Yeah, I really wouldn't try to make everything right from the get-go. I mean, a Hermitaur armor set with Guard+1 wouldn't really make much sense if you used a hammer, longsword, or duals; why make your blocking ability better when you can't block at all?
The same goes for weapons too; while it's great to have variety, you certainly don't have to own every single one. I've got almost all the hammers in the game, but there's only about 2 or 3 that I actually use. The rest are collector's items. :P
I just started a new character this weekend, and I've had some luck with malachite in jungle, snowy mountains, and swamp. I just bring pickaxes with me all the time now, and hope for the best. Swamp's got a chance of dropping lightcrystals though, so it's certainly not a bad place to mine.
H..how can you make a new character? My god, I've still probably a hundred quests to clear, including training missions, and I would hate to go through that shit over again. Luckily this time around you can import your Unite file into a fresh character but with tons of cash so I might just try a female char so I don't look so damn ugly in some of these armor sets...
Airan on
0
MonkeyConQuesoNo more MH ClawHappy handsRegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
I've had crap for luck in the Snowy Mountains (Ice Crystals, ARGH!), and average in the Jungle. The swap has been giving up the most at a time, AND if I feel like padding Poke Points, I can mine for that dang Soothstone. Bringing a Horn on gathering trips rocks.
Any ways, I may actually build a Hermitaur Armor set, and gem it. I enjoy using SnS and Lance/Gun Lance so far, so it may be a good investment. The Kut-Ku armor got me up to Plesioth, so it's done it's job well enough.
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Okay, I got the demo of Unite and decided to try it last night. It's got 3 quests, 1 star, 2 star and 3 star. I figure I'd go for the easiest one and get a feel for the game. I take the character with a bow, and take a support kitty companion. Head out into the wilds to kill the Hypnocockadoodledoo, and proceed to plink arrows at it, set traps and blow up barrels in it's face... for 45 damn minutes. Without killing it. Without it killing me. It was an excercise in patience to actually keep playing, instead of trying to kill the thing.
So I figured I was doing something wrong. maybe the bow just isn't a very good weapon. This morning I'd try dual swords. I keep my distance from the thing, wait for it to stop flailing around like a retard and spitting shit at me, and I got in, get a few hits in, back off, let it flail, repeat. Even get it on the ground a few times and get some combos in on it. For 45 damn minutes. By now my bus is nearly at work and I turn it off.
Is the full game like this? I have a feeling they give you some retardedly awful gear in the demo, but then that means it's a pretty awful demo, and I'd like to give Capcom the benefit of the doubt. Either I was doing something really wrong, or this game just isn't for me. I'm a patient person, but when i play a portable game, I like to feel that I can play it for an hour on the way to work and, I dunno, accomplish something.
Nice, you managed to chose the two weakest weapons in the game to try first, in terms of normal attacks :P
The demo actually gives you top rank gear (purple sharpness is the sharpest you're gonna get), but bows do piss poor damage in general relative to other weapons but offers good mobility and infinite ammo compared to the other ranged option, bowguns, and dual sword's general strategy of attack is to use the Demon Dance (press R with your weapon out to activate Demon mode, then press X+O together. Demon mode consumes stamina) whenever you can - other attacks are there to use while you're regaining stamina to use more Demon Dance, in my opinion.
As for bow, make sure you're charging your pulls to increase the damage and change the shot type to something more effective. General rule is the higher the charge the more damage the arrow(s) will inflict, though sometimes you might just want to spam arrows for maximum DPS (for example, when the Hypnoc is paralyzed by a shock trap). I can't remember if the demo gave you arrow coatings, but use those too before wading into battle (press X+O to coat your arrows with the highlighted coating), pelt the monster with enough paralyze shots and it will be shocked for a few seconds, where you can then select another coating (but not coat, that wastes time) and just spam normal arrows in the monster's general direction.
Airan on
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Believe me, I was using that special stance whenever I could and keeping the swords sharp with whetstones. I'll give it another go tonight with the long sword (the great sword pisses me off. I blame FF for popularizing swords so ridiculously big that no one could possibly use them in combat). Maybe i'll have more success with the long sword.
edit - Honestly, I want to like this game. I even don't mind the camera, the biggest gripe I've seen for the game. But first impressions and all that. Haven't worked well for me so far.
-Loki- on
0
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Edit: Blah blah blah. Short version: I was able to fit hunts into 15 minute breaks; every new player has this experience. "Holy crap this game is hard and killing things takes forever!" Yes, when you don't know what you're doing at all. You'll get better at it, tangibly so.
Believe me, I was using that special stance whenever I could and keeping the swords sharp with whetstones. I'll give it another go tonight with the long sword (the great sword pisses me off. I blame FF for popularizing swords so ridiculously big that no one could possibly use them in combat). Maybe i'll have more success with the long sword.
edit - Honestly, I want to like this game. I even don't mind the camera, the biggest gripe I've seen for the game. But first impressions and all that. Haven't worked well for me so far.
Takes me about 5-8 minutes to finish the first demo mission. This game is all about improving your own skills, not your character's skills.
For what it's worth, I hated many things about this franchise the first time I played it. The controls seemed slow and clunky and there were quite a few things that were unexplained or just didn't make sense, but I stuck through it, and now it is one of my favorite games of all time.
Demon dance is Triangle + circle, not x. So is applying coatings.
The other thing you have to remember about the demo, is that while you do have some fairly higher level gear, you are also fighting the new g-ranked monsters, stuff you won't even see until the really high level (G-ranked) quests. The learning curve is a different story when you're fighting a Kut-Ku with 500 hitpoints, as opposed to a hypnocatrice with 4000.
Trying to hit key areas of a monster will also come into play, you'll learn. Hitting the legs alot will usually cause a monster to eventually fall over (good chance for free hits/long combos), but the legs themselves are usually not a "softspot" for taking damage. Most critters are weaker in some body parts, especially to different attack/element types. Going for the head, or the tail, or a soft underbelly is often the best way to dole out the damage.
Elderlycrawfish on
PSN/Steam - Elderlycrawfish
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Honestly, the only thing I think it needed was a health bar for the monster. I wouldn't have minded it taking so long if I just knew how much longer I had left to go.
Honestly, the only thing I think it needed was a health bar for the monster. I wouldn't have minded it taking so long if I just knew how much longer I had left to go.
Monsters act different when they're near death.
Pata on
Episode 5: Mecha-World, Mecha-nisim, Mecha-beasts
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
A health bar is a more immediately visible way of showing health. It shows how much health they have left, not just 'it's near death'.
H..how can you make a new character? My god, I've still probably a hundred quests to clear, including training missions, and I would hate to go through that shit over again. Luckily this time around you can import your Unite file into a fresh character but with tons of cash so I might just try a female char so I don't look so damn ugly in some of these armor sets...
For a few reasons:
1. I'm crazy
2. It's a female character, same reason you stated
3. I'm crazy
4. I'd forgotten how it is to play from scratch, to have no money, to have to scrimp and save and desperately hold onto every green herb and blue mushroom I find. It's quite refreshing, really.
5. I'm crazy
6. It's a sort of dare/challenge I've got going w/ someone. We started fresh characters, we're gonna n00b it up online, and most importantly, we're only allowed to use one weapon type: Gunlance.
7. I'm-- ah, you get the idea.
8. I never use gunlance, this is actually forcing me to try it and I hate to admit it, but I'm warming up to it.
Elderlycrawfish on
PSN/Steam - Elderlycrawfish
0
LCDXXA flask of wood and glassTerre Haute, INRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited August 2009
Okay, it's bugging me so I have to ask:
Elder 5* quests... I've "completed" them all, but on the main Elder menu, "Clear!!" is shown in red text. Not the usual pink/magenta "Clear!!".
How do I go from red to pink? I take it I have to finish an elder dragon? Right? I've smashed Lunastra's shit 3 times - never killed her - she ran away each time. But now she's no longer listed in 5* quests. WTF?
What is the difference between the colored texts for "Clear!!"?
A health bar is a more immediately visible way of showing health. It shows how much health they have left, not just 'it's near death'.
Then it'd be Pokemon?
Part of the "thrill" is that you have to figure these things out for yourself. Honestly, it doesn't take very long when you get the hang of it and start to find your niche in the game. Though, if the idea of going up against large to huge to massive, DEADLY, monsters with only your wits and gear that may, or may not, help doesn't appeal to you, then it may not be for you. If it does, then seriously give it a chance as it's highly rewarding.
It means you've cleared all the quests that were available at the time, but that there's probably something that is either unlocked or, like with the elder quests, rotates. It's possible it's a lunastra or chameleos quest in a different area, and that you beat it only in one particular zone but not the other.
Later, some things like gold ian/silver los are unlockable after beating 100 wyverns, or fatalis quests that might require some training school work to unlock. Mostly, it's that the elder quests are usually in 2 different areas, and it's a matter of waiting for the rotation.
Elderlycrawfish on
PSN/Steam - Elderlycrawfish
0
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
One color means every quest currently in the list is clear, but there's some not-appearing ones you haven't finished yet. The other color means you've got 'em all. I forget which is which.
LCDXXA flask of wood and glassTerre Haute, INRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited August 2009
Okay, that makes perfect sense. I'm pretty sure it's Lunastra. She's fled on me too often. Kirin and Chammy have been taken down - dead - multiple times each, but Luna just keeps taken off after some smacking around.
A health bar is a more immediately visible way of showing health. It shows how much health they have left, not just 'it's near death'.
A health bar would take all the skill out of capturing. You wouldn't have to watch for the signs that it's weak. (For instance, Kut-Ku's ears will droop, and Kuzeu will rage every other attack) and just wait for the bar to hit the right level.
Pata on
Episode 5: Mecha-World, Mecha-nisim, Mecha-beasts
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Anyway, i'm going to give it another go tonight. I want to like the game, and I need a good new game for my PSP at the moment, since it's going to be a bit of a wait for Assassins Creed and Pixeljunk Monsters Deluxe. If I can get to grips with the system, I'll buy the PSN version, since having the ability to quickly jump in and spend 30 minutes killing a monster without having to swap discs sounds like a good idea.
I started a new character, too, although I wanted to get a few dozen hours playing him before telling anyone. Basically, he's a Pokke Farmer. I am ONLY going to be making weapons and armor that can be made from either bought materials in the town or directly from the Pokke Farm. I don't gather in any missions and I sell off EVERYTHING that I earn in the rewards. I don't even carve monsters. After about 10 hours, I have farmed out an Iron Katana Gospel (damn those Machalite and Earth Crystals... only one mining point = many runs to get ore). Iron Katana Gospel totally wrecks all of the early missions, including HR 1 to HR2. I'm looking forward to the day Trenya brings back some Khezu parts so that I can make an Eager Cleaver and basically destroy all of the Elder missions.
It takes so disgustingly long to farm out the materials needed for even basic weapons, and I still don't know what I'm going to do about armor (I have a full set of Battle Armor, Blademaster, but I can't think of any other set that I can make from just Pokke Farm materials). Fortunately, hundreds of hours playing the game have made me less dependent on the actual armor rating.
Also, a complete lack of a health bar for the monster is actually one of "features" that appeals to me about monster hunter. I was actually disappointed when I found out that Monster Hunter used a traditional "hit point" system in the background, and I was hoping that it had something more complex (the damage calculations ARE quite complex, so that's sufficient for me).
So I have each of the regular volcano ruststones, and I've found that my counter is to the point I could make a rusted version of any one of the weapon, which one should I go for? I heard ruststone weapons weren't that good except for a couple.
Hooolllleee crap Hahnsoo, that is seriously way too hardcore for me to wrap my head around. At least Trenya is an option, I mean, you're still pretty limited but there's a slight chance of getting some monster parts from that avenue.
Dracil, while the default rusted/ancient weapons are often considered lackluster, the thing about the paths is that they also branch into some of the elder dragon-based weapons; you could make the Eternal Strife SnS, or branch to the excellent Daora Ice SnS instead. Also, the description of the stone sets it for that particular weapon type, so a small ruststone will only make sns (or whatever it does), while a large only make whatever it does. Basically, you'll have to find the ruststone type to correspond with the weapon type you want to make. Then go through the process of trying to actually craft the ancient weapon.....
Elderlycrawfish on
PSN/Steam - Elderlycrawfish
0
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
I've always rather liked Eternal Strife. It was great on Luna, Teo, and Chameleos in MH2, though they nerfed its dragon element a little since. It was also nice on Kusha, provided you could poison the jerk first.
While the ice SnS might be a top-grade model, what the heck are you going to use it on? It certainly doesn't have the reach to do more than tickle Monoblos and Cephadrome dies easily to far less expensive weapons. Rajang is the only other monster I can think of with a real ice weakness, whereas every Elder dragon but Kirin is an Eternal Strife pincushion. Also, the original Japanese name for the ice sword is Extremo Daora. See? It's stupid, don't make it!
Isle of Demons is also a nice bowgun if you intend to crag or clust shot things to death. It loads 3 at a time, a helluva lot more than many other bowguns can speak of, and the 1,000z cost simply cannot be beat.
Honestly despite the nerfs received since MH1, rust stone weapons are still useful, especially if you're skillful. Breath Core was my go-to weapon for Kirin-slaying, and with Basic Earplugs it's also wonderful for knocking the bitch right out of that Rathian. Ancient Plate takes care of Lao Shan-Lung, Rathian, Rathalos, etc. I even managed to take Gravios with it in MH2.
The only one I have trouble using is Underlayer. It was the 5th strongest lance overall in MH1 (and my favorite weapon period, so cool looking), but it got nerfed much harder than the other weapons and just no longer performs like it used to. It pains me, but I consider it pretty useless. It feels like even lances with lower stats outperform it.
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 30% 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.
More as I think of them. These are the most requested skills on armor sets, in the threads that I've seen.
I've always rather liked Eternal Strife. It was great on Luna, Teo, and Chameleos in MH2, though they nerfed its dragon element a little since. It was also nice on Kusha, provided you could poison the jerk first.
While the ice SnS might be a top-grade model, what the heck are you going to use it on? It certainly doesn't have the reach to do more than tickle Monoblos and Cephadrome dies easily to far less expensive weapons. Rajang is the only other monster I can think of with a real ice weakness, whereas every Elder dragon but Kirin is an Eternal Strife pincushion.
All of the new color variants in Unite are significantly weak to Ice, although I probably wouldn't use it on Yamatsukami (who is also weak to Ice). And I've seen folks use the Ice SnS on Diablos/Monoblos quite effectively. It's not MY personal choice of weapon, but hey... different strokes and all that.
Hahnsoo1 on
0
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Flute Expert also increases the effects of horn flutes very slightly. You heal more, or gain higher attack/defense. It's only a few points, but it's something.
Flute Expert also increases the effects of horn flutes very slightly. You heal more, or gain higher attack/defense. It's only a few points, but it's something.
Testing this in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Armor Flutes and Demon Flutes don't give additional points for having Flute Expert. I get 52 Attack boost on an 1170 Hunting Horn and a 40 Defense boost, with and without Flute Expert. Not sure if it boosts things in other Monster Hunter games.
Hahnsoo1 on
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
I've decided that if, in the next few times I try the demo, I can kill a monster (any), I'll buy this. But man, it's irritating.
I've decided that if, in the next few times I try the demo, I can kill a monster (any), I'll buy this. But man, it's irritating.
There are folks at my workplace (who have never played monster hunter) that took about 20 hours before they could kill any of the monsters in the demo. It's really not a good indication of what the actual game is like, although it does have some nice tutorial screenshots of all the weapons in the help files. This is basically the demo that they used at all of the conventions and dev conferences to showcase Unite. It's not a demo designed to "sell" the game, per se... it was their existing demo of the game that they repackaged as a consumer demo.
In the real game, you can make your own weapons, fight monsters with items that you choose to bring along, and go through a natural progression of learning how to fight monsters with your chosen weapon, rather than being thrown into preset conditions with an arbitrary high level monster. You are fighting against some difficult monsters, which veteran monster hunters will find easy simply because they have built up over 100 hours of playtime (and thus, battle experience) against similar monsters.
Hypnoc is a bit easier with the Longsword, as it has range and damage. I found Longswords to be easier to use when I started out against the bird wyverns than other weapon classes. Use the Circle button to poke, then follow up with a Triangle+Circle attack to backhop while slicing. This stable combo will allow you to not be greedy (as our motto indicates) and allows you to play defensively while still dealing good damage. Another more advanced technique is charging a Super Pound (hold down the Right button while using a Hammer) and "Super Pound snipe" him. Stand still, and release the R button for a two hit attack (if you spin around, you've done the wrong attack... this is what happens if you move while releasing R), then roll away or simply run away. Recharge another one, move in, stand still release. Wash, rinse repeat.
Plum Hermitaur is a variant of regular Daimyo Hermitaur. If you crouch underneath him, there is literally no attack that he can do that you can't dodge. Of course, you can't attack him while doing this, so I don't suggest it. But using that principle, you can take a mobile weapon like Sword and Shield or Hammer and roll to his side, then turn and pound the legs. With a Lance or Gunlance, simply sit there and hold block in front of it. If it does the front "shoo, go away" claw attack, block it and stab him once or twice. If he does the "Crab hug" claw attack, block it, then turn around and stab him (since he'll have moved past you after the attack) a few times. If he leaps up in the air, backhop, then block it, then stab him. I'm told (by the non-Monster Hunters) that he was fairly simple to beat with a Lance/Gunlance, if a bit tedious.
Hahnsoo1 on
0
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
Flute Expert also increases the effects of horn flutes very slightly. You heal more, or gain higher attack/defense. It's only a few points, but it's something.
Testing this in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Armor Flutes and Demon Flutes don't give additional points for having Flute Expert. I get 52 Attack boost on an 1170 Hunting Horn and a 40 Defense boost, with and without Flute Expert. Not sure if it boosts things in other Monster Hunter games.
Okay, that's weird , swear that info came from a Freedom 2 FAQ; there's next to no English technical info on Dos and skills barely existed in MH1. Maybe it was info from Monster Hunter G? I did create a few guides for it...
I've played too many different versions of each game. Sometimes they run together
I've decided that if, in the next few times I try the demo, I can kill a monster (any), I'll buy this. But man, it's irritating.
There are folks at my workplace (who have never played monster hunter) that took about 20 hours before they could kill any of the monsters in the demo. It's really not a good indication of what the actual game is like, although it does have some nice tutorial screenshots of all the weapons in the help files. This is basically the demo that they used at all of the conventions and dev conferences to showcase Unite. It's not a demo designed to "sell" the game, per se... it was their existing demo of the game that they repackaged as a consumer demo.
In the real game, you can make your own weapons, fight monsters with items that you choose to bring along, and go through a natural progression of learning how to fight monsters with your chosen weapon, rather than being thrown into preset conditions with an arbitrary high level monster. You are fighting against some difficult monsters, which veteran monster hunters will find easy simply because they have built up over 100 hours of playtime (and thus, battle experience) against similar monsters.
You see, this just irritates me. Demos like this don't help. They're early previews for people who already know they want the game. For people on the fence who want to try the thing before they buy it, the demo is useless. It doesn't show what they are getting when they buy it. That makes me less interested in dropping $60 on this, since I'm back to square one. I have no fucking idea what the games going to be like.
You see, this just irritates me. Demos like this don't help. They're early previews for people who already know they want the game. For people on the fence who want to try the thing before they buy it, the demo is useless. It doesn't show what they are getting when they buy it. That makes me less interested in dropping $60 on this, since I'm back to square one. I have no fucking idea what the games going to be like.
It's 60 bucks in Australia? Even with the exchange rate to the US Dollar (0.8 something today), that price is eyepopping (I checked on .au websites just to be sure!0. That's, like, the price of a PS2 or PC game over on this side of the pond. It's less than 30 USD everywhere in the US. Folks have dropped 20 USD on this game here...
You can take away from the demo the basic mechanics of the game (monsters don't have health bars, Triangle and Circle do combination attacks with the weapons, etc.), as well as the brutal difficulty of the game. You may have to take it on faith that the game is excellent (as I and everyone else in this thread can claim), but I will be the first to admit that Monster Hunter isn't for everyone. But the real game is far far better than the demo will ever be.
By the way, Demos for games nowadays are just eyesores. The "try before you buy" mentality is totally gone from the developers' minds. They often are 1 gig downloads that give you less than 30 minutes of play and aren't any fun at all. I wonder why they even bother making demos anymore if they're going to shovel out crap. For example, the Call of Duty: World at War Co-Op demo let's you play one frickin' mission that lasts maybe 15 minutes. Instead of giving you a level in Nazi Zombies (which would be a huge selling point, at least for me), they give you a stupid mission that has no replay value at all. The only demos that I've really enjoyed are the PS3 Pixeljunk ones, and even then, the demos are the FULL GAMES without an unlock key.
EDIT: I lie. Patapon Demo was awesomely fun, and it progressed directly into the full game. These kinds of demos are few and far between, however.
I’ll tell you what happens in Demon’s Souls when you die. You come back as a ghost with your health capped at half. And when you keep on dying, the alignment of the world turns black and the enemies get harder. That’s right, when you fail in this game, it gets harder. Why? Because fuck you is why.
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
It's 60 bucks in Australia? Even with the exchange rate to the US Dollar (0.8 something today), that price is eyepopping (I checked on .au websites just to be sure!0. That's, like, the price of a PS2 or PC game over on this side of the pond. It's less than 30 USD everywhere in the US. Folks have dropped 20 USD on this game here...
Game prices here have always been ridiculous. We pay $100-$120 for a brand new PS3/360 game, $90-$100 for a brand new PC game and $60-$80 for a brand new hand held games. Nintendo are the only ones is reasonable prices - sometimes. Their good first party Wii games run $100 every time.
You can take away from the demo the basic mechanics of the game (monsters don't have health bars, Triangle and Circle do combination attacks with the weapons, etc.), as well as the brutal difficulty of the game. You may have to take it on faith that the game is excellent (as I and everyone else in this thread can claim), but I will be the first to admit that Monster Hunter isn't for everyone. But the real game is far far better than the demo will ever be.
The difficulty doesn't bother me too much. I don't mind hard game - I just don't like cheap games, or games where they are hard because they are sticking to old control methods that simply suck (hi Dracula X Chronicles).
By the way, Demos for games nowadays are just eyesores. The "try before you buy" mentality is totally gone from the developers' minds. They often are 1 gig downloads that give you less than 30 minutes of play and aren't any fun at all. I wonder why they even bother making demos anymore if they're going to shovel out crap. For example, the Call of Duty: World at War Co-Op demo let's you play one frickin' mission that lasts maybe 15 minutes. Instead of giving you a level in Nazi Zombies (which would be a huge selling point, at least for me), they give you a stupid mission that has no replay value at all. The only demos that I've really enjoyed are the PS3 Pixeljunk ones, and even then, the demos are the FULL GAMES without an unlock key.
EDIT: I lie. Patapon Demo was awesomely fun, and it progressed directly into the full game. These kinds of demos are few and far between, however.
Nearly all demos I've tried lately have been pretty good. Red Faction Guerrilla, infamous, Batman, hell, even demos for bad games like Fracture and Haze have done a decent job of showing what the full game will be like. Making a good demo shouldn't be that hard. Even if it's just the tutorial area and a bit beyond it, it shows what the games aiming at and helps you with it. Dropping you at end game areas in a game that's defined by player skill is ridiculous.
Nearly all demos I've tried lately have been pretty good. Red Faction Guerrilla, infamous, Batman, hell, even demos for bad games like Fracture and Haze have done a decent job of showing what the full game will be like. Making a good demo shouldn't be that hard. Even if it's just the tutorial area and a bit beyond it, it shows what the games aiming at and helps you with it. Dropping you at end game areas in a game that's defined by player skill is ridiculous.
To be fair, Plum Daimyo Hermitaur and Hypnocatrice are considered easy (almost hilariously so) among the G-rank monsters. By the time Monster Hunter vets reach them, they are a walk in the park even without good gear (I was able to beat both of them in about 6 minutes with a hammer without drinking a single potion). But fighting a Hypnocatrice with high level gear (like in the demo) will be just as frustrating as fighting a Kut-Ku with low level gear, if you haven't developed the skills for it. I didn't feel like it was a cheap shot on the part of the devs, especially since the gear that you get for all of the weapon classes are so great (in my opinion). But again, the non-monster hunters that I've known who have played the demo found it to be exceedingly difficult, and I don't think their experience would have been different if they were given starter weapons and had to fight, say, an Elder Congalala.
Again, the game is very much worth a purchase, in my opinion. Of course, I've spent about 1000 hours on the series. But don't take my word for it. Lots of folks had reservations before purchasing the game, especially after the demo, and the positive experiences were vindicated in the end. Not sure about folks who didn't like the game after the purchase, but I haven't really run into any yet.
Still, I thought the Red Faction demo was passable, but inFamous and Batman were terrible for me. But the games you are listing are mostly shooters or third-person beat-em-ups, and demos for those games entail tossing you into a level with some enemies for 15 minutes. Not worth the 1 gig download times, IMO.
Hahnsoo1 on
0
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
Nearly all demos I've tried lately have been pretty good. Red Faction Guerrilla, infamous, Batman, hell, even demos for bad games like Fracture and Haze have done a decent job of showing what the full game will be like. Making a good demo shouldn't be that hard. Even if it's just the tutorial area and a bit beyond it, it shows what the games aiming at and helps you with it. Dropping you at end game areas in a game that's defined by player skill is ridiculous.
To be fair, Plum Daimyo Hermitaur and Hypnocatrice are considered easy (almost hilariously so) among the G-rank monsters. By the time Monster Hunter vets reach them, they are a walk in the park even without good gear (I was able to beat both of them in about 6 minutes with a hammer without drinking a single potion). But fighting a Hypnocatrice with high level gear (like in the demo) will be just as frustrating as fighting a Kut-Ku with low level gear, if you haven't developed the skills for it. I didn't feel like it was a cheap shot on the part of the devs, especially since the gear that you get for all of the weapon classes are so great (in my opinion). But again, the non-monster hunters that I've known who have played the demo found it to be exceedingly difficult, and I don't think their experience would have been different if they were given starter weapons and had to fight, say, an Elder Congalala.
That's the thing though. If they started it at the start of the game, and gave you all the tutorial stuff/information and a few low level quests, it's a much better first impression. Because you are at the start of the game and have the information you need to actually see how it works. Throwing you at end game enemies, with nothing except 'pick a weapon, pick a kitty cat, go get your ass kicked and figure out why you suck yourself' is a terrible way to do a demo. They might as well not have the demo. That way they don't get the portion of people that play the demo and just forget it.
The games I listed either give you gameplay tips as you go (all of them) on how to do things, or put you in the tutorial/starting area (Batman and Haze). It gives people an idea of what to do. Sure, it's a bit of hand holding, but when games are as complex as they are these days (and Monster Hunter is pretty fucking complex), a little hand holding in a demo goes a long way.
Posts
The same goes for weapons too; while it's great to have variety, you certainly don't have to own every single one. I've got almost all the hammers in the game, but there's only about 2 or 3 that I actually use. The rest are collector's items. :P
I just started a new character this weekend, and I've had some luck with malachite in jungle, snowy mountains, and swamp. I just bring pickaxes with me all the time now, and hope for the best. Swamp's got a chance of dropping lightcrystals though, so it's certainly not a bad place to mine.
Any ways, I may actually build a Hermitaur Armor set, and gem it. I enjoy using SnS and Lance/Gun Lance so far, so it may be a good investment. The Kut-Ku armor got me up to Plesioth, so it's done it's job well enough.
Destiny! : Warlock - Titan - Hunter
So I figured I was doing something wrong. maybe the bow just isn't a very good weapon. This morning I'd try dual swords. I keep my distance from the thing, wait for it to stop flailing around like a retard and spitting shit at me, and I got in, get a few hits in, back off, let it flail, repeat. Even get it on the ground a few times and get some combos in on it. For 45 damn minutes. By now my bus is nearly at work and I turn it off.
Is the full game like this? I have a feeling they give you some retardedly awful gear in the demo, but then that means it's a pretty awful demo, and I'd like to give Capcom the benefit of the doubt. Either I was doing something really wrong, or this game just isn't for me. I'm a patient person, but when i play a portable game, I like to feel that I can play it for an hour on the way to work and, I dunno, accomplish something.
The demo actually gives you top rank gear (purple sharpness is the sharpest you're gonna get), but bows do piss poor damage in general relative to other weapons but offers good mobility and infinite ammo compared to the other ranged option, bowguns, and dual sword's general strategy of attack is to use the Demon Dance (press R with your weapon out to activate Demon mode, then press X+O together. Demon mode consumes stamina) whenever you can - other attacks are there to use while you're regaining stamina to use more Demon Dance, in my opinion.
As for bow, make sure you're charging your pulls to increase the damage and change the shot type to something more effective. General rule is the higher the charge the more damage the arrow(s) will inflict, though sometimes you might just want to spam arrows for maximum DPS (for example, when the Hypnoc is paralyzed by a shock trap). I can't remember if the demo gave you arrow coatings, but use those too before wading into battle (press X+O to coat your arrows with the highlighted coating), pelt the monster with enough paralyze shots and it will be shocked for a few seconds, where you can then select another coating (but not coat, that wastes time) and just spam normal arrows in the monster's general direction.
edit - Honestly, I want to like this game. I even don't mind the camera, the biggest gripe I've seen for the game. But first impressions and all that. Haven't worked well for me so far.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
Takes me about 5-8 minutes to finish the first demo mission. This game is all about improving your own skills, not your character's skills.
For what it's worth, I hated many things about this franchise the first time I played it. The controls seemed slow and clunky and there were quite a few things that were unexplained or just didn't make sense, but I stuck through it, and now it is one of my favorite games of all time.
The other thing you have to remember about the demo, is that while you do have some fairly higher level gear, you are also fighting the new g-ranked monsters, stuff you won't even see until the really high level (G-ranked) quests. The learning curve is a different story when you're fighting a Kut-Ku with 500 hitpoints, as opposed to a hypnocatrice with 4000.
Trying to hit key areas of a monster will also come into play, you'll learn. Hitting the legs alot will usually cause a monster to eventually fall over (good chance for free hits/long combos), but the legs themselves are usually not a "softspot" for taking damage. Most critters are weaker in some body parts, especially to different attack/element types. Going for the head, or the tail, or a soft underbelly is often the best way to dole out the damage.
Monsters act different when they're near death.
For a few reasons:
1. I'm crazy
2. It's a female character, same reason you stated
3. I'm crazy
4. I'd forgotten how it is to play from scratch, to have no money, to have to scrimp and save and desperately hold onto every green herb and blue mushroom I find. It's quite refreshing, really.
5. I'm crazy
6. It's a sort of dare/challenge I've got going w/ someone. We started fresh characters, we're gonna n00b it up online, and most importantly, we're only allowed to use one weapon type: Gunlance.
7. I'm-- ah, you get the idea.
8. I never use gunlance, this is actually forcing me to try it and I hate to admit it, but I'm warming up to it.
Elder 5* quests... I've "completed" them all, but on the main Elder menu, "Clear!!" is shown in red text. Not the usual pink/magenta "Clear!!".
How do I go from red to pink? I take it I have to finish an elder dragon? Right? I've smashed Lunastra's shit 3 times - never killed her - she ran away each time. But now she's no longer listed in 5* quests. WTF?
What is the difference between the colored texts for "Clear!!"?
Then it'd be Pokemon?
Part of the "thrill" is that you have to figure these things out for yourself. Honestly, it doesn't take very long when you get the hang of it and start to find your niche in the game. Though, if the idea of going up against large to huge to massive, DEADLY, monsters with only your wits and gear that may, or may not, help doesn't appeal to you, then it may not be for you. If it does, then seriously give it a chance as it's highly rewarding.
Destiny! : Warlock - Titan - Hunter
Later, some things like gold ian/silver los are unlockable after beating 100 wyverns, or fatalis quests that might require some training school work to unlock. Mostly, it's that the elder quests are usually in 2 different areas, and it's a matter of waiting for the rotation.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
Thanks for clearing that up.
... that... that wasn't meant to be a pun.
A health bar would take all the skill out of capturing. You wouldn't have to watch for the signs that it's weak. (For instance, Kut-Ku's ears will droop, and Kuzeu will rage every other attack) and just wait for the bar to hit the right level.
It takes so disgustingly long to farm out the materials needed for even basic weapons, and I still don't know what I'm going to do about armor (I have a full set of Battle Armor, Blademaster, but I can't think of any other set that I can make from just Pokke Farm materials). Fortunately, hundreds of hours playing the game have made me less dependent on the actual armor rating.
Also, a complete lack of a health bar for the monster is actually one of "features" that appeals to me about monster hunter. I was actually disappointed when I found out that Monster Hunter used a traditional "hit point" system in the background, and I was hoping that it had something more complex (the damage calculations ARE quite complex, so that's sufficient for me).
Switch: US 1651-2551-4335 JP 6310-4664-2624
MH3U Monster Cheat Sheet / MH3U Veggie Elder Ticket Guide
Dracil, while the default rusted/ancient weapons are often considered lackluster, the thing about the paths is that they also branch into some of the elder dragon-based weapons; you could make the Eternal Strife SnS, or branch to the excellent Daora Ice SnS instead. Also, the description of the stone sets it for that particular weapon type, so a small ruststone will only make sns (or whatever it does), while a large only make whatever it does. Basically, you'll have to find the ruststone type to correspond with the weapon type you want to make. Then go through the process of trying to actually craft the ancient weapon.....
While the ice SnS might be a top-grade model, what the heck are you going to use it on? It certainly doesn't have the reach to do more than tickle Monoblos and Cephadrome dies easily to far less expensive weapons. Rajang is the only other monster I can think of with a real ice weakness, whereas every Elder dragon but Kirin is an Eternal Strife pincushion. Also, the original Japanese name for the ice sword is Extremo Daora. See? It's stupid, don't make it!
Isle of Demons is also a nice bowgun if you intend to crag or clust shot things to death. It loads 3 at a time, a helluva lot more than many other bowguns can speak of, and the 1,000z cost simply cannot be beat.
Honestly despite the nerfs received since MH1, rust stone weapons are still useful, especially if you're skillful. Breath Core was my go-to weapon for Kirin-slaying, and with Basic Earplugs it's also wonderful for knocking the bitch right out of that Rathian. Ancient Plate takes care of Lao Shan-Lung, Rathian, Rathalos, etc. I even managed to take Gravios with it in MH2.
The only one I have trouble using is Underlayer. It was the 5th strongest lance overall in MH1 (and my favorite weapon period, so cool looking), but it got nerfed much harder than the other weapons and just no longer performs like it used to. It pains me, but I consider it pretty useless. It feels like even lances with lower stats outperform it.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
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.
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 30% 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.
More as I think of them. These are the most requested skills on armor sets, in the threads that I've seen.
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
In the real game, you can make your own weapons, fight monsters with items that you choose to bring along, and go through a natural progression of learning how to fight monsters with your chosen weapon, rather than being thrown into preset conditions with an arbitrary high level monster. You are fighting against some difficult monsters, which veteran monster hunters will find easy simply because they have built up over 100 hours of playtime (and thus, battle experience) against similar monsters.
Hypnoc is a bit easier with the Longsword, as it has range and damage. I found Longswords to be easier to use when I started out against the bird wyverns than other weapon classes. Use the Circle button to poke, then follow up with a Triangle+Circle attack to backhop while slicing. This stable combo will allow you to not be greedy (as our motto indicates) and allows you to play defensively while still dealing good damage. Another more advanced technique is charging a Super Pound (hold down the Right button while using a Hammer) and "Super Pound snipe" him. Stand still, and release the R button for a two hit attack (if you spin around, you've done the wrong attack... this is what happens if you move while releasing R), then roll away or simply run away. Recharge another one, move in, stand still release. Wash, rinse repeat.
Plum Hermitaur is a variant of regular Daimyo Hermitaur. If you crouch underneath him, there is literally no attack that he can do that you can't dodge. Of course, you can't attack him while doing this, so I don't suggest it. But using that principle, you can take a mobile weapon like Sword and Shield or Hammer and roll to his side, then turn and pound the legs. With a Lance or Gunlance, simply sit there and hold block in front of it. If it does the front "shoo, go away" claw attack, block it and stab him once or twice. If he does the "Crab hug" claw attack, block it, then turn around and stab him (since he'll have moved past you after the attack) a few times. If he leaps up in the air, backhop, then block it, then stab him. I'm told (by the non-Monster Hunters) that he was fairly simple to beat with a Lance/Gunlance, if a bit tedious.
Okay, that's weird
I've played too many different versions of each game. Sometimes they run together
1st: Monster Hunter, G, Portable, Freedom
2nd: Monster Hunter 2 (dos), Portable 2nd G, Freedom Unite
PSN: theIceBurner, IceBurnerEU, IceBurner-JP | X-Link Kai: TheIceBurner
Dragon's Dogma: 192 Warrior Linty | 80 Strider Alicia | 32 Mage Terra
You see, this just irritates me. Demos like this don't help. They're early previews for people who already know they want the game. For people on the fence who want to try the thing before they buy it, the demo is useless. It doesn't show what they are getting when they buy it. That makes me less interested in dropping $60 on this, since I'm back to square one. I have no fucking idea what the games going to be like.
You can take away from the demo the basic mechanics of the game (monsters don't have health bars, Triangle and Circle do combination attacks with the weapons, etc.), as well as the brutal difficulty of the game. You may have to take it on faith that the game is excellent (as I and everyone else in this thread can claim), but I will be the first to admit that Monster Hunter isn't for everyone. But the real game is far far better than the demo will ever be.
By the way, Demos for games nowadays are just eyesores. The "try before you buy" mentality is totally gone from the developers' minds. They often are 1 gig downloads that give you less than 30 minutes of play and aren't any fun at all. I wonder why they even bother making demos anymore if they're going to shovel out crap. For example, the Call of Duty: World at War Co-Op demo let's you play one frickin' mission that lasts maybe 15 minutes. Instead of giving you a level in Nazi Zombies (which would be a huge selling point, at least for me), they give you a stupid mission that has no replay value at all. The only demos that I've really enjoyed are the PS3 Pixeljunk ones, and even then, the demos are the FULL GAMES without an unlock key.
EDIT: I lie. Patapon Demo was awesomely fun, and it progressed directly into the full game. These kinds of demos are few and far between, however.
Thank you so much for this.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
Game prices here have always been ridiculous. We pay $100-$120 for a brand new PS3/360 game, $90-$100 for a brand new PC game and $60-$80 for a brand new hand held games. Nintendo are the only ones is reasonable prices - sometimes. Their good first party Wii games run $100 every time.
The difficulty doesn't bother me too much. I don't mind hard game - I just don't like cheap games, or games where they are hard because they are sticking to old control methods that simply suck (hi Dracula X Chronicles).
Nearly all demos I've tried lately have been pretty good. Red Faction Guerrilla, infamous, Batman, hell, even demos for bad games like Fracture and Haze have done a decent job of showing what the full game will be like. Making a good demo shouldn't be that hard. Even if it's just the tutorial area and a bit beyond it, it shows what the games aiming at and helps you with it. Dropping you at end game areas in a game that's defined by player skill is ridiculous.
Again, the game is very much worth a purchase, in my opinion. Of course, I've spent about 1000 hours on the series. But don't take my word for it. Lots of folks had reservations before purchasing the game, especially after the demo, and the positive experiences were vindicated in the end. Not sure about folks who didn't like the game after the purchase, but I haven't really run into any yet.
Still, I thought the Red Faction demo was passable, but inFamous and Batman were terrible for me. But the games you are listing are mostly shooters or third-person beat-em-ups, and demos for those games entail tossing you into a level with some enemies for 15 minutes. Not worth the 1 gig download times, IMO.
That's the thing though. If they started it at the start of the game, and gave you all the tutorial stuff/information and a few low level quests, it's a much better first impression. Because you are at the start of the game and have the information you need to actually see how it works. Throwing you at end game enemies, with nothing except 'pick a weapon, pick a kitty cat, go get your ass kicked and figure out why you suck yourself' is a terrible way to do a demo. They might as well not have the demo. That way they don't get the portion of people that play the demo and just forget it.
The games I listed either give you gameplay tips as you go (all of them) on how to do things, or put you in the tutorial/starting area (Batman and Haze). It gives people an idea of what to do. Sure, it's a bit of hand holding, but when games are as complex as they are these days (and Monster Hunter is pretty fucking complex), a little hand holding in a demo goes a long way.