Every Monster Hunter game rewards planning and preparation. Monster Hunter Wilds is no different, and it can be a savage wake-up call when you realize that an unprepared hunter is usually a dead one.
Fortunately, you can mitigate this by creating a loadout of goodies to take on every hunt. Whether you’re a solo or team player, these items will be handy, and only a fool would leave camp without them.
Even if you want to rely on the bare essentials, this selection of items will dramatically boost your survival rate and help you topple the biggest baddies in the game.
Monster Hunter Wilds is already shaping up to be one of the best games in the series, and if you’ve played those previous titles, you’ll likely recognize many items on the list.
I’ve tried to make this selection as general as possible so anyone from a Greatsword main to a Bowgun user can take advantage of it. Feel free to fill in the gaps with hunt specifics, like Cold/Hot Drinks, and Deodorants.
10 Potions / Mega Potions
You’re Throwing If You Don’t Bring Them
Potions give hunters a valuable burst of healing, and the amount is dramatically increased with Mega Potion. In short, they are essential, and you want to bring 10 of each to every hunt. There are no exceptions.
Mega Potions, in particular, should be your go-to to heal during a hunt quickly. While your hunter chugs down a potion pretty fast, it’s not instant, so you should make at least some effort to put distance between yourself and your target. Remember that you can also interrupt using them by rolling, so pick your moment carefully.
These items are so important that I would guess you’re trolling if you turn up to an online hunt without them! I recommend relying heavily on your Mega Potions rather than regular Potions, which leads nicely to my next recommendation.
9 Honey
Winnie The Pooh Was Onto Something
I highly recommend complimenting your Potions with a complete stack of 10 Honey. You can often find this on the field in a pinch, but it never hurts to bring some yourself. Honey is fantastic because you can combine it with regular Potions to upgrade them to Mega Potions.
If you bring 10 Honey on a hunt, you’re effectively carrying a whopping 20 Mega Potions. That should be plenty for even the most challenging hunts unless you play sloppily. If you run low, make sure to check out the pouch on your Seikret, as it often carries bonus healing items.
8 Rations / Well-Done Steaks
That Growling Better Not Be Your Stomach!
Rations are another essential item, particularly for extended hunts. Potions govern your green health bar, while Rations and Well-Done Steaks manage your yellow stamina.
Your stamina bar depletes when you run and quickly perform multiple actions, and you can fill it by slowing down momentarily. The bar also shortens through time, which can be mitigated with a Ration or Steak.
Each weapon uses a different amount of stamina, so Rations may be less valuable depending on your playstyle.
That said, nothing is more frustrating than dying because you run out of breath. It’s a mistake you’ll only make once and will cement stamina medicine as a part of your essential kit.
7 Antidotes
I Don’t Feel So Good
Poison is a fairly common debuff in Monster Hunter Wilds, and it’s dangerous as it ravages your health bar. One outstanding quality-of-life feature in Wilds is that every debuff has a visible timer.
Still, I’d rather not wait 20+ seconds for the poison to wear off, and you can remove it instantly with an Antidote. There’s still a brief usage timer with Antidotes, but it’s better to use those instead of Potions mid-fight.
Sadly, Antidotes don’t provide immunity of any kind. You can quickly be re-afflicted after use, but it’s better than nothing.
If you really want to min-max, keep your eyes peeled for Herbal Medicine, which bestows an Antidote-style effect and a small burst of healing.
6 Nulberries
Natures Cure All
Nulberries are poorly explained in every Monster Hunter game, but their usefulness cannot be understated.
In Monster Hunter Wilds, Nulberries provide immediate relief from ‘blights.’ If you’re a new player, it may be tricky to figure out if you have a blight, but your hunter won’t consume the Nulberry if it doesn’t have any use.
The most common blight you’ll receive is ‘Waterblight,’ which reduces stamina regeneration. Other more specific blights include ‘Thunderblight,’ which reduces your tolerance to the stun debuff and can lead to frustrating deaths.
Don’t sleep on the humble Nulberry, as they can be almost essential against certain monsters.
Related
Monster Hunter World Sold Over 1 Million Copies Since October 2024
Fans are getting ready for the next Monster Hunter game by revisiting Monster Hunter World.
5 Shock Traps/ Pitfall Traps
Don’t Ask What They Do With The Live Ones
Traps are essential in every serious hunter’s kit and can even be moved after placement in Wilds, a series first.
Both Traps function almost identically. You can use them to briefly immobilize your target, making them great for powerful damage phases with a group.
If you gain a conscience mid-fight, they have another fantastic application. You can use them on a sleeping or weakened target to initiate a capture instead of a kill. Capturing monsters doesn’t necessarily yield better rewards but can provide different ones.
You can check all of this information in the Monster Field Guide, as it differs between monsters. Keep in mind that a trap won’t capture a beast on its own, which leads us nicely to our next essential item.
4 Tranq Bombs
The Forever Sleep
Monsters typically run away and sleep when they are close to death, giving you a unique opportunity to end the hunt differently.
If you immobilize the sleeping monster in a Pitfall or Shock Trap, you can throw two Tranq Bombs at it to immediately end the hunt with a ‘capture’ instead of a kill. Ending hunts this way is a safe option if your squad is running out of carts or time.
Remember, you can only capture trapped monsters once they are weak enough to run and sleep.
If you attempt to use Tranq Bombs before, nothing will happen. It’s a tough habit to break if you’re a returning player, but you can double-tranq the monster before dropping the trap for an instant capture.
3 Dung Pods
Better Than They Smell
The life of a hunter isn’t a glorious one, and many tasks are dirty and dangerous.
One of the dirtiest is collecting dung for your slinger, and while monster poop probably stinks, you’ll be glad to have it.
You can fling dung at any monster, and they’ll promptly leave the vicinity. The item becomes invaluable when an unwanted guest shows up mid-hunt, as even the best hunters struggle to take on two monsters at once.
Simply shoot a monster with poop, wait a few seconds, and they will reliably wander into a neighboring zone.
Ultimately, you can just wait until the pair split up, but it can take several minutes, and dung bombs work almost immediately. You can even use them to drag your target out of an area where you don’t like your chances.
2 Large/Mega Barrel Bombs
The Rude Awakening
You can use Barrel Bombs whenever you like during a hunt, but they shine when used for an attack the community calls ‘sleepbombing.’ Large and Mega Barrel Bombs can be placed on the ground, and they detonate when struck.
As there’s no team damage, you can place bombs around a sleeping monster and then hit the bombs to deal a fat chunk of damage. Sleepbombing works so well because you can hit the monster with your weapon AND explosion simultaneously.
Ideally, you want a heavy hitter like a Greatsword user to trigger the bombs, but it’s free damage either way, and you don’t need to worry about the monster evading your attack.
1 Lifepowder
‘Our’ Healing Items
Lifepowder functions similarly to potions but with one huge difference, which justifies its smaller carry limit of three.
Lifepowder provides an instant burst of healing to you and any hunters in the vicinity. You can use this if you notice a teammate is in trouble. You can also wait until the monster performs an AoE attack affecting multiple players.
You can make Lifepowder by combining a Godbug and Blue Mushroom. There’s also an upgraded version, but we’re diving deep into endgame territory for those.
We’ve all suffered through matchmaking with players who just fling themselves at the monster and hope for the best. Lifepowder is one of your few options to keep these reckless hunters alive.
Wilds may be the new hotness, but if you’re checking out the series for the first time, Worlds is the best it’s ever been and is still selling like hotcakes years after launch.
Next
Monster Hunter Wilds’ First Post-Launch Update Detailed
Still two weeks out from its launch, Capcom’s Monster Hunter Wilds has revealed some of the contents included in the game’s first post-launch update.
