At this point, I have ‘completed’ all the structured content in Monster Hunter Wilds. All the main quests, optionals, events, and side quests. I think I’ve mapped out everything so I can plop down camps across the maps. This effectively caps off the exploration phase of the game, and transitions to the achievements phase. That phase has 3 main parts – weapons, armor, and decorations.

Weapons

There are two types, and the ‘best one’ depends a lot on the type. Artian Weapons have a pile of RNG and the materials only come from tempered monsters (let’s say they are 20% harder than normal versions). Regular weapons are better for elemental damage and don’t have a RNG roller coaster, and they don’t need tempered fights.

If you do need Artian weapons, there’s some small RNG in crafting them and then a PILE of RNG when upgrading them with 5 random rolls. It is min-maxing at that point though and the long term grind for 1-2% gains. Good news is that only the material to craft the weapons is lost in the RNG machine, the material to upgrade items is always recovered. And if history is any judge, the weapons will be replaced in 3 months with something better.

Armor

This part is rather straightforward. Hunt for parts. It may take time for some pieces (notably gems that have a 2-3% drop rate), but optional quests are usually enough here. I would not recommend taking on tempered monsters here until you get to 300 or so defense, you spend too much time healing. You may need to for some material, but generally can be avoided. I personally find tempered Arkveld easier than Gore Magala, but your mileage may vary.

Upgrading armor is very useful. HR armor usually has 7 tiers, and each tier costs more to upgrade, so spread out the love. Later monsters will certainly unlock better armor, so I wouldn’t concentrate in upgrading them too much.

Decorations

Right, this part sucks, big time. Always has. At HR50 you can target level 1 decorations at the melder, and at HR 100 you can target level 2 decorations. So if you need either of those, wait until you reach the proper HR level.

If you need level 3 decorations, you’re gonna have to spin the RNG wheel. Either you get melding tickets or you hunt, both are quite long in the tooth. Is it worth it? I have never found so, but it is a carrot of sorts to keep going. Decorations are good forever, keep 3 of each.

Investigations

This is the bread and butter of the late game grind and somewhat obtuse as a mechanic. That said, it is a massive improvement on the prior versions… no need to run around and collect material to unlock quests. From the world map, you can take a look at available quests per zone, and then save them so you can repeat them up to 3 times. Don’t see a quest you want? Use the rest feature to reset the quests.

Understanding what makes a GOOD investigation is part of a dance mind you. Once you get the hang of it, the cadence is pretty decent. Right now, there’s optimal investigations and then everything else.

Other Notes

• Capturing monsters is best, unless you have the rare food buff for extra carving. So 95% of the time, capture.
• The AI hunters are both great and ok. Great in that they are super helpful in combat (heal + tank) and WAY better than actual people in terms of etiquette. Ok in that their damage is substantially less than actual people. I’d strongly recommend them until you are at the end game and solo work becomes much faster.
• ‘Farming’ materials is extremely hands off and RNG heavy. Seems that there’s missing a Palico farming system.
• Cooking is still super important, but now consumes material for stronger buffs and longer durations. I personally dislike this change, if only because getting the cooking material is cumbersome. I fully expect farming to tackle this issue in the future.
• The Palico is much less useful than before. You can’t select their skills, and some have massive cooldowns.
• The Seikret mount is both amazing and curious. It can traverse the entire map in less than a minute, vertical and horizontally. It defeats the purpose for camps/exploration, with very specific exceptions. It will save your life when a monster is about to kill you as well.
• There’s very little incentive to actually explore the map. This is very jarring coming from Rise that forced you to collect boosting bugs before every fight. Which is too bad, because the map is really cool! (end game, still a good idea to have a maxed herbalist/geologist set of gear to get mats)
• I find that the game strongly focuses on raw (physical) damage and avoids nearly all status effects except frenzy. Given that there really are only 2 relevant monsters at end game, it is less complex and therefore easier. Or more accurately, Arkveld is substantially less complex than Nergigante.
• Finally, it’s important to note that the content in the game today is a fraction of what it will be within a few months. That’s how Capcom keeps people playing. Judging Wilds against Iceborne or Sunbreak is not even close to being fair. What’s here is good, really good.