The Monster Hunter series is known for giving players tons of viable options to build their hunter, and Monster Hunter Wilds is no different, as even at the beginning of the adventure in the Forbidden Lands, you have a decent choice of gear coming with skills that are more or less useful, depending on the situation. For a newcomer to the series, however, even the few choices available at the start of the game can feel overwhelming. This, combined with the lack of knowledge regarding the 14 weapon types and the general flow of the game, can make the first few hours of the game a little frustrating.
While Monster Hunter Wilds does an excellent job at introducing its core mechanics to the player, you are going to make a lot of mistakes as you hunt your very first monsters. As such, the first thing to look for in gear at the very beginning of the campaign is what it can offer in terms of survivability. In this regard, there's no better early choice than the Hope Mail and Hope Vambraces, which are both available from the start of the game and come with the Divine Blessing skill, which reduces received damage and activates fairly frequently. This will help you survive while you are learning how the game works.
Every other piece of gear available during the early game in Monster Hunter Wilds is generally fine for protection, but not as much for skills, so pick any option that looks good for you until you can craft either the Bone Helm, which requires 1 Mystery Bone, or the Alloy Helm, which requires 1 Machalite Ore and 1 Iron Ore which can be found rather easily on the Windswept Plain. The Marathon Runner skill of the first, which reduces Stamina depletion for actions that constantly deplete it, like running, and Quick Sheathe of the second, which makes you sheathe your weapon faster and lets you use items more quickly with the exception of the Sword and Shield that doesn't need to be sheathed to use them, are decent skills that can enhance your survivability.
For a good Coil and Greaves, you will need to proceed a bit further into the game until you can craft better gear. The Balahara Coil and Greaves come with the Evade Extender skill that increases the distance of your dodge maneuver, which is a big help not only for defensive purposes but also for repositioning yourself when needed. To craft them, you will first have to hunt a Balahara as part of the main campaign and then collect 1 Balahara Certificate, 2 Balahara Scales, 1 Balahara Shell, and 1 Balahara Pearl. for the Coil 2 Balahara Shells and 1 Balahara Skulls for the Greaves.
As Monster Hunter Wilds rewards experimenting with gear, these recommendations may not be the best for everyone and are based on my experience as a former newcomer who got pulled into the series with Monster Hunter Rise, before going back to playing older entries in the series, so you may find some other early game gear combination that could work better. In addition, these recommendations don't take the used weapon type into account. For any weapon that can guard and has an offset attack, like the Great Sword, for example, the Doshaguma Armor set is a good choice due to Doshaguma's Might, a set bonus that increases attack when Power Clashing against a monster or successfully deflecting an attack with an Offset attack. The Long Sword, on the other hand, benefits greatly from the Alloy Helm and Greaves, which come with Quick Sheate that speeds up all weapon sheating, including Special Sheathe, which you will want to learn to use properly if you want to master this weapon type. You will need 1 Machalite Ore and 1 Iron Ore to craft either of them and with some upgrades, they can potentially carry you throughout all of Low Rank.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
