5 Beginner Tips for New Monster Hunter Stories 2 Players
These are 5 things I wish I knew when I started playing Monster Hunter Stories 2.
I recently started playing Monster Hunter Stories 2, thinking it was a very casual game. Surprisingly, it has some pretty advanced game mechanics that I was surprised at.
So, here are 5 beginner tips I found after around 20 hours of playing the game. Enjoy!
Switch Monsters According to Attack Types
This one is pretty basic.
Monsters have preferred attack types, this goes both ways for enemies and your Monsties.
When going Head-to-Head against a monster, using the correct Attack Type allows you to deal more damage while reducing the damage taken.
So, it is advised that you try to use a Monstie with correct the Attack Type preference against an enemy.
Stronger monsters will switch up their Attack Type when they are enraged or buffed up, but just change your attacks and Monsties accordingly.
It’s not that deep.
Double Attacks Let You Avoid Damage
Let’s talk more about Attack Types and Head-to-Head battles.
When you or your Monstie win a Head-to-Head with you or your Monstie attacking the same enemy, both of you will have a special interaction called “Double Attack.”
A Double Attack deals double damage to the loser of the Head-to-Head battle. This lets you or your ally avoid taking damage completely from the loser of the Head-to-Head battle.
However, other enemies attacking you will still deal damage.
Pairing this with the first tip, you should be able to optimize your damage output and the damage you receive.
This will also help fill up your Kinship Gauge quickly with other Monsters in the party, but let’s talk about that in the next tip.
Kinship Gauges are Attached to Specific Monsties
Kinship Gauge is a resource meter that fills up when you and your Monstie use the correct attack type and do Double Attacks. Filling it up allows you to use ride your Monstie, restore Health, and use Kinship Skills.
Yet, there is more to Kinship Gauges.
When you switch active Monsties in combat, the Kinship Gauge seem to reset. This may discourage you from switching Monsties, especially if your Kinship Gauge with the active Monstie is filled up or almost filled up.
What the game does tell you about Kinship Gauges is that they are specific to the Monsties. This means that the Kinship Gauge for your first active Monstie is not the same as the second active Monstie.
Still not convinced to follow this tip? You’re missing out. Let me explain more.
Kinship Gauge status remains the same for Monsties previously active. This means if your current active Monstie is switched around, its Kinship Gauge remains the same until you bring it back out.
This allows you to save your Kinship Gauges for when you actually need to ride your Monstie, use your Kinship Skill, or restore health.
Riding Restores you to Full Health, and your Monstie with Partial Heatlh
This one is actually written in the Rider’s Notes, but if you’re like me who loves to skip in-game tips then maybe you missed this one out.
If you’ve noticed, riding your Monstie once your Kinship Gauge is full will heal you and your Monstie. However, you and your Monstie are not healed by the same amount.
The amount of health restored by your Monstie depends on your maximum health. So, your Monstie will only heal as much as your maximum health.
Don’t be Afraid to Use Items, Just Stay Prepared
This tip actually applies to other games as well.
If you’re like me who always avoided using Ultra Balls in Pokemon or saved Elixirs in Final Fantasy, this is your sign to stop doing that.
Items in Monster Hunter Stories 2 are easily restocked, just like in the mainline Monster Hunter games. The game encourages you to use everything that you have to keep you and your allies alive.
There may be times when strong potions or traps are needed, but it shouldn’t be too much trouble to use one every now and then if you always remember to restock your inventory.
There will also be times when your opponents are unavoidably strong, pushing you to use consumables against your will.
Materials are also easily gathered, or bought from merchants.