Tips for getting started with Monster Hunter Now

• Monster Hunter Now is Niantic's newest location-based game.
• We have been playing it since it was released and now have gathered several tips to assist mostly new players.

Monster Hunter Now, an action, location-based game created by Niantic, has you fighting monsters, collecting resources, levelling up your armour and much more! The start of Monster Hunter Now does have a tutorial that brings you through the game, but if you are just starting out, we have put together some tips and tricks to get you going so that you can be the best hunter of them all! 

Generally, you will want to follow the tutorial of the game and check your notifications to see what armour could be upgraded and what weapons could be made better, but there are a few different things you can do to progress at a faster rate, which can help you discover higher ranked monsters and craft better materials. Obviously, if you start to find monsters that are really challenging, you should consider checking your weapons and armour, but there are lots of trips beyond this that we will go through below.

Get to Level 11 ASAP

The tutorial in Monster Hunter Now lasts from level 1 to level 11, guiding you through the game and blocking off advanced content. Once you get beyond level 11, you are able to more freely experience everything, so getting to level 11 in one sitting is really a good idea. This isn't too challenging to do either - you just need to follow the tutorial levels to get through them, but once you do hit level 11, the game really opens up.

Get your Daily Items 

Each day in the shop, there is a small bundle of free items. As someone who very quickly ran out of potions, having this daily shop bundle, primarily offering potions at this time, is a great way to restock items you might need. You can collect the next bundle the next day, and will be notified if you have your notifications on, in the morning, to remind you!

Keep Notifications On

While you have your phone in your pocket, your Palico will be collecting items for you, even when the game isn't on. These items are great to have, especially as they cost you nothing and your Palico can find stuff that's quite rare. You will want to have your notifications on, however, as your Palico's bag is limited in how much it can carry, so you will need to empty it often. You cannot empty the bag until you have a notification and tap the pop-up!

Always do your Quests and Specials

Fighting small monsters doesn't give you any HR points, and fighting large monsters gives you very few HR points. Your best bet for levelling up is to actually follow the Quests that are for your specific questline and your daily Special quests. Your Special page has a timer at the top, showing when they reset, and you can actually end up doing two lots of three quests a day! Your Quests section can generate new quests as soon as you finish the current set. These quests give far better rewards than just fighting to fight.

Use your Paintballs

We have a dedicated post on the two types of Paintballs in Monster Hunter Now, but ensuring that you are using your paintballs every day, especially the ones gathered by Palico, before they expire is a great way to get an extra bump of HR and materials from the large monsters! If you are not fighting these daily, you are just missing out on the monsters themselves, and using your paintballs when you are out but too busy to fight is a great way to have more monsters to take on later.

Fight with Friends

Fighting big monsters is a large part of the game and so is finding specific big monsters that may only appear in specific zones not near you. It's worth getting some friends that play Monster Hunter Now and setting up a time for all of you to fight each other's paintballed monsters. This will not only help you fight your monsters faster, but you will also have more of a chance to find the monster you are looking for and complete your own quests! Your friends can also invite you to the monsters they have around them, giving you access to a greater pool once you have unlocked the Party feature.

Monster Hunter Now is a pretty easy game to pick up and play, but if you want more out of your experience, following these tips will get you higher in the ranks more quickly! Remember that you can use Monster Hunter Now codes to claim some free rewards, which will give you a better headstart.