Monster Hunter World Guide - All the Essential Tips for Playing Monster Hunter World

Guide by Hirun Cryer Contributor

Published on Feb. 6, 2024

Monster Hunter World was one of the biggest games of 2018, and the future looks bright for the game well over a year after launch. In this Monster Hunter World guide, we'll be providing you with a complete list of essential tips and tricks that all new and veteran players alike should know, as well as putting together a list of our individual guide pages on the huge game.

Monster Hunter World Guides

Once you've fully customised and created your player character and loveable Palico companion, you'll find yourself aboard a ship bound for the 'new world', a continent that the Fifth Fleet have been charged with making safe for settlers. It's your task therefore, to hunt down and kill the most dangerous monsters in this mysterious new land, all of which have different strengths and weaknesses, as well as different habitats and hunting habits.

Just below, you can find all our detailed guides on specific areas of Monster Hunter World, including how to defeat tough monsters like the Odogaron and Diablos, all the way to mastering the weapon Affinity system in MHW:

Monster Hunter World Gathering Hub Area Guide - Where to Find the Canteen and Workshop
Monster Hunter World Hunter Rank Guide - How to Increase Your Hunter Rank
Monster Hunter World Combat Guide - Full Combat Controls, How to Evade Monster Attacks
Monster Hunter World Palico Guide - How to Unlock New Gear and Armor, How to Earn Palico Gadgets
Monster Hunter World Weapons Guide - Every Weapon Type Explained, Which Weapon to Use For Which Monster
Monster Hunter World Weapon Adjustments Guide - Complete Patch 2.0.0 Weapon Changes Notes
Monster Hunter World Weapon Tier Guide - Every Solo, Co-Op Weapon Tier List
Monster Hunter World Affinity Guide - How to Understand Weapon and Armor Affinity Bonus Skills
Monster Hunter World Best Weapons Guide - The Best Weapons to Kill Any Monster in the Game
Monster Hunter World Builds Guide - The Best Weapon and Armor Combinations
Monster Hunter World Crafting Guide - How to Craft Items, Best Items to Craft
Monster Hunter World Bone Guide - How to Find Boulder Bone, Ancient Bone, Warped Bone, Monster Bone +
Monster Hunter World Insect Glaive Guide - How to Use and Upgrade Kinsects
Monster Hunter World Armor Guide - How to Unlock New Armor, How to Upgrade Armor, Best Monster Hunter World Armor
Monster Hunter World Capture Guide - How to Capture a Monster, How to Craft and Shock Trap and Tranq Bomb
Monster Hunter World Cooking Guide - How to Cook, How to Use the Canteen
Monster Hunter World Arena Guide - How to Start the Arena, How to Earn the Best Ranks
Monster Hunter World Botanical Research Guide - How to Cultivate and Fertilize Plants and Insects
Monster Hunter World Ecological Research Guide - How to Earn Research Points Quickly
Monster Hunter World Sinister Cloth Guide - How to Find and Obtain Sinister Cloth, How to Forge the Death Stench Armor Set
Monster Hunter World Jewels Guide - Jewels Explained, How to Farm Jewels
Monster Hunter World Aloy's Gear Guide - How to Get Aloy's Armor and Bow, Palico's Watcher Armor
Monster Hunter World Street Fighter 5 Guide - How to Complete the Street Fighter 5 Collaboration Event and Unlock Ryu's Gear

Monster Hunter World Map Guides

Monster Hunter World Ancient Forest Guide - Complete Map Overview, Every Monster Found in the Ancient Forest
Monster Hunter World Wildspire Waste Guide - Complete Map Overview, Every Monster Found in the Wildspire Waste
Monster Hunter World Coral Highlands Guide - Complete Map Overview, Every Monster Found in the Coral Highlands

Monster Hunter World Monster Guides

Monster Hunter World Great Jagras Guide - How to Track and Kill a Great Jagras, Best Weapons to Use Against a Great Jagras
Monster Hunter World Pukei-Pukei Guide - How to Track and Kill a Pukei-Pukei, Best Weapons to Use Against a Pukei-Pukei
Monster Hunter World Anjanath Guide - How to Track and Kill an Anjanath, Best Weapons to Use Against an Anjanath
Monster Hunter World Barroth Guide - How to Track and Kill a Barroth, Best Weapons to Use Against a Barroth
Monster Hunter World Radobaan Guide - How to Track and Kill a Radobaan, Best Weapons to Use Against a Radobaan
Monster Hunter World Legiana Guide - How to Track and Kill a Legiana, Best Weapons to Use Against a Legiana
Monster Hunter World Odogaron Guide - How to Track and Kill an Odogaron, Best Weapons to Use Against an Odogaron
Monster Hunter World Diablos Guide - How to Track and Kill a Diablos, Best Weapons to Use Against a Diablos
Monster Hunter World Rathalos Guide - How to Track and Kill a Rathalos, Best Weapons to Use Against a Rathalos
Monster Hunter World Zorah Magdaros Guide - How to Complete the One for the History Books Quest
Monster Hunter World Zorah Magdaros Guide - How to Complete A Colossal Task Quest, How to Unlock the Zorah Magdaros Armor
Monster Hunter World Uragaan Guide - How to Track and Kill an Uragaan, Best Weapons to Use Against an Uragaan
Monster Hunter World Dodogama Guide - How to Track and Kill a Dodogama, Best Weapons to Use Against a Dodogama
Monster Hunter World Kirin Guide - How to Track and Kill a Kirin, How to Complete Kirin the Myth Quest
Monster Hunter World Deviljho Guide
Monster Hunter World Kulve Taroth Guide
Monster Hunter World Lunastra Guide
Monster Hunter World Behemoth Guide

Monster Hunter World Elder Dragons Guides

Monster Hunter World Nergigante Guide - How to Track and Kill a Nergigante, Best Weapons to Use Against a Nergigante
Monster Hunter World Kushala Daora Guide - How to Track and Kill Kushala Daora, Best Weapons to Use Against Kushala Daora
Monster Hunter World Teostra the Infernal Guide - How to Track and Kill Teostra the Inferal, Best Weapons to Use Against Teostra the Infernal
Monster Hunter World Vaal Hazak Guide - How to Track and Kill Hellish Fiend Vaal Hazak, Best Weapons to Use Against Vaal Hazak
Monster Hunter World Xeno'jiiva Guide - How to Kill Xeno'jiiva, Best Weapons and Armor to Use Against Xeno'jiiva
Monster Hunter World Kulve Taroth Guide - How to Kill Kulve Taroth, Best Weapons and Armor to Use Against Kulve Taroth
Monster Hunter World Lunastra Guide - How to Kill Lunastra, Best Weapons and Armor to Use Against Lunastra

Monster Hunter World Grimalkyne Tribes Guides

Monster Hunter World Ancient Forest Grimalkyne Guide - How to Find the Palico Tribe in the Ancient Forest
Monster Hunter World Wildspire Waste Grimalkyne Guide - How to Find the Palico Tribe in the Wildspire Waste
Monster Hunter World Coral Highlands Grimalkyne Guide - How to Find the Palico Tribe in the Coral Highlands
Monster Hunter World Rotten Vale/Plunderblade Grimalkyne Guide - How to Find the Palico Tribe in the Rotten Vale and Unlock the Plunderblade

Monster Hunter World Best Weapon Build Guides

Monster Hunter World Bowgun Build Guide - Best Armor and Charm Items to Use With a Bowgun
Monster Hunter World Hammer Build Guide - Best Armor and Charm Items to Use With the Hammer
Monster Hunter World Long Sword Build Guide - Best Armor and Charm Items to Use With the Long Sword

Monster Hunter World Tips

Monster Hunter World launched back near the beginning of 2018 on PS4 and Xbox One, but it launched later on in August on the PC, through Steam. Just below, you can check out a brief range of essential tips and for the game, for all platforms.

See those green foating things? Those are the Scout Flies, and they guide you to various new details in the surrounding area.
These can include monster tracks, such as footprints and deceased prey.
Whenever you discover a monster detail in the environment and interact with it, your tracking meter for that monster will go up.
Keep increasing this tracking meter to the maximum, and you'll pinpoint the location of the monster on your map.
Remember to always craft potions using Herbs before and during a quest-simply hit the pause button and select 'Crafting Menu' if you need to craft an item like a health potion on the fly.
To deal significant damage to a monster and bring it down quickly, you'll need to target the weak points of a beast.
Try hitting different limbs and areas on a monster. If the damage marker coming off the monster is a bright orange, then you've managed to land a critical hit on a weak point of the monster.
Always target the weak points of monsters, and you'll eventually be able to break parts of the beast for increased rewards when the quest is done. You can even cut the tails off of larger monsters.

Monster Hunter World DLC Schedule

Head over to our Monster Hunter World DLC schedule guide for all the latest information you need for new, upcoming events for the game, as well as all the future DLC that Capcom have planned. Included in this is the upcoming Deviljho DLC creature, that looks set to be a challenge to even the most experienced hunters.

Otherwise, we'll give you this introductory lesson to Monster Hunter World. The gameplay loop might seem overly simple at first: embark on a quest to kill a monster, track down said monster, kill said monster, come back to base to reap the rewards. There are a lot of other factors to consider however, such as what sort of wildlife you'll encounter, as well as how you can use the Scout flies to track down certain environmental items, that you can then use to create gadgets and potions.

Monster Hunter World Character Edit Voucher

As of March 16, Capcom has given every Monster Hunter World player a single Character Edit Voucher, as a way of completely redoing your Hunter if you aren't happy with the way they look. To obtain your Character Edit Voucher, simply head to the PSN or Xbox Live Store, and download the item as you see it just below. Keep in mind that this is the only Character Edit Voucher that you'll get until later in Spring, when Capcom will start charging money for the vouchers.

How to use Scout flies to Track Monsters in Monster Hunter World

We'll start with the Scout flies. While you're running around a map, you'll see a green trail in the air moving away from you, to point out interesting items nearby, such as plants and animals. These are the Scout flies, and they can help you track down a monster. While you're exploring a map, you'll eventually come across the traces of a monster, be it footprints, slime, or other marks in the environment. Interact with these, and you'll gradually build up the Scout fly meter, eventually enabling the Scout flies to hone in on the monster and lead you right to your prey.

Next, there's the plans scattered around every map to consider. If you press down the Options/Pause button, you'll bring up the main menu, which you can then select the 'Crafting List' option from. This will now bring you to a complete list of items you can craft while on the go, including potions, traps, and ammunition for weapons that fire shells or arrows. Next to each crafting option, you'll see the items that you require to craft the item, and if you don't have enough of the items that you need in order to craft, you'll have to explore the map, using the Scout flies to find them for you.

How to Earn Money Quickly in Monster Hunter World

Money is a huge part of Monster Hunter World, as it’s the only currency that you can use to both upgrade your weapons and armor, as well as craft new gear to use in the battlefield. Earning money isn’t an easy feat in this complex game, as your primary way of earning money is to take on quests and expeditions, defeating monsters and earning a nice payout in the process.

Not only will you be paid for each monster you kill while roaming areas like the Ancient Forest and Wildspire Waste, but you can then sell monster parts that you scavenge for money. As soon as you finish your expedition or quest, you’ll be taken to the rewards screen, where you can see all the monster parts and other items like mining ore that you’ve managed to stock up.

If you simply want to earn some Zenny quickly, then hit the ‘Sell All’ option at the bottom of the rewards screen, and you’ll instantly be given money for all your items, without having to visit a shopkeeper or vendor. We should urge caution when doing this however, as you don’t want to accidentally sell an extremely rare item that you might need down the road for crafting a high end piece of armor or weapons, like the Anjanath Plate.

Another great technique for earning money quickly in Monster Hunter World is to simply farm the Great Jagras in the Ancient Forest for monster parts. If you start at the Southwest Camp, the Great Jagras will always be in or near the open area to the northeast, since it preys on the Kestadon living their. Eat some food at the camp that bolsters your stamina or attack damage, and then equip the most powerful weapon you have in your inventory.

Repeatedly target the head of the Great Jagras to stun it, and with a heavy weapon like the Hammer or Switch Axe in your possession, you shouldn’t have any trouble taking out the beast quickly. Every Large Scale you obtain from the Great Jagras will sell for 1,000 Zenny, and every Small Scale you obtain will tell for 500 Zenny. It’s an incredibly quick way of earning some decent money, and off a low level monster at that.

Monster Hunter World Guide - Quick Access Menu Guide

Then there's the quick access menu to consider in the bottom right of the HUD. This menu lets you access certain items quickly from your inventory, and then press Square/X to use them. You can customise the items in this quick access menu by pressing the pause button, and choosing the 'Item Pouch' option, and then press Triangle/Y to bring up the item bar itself. You can now change the quick access menu to your liking, and position certain items like Potions and Mega Potions to make sure they're always near the beginning of the bar, so you can use them as quickly as possible.

Monster Hunter World Guide - How to Change Your Loadout/Equipment

Speaking of switching up your items, Monster Hunter World is the first game in the series that lets you change your equipment and weapons mid-mission, not forcing you to exit the mission if you find your weapon redundant against your foe. Changing your equipped weapon is actually simple: all you have to do is head to any base camp on the map (you can pull up the map by pressing the middle button on the PS4 controller or the 'back' button on the Xbox One controller), and head into the tent.

While you're inside the tent, you'll be given the option of changing your character's weapons and armor items. That's all there is to it - changing your equipment and weapons in Monster Hunter World is surprisingly simple for such a complex game.

How to Toggle Camera Lock in Monster Hunter World

The ability to lock your camera on to a single monster isn’t automatically turned on at the very beginning of Monster Hunter World, and you’ll have to delve into the menu system of the game if having the camera locked on to a target sounds more appealing. To lock your camera on to the monster you’re fighting, do the following:

In the ‘Settings’ tab of the pause menu, select ‘Options’.
Select ‘Camera’.
Under ‘Reticle Direction’, select ‘Character’s Direction’.
Press right on the D-pad to see the next set of options.
Under ‘Camera Reset Settings’, select ‘Direction of Character’.

We should note that this doesn’t mean your character will constantly be facing the monster that you’re fighting, but it does mean that the camera will always be focused on the monster. This means that you can hang back and drink a potion or sharpen your weapon, without taking your eye off the monster that you’re fighting.

Monster Hunter World Guide - How to Play Online, How to Play Offline

As we mentioned, you can head to the quest boards to help out other players online, responding to their SOS Flares of distress when they need help with a certain powerful monster, or simply joining them on an easy expedition. The benefits of playing online is that you can effectively take down monsters far quicker than you would be able to on your own, saving you valuable time if you're after, say, a Great Jagras Scale to craft a new piece of gear.

Alternatively, you also might want to play Monster Hunter World entirely on your own. To do this, you'll have to set up your own private online session, which you can only do from the main title menu of the game. Once you've selected the character that you want to load up with, choose the 'Create an Online Session' option, and you'll be asked to input your preferences for the session.

Select the 'Private Session' option near the bottom, and select 'Yes', effectively making your online session invisible to the outside world. Now you can play Monster Hunter World all by yourself, which you might prefer if you want some peace of mind from other hunters dropping into your session at random and potentially messing up your specific quests.

How to Change Your Appearance in Monster Hunter World

Say you don't like the design that you gave your hunter when choosing their appearance at the beginning of Monster Hunter World. How can you change the way they look? If you go to the Tradeyard floor of the hub area, you can find your own personal room near the table where the Commanders are gathered. The entrance is covered by a big white curtain, so it's fairly hard to miss.

Once inside, head to the Item Box in your room, and you'll be given the 'Change Appearance' option for your character. This does exactly what it says on the tin, and you'll be taken back to the character customisation screen that you were presented with right at the beginning of Monster Hunter World. Don't worry about completely messing up your character though, you can change the tiniest details to them without completely resetting the customised character you have.

This might be the conclusion of our Monster Hunter World guide for beginners, but make sure to check out the variety of additional guides we have on the expansive game, for help with certain quests and monster, including the Great Jagras, Barroth, Anjanath, and more.