Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U & 3DS) Catch-All

Got home not long ago. That took a lot longer than expected. I'm very tired so I think I'll stick to reading this evening. I can work on my monster part shopping list in solo in the hopes of becoming strong enough to tackle the HR3 urgent quest which I've got available next time a coop hunt is possible.

No worries.

How far are you in the single player campaign? With the equipment you have, you should be able to unlock the high rank line of quests in Moga village. The monsters are slightly easier in SP than in MP.

bobbywatson wrote:

How far are you in the single player campaign?

I have completed all of the 1, 2 and 3 star missions, and am about halfway through the total 4 star list. IIRC I'm only a mission or two away from the final Lagi hunt if I stick to the core missions. I've also soloed a few of the non-core missions in low rank online.

Cross quoting from the Wii U thread:

danopian wrote:

Heads up: $16 for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Groupon.com. Came to about $20 with shipping. I finally jumped aboard. Deal expires in 6 days.

Does anyone want to go hunting some time this month? I don't think I'm able to this weekend but I should be able to on the following weekends with a bit of warning.

I'm leaving for Europe next weekend and will be there until the end of the month, sorry We can definitely do it in June though!

I chose this as my free game with the Club Nintendo promotion. If I can step away from Mario Kart 8 I'll give it a spin after dinner. Is there a quest line to follow, or is it more a free roaming experience?

There are some tutorial quests you have to do at the beginning, which are pretty quick and don't teach you much about the 'hunting' part of the game itself, and then it's pretty much 'Go see the quest-lady, grab a quest, do the quest, get reward'.

RnRClown wrote:

I chose this as my free game with the Club Nintendo promotion. If I can step away from Mario Kart 8 I'll give it a spin after dinner. Is there a quest line to follow, or is it more a free roaming experience?

Single-player is a guided quest line with tutorials and all that jazz. You can get up to low-mid tier difficulty in that. The game really shines in the multiplayer, though, so schedule a night here where you get a posse together.

RnRClown wrote:

I chose this as my free game with the Club Nintendo promotion. If I can step away from Mario Kart 8 I'll give it a spin after dinner. Is there a quest line to follow, or is it more a free roaming experience?

Stick with the game for at least 4 hours which is where the game really opens up.

Finally got my Wii U back from repair by Nintendo, and can take MH3U out of the shrink-wrap it's been in since that Groupon deal a month ago.

Anything I need to know about playing with GWJers? Should I just skim posts for NNIDs and spam invites?

Welcome danopian! Playing with GWJers is probably best organized here. It's difficult to know when we'll all be available to play, better to pick a time you're free and see if anyone else is.

Definitely add everyone on the thread, I think the OP has some of us listed but it needs updating.

gamerparent wrote:

Welcome danopian! Playing with GWJers is probably best organized here. It's difficult to know when we'll all be available to play, better to pick a time you're free and see if anyone else is.

Definitely add everyone on the thread, I think the OP has some of us listed but it needs updating.

Thanks, gamerparent. I put in some time with this last night and it looks like I need to slog through the intro quests and wrap my brain around all the systems before I bug anybody, but I'm looking forward to it.

danopian wrote:
gamerparent wrote:

Welcome danopian! Playing with GWJers is probably best organized here. It's difficult to know when we'll all be available to play, better to pick a time you're free and see if anyone else is.

Definitely add everyone on the thread, I think the OP has some of us listed but it needs updating.

Thanks, gamerparent. I put in some time with this last night and it looks like I need to slog through the intro quests and wrap my brain around all the systems before I bug anybody, but I'm looking forward to it.

I've had the game since it was new and I only finished a couple of quests. I would love to give it another try.

So - I've been playing Dark Souls for months, so I'm more boggled than I should be by some of this because I'm used to how its systems work - in MH3U, I can only change my armor and weapon in my room at the item box? Is that right? I really want to try out all the different weapons but it's a slight slog to run back to the village every time I swap one out.

danopian wrote:

So - I've been playing Dark Souls for months, so I'm more boggled than I should be by some of this because I'm used to how its systems work - in MH3U, I can only change my armor and weapon in my room at the item box? Is that right? I really want to try out all the different weapons but it's a slight slog to run back to the village every time I swap one out.

Yup, your weapons and armor can only be changed between quests at the item box.

Part of the fun, I guess. You live with your pre-hunt decisions, there's no changing once you get there. It does mean you need to think a bit more thoroughly about what you need to bring with you on any given type of quest.

Am I gathering / mining? Probably should bring my pickaxe and bug nets, and maybe change into Leather armour for the gathering speed boost.

Is the quest monster weak to fire? Probably should equip my fire weapon.

Can I trap the monster and blow up its face? traps and barrel bombs.

Will it call a second monster, or is there a chance a second monster will show up? bring the dung bombs.

Et cetera, you only have so many slots, so you must choose wisely.

Thanks, guys. Lot of new things to learn.

Here are my impressions so far, for the benefit of anyone who might also throw themselves into the fray:

  • The weapon move-sets are very satisfyingly different, though until you mess around a bit it's difficult to find all the different moves for a given weapon. I figured out how to reload the gunlance completely accidentally, for instance. But once you know your options they all feel viable in their own ways. Having a unique dodge for each weapon was disconcerting after Dark Souls - I think I'll be settling on the dual blades for their quick dodge - but those with weak dodges are typically balanced by the weapons' other strengths.
  • Despite not having much of a plot (it does what it says on the box), instead of feeling generic it's cram-packed with character. The NPC dialogue is pretty funny, the world is really beautiful, the music is upbeat and exciting. There are lots of little touches that give the game personality. And it sells the "frontier town hunting & gathering" setting pretty well.
  • The combat is like a slower-paced Dark Souls, where target-lock-on and rapid timing has been replaced by longer attack animations and more movement/rushing. Instead of having enemies turn to track your position, they seem more likely to set up an attack that will move in your direction and follow through with it, turn back towards you, maybe juke around a little, set up another attack, etc., while you do the same. So far I've found it to be pretty easy, haven't died yet (which is a weird sensation), but I haven't fought any big monsters.
  • There is a lot of boring entry-level slog. I'm itching for a big fight. My completionist tendencies are working against me here, because there are a bunch of early quests where you just fight the same little monsters you find in the wild, but it hurts my OCD to not finish all the 1-star quests before moving on to do all the twos. Just need to do it so I don't get bored.
  • The upgrade system for....well, everything, is obscenely complex. Stat munchers would love this but I stopped caring about min-maxing a couple years ago so I'm trying to determine how much of it I can safely ignore and just play the rest of the game.
danopian wrote:

The upgrade system for....well, everything, is obscenely complex. Stat munchers would love this but I stopped caring about min-maxing a couple years ago so I'm trying to determine how much of it I can safely ignore and just play the rest of the game.

That's all a fair assessment. Trust me, there will be plenty of big hunts later. Every star quest is a big monster or more every quest.

You can absolutely ignore stat stuff for the entire game. Choose based on looks, or even based on what enemies you like to kill the most. Finishing entire sets is really the only starting advice to give as far as stats go.

drdoak wrote:
danopian wrote:

The upgrade system for....well, everything, is obscenely complex. Stat munchers would love this but I stopped caring about min-maxing a couple years ago so I'm trying to determine how much of it I can safely ignore and just play the rest of the game.

That's all a fair assessment. Trust me, there will be plenty of big hunts later. Every star quest is a big monster or more every quest.

You can absolutely ignore stat stuff for the entire game. Choose based on looks, or even based on what enemies you like to kill the most. Finishing entire sets is really the only starting advice to give as far as stats go.

You ignore this at your own peril. You can ignore it at the beginning, but not for the whole game. Not if you don't want to triple cart out of a G-Rank High Rank hunt and be that guy.

edit double post

gamerparent wrote:
drdoak wrote:
danopian wrote:

The upgrade system for....well, everything, is obscenely complex. Stat munchers would love this but I stopped caring about min-maxing a couple years ago so I'm trying to determine how much of it I can safely ignore and just play the rest of the game.

That's all a fair assessment. Trust me, there will be plenty of big hunts later. Every star quest is a big monster or more every quest.

You can absolutely ignore stat stuff for the entire game. Choose based on looks, or even based on what enemies you like to kill the most. Finishing entire sets is really the only starting advice to give as far as stats go.

You ignore this at your own peril. You can ignore it at the beginning, but not for the whole game. Not if you don't want to triple cart out of a G-Rank High Rank hunt and be that guy. :)

That's what I was hoping; that's how I've been operating in all my recent RPGs, doing whatever I want and using whatever looks good at a glance until the game difficulty forces me to dig a little deeper.

Anyone up for some hunting this weekend? I should be available at any point. I'm open to anything (but keep in my I'm only HR7), and if that's OK, I would also like to build the G-rank Brachydios armor...

bobbywatson wrote:

Anyone up for some hunting this weekend? I should be available at any point. I'm open to anything (but keep in my I'm only HR7), and if that's OK, I would also like to build the G-rank Brachydios armor...

Muahahahahaha G-Rank Brachy... I might be able to. what day were you thinking?

gamerparent wrote:

Muahahahahaha G-Rank Brachy... I might be able to. what day were you thinking?

Probably Saturday.

Hunting! I'd like to but I'm very busy this weekend. I might be able to the weekend after next, if anyone's wanting to play then.

Better late than never, right? (A new copy should be arriving later this week for me.)

Look out monsters!

Cathadan wrote:

Better late than never, right? (A new copy should be arriving later this week for me.)

Look out monsters!

I'm still in the very preliminary stages, Cathadan, feel free to add me and give me a shout out if you see me on.

I'm into this right now as well and looking to team up.

Nintendo id: Trashidawa

Squee, new hunters!

Always glad to help out, feel free to ask questions here.