Monster Hunter Stories 2 Beginner’s Guide: Top 10 Tips You Should Know Before You Play

The turn-based RPG Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin offers a lot of features. We’ve put together a guides with some tips which will help you hit the ground running in this latest Monster Hunting and hatching entry.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 Beginner’s Guide: Top 10 Tips You Should Know Before You Play

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin invites players into the turn-based side of monster battling and hunting. For those new to the series, there are a few things that will help you in your journey to becoming the ultimate Monster Hunter. In this guide we will share some tips and tricks that will be useful in winning battles and hunting down those Monsties.

Complete Sub-Quests

While this tip might seem like a no brainer, Sub Quests are worthwhile as you will gain useful items and Zenny (money) for much-needed upgrades or forging weapons. What’s also useful to know is that they can be completed retroactively, so if you’ve already collected the items needed, you can accept and turn them in on the spot. These Sub Quests can also be repeated, meaning you can gain rewards from them more than once. Trial arenas also go towards helping to complete some of them, so you can hit two Kulu-Ya-Ku with one stone so to speak.

Make Use of Your Bottle Caps

In unexplored Everdens you can find chests that grant you Bottle Caps. These can be exchanged with Melynx Inc. who will offer a number of useful items to exchange them for. Players should note that once an Everden is completely explored you won’t be able to gain more Bottle Caps the next time you visit, so it’s important to explore all Everdens.

These include weapons such as a Gunlance, layered armor and more. Players should get the Stable Blueprints which expand the stable size, meaning you can hold more monsters at a time. This will be particularly useful as you need more Monstie slots available for hatching and finding those rarer genes.

This is also the place to gain Combo Recipies for traps and Stimulants which allows you unlock further gene slots for different Monstie types.

Farm Items

This tip might seem simple but it’s highly recommended especially in Monster Hunter games as materials found in the world will go towards a number of things such as crafting potions, traps etc. These can also be used to complete Sub Quests, and since these quests are repeatable, you can claim rewards more than once if you have the required items.

Day and Night System

In Monster Hunter Stories 2 when you leave a village it will ask you to choose between the Afternoon or Evening. You may have noticed with some Sub Quests that there is a day/night symbol on them, this will tell you when they can be completed. It’s good to make a note of this before you leave so you know which quests can be completed during this time frame. You can always check your Quests Info log to keep track use the nearest Catavan to change the time of day if needed.

Visit the Catavan Stands

Unlocking the Catavan Stands are pretty useful for getting around, as you can fast-travel from one stand to another without cost. This is also a place to save your game which you should do on the regular and not rely on auto-saves alone. The Catavan will also let you choose the time of day without needing to travel back to a village.

Monstie Riding Skills

Different Monsties will possess different kinds of Riding Skills. These skills can be used only out of combat when you’re exploring for example being able to Swim across rivers or Jump across platforms. These skills can also open up new routes or contains chests that cannot be reached otherwise. So it’s a good idea to collect different Monsties with these different Riding Skills.

Carry One Each Weapon Type

In Monster Hunter Stories 2 weapons are divided into three categories, Pierce, Blunt and Slash. Larger monsters in Stories 2 are made up of different body parts, some have wings or tails which you can aim for. When facing a monster for the first time you will see three of these symbols representing each of the Weapon types, and if you aim at a body part that is susceptible to that weapon you will deal greater damage. It’s important to target parts as it can stop a monster’s particular attack, stun them and gains you a material you will need for upgrades or forging weapons/armor.

Once you have found the right type of weapon to take down a body part, it will be recorded so the next time you encounter this monster it will show either a crossed out symbol indicating it’s not it’s weakness, or a white symbol indicating the recommended weapon damage type. You can also check your Monsterpedia to familiarise yourself with the part weaknesses after also.

The Smellier the Egg the Better

Monster Eggs come in different patterns, weight and even smell. Yes Monster Eggs smell! Well at least the better ones do, the ones that smell better offer better Genes. When you search for an egg at a nest our pal Navirou will tell you the weight and how the egg smells. If he makes a fuss about the smell you know you’re onto a winner. The heavier the egg the more Bingo Gene slots. The pattern will indicate the Monster type, you can check your Monstipedia for already collected Monsties to see what pattern their egg is.

Don’t forget to check out the Rare Dens for a better chance of finding Rarer eggs, these can be distinguished with the gold cover arch at the entrace. The rarer eggs will glow, the ones with a rainbow glow will offer some rarer genes, such as the multicolor gene which is useful for getting those Bingo bonuses using the Rite of Channeling.

For sleeping monsters or absent monsters in Dens you will usually have three chances to search for an egg, if you do more than that you will risk either the monster waking up or coming back to the den. If you are holding an egg while the monster runs into you, you will need to battle said monster and if you lose you will wake up at your village eggless. But you will have to wage the risk of whether a rarer gene is worth it for searching for longer. Navirou will warn you to leave when it’s close to getting risky.

If you want to increase your chances even further you can offer a Finding Charm if you have one at the Prayer Pot which will give you 30 minutes of that effect, so use it wisely. It’s also good to use charms to level up your Prayer Pot.

Leveling Monsties Out of Combat

As you progress through Monster Hunter Stories 2, you are bound to find more Monstie types and this will mean you will need to level them and catch them up. The good thing is you can add them to your Monstie party and they will gain XP even when they are not placed in battle. This is very useful as you will face much more challenging monsters as you progress, and you may not want to spend time battling them against lower leveled monsters in starter areas to level them. Another useful thing to know is that you can complete Sub Quests to gain your Monstie XP also. Simply turn in the quest at Quest Board with the chosen Monsties in your party and watch them gain some XP.

Carry One of Each Weapon Damage Type

It’s a good idea to carry one of each Weapon Damage Type, these fall intro three categories Pierce, Blunt and Slash. Pierce are weapons Bow or Gunlance, Blunt includes Hammer or Hunting Horn, and Slash includes Greatsword or Sword and Shield. Each monster is susceptible to these different damage types, and larger monsters will have specific body parts that will be susceptible, for example Tails will be susceptible to Slash damage types. Having each of these weapons on hand will be useful especially when facing different monsters, so you have your bases covered when you’re out exploring or facing Trials.

Hopefully these tips will be useful in hunting down those rare gene Monsties and helps those who are new to the Stories universe. If you have some more useful tips you can share your own in the comments below.

If you want to know what we thought of Monster Hunter Stories 2 be sure to check out our Monster Hunter Stories 2 Review: When Pokemon Meets Monster Hunting.