Still Trucking Along in Monster Hunter

A couple nights ago, I fought the Great Jaggi (the first large monster in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, if I'm not mistaken) around 7-8 times. You see, after doing some research online I found that the general consensus on the best armor set after the initial Leather, is the set acquired from the Great Jaggi. This however isn't as simple as killing the monster once, and then unlocking the set for purchase. No, this isn't the case because Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is, essentially, a loot grind. To build a piece of armor, or upgrade/build a weapon, one must meet the material requirements. I had received all of the materials to build the Great Jaggi set, except for one which requires the player to first wail on the monster's head, until a shattering animation is seen, at which point there is a chance that, at the end of the quest, the player will recieve the "King's Frill". I needed two of these to complete the armor set, but for my first 6 or so tries, I had no luck. But here's the thing, the one component of Monster Hunter that will perhaps keep me wrapped in the experience for weeks to come: I never got bored of this task. On my first try, defeating the Great Jaggi was a hassle. Between the seemingly endless amount of damage that needed to be caused and the frequent knockbacks when I was hit by the monster, the fight was long and tiring. I used a sizable amount of my healing and stamina items, and wasn't too keen to go back in and try again to get the King's Frill. But on my second (or perhaps third) try, I changed up my strategy, instead opting to use my shield a bit more, and dodge a bit less. This worked phenomenally with my rather hefty lance (which doesn't allow for particularly quick dodges while equipped), and after a few more tries, I had learned the monster's entire moveset. Now, it was simple to find the monster, block attacks, while occasionally jumping out of the fray to heal or sharpen my weapon. This, more than anything, is one of the most rewarding aspects of Monster Hunter, completely learning when and how an enemy will attack, and utilizing this knowledge to dispatch the enemy as quickly as possible. After about 2 hours of trying time and again to recieve the King's Frill, I was finally successful, and subsequently built the armor, shifting my sights to the next lance upgrade.

So begins the lengthy loot grind of Monster Hunter, but to call it a grind would be a bit of a disservice. Because the combat is so rewarding, and the enemies attacks so readable (after a few tries), the act of "grinding" for loot drops becomes significantly more entertaining than say, an MMO with hotkey-based combat. Instead of looking at cooldowns for hours on end the player is in the heat of battle half the time, and gathering and combining materials for the other half. While this second activity may not seem all that engaging, after a while it becomes less of a chore, and more a simple requirement to have the tactical edge in battles later on. I will admit it takes far too long to learn exactly what needs to be crafted, gathered and upgraded, but once the player has put in the time to learn these systems, the game opens up and becomes that much more exciting. Currently, I'm about to take on my first Arzuros (another large monster in the game), and hopefully will be able to find a few "Jumbo Bones", which are needed for my next Lance upgrade. After switching to the 3DS game from the Wii, I was initially worried that the controls would be cumbersome. While this is true in some cases, for the most part the rather complicated control scheme is entirely learn-able, it just requires a bit of commitment. The biggest problem so far has been underwater combat, but this is rare enough that it hasn't hampered the experience in any notable way. As long as I'm interested in Monster Hunter, I'll keep giving these updates, which could mean I'll be writing about the game for some time to come...

MH3U feels like a loot grind but I approach it from a different angle. You are always being dropped into a situation where you need to read the monster you are hunting a look for certain animations. As a hunter, you won't retain the knowledge of just one encounter with a monster, you need to approach it several times in order to get a feel for how the monster acts. You are gaining knowledge on how to dance with a monster to the point where you are in sync. The game then continues to throw other variants at you in order for you to adapt with what you know and to build on that knowledge. When you start the ladder of building up your HR, then they start tweaking the timing and interrupt certain animations. All that previous knowledge then is exercised and you become a better hunter because of it.

You hit the nail right on the head with how you approached Jaggi, that is exactly what you need to do to keep learning... and if that process is boring, then Monster Hunter becomes a loot grind.

Gathering materials for new armor/weapons is really where the game gets fun. It is more fun to earn and create your gear than to just wait for a random drop from a monster (a la World of Warcraft). The best part is that sometimes I will be building towards a certain set and in that process, I will discover other monsters with more effective sets and start building on those. I think MH3U lacks in displaying to the player what a certain set does and what the benefits will be in an effective way. It's something as simple as making the UI easier to read/use. I know why they approach it the way that they do (knowing that most the player base is using the 3DS) but improving that for the console versions would be an added bonus which could bring more people into that system.

Really interesting stuff, try other weapons (I think the Frill is easier to get if you were a hammer user, could be wrong on that), work on those quests, and hopefully people are playing online still. I have had many nights where my brothers and myself have fought monsters/completed quests. It is super rewarding with other people.

I have left that game for a while now, probably should go revisit it.

This. A lot of new players fall into the trap of using the Sword and Shield, which I think(?) is the default weapon, or something they push you towards anyway. While its good to get you up and running, as it allows you to block while you are bad at dodging, the crux of combat is getting safe hits in and rolling out of the way. Rolling can also cancel some animations early so you are safer sooner and can attack again quicker.

My personal favourites are:

-Dual Blades - Started with these, but they are hard to use due to requiring you to get really close to your enemies. Amazing damage output when you get in there, and you remain very mobile.
-Long Sword - Arguably my favourite, long ass reach and relatively fast. No way to block so must rely on combos, poking and rolls.
-Great Sword - Ridiculous damage output but very slow, as a last resort you can block, but ideally you never want to. Timing it so your charge attack hits as your enemy turns to face you for sweet headshots is an amazing skill once mastered though.

If you're getting into it I recommend looking up the combos for the weapons online. They aren't exposed in the game, but traditionally each weapon has an attack order you should follow so that you don't end up stuck in a swing and unable to attack again. Some, like the long sword, have infinite combos that you can do for as long as you like (until you want to roll to avoid a hit :P). And of course, some weapons build a meter that you can unleash for extra damage with R, but the mechanic varies by weapon.

@bollard: Started with the long sword and stuck with it basically, I remember the combo with it letting you stick monsters in animation loops so you could wail on them for a bit (how I got past the jaggi and bear boss') Is there an active UK community that anyone knows about, I've been too nervous to try online incase I screw up someones hunt.

There used to be a Facebook page (it was run officially by Capcom) that tried to organise in-person meet ups for hunters at the Capcom offices and such in London and so on. Not sure if it's still active though I'm afraid. I wouldn't be that worried about jumping in online. More people will never make a quest harder, only easier (ignoring the 3 death thing), so theoretically you should always be helping.

I got this when it was on sale on the eshop, hopped into it last night and started a quest before doing any of the tutorial stuff. Man is there a lot to this game. First time every touching a MH game, and it's on 3ds