7 Monster Hunter Wilds Side Activities You Shouldn’t Neglect

Monster Hunter Wilds is the newest entry in Capcom’s legendary series, and players are eager to jump into their next hunting adventure. Incredible new monsters and iconic returning monsters await fans, but hunting isn’t the only thing you can do in Monster Hunter Wilds. There are loads of other activities you can do in your downtime and ones you can do to improve your hunts. Balancing these in between hunts is important to ensure you have the necessary supplies to successfully defeat monsters, as well as relax after a difficult fight, so make sure you don’t neglect these things in Monster Hunter Wilds.

We’ve gathered seven activities you can do in Monster Hunter Wilds to improve your hunting odds. Be sure to do these things as you progress through Monster Hunter Wilds.

Fishing

Fishing is one of the most classic side activities in video games, and it makes a return in Monster Hunter Wilds. It serves not only as a way to unwind but also provides a good source of food. Players can fish in bodies of water across the world but must confirm fish are swimming in the water. Throwing your rod into a pool or river with no fish will only cause you disappointment and wasted time. If you’re impatient, you can use your Capture Net to catch fish as well.

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In addition to providing meals, fishing has other benefits as well. Catching fish will increase your Guild Points by five points, which may not seem like much, but this can add up the more you fish. Select fish will also give you crafting materials, such as fins and scales. Larger fish can provide greater rewards but may be more of a challenge to reel in.

Mining

You can find rock outcrops all over the world in Monster Hunter Wilds. These offer valuable resources you can use in crafting recipes, as well as granting some experience. But the main reason you want to collect ore from mining is to upgrade your weapons and Talismans. Other resources are needed, such as monster parts, but these upgrades can’t be done without mining materials.

Mining Outcrop, Amber Deposits, and more are where you can acquire these materials. All you have to do is approach the mining location and interact with it. This breaks the rock and lets you collect the materials within. These Mining Outcrops and Amber Deposits are marked on your map and will replenish over time after mining them.

Cooking

Cooking is one of the most important aspects of a hunt and something you should be doing constantly in Monster Hunter Wilds. Cooking provides various buffs that can be the difference in a successful hunt. Meals can increase your damage output, increase health, improve stamina, and more. Meals can be made with meat, fish, vegetables, and more. Depending on what you cook with, the effects will be different.

Players can cook meals at the base camp, but more often than not will find themselves cooking while out on a hunt. Using the Portable BBQ Grill allows players to whip up a delicious meal and gain buffs. The cooking system has seen a major overhaul in Monster Hunter Wilds, allowing for even more meals to be cooked.

Crafting

One of the core pillars of Monster Hunter Wilds is crafting. While many focus on crafting new weapons and armor from the pieces of monsters they hunt, there are numerous other things to craft as well. Players should use the materials and resources they gather while on a hunt to craft healing items, ammo types, traps, and more. Keeping your pouch well-stocked can be the difference between successfully hunting a monster, or being carted unconscious back home by Palicos.

Crafting can be done while on a hunt or while in a tent. Crafting in a tent allows players to access the materials in their storage box while doing so in the field only lets players use what’s in their pouch. 

Set Up Pop-Up Camps

While players will primarily use base camps in Monster Hunter Wilds, a new feature will allow players to create Pop-Up Camps. These let players do some basic functions found at the base camp, but one of the best uses is for fast travel. Each region can house three Pop-Up Camps, allowing you to strategically place them around to enable quick traveling to any portion of the area.

One thing to note is that monsters can destroy Pop-Up Camps, so players will need to be careful when placing these. A notification will appear when a monster attacks, so players can save their Pop-Up Camp if they act quickly and stop the monster from destroying it.

Complete Item Trades/Limited Bounties

While hunting monsters is your primary quest, there are plenty of things to do aside from this in Monster Hunter Wilds. As you explore the world, you’ll come across various villages with differing people. Within each village is an NPC who is willing to trade some of the local items for items you find on your travels. These can provide you with cooking ingredients, crafting materials, and more.

In addition to hunting monsters, you can take on special missions as they appear. Be sure to check with Alma to see when new bounty missions are available. 

Foraging

The world of Monster Hunter Wilds is huge and consists of different biomes, each of which has numerous materials and resources to collect. Foraging these is vital to crafting and being prepared for hunts. The materials you forage can be used to create new armor, concoct potions, create traps and ammo, and so much more. 

Foraging in Monster Hunter Wilds is incredibly easy thanks to the Slinger. You can use this to collect resources from afar, and even when riding your Seikret. Some materials cannot be harvested with the Slinger, so you’ll need to get close to gather them.