How to Capture Monsters: Should You Capture or Slay

Knowing how to capture monsters is one of the most basic skills a Hunter should know in Monster Hunter Rise and Sunbreak. Read on to learn how to capture monsters, take on capture quests, how to use capture items, knowing when to capture or slay, and more!

How To Capture Monsters

How To Capture Monsters: Step-by-Step

Capturing Monsters allows you to hunt monsters and finish quests without actually slaying them.

Bring Items Required for Capturing Monsters

Materials Needed For Capturing Monsters
Shock Trap	1x Thunderbug 1x Trap Tool
Pitfall Trap	1x Net 1x Trap Tool
Tranq Bomb	1x Parashroom 1x Sleep Herb
Tranq Ammo	1x Tranq Bomb 1x Normal Ammo 1

If you want to capture monsters, you have to get these tools required for capturing monsters. It is safe to have one of each type of trap in case the monster fails to be lured into your traps but in essence, you only need a minimum of one trap and two Tranq Bombs.

Fight and Weaken Monsters for Capture

Weaken the Monster to the point you see it limping away. Capturing monsters is possible only when the monster is weak enough. You can weaken monsters by fighting them until they start limping or when your Palico has told you that the monster is weak.

Blue Icon Means Monster is Weakened

If the monster is weak enough for capture, a blue icon will show at the bottom of the monster icon. When this icon appears, set a trap for capture!

It is also possible to capture before the blue icon shows up! If you're bringing a Palico out on hunts, it will inform you if the monster is weak and ready for capture! You will see this as a text prompt on the right side of the screen.

Set Traps and Use Tranq Bombs

If a monster is primed for capture, set a trap (either a Shock Trap or a Pitfall Trap) underneath the monster. Once it is caught, quickly use two (2) Tranq Bombs near the monster to effectively capture it!

Also, it does not matter if you hit to use the Tranq Bomb first or set the trap first - the monster will still be captured as long as the entirety of the process is completed.

Elder Dragons, Apex, and Afflicted Monsters Cannot be Captured

Elder Dragons and Apex Monsters are not capturable in any way because traps are ineffective, and will only have slay quests.

In the Sunbreak update Afflicted Monsters, which can be found in Anomaly Quests and Anomaly Investigations after finishing the expansion's main story. also cannot be captured and must be slain to finish the quest.

Capture Quests and Other Quest Types

Condition for Clearing Some Quests

Most quests in Monster Hunter Rise (MH Rise) are Hunting Quests but some are also Capture Quests. Check the type of quest at all times because if you have accidentally slain a monster during a capture quest, the quest will fail.

Difference Between Quest Types

Type	Description
Hunting	Either kill or capture. Most of the quests in MH Rise are classified as Hunting Quests.
Slaying	Requires you to kill the monster and capturing is not allowed. Elder Dragons and Apex Monsters are Slay only.
Capture	Requires you to capture the monster and if you accidentally kill it, the quest will fail. Always be aware of the quest type at all times.

Practice Capturing With Training Quests

Similar to Wyvern Riding, there is also a training quest that focuses on capturing monsters. If you are still not sure about how to capture monsters, we suggest doing The Basics of Capturing Monsters first as it has lesser penalties when you capture incorrectly.

Should You Capture or Slay Monsters

Depends on Your Objective

Each method of hunting a monster has its benefits. Decide carefully if you want to capture or hunt a monster to avoid losing out on anything carve exclusive.

Advantages of Capturing Monsters

Capture for Faster Hunts

Slaying Completion Time	Capture Completion Time
04' 32" 16	03' 36" 82

Since hunters only need to weaken their target, capturing monsters is faster than slaying in both hunt completion time as well as time spent in the quest completion menu.

Get Rare Drops from Capture Rewards

By capturing monsters, you get capture rewards instead of carve rewards. If you're looking for rare drops, they are more likely to drop from captures than carves.

We suggest checking the Materials Section of the Hunter's Notes before going in hunts, as some rare materials drop rates vary based on capture or carve.

Advantages of Slaying Monsters

Some Monsters Must Be Slain

As mentioned, some monsters such as Elder Dragons, Apex Monsters, Afflicted Monsters, cannot be captured and must be slain.

In these cases, bringing traps are optional. Traps will not affect Elder Dragons, but they can be used as effective stunning tools against afflicted monsters.

Traps set by palicoes can still be used to your advantage to pin these monsters down!

Slaying Gives Carve Exclusive Materials

▲ Easier to get Magnamalo Blade+ by slaying and carving than capturing.

Monster materials are exclusive to carving, or have a higher drop chance than in capture rewards.

Refer to your Hunter's Notes to learn which method shows higher drop rate before every hunt!

Carve Chances Vary

By default, normal and Apex monsters grant three carves while Elder Dragons grant four.

The number of carves can be further increased with the Carving Master skill. Likewise, monster rewards can be increased with the Good Luck skill and the Felicirow.

More Time to Break Parts and Sever Tails in Slaying

Slaying a monster takes more time than capturing it. If you need more time in breaking and acquiring monster parts, then the method of slaying is the way to go.

Since you have more time to spend, aim to break the head, wings, cut off the tail, and other monster parts that you need to carve.

For faster part breaks, you can slot in equipment that uses the Partbreaker skill.

Examples of Materials that are Easier to Get by Carving

Monster	Material (Carve % vs Capture %)
Nargacuga	Narga Medulla (12% vs. 3%) Narga Razor (10% vs. 0%) Nargacuga's Razor is not available in the capture rewards and the Medulla has a higher percentage to drop with carves. If you are aiming for these, aim for carving!
Anjanath	Anjanath Nosebone+ (17% vs. 0%) Anjanath's Nosebone is not available as a capture reward. You can also get these from Broken Part rewards but even that has higher probability when killing. However, if you need rarer parts like gems and plates, we suggest capturing Anjanath.
Magnamalo	Magnamalo Blade+ (16% vs. 0%) Magnamalo's Blade is not available as a capture reward. You can also get these from Broken Part rewards but even that has higher probability when killing. However, if you need rarer parts like gems and plates, we suggest capturing Magnamalo.
Almudron	Almudron Fin+ (22% vs. 0%) Almudron Whisker+ (12% vs. 0%) Neither of the two is a capture reward. You can capture it if you have broken both the face and the back but if not, we suggest going for the kill!

The materials above are just examples and we still suggest checking out your Hunter's Notes for the material table. You should balance between capturing and killing depending on the monster part you are aiming for.

Play Solo When You Are Particular With the Hunting Methods

When playing in Multiplayer, you will be paired with a bunch of randoms who may not have the same hunting objective as you. If you need a specific material that is more likely to drop in either capture or slay, we suggest playing solo.

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All Tips & Tricks

All Tips and Tricks