MH Outlanders Beginner Guide

Choose your controls first

Monster Hunter Outlanders has two control schemes, and you can switch later. Adventure Mode uses three main buttons, Attack, React and Burst, and it picks moves based on context. Classic Mode gives each move its own button, so it takes more inputs but offers finer control. Start with Adventure Mode if you are new to action games, and move to Classic once your weapon feels natural.

The game also supports controllers, including Bluetooth pads. You must still use the touchscreen for the opening section and for pop-up tutorials. If you stay on touch controls, adjust the on-screen layout in Settings.

Lock-on is worth learning early. Holding it opens a radial menu for targeting parts such as the head, wings, legs or tail. It does not land the hit for you, so you still need to stand in the right place.

Start with your Fated Adventurer

Your Fated Adventurer is the only character who can use every weapon. Recruited Adventurers are each locked to one weapon and one class. That makes your own hunter the best way to test weapons without spending any recruitment items.

Recruitment only gives you characters. Weapons and armor come from hunting and crafting, so you never pull for gear. Recruited Adventurers add stronger or different moves, but they do not replace learning a weapon.

Pick one weapon and stick with it

There are eight weapons at launch: Great Sword, Long Sword, Dual Blades, Hammer, Lance, Charge Blade, Heavy Bowgun and Bow. Our sources agree that all of them work, so choose the one you enjoy. Use the weapon tutorials and training area to try them before you commit. Both are step-by-step, and they cover Adventurer moves too.

Advice on the best first weapon differs between guides, so treat this as a starting point:

• Lance: guards and counters, and it forgives mistakes.
• Dual Blades: fast and aggressive, with Demon Mode to manage.
• Bow: a good choice if melee feels clumsy on a touchscreen.
• Heavy Bowgun: long-range damage with ammo to manage.
• Long Sword: rewards counter timing once you can dodge.
• Great Sword: slow charges and heavy hits.
• Hammer: creates openings by stunning monsters.
• Charge Blade: the most technical choice, with sword and axe modes.

The common rule matters more than the pick. Spreading materials across several weapon trees leaves all of them underpowered. Learn one weapon's timing first, and explore others once hunts feel comfortable.

Build a squad that covers all three classes

Every Adventurer is Assault, Disruptor or Support. Assault deals damage, Disruptor controls and weakens the monster, and Support heals and buffs. Stacking one class is a trap, and at least one Support makes early hunts much safer. Your Fated Adventurer can switch between all three classes.

Squadmates also trigger skills from what you do. Assault teammates follow up when you suppress a monster with a stagger or topple. Disruptors follow up when you land a Perfect Evade or Perfect Guard. Supports follow up when you land a Burst Skill.

You do not need to pull to field a working team. One free squad looks like this:

• Fated Adventurer (Assault): the character you control and learn on.
• Raya (Disruptor, Dual Blades): a pre-registration reward.
• Madelyn (Support, Bow): healing and party buffs.
• Ouyang Varen (Assault, Lance): a sturdy fourth member.

Each class also pairs with a Buddy: Palico for Assault, Rutaco for Disruptor and Trillan for Support. Choose a Buddy that matches the Adventurer rather than bringing a Palico out of habit. You can also hunt with no companions at all if you prefer true solo play.

Upgrade in the right order

Put materials into your main weapon first, then into armor that supports how you play. Save rare materials for later upgrades instead of using them on low-tier gear. Facilities improve quality of life, but your gear decides whether you survive the next hunt, so build them later.

One guide recommends starting with a general-purpose status weapon, such as Poison, and building an elemental weapon only when a specific monster blocks you. That advice comes from a single source, so its value is to be confirmed. Either way, you do not need one weapon of every element in your first week.

Your power also comes from outside your gear:

• Keepsakes: level them up with materials from Hunt Requests, then ascend them at the level cap.
• Insights: passives that add stats and can change how moves work.
• Armor mixing: different pieces can combine skills and set bonuses.
• Buddies: they level the same way, with a smaller effect on power.

Save loadouts per weapon or element so you can swap before a hunt. Monster weaknesses matter here, so use Thunder weapons against a Thunder-weak target, for example.

Hunt smarter

Monsters glow red before big attacks, so use that as your cue to dodge. Manage your stamina so you can always move, and do not be stingy with potions. Carting costs you far more time than a healing item does.

Use part lock-on where you can, since the game shows you which parts are weak points. Breaking parts improves your material rewards. Radiant monsters are tougher and can enter a frenzy, so upgrade your gear before you take them on.

Always eat before you hunt. Food gives you stat buffs, and you unlock better meals as you go. Weak spots, food and a full stock of potions will carry most early hunts.

Use the field between hunts

Build Watchtowers before camps. A Watchtower reveals the map and raises how much you can build in that region, and camps act as fast travel points. Collect Luster Wasps as you travel, because you need them to upgrade towers.

Gather every herb, ore and bone you pass. Turn on auto-craft so materials become potions and other items as you pick them up. You will rarely run out of healing that way.

Mini-games, treasure puzzles and endemic life are worth the detour. They give research XP and research points, which unlock upgrades and pay for meals. Ancient treasures covered in thorns need a nearby item, such as a Fire Bloom, to clear them.

Know what drives progression

Adventure Rank is the main gate, and the story stops at set points until you raise it. You earn Adventure XP from main quests, marked requests, research objectives in Free Hunts, dailies and Hunt Requests. Do your daily and weekly tasks, because they are among the best free sources of steady resources.

Proof of Mastery gives large power increases as you complete its tasks. Certain levels also feed into Ecological Rank, which sets your level caps. Visages unlock at Ecological Rank 4, so you can leave that system for later.

Check your mailbox early for pre-registration rewards. Then redeem the launch gift code mhogohunt for free items.

Your first-week checklist

1. Pick a control scheme and finish the tutorials.
2. Test weapons on your Fated Adventurer, then choose one.
3. Build a squad with Assault, Disruptor and Support.
4. Upgrade your weapon, then your armor.
5. Eat before hunts and aim for weak points.
6. Build Watchtowers, gather everything and turn on auto-craft.
7. Finish your dailies and keep raising your Adventure Rank.