About the confusion of the close up camera — be aware I talk about an earlier generation of the game, as usual— but that was sort of part of the game, when you lose control of the battle and the monster just confuses you by jumping at you. The interesting thing is that you could rely heavily on sounds to know if you were hitting what you wanted, and also the extreme familiarity you grow with some monsters allow you to almost fight them blindfolded. Because your character is so stiff, you know how each input will orient him, and you can aim at the part you wish.
While it was startling me at first (and I think it was the goal), it became a non-issue after a while, especially once I get used to how the monster will react in close quarters. Of course, there are exceptions.
On the opposite side of the field, I thought the camera is much, much more important when I was using a ranged weapon, as I can’t even dream of aiming, let alone achieving proper damage, blindly.
In my case, I find the sound to be a more important part of the feedback of the game than the visuals - on the offense at least.
tryte
1785
Not that I know of. You can filter icons on the regular map but I think the minimap is more or less static, I’ve never really paid much attention to it during combat tbh; at least, not until Iceborne, since it’s added a mechanic of the monster icon turning red when enraged to indicate you can’t clutch claw onto it.
vinraith
1786
So vets, help me out here. I’m thinking I’d like to finish out the game (so as to have a reason to get Iceborne), but the whole reason I stopped in the first place was that the elder dragons past Nerg were just too much for me. Now I’m 6 months rusty, so they’re just going to be that much harder to deal with. I’m wondering what the best way to get back on form (or, ideally, on better form) would be, if I were inclined to dive back in and make a project of this. Investigations of older critters is the obvious approach, but I’m geared up enough that those trend easier than they did when I originally played through - maybe I should deliberately gear down for them? Any other thoughts?
Bobtree
1787
Learn a new weapon and hunt some of your old favorites, so it will feel like a new game that you want to play instead of one you just want to get past.
The lance is always my pick for facing anything new in MH because the core moves are dead simple (poke, poke, poke, hop), and it’s easy to block until my positional play improves. It offers continuous pressure, the best defense (Guard Up skill can block unblockables like Teostra’s supernova), and the fastest chase (though charging is risky). Hopping does require practice (maybe the bow’s sideways evasion is similar), and slow unsheathed lance walking should be avoided.
However, the elder dragons are the one place I find sticking with your comfort weapon is more trouble than it’s worth, because some matchups are quite bad. The lance suffers against Kirin’s mobility, Kushala Daora’s endless flying, Vaal’s AOE poison, and any ranged stuff that can land behind you (lightning, bombs).
The easiest way to safely deliver good damage to the monsters that are seriously dangerous to stand next to is a greatsword geared for unsheath attacks (high burst damage). No risky charging or combos, just unsheath attack and run away, over and over. I made a fire hammer for Kirin (really dumb), and lanced KD, but both are WAY easier with a GS, and it’s also fine for Xeno and Vaal.
It’s worth playing completely solo a bit to understand how to control the monsters’ movement. Getting stuck in a corner or against a wall is the worst thing you can do (death by pinning or obstructed camera), and your cat doesn’t care whether it’s pulling monsters into horrible positions.
Lastly, you could recruit me to wear the taunt mantle while you shoot, but I’m rusty too.
Did you craft a full set of Nerg armor? That’s definitely helpful and I’d say a must for fighting the other elder dragons (I replaced the Nerg armor as I got better stuff from the other elders, but having Nerg helped a lot getting the ball rolling).
Alternatively I’d say SoS. I’m not sure if the Iceborne rebalance also applied to World, but the game is in great shape for multiplayer these days. I actually gave up on World since I didn’t like the Multiplayer balance, but Iceborn’s is great.
If you’re on PS4 I’m also happy to help out.
vinraith
1789
That’s something I’d started towards but not finished, in fact the general unpleasantness of farming nerg combined with bashing my head fruitlessly against the other elders is what killed my momentum and stopped me playing.
Not a bad idea, though my initial impression of most of the melee weapons was not great. Bowgun or insect glaive, however, could be fun.
rhamorim
1790
Insect Glaive makes everything more fun if you’re not the min/maxer type that stays in the ground doing the same attacks all the time in order to not use stamina just so you have maximum damage with Maximum Might. ;)
But seriously. Nergigante is a lot more fun with an Insect Glaive. Give it a chance. ;)
Also, Switch Axe is way more fun than it seems at first. I think the same can be said of Longsword too.
Or any weapon really. Hammer and hunting horns get less love, but they became quite addictive once you experience the sheer power of sending a dragon flying around.
rhamorim
1792
The only weapons I personally find boring are Hammer, Greatsword, and Lance. But I can see why other people would love them.
I confess not playing MP yet, and in Solo, the hammer is very interesting for a change of pace: while with most melee weapons, the fight gets harder and harder as the monster gets angrier, with the Hammer you really build up capital that usually pays off greatly. The Hunting Horn is much more fun in my opinion, although it doesn’t have as many “wow boy, that must have hurt” moments that the hammer yields. But those weapons usually ends with quite a climactic punishing of epic proportion, and after all the suffering that led to it, the masochistic in me gets a really satisfying something-amine discharge. I also read the Hunting Horn wasn’t the same in World.
Greatsword is really fun for me, for the… 3 or such monters I can read perfectly… Yeah, not gonna use that one on any elder dragons anytime soon.
I can’t quite contest it for the Lance. It was the weapon I decided to main first in the first game of the series I played (MH2P), and probably one of the reasons I didn’t stick past a couple dozen hours with that game. I picked it because I felt I wasn’t dying as much, but retrospectively, I was such a wuss!
For Vaal you def want 3/3 miasma/effluvium resist. It prevents your healthbar from getting cut in half when you eat an effluvium attack. Vaal is actually very approachable once you neutralize that bit of her kit.
If you’re constantly getting torched by Toaster, getting your fire resist up to 20 will go a long way. There are a few ways to do it, but the easiest is to eat for elemental resist L and slot in a few fire resist decos. Other than that, beat Toaster’s legs for trips, and wings for a meaty weakspot. Stay away from the head.
There are ways to neutralize Kush’s wind attacks, but unless you already have a set of wind resist, or you’re rolling with a HH belting out wind resist songs, you’re probably just going to have to buckle down and learn Kush’s moveset. You can flash Kush out of the sky reliably, and you can get a few mounts in pretty easy.
Other than that, yeah, craft some nerg armor and don’t forget to upgrade it with armor spheres! And maybe look into making the best raw weapon you can get your hands on. More damage means the fights are shorter, dramatically increasing your survivability.
Thraeg
1795
Played until way too late last night and reached 4*. The game’s starting to show a bit of teeth now, and I got my first mission failure on Anjanath thanks to forgetting to eat, and trying out the greatsword for the first time in this game.
Went back to longsword and had a great, intense battle. Love the design with the vestigial wings and the crest, and the moveset felt surprisingly distinct from the other fire t-rex, Glavenus.
I only dabbled in longsword in MHGU, but it’s my early favorite so far here. Super satisfying to do a fade slash in the middle of a combo and see the monster attack where I was just standing, and successfully pulling off a foresight slash is even more satisfying.
Kolbex
1796
Just started playing this tonight, and holy shit does this game have a lot going on.
I am psyched that you started man!
Take those souls skills and kill some monsters.
Iceborne update: still playing multiple hours a night. The game is still doing new things. There are still new monsters that I’m discovering. It’s staggering how much content is in this expansion.
Kolbex
1799
Neat game, and I’m enjoying myself, but it’s kind of asinine how many damn roadblocks they throw up to doing multiplayer. Ok, fine, can’t join until all cutscenes have been watched, which is stupid but whatever, but then I got a quest to go on an expedition, which I did, but then I couldn’t send up a flare. And my brother, who had already done this little bit and bob setting up the new camp could send a flare but I couldn’t join. Uuuugh, just…why.
KevinC
1800
Yep that’s the one complaint I have about the game. The roadblocks get less and less as the game progresses, thankfully.
rhamorim
1801
Yup. Generally speaking, it’s a problem just when you’re starting. When you hit High Rank it’s (generally) not a problem at all.
Yeah, not sure who came up with the MP system for MH, but it’s def kinda crap. I do think the SoS thing works ok for PuGing at least, which is the grand MH tradition.
I do wish they would just add a “room list” again though, I think that’s just more fun. Joining rooms by target or just jumping into a “turns” room is such a good time. I miss that.
Seems like most of the matchmaking is done via community discords.
But I’m old and shy so I don’t partake.
You can still join a session by target, but unless it’s for something like Kulve, it’s not very reliable.
