Starting out, tips to work my way up?

So, I'm sure some of you have run into me before. I'm the guy who used to run around like a scrub with an Alatreon Hammer or Longsword and get smacked around by Deviljho and other perilous beasts. Well, I no longer have those weapons currently, nor do I have the armor which I killed over 700 Rathalos to obtain. My dear, dear Los OF is gone as well... naturally. It's a new game.

Well, I was simply wondering what I could do to make the beginning quests a little easier for myself, so that I can actually start to work my way back up. I've noticed more than a few new monsters, my favorite so far being Arzuros because of the introduction video and the positively silly animations - unfortunately, I'm not going for an LS right now, so it's not something I'd like to hunt.

What I'm looking for primarily is suggested 3* applicable GS ( Pre-Playing with Fire completion ) that can help me smash up Qurupeco, Barroth and any other problem children from the early game experience. On top of that, some good armor?

Truth be told, in MHT I was just carried around or told what to hunt by other hunters - being purely solo thanks to playing on the 3DS, I'm no longer sure what to do. I learned, but I didn't learn enough. Not about the early game.

That said, any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Your suggestios are valued.

id say wroggi armor is great lowbie set. weapon wise not sure.

I'll have to check out the Wroggi set - may even try to get the weapon. Thanks!

Unupgraded hunter armor should get you to g rank....and stick with the unupgraded bone gs,has some nice red sharpness

I can't even begin to tell you how little I care for you nutjobs and your binoculars.

What I did when I started out was use the metal line weapons because of the sharpness and used Hunter armour until I got to Azuros.
Azuros LR armour can be nice until you get wroggi armour seeing as it has defence up small and recovery up with 4 slots, which is quite nice early on.
I then used that until I made LR Volvidon armour because it has AUS, tremor res and evasion+1, it is the earliest armour that has natural evasion.
You could also go for LR Gigginox for its earplugs and speed sharpening, which is always nice for a GS or any weapon without block.

Here is a link to a useful page on the wiki that may be of help concerning armours and armour skills.

As for weapons, I mainly used HH from LR to G, so I don't know an awful lot about other types. However after looking at their stats and availability on the wiki I'd say a good early investments would be to keep upgrading the metal line of GS until you can make Rathians and Lagias GS.
You could also make Royal Rudroths GS to help you with Barroth and Peco.
I personally like the idea of Rathians poison GS with Wroggi armour, but not totally sure how well it would work together as I haven't tested it.
Rathian is easily accessed early on as well, being a 1* monster in Tanzia port.
On the note of Tanzia, be sure to check by the elderly lady near the smithy. She can sell some very useful things such as dung, bomb cases, honey, thunderbugs, nutrients, dragon toadstools and armour stones.

Here is a link to the wiki for a useful page. It leads to the GS upgrade tree, so you can see what it takes to upgrade them and their stats in advance.
Sorry if I wasn't much help and happy hunting.

Vivi wrote:

-snip-

Actually,that was sort of a big help. You went through various different points to ensure that I could garner some understanding out of everything, and to be frank, it gave me a bit more insight as to what I should be aiming for. I think I may end up sticking with Hunter Armor until I can fight Volvidon, particularly because I don't really get hit a lot in the first place and if I do, it's going to result in my death one way or another. As for the Rath info: thank you very much. I was thinking about getting her high rank GS ( I forget the name ), because I had it in MHFU and it was honestly one of the best weapons I've used - for me, it was better than even Alatreon weapons and I think that is kind of saying something, unless you look at someone who is heavily into Jho weapons, then we're just going to hear "JHO IS RoOLZ" and that's it. Anywho.

Like I said, it's good to know that there is early LR armor with evasion on it, as that's one of the biggest points for me. Either having the defense later on to withstand hits, or having the evasion to get around them entirely ( Alatreon runs in full Barioth, anyone? ) I'm not entirely sure if I should go about getting a very specific type of armor at all though. I hear Wroggi a lot due to the attributes, the defense and the negate poison. It's definitely a viable set if I want to go after Gigginox, so likely I'll actually get the HR set later on ( or the LR set for any pesky Giggi key quests ), but besides that, is Arzuros LR really worth it? I'm curious because it seems like a good stave for the ~5*, y'know, until I can get into some Rathalos armor or something.

LR Azuros is viable through the ranks because it can be upgraded in defence by armour spheres. Though by that time there are better armours available that offer better skills.
LR Rathalos isn't as good as it was in Tri unfortunately as it only has AUM, Speed Sharpening and Recovery Down.
Once you hit high rank, chances are you won't be using your LR armours again due to the later versions being better in most ways.
Once you hit HR, I can recommend to you the HR Volvidon S, with its AUM, Evade+1, Tremor Res and 5 slots.
For damage (If you lack critical draw) you can try for Rath Soul armour which is from Azure Rathalos. It has Critical Eye+2, Earplugs, Razor Sharp, Health-10 and 7 slots (Which has a triple slot on the helm).
For plain evasion, Nargacuga armour is really good at that. It has Evasion+1(12 points in it), Sneak, Evasion Extender, Short Sprinter and 5 slots.
Both Rath Soul and Nargacuga lasted me through HR and into G, so I would say they are good investments from my experience with them.

If you have the time, Jhen Mohran armour is pretty good too with Critical Eye+2, Focus, DUM, Worrywart and 6 slots.
Critical eye is kind of moot however if you have critical draw for a GS, so I am not entirely sure if grinding the giant sand whale for his armour is entirely worth it.

As for Jho? His HR armour is hardly worth it any more. It has AUM, Speed Eating, Raise Hunger and Razor Sharp coupled with only 1 triple slot.

I like Jaggi armor. It has AuS which I'm personally a fan of at those low levels, it's easy to fight, and not hard to make. I used the LR up to HR, where I made the HR version of it. As for weapons, I basically maid anything I had the stuff for, until I reached the Brachydios. Once I made it there (You can get to Brachydios partway through HR when in the village, and even sooner in the Port), I made it's lance (it has a weapon for each weapon type, I think. Aside from maybe HBG, maybe. I can't remember)

So, yeah. I never found hanging around LR and HR for very long of any use. I got to GR as soon as I could. Once I got there, I made the Goldbeard Ceadeus armor with the HR Vangis Waist.

The reason I sped through the LR and HR was actually mainly to get to the G rank weapons and armor. So if you see LR or HR armor that you find totally awesome for some reason, by all means, make it. But other than that, Jaggi can get you through G rank (Making it's LR, HR, and G rank variants for LR, HR, and G rank respectively).

Btw, good to see you again NightMare. Do you by any chance have the Wii U version of the game and play it on the Wii U?

Vivi wrote:

-snip-

Thanks again. I'll take these into consideration, most definitely!

E&Troy wrote:

-snip-

I do not currently have a Wii-U or the Wii-U version of the game, but I do intend to gt both as soon as I can. With any luck, Capcom won't shut down the servers before I can get around to it. And to double, maybe there won't be HR999's who don't have the capacity to play anymore. Who knows, we'll just have to wait and see, but if I do manage to get my hands on the lot, I'll send a message your way so we can hunt again.

I'll look into the various formats of Jaggi armor as well, by the way. I'm certainly not as skilled as some to be able to survive all that easily in such armor ( given that a lot of the time, the easier it is to farm, the easier it is to die in ), but I've been making Hunter Armor work so far on some of the tougher bouts. ( Namely Arxuros and Quru+Jaggi with a super-LR GS and no restoratives. ) Thanks for the heads-up. c:

If you like hammers/HH id say get Rhenoplos armor. - Skills: Artillery Novice, Knockout King, Negate Mud/Snow
Resistance:5 Fire, -5 Water, -5 Ice, -5 Thunder, 5 Dragon

Volvidon armor is great too but need that cold surge removed really. - Skills: Attack Up (S), Evasion +1, Tremor Resistance, Cold Surge. Resistance: 5 Fire, -15 Water, -5 Ice, 0 Thunder, 5 Dragon

Low rank gigginox is also pretty amazing but demonic blessing needs to be removed.. - Skills: Earplugs, Status Attack +1, Speed Sharpening, Demonic Blessing Resistance: -20 Fire, 0 Water, 5 Ice, 5 Thunder, -5 Dragon

Randomhunter wrote:

Volvidon armor is great too but need that cold surge removed really. - Skills: Attack Up (S), Evasion +1, Tremor Resistance, Cold Surge.      Resistance: 5 Fire, -15 Water, -5 Ice, 0 Thunder, 5 Dragon

Cold Surge isn't even an issue because you should be using a Hot Drink when you play in the Tundra anyways.....

i thought hot drink would not work, thought cold surge would negate it. but ok guess it dont need removing.

Nope, the opposite. A cool drink will negate heat surge until the cold effect wears off. Another example is Short sprinter, using a dash juice or an unlimited stamina buff will stop stamina from draining so having the skill won't matter.

using only a torch to hunt is also effective...it killed many deviljhos for me

Just thought I'd pop in with an update.

I've just now killed the Duramboros and have displayed mighty... weakness. It took me 45:31 to kill the bugger, so that was a bit disappointing. Regardless, it's dead and I have recruited Kayamba - all this with just Hunter Armor and Cataclysm Sword.

I think it's about time I actually got some new equipment, so I'll be going after Volvidon ASAP.

Suggested Greatswords would be nice ( highly considering the Brunhilde path ). Oh, suggested lances as well! ( Will be getting Sabertooth G if that's even still available. )

Hmm.. greatsword now have an elemental multiplier for each charge you do now, so it is a good idea to have a GS for every monsters elemental weakness.
For your level, which I'm guessing is around 5-6* village due to having Kayamba from an early 5* quest - would suggest going for Rathalos, Lagiacrus, Plesioth, Rathian and Jade Barroth's GS.
I would not recommend brachydios' greatsword as slime is only better than element in certain situations and unfortunately solo play isn't one of those situations.
Jade Barroth's GS has a slight affinity drop from Barioths GS, but it does have more raw and affinity is moot on greatswords if you have critical draw.

As for lances, at your level I would pick the Red Tail, Tusk lance, Ceadeus Horn and Arcus Lance. If you're wondering what good lance armour there is for your level, I would suggest the Barroth armour for its attack up small, guard+1, defence up small and 4 slots.
Also there is no more sabertooth G, it is now Tusk Lance+ -> sabertooth -> Shiera Stolrata ->Shiera Vitalica.
Also, here is a link to another helpful site that may be of aid to you.

Hope I was of some help.

Vivi wrote:

Hmm.. greatsword now have an elemental multiplier for each charge you do now, so it is a good idea to have a GS for every monsters elemental weakness.
For your level, which I'm guessing is around 5-6* village due to having Kayamba from an early 5* quest - would suggest going for Rathalos, Lagiacrus, Plesioth, Rathian and Jade Barroth's GS.
I would not recommend brachydios' greatsword as slime is only better than element in certain situations and unfortunately solo play isn't one of those situations.
Jade Barroth's GS has a slight affinity drop from Barioths GS, but it does have more raw and affinity is moot on greatswords if you have critical draw.

In Village quest, Slime is a very good choice. The monster’s HP is pretty low compared to Port, and even the base Slime weapons deal pretty good damage. Slime is also a good general weapon to use early game, it’s usually not a good idea to use Slime solo for tanky monsters like Jhen or Miralis (it’s still viable though).
I would go for the Rathalos Firesword and the Plesioth Watercutter. Then when you get to High Rank, go for the Dios Blade+, the Plesioth Watercutter is what I used and I farmed Brachydios easily. Armor wise, Volvidon is a good choice. I was able to get a Rathalos Ruby from Cha-Cha early in the game so I made the Rathalos Armor, and then eventually made Volvidon. Also, if you’re going to mainly using Great swords, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to look into making the Lagiacrus GS, Lagiacrus Blade+ (or High Lagia Blade if you manage to get a plate). Reason being because your last quest is a Ceadeus and it can be quite a long battle without a good weapon. Thunder is your best chance for him, so I’d recommend that. A thunder GS would also be nice to have.

PAiN--- wrote:

-snip-

Well, I'm not exactly sure how Slime really works to be honest with you, so an explanation on how it's good would be greatly appreciated - I'm also just about to fight Ceadeus. Another ~20 minute run on Rathalos and I'll have the Rath Talon I need. I've already got Red Wing, so it'll be on to High Rank as soon as I finish Ceadeus.

In terms of that fight, I've managed as fast as 18 minutes on Ceadeus in MHT, but that was with the Alatreon Longsword, Demise. So I'm not sure just how fast this one will go. Regardless, Ceadeus is a push over and I figure I could probably take out Lagi pretty quickly now too, given that I have a fire weapon. I would wager faster than Barioth or Gigginox at 15 minutes, so probably around 10 if I'm lucky enough not to get bullshit underwater?

To be quite frank, I think the bare essentials really work out for the most part. I could probably continue using Hunter Armor up to G rank, from all I can tell. The weapons, on the other hand, are considerable. I'm still wondering if Brunhilde would be worth it. Also, where does the Plesioth Watercutter path start? And can I get the Rathalos Firesword prior to High Rank, or am I dinked on that one until HR Rathalos shows up?

N1GH7M4R3 wrote:

PAiN--- wrote:

-snip-

Well, I'm not exactly sure how Slime really works to be honest with you, so an explanation on how it's good would be greatly appreciated - I'm also just about to fight Ceadeus. Another ~20 minute run on Rathalos and I'll have the Rath Talon I need. I've already got Red Wing, so it'll be on to High Rank as soon as I finish Ceadeus.

In terms of that fight, I've managed as fast as 18 minutes on Ceadeus in MHT, but that was with the Alatreon Longsword, Demise. So I'm not sure just how fast this one will go. Regardless, Ceadeus is a push over and I figure I could probably take out Lagi pretty quickly now too, given that I have a fire weapon. I would wager faster than Barioth or Gigginox at 15 minutes, so probably around 10 if I'm lucky enough not to get bullshit underwater?

To be quite frank, I think the bare essentials really work out for the most part. I could probably continue using Hunter Armor up to G rank, from all I can tell. The weapons, on the other hand, are considerable. I'm still wondering if Brunhilde would be worth it. Also, where does the Plesioth Watercutter path start? And can I get the Rathalos Firesword prior to High Rank, or am I dinked on that one until HR Rathalos shows up?

Slime has several stages, which you can see the slime as you attack. It goes from green > yellow > red > explosion. Not every hit will proc slime though. There are no skills that will increase the chance to proc slime, but the skill Bombardier does increase the damage from slime. Also, Slime works like any status (sleep, poison, paralysis) the more you inflict slime, the higher the tolerance for that monster. Theres really no trick or anything for slime, use it as you would any other weapon. The sharpness on Slime weapons are pretty good and the raw damage is really good.

Nice, you should be able to upgrade your Red Wing with Low-Rank mats IIRC, and you can get the base Plesioth GS, Finblade from the Ludroth Path or you can buy it. My suggestion for Ceadeus would be to go for the Lagiacrus GS. If not then use your highest DPS weapon. If you're not going for a kill, and know how to fight Ceadeus you should atleast be able to repel him to get to High Rank.

Hmmm, I would HIGHLY suggest getting better armor. The amount of damage from Low Rank to High Rank increases insanely if you don't have a decent amount of defense. Unless you're an evasion master, or know your monster's attack patterns fairly well, get some good armor especially since you're playing solo.

Also, if you aren't already. Now is the time to be making use of the farm and investing into upgrades. That way you can start to farm large amounts of honey, flashbugs, and seeds. Upgrade the honey if anything so you can make some Mega Potions. At the maximum upgrade for honey, at 10 cycles fertilized with 'Bizzy Bees' you can easily turn the 3 Honey that you cultivate into over 200 Honey. That goes for about anything you cultivate in the farm at max levels. And making the different masks for your Shakalakas, like the Pitfall Mask for a free pitfall trap. Just something to look foward too

Well, all that will be considered of course. But for now, I'm a little bit screwed. I went through the trouble of sitting there for 35 minutes during the urgent to repel Ceadeus, except that I missed the second Dragonator shot which would have completed the quest. I had its beard broken, its horn, its tail and all I needed was its hood in order to actually repel it ( thanks to the numerous ballista shots that staggered it 10+ times ).

I'm just going to be getting full Lagiacrus armor on top of the Lagiacrus GS or maybe the Lance. Either way, I'll be doing that before I even bother wasting another 35 minutes on the bastard. I honestly don't recall it ever being this hard, but then I never fought him until I had full Lagi armor in the first rendition of the game. Quite frankly, I'm a little bit irritated by wasting so much time for absolutely nothing. It's aggravating that the damage completely resets on the urgent.

Anywho, any suggested quests for massive Lagi farming? Probably the capture quest, I would assume, yeah?

Depends entirely on the materials that you are wanting to gleam from him.
If you're wanting Lagiacrus plates, its a really good idea to capture, wound his head and carve his tail for the best chances of getting one.
It doesn't really matter if you kill or capture if you want horns, though I'd capture it with both a broken head and severed tail for a shot at both a horn and a plate.

Sorry to hear you didn't manage to repel the Ceadeus, though if it helps I failed mine the first time too. I was too busy drowning from not remembering where the air bubbles were to fight the thing~

Also on the slime subject, I was just saying solo play with a brachy greatsword isn't the best situation to take advantage of it's slime element and not that slime itself is not good on weapons all together. Seeing as generally faster weapons take advantage of the element better for more explosions and damage in the short run.

I agree that if your going for slime damage the great sword wouldn't be the best option, but the base raw damage and sharpness alone is a good choice for a great sword early in the game, and village quests. With Azure Los armor I think the Slime dual swords and most defiantly the switch axe does amazing work.

Well, I appreciate the continued help here guys. I just repelled the Ceadeus after acquiring the Lagi GS. I intend to upgrade the Lagi GS after I get some Voltstones. I was considering hunting Ceadeus after I could get those for full Selene armor, then gemming in whatever I can to get rid of the Demonic Blessing. However, I'm unsure. Should I simply take a slip into High Rank and just give 'er until I get a decent High Rank set? ( I figured that full Selene would be taking advantage due to the, in part, HR nature of the armor, among other things. )

I was thinking that if not that, I can go for a much easier alternative in Barioth armor to help me get my evasion on the go. The Evasion+2 ( if it still has it ) would be really nice for the early quests, where I could make the transition into some better armor. I'm really undecided, so I think I'll just kill the Purple Ludroth for now and see about it after I get some replies here.

Barioth LR no longer has evasion+2 sadly. The skills is has are Evasion+1, Ice Attack+1, Stamina Recovery down and it has 5 slots.
Nargacuga armour is essentially the Barioth+ armour of 3U now, though his armour is high rank onwards exclusive, so there is no low rank version.
You are probably better off with Volvidon armour in terms of evasion until then or you can make Barioth armour and gem in Evasion+2. Though you could gem evasion +2 into volvidon and have extra skills as well.

Selene armour is decent, but its skills are fairly underwhelming at the time you can make it. Water Attack+1, Partbreaker, Earplugs and Demonic Blessing. No Sharp+1 in this set I'm afraid.
Though most HR armours are vastly improved compared to the low rank armours in terms of defence and skills, so it might be a little pointless to get the armour at that point.
I personally wouldn't go out of my way for it, though if you really want Earplugs and Partbreaker then why not.