Monster Hunter Now (Free) for iOS and Android released earlier this month from Niantic and Capcom and I’ve been playing it daily and enjoying it quite a bit. Read my launch week review here. If you’ve already played something from Niantic involving augmented reality, there’s a lot you might find familiar in Monster Hunter Now. Whether you’ve played a ton of Monster Hunter like I have, or are completely new to the franchise with your first taste being Monster Hunter Now, I’ve put together a set of tips and tricks to help you during the early hours of the game. This guide will help you with the basics and also with some things to keep in mind to ensure you’re always making the most of your time and resources while playing Monster Hunter Now.
Practice the basics of combat against smaller monsters in Monster Hunter Now
You start out with the Sword & Shield weapon type in Monster Hunter Now, with the opening hunts quite simple. Use this time to learn your weapon and also hunt smaller monsters that usually die in a hit or two. These monsters are great fodder to practice the basic controls and attacks.
If you aren’t enjoying a certain weapon, swap it out for something else in Monster Hunter Now
I’m not a fan of the Sword & Shield, and main the Great Sword in Monster Hunter games. I was just tolerating the combat until unlocking the Great Sword after a bit of playing, after which my fun grew exponentially in Monster Hunter Now. If you aren’t a fan of either of those, you unlock four more weapon types soon after. Forge the basic version of each of them if you aren’t sure and play around before settling on one. Monster Hunter is always about crafting better weapons and gear, so don’t fret if you aren’t happy with your build.
Gather as much as you can in Monster Hunter Now
Barring monster parts, you also need materials like bones, stone, or ore to craft. These appear at gathering spots or the smaller ones that appear within your access range (indicated by the circle around you). Keep tapping these when possible to gather resources.
Mix and match armor pieces in Monster Hunter Now
Just like in the main Monster Hunter games, don’t worry too much about your armor set initially. Just focus on crafting new sets for the early hours. You can look at armor skills and more later on. The early hours are about getting your bearings and just surviving against the monster onslaught.
Know when to use your special skill in Monster Hunter Now
After a bit of playing, you can unlock your weapon’s special skill from Grade 2 of its upgrade. This is a powerful attack that gives you some invincibility frames and unleashes a powerful attack on a monster. Save this for when you aren’t able to dodge correctly or are focusing on a specific monster part.
Use the lock on skill in Monster Hunter Now as soon as you unlock it
From the early hours, you can craft the Kulu Headpiece 3 which gives you the lock on skill. This lets you tap the aiming icon during a hunt to target specific parts of the monster’s body. Tap the part you want to target and you will automatically focus your attacks on said part when you are close to the monster. This is useful if you’re working to upgrade your weapon and need a specific monster’s tail or any other monster drop that requires breaking a specific part of its body.
Try out different weapons in Monster Hunter Now, but…
Like I said above, if you aren’t enjoying a weapon, swap it out and try the others, but don’t upgrade weapons before trying them out through the basic version. Some resources and monster drops are hard to come by in Monster Hunter Now, and you shouldn’t waste them while forging something you might not even use for more than a few hunts.
Do both story and special quests in Monster Hunter Now
While you default to story quests, there are also special quests in Monster Hunter Now that reset daily giving you added money, Hunter Rank points, and more. Either way, pay attention to the requirements of both kinds of quests because they are active at the same time. You can finish multiple quests in one go as well depending on the requirements. Focus on completing the story quests to unlock an Urgent Quest that has a stronger monster, but will give you better rewards. Once you hit an Urgent Quest, you will not be able to progress the story until you complete said quest. Special Quests reset at around midnight each day.
Save your paintballs for more-difficult monsters in Monster Hunter Now
Paintballs in Monster Hunter Now are available in two forms: Pink paintballs and Blue paintballs. Blue paintballs are for your palico (helper) that can mark monsters when Adventure Sync is enabled while your phone is in your pocket or basically the app isn’t open. Pink paintballs are for you to manually use to mark monsters you can’t fight right now for whatever reason. A marked monster will remain available to summon for up to 2 days. You get blue paintballs daily, but pink paintballs are only given to you for reaching specific in-game milestones or through purchases in the shop.
Monster Hunter Now Adventure Sync explained
Monster Hunter Now Adventure Sync lets the app track your location while the app isn’t active. This is used to let your Palico gather or mark monsters. I disabled this to save battery life, but you can use it if you want.
Make sure to login daily for first-aid meds in Monster Hunter Now
You are given first-aid med daily, but need to claim it manually from the in-game store. Remember to do this because you always need more heals during hunts and the first-aid meds are free heals given daily.
Share your referral code for free in-game items in Monster Hunter Now
You can also share your referral code to get someone else to sign up earning rewards. This is a great way to get free in-game items.
Take your time while playing Monster Hunter Now
Monster Hunter Now is a new game that likely will evolve over time with new content, features, and more. If you feel like you’ve exhausted everything it has to offer, take a break. Also don’t worry about finishing chapters quickly to unlock new content. The game isn’t designed for binge sessions at home (like I do with the main Monster Hunter games).
Check your phone graphics and frame rate options in Monster Hunter Now
On both my iOS and iPadOS devices, Monster Hunter Now defaulted to 30fps. You can enable 60fps while hunting through a toggle in the in-game settings. You can also adjust the graphics quality from “low" to “very high" presets here. A battery saver option is also available here.
Remember to zoom out and use the camera in Monster Hunter Now
By default, your field of view in hunts is quite narrow with how close the camera is to you. You can pinch to zoom out and swipe around to turn where you are facing. Do this often as the mid to late game monsters will fly around or move quite quickly. You don’t want your precious time in a hunt to go looking for a monster or moving the camera to aim because the monster moved out of your view do you?
Link a third party account to save progress across devices in Monster Hunter Now
If you, like me, signed up with an Apple ID instead of Google account, you currently will be able to sync progress to another iOS or iPadOS device, but will not be able to claim promotional items / codes. You need to sync a google account to do that for some reason. Either way, make sure you have an account linked here so you don’t lose your progress.
Save time while playing by downloading all assets in Monster Hunter Now settings
If you’re sick of seeing a few MB downloaded each time you do anything in-game, go into the game settings and scroll all the way down to the support section. You can download all assets here which usually is a few hundred MB at most. This will save you time during hunts and while moving around in-game or completing the story.
This Monster Hunter Now tips and tricks guide will be updated over time once anything changes from Niantic’s end.
If you’ve not gotten it yet, you can grab Monster Hunter Now on the App Store for iOS here and on Google Play for Android here. The in app purchases include different sets of gems. Check out the official website here. Hopefully this Monster Hunter Now tips and tricks guide for beginners and veteran Monster Hunter players helped you out with the basics of the game and more. If you have your own tips to share, let us know in the comments below.
