avoid their moves is key to defeating them.

Monster List and Hunt Guides

Practice in the Training Area

Being good at Monster Hunter is like playing an instrument - it requires patience and rigorous practice. Remember, veteran players started as beginners—they only got good because of perseverance!

If you want to practice weapon combos, go to the Training Area in the game!

Training Area Guide

Upgrade Your Gear

Knowing is half the battle, but don't neglect your armor and weapons! When it comes to actual hunting, you'll also need to be properly equipped to hunt the monster you're struggling against.

Create armor with skills that can help improve damage or comfort then make sure your weapons are upgraded to a level that can deal decent damage. You can also use Armor Spheres to raise your defense if you find yourself carting often.

Hunt with Friends via Multiplayer

If you are really at your wits' end, try asking for help. Monster Hunter is a cooperative game, so it is built to be played with other people.

However in Monster Hunter Rise, Village Quests are exclusive to single-player, so look to Hub Quests for multiplayer quests!

You may also look for people to help you in-game through Join Requests, or you can post in Multiplayer Boards and groups. The Monster Hunter Community is a pretty helpful bunch, so do not hesitate to ask for help.

How to Play Online and Local Multiplayer

Monster Hunter Rise Related Guides

All Tips & Tricks

All Tips and Tricks