Monster Hunter Freedom UNITE - Don't be greedy!

Airan

MONSTER HUNTER FREEDOM UNITE

***MHFU Demo out on PSN today***

The latest installment in the series, Monster Hunter Portable 2G otherwise known as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite in the US and EU is out now! GET IT!

Intrepid hunters may want to import the Japanese version and apply a bare bones translation patch, though I am uncertain how to do so and you will have to ask in the thread how to do it, or simply google it.

The standalone expansion to the popular-in-Japan-and-hopefully-here-buy-it-goddammit dragon slaying, boar bashing, item-gathering hunt-a-thon will finally be given an English release.

Selling a monstrous 3.5+ million copies alone in Japan, MHFU places you in a hunter’s world, where man and beast co-exist not so peacefully. Obtain missions from the Village Elder or the Hunters Guild to fell the monsters that terrorize the lands and the skies.
New features, a new area and a couple of new monsters in addition to the staple beasts of the series for you to hunt alone or with 3 friends using local wireless co-op (or online wireless with a help of some extra hardware and software).

Hunters from the previous MHF2 game can transfer their character saves over to this new game for a headstart.

Expanded weapon selection!
There are no new weapon types, but there’s more variety of the existing weapons thanks to the new monsters.

New Features!
-Now you can hire a little Felyne hunting companion to assist you during your solo missions. Your cat buddy can help forage for items and provide some damage in fights. You may also train your furry friends, growing their skills the more quests you do with them. Felyne warriors are unavailable in multiplayer, sadly.
-All items are now stackable up to 99.
-Improved town inventory interface. Now you may arrange, sell and send items to your home box from almost every location in town!

New Hunting Area!
Great Forest!

Old Hunting Areas!
All your favourite areas from the original MH1/MHF will make a return!

New Monsters!
Nargacuga, Lavasioth, Hypnocatrice, that floating jellyfish from MH2 and some ice beast that I’ve forgotten how to spell!

Old Monsters! With a twist!
Your old favourites including the fart-happy Congalala now return with new moves up their sleeve, watch out!

Trailer for MHFU

MHFU 4 player game play

Screenshot links
IGN
Gamershell

Monster Size Comparison (click for big)

Look at this shit. These are your foes.

How To Play Online
You may be aware that MHF2/MHFU offers no online play. Approximately 99% of the game is made better with other players to join in the fight. All hope is not lost however! There are 2 options for you to try:

PS3 link infrastructure mode: The first US PSP game to support the PSP to PS3 infrastructure mode will be Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, wherein your PS3 will act as an access point for your PSP.

Instructions:

First, you must make a new Japanese PSN account. A thread in NeoGAF helpfully details this in a step by step process, with photos.

Then follow the following steps:

Teknoman from NeoGAF wrote:

Here is a brief translation to the front end title screen in order from top to bottom, there are only 4 selections and it’s easy to navigate through.

• Start: "Start" is the ad hoc Party portal allowing to select a server called "World" and a meeting area called "Lobby"

• Jump: "Jump" is made for selecting "Friend List" (フレンドリスト) or "Bookmark" (ブックマーク) which allows to directly join a connected PSN friend's Lobby, or to select a bookmarked Lobby.

• Ad hoc : "ad hoc" is used to connect the PlayStation 3 with an activated PlayStation Portable.

• Information page: The "Information page" is the PlayStation 3 built-in web browser restricted online user manual for adhoc Party.

To add to that, after searching around I found this *Taken from the official playstation forums and edited for general PSP gaming*

How to join a game:

Press circle to choose the first option on the Ad Hoc Party screen. You will be taken to and place that says 'World A' you can scroll through the worlds with the L1 and R1 buttons.

Find the World of your choice, now using the left or right analog stick find the lobby of your choice , then press circle to go into the lobby.


You will now see a close up of the lobby, press circle.

Now you may or may not see other people, you can talk to these people buy pressing start to bring up your keyboard. You can also press circle over their name, the first option makes you walk to them, the second option you can talk to them, the third option is 'add to friends list'.

You will also see houses. Each house represents someone hosting a game. Which game are playing? Well you don't really know until you go into the house. Some of the houses are named based on what game they are playing, but not always, so feel free to pop into any open house and ask what they are playing if you cannot tell. To enter a house, use the analog stick and set the target over the house, press circle, then chose the 2nd option. To exit a house press triangle, then chose the first option, then chose the option to the left.

Once you are in a house you can hook up a headset to your PS3 for voice chat.

Start up the PSP game of your choice and go into it's MP mode and search for a host. Make sure your WLAN switch is turned on.

How to host a game:

Use the analog stick to move the cursor find a clear spot in the lobby. Press Circle.

Chose the second option.

Three more options will appear. Press Circle on the First Box to name your house.

In the third box you can set a password.

You are now hosting a game. While hosting a game you can press Triangle to bring up host options:

The first box is to leave your house. Simply press Circle, then chose the option on the left.

The Second box is to set the description of your house, press circle on the second option and a key board will come up.

Third option is to open or close the door. An open door means anyone can come in, a closed door means no one can come in. It is a good idea to close the door if your party is full. The option on the left opens the door, the option on the right closes the door.

The fourth option is to kick the player from the room. It bans them and they cant get back in.

The latest version of ad-hoc allows you to make large houses that can hold a larger number of players. However, only 4 can play Monster Hunter Unite at a time. Of course, everyone can still communicate with each other inside the house.

Oh and you must have a wired net connection to use ad-hoc party.

20GB PS3's not supported

Once you have downloaded ad hoc party beta, you can use your normal PSN account.

Source: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362432

List of PS3 PA'ers (PM/post in this thread to be added in):

• Renzomaru
• Elderlycrawfish
• Hahnsoo
• super_emu
• elliotw2
• VaregaDiablo
• zero3002
• TheFarthestSide

XLink Kai: The other, more established mode is to buy a specific wifi dongle and install some software to allow your PSP to tunnel to the internet.
Note: The Datel WifiMAX has been discontinued, and you should buy the PLANEX USB wifi adapters instead, which have XLink support as a standard feature. The instructions to enable XLink support are found here.

Official Guide for Windows XP

Official Guide for Windows Vista

There are other ways to connect to XLink Kai, - you can buy a specific router and flash it with custom firmware. This link provides a guide to use XLink with Linksys WRT54G(S) router with the DD-WRT custom firmware. I cannot verify whether it works or not, I use the wifiMAX dongle option.

List of Xlink PA'ers (PM/post in this thread to be added in):

• Klyka
• GorillaSuit
• Dyvion
• Hahnsoo1
• CorporateLogo
• Airan
• Lethardicus
• Kranger_Rudy
• TheIceBurner

Hunter’s Guidebook
Monster Hunter is not your typical action game. It primarily requires reflexes, not numbers. It’s a goddamn tough game, but my god will you feel like a badass when you topple your first large monster.
Provided here are tips and weapon descriptions to help beginners out. Note that these tips are applicable to the MHF2 version, though I would safely wager that they also apply for MHFU too. Veterans are welcome to add more information. PM me/post here and I will add it whenever possible.

Sword and Shield

This deadly duo will offer decent damage and slight protection from those bum rushes you may frequently encounter on your outings in the field. Attack and recovery speed is fast, and you can also use items even when unsheathed! Just hold block and use the item of your choice.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Forward leap slash
R + Tri = Ready Shield block

Unsheathed
Tri (x3) = Slash combo.
Tri+Cir = Forward leap slash. Press Tri repeatedly afterwards to start a combo.
Cir = Spin slash (only affects forwards though).
R = Shield Block. Can attack with Cir while standing. You may also move slowly. Press Square to use an item while blocking.
Roll + Tri = Upwards slash after rolling.

Dual Swords

This deadly duo will offer okay damage but no protection from those bum rushes you may frequently encounter on your outings in the field. Attack and recovery speed is fast, but the range is short. The main feature of this weapon type is Demon mode (my name for it – it’s probably called something else officially) – activated increases damage and opens up new attacks in exchange for constant stamina loss. In MHFU, you may now craft Duals which have 2 elements, 1 per blade. Every other hit will have the 2nd element in effect. How this is useful, I'm not sure yet, but I'll find out soon enough!

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Forward leap slashes
R + Tri = Enter Demon mode. Stamina drains while in Demon mode.

Unsheathed
Tri (x3) = Slash combo.
Tri+Cir = Forward leap thrust. Extended slash combo in Demon Mode ("Demon dance"). MHFU combo has an extra hit.
Cir = Spin slash (only affects forwards though). Spins twice in Demon Mode.
R = Demon mode

Lance

Fucking annoying pointy poles. Best used in the hands of a master, since most newcomers will likely keep using the infamous CHARGE! Attack, which can also hit innocent victims (the other players), causing them to spout profanity in your general direction. You may also jab monsters to death in between hiding behind the massive shield that comes with this weapon.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Running stab
R + Tri = Ready Shield block

Unsheathed
Tri (x3) = Stab stab stab
Tri+Cir = Charging rush. Press Tri while charging to end it with a stab, or press Cir to end it without doing anything. Charging drains stamina.
Cir (x3) = Upwards stab (x3)
R = Shield Block. Press Tri while blocking to stab while moving forward. Press Tri+Cir to charge rush.
X = Backstep. Hold Left or Right to sidestep in that direction after making an attack.

Gunlance

Slighty less fucking annoying pointy poles. These lances are infinitely cooler however, being a massive cannon with a bayonet. The cannon can fire off big short-range explosions, causing much hilarity (for you) when you accidentally blast your buddies away instead of Mr Angry Dragon. As with the Lance, you also get a shield, and the shielded attack works much better than the Lance version, in my opinion.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Running stab
R + Tri = Ready Shield block

Unsheathed
Tri (x3) = Stab stab stab
Tri+Cir = Upswing
Cir (x3) = Cannon shot
R = Shield Block. While blocking, press Tri (x3) to stab upwards. Press Cir to reload. Press Tri+Cir for Wyvern's Fire (Super cannon shot, has cooldown timer.)
X = Backstep. Press Cir during backstep to reload after backstep.

Notes: Cannon shots reduce sharpness dramatically. You cannot use a cannon shot when the Sharpness meter is flashing red. You shouldn't have it red anyway. Use a whetstone!

Longsword

A fine weapon – long reach, wide arc swing, and devastating demon spirit attacks. The Longsword is favoured by yours truly, but some find it a little slow for their tastes. Attacking fills up the Spirit gauge, when it is full you gain a temporary boost to sharpness and attack ratings.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Forward Vertical slice
R + Tri = Spirit attack

Unsheathed
Tri (x2) = Vertical Slash.
Tri+Cir = Wide forward radius slice (character steps back after slash)
Cir = Forward Stab.
Tri Tri Cir Tri (repeat) = looping Longsword combo
R = Spirit attack (uses spirit bar)

Great Sword

This weapon screams badass. That is, until you use it. A hard-hitting but ridiculously slow weapon ensures that newcomers will be immediately discouraged that they couldn’t be awesome right from the get-go. But stick with it, and you’ll find the Great Sword to be a venerable beast of a blade.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Running forward vertical slice
R + Tri = Ready Sword block

Unsheathed
Tri (hold) = Vertical slash. Hold to charge the attack.
Tri+Cir = Swing-back slash (hits front and back)
Cir = Wide forward radius slice (100 degree range? Character steps forward after slash)
Tri Cir Tri Tri+Cir (etc) = looping Great Sword combo example
R = Sword block

Hammer

One of the two blunt weapons, the Hammer can cause a lot of hurt. You won’t cut through anything though, so pack a boomerang to cut monster tails. One of the benefits of a blunt weapon is that, if you smack a monster’s head enough times, it’ll be dazed. Plenty of time to inflict more pain, while the monster takes its time to recover. In MHFU hammers now produce a yellow 'splash' whenever you manage to hit the head of the monster, helpfully showing you that you are indeed, causing it eventual brain damage.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Running forward swing
R + Tri = Ready hammer charge

Unsheathed
Tri (x3) = Vertical hammer bash.
Cir = Forward side swing
R = Hammer Charge. Hold till flash, then release while running for spinning hammer attack. Press Tri during the spin at two different intervals to activate a different finishing attack. Release the charge while stationary to use a heavy vertical bash (hits twice). Consumes stamina while charging.

Hunting Horn

The ‘support’ weapon of the Monster Hunter world, Hunting Horns provide boosts by blaring out horrendously sounding noise. Buffs range from stat boosts, to health/stamina regeneration and even element resistances. Oh, and you can hit things with it too. In MHFU, horns too, produce a yellow 'splash' effect when you slam it onto a monster's skull.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Running forward swing
R + Tri = Ready horn playing

Unsheathed
Tri = Horn swing. Press to keep swinging.
Tri+Cir = Overhead smash
Cir (x3)= Horn hilt poke
R = Horn playing. Use Cir, Tri or Tri+Cir to activate the different coloured notes in certain orders to cast various buffs. In MHFU you gain one extra song - with a Sonic Bomb effect. See image below for further elaboration, courtesy of Hahnsoo1:

Bow

The Bow is a flexible weapon, allowing a good balance of mobility and damage. The benefits of ranged weapons are obvious – you can stand far away from your target (don’t expect your prey to idly sit there taking hits though) and rain death upon them. Coat your arrow tips with various substances to further expand their utility.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Shoot
R + Tri = Precision shoulder aim

Unsheathed
Tri (Hold) = Fire arrow. Hold to charge the arrow up to 3 times (charge amount depends on bow) for more damage and further range. Attack type may also differ, depending on the bow. Charging consumes stamina.
Tri+Cir = Apply arrow tip coatings (require the appropriate items). In MFHU you gain two new coatings - Paint (paintball effect) and Close-Ranged (increases melee arrow swipe damage and shot damage the closer you are to the target).
Cir = Melee arrow swipe
R = Precision shoulder-view aim
X = Backstep while stationary. Roll while running.

Gun

Guns (AKA Bowguns) are to Bows what Great Swords are to Longswords. Capable of firing at very long ranges, Guns are to be used with care, as they take a long time to setup and fire. Two types of guns exist, Small and Large. Smalls are lightweight and allow you to stay mobile, while Large guns are cumbersome cannons of death, but heaven help you if a monster charges at you. You may however, attach a shield to Large guns to block frontal attacks. Attachable scopes enable zooming, and an array of bullet types enable the gunners to tackle any challenges they face.

Sheathed
While running + Tri = Ready gun

Unsheathed
Tri = Reload
Tri+Cir = Melee attack
Cir = Fire
R = First Person Aim. Use arrow keys to zoom. Use analogue nub to aim. Melee attack is not possible.
Hold R = Third Person Aim. Use arrow keys to move target reticle. Use analogue nub to move.

Miscellaneous Tips

Aim for the legs!
Most two legged monstrosities can be forced to trip over to their sides if you keep whacking away at their legs. This provides very valuable time in dealing damage with little harm to yourself. Beware of long tail monsters though, they can swing their tail while you’re attempting to poke their legs and deal pretty harsh damage.

Panic Leap!
When you sprint away from the view of an alert monster, you will Panic Run. Panic Run is usually unfavourable to you, since it drains stamina much more quickly than if you would normally sprint. The upside is that it allows you to Panic Leap. Roll while Panic Running and you will launch yourself into the air and land face first into the dirt. This manoeuvre has the longest invincibility frames – from the start of the leap up till you immediately hit the ground. A monster can literally be rushing headlong into you while you’re Panic Leaping and you wouldn’t take a scratch.

Traps and Bombs! Tasty Meats too!
Two types of traps exist – Shock and Pitfall. Shock traps paralyze the victim for about 7 seconds, while Pitfalls leave the monster flailing helplessly in the tangle of ropes for 10 or so seconds. The advantage of Shock Traps is that they can be set in any environment, while Pitfalls require plain or grassy land. You’re also unable to attack the tail end (often the source of rare weapon materials) of a monster in a Pitfall.

Bombs are awesome, but user beware. Two types of Bomb exist - Small and Large. Smalls have a fuse which is immediately lit when you plant it on the ground. They don't really serve much purpose alone in my experience. They are however, useful for detonating Large bombs. This type requires an external detonator, be it a stray arrow, a small bomb, or if you're feeling suicidal, your own sword slash. They deal a respectable amount of damage, further enhanced if you wear armor with bomb-damage increasing effects.

There's also Raw Meat. Hunters are far too civilised to chew on this stuff uncooked, and while you can simply drop it in front of a monster's face and have it scoff it down, you can also coat this delicious hunk of flesh with things such as sleep powder or poison, which when consumed by the unsuspecting monster, will have some rather... unfortunate effects on it. Use this to your advantage, poison the monster then make it sleep the poison away, leaving it weak and frail, ready for you to deliver the final blow.

Roll Cancel!
When you are attacking, you can eliminate the recovery animation of the attack by using the dodge button (X). Your character will roll or backstep, depending on the weapon. Very useful for weapons such as Great Sword, which has a huge recovery time, and Lance. Move a direction to roll sideways!

Use the Shield!
If you have a shield, fucking use it. More often than not it will save your ass from a split second charge, or at least reduce the damage it would have caused. You can improve your shield skill by adding Jewels that raise it into your armor. +10 provides Guard+1, which reduces knockback, health and stamina loss, while +20 nets Guard+2 which eliminates knockback and reduces stamina loss greatly (In MHF2 it was +15 points for Guard+2).

Pig out!
Stamina is vital to perform a variety of actions in Monster Hunter. You need it for sprinting, rolling/dodge, using Dual Sword Demon mode, shield blocking, etc etc. Be sure to keep your stamina levels high, else you won’t be able to say, sprint that last metre to the exit of the zone before an angry dragon runs you over.

Felyne Slavery!
Following from the previous tip, use the Felyne Kitchen. The Kitchen allows for delicious meals - made from ingredients provided by you - that provide a variety of attribute boosts to help you on your next venture into the field. Be warned however, for a bad combination of ingredients will induce food poisoning, and you’ll be afflicted with some stat decrease for the next hunt.

Rub the Pig!
This is probably more superstition than anything, but the little pig in your home? He is rumoured to bring good luck (better drops and what not) if you rub him the right way. No, not that way, you sick bastard. Time it right (a little bit after the music stops) and press X to have him jump for joy, with a big heart popping above his head. Personally he’s fucked me over on many a hunt, so my pig is now neglected. It may work for others though, just ask Varega. An overwhelming majority in this here forum agree that this is entirely superstition however, but you're free to believe :P

Lights, Camera, Action!
We get it, the camera controls suck a big fat one, and if you hold the PSP the standard way you can't change the camera position when you're moving around trying to avoid the latest death rush from the angry Tigrex you just woke up. You can solve this issue two ways. The first is to employ the "Claw" position, where your thumb is on the analogue nub, while the rest of your fingers are on the D-pad. Now you will gain full camera control at the cost of potentially cramping your hand.
The second is to change camera during "dead time". This is what I call moments where you cannot control your character's movement. In the middle of an attack animation? Adjust the camera. Reeling from an attack? Adjust the camera. Panic leap? Rolling? Adjust the camera. Drinking a potion? Eating some meat? Adjust the camera. Monster standing there, taking a shit while contemplating how to kill you next? You get the idea.

Any moment you can't move your character, or the monster does an attack which moves it out of screen, take that split second to adjust the camera slightly. It moves pretty fast, and once you get used to the timings of your attack animations, your roll animations, or the monsters attacks, you may change the camera ahead of time, just as you enter the animation.

Oh yeah, the L button is there too folks. This centers the camera behind your character's back. Move your character in the direction you think the monster is, and hit L. So much easier.

Patience!
This game is not about running into the fray swords flailing. If you don’t study the movements of your target, it will tear you a new asshole faster than you can react. Damaging attacks are usually telegraphed heavily, but use your surroundings to further ensure safety. Set traps while the dragon is flying around the battlefield. Stick to the sides of the beast to avoid front attacks, like a fireball to the face.

Useful Links
GameFAQs for MHFU.
GameFAQs for MHF2. Since MHFU is an expansion to MHF2, most of the information from these Freedom 2 guides are still pertinent to Unite.
Minegarde. An excellent fansite full of information including weapon/armor databases and a forum with lots of useful information.
Encyclopedia Gigantica. Capcom's official wiki site for Monster Hunter information.

Armor Skills
A brief but great post about popular armor skills that you may wish to possess one day, can be found just a few posts below, written by Hahnsoo1. These skills are obtained by having enough points (usually at least +10) in your armor to activate. The armor itself may contain the points, or you might have to add Decorations (alternatively known as "gemming" or "adding jewels") to the armor, slots permitting, to increase the points until you can activate it.

Now get out there and hunt, hunters!

Dyvion

Gonna get the unite demo and post up my mini review... back in a bit.

Hrm... my battery wasn't seated correctly in my PSP... upshot? I learned you can use the psp if it's plugged directly into the wall, without a battery installed... the down side? I had to re-seat my battery, because you can't install system updates without a full battery? erm... anyway, system update 5.50 installed... getting demo... the journey continues.

189 meg demo... wow.

yalborap

Fuck yes.

I've got a fresh battery on order for my Monster Huntin', so I'll be good to go soon.

And man, I cannot wait for 3 to come out in the US. Split-screen, dudes! I will make my friend play it on pain of death.

Hahnsoo1

Any differences between 2nd G and Unite? I know that they are both basically the same game (Unite is just 2nd G translated to English), but I'm wondering if they plan on some bugfixes or changes in Unite.

As far as changes between Portable 2 and 2nd G (Or Freedom 2 and Unite), they are quite numerous. I'd definitely add some of that information in the OP. For example, Hammers and Hunting Horns now have a yellow "splash" animation when they hit the head hitbox, so you know when your hits are accumulating dizzy potential. Hunting Horns have a new (useless) song that duplicates the effect of a Sonic Bomb (in a month of exclusively using Hunting Horns, I've rarely been able to pull it off successfully in a decent length of time). There are new Dual Swords which have two elements (striking with each element every other hit). 2nd G Dual Swords also gain one more hit on the demon dance combo, but I don't know if that will translate over into Unite. You can no longer double up on Felyne Heroics and Adrenaline +2 for your attack power (only one or the other applies, depending on your current life). Bows gain a couple of new coatings: Paint Coatings (like Paint Shots for bowguns) and Razor Coatings (increases the melee slash damage significantly). Speed Fire no longer speeds up Bow charging (a job taken over by a new Armor skill, which was translated into Concentration in the fan patch).

Quite a few new attacks for the "old" monsters, especially in G-rank hunting. Khezu has a lightning charge attack and a "mega ball" projectile attack, both of which are quite lethal, for example.

8/11/09 Edit:

A short explanation of popular armor skills:

Offensive

Adrenaline (AKA Potential): The biggest damage boost, but also the most dangerous. When you are at 40% health or below, you gain the benefits of Adrenaline, which gives 75/90 (not sure which number is accurate, but it doesn't matter since it's nearly worthless) more defense when you have Adrenaline +1, and an additional 30% damage when you have Adrenaline +2. In Monster Hunter Freedom 2, folks used to stack this with Felyne Heroics for more massive damage, but this doesn't work in Unite/P2ndG. Often used by ranged users (who rarely should get hit). I'd avoid this if you are going with Melee.

Attack Up (Sm/Med/Lg) - Adds to your raw damage attack power. When in doubt, grab this armor skill, as it benefits ALL weapons, regardless of what you are using. It is found on a lot of armors, but early on, you'll probably get it from Kut-Ku or Battle armor.

Reckless Abandon (AKA Expert): Adds to the affinity of weapons, which increases your chance of a critical hit (or decreases the chance of a "non-critical" hit). Critical hits do 25% more damage and are activated based on a percentage equal to the affinity rating. Negative affinity gives you a chance to do a non-critical hit, which does 25% less damage (and is often found on the most powerful weapons in the game, oddly enough). 40% Affinity = 10% more average damage. -40% Affinity = -10% less average damage. 0% Affinity (found on the vast majority of weapons) does nothing... you get no critical hits, but you also get no non-critical hits. You can get this skill up to +3, for 30-40% more Affinity (depending on weapon sharpness, which also plays into Affinity calculations). Folks use this skill to either cancel out Negative Affinity points from weapons or to increase their average damage over time by increasing their affinity.

Reckless Abandon VS Attack Up - The two skills do very similar things, and most people have to choose between one or the other. Both are quite effective at increasing your damage. Attack Up (Large), however, tends to have a larger benefit than Reckless Abandon+3 if the weapon doesn't already have a large raw attack power. I'm talking end-game Hammer/Greatsword attack power. Attack Up increases your raw by a small but consistent amount, while Reckless Abandon increases your average damage by a percentage. Unless you are wielding a negative Affinity weapon or you have a weapon that posts 4 digit raw attack power (around 1300 is the breakpoint for hammers, and 1200 for Greatsword/Longsword), Attack Up will be better than Reckless Abandon. Note that Attack Up increases the elemental damage of Bowguns as well, making it a better choice for bowguns that fire element shots. But a lot of powerful bowguns have negative affinity... the debate always rages on.

Elemental Attack Up - Useful for both ranged and melee weapons that have Elemental damage. Increases the Elemental damage by 20% (I think... my number could be off). This is an actual visible boost in your weapon when you check it. Elemental attack isn't as awesome as you may think (for one thing, the elemental value is automatically divided by 10 before calculating the actual damage), but it still can be helpful, especially on Dual Swords, Sword and Shield, Long Swords, and Bows/Bowguns. Bowguns in particular gain a huge damage boost because they do ALL element damage with their elemental shots. Commonly found on Kirin armor. Also found first on Kut Ku D armor (an excellent damage boosting armor for the early game), although it only has 7 points and the remaining 3 points must be attached with decorations, which require Kirin Horns (Ugh... either way, you end up killing Kirins).

Runner (AKA Stamina) - Great for Bow, Hammer, and Dual Swords (and possibly Lance charge attacks?). Stamina halves the stamina reduction from charging the bow, hammer, or using demonization mode on Dual Swords. Pretty useless on other weapons. I personally used a Remobra armor set when I was first learning how to use a bow, which has Runner built-in.

Focus - Reduces the amount of time needed to charge a weapon, including Greatswords, Hammers, Long Sword Spirit Gauges, and Bows. Very useful if you want to get those charged attacks out in a shorter period of time. Found in higher level armors, most prominently on Rajang and Lavasioth armors.

Offensive - Melee

ESP (AKA Fencing... Fencing, WTF?) - Prevents you from "bouncing", although your weapon will still take double sharpness reduction from a "bounced" hit and if you are below Green sharpness, your attacks will still only deal 70% damage (but they won't bounce!). Allows you to continue with your combos, if you have a combo-based weapon and not suffer the "bounced hit" recovery animation. Several weapons, however, have attacks that automatically have the ESP attribute attached to it, making it less useful if you tend to use those attacks (Dual Swords Demon Dance, Hammer charged strikes, Long Sword Spirit Gauge attacks, etc.). Still, even weapons that have built-in ESP benefit from this skill (Hammer Triple Pounds are the most damaging combo in the game, but ONLY if you reach the third hit). Very useful for Lances and to a lesser extent Gunlances (because a bounced hit means MUCH longer recovery time, which can be fatal if you don't recover and block soon enough... gunlances can keep firing shells, though, which never bounce). First found on Death Stench armor, but also prominently featured on Silver Sol and Ukanlos armor. Often received by obtaining a Sword Saint Piercing, which means completing all the Special 2nd Tier training with ALL weapons (ugh).

Sharp Sword - Halves the sharpness reduction on weapons when they strike, including bounced hits. Very useful for Dual Swords, Long Swords, and Sword and Shield, which strike often and quickly. Not so useful for Greatswords and Hammers. Found on Ceanataur armors.

Sharpening Skill Increase (AKA Grinder) - You know when you bend down and sharpen your weapon, it takes a long time to do so? This skill makes it so that you only swipe your blade ONCE instead of several times with a whetstone. Very good for Dual Sword and Gunlance users (both of which lose sharpness quickly). It only requires 5 slots to gem up, as well, making it a welcome addition to pretty much any armor set.

Sharpness +1 (AKA Artisan) - Adds more visible sharpness to a weapon, often increasing its sharpness color by one level (but not always). When you bump a White Sharpness weapon to Purple Sharpness, this skill is one of the biggest damage boosts in the game. It's always useful to have, however, for any melee weapon that doesn't already have Purple sharpness, since Sharpness boosts equal more damage. If a weapon has Purple Sharpness, this armor skill does NOTHING (making it useless for Nargacuga weapons, endgame Tigrex weapons, some Bug parts weapons, and some Ceanataur weapons). Commonly found first on the Higher Rank (HR4-6) Ceanataur armor. If you were to go with only ONE Blademaster armor skill, choose this one.

Gunnery Master/King - For Gunlances only. While it provides minor benefits to cannon shots and crag shots, Gunnery Master increases the shot damage and Wyvern's Fire damage by 10%. At Gunnery King, it also reduces the cooldown of Wyvern's Fire to 90 seconds!

Art of Unsheathing - The new kid on the block for Unite, this skill allows you to automatically critical (as if you had 100% Affinity) on your Unsheathe attacks. Which doesn't sound so great, unless you know that Greatsword and Hammer Unsheathe Charged attacks count as an Unsheathe attack! This also ignores the Affinity value for the single Unsheathe attack, making a lot of negative Affinity weapons (King Atillart Sword, Ukanlos weapons) MUCH more effective if you accommodate your playing style to it. Almost a must-have for Greatsword, not really needed for Hammers, and other melee weapons really do not use it too well.

Offensive - Ranged

Auto-Reload - This skill is nearly useless for Bow users (if you must know, it allows you to swap between coatings instantly, but this doesn't really help you much as a bow user). It's great for Bowguns, however. It allows you to continually spam shots without having to reload. Sounds great, eh? Except that it also sets your recoil to maximum, which makes many shots very slow to refire. In short, it's awesome with Elemental Bowgun shots and all Normal shots, and pretty crappy with any other shot. It is not compatible with the Light Bowgun's Rapid Fire shots, either. Found first on Death Stench gunner armor.

Capacity Up - Very useful for both Bowguns and Bows, but for different reasons. Bowguns gain one more slot of ammunition for every single ammo type that they can carry (awesome!). Bows gain one additional charge level (even more awesome!) for more damage and possibly a different charge type. The Akantor Bow and the Dragonhead Harp in particular benefit greatly from this skill. Note: Gunlances also benefit from this skill, but it's notoriously difficult to get this on decent Blademaster armor for the weapon. Often received by obtaining a Barrage Piercing, which means completing all the Normal 1st Tier training with ALL weapons (ugh).

Normal/Rapid/Pierce/Scatter Shot Up - These skills boost the damage of their respective shots for bows and bowguns. Normal/Rapid Shot Up increases Normal shots on Bowguns and Rapid shots on Bows by 10%. Pierce increases Pierce shots on Bowguns and Pierce charges on Bows by 10%. Scatter increases the damage by a massive 30% (!) bonus, making it highly effective on Pellet throwing Bowguns. Note that the 30% damage buff for Scatter/Pellet is a CHANGE from previous editions of Monster Hunter.

Defensive

Evade +1/+2 - Increases the invincibility "frames" on rolls and backhops. What this means is that you are invincible for slightly longer (starting with the beginning of the roll animation), and this little bit of invincibility allows you to do all sorts of crazy things like roll or backhop THROUGH fireballs. You can even roll while a monster is roaring, and prevent yourself from being affected by roar stun entirely. Found prominently on Obituary and Nargacuga armor.

Evade Inc - Increases the distance that you can roll. Obviously useful for evading. Found on Nargacuga armor.

Guard +1/Guard +2 - Decreases the stamina loss and pushback for blocking for melee weapons (but not the Heavy Bowgun shield). Found commonly on Gravios, Akantor, and Hermitaur armor. Guard +2 requires 20 points, and isn't worth it, usually, as Guard +1 usually suffices.

Guard Increase - There are a handful of attacks (Gravios beams, Akantor/Ukanlos's beam, etc.) that cannot be blocked normally. Guard Increase allows you to block them. Not especially useful (since you are supposed to avoid these attacks anyway), but if you want to be the ultimate turtle, this is the skill you need to get. Found on Gravios and Akantor armors. Also works for Heavy Bowguns.

High Grade Earplugs/Regular Earplugs - Commonly known as HGE for High Grade Earplugs, it's almost considered a "must have" for many folks, this allows you to fight through monster roars without flinching. Rathalos Soul, Tigrex, Garuga, and Hornetaur armor are popular Earplugs choices in terms of armor.

I'm not really sure about the list for "monsters that need earplugs", but this is a copy/paste from somewhere else:
Monsters that require High Grade: Khezu, Basarios, Gravios, Diablos, Monoblos, Tigrex, Silver Rathalos, Gold Rathian, Lao-Shan Lung, Fatalis, and Akantor.
Monsters that require Earplugs: Yian Garuga, Rathian (except Gold), Rathalos (except Silver), Lunastra, Teostra, Kushala Daora, Congalala, Blangonga, and Rajang.

Note: Nearly all roars can be blocked, making this skill less useful for blocking weapons. However, when you are blocking, you aren't attacking, and with HGE you can attack for free hits while a monster roars.

Quake Resistance: This prevents you from wobbling on your feet when a nearby "quake" attack occurs. Mostly useful against the monkeys (Congalala, Blangonga, Rajang), it is also useful against Shen Gaoren (whose legs cause little quakes when stepping) and Diablos (when he rams a ledge that you are standing on, he causes a small quake). Found on armors made from Blangonga, Shen Gaoren (Indra), and Ukanlos.

Wind Press - Perhaps less useful than High Grade Earplugs, wind press prevents you from being pushed back by flapping wyvern wings and other similar attacks (Chameleos's tail pound). Only Elder dragons require 20 points in this skill to prevent pushback. Found prominently on Diablos armor and Chameleos armor. Some attacks have some anti-wind associated with them (Hammer Charge, Greatsword Charge, Dual Swords Demon Dance).

Note: Nearly all wind presses can be blocked. Since the wyvern is usually hovering while wind is pushing you back, blocking is usually the most sensible option, and thus, Wind Press is less needed for blocking weapons.

Guts - I can't count how many times this skill has saved my butt. Mostly used for G-rank monsters and big bosses, this skill insures that you'll have one health left after an attack that will one-hit kill you, as long as you have at least 65 points of health in reserve. This will save you and your hunts. Learn it, use it, love it. Found prominently on Lavasioth Armor (along with the Focus skill, another useful armor skill).

Utility Skills

Autotracker (AKA Psychic Vision) - 15 points of Psychic Vision gives you Autotracker, which allows you to see where the boss monsters are at ALL times. Found prominently on Tigrex armor, but it's also fairly easy to gem up (8 slots total). The 10 point version (Detect) of this isn't very good, as you still have to paint the darn monster.

Tranquilizing Guru - This skill allows you to see when a monster is ready to be captured (often at 25% health). It's one of my favorites, but unfortunately the jewels for it require Hypnoc parts, which you won't fight until Felyne Elder/HR7-9 missions. It only requires 5 slots to gem, however.

Flute Expert - Hunting Horn only. This skill normally allows you a lower percent chance of your Flutes breaking. Hunting Horns, however, gain an additional minute to the duration of their songs. Only takes 5 slots to jewel up, as well.

Multiplayer Skills

Sneak/Taunt - This skill ONLY works in multiplayer. Sneak means that monsters are less likely to target you. Taunt means that monsters are more likely to target you. It's a small effect, so don't be surprised if you aren't avoiding contact all the time with Sneak or you aren't keeping the monsters attention with Taunt. Don't go out of your way to jewel up these skills, but if they happen to be part of your armor set, then that's great.

Wide Area - This skill allows you to spread the effects of various consumable items to anyone in the same zone as you (including your Felyne Comrades, in single player). Herbs, Potions (but NOT Mega Potions), Antidotes, Power Seeds, and Armor Seeds all can be consumed, and it will heal/boost all of your teammates in the same area. For general use, Lifepowders are probably better, but if you want to be a dedicated healer who can keep teammates healed to full at all times, get this skill. Comes in two levels (Wide Area +1 = 50% healing at 10 points of skill, Wide Area +2 = Full healing at 20 points of skill), found on Red Khezu and some Pink Rathian armor.

ChewyWaffles

WTF I thought that "unite" finally had infrastructure play. Isn't that the point of "unite" vs just plain ol' "2"??

Hahnsoo1

ChewyWaffles wrote: »

WTF I thought that "unite" finally had infrastructure play. Isn't that the point of "unite" vs just plain ol' "2"??

Nope. It does not have infrastructure play. The point of Unite was to port the megapopular Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (which also did not have infrastructure play) to English. Actually, the REAL point is to make more money for Capcom.

Online play will come when Monster Hunter 3 comes to the Wii. Of course, there's a monthly subscription associated with it.

Dyvion

ChewyWaffles wrote: »

WTF I thought that "unite" finally had infrastructure play. Isn't that the point of "unite" vs just plain ol' "2"??

Nope... no infrastructure. At least not in the demo. The hypnocatrice (holy cow that's a mouthful) is just like a more aggressive Kut-Ku with sleep spit... There are three quests in the demo. a 1 star Hypnocatrice in a jungle, a 2 star Plum D. Hermitaur in the desert, and a 3 star Gypceros, Khezu and Congalala in the swamp. You can choose any of the weapons, and they're varried.

I did the Hypnocatrice with a lance, it was a blue rathalos lance as far as I could tell, you always had max hps even after you died... get a few items to play with. Also, you get to choose a melee cat, a bomber cat or a middle of the road cat. Now for the second quest.

e: Second quest down... angry hermitaur. The desert is the same desert from MHF. Familiar stomping grounds. Also, the cat is a VERY nice addition, giving the big bad mean monster another target besides you is infinitely helpful. Hammer worked the same as far as I could tell.

yalborap

Hahnsoo1 wrote: »

ChewyWaffles wrote: »

WTF I thought that "unite" finally had infrastructure play. Isn't that the point of "unite" vs just plain ol' "2"??

Nope. It does not have infrastructure play. The point of Unite was to port the megapopular Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (which also did not have infrastructure play) to English. Actually, the REAL point is to make more money for Capcom.

Online play will come when Monster Hunter 3 comes to the Wii. Of course, there's a monthly subscription associated with it.

Well, we only know that for Japan. They might decide to not go for that here, since they wouldn't need as much infrastructure and it would further damage sales.

Crotchless Gorilla Suit

yalborap wrote: »

Hahnsoo1 wrote: »

ChewyWaffles wrote: »

WTF I thought that "unite" finally had infrastructure play. Isn't that the point of "unite" vs just plain ol' "2"??

Nope. It does not have infrastructure play. The point of Unite was to port the megapopular Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (which also did not have infrastructure play) to English. Actually, the REAL point is to make more money for Capcom.

Online play will come when Monster Hunter 3 comes to the Wii. Of course, there's a monthly subscription associated with it.

Well, we only know that for Japan. They might decide to not go for that here, since they wouldn't need as much infrastructure and it would further damage sales.

I'm pretty sure that all iterations of MH on the ps2 were pay-2-play infrastructure.

So, unless Capcom is completely overhauling their marketing strategies outside of Japan, (which they should), then I would guess that it is probably going to be the same on the Wii.

Kaseius

The reason I want to use great swords:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9NYYewCSxo

Dashui

Crotchless Gorilla Suit wrote: »

yalborap wrote: »

Hahnsoo1 wrote: »

ChewyWaffles wrote: »

WTF I thought that "unite" finally had infrastructure play. Isn't that the point of "unite" vs just plain ol' "2"??

Nope. It does not have infrastructure play. The point of Unite was to port the megapopular Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (which also did not have infrastructure play) to English. Actually, the REAL point is to make more money for Capcom.

Online play will come when Monster Hunter 3 comes to the Wii. Of course, there's a monthly subscription associated with it.

Well, we only know that for Japan. They might decide to not go for that here, since they wouldn't need as much infrastructure and it would further damage sales.

I'm pretty sure that all iterations of MH on the ps2 were pay-2-play infrastructure.

So, unless Capcom is completely overhauling their marketing strategies outside of Japan, (which they should), then I would guess that it is probably going to be the same on the Wii.

I don't remember having to pay ANY fee to play it online on my PS2. This news that Monster Hunter 3 requires a fee, at least in Japan, is distressing. I hope that's not how it's going to be State-side.

Dyvion

3rd quest down. The Khezu was a cakewalk, but it has a new 'trip' looking animation where it lunges forward. The gypceros was a cakewalk, but it can jump the length of the map instead of just sprinting now... kinda surprising if you don't know it can. And the green Congolala is an annoying pain in the rear. He can fling 3 poo balls and he has a super fart where he flings you up into the air. The windup for both are pretty obvious. I started the 3rd quest with 8 deoderants and I thought that was some serious overkill, but I used them all. Completed it with the poison greatsword. I'm looking forward to Unite. Might hop on Kai and see if anyone has the Unite demo later for some ad hoc goodness. (wife aggro for some movies right now.)

iusehappymod

I just finished all three quests adhoc'd with my roommate. Neither of us are great at MHF2, but were getting there, so this was a lot of fun.

Elderlycrawfish

Yay, new thread! Excellent OP!

Pet the pig is superstition. Or at least, I'm in that camp. We could probably argue it til the felynes came home. It's nice to pay him some attention though, the cute lil feller!

Anyone remember how big the demo download is? I might as well start clearing some space on my memory stick while I wait to go home......

iusehappymod

189 megs? I think.

MinionOfCthulhu

July? I thought it'd be out by now.

ze swift class

I thought the release date was June 24/26 for US?

Airan

Apologies chaps, the release date is indeed June 23 for US and June 26 for EU. I'll rectify that now. Panic over! :P
Also added some tidbits from Hahnsoo1's post.

yalborap

So out of curiosity, how much do people usually worry about things like health recovery items? Do you keep a full stock and go on gathering runs any time you run low, or do you pretty much just grab all the items you can on all your other runs and take what you can into glorious battle?

Dis

Where's the cat and pig monster hunter videos?

Airan

yalborap wrote: »

So out of curiosity, how much do people usually worry about things like health recovery items? Do you keep a full stock and go on gathering runs any time you run low, or do you pretty much just grab all the items you can on all your other runs and take what you can into glorious battle?

I tend to restock everything back before each serious mission in MHF2 - most of the potions are easily made with the Pokke farm, though back when my farm wasn't very well stocked I made several trips on random missions, grabbed the materials then quit the mission.

Mugaaz

If you don't carry 10 megas and 10 regular potions every quest you are not carrying your weight in the group unless you never get hit anyway.

scootch

I bought a psp yesterday. I'm liking it quite a bit and hope to set up my ps3 for online play.

Airan

I just tried the demo, took me back to when I was a complete MHF2 newb, had to get used to the controls again :^:

For some reason watching the intro vid made me really remorseful for killing so many monsters, when their skins get turned in mere armor pieces for hunters to wear :P

The felyne buddy is a great addition, helpfully distracts the boss so I can heal, use a whetstone, whatever. Also useful in knocking me out of dazed state too! The melee one seems to be the most reliable for me at the moment. The bomber does fuck all damage, and the 'Support' doesn't really support me in any meaningful way. Where's my heals/buffs!

Elderlycrawfish

Watching the intro vid mostly wanted me to have a pet/pack mule aptonoth to take around. That'd be pretty cool to have a mobile inventory follow you around.

Also, no remorse for killing monsters. In fact, I kind of wish we could do more than just armor and weapons with the stuff you hunt/gather. Pimp out your house with silver los scaled-wallpaper! Ruby-studded equipment chests! Chandeliers made from thoracics, brainstems, and eyeballs--


Well, maybe internal organs don't make for good interior design. But you get the idea.

Hahnsoo1

Rub the Pig is superstition. That's pretty much all I'll say about that.

Dyvion

Hahnsoo1 wrote: »

Rub the Pig is superstition. That's pretty much all I'll say about that.

scootch

I can't figure out trapping

Renzo

scootch wrote: »

I can't figure out trapping

Damage the monster until it starts limping. Set a pitfall trap and let the monster fall into it. Pelt the monster with tranq bombs until it falls asleep. Done.

It's easier said than done, obviously.

scootch

I was doing monster hunt tutorial and I think Giadrome (?) was my target. I didn't even know he was weakened.. he just fell over dead and I got a mission cleared message. :P

Renzo

scootch wrote: »

I was doing monster hunt tutorial and I think Giadrome (?) was my target. I didn't even know he was weakened.. he just fell over dead and I got a mission cleared message. :P

Some of the larger enemies are more obvious when they're hurt.

Mantra

Some aren't. The hermitaur just bleeds purple blood from the mouth. Being as it's almost the same colour as him it's hard to spot sometimes. Most enemies will limp like hell when you injure them. I think the Yian Kut-Ku is probably the first to do this.

Hahnsoo1

If you hit the monster with more than 3 Tranq Bombs after it's in a trap, and it doesn't go to sleep, then you haven't damaged the monster enough (in other words, it should only take 3 Tranq Bombs to capture a monster). For the 'Drome monsters, I count the precise number of hits it takes to kill them, then subtract 4 or 5 from that number when I try to trap them. It sucks, but they don't have a decent "tell" that allows you to capture them easily.

yalborap

A good rule of thumb is that, at least on most of the lower level monsters(I've never gone up against the real high-end stuff), the thing will start trying to run off and heal when you've banged it up pretty bad.

Brian

Takes 2 tranqs for every monster I've ever caught.

iusehappymod

1-2 tranqs. Never 3.

Lagnar

I havent played any monster hunter games since Freedom 1, and the fact that this can work through the ps3 makes me interested. Gona try the demo out and see what I think.

Hahnsoo1

yalborap wrote: »

A good rule of thumb is that, at least on most of the lower level monsters(I've never gone up against the real high-end stuff), the thing will start trying to run off and heal when you've banged it up pretty bad.

Except that the 'Dromes will run off anyway at a random time, even if it's not heavily damaged. Which is why capturing the 'Dromes can be a pain in the butt.

Hahnsoo1

Lagnar wrote: »

I havent played any monster hunter games since Freedom 1, and the fact that this can work through the ps3 makes me interested. Gona try the demo out and see what I think.

Actually, Ad-Hoc Party works for a lot of Ad Hoc Multiplayer games on the PSP. It just "officially" supports Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G and Phantasy Star Portable. That really just means that Sony doesn't think it will mess up when those two games are involved.

LCDXX

Speaking of Ad-Hoc Party, has there been any news about an English version? Is it still in "beta" over in Japan?

Airan

It's still in perpetual beta, Sony probably can't be bothered to do the full range of tests and just let users report issues with different games.

Has anyone been able to cut off Hypnoc's tail? I've tried several times with Long sword and despite purple sharpness his tail simply won't come off. Might just try Great Sword next time.