THESE MONSTERS AINT READY yo the motherfucking Diablos showed up in my expedition and absolutely fucked me
Played through a couple missions. Really enjoying it and upgrading my Palico's stuff. Got him a big sword now (for him anyway). Still need to adjust better that the square button isn't an attack button like in most actiony games.
So can you not replay the assigned hunts? I'm still early in the game but all of my optional hunts/investigations are Great Jagrus and I'm fucking bored of fighting them. Sometimes I just want to put on a podcast and grind a bit, want to fight something different
Just from the 2 hours I played the beginning does seem very grind-y. Though in a good way cuz I love upgrading my stuff at the smithy
as you continue through the assigned hunts youll discover new monsters to fight. make sure youre picking up the tracks/mucus/etc they leave behind even if youve already found them, that research will unlock new investigations for you to do. just keep pushing through the main story and eventually youll have a ton of different monsters to grind. investigations are probably the best way to do it but just going out on an expedition is fine too, the only downside is monsters randomly come and go as they please so it can be hard to pin one down. soon youll hit a point where youll stick with what you have until more things unlock, but yeah its a very good grind. the biggest power leap for me so far was unlocking elemental weapons. also just so everyone knows definitely make sure youre doing bounties and upgrading your armor consistently. that extra 2/4/6 defense number bump is pretty huge despite how paltry it seems.
looks like Charge Blade is dominating the meta right now. Its a swiss army knife, high damage in charge blade mode, mobility, quick attacks, and blocking in sword and shield mode. really cant go wrong using it. its a jack of all trades and also a master of all trades. that said, im shocked at how well balanced all of the weapons are. like yeah Charge Blade is definitely the "best" but none of the weapons are bad or even mediocre. the hammer is surprisingly quick for a giant hammer, the dual blades are great at applying status/elements, both lances are great for tanking, the Hunting Horn is by yards the best support weapon in the game, even the ranged weapons have a lot of value to them and are incredibly powerful in certain situations.
dont be afraid to branch out! theres a training room now, you can access it through your player home, feel free to go in there and try some other weapons out. that said the longsword is a great weapon ofc, the only real downside is that it can be an absolute pain to coop with since you end up knocking your allies around a lot.
grinded out the Girros armor set so now i look like a hunter from Bloodborne the Switch Axe is becoming my favorite weapon now, i didnt see that coming. i really thought id main dual swords but tbh they dont feel like theyre killing fast enough. im sure once i upgrade them to have elemental effects on them theyll bump up in power but for right now im loving the SA