MHW Walkthrough & Ultimate Starter Guide!

Many of these things are self explanatory:

• Character Design
• Naming your character
• Palico (Pet Cat) Design
• Palico Naming
• “Volcano Island” – essentially a movement tutorial. “Island”, heh.
• Make your way to Camp – East side of the map. Don’t bother “finding things”.
• Astera City Tour
• Meeting the council and NPC’s
• Go to your room and suit up – (should I make a write-up about all the weapons?) EQUIP ALL YOUR ARMOR SLOTS NOW AS WELL!
• Canteen – ALWAYS EAT BEFORE or DURING a mission! It has no downside. Learn more about the MHW Food and Canteen system.

• Simple quest to beat small Jagras.
• I’ll state it now and often – always try to eat food. It’s so little cost for so much gain!
• Loot whatever you can while walking! Resources are scarce early on.

Upon returning:

• Speak to the Smithy
• The quest requires you to upgrade your armor.
• You can begin forging and upgrading armor and weapons.

• Fight some Kestodon
• Great Jagras makes an appearance!
• You can now unlock or take on 2* Quest
• Return to town
• Speak to the Provisions Manager and unlock the Bounty system

Great Jagras is the penultimate BASIC MONSTER. Be mindful of attacking monster weakpoints. Again, see the MHW Weakness Chart.

• Go to the camp location – you can see it in your map.
• You can’t setup camp with the Kulu-Ya-Ku bothering it.
• Return to base for now.
• Continue by accepting the quest Bird-Brained Bandit.

• Hunt a Kulu-Ya-Ku.
• Make sure to talk to the Bounty guys upon quest completion. They unlock the camp!

Kulu-Ya-Ku can be super annoying for some weapon types this early on. The boulder it picks up gives it a frontal guard which outright deflects, or severely reduces attacks. Its attacks also become much more powerful while it’s holding a rock.

Most forms of CC on Kulu-Ya-Ku (even Flash Pods) cause it to drop the rock.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Hunt a Pukei-Pukei
• Make sure to bring or take Antidotes from the supply chest!
• Try unlocking the Northwest Camp (8) while you’re here | MHW Camp Unlocks
• Upon completion: Can take 3* quests!

Pukei-Pukei is your first run-in with poison. As such, take Antidotes with you! Severing its tail removes a lot of its poison based attacks. Aside from poison, it is otherwise pretty non-threatening.

Pukei (along with other monsters that fly) can travel great distances while they “chicken out”. If you can interrupt this process (usually with a Flash Pod), you can save yourself from a lot of hassle.

Unlocking camps helps with this “chase” as well.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Bring you to a new map, Wildspire Waste!
• Follow the cart and your friends
• AVOID THE RATHIAN!!!
• Hunt Barroth

Your experiences may vary with Barroth! Haha. Focus on its tail or the area between front and back legs. The head deflects attacks but CAN BE BROKEN with some effort (not usually worth it). Its attacks are considerably heavier than previous monsters and you MUST AVOID THE CHOO CHOO TRAIN.

Unlock Central Camp (6) soon (within this or next quest) | MHW Camp Unlocks

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Show the NPC where to get it
• Get the items from the box! (EZ Shock Trap + EZ Tranq Bomb)
• Capture a Kulu-Ya-Ku
• Weaken (or put him to sleep via damage) – > Trap -> Tranquilize

HOW DO I CAPTURE MONSTERS!? Basically they have to BEAT ‘EM UP before you attempt it. A surefire way of knowing this is when they have a god damn SKULL ICON on the mini map or health icon (or when they’re visually limping). Once they try running back to their nest – it’s go time.

WEAKEN > TRAP (Vine or Shock) > TRANQ BOMB FACE > CAPTURED!

WHY SHOULD I CAPTURE MONSTERS? Simple – it’s actually FASTER since you skip the final chunk of their life bar and GIVES MORE LOOT.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Hunt a Jyuratodus

He is very annoying to fight in deep water, along with those damn Gajau fish psycho-crushering you. Try to bait him into shallower water or little islands.

Its attacks are super easy to avoid, and overall a non-threatening fight.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Start at the Northeast Camp and follow the trail you find right as jump down.
• Tobi-Kadachi has a SET spawn point in this specific quest.
• Nulberries!

I’m unsure if the supply box has Nulberries, but take them along! They remove debuffs. Tobi-Kadachi applies Thunderblight – it makes you susceptible to STUN (and PARALYSIS?). Eat nulberries to help you out with this.

The most agile foe you have yet to face! Can be frustrating if it’s your first time. Personally, I find it easy to focus on its tail and “back portion”. Kadachi’s jumping attack has weird timing – it “floats” before smacking you. Get used to it. Kadachi seems to have one or two very difficult to avoid “flourish” attacks – so make sure your gear is up to snuff.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

YOU MIGHT WANT TO UPGRADE YOUR ARMOR AS MUCH AS YOU CAN:
Anjanath can be a tough customer

• Anjanath has a set spawnpoint here at area 12
• Upon Completion: New armor upgrade levels! 5* quests now available!

Anjanath is CONSIDERABLY HARDER than anything else you’ve faced before. And you cannot “disgustingly outgear it” since upgrades are blocked until after you beat it. As such this may be the first “challenge” of MHW.

If you are burning – dodge roll thrice to put it out!

Anjanath has extremely vicious (and moderately telegraphed) frontal attacks. Do not get greedy by going head on all the time unless you’re very familiar with the fight. Attacking its head from the neck area, then backing off to the tail and legs is what works out best for me.

Once its “nose coral” appears, try to break it as it neuters its more deadly attacks.

IF YOU’VE BEEN LAZY TO EAT FOOD EVERY MISSION:
GET INTO THE HABIT NOW.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

I won’t really talk about this much in fear of people crying “SPOILER!!!!”

The most advice I can give you right now is: You can farm the mining nodes, but don’t stress out too much on “missing out” – these special nodes will be available right after.

I honestly dislike these quests since I hate finding and killing Magma Cores. But, thankfully, you can’t seem to fail these quests easily…

Get this done “in the near future” as this unlocks Parashrooms – which are a component in Tranquilizer bombs. Remember CAPTURING BEATS KILLING.

Since Rathian is a flying monster, and may be a tough customer – YOU DON’T NEED TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW –  but keep in mind that this quest can be taken and you should be doing it “ASAP”.

FLASH PODS ARE YOUR FRIEND VERSUS FLYING MONSTERS.
USE THIS AND ABUSE THIS.
YOUR MHW CAREER WILL BE MUCH EASIER.

Rathian has both Poison and Fire attacks. Burning? Dodge roll thrice to smother it! And like Pukei, BRING ANTIDOTES!

Rathian’s aerial tail swipe is what causes poison most of the time – SEVERING RATHIAN’S TAIL vastly simplifies this fight. And secondarily, breaking Rathian’s head seems to severely reduce the effectivity of its fire-breathing attacks!

Head on over via the world map (no quest) into the new area “The Great Ravine”. It’s just a bunch of story events.

IMPORTANT: Once at the Research Base, speak to one of the NPC’s marked by a yellow exclamation point here. He gives you access to a new equipment type “Charms”, and gives you a Defense Charm – equip it! Think of it as an accessory slot.

Those with the preorder might not have this one, as they already have a charm in place, which is a pretty good charm for the early game.

This expedition has 2 objectives:

• Tzitzi-ya-ku has a set spawn location at AREA 2. (DO NOT KILL IT YET)
• Finding the camp.

The camp you are looking for is the Northest Camp (12) | MHW Camp Unlocks

Again, just complete the objectives and  DON’T KILL TZITZI-YA-KU. Return to base.

• Hunt a Tzitzi-Ya-Ku
• Return to base
• Unlock the camp by submitting the materials to the bounty guys.

A needed “sidequest” simply because Paolumu (and Legiana) are flying type creatures and NOT HAVING THE OTHER CAMP UNLOCKED WILL lead to some frustration.

TziTzi-Ya-Ku is a chump. The only thing you should avoid is the massive frontal cone “flashbang“. It focuses heavily on frontal attacks so I like to hang around the neck or tail.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Start at the starter camp (details tbf) and go left / up.
• Has a set spawnpoint in area 5.
• Hunt a Paolumu

Paolumu has a hardened tail and a very soft face > wings > body. Paolumu becomes extremely deadly when inflated and in flight – A SINGLE FLASH POD STOPS THIS PHASE COLD. 

Some weapons feel miserable versus Paolumu due to its long airtime. Again, Flash Pods are your friend.

• Spot a Great Girros
• Investigate the Rotten Vale
• Added Objective: Hunt a Radobaan

From camp, go right and go near the bone pile at the center of the first room. The objective then converts to hunt a Radobaan – it spawns at a set location in Area 1.

Radobaan quick tips: Has very heavy attacks that are extremely TELEGRAPHED. Breaking its armor reveals weakpoints. Honestly, smacking its face straight up is fine since its head-based attacks are extremely easy to dodge.

That being said, Radobaan has oddly powerful attacks – you might not survive 2 heavy ones at the same time. He is also notorious for chain CCing you as some of his attacks have lengthy animations that can tag you right as you stand up.

• Return to research base.

• Hunt a Legiana

Upper right camp then head left after crawling out. Legiana is USUALLY around this area, if not drop down south after the clearing.

• NEW ARMOR UPGRADES
• Earn the right to take on 5* assignments
• Speak to Third Fleet Master

Legiana flies. Flash Pod stops it. TRY TO SAVE THEM for when Legiana is “icy while flying”, which is her most dangerous form. I mean, if you have a ton of Flash Pods you can just spam ’em.

The Iceblight debuff severely punishes Stamina use and regeneration. It’s very annoying especially against such a highly mobile opponent. Use Nulberries to cancel it out. (The other mechanic was dodge 7 times iirc? Painful…)

Your goals are to break Legiana’s face and wings – as her tail attacks aren’t too “hot”. DO NOT STAY ANYWHERE NEAR Legiana while she is in flight. Let her unload her icy attack then approach accordingly. The 180 degree frostbreath is super annoying.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

You will not usually see this quest name if you “keep on going”. Most people would just see the “Fly to the Bottom of the Rotten Vale” quest objective.

• Search for evidence of Zorah Magdaros.

You unlock a camp for free – Central Camp (11).

Zorah Magdaros evidence from the camp?

• Fall North.
• Immediately Fall East.
• Head South East into the “Blue aura room”.
• From here follow the blue scoutflies southwest.
• Objective added: Hunt an Odogaron

After a few story events, you will be asked to hunt an Odogaron. It has a very similar moveset to Tobi-Kadachi. What’s new is BLEED. Bleed is very annoying and to remove it, you must either STAY STILL AND CROUCH (hopefully you can hide in a bush while doing so), or consume an ASTERA JERKY. 

Odogaron has very heavy front facing attacks and moves very rapidly. Start it off by severing the tail, then breaking the rest of its parts.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Search the Ancient Forest for First Wyverian Clues

I have a mini guide on the First Wyverian Clues. TLDR: it’s in the Dragon Roost near Ancient Forest Camp (17).

The main quest advances, requiring you to complete two different assigned quests: “A Fiery Throne Atop the Forest” and “Horned Tyrant Below the Sands” – to defeat Rathalos and Diablos respectively.

• Hunt a Rathalos

A lot of people hate Rathalos but I oddly feel like he’s a meatbag. Rathalos has poison (from claw attacks), and firebreath. So bring antidotes and prepare to roll!

Severing its tail should be your first priority as it massively reduces its tail attack threat. Breaking its face comes next to cause some of its fire attacks to misfire. Save Flash Pods for when hes “enraged in the air” – you’ll likely know when it happens.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

• Hunt a Diablos

Before you begin, consider unlocking Northeast Camp (15) – it really helps fighting Diablos as it’s so near, and if you die – the respawn is super close.

Diablos has a set spawn point in this quest – in the desert at Area 6.

Diablos Quicktips: Hmm… can be very challenging for some weapon types this early on. The greedier you are, the worse this will be. Your objectives are to: SEVER TAIL > BREAK BOTH HORNS > Attack his butt and underbelly.

Diablos is the king of wombo combos. He has some very annoying attack patterns (360 tail swipe, double horn swing, burrow) that stun you and open you to a sure-kill charge attack. It’s sad advice but “git gud” in the sense that you have to get used to its attack patterns.

|| MHW Weakness Chart

I really hate Zorah quests…

It’s a literal rehash of the older quest with the ordering a little different. Now it’s Magmacores > Nergigante > Cannons.

My only advice? NPC’s load up cannons so run to their stations and fire them off – they, otherwise, do not (or they only very rarely fire it themselves). Jumping down to the ship is value is there are 2 cannon teams and 1 open cannon for you to manually fire in VERY CLOSE PROXIMITY.

• New upgrade level!

• Embark on an expedition in the Wildspire Waste
• You’ll get an objective – Investigate the Wildspire Waste
• The actual objective is to find a Pukei-Pukei here.
• If you return to base now, the quest name is “Invader in the Waste”
• Try searching around area 3/6.

This is your first run-in with a High Rank monster! MHW opens up massively at this point, unlocking High Rank armor upon completion.

“HR” Monsters are just beefed up versions of their normal counterparts, with sometimes gaining outright new (or more usually used) moves. In the case of Pukei-Pukei – high rank tongue lash will one shot you. Haha.