Welcome to the ultimate beginners’ game guide to Monster Hunter Now. Monster Hunter Now is an Augmented Reality (AR) game from the popular Monster Hunter franchise. If you’re wondering what an AR game is, the best and biggest example is Pokémon Go. A game that incorporates real-world surroundings in its gameplay. However, instead of catching cute and fluffy Pokémon, you wack giant monsters with equally gigantic weapons.
Monster Hunter Now was released worldwide on September 14, 2023, for iOS and Android. It’s co-developed by Niantic, the same company that made Pokémon Go. If you’re a new player looking for ways to improve your hunting skills, you came to the right place. Read on Hunter.
Gameplay – Tap, Swipe, And Hold ‘Til You Drop
Monster Hunter Now combat – Image Source: Niantic & Capcom
Monster Hunter Now is a mobile game, so you can’t expect the gameplay to be as intricate as the console and PC Monster Hunter games.
Since it’s an AR game, Monster Hunter Now will use your current real-life location. Monsters and resources will spawn around you. Tap on resources to collect them and tap on monsters to enter combat and start a hunt against them.
Once you’ve taken care of the monsters and resources in your immediate vicinity, walk around in real life to find more. Always make sure to stay safe and aware of your surroundings when traveling while playing. Whenever you engage in combat, move to a safe location first. Large monsters, which take longer to beat, will give you time to move before you start fighting them.
The combat controls are pretty simple. You tap quickly to launch a barrage of attacks and swipe to dodge/roll. Pressing and holding will have different functions depending on your weapon type. For example, holding your finger down with a sword and shield causes you to block incoming attacks.
As you level up and upgrade your weapons, you’ll unlock special skills and abilities that will give battles a little more complexity. Each weapon type also has some hidden mechanics. For example, swiping down with the finger you use while blocking with a sword and shield enables you to perform a backhop jump, which you can follow up with an air attack.
How Monster Hunter Now Progression Works
Monster Hunter Now has two methods of progression. Hunter Rank and New Game +.
Think of Hunter Ranks as your level. The longer you play, the higher it goes. And the higher it goes, you get to unlock more weapons and armor.
Once you’ve finished the story, you can reset through New Game +. Doing this will allow you to fight tougher monsters that drop better loot. You can reset endlessly.
Where To Find Monsters In Monster Hunter Now
Monster Hunter Now has three terrains, Deserts, Swamps, and Forests. Each terrain is home to different monsters. Here’s which monsters can be found in which terrain.
| Terrain | Small Monsters | Large Monsters |
| Desert | Noios, Shamos | Anjanath, Barroth, Black Diablos, Diablos, Great Jagras, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Paolumu, Pukei-Pukei, Rathian |
| Swamp | Raphinos, Shamos | Barroth, Great Girros, Great Jagras, Jyuratodus, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Legiana, Paolumu, Pukei-Pukei, Tobi-Kadachi |
| Forest | Jargas, Mernos | Anjanath, Great Girros, Great Jagras, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Pink Rathian, Pukei-Pukei, Rathalos, Rathian, Tobi-Kadachi |
Note that some of these monsters only spawn during limited-time events such as the Black Diablos and Pink Rathian. This also means that Niantic and Capcom will likely introduce new monsters in future events and updates.
Equipment, Resources, & Upgrades
You can upgrade all pieces of weapons and armor. Items are upgraded by leveling them up. Once they’ve reached the max level in their current grade, you can “overgrade” them to reach the next grade. Each weapon and armor piece will gain special skills after they reach a certain Grade.
You can upgrade and overgrade items by collecting the required resources for that specific item. For instance, the Jargas Edge needs 3 Great Jargas Scales, 1 Great Jargas Mane, and 1 Malachite Ore to reach Grade 2.
Don’t know where to get a specific resource? No worries, you can find all the information you need in the game.
For example, you want to upgrade the Jargas Edge to Grade 2, but are missing a Malachite Ore. In the upgrade screen, simply tap on the Malachite Ore icon and you’ll see what terrains it’s available in.
Monster Hunter Now Tips And Tricks
Now that you’ve started to get the hang of how the game works, here are some neat little tips that will help you get a head start.
Keep Adventure Sync on
This feature allows you to get rewards and mark monsters even when the Monster Hunter Now app is only running in the background.
Specifically, your Felyne will automatically collect any resources you and mark any large monsters you pass by.
You can hunt marked monsters later, even when you’re no longer near them. Really useful if you’re on the move and can’t play, but don’t want to miss out on hunting large monsters. Your Felyne will only mark large monsters if you have Palico Paintballs in-stock; they restock daily.
To turn Adventure Sync on, go to your phone settings and head to app permissions. Monster Hunter Now should have its location permission set to “Allowed all the time” so the app can still work even when closed.
Pinch your screen to zoom out during hunts
When you start a hunt, you might find it annoying that some of the larger monsters will almost fill up your entire screen. Zooming out will help you get a better view of larger monsters.
Also, you can turn your phone sideways during hunts to get a wider view.
What to do when experiencing lag?
One of the worst pains for mobile gamers is having a device that struggles with high-end gaming. If you’re lagging out of control when hunting, tap on your hunter profile on the bottom left side of the screen. Next, go to settings where you can change the graphics to a lower quality. You can also try toggling the “60fps While Hunting” option.
However, don’t pick the lowest quality right away. The game menus get capped to 25fps, so the game actually moves slower in the low setting. Only pick the lowest quality if you’re still having terrible performance issues while in the middle setting.
Swipe up to roll forward
This might seem obvious in hindsight, but new players with melee weapons might find themselves out of range after dodging and not know what to do. Simply swipe up to quickly close the gap.
Use the monster spawn times to your advantage
Large monsters despawn and respawn every three hours starting at 12:00 AM UTC. For example, if you start playing at 2:50 PM and clear out all the large monsters near you, more will spawn shortly after at 3:00 PM. Check your timezone and see how these times match up for you.
Terrains will also rotate daily at 12:00 AM UTC. The rotation pattern goes like this: Desert -> Swamp -> Forest.
Exploit a powerful monster’s elemental weakness
There will come a point where you’ll hit a wall and face a monster that you just can’t seem to beat. If you currently don’t have the resources to upgrade your gear, what then?
Every large monster in the game has specific elemental weaknesses. Fortunately, the game has a built-in monster guide that tells you what each large monster’s weakness is. Once you’ve learned its weakness, equip a weapon with the corresponding element and the fight will go much smoother.
Don’t collect your free daily supplies right away
The game doesn’t tell you, but there’s a limit to how many consumable items you can carry. You can only carry 10 First-Aid Meds. Collecting First-Aid Meds from the free daily supply while you already have 10 will waste those free First-Aid Meds. You can still “take” them, but nothing will be added to your inventory. Only accept the free daily supplies when you’re running out of it.