How to unlock the Fortnite Outlaw Keycard

To unlock the Common Fortnite Outlaw Keycard, you need to contribute to the Community quest that all players are working towards. This involves robbing vaults and Cases to deplete Fletcher Kane's gold reserves, and there are two main ways to do this:

• Crack the vaults at Crime City, Lonely Lair, Masked Meadows, and Seaport City
• Rob the Smash N' Grab Jewelry Stores in various POIs

The Smash N' Grab Jewelry Stores will be protected by a couple of Alpha Guards, but once they're taken out you should find a safe behind the counter to empty as well as several Cases to interact with and Rob Valuables from. Keep an eye on the Outlaw Keycard section of the Fortnite quests screen to track the Community's progress towards 100% completion.

How to upgrade the Fortnite Outlaw Keycard

Once you've unlocked the Common Outlaw Keycard, you'll then need to complete further Outlaw Keycard quests to earn upgrades for it. Including that initial Community quest, these are the upgrades you can unlock:

• 5 Quests - Uncommon Outlaw Keycard
  Grants access to Black Market backrooms where Exotic items are available to purchase, and some also contain Fortnite characters.
• 10 Quests - Rare Outlaw Keycard
  The Outlaw Chests in backrooms can be opened to get free Bars.
• 15 Quests - Epic Outlaw Keycard
  Premium loadouts are available to purchase from Black Market shopkeepers for a large number of Bars:
  • Joss' Loadout - Holo Twister AR, Pump & Dump, Rocket Drill, Chug Jug, Gold Ammo Boon, and Greed Boon.
  • Keisha's Loadout - Falcon Eye Sniper, Outlaw Shotgun, Gold Splashes, Chug Jug, Gold Ammo Boon, and Greed Boon.
  • Skillet's Loadout - Sticky Grenade Launcher, Mammoth Pistol, Kneecapper, Chug Jug, Gold Ammo Boon, and Greed Boon.
• 20 Quests - Legendary Outlaw Keycard
  Opening Outlaw Chests in backrooms also drops a Legendary item and Dill Bit.

How to use the Fortnite Outlaw Keycard

To use the Fortnite Outlaw Keycard, you simply need to visit one of the Black Markets found near Crime City, Magic Mosses, or Masked Meadow then look for a locked door at the far end, like the one pictured above. Once you have the upgraded Uncommon Outlaw Keycard, interact with the door and it will open for you, granting access to the backroom where you can find additional weapons, characters, Outlaw Chests, and more.

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WWE 2K25 Store Unlocks

There are 80 wrestlers who you can add to the WWE 2K25 roster using the in-game store. Here’s the full list…

WWE 2K25 MyRise Unlocks

MyRise is great this year, although you’ll need at least two playthroughs to unlock every character. Here’s how to get each of them.

WWE 2K25 MyFaction Unlocks

MyFaction Persona Cards are back. Unlock these characters in that mode and you can use them across the rest of the game, too.

WWE 2K25 The Bloodline Showcase Unlocks

The Bloodline Showcase serves up a selection of characters, attire, arenas and championships. Here’s everything you can unlock, in match order.

Yokozuna vs Hulk Hogan

• Yokozuna
• Hulk Hogan
• Hulk Hogan Wrestlemania 5 Attire
• Hulk Hogan KOTR ’93 Attire
• Mr Fuji (Manager)
• Jimmy Hart (Manager)
• Jimmy Hart KOTR ’93 Attire
• King Of The Ring ’93 (Arena)
• WWE Championship ’93 (Championship)

Headshrinkers vs Steiner Brothers

• Rick Steiner
• Scott Steiner ’93
• Headshrinker Samu
• Headshrinker Fatu
• Afa (Manager)
• WrestleMania IX (Arena)

Rocky Maivia vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley

• Rocky Maivia
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley
• Intercontinental Championship ’97 (Championship)
• Thursday Raw Thursday 1997 (Arena)

“High Chief” Peter Maivia vs George “The Animal” Steele

• George “The Animal” Steele
• “High Chief” Peter Maivia
• MyFaction Sapphire Showcase reward

Nia Jax vs Lyra Valkyria

• Nia Jax
• Lyra Valkryia ’24

Rikishi vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

• Rikishi 
• Stone Cold Steve Austin ’00
• Stone Cold Steve Austin ’00 No Mercy 2000 Attire
• No Mercy 2000 (Arena)

Umaga vs John Cena

• Umaga
• John Cena ’07
• Armando Alejandro Estrada (Manager)
• WWE Championship ’07 (Championship)
• New Year’s Revolution 2007 (Arena)

3 Minute Warning vs AOP

• Jamal
• Rosey
• MyFaction Sapphire Showcase Reward

Tamina vs Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch vs Carmella vs Natalya

• Natalya
• Tamina
• Carmella ’17
• Becky Lynch ’17
• Charlotte Flair ’17
• Money In The Bank 2017 (Arena)

The Usos vs The New Day

• Big E
• Kofi Kingston ’17
• Xavier Woods ’17
• Jimmy Uso ’17
• Jey Uso ’17
• Tag Team Championship ’17 (Championship)
• Hell In A Cell 2017 (Arena)
• MyFaction Emerald Showcase Reward x2

Naomi vs Bayley

• Bayley ’20
• Naomi ’20
• Smackdown Women’s Championship ’20 (Championship)
• Super ShowDown (Arena)

Wild Samoans vs Dudley Boyz

• Afa
• Sika
• Captain Lou Albano (Manager)
• MyFaction Emerald Showcase Reward

Solo Sikoa vs Carmelo Hayes

• Solo Sikoa ’22
• Carmelo Hayes ’22
• Trick Williams ’22 (Manager)
• NXT 2.0 2022 (Arena)

Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins

• Roman Reigns ’22
• Seth Rollins ’22
• Universal Championship ’22 (Championship)
• Royal Rumble 22 (Arena)

The OG Bloodline vs The Rogue Bloodline

• MyFaction Sapphire Showcase Reward
• MyFaction Emerald Showcase Reward

The Islanders vs The Street Profits

• Islander Haku
• Islander Tama
• Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan
• Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan Alternate Attire
• MyFaction Emerald Showcase Reward

The Tribal Gauntlet

• Jey Uso ’10
• Jimmy Uso ’10
• Tamina ’10
• The Tribal Hall Of Acknowledgement (Arena)

For even more wrestlers, check out our WWE 2K25 DLC guide.

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There's four stages that line up rather nicely with the usual progression of expanding a small business. With each one, you'll be growing your business, becoming a dreamer or schemer and making sure you've got a flurry of happy returning customers. As with any The Sims 4 aspiration, each milestone requires you to carry out tasks, successfully, to achieve it. Here's everything you need to know about completing The Sims 4 Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration in Businesses and Hobbies.

How to choose the Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration

Like any aspiration in The Sims 4, you choose Esteemed Entrepreneur by selecting it in Create A Sim or during gameplay via the star icon in the bottom right of your screen. For this particular aspiration, you'll need to head to Popularity. It'll be the first option under this category.

The tasks in each of the four stages of this aspiration will require your Sim to become wealthier and well-liked. Without these goals achieved, you'll struggle to complete your aspiration. Fortunately, we've outlined everything you need to do below for each milestone.

How to complete the Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration

There's four parts to The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration, and for each milestone there's three separate tasks to complete. Firstly, to reach the Friendly Founder milestone, you must do the following:

• Grow your small business to a hopeful hustle: Impress your customers and increase Business Renown by successfully completing business activities, selling goods and services of high quality, setting discounts, and making friends with your customers
• Have 20 customers visit your small business: Increase your Business Renown further by opening your business, talking it up to other Sims, and using small business perks to attract customers
• Acquire a small business perk: When you increase your Business Renown by simply running a great business, you'll earn Perk Points. You can then spend these points on a small business perk. But choose wisely, some of them can affect your alignment (which is about to become important)

For the Popular Operator milestone, you must:

• Grow your small business to a striving startup: Keep earning that Business Renown by opening your business regularly and keeping up with customer reviews to make sure they're happy
• Reach the first level of dreamer or schemer alignment: In your small business menu in the bottom right corner, you can view where you are aligned - a flying duck for dreamer and a purple cat for schemer. Depending on how you want to run your business, you can perform required interactions with customers
• Hire an employee and become friends with them: You can manage your employees under the same small business menu and pick friends or family to run the business with you

For the Honored Home Businessperson milestone, you must:

• Get a happy customer: When you've reached the second level of alignment, you can start getting happy customers
• Grow your small business to a neighborhood gem: Keep on keeping on with running your business in a sufficient and friendly way - this will earn you Renown and eventually level you up
• Reach the second level of dreamer or schemer alignment: Continue carrying out the required interactions with customers to level up and then you'll also get your first happy customer

For the final Esteemed Entrepreneur milestone, you must:

• Grow your small business to a local legend: To reach this level, you need to take your time. Meanwhile, focus on the other two tasks to keep this one ticking along
• Get 5 more happy customers: Interact with customers in a friendly manner, deliver great service and high quality goods and they'll be sure to leave with a smile on their face
• Reach the third level of dreamer or schemer alignment: Carry on with your interactions and the odd moral dilemma will give you an opportunity to level up further, as long as you choose the right alignment option for your Sim

Rewards for completing the Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration

Congratulations, you've achieved the Esteemed Entrepreneur aspiration and now you'll receive a reward for your trouble – the Beloved Brand trait. This means whenever your Sim runs a business, they'll immediately be popular and receive positive reviews. Basically, it'll be a lot easier for your Sim to run a successful business and customers will keep returning to your brand time and time again.

Are you enjoying running your own virtual life? Then here's 10 games like The Sims 4 to try next.

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What is FC 25 FUT Birthday?

Ah, where have you been for the last decade and a half? FUT Birthday is the annual celebration of Ultimate Team, to mark its launch back in March 2009. That’s right, this year the biggest mode in sports turns 16, and naturally it means a shedload of flash new cards to grab off the transfer market, or claim by submitting SBCs. Icons, Heroes and contemporary players all get new items in the promo, which runs for a fortnight.

Who is in FC 25 FUT Birthday Team 1?

FC 25 FUT Birthday Team 1 landed on Friday, March 7, picking up where the FC 25 FUT Fantasy FC tracker left off – although there is still time for cards during that campaign to score upgrades, so keep checking back. FUT Birthday cards can’t score additional boosts like FC 25 RTTF, but they don’t need to anyway. These are already some seriously OP players.

Top of the Team 1 Icons list is Brazilian great Ronaldinho (LW), with a new overall rating of 94. French talisman Patrick Vieira (CM) runs him close, on 94. From the Heroes contingent, a trio of past Premier League favourites are tempting: Ramires (CM, 94), Jay-Jay Okocha (CAM, 93), and Ledley King (CB, 91). It’s another Prem star who fronts the modern-day player list: Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (ST), with a fresh 95 OVR. Sophia Wilson (ST, Portland Timbers-Thorns) is the best female player in the campaign, with a rating of 94. All Team 1 players can be seen on the card list at the foot of this guide.

What is the FC 25 FUT Birthday Team 2 release date?

The FC 25 FUT Birthday Team 2 release date is Friday, March 14, and we’ll list all its cards here during the following weekend. Need more FUT content while you wait? Explore our FC 25 best badges guide.

What’s so special about FC 25 FUT Birthday cards?

Traditionally this is always a massive campaign, but there’s an extra twist this year. Every single FUT Birthday card gets both 5-Star Skill Moves, and 5-Star Weak Foot. And you can make the most of that new upgrade using GR’s FC 25 skill moves guide.

Where can I see the full FC 25 FUT Birthday cards list?

The full FC 25 FUT Birthday cards list, correct as on Monday, March 10, is below. Icons are marked with two asterisks, while Heroes are marked with one. If you’ve just packed a FUT Birthday player and now want him to look swish on the pitch, venture to our FC 25 best kits guide.

• Ronaldinho (LW, Brazil) - 95**
• Patrick Vieira (CM, France) - 94**
• Marco van Basten (ST, Netherlands) - 92**
• Michael Essien (CDM, Ghana) - 92**
• Emmanuel Petit (CM, France) - 91**
• Ramires (CM, Premier League) - 94*
• Celia Sasic (ST, GPFBL) - 93*
• Jay-Jay Okocha (CAM, Premier League) - 93*
• Claudio Marchisio (CM, Serie A) - 92*
• Ledley King (CB, Premier League) - 91*
• Alex Scott (RB, WSL) - 90*
• Erling Haaland (ST, Manchester City) - 95
• Sophia Wilson (ST, Portland Timbers-Thorns) - 94
• Antoine Griezmann (ST, Atletico Madrid) - 94
• Jude Bellingham (CAM, Real Madrid) - 94
• Aitana Bonmati (CM, Barcelona) - 94
• Rafael Leao (LW, AC Milan) - 94
• Ruben Dias (CB, Manchester City) - 93
• Selma Bacha (LB, Lyon) - 93
• Salma Paralluelo (LW, Barcelona) - 93
• Kai Havertz (CM, Arsenal) - 92
• Kai Havertz (ST, Arsenal) - 92
• Chloe Kelly (RW, Arsenal) - 92
• Trent Alexander-Arnold (RB, Liverpool) - 92
• Marcus Thuram (ST, Inter Milan) - 92
• Alejandro Garnacho (LM, Manchester United) - 92
• Isco (CAM, Real Betis).- 91
• Lena Oberdorf (CDM, FC Bayern) - 91
• Moussa Diaby (RM, Al Ittihad) - 91
• Adrien Rabiot (CM, Marseille) - 91
• John Duran (ST, Al Nassr) - 91
• Alexandra Popp (ST, Wolfsburg) - 91
• Ruben Neves (CDM, Al Hilal) - 90
• Nicolas Jackson (ST, Chelsea) - 90
• Serhou Guirassy (ST, Dortmund) - 90
• Jose Reina (GK, Como) - 89
• Stanislav Lobotka (CM, Napoli) - 89
• Dejan Kulusevski (RM, Tottenham) - 89
• Bryan Mbuemo (RW, Brentford) - 88
• Wilfried Singo (CB, Monaco) - 88
• Jota (LW, Celtic) - 88
• Marco Grull (LM, Werder Bremen) - 88
• Nicolas Raskin (CM, Rangers) - 88
• Emily Sams (CB, Orlando Pride) - 88
• Christian Benteke (ST, DC United) - 88

Assassin's Creed Shadows DLC roadmap

Unlike previous Assassin's Creed games, Shadows will not have a Season Pass and does not appear to have any long-term content plans beyond a single expansion with Claws of Awaji being the only DLC on the horizon (at least that we know of so far).

Furthermore, we already know that Assassin's Creed Shadows new game plus won't be available at launch but could come later based on player feedback. If Assassin's Creed Shadows is a big hit and player demand is there, it could mean that that more DLC and expansions get announced, but nothing is certain. If more information is unveiled after the game's launch on March 20, I'll be sure to update this guide.

Assassin's Creed Shadows Claws of Awaji expansion

The first Assassin's Creed Shadows expansion, Claws of Awaji, sees Naoe and Yasuke trapped on a mysterious island, the real-life Awaji Island west of Osaka. You'll have to reclaim a lost treasure, all the while avoiding traps and ambushes from deadly new foes, the crafty Sanzoku Ippa. It will release "later in 2025".

The expansion also introduces the Bō weapon type for Naoe – a staff for poking and beating opponents – and will feature new gear to loot and abilities to unlock. Ubisoft says it will provide "over 10 hours of additional content" and takes place after the ending of the main game.

To get Claws of Awaji, you just need to pre-order any edition of the Assassin's Creed Shadows. Since it comes at no extra cost, by pre-ordering you're essentially getting this expansion for free. After the launch of AC Shadows on March 20, I assume Claws of Awaji will be available to buy separately but there are no indications as to how much it will be. Pre-ordering any edition of the game also gets you access to the exclusive "Thrown to the Dogs" quest as well, which will be available at launch.

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What are the new Diablo 4 Goblins?

The Diablo 4 Goblin event introduces six new named variants of Goblins, and while these will remain in the game once the March of the Goblins has concluded their spawn rate is higher while the event is taking place. Each of the fresh Goblin variants can be identified by their glowing color, and they also drop different items to distinguish them from one another. These are the details you need to know about the new arrivals and what they drop when defeated:

• Odious Ector (green)
  Drops Crafting Materials, plus Obducite in Torment tiers.
• Gilded Baron (gold)
  Drops large amounts of Gold.
• Glittering Prym (silver)
  Drops Gem Fragments and Runes, plus Undercity Tributes and Scattered Prisms in Torment tiers.
• Curious Murl (purple)
  Drops Murl's Bag of Obols, which can be collected even when at maximum Obol capacity.
• Gelatinous Syrus (cyan)
  Splits into two then three Goblins, drops a Legendary Item with a chance to drop more Legendary Items in Torment tiers, plus Gold, Boss Summoning Materials, and possibly an Elixir.
• Fancy Old Fedric (magenta)
  Incredibly rare, drops a Mythic Unique and a Resplendent Spark.

Although Fancy Old Fedric is so rare that they've become the stuff of legends, if they do appear for you then you need to drop everything and pursue them, as killing this Goblin will earn you both a Mythic Unique and a Resplendent Spark!

Rewards unlocked during the Diablo 4 Goblin event

By collecting gold and other items from Goblins during the event, you can level up your March of the Goblins rank. Visit the Altar of the Goblin just to the west of the Kyovashad waypoint then interact with it to see your current rank, and you can also claim any Diablo 4 Goblin event rewards you've earned so far. The rewards available for the March of the Goblins ranks are as follows:

1. Magic Goblin Gift (cache of Items and Crafting Materials)
2. Magic Goblin Gift (cache of Items and Crafting Materials)
   Baron's Gift (cache of coins)
3. Magic Goblin Gift (cache of Items and Crafting Materials)
4. Rare Goblin Gift (cache of Items and a Temper Manual)
   Ector's Gift (cache of Crafting Materials)
5. Rare Goblin Gift (cache of Items and a Temper Manual)
6. Rare Goblin Gift (cache of Items and a Temper Manual)
   Murl's Gift (cache of Murmuring Obols)
7. Legendary Goblin Gift (cache of Legendary Items and Temper Manuals)
8. Legendary Goblin Gift (cache of Legendary Items and Temper Manuals)
   Prym's Gift (cache of Gem Fragments and Runes)
9. Legendary Goblin Gift (cache of Legendary Items and Temper Manuals)
10. Legendary Goblin Gift (cache of Legendary Items and Temper Manuals)
    March of the Goblins Emblem (profile emblem)
    Fedric's Gift (cache of Runes and a Resplendent Spark)

As you can see, there's a significantly impressive reward for reaching Rank 10 in the form of a scarce Resplendent Spark, so it's definitely worth investing time to try and get there before the Diablo 4 Goblin event wraps up on March 11.

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Will REPO release on consoles?

There have been no official announcements about a REPO console release yet, which means it’s not expected to arrive on PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch anytime soon. However, on the bright side, developer Semiwork hasn't said anything to discourage our hopes for a console release either. The matter could still be undecided, as console ports don’t just depend on a game’s initial success but also its lasting popularity. If REPO remains popular among PC players in the coming months, the chances of its arrival on consoles will increase.

If REPO decides to make the jump, it’ll likely land on one of the latest-gen consoles; the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S. Similar to previously PC-exclusive indie games like Valheim, an Xbox release could be paired with availability on Xbox Game Pass.

A console version of REPO would probably arrive after the game’s full launch (version 1.0), given the fact that games in their early access stage are rare on consoles. The developers expect the early access period to last between six months and a year, which would place the REPO console release in September 2025 at the earliest. Remember, this is all just speculation.

REPO PS5 release news

Confusingly enough, there’s a ‘R.E.P.O Horror’ store page in the PlayStation store, with ‘announced’ as the current status and a tentative release window of 2025. However, it doesn’t mention developer Semiwork, the concept art looks somewhat different, and the game’s description mentions a different REPO team size. Until Semiwork has confirmed anything, it’s best to assume that this page is a REPO copycat instead of the real thing.

If you're sticking with PC early access for now, you should make sure you know how to revive in REPO to help your teammates.

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It's worth keeping in mind that you really do have to slay these monsters at Low Rank - if you do so at High Rank difficulty, their chance to drop either the Aqua Sac or Flame Sac is negated, as they drop the rarer Inferno and Torrent Sacs for crafting. If you haven't unlocked any of the above monsters yet, just keep progressing the main campaign: they'll show up eventually.

Want more help exploring the wilderness? Find out pick of the best Monster Hunter Wilds mods and how to install them here, or if you're at the point in the game where you're thinking about Flame and Aqua Sacs, you might need help defeating the legendary Monster Hunter Wilds Black Flame!

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How do I get the WWE 2K25 DLC characters?

As with previous years, there are two ways to add DLC. There are five packs on the way between May 2025 and November 2025, and you can buy each one individually. Costs are still TBC, but as an idea of what to expect, WWE 2K24 DLC was priced at £8.99 / $9.99 per pack. Alternatively, you can grab the WWE 2K25 Season Pass, which grants you all packs for £32.99/$39.99.

An additional bonus from the Season Pass is the SuperCharger, which unlocks legends, arenas and titles without you having to grind through gameplay modes to get them. New this year is the Ringside Pass, which adds the SuperStar Mega-Boost – bolstering your MyRise wrestler, and adding 100K VC into the bargain. For all available versions of the game, visit GR’s WWE 2K25 Special Editions guide.

Who are the WWE 2K25 DLC Legends?

We’re getting an impressive 14 WWE 2K25 DLC Legends, including one monstrous surprise: longstanding TNA favourite Abyss. He’s never appeared in a WWE game before, because he’s never been an official WWE superstar – although he is now a backstage producer for the company. He lands in June 2025, alongside The Great Khali, as part of the Dunk & Destruction Pack.

July’s Fearless Pack adds another two wrestlers we’ve never seen in the series, in ECW bruiser New Jack and Japanese icon Bull Nakano. It’s followed with more familiar additions in September. The Attitude Era Superstars Pack sees D’Lo Brown, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Victoria and Mark Henry all return to the series. Yep, the New Age Outlaws are back.

Five more legends arrive in the final DLC drop. The Saturday Night’s Main Event Pack drops in November, and sees a quintet of old-school grapplers added to the WWE 2K25 roster. They are Jesse Ventura, Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff, Tito Santana, Junkyard Dog, and Sid Justice.

What about WWE 2K25 DLC Raw and Smackdown wrestlers?

In so far as WWE 2K25 DLC from Raw and Smackdown goes, the numbers are limited – but that’s because most of those rosters are already in the base game. The three notable exceptions are former Smackdown tag-team champs the Motor City Machine Guns, and Raw newcomer Penta. Thankfully, that trio are all on their way.

Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin drop soon, as part of the New Wave Pack in May. We have to wait a little longer for Penta: he’s set to arrive in July, within the Fearless Pack. Given he only debuted in January, that’s an impressive inclusion. Like Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill and Andrade, it means he’s in WWE 2K25 as well as being on the AEW Fight Forever roster.

How about WWE 2K25 NXT DLC characters?

Infamously, we only got Lyra Valkyria from NXT last year – and thankfully, 2K has learned a bit of a lesson. This time out three WWE 2K25 NXT DLC characters are headed to the roster, and they’re all ladies who’ve been high on fan wishlists. First up are Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer, as part of May’s New Wave Pack. They’re joined in July by Jordynne Grace, who lines up next to Penta in the Fearless Pack.

The only disappointment is the lack of Joe Hendry, likely due to being contracted to TNA. To play as the super Scot, you’ll instead need to use Community Creations – and we’ll have a WWE 2K25 CAWs guide live shortly after release.

Who are the WWE 2K25 DLC celebrities?

For now, we don’t know! But there are five celebrity WWE 2K25 DLC additions coming. Three of them are from the NBA, and form 60% of the Dunk & Destruction Pack in June. There’s also one celeb assigned to May’s New Wave Pack, and one locked into July’s Fearless Pack. We’ll update this guide with official names once they’re revealed.

What is the full WWE 2K25 DLC release schedule?

The complete WWE 2K25 DLC release schedule is as follows. All packs are listed in chronological order, and we’ll add celebrity characters as soon as they’re unveiled.

WWE 2K25 DLC New Wave Pack (May 2025)

• Alex Shelly (Motor City Machine Guns)
• Chris Sabin (Motor City Machine Guns)
• Giulia
• Stephanie Vaquer
• Special celebrity guest (TBA)

WWE 2K25 DLC Dunk & Destruction Pack (June 2025)

• Abyss
• The Great Khali
• Three NBA stars (TBA)

WWE 2K25 DLC Fearless Pack (July 2025)

• Bull Nakano
• New Jack
• Jordynne Grace
• Penta
• Special celebrity guest (TBA)

WWE 2K25 DLC Attitude Era Superstars Pack (September 2025)

• Billy Gunn (New Age Outlaws)
• D’Lo Brown
• Mark Henry
• Road Dogg (New Age Outlaws)
• Victoria

WWE 2K25 DLC Saturday Night’s Main Event Pack (November 2025)

• Jesse 'The Body' Ventura
• Junkyard Dog
• 'Mr Wonderful' Paul Orndorff
• Sid Justice
• Tito Santana

So where can you find the Black Flame and how do you beat it when you do get there during the Long Forgotten Flame quest? We've covered exactly how to find clues of where the Black Flame went so you can find its location, along with details on its weaknesses and moves so you can learn how to beat the apex predator of the Oilspring Basin, who actually goes by the name of Nu Udra.

As you head further into the Oilspring Basin, you'll find the next clue, which should be whichever of the two clues above you haven't found already. After you inspect this one, your scoutflies should identify the location of the Black Flame all the way down in either Area 14 or 15. Head down there to begin the fight with the apex predator.

How to beat the Black Flame

The Black Flame's real name is Nu Udra, and to beat it, you need to make yourself resistant to fire and capable of dealing water damage. The Arajakan armor set is a strong choice due to its fire resistance, so repeat that battle a few times if you need to source more materials (or you can use one of the best Monster Hunter Wilds mods).

As mentioned above, you'll want Puddle Pods for the water damage, which are auto-crafted when you pick up Watermoss. Thankfully, you'll find a fair few of these on your way to the Black Flame, along with Chillshrooms which are used for the Cold Drink effect to keep you cool.

While the Black Flame is weak to water, this weakness is only in its mouth, which is inconsistent to hit. The rest of its body is weak to stun, sleep, exhaust, and poison, so any elemental damage you can deal along those lines, including with your slinger, is a huge help. Flash Pods and Sonic Bombs have no effect, but Shock and Pitfall Traps are very effective. For more info on how to beat it, we actually have a guide on all Monster Hunter Wilds weaknesses laid out here!

In terms of where to focus your attacks, the mouth is its weak point, but when you can't damage that, focus on the arms. All six of them can be severed and its head can eventually be broken. However, its six arms all attack individually, so it's nigh-on impossible to get behind it, so-to speak. You'll want to be on your guard constantly for attacks, ready to dodge or parry at all times.

Nu Udra has a couple of attacks you should avoid at all costs, telegraphed by either raising its head backwards then charging ahead or inflating itself and attacking with four arms in a wide spread. Then there's the state when it covers itself in flames and starts using fire-based attacks, including a flamethrower-esque move coming out of one of its arms, and one where it throws fiery projectiles at you from afar.

This will be the toughest fight you'll have encountered so far in Monster Hunter Wilds, so if you're struggling, return to camp and prepare some more. Make sure you're using the best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, and that they're upgraded as much as possible. And if all else fails, send out an SOS flare and call in some assistance.

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We've got one mod that adds a health bar to monsters you're fighting so you know how long is left in the fight, another that makes you rich and pairs nicely with one that allows you to buy any items you like, and if you've got the ol' arachnophobia, we can help with that too. Unfortunately but as expected, these mods are only available for the PC version of the game, so console players are out of luck. So without further ado, here are the best Monster Hunter Wilds mods, and details on how to install mods if you're unfamiliar with the process.

The best mods for Monster Hunter Wilds

Here are the best mods in Monster Hunter Wilds on PC:

• Health Bars
  • Adds health bars to monsters you're fighting.
• MHWilds Overlay
  • Shows all of your stats on the HUD.
• Shop Tweaks
  • Makes all shop items available at once.
• Item Cost Tweaks
  • All items cost 1Z and sell for 99,999Z.
• No Crafting Requirements
  • Removes material costs for armour, weapons, and other equipment.
• 3x Monster Drops
  • Increases quantity of monster loot drops.
• Temnophobia Mode
  • Turns giant spiders into slimes.
• Wilds Rehydrated
  • Makes the world and environment more vibrant.
• Wilds Optimizer FPS Boost
  • Improves game performance.
• Skip Pouch Replace Prompt
  • Removes the prompt that appears when you pick up an item with a full pouch.

How to install mods in Monster Hunter Wilds

Installing mods in Monster Hunter Wilds isn't as complex as it might seem. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Install the REFramework mod, as this is the essential basis for all mods. This just needs downloading and extracting into your game folder; full instructions are on the linked mod page.
2. Install the Fluffy Mod Manager. This isn't absolutely essential but is highly recommended as it helps manage all of your mods and works across a lot of different games.
   1. Download the files and extract the .zip file to an empty folder.
   2. Run Modmanager.exe.
   3. Find Monster Hunter Wilds in the list.
   4. Select your Monster Hunter Wilds install folder.
   5. Voila! Fluffy Mod Manager is installed.
3. To install individual mods, all you need to do is download the respective files, then drag and drop the .zip folder to Fluffy Mod Manager. This should make them show up in the list and you can toggle them on and off in the menu.

Health Bars

One quirk of Monster Hunter Wilds, although infuriating to some, is that you never know how much health a monster has left. Early on this isn't an issue as fights are usually over fairly quickly, but some of the bigger foes you'll face can take a while to go down. The Health Bars mod from GreenComfyTea fixes that issue, so you can see exactly how many hit points it has left, going as far as to display the remaining health for multiple monsters in the area.

MHWilds Overlay

Want to see all the possible information available to you in one place, including monster health, your character stats, how much damage you're dealing, and more? Look no further than the MHWilds Overlay mod from lingsamuel, which is the mod you need if you want to monitor every aspect possible.

Shop Tweaks

The first of three mods from LordGregory, the Shop Tweaks mod for Monster Hunter Wilds modifies the item shop so you can buy any consumable or material you like, whenever you like. This doesn't affect weapons and armor, but does essentially remove the progression-gating from certain items so they're available at all times.

Item Cost Tweaks

LordGregory's second is the Item Cost Tweaks mod which is a slightly roundabout way of making you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Rather than just granting you a heap of zennies in one go, this instead makes it so all items cost 1Z, and all items sell for 99,999Z. Sell one item and boom, you can afford anything you like, as many times as you like.

No Crafting Requirements

To round off LordGregory's trifecta we have the No Crafting Requirements mod, which makes it so that crafting any type of equipment such as the best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, the best Monster Hunter Wilds armor, and kinsects doesn't require any materials. It also ignores unlock requirements, much like the Shop Tweaks mod does, but this time for equipment.

3x Monster Drops

If the idea of removing all material requirements sounds like it'd make the game a bit too easy, why not consider the 3x Monster Drops mod from Delvores instead? This does exactly what it says on the tin: you'll receive triple the amount of materials when killing monsters. Although if that is too much, you can also tweak it to only offer double if you'd rather. Thankfully, you don't need a separate 2x Monster Drops mod for that…

Temnophobia Mode

Virtual spiders may be harmless but that doesn't stop them from still being terrifying. Some games offer arachnophobia modes built in, but Monster Hunter Wilds doesn't, so that's where the Temnophobia Mode mod from TeaSharkLad comes in. Voila, all Temnocerans, Nerscylla, and Lala Barina monsters are now enormous slimes instead!

Wilds Rehydrated

Monster Hunter Wilds is a good looking game, but it can look a tad washed out at times, so the Wilds Rehydrated mod from ISpectre23 fixes that by "restoring clarity, depth, and colour balance without sacrificing performance". It does this by only using two "carefully selected effects", so even if you're playing Wilds on a sub-par rig, you can still use the mod.

Wilds Optimizer FPS Boost

However, if you are struggling with performance issues in Monster Hunter Wilds, the Wilds Optimizer FPS Boost mod from VANILLAcoffee promises "increased performance by 10+ FPS" and "reduced CPU usage by 10-15%". There have been some grumbles about Wilds' PC performance, so this mod should be your first port of call to improve performance without sacrificing quality.

Skip Pouch Replace Prompt

Finally, we have the Skip Pouch Replace Prompt mod from PeaslyWellbott. This is a simple quality-of-life mod that removes that pesky prompt whenever you pick up an item but your pouch is at maximum capacity. This mod sends the item you've picked up to your field pouch by making sure "Yes" is picked automatically, without you having to do anything.

Now you know everything about the best mods and how to install them, make sure you're familiar with the Monster Hunter Wilds event quest calendar and schedule if you're planning on spending a lot of time in the endgame. We also have a complete Monster Hunter Wilds beginner's guide if you're new to the series, which should be essential reading.

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REPO Hidden

If there’s one REPO enemy that’s hard to avoid, it’s the Hidden. This monster is completely invisible, but you will hear its heavy breathing when it comes close. If you touch it, the Hidden will grab you and drop you in a random location - you won’t lose HP, but it’ll be hard to find your way back to the extraction point. On top of that, you may find yourself in a tricky spot if the Hidden drops you next to a deadlier REPO monster.

REPO Spewer

Here’s another REPO monster that doesn’t deal direct damage but can be plenty bothersome all the same. The Spewer, which looks like a small, floating tadpole, will attach itself to the nearest player and start vomiting poison from that player’s head. Although the Spewer will eventually let go, this can be dangerous as you may accidentally poison your teammates or destroy valuable loot. That said, the Spewer’s poison can damage other REPO monsters too - but it’s not the most reliable weapon. If you see a Spewer, run away or try to grab and shake it before it reaches your head.

REPO Animal

You hardly need to concern yourself with this spider-like crawler as it deals the least damage of all monsters in REPO. It will only deplete 2 HP per hit, and it’s fairly easy to kill; just pick any weapon and hit the Animal until it’s gone.

REPO Gnomes

They’re as cute as garden gnomes - if you overlook their creepy grins and homicidal tendencies. As one of the most common REPO monsters, it’s a good thing gnomes aren’t among the most dangerous foes. Spawning in groups of four, they will follow players around the map and attack in unison. Despite the low damage, try to get rid of them before you need to focus your attention on tougher enemies - the best way to defeat gnomes is to pick them up and throw them away.

REPO Shadow Child

Whatever you do, don’t stare at this baby-faced slenderman as it will grab you and throw you away, dealing high damage. The Shadow Child also has a teleportation ability, allowing it to pop up quite suddenly, but since it darkens your vision and makes a rather distinct childish laughter sound when it's near, you do receive some sort of warning. You can simply avoid the Shadow Child’s gaze and wait for it to leave, or you can try to kill it by approaching it quickly (don’t stare!) and hitting it with a melee weapon.

REPO Apex Predator

The Apex Predator is by far the cutest of all REPO monsters, but also the most irritating. This tiny duckling will choose the first player it sees as its mother and follow that player everywhere, constantly trying to stand in front of them while jumping up and down. It’s very tempting to pick up the Apex Predator and throw it away, but as soon as you touch it, it’ll initiate a vicious biting attack that lasts for about 10 seconds. If you weren’t standing too close, you might be able to avoid some of the damage, but it typically turns you into a Broken One, which means your teammates will need to know how to revive in REPO to get you back.

You may shake off the Apex Predator by hiding in a closet (close the door before the duckling can follow you and it’ll lose interest, but don’t hit it!), but it’s safest to resign to the fate of being a duckling’s mom for this round.

REPO Rugrat

This massive, jumpy creature is surprisingly fast for a baby. If it spots you, it’ll try to throw nearby items at you, which can deal a lot of damage if you’re not careful. You can’t kill a Rugrat on your own without a weapon (unless you’ve upgraded your strength), but if you do have one, a few hits will take them down. More annoying than the attacks is the fact that Rugrats can easily destroy a lot of valuable loot.

REPO Bowtie

While wandering around the map, this massive white blob will stop and yell at any players it notices. The yelling itself is harmless, but it’ll push you back against objects, walls, or worse; other monsters. After a while, the Bowtie will end its screaming and storm off, potentially damaging you if it hits you. Luckily, Bowties are fairly easy to kill with just about any weapon.

REPO Eye

If you enter a room where this stationary enemy resides, it’ll draw your vision towards it and deal damage over time. The Eye only appears on ceilings and won’t move locations, so it’s fairly easy to avoid if you already know where it is, but it can be an unpleasant surprise upon entering a new room. Therefore, always be ready to back away when entering a new area, as breaking off eye contact will stop the attack.

REPO Banger

Spawning in groups of three, these tiny dynamite-loaded skulls are a nuisance. Upon spotting you, they’ll ignite themselves and run towards you, possibly one-shotting you in the explosion if they get close enough. It’s hard to outrun the Banger’s damage, so it’s best to pick them up and quickly throw them away - the explosion can actually damage other REPO monsters. If you spot a Banger, you can also take one for the team and lure them away from your allies, sacrificing yourself but saving them in the process.

REPO Headman

This massive floating head aimlessly roaming the REPO hallways is already hard to miss, but it also gives off a warning sound; you can hear an eerie draft as well as the occasional biting noise when it’s near. There’s a good chance it’ll ignore you if you stay away or sneak behind it, but the Headman may charge if you look at its face, especially when shining a flashlight. It’s not super fast, but its biting attack depletes half your HP bar in one hit, so it’s best to avoid a fight.

REPO Reaper

This creepy bladed doll walks around the hallways, and although it’s not the loudest of the bunch, you may hear its footsteps approaching. The Reaper has an extremely deadly slashing attack that will almost certainly kill you, but on the bright side, this REPO monster isn’t very perceptive and can’t hear a thing, so it won’t be attracted to your voice or footsteps, not even if you run or jump. Try to kill the Reaper with a ranged weapon or - better yet - run and hide when it comes close.

REPO Chef

This little froggy will hop around the place until it finds you, and when it does, it’ll stop in its tracks, give you the creepiest smile imaginable, and draw its blades before leaping at you. The Chef’s attack is extremely deadly, but you can avoid damage by dodging it - luckily, there’s always a brief interval before he makes the jump. A missed jumping attack will incapacitate the Chef for a few seconds, granting you an opportunity to either run away or kill it (beware that the Chef can’t be thrown by a single player without strength upgrades).

REPO Mentalist

Beware of this wannabe guru and its immobilization ability; if you come too close to the floating Mentalist, it’ll lift you and everything within its range into the air, then slam you down after a while. You may survive this attack if you’re lucky… but you can also get smashed by a heavy item, or land next to another dangerous monster. Although Mentalists suffer from poor perception (both vision and hearing), they’re still fairly difficult to avoid as they can teleport around the map.

REPO Upscream

Not to be confused with another spider-like crawler, the Animal, REPO’s Upscream monster is extremely deadly to the lonely player. Typically spawning in duos or groups of three, they can easily overpower you as their attacks will stun you for a few seconds, so it’s hard to fight back without allies (best to get a full REPO team). That said, when you’re with other players, it shouldn’t take long to kill the Upscreams - just beware that you’ll likely take some damage in the process.

REPO Huntsman

This trigger-happy fellow is blind, but he’ll use his hearing to track you down. As the Huntsman can even hear footsteps, it’s very difficult to avoid damage once he knows where you are - he’ll only need a split-second to fire his gun in the direction of the noise, making it nearly impossible to dodge. Since it takes a brief moment to reload the gun, however, there’s a window of opportunity to hide or sprint away if you survived the first shot. It’s best to throw an item to distract his attention.

REPO Trudge

This burly red-and-black fellow with its skull-adorned neck and yellow eyes trudges randomly across the map. The Trudge is relatively easy to avoid as he’s very slow and his heavy footsteps will warn you from afar, but if he does come close, one or two hits will easily be the end of you (until a teammate revives you, that is). Upon spotting you, the Trudge will unleash a shockwave to pull you in, so be sure to keep your distance.

REPO Clown

This creepy frog-like creature is a bit similar to the Trudge as it plods around the map, thereby warning you with the sound of heavy footsteps. Upon spotting you, the Clown will fire a laser beam from its head or (once the laser attack is in cooldown) try to swipe at you. It’s not very fast and has pretty bad hearing, but it can easily kill you once you’re in sight, so it’s best to keep your distance or hide until it goes away.

REPO Robe

This cloaked figure with a creepy white mask will stalk the first player it finds. Although it doesn’t seem to attack unless you look at it, avoiding a confrontation is difficult as you typically won’t notice the Robe until… well, until you’ve looked and thus aggravated it. Once it’s aggravated, the Robe starts yelling and quickly floats towards you - your best bet is to outrun it and hide.

And those are all the monsters you can run into and fight or run away from in the current early access build. If you're wondering about the possibility of REPO on consoles, we've laid out what we know here.

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To find Ceratonoth, they tend to wander the open deserts of the Windward Plains, but remember that you need Low Rank ones. If you kill them at high rank, they'll drop different items like the Herbivore Carapace. Fortunately, if you've progressed the campaign into the High Rank phase, just play a Low Rank optional quest in the Windward Plains and deviate away to kill some Ceratonoth before you're done. I recommend the mission "The Desert is Demanding", where I had easy success.

More helpful tidbits for MH Wilds are all over GamesRadar+! Pick out all the best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons at our dedicated tier list, or find out how to get the best Monster Hunter Wilds armor here!

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You have two main options for reaching this path:

1. Wudwud Hideout in Area 14: Fast travel to the hideout then head uphill towards Area 17 and you're bound to see several Dapperwings perched on the twisted tree branches and shrubs.
2. Great Lake Shore pop-up camp in Area 17: This automatically unlocks after the Uth Duna fight. Fast travel here then head down the ruined path towards Area 14 and you should come across many Dapperwings perched on the ruins and branches.

You're looking for a small bird-like creature with a bat-like face and large, black eyes – in the Fallow season, they're green and blend in quite well, but the males are much more brightly colored in Plenty. Once you've found one, equip the net, aim at the Dapperwing, and make sure you're close enough that the aiming rectangle goes orange (it also helps if you aim the center of the rectangle slightly above your target Dapperwing). Thankfully, Dapperwing don't seem to get scared, so you don't need to worry about them flying off if you get too close.

With one in your net, you can return to Samin in the Windward Plains base camp to cash in. However, the research report war between Dareel and Samin continues as you progress the story, with the pair requesting you catch them a Monster Hunter Wilds Ember Rufflizard. It's also not worth catching Dapperwings outside of this side quests for rewards as they don't provide anything other than five Guild Points. Fish are generally much more helpful in this regard, with things like the Monster Hunter Wilds Goldenfish providing scales that can be sold for lots of Zenny.

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How to catch a Goldenfish in Monster Hunter Wilds

I found the cave system in Areas 14 and 15 in the Windward Plains to be the best location for catching Goldenfish in Monster Hunter Wilds, but you must catch one with the fishing rod equipped with the Golden Bughead lure to complete this side quest.

You'll unlock the Groundwater Vein pop-up camp in Area 14 after the Monster Hunter Wilds Rey Dau boss fight for easy fast travel to that cave system. It's almost directly below the Oasis campsite in Area 13 in the south of the Plains map. From the camp, head out the southeast cave and towards the water area visible on your map. Run right to the edge and you'll see a large, deep pool which you can cast your fishing line into with the Golden Bughead lure. Alternatively, you can take the north exit out of the camp and dive into the water to reach a narrow cave area with a small and shallow pool that you can fish from.

Make sure you equip your fishing rod and use the D-Pad to scroll through your lures to find the Golden Bughead. Now you can cast your line into either of the fishing spots outlined above and slowly reel in and move your line by moving the left stick. When the fish bites, press R2/RT to reel it in automatically.

Note that you can catch Goldenfish using the net as well, just like how you would capture a Monster Hunter Wilds tracktail lizard, for example, but this does not count as a catch for the purposes of Kanya's Seeking the Goldenfish side quest – you must use the fishing rod.

Goldenfish are quite rare given that they appear in such specific areas but they're valuable since they drop Golden Scales which can be sold to the provisioner back at base camp for 1000 Zenny a piece. Zenny is hardly difficult to get in Monster Hunter Wilds, but if you do find yourself running low, catching a few Goldenfish and selling their scales can certainly help!

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Gravid Bowfin spawn in all the major areas of Monster Hunter Wilds, but this specific pond is one of the most reliable. And unlike the larger Monster Hunter Wilds Whopper fish, catching them is very simple - just twitch the line until they take notice, then press R2/RT the moment the Bowfin bites to reel it in.

Want more help with hunts? Find out when you can play all the special Monster Hunter Wilds Event Quests, or check out where to find the elusive Monster Hunter Wilds Ember Rufflizard here!

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Now with event quests becoming an integral part of MH Wilds going forward and a fundamental part of the Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap, we've assembled everything you need to know about them right here, with data on what to expect, what you need to do, and what special monsters and prizes will be coming down the road.

Event Quest calendar for Monster Hunter Wilds

Below I've laid out all the event quests in Monster Hunter Wilds that are currently live or upcoming, when they're active, and what the rewards are.

You can get more info on Event Quests and what Capcom have planned at official MH Wilds site.

How to start event quests in Monster Hunter Wilds

Event quests in Monster Hunter Wilds, like most quests, are started via the NPC Alma. Just talk to her, and among the various kinds of quests she offers, there's a specific tab for Event Quests among them, as shown above. However, keep in mind that your game will need to be up to date, and of course you can't play event quests outside of the schedule shown above - they're time sensitive, after all.

Of course, if you're looking at all the monsters to slay in the quests to come, give yourself the advantage with our page on all the different Monster Hunter Wilds weaknesses! Or, alternatively, check out how to wield one of the game's most popular weapons in our guide to the Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword.

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One of these new characters is BB Urich (Genneya Walton), a young reporter who takes to the streets to get the opinions of real New York citizens. The character was written specifically for Daredevil: Born Again, but bears a direct connection an important (and now deceased) character from Netflix's Daredevil.

In case you had questions, we've answered them below - but be warned: there are spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episodes 1 and 2 below.

Who is BB Urich?

BB Urich is a young reporter who has her own internet show known as the BB Report. In the first episode, we see BB interview the people of New York City about the current state of violent crime within the city, and how hard it is to feel safe nowadays - especially now that Daredevil isn't around. Remember that Matt Murdock hangs up the suit after Foggy's death, and decides to focus on obtaining justice the 'right way' via his law firm. In the year that Daredevil has been absent, things have only gotten worse - and this is what Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin decides to base his campaign around.

BB is interested in Kingpin - and it's likely that this interest comes from the fact that he killed her uncle Ben Urich a few years back in the original Netflix show - more on that below. BB also has a friendship with Daniel Blake, whom she calls her "friend with political benefits." Because Blake is working on Fisk's campaign, BB is able to gain access.

Who is Ben Urich?

Ben Ulrich was an investigative journalist who, working alongside Karen Page, specialized in exposing criminal empires within Hell's Kitchen. This lead to the arrests of various high-ranking criminals - but is also ultimately how he got himself killed. Ben worked alongside Karen to bring down Kingpin's criminal empire, and was close to publishing the truth in print. When Ben's wife becomes progressively sicker and sicker, he decides to withdraw from continuing the investigation and publishing the story, but it's ultimately Karen who pushes him to continue. As they got close to exposing Wilson Fisk to the people of New York City, Kingpin decided paid him a visit. Instead of issuing a warning, Fisk strangled Ben to death in his own home.

It's possible that BB plans to take after her uncle and continue his work, exposing the would-be Mayor for the ruthless, soulless, supervillain that he actually is. It's very possible that Fisk will win the election - but that an expose into his criminal past will bring out his true character (even though he said he gave that all up).

The first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again are out now. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2025 and beyond, or check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows you need to know about.

Once you have it, you can head back to Dareel to hand in the questline and get the rewards for completing this phase of the questline. The next critter he'll want you to catch is the Monster Hunter Wilds Rime Beetle, which we have a guide ready and waiting for you if you want to get a head start on that!

Want more help with the Forbidden Lands and what dwells within? Prove yourself a master fisherman with our guide on how to catch the Monster Hunter Wilds Whopper, or discover where to find the near-legendary Monster Hunter Wilds Sandstar, which is hiding in the wastelands somewhere...

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How to revive teammates in REPO

If a REPO player perishes after a run-in with one of the game’s many monsters, their robot character is disassembled, turning them into a ‘Broken One’. This player won’t be able to do anything until they’re either revived or the match has ended - and that includes talking, as Broken Ones are excluded from the in-game voice chat.

To revive a teammate, the most important thing you’ll need is the player’s head, which must be returned to the extraction point. You should find the head somewhere near the location of your teammate’s demise; open the map (press TAB) and look for a dot the same color as the fallen teammate’s character, showing you their last location. The picture above provides an example of what the remains of a decapitated REPO player look like. When you’ve found the head, pick it up (just like any other item) and drop it on the extraction platform.

Unfortunately, this won’t revive the teammate just yet as you also need to reach the loot quota. Keep adding loot to the extraction platform (see arrow on the left) until the total value matches the quota displayed at the top right of the screen (arrow on the right). With a larger REPO team size, revives should be much easier to pull off.

Upon activation, your teammate will respawn at the extraction point with only 1 HP, but they can walk into the truck to boost this up to 25 HP. Upon the player’s successful return to the service ship, their HP bar is fully replenished.

What to do when a REPO revive fails

If you fail to revive a teammate, the unfortunate Broken One either needs to wait until the rest of the team safely reaches the service ship and starts a new round or until the remaining teammates have fallen as well. Naturally, that last one is the less desirable outcome, as it means you’ll need to start over.

A player who automatically revives at the start of the round rather than at the extraction point will start the next round with only 1 HP, which isn’t ideal if REPO monsters are lurking. Luckily, it’s possible to share your HP with your allies in REPO, so if that happens, you can give some of your own health to the player with 1 HP. Stand behind them, aim at their back, and hold the left mouse button to reallocate 10 HP to them. In other words, if you start with 80 HP and your ally with 1, one HP swap will drop your HP to 70 and boost theirs to 11. You can repeat this step as necessary, but be mindful of your own health!

To keep track of your health, look at the top left of the screen; the green numbers next to the plus sign are your health points. If it says 100/100, your HP is still full, but if it says 50/100, you’ve only got half your life left. All in all, it’s best to avoid HP reallocation as much as possible by reviving your REPO allies using the head-to-extraction-point method.

REPO is currently only playable on PC in early access, so an console release won't be coming soon but REPO on PS5 isn't impossible.

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Where are the Fortnite Dill Bit Display Cases?

There are a total of eight Fortnite Dill Bit Display Cases and four vaults, so you can find two cases in every vault. Three of those vaults are located within banks, while the other is deep within Fletcher Kane's mansion hideout. I've marked all of their locations on the map above, which are as follows:

• Lonewolf Lair
• Crime City Bank (in Crime City)
• Masked Motorway Bank (in Masked Meadows)
• Seaport City Bank (in Seaport City)

How to search a Dill Bit Display Case in Fortnite

To access a Dill Bit Display Case in Fortnite, you need to visit one of the locations marked above and then crack open the vault. This is done by attaching Thermite to the vault door, which can be found as random loot, collected from a Go Bag in the area near the vault, or purchased from one of the Fortnite Black Markets. When you attach the Thermite all hell will break loose, triggering waves of Alpha Guards and sometimes even Fletcher Kane himself, who you'll need to fight off while the Thermite burns through the door. You can speed up this process by shooting the glowing weakpoints that appear on the vault door, until eventually it blows open.

Once you can get inside the vault, you just need to approach and search one of the Dill Bit Display Cases to complete this quest, then you can take the Dill Bit to one of the Black Markets and exchange it for a high tier weapon of your choice.

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Whoppers have their own unique fishing mechanics that kick in once they've bitten the line, wherein you need to exhaust them before you can reel them in. Here's how it works:

1. Once the fish bites the hook, press R2/RT to start the minigame.
2. The goal now is to stop the line from reaching too much tension. Match the Whopper's movements with the analog stick to minimise line tension: if it goes left, you go left too. If it goes right, you also go right.
3. Eventually the fish will temporarily stop moving when it's exhausted. Rapidly press up and down on the analog stick to reel it in.
4. If the fish jumps in the air, follow its movements with the analog stick as normal, then press R2/RT at the height of the jump to restrain it and exhaust it again.
5. Once the fish is reeled in to be close enough to the shore, it'll automatically get dragged onto the bank and will be caught!

Whopper locations in Monster Hunter Wilds

There are multiple fish that count as Whoppers in Monster Hunter Wilds, but it seems all of them can be found in Area 17 of the Scarlet Forest, usually around the churning water (though not exclusively). Below we'll list the different Whopper fish and what lures/bait you need to catch them:

• Great Trevally: Tuff Joint Bait
• Gajau: Duster Rigs
• Gastronome Tuna: Tuff Joint Bait
• Goliath Squid: Tentacle Jigs (and only shows up at night)

Goliath Squid are the rarest and you won't even have the Tentacle Jigs if you're at this specific point in the quest chain, so definitely use the Tuff Joint Bait as a rule just to draw any whopper from the water and complete the side quest. If the flying Harpios are diving into the water, clear them out with your Slinger to stop them from scaring away the fish first!

Looking for new forms of life in the Forbidden Lands? Check out the location of the Monster Hunter Wilds Gillopod here, or discover the incredibly rare Monster Hunter Wilds Sandstar here!

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Maximum REPO team size

You can play REPO in a team of up to six players - you plus five others. That said, you don’t need six players to start a match. It’s possible to play REPO solo, but beware that it’ll be much harder to survive. If you want to play REPO by yourself, just open the game and pick ‘singleplayer’ in the main menu, which will skip the multiplayer lobby and allow you to jump into a new solo game. However, if you want a proper challenge without it being too hard, try playing as a duo or trio - although, however many people you play with, it's vital that you know how REPO revives work.

At the time of writing, REPO doesn’t have a matchmaking feature. This means you can’t join a random player’s game and they can’t join yours - only direct invites sent to your Steam friends will work. As REPO is still in early access, it’s possible that online matchmaking will be added at a later stage, but for now, you must either play with Steam friends or use the single-player option. With regards to the question of how many people can play REPO, beware that the absence of random matchmaking will make it harder to reach REPO’s maximum team size of six players.

How to play REPO with friends

You can host a game and invite your friends to play REPO, but keep in mind that the player with the best PC and internet connection should ideally be the host. If you are the best candidate, choose ‘host game’ in the main menu, then pick a saved game from a previous session or choose ‘new game’ to start afresh. Here’s a step-by-step overview:

1. Click ‘host game’.
2. In the pop-up, choose ‘yes’.
3. Click ‘new game’ (unless you already have a saved game you’d like to use).
4. In the next pop-up, pick ‘yes’ again.
5. Click the ‘invite’ button. This will trigger Steam’s ‘Friends’ menu overlay.
6. In the overlay, right-click on the friends you wish to invite.
7. You will see a smaller pop-up menu with the R.E.P.O. game listed about halfway down. Choose ‘invite to game’ to allow your friend to join.
8. Optional: while in the lobby, you and your friends can choose ‘change color’ to change your character’s appearance and make it easier to tell each other apart.
9. When everyone’s ready, select ‘start game’ to begin.

If you are not the host, you simply need to join a friend’s game. Open REPO and select ‘join game’ in the main menu, which will automatically open Steam’s ‘friends’ menu. Select the friend who’s hosting the game and choose ‘join game’. Alternatively, you can ask the host to follow the steps as described above and send you an invite, then accept the invite in Steam.

With that, you should be ready to dive in and avoid all the REPO monsters as best as you can to survive. And in case you're wondering about REPO on PS5 or Xbox while it's still in PC early access, it's not exactly clear what could happen.

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At this point you can head back to Samin and hand in the quest for 5 Wild Herbs and 10 Honey, as well as a load of Guild Points to increase your Hunter Rank. There's no benefit to capturing Sandstars other than the Guild Points, so don't worry about hunting more of them from this point.

Want to find more monsters that are just as dangerous? Find out how to hunt the fearsome Monster Hunter Wilds Gillopod, or discover the secret location of the terrifying Monster Hunter Wilds Tracktail Lizard!

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Instead, get out your Capture Net and fire it at the Rime Beetle to scoop it up off the snow, just like catching a Monster Hunter Wilds Dapperwing. At that point, you should get a little in the way of Guild Points and a new entry in the Endemic Life field guide. Then you just need to go back to the Windward Plains base camp and you can hand in Samin's Research Report. He'll give you 5 Honey and 10 Mandragora as a reward, as well as some Hunter Rank XP - not a lot, but considering how easy it is to do, you might as well.

Want more help with exploring the Wilds? Find the terrifying Monster Hunter Wilds Gillopod here, or discover how to earn the special Monster Hunter Wilds Hunter Symbol 3 crafting item here, which you can use to make the best gear in the game.

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There's no penalty to catching the Pillopods of Monster Hunter Wilds while you're there and in fact there's a minor reward in Guild Points. Besides, neither variant will try to escape, so you have all the time in the world to catch them. Use the capture net and fire it at the Gillopod (and any Pillopods you want to catch), and it should scrape them off the wall easily enough - exactly like capturing a Monster Hunter Wilds Dapperwing earlier.

Once that's done, head back to Dareel on the Windward Plains to hand the quest in, and get a small pool of reward (10x Gloamgrass and 5x Honey).

Looking for more rare creatures around the Forbidden Lands? Find out the location of the Monster Hunter Wilds Tracktail Lizard, or discover how to get the Monster Hunter Wilds Hunter Symbol 3, an essential part of crafting the most valuable weapons and armor out there!

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Carving or capturing the monster makes no difference in this case: simply completing the mission itself would be enough. Once that's done, you can start crafting the high-tier armor and weapons that use the Hunter Symbol 3.

These Hunts won't even become available until the last hours of the MH Wilds campaign, and you'll need to be a top-tier player to have a chance of surviving them. On top of which, they aren't always present - check the upcoming appearances in each region to see if they'll spawn soon, or use the Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer system to join friends or answer SOS flares that meet your needs if you want to speed up the process.

Want more help with MH Wilds? If you're out hunting for items that can slip by unnoticed, find out where to find the elusive Monster Hunter Wilds Tracktail Lizard. Alternatively, for a better understanding of the Monster Hunter Wilds character design codes, our guide can explain how they work!

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Tracktail Lizards appear as slender blue lizards with a Meerkat-like build that stand up on their tails when you get close. Get any closer, and they'll run! If you don't catch them within a few seconds, they'll burrow into the sand and disappear. To catch them, you need to equip and use the Capture Net, which is used to capture all Endemic Life, and fire it from your slinger at the Lizards (the icon will change color when they're in range). If you miss the shot and they escape, rejoin the lobby as outlined above to reset them.

Want more help with MH Wilds? Find out the secret nuances of the Monster Hunter Wilds Focus Mode, or check out where to find the rare Monster Hunter Wilds Sharp Fangs that'll help you build the early gear and armor.

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How to get Monster Hunter Wilds Sharp Fangs

You can get Sharp Fangs in Monster Hunter Wilds by killing certain Small Monsters, usually the ones with obvious sharp teeth (unsurprisingly), found around the game's various regions. In the early game, you'll want to look for Talioths and Gajios to reliably get Sharp Fangs:

• Talioths: Tall, velociraptor-like creatures found in the Windswept Plains region. They are generally found in large groups but they may disperse when you start attacking. Thankfully, they are very weak.
• Gajios: Crocodilian monsters with wide, armored snouts found in or around water in the Windswept Plains and Scarlet Forest regions. They're relatively tough but focusing attacks from the back or sides can bring them down quickly.

To track these creatures down and get their Sharp Fangs in Monster Hunter Wilds, open the map and then open the Filter Icons list. Find either creature from the list and then select it to set a waypoint. You can then hop onto your Seikret and auto-ride towards the waypoint, dismount, and hunt those small monsters. Carve up their corpses and you collect some Sharp Fangs along the way.

Once that's done you can head back to camp, and speak to Gemma the Smithy about crafting new armor from your spoils. For example, If you've fought a Monster Hunter Wilds Chatacabra, you can use its parts and Sharp Fangs to craft the Chatacabra Coil.

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Monster Hunter Wilds Focus Mode explained

Using Focus Mode in Monster Hunter Wilds is essential as it helps with aiming your attacks and lets you perform savage Focus Strikes to severely injure monsters. To activate Focus Mode, you need to press L2/LT if you're using a controller or ALT on a keyboard while your melee weapon is drawn.

Using either of these methods toggles Focus Mode on or off, but you can change it to only activate when the button is held:

• Controller: Open start menu > System tab > Options menu > Controls tab > Aim/Focus Mode Controls on page 2/3 > set to L2/LT to Activate Mode.
• Mouse and keyboard: The hold to activate button is automatically bound to one of the mouse side buttons, though you might not have these on your mouse and so will need to rebind under the Keyboard Configuration menu on the System tab.

Activating Focus Mode places a central aiming crosshair on your screen which your Hunter always looks at. This causes your Hunter to strafe and direct all attacks with their Monster Hunter Wilds weapons at the crosshair, so you need to point the crosshair at the monster you're battling using the right stick or mouse whenever you're performing a melee combo. Note that this is not the same as locking onto a monster, which is done by pressing in the right stick on controller.

Focus Mode also allows you to perform Focus Strikes by pressing R1/RB or Shift while in Focus Mode. Performing a Focus Strike and hitting a monster's wound (the glowing red bits) launches you into a brutal attack that destroys that wound, and potentially others depending on the weapon used, dealing a lot of damage to the target monster and leaving it reeling. Additionally, you can counter certain monster attacks that are very briefly telegraphed with a red glow. If you get the timing right, this similarly deals massive damage and cancels the monster's attack, saving you from potentially massive damage too!

Focus Mode is generally for melee weapons as pressing L2/LT or ALT while using a ranged weapon toggles precise aiming instead. Furthermore, if your weapon is stowed, or you're riding your Seikret, pressing these buttons causes you to aim with your Slinger which you can use to help apply status effects.

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How to use Character Design Codes in Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds character design codes are a feature built into MH Wilds wherein players can upload and download their Hunter appearances… but right now not many people seem to be using it, with the community instead preferring to share the specific slider inputs so players can manually create those characters instead. Still, here's how the character design codes work:

1. When changing their character appearance and connected online (but not during the initial character creation), a player can go to the rightmost tab and save their design for future reference.
2. Once you've done this, press Save/Load to bring up your saved designs.
3. On the design you want to share with other people, press Triangle/Y to open the Sub-Menu.
4. Press "Upload Design".
5. This will then give you a twelve digit code for you to share with friends.
6. Other people, when designing a character, can then go to the "Download Design" option under Save/Load.
7. Enter the character design code to change your character's appearance to match.

Again, the big problem here is that the community isn't using this feature in Monster Hunter Wilds much right now - in part because you can't upload designs during that initial character creation, as mentioned - and is instead just sharing screenshots of slider settings to do it manually, which isn't ideal.

Still, we've been testing it out, and if you want a free taster to work from, here's a character design code for Ciri from the Witcher series.

• Ciri character design code: U76CH3SJ3AC5

Want more info on MH Wilds? If you're looking at staying sharp, check out how to change Monster Hunter Wilds armor appearance with the layered armor system, or if you're just getting started with the game, why not look at our tutorial on the weapon that's first put into your hands when you begin, the Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword?

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So if you've picked up the Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds and you're wondering how to deal the most damage and exactly when to release your charged attacks, along with how Power Clashes work and all the controls to boot, we're here to help with one of the most classic of Monster Hunter Wilds weapons. Here's our complete guide to the Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword.

Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword mechanics explained

While the Great Sword has just a few simple attacks, most of which are various swings and slashes, there are some deeper mechanics at play. The first of these is that every attack with the Great Sword can be charged by holding down the input in order to deal more damage. However, you're completely vulnerable while charging, which is why you need to learn monster attack patterns to find the perfect opening. If you're hit, the charge will be interrupted.

Charging an attack with the Great Sword isn't just a case of the longer you charge it, the more damage it deals though. When charging, you'll see your character flash white, then yellow, then red. These indicate the three charge levels, so to deal the most damage, you want to release the attack as soon as your character flashes red. Make sure you don't hold it for too long because if you wait until the attack is released automatically, you'll have overcooked the attack and it'll only approximately deal as much damage as it would at a level two charge.

As you'll have noticed if you've tried moving or swinging the Great Sword even once, this is one of the slowest weapons, so you need to master the art of guarding. This is basically a block, which reduces how much damage you take, but if you can pull off a Perfect Guard, it'll negate all damage. It also prevents your weapon from taking a knock to its durability, which happens with a normal guard.

A Perfect Guard can also result in a Power Clash, which is when you enter into a duel with the monster. Winning this staggers your foe and leaves them open to more devastating attacks. You can do something similar by using the Offset Riding Slash attack when your enemy is about to land a blow on you. Focus Mode isn't as important with the Great Sword as it is with some other weapons, but it does let you reorient yourself and pivot your attacks in a different direction. It also lets you use Focus Slash: Perforate, which you should use to target monster wounds as it deals increased damage.

Great Sword moveset

Here are all of the basic moves and attacks for the Great Sword:

• Overhead Slash
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Charged Slash (hold)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Wide Slash
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Tackle (while charging)
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Rising Slash
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Offset Rising Slash (hold)
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Guard
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Kick (while guarding)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Circle
• Focus Slash: Perforate (while in Focus Mode)
  • PC: Shift
  • PS: R1
  • XB: RB

In short, the Great Sword is a fantastic weapon in the right hands and it's fairly easy to get to grips with, but it still needs time and dedication if you want to master it - and not just because you're committing to every swing taking the best part of an hour.

Want some more help with the game's many systems? Find out how to mount monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds here and leap into the beast's back, or if you're feeling like a style change, check out our guide on how to change appearance in Monster Hunter Wilds!

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There are two main selling points for the Sword and Shield over some of the bigger Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, such as the Great Sword or the Long Sword: the shield and how nimble you are with it equipped. The shield allows you to perform a few special attacks along with granting you the ability to guard, while you're also faster and can output attacks at a faster pace. Here's our complete guide to the Monster Hunter Wilds Sword and Shield.

Monster Hunter Wilds Sword and Shield mechanics explained

The Sword and Shield has a few different moves that can be used for different purposes. Every attack with the sword will deal severing damage, while shield attacks deal blunt damage, which allows the Sword and Shield to be effective against multiple different monster types. The Shield Bash, which can be performed immediately after another attack, can be used to stun monsters, while the Shield Attack allows you to bonk enemies on the head with the rim of your shield from a moving position.

Since the Shield allows you switch in and out of guarding with ease, you should be doing this regularly. There are a few moves you can still perform while guarding too, such as the Rising Slash and Guard Slash, both of which are executed quickly, and the Sliding Swipe, which lets you surge forwards and perform two swipes at your foe from the floor.

Finally, the Sword and Shield also lets you use items, such as food and potions, without putting away your shield. You'll still need to sheathe your sword, so you can't perform any other attacks at the same time, but it does mean you can resume attacking much quicker after consuming or using an item.

Sword and Shield moveset

Here are all of the basic moves for the Sword and Shield in Monster Hunter Wilds:

• Chop
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Lateral Slash
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Advancing Slash
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Shield Attack:
  • PC: WASD + RMB
  • PS: LS + Circle
  • XB: LS + B
• Guard
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Guard Slash (while guarding)
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Sliding Swipe (while guarding)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Rising Swipe (while guarding)
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Roundslash (after attacking)
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Focus Strike: Vital Stab (while in Focus Mode)
  • PC: Shift
  • PS: R1
  • XB: RB
• Charged Chop (after attacking, hold)
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Backstep (after attacking)
  • PC: S + RMB
  • PS: LS + Circle
  • XB: LS + B
• Leaping Slash (hold Backstep first)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y

As you can tell, everything with the Sword and Shield revolves around slashing and bashing, and most moves can be combined fluidly to make this weapon excellent for those who like to be in the flow of the battle.

Want more help with MH Wilds? Check out how to play with friends in Monster Hunter Wilds here, or find out the Monster Hunter Wilds weaknesses for every monster in the game!

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The Monster Hunter Wilds Dual Blades explained

The Dual Blades in Monster Hunter Wilds are a pair of small knives (by MH Wilds standards) that focus on mobility and rapid strikes, as well as triggering certain modes that power them up: the Demon, Archdemon and Demon Boost power-ups. Demon Boost is a temporary speed buff that's triggered by a perfect dodge and is basically its own thing, but Demon Mode is a special stamina-draining buff that players can trigger at any time.

Doing damage to enemies in Demon Mode builds a little gauge for the Dual Blades, which eventually fills up and triggers the special Archdemon mode, which is even more powerful and unlocks special attacks. Ultimately, Dual Blades hunters should by dodging around enemies, using rapid strikes and managing their stamina to build to the Archdemon mode, whereupon they can go all-out and prove why this is one of the most reliable Monster Hunter Wilds weapons.

We'll go into more detail below, but the ultimate summary of how they work is this:

• Trigger the stamina-burning Demon Mode to get a temporary buff and fill up the Archdemon Gauge
• When in Archdemon mode, spend the Gauge on your most powerful attacks and combos
• Use the perfect evade and Demon Boost to keep your mobility up.

Demon Mode and Archdemon Mode explained

Demon Mode for the Dual Blades is toggled by pressing R2/RT, which is marked by your hunter holding the blades facing backwards and glowing red. During Demon Mode, you get a boost to damage, movement speed, dodging and knockback immunity, but your stamina constantly drains. When it reaches zero, Demon Mode automatically ends, but you can end it early by pressing the same button again.

Any damage you do to enemies during Demon Mode fills the Demon gauge in the top left corner. When it fully charges, you immediately enter Archdemon Mode, which is marked by the gauge beginning to glow. Archdemon Mode then lasts until the gauge is fully emptied.

Archdemon Mode has no drain on your stamina, and it unlocks powerful new attacks like the Demon Flurry, the most powerful attack that the Dual Blades have to offer, though these attacks are specifically what drain the Archdemon Gauge.

It's important to keep in mind that Archdemon and Demon Mode aren't mutually exclusive - you can have them both active at once. Skilled players will do everything they can to keep Archdemon Mode active, building the gauge up early to trigger it, then using Demon Flurry and its variants to use up the gauge, then triggering Demon Mode to fill it up again.

Demon Boost and Perfect Evades explained

The other major benefit of the Dual Blades is the Demon Boost and Perfect Evades. Dodging an enemy attack during Demon Mode at the very last moment, with your Dual Blades unsheathed, turns your Hunter blue and triggers a twelve-second "Demon Boost".

Demon Boost is a damage and speed buff that also turns your dodges into spinning attacks, so the simple act of evading can hurt nearby enemies. It can be used infinitely, but you have to nail the perfect evade every time. Again, Demon Boost can absolutely be used at the same time as Demon Mode and Archdemon Mode, so you can have all three buffs active in tandem if you play the game right!

Dual Blades tips

Here’s some basic advice for actually using this weapon in the field:

• Get a Dual Blade weapon that inflicts a status effect like Poison or Paralysis. Because the Dual Blades hit so rapidly, these effects get built up on enemies fast.
• The Lunging Strike and Spinning Slash (press Circle/B several times) is a combo that will quickly build the gauge when Demon Mode is active.
• When the enemy gets knocked over, stunned, or temporarily immobilised for any reason, now's the time for those high power moves. Use Blade Dance by rapidly pressing Triangle+Circle/Y+B to carve them up. If Archdemon Mode is active, you can change the combo part way by pressing R2/RT, enhancing it to the more powerful Demon Flurry.
• Practice the Perfect Dodge! It's hard to do, but skilled players effectively never leave the Demon Boost mode, and are all the more deadly for it. If you can't get this right, you'll never get the most out of the Dual Blades.
• Keep a little stamina in the tank. Demon Mode drains it, but try not to fully run out, so you always have some left for evasion.
• The Focus Strike is deadly, as when you land it, it causes your Hunter to roll along the monster's back, carving it up along the way. This actually makes the attack more deadly the larger the monster is - as there's more monster to roll along.

Want more MH Wilds content? Find our Monster Hunter Wilds weaknesses table for advice on how to beat every monster in the game, or check our beginner's guide for MH Wilds for help on how to get started!

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The Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Evolution mechanic will unlock hidden power from select Pokemon – those you form a strong bond with and hand special items over to. You'll find information on that and all the confirmed Pokemon who can Mega Evolve in Pokemon Legends: Z-A too. So keep on reading to find the latest news, and we'll be sure to keep this page updated as we get closer to the "late 2025" release date.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Evolution explained

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega Evolutions have been confirmed, but you might be wondering how this tool can be used to help turn the tide in battles. Mega Evolution was introduced to the series as part of Pokemon X and Y, a temporary transformation that affects a select few Pokemon. Only certain pocket monsters can Mega Evolve, but when they do they are able to harness a power greater than regular Evolution by temporarily unleashing hidden energy hidden within – some may even change types and appearance.

The Mega Evolution mechanic has been present in Generation 6 and Generation 7 games, and is set to make its return in Pokemon Legends Z-A. You can also check it out right now in spin-off games like Pokemon GO, Pokemon Masters EX, and Pokemon Unite if you can't wait for the upcoming Switch 2 game to launch in "late 2025."

How to use Mega Evolution in Pokemon Legends Z-A

When you get your hands on Pokemon Legends: Z-A later this year, you'll find that you need to meet certain requirements before some of your Pokemon are able to Mega Evolve. The transformation can only occur when trainers have a strong bond with their Pokemon. You'll also need to be in possession of a Key Stone, which can then resonate with a Mega Stone held by your Pokemon, for the Mega Evolution to take place.

Confirmed Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mega-Evolved Pokemon

Below you'll find a list of the Pokemon who can Mega Evolve in Pokemon Legends: Z-A – at least that we know about so far. There's only a select Mega-Evolved Pokemon as part of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Pokedex, although we expect more to be confirmed in the coming months.

• Mega Absol
• Mega Altaria
• Mega Ampharos
• Mega Charizard X
• Mega Charizard Y
• Mega Gardevoir
• Mega Kangaskhan
• Mega Lucario
• Mega Sableye

Here's one last thing you should know about Mega Evolutions, it doesn't look like any of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Starters are going to have the ability.

Triumphant Light expansion release date and details for Pokemon TCG Pocket

Here's all the details revealed so far about the Triumphant Light booster pack expansion for Pokemon TCG Pocket:

• Release Date/Time: February 27, 2025, 10:00PM PST
• Signature/mascot card: Arceus ex (Normal/Colorless)
• New Mechanics: Link Abilities
• New Gameplay Features: Ranked Matches (coming in late March)

The big thing that has yet to be revealed is how many cards will actually be a part of the new booster set, but if the Pokemon TCG Pocket Mythical Island expansion is any indication, expect somewhere between 80 and 100 new cards, including rarity variants.

The big sell of the Triumphant Light expansion is Arceus ex, a card adaptation of the divine god Pokemon that defines the series' mythology. Arceus ex is a colorless/Normal-type Pokemon, and has the unique "Fabled Luster" ability, meaning it can't be affected by any special conditions. More notably though, much of Arceus' power is tied to "Link Abilities", passive powers that it triggers in certain other cards from the expansion. For example, the Triumphant Light version of Raichu has the "Resilience Link" ability, which reads "If you have Arceus or Arceus ex in play, this Pokemon takes -30 damage from attacks." Different Pokemon will get different buffs in Arceus' presence, though none of them seem to impact Arceus back (at least as we've seen so far). Will this be enough for Arceus builds to find their way into the Pokemon TCG Pocket best decks tier list? It's hard to say right now, especially with Colorless or extremely type-diverse decks rarely getting much play in the meta. Still, Arceus might be powerful enough to break through.

The Triumphant Light booster expansion is out at 10:00PM PST on February 27, 2025, though there is one feature that will be coming later: Ranked Matchmaking, meaning players will be able to have games in Pokemon TCG Pocket with players of a similar skill level. However, that has no specific release date at the time of writing, only coming "at the end of March". Keep an eye on our Pokemon TCG Pocket Events calendar and schedule for more details.

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The upcoming RPG is set to arrive in "late 2025", and with a first proper look at what's in store for us during The Pokemon Day February 2025 stream, we got to see how Pokemon Legends: Z-A is going to continue the series' time honored tradition of presenting us with three different Pokemon with the classic Water, Fire, and Grass type lineup. Once we arrive in the setting of Lumiose City, we'll encounter these starters, and whichever one we pick will then become our partner as we set off on our adventures around the urban landscape.

As we wait for the upcoming Switch game - which may well also release on the Switch 2 - to arrive, now's a great time to consider your options in the Pokemon Legends Z-A pokedex so you can dive in and make your choice. Below, you'll find a rundown of all of the Pokemon Legends: Z-A Starters with some helpful info about each one.

Pokemon Legends Z-A Starters

Totodile

Totodile is a Water-type Pokemon that first appeared in Pokemon Silver and Gold as one of the optional starters. The blue alligator-like friend is known for its strong jaw and propensity to bite. With a lively personality, the Water Pokemon evolves into Croconaw, which has a distinctive red mohawk-like fin on its head. Totadile's final evolution is the bipedal Feraligatr, with Water, Dark, and Normal type moves in its skillset.

Chikorita

Chikorita is the Grass-type Pokemon Legends: Z-A Starter you can choose from. Also first appearing in Pokemon Silver, Gold, and Crystal as one of the second generation starter options, Chikorita is a little green leaf Pokemon that's said to be able to use the large leaf on its head to detect the temperature. With a gentle personality, the Grass-type evolves into the leafy dinosaur-like Pokemon called Bayleef, before becoming the final evolution, Meganium - which is a slightly bigger form of Bayleef with a distinctive flowery petal collar.

Tepig

Tepig is a Fire-type pig Pokemon that has an adept sense of smell and a hearty appetite for food. As the one exception, Tepig is the only starter in Pokemon Legends: Z-A that's not introduced in Pokemon Silver and Gold - instead first appearing in a later generation in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2. The little pig evolves into the bipedal Pignite, before it reaches its final evolution, Emboar, which has Fighting-type moves as well as Fire-type.

Revisiting the series in the lead up to Pokemon Legends: Z-A? Check out our pick of the best Pokemon games.

With that in mind and as somebody who's been playing Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer with friends online a lot recently, we'll explain the process, how Hunter IDs and SOS Flares work, and basically everything you need to below.

How to play MH Wilds with friends in online multiplayer

If you want to easily join a friend in Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer via a Link Party, you need to do the following:

1. Go into the pause menu, check your Hunter Profile under the Info tab, and look at the Hunter ID. It should be a short code of numbers and letters.
2. Give this code to all the friends you want to play with.
3. Your friends then need to type in your Hunter ID by opening the pause menu and going to the Communication tab, opening the Member List, then tabbing across to Hunter ID search. From here, they can then Send a Friend Request.
4. At your end, you accept the request in the Invite Notifications List. From that point on, you'll be in each other's Hunter Friends list, which is accessed via the Member List menu.
5. When you want to play, select that friend and press Invite to Link Party to connect!
6. When one player in a Link Party starts a quest, all players in the Link Party will automatically get an invite to join.

Because Monster Hunter likes to be difficult, this is different from a Private Lobby or environment link, which allows players to enter the same server and exist in the same space temporarily - Link Parties keep you separated until you agree to start a quest.

An environment link and shared lobby means that when somebody starts a quest with Alma, all the players in that Lobby will be able to join, but it's no guarantee, and a Link Party is better for players with whom you'll be playing regularly. Oh, and don't worry - the system above is compatible with Monster Hunter Wilds crossplay, so you can enjoy the game with friends on console and PC with this method.

Monster Hunter Wilds Private Lobbies explained

When you start up Monster Hunter Wilds and choose your Hunter save, or when speaking to Alma, you'll be presented with several Lobby options, one of which is Private Lobby. These lobbies have smaller player limit of 16 and can only be joined via Lobby ID Search, so if you create one, you need to give your friends the lobby ID so that they can join. Here's how you do that:

1. Open the pause menu, navigate to the Communication tab, and open the Member List.
2. Look at the lobby information box on the right side of the screen, and you'll see the alphanumerical Private Lobby ID near the top. Share this ID code with your friends.
3. Your friends need to choose their Hunter, then select Lobby Search, then Lobby ID Search. They can enter your Lobby ID to join your lobby.

Alternatively, if you just want to get into any Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer session, you can pick the Recommended Lobby option to get thrown into a random General Lobby, which can have up to 100 players. You can also use the Lobby Search options mentioned above to join Hunter Friends directly or refine your search based on your own preferences for monster hunting. The same options are also available when speaking to Alma and you can even look through SOS Requests.

Monster Hunter Wilds SOS Flares explained

If you decide mid-quest that you need some help, make sure you use a Monster Hunter Wilds SOS Flare, which effectively opens your session into a lobby that other players can join, a bit like random matchmaking.

You can send out an SOS Request at any point during a quest via the radial communications menu. Other players will then be able to see your request when speaking to Alma and can join to assist you in the hunt. When speaking to Alma, you can narrow down and filter the requests, such as choosing a certain difficulty or monster type.

Want to show off to your friends? Find out how to get the best Monster Hunter Wilds armor here, or customize it however you want with our guide on how to change Monster Hunter Wilds armor appearance!

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How long is Monster Hunter Wilds?

MH Wilds will take the following amount of time to beat, depending on your playstyle and skill level.

• Main Campaign: 20-30 hours
• Endgame: 30-40 hours
• Post-Game: 40+ hours

To explain, Monster Hunter Wilds has a campaign in two parts, spread across six chapters. You'll complete the campaign and get the end credits in roughly twenty to thirty hours of time, depending on how you play the game, but that only gets you to the end of chapter 3, despite the credits rolling.

After doing that, you'll hit the endgame state, which is where you experience chapters 4-6, a secondary part to the campaign that's largely about cleaning up the consequences of what occurred during the story, and unlocking the last of the game's many monsters and mechanics, including tutorials on systems like how to capture Monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds and unlocking layered armor to alter your Monster Hunter Wilds armor appearance. Complete all the missions associated with that and you'll reach the post-game, where everything is unlocked and you're free to hunt, experiment with builds, and more besides. How long you spend here is entirely up to you!

You should also remember that side quests and optional hunts will massively vary your playtime, but that goes without saying. Ultimately MH is a game as long as you want it to be, especially with awareness that new content will be coming post-launch as outlined in the Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap.

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What to do if you're a beginner in Monster Hunter Wilds

New players in MH Wilds should keep the following beginner's advice in mind when they start playing.

1. Pick an easy weapon, and train with it first.
   All the weapons work very differently in MH Wilds, and some are a lot more complicated than others. If you're new to the game and want a simpler one, I recommend the Dual Blades, Long Sword, Hammer or Great Sword, and not something more complicated like the Monster Hunter Wilds Insect Glaive. Once you've picked one, make sure you read about it in the pause menu tutorial, then take it to the training area in the base camp and get a full understanding of its basic abilities and combos. I suggest the Monster Hunter Wilds Dual Blades - our guide can even show you how they work.
2. Learn the UI and item menu as a point of urgency.
   Using items quickly - especially healing potions - is how you stay alive in MH Wilds, and the game's interface has never been massively intuitive to newcomers. Don't force yourself to learn it on the fly - make sure you study it between quests and understand how to quickly pick whatever you need.
3. Use the SOS Flare!
   There's no penalty in the game for calling for help, so firing this off in every mission is a great way to lower the difficulty by bringing in either NPC or online allies via the Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer system. Fire it off the moment the quest starts from the communications menu, and remember that there is MH Wilds crossplay, so you can play with friends across platforms!
4. Make sure you're eating often and well.
   Players' max health and stamina diminishes over time, and eating restores them both to full. Depending on the meal you eat, it may only be a minor restoration, or it might bring back both to full AND grant a lot of buffs in the process. You can eat Rations and Steak from your item bar mid-combat, or you can cook full meals on the BBQ or at your tent for greater effects.
5. Check that you're equipped before doing a mission.
   Your supply of potions and other items isn't automatically restocked - you need to find the Herbs and resources needed to craft them yourself in the environment. Alternatively, you can always buy certain items at the base camp, resupply from the item box in your tent, or access a small free supply of items donated to you by the guild at the start of every quest by pressing left on the D-Pad.
6. Fight monsters more than once, and look up their details afterwards!
   Killing monsters and carving their parts grants you materials you can use to start building better armor and weapons, but what materials and drops you get vary from hunt to hunt, and you probably won't get enough after one kill to forge an armor set or weapon themed around that monster. Fortunately, after killing it once, you'll get a full entry in the Large Monster Guide for that beast, one that outlines all its weaknesses, both elemental and where on its body is most vulnerable to attack! Check that essential data to make future hunts all easier. You can check out our full monster roster list for Monster Hunter Wilds to see what's waiting for you, or if you're more technically minded, our weaknesses table for Monster Hunter Wilds has all the elements, items and strategies you need!
7. Remember that slaying takes time!
   Nothing in Monster Hunter Wilds is quick, and that's the point. Killing a single monster may take anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes, depending on your skill level and the monster's power, and that's normal. With no visible health bar, you might get discouraged, but there are other ways to tell you're making progress - the monster moving to a new area, wounds appearing on its body, sections being broken, and more besides. A hunt is a commitment, no doubt about that, but one that you'll feel very satisfied with once you win!

To expand on that final idea, the important thing to keep in mind is that none of this is easy or immediate. Monster Hunter is a series with some serious teeth (pun intended), so you'll need to practice all these elements, accept that you won't master anything soon, and may need to return to basics. I love the series, but I once described it as a really fun job - and frankly, that still applies. Take your time, accept a long learning curve, and enjoy the process!

Want to know how long it'll take to clear the campaign? Find out the time to beat MH Wilds here! Alternatively, check out how to mount monsters in MH Wilds and hunt from on their back!

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Warning: the following guide contains spoilers for Monster Hunter Wilds, in that it reveals the existence of all major Monsters within the game.

Every monster Weakness in MH Wilds

Our table below has every weakness for every monster in Monster Hunter Wilds, including their elemental vulnerabilities, the weak points on their bodies, and their resistances and immunities. These monsters are laid out in the order that they are encountered in the game's campaign.

Below we'll cover the monsters in greater detail, but it's important to remember that anything from our Monster Hunter Wilds weapons tier list can defeat any monster, even if you're using the wrong element imbued into it - it'll just be harder to do. Player skill is always more important than gear or having the best Monster Hunter Wilds armor, but it goes without saying that the right equipment will certainly help.

We'll also lay out below which monsters can be captured with traps if you want to take them alive, as not every monster can be. For a refresher on how to use traps to do that, we've got a special guide on how to capture Monsters in MH Wilds.

Chatacabra weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Ice / Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Tongue
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Forelegs
• Effective Status Effects: Stun / Paralysis / Poison
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Dragon / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Stay behind the Monster Hunter Wilds Chatacabra where possible, and hit the tongue when it extends to hurt you. Chatacabra builds rocks on its forearms to increase damage, but those can be broken off with consistent damage.

Quematrice weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water
• Body Weak Points: Neck
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Tail
• Effective Status Effects: Poison / Paralysis
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Fire / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Chopping off the beast's tail will stop it lighting fires, which it uses a lot to burn the area. Otherwise, stay agile and work on avoiding its periodic rampages, then dive back in when it's done.

Lala Barina weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire
• Body Weak Points: Tail / Stinger
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Petals / Claws
• Effective Status Effects: Stun
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Water / Dragon / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Lala Barina generates descending "florets" that paralyze the player if they touch too many of them, so watch out for the red flowers. If they climb onto the ceiling you can knock them down with sustained damage or stun, and the flower can be forced to recede if it takes enough damage - if you know how to mount monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds, definitely target the big rose. Oh, and if it makes the mistake of revealing the stinger, hit it hard!

Congalala weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Ice
• Body Weak Points: Rear
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head / Foreleg / Tail
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Creates dangerous stinks that can be cured by the Deodorant item or rolling in water. Dodge its attempts to fart at you, then stab the rear for major damage.

Balahara weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head
• Effective Status Effects: Paralysis
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Sonic Bombs / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Water
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: It'll try to spit goo at you, which is your chance to hit the exposed mouth. Sonic Bombs are heavily effective on them, but be wary of their unpredictable thrashing and sudden leaps from the sand. Slow fighters like those who use the Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun might struggle here.

Doshaguma weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Belly
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Forelegs / Tail Hair
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Separate them from their packs with dung pods, then use their predictable charges to lure them into traps and environmental hazards. Hit the belly when they rear up, or access it from the side with quick movement.

Uth Duna weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head / Tail / Forelegs
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Water / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: It throws up large veils of fins to shield itself and make its shape harder to distinguish. These are retracted after time and sufficient damage, but that's when it becomes faster and more aggressive. It'll also create waves ahead of it, so get ready to evade horizontally and deal with waterblight.

Rompopolo weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water
• Body Weak Points: Tongue
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head / Forelegs / Back / Tail
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Uses clouds of poison and explosions expelled from sacs on its body, so bring antidotes. If the sac begins to expand, hit that to cut off either the toxic or explosive blast. if you have a friend with the Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn mastered, their buffs will come in handy here.

Rey Dau weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water / Ice
• Body Weak Points: Head
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Wings
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Water / Thunder / Dragon / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Hit the glowing crystal sections of the Monster Hunter Wilds Rey Dau to break them off and limit Rey Dau's electrical power. The head in particular is capable of electrical beams of astonishing damage, so try not to stand in front of it where possible. When it charges up those beams, there's a small window to hit it in the head with a focus strike and cancel the attack.

Nerscylla weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Pincer
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Left Claw / Stingers / Mantle
• Effective Status Effects: Paralysis
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Water / Thunder / Dragon / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Uses poison as well as sleep to hurt hunters, so bring cures for both. The mantle on its back is burned away by Fire, while the exposed skin underneath is vulnerable to Thunder. Otherwise, keep mobile and be wary of its fast-moving pincers.

Hirabami weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head / Tails
• Effective Status Effects: Poison / Sleep
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Ice / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: They often float above and are hard to hit, so save your biggest attacks for when they land. In fact, wounding the membrane on their necks will ground them for a while, and should be a priority.

Ajarakan weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water / Ice
• Body Weak Points: Arms
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Back
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Fire / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: This big ape generates a fiery aura that requires Cool Drinks or Chillmantle Bugs to negate. Their hide is also resistant to ranged attacks unless you use specialised anti-heat attacks or Watermoss on them first. Beyond that, use their rage against them - once they heat up, they're also most vulnerable to attack, as their shells soften.

Nu Udra weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Arms (all of them)
• Breakable Points: Head
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Fire / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Cutting off Nu Udra's limbs will do a lot to compromise it. You should also be wary of its attempts to ambush you, and try to retaliate by targeting its head. When it catches ablaze, douse it with Watermoss to negate it and leave it massively vulnerable.

Guardian Doshaguma weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Ice / Thunder / Dragon
• Body Weak Points: Forelegs
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Forelegs / Tail Hair
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Exhaust / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: It's slow, but its arm swings cause explosions that can still be difficult to avoid. Smash its forearms for massive damage, and hit the crystals it creates with elemental slinger attacks to blow them up from a safe distance.

Guardian Rathalos weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Thunder / Dragon
• Body Weak Points: Mouth / Legs
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Wings
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Fire / Exhaust / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Like Doshaguma, hit the crystals with elemental attacks to blow them up when you're safely away from it. Otherwise, you want to break the tail and wings where possible, and try to remain between its legs, where it struggles to reach. The powerful fire attacks from the head are the main peril.

Jin Dahaad weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire
• Body Weak Points: Mouth / Chest
• Severable Points: Tail Iceplate
• Breakable Points: All sections
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Ice / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: No

Strategy: Jin Dahaad is covered in plating that needs to be cracked to reveal the soft exterior. The main priorities are the head and back, but it's easier to hit those if you deal with the legs first. Jin Dahaad uses a lot of ice attacks with wide AOE reach, so you always need to dodge further back than you think you do, and come equipped to deal with Iceblight. Use the environmental weaknesses around to do massive damage and lay traps, and when it curls up and starts absorbing energy, immediately run for cover behind a piece of fallen ice to escape the upcoming explosion.

Guardian Ebony Odogaron weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water
• Body Weak Points: Forelegs / Tail
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Tail Tip / Forelegs / Hind Legs
• Effective Status Effects: Paralysis
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: As with all guardians, blow up their crystals with ranged slinger shots and elemental damage. Otherwise, the GEO is a fast-moving enemy with a lot of bleed attacks - stay at a distance and play defensively until it stops moving, then hit back hard when you see that opening.

Xu Wu weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Ice
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Smaller Arms
• Breakable Points: Head / Mouth / Larger Arms
• Effective Status Effects: Poison
• Effective Items: Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Dragon / Flash Pods / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: This horrible starfish/octopus thing fights similarly to Nu Udra, so expect sudden ambushes and chaotic flailing. Hit the mouth hard, especially when an attack is being wound up, and you can stun it, which is superb for Hammer and Great Sword users. Likewise, a master of the Monster Hunter Wilds Bow might be able to do a lot of damage, as Nu Udra doesn't have a huge amount of long-range attacks.

Guardian Arkveld weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Dragon (but not really)
• Body Weak Points: Chainblades, if you hit them with Cut / Blunt / Ammo
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Chainblades
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Elemental attacks done to the Chainblades / Exhaust / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: No

Strategy: The White Wyrm is a powerful foe who uses the extendable chainblades to throw out elemental damage at range, blowing up crystals. Hit those with elemental attacks to detonate them, but target the chains themselves with weapon attacks, as they just absorb anything elemental. Otherwise, learn to dodge horizontally and be ever ready for its fast turns and sudden explosions of energy. The game says it's weak to Dragon attacks, but in reality it's more of an exploit wherein hitting the chains overcharges them and forces it out of rage mode.

Zoh Shia weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Dragon
• Body Weak Points: None
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Wings / Forelegs
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: None
• Immunities/Resistances: Exhaust / Flash Pods / Sonic Bombs / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Can be Captured?: No

Strategy: This is a tough one - Zoh Shia has a massive health bar and functions a little like Rey Dau. Break the crystals on the wings and skull to depower it, and keep that up even after they regrow. Zoh Shia's attacks tend to be powerful, but telegraphed - watch it closely and play defensively, especially with the recognition that this will be a long fight.

Yian Kut-Ku weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water / Ice / Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Sonic Bombs / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Dragon
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: This ridiculous-looking creature is one of the few that's vulnerable to Sonic Bombs, but it's prone to flying into frenzied tantrums of pecking and charging around the battlefield. It's better to hold off in these moments, then hit back hard when it's done.

Gypceros weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Ice
• Body Weak Points: Head
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Thunder / Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: The Gypceros uses both poison and sudden flashes to stun you. You can see the stun coming when its head starts clicking and glowing - your moment to back away quick - and its ability to stun altogether can be deactivated by breaking its head open. Otherwise, this is a fairly similar fight to the Yian Kut-Ku.

Rathian weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Thunder / Dragon
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Wings
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Fire / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Rathian uses a mixture of ranged fire and poisonous melee attacks, so bring antidotes and try to split the tail as early as possible. The mouth is the most dangerous area for you, but also the biggest weakness of Rathian, so courageous players should learn to evade the flames and hit the head before running for cover under its belly.

Guardian Fulgur Anjanath weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water / Dragon / Ice
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Legs
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Thunder / Dragon / Exhaust / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Uses powerful Thunder attack and Wylkcrystals, and is a lot easier to fight at range if the option's available to you. Otherwise focus on the legs to knock it over, then hit it with your hardest attacks before it can get back up.

Rathalos weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Thunder / Dragon
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Wings
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Rathalos is similar to Rathian and may even summon one during the fight, which is where you should get a Large Dung Pod to drive them apart. Otherwise it's a lot of the same rules - bring poison cures and fire protection, and learn to evade its worst attacks from the mouth while trying to cut the tail off.

Gravios weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Water / Ice / Dragon
• Body Weak Points: Head / Belly / Back / Tail
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: All
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Fire / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: Gravios is a big, slow brute covered in armor plating that you need to break through to actually hurt it, and that isn't easy, especially when it generates fire, poison and sleep gasses through the gaps in that plating. Come equipped to cure all three, and focus on breaking a singular point in the armor - ideally the head or stomach. Either way, Gravios has a huge health pool, so expect a long fight.

Blangonga weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Thunder
• Body Weak Points: Rear
• Severable Points: None
• Breakable Points: Head / Tail
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Ice / Dragon / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: This is an icy, empowered version of the Congalala and a lot of the same principles apply, including the rather undignified strategy of evading the farting so you can stab it in the bum. It also summons minor apes to help it, but you can either drive them away with dung pods, or break the Blangonga's tusks to stop it from summoning.

Gore Magala weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Fire / Thunder / Dragon
• Body Weak Points: Mouth
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Antenna / Wings
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Water / Flash Pods / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: The grand horror of Monster Hunter Wilds, Gore Magala uses the Frenzy effect, which limits your ability to heal. You'll want to avoid these effects where possible - attacking will prevent it from kicking in - and it can even help you, as Frenzy wearing off gives you a temporary affinity buff. Gore Magala's own Frenzy mode makes it incredibly aggressive and will force you onto the defensive, but breaking their antenna should prevent that. Otherwise, this is a long fight against an enemy with a massive health bar, and you'll want to go in ready for a serious encounter.

Arkveld weaknesses

• Elemental Weaknesses: Dragon (but not really)
• Body Weak Points: Chainblades, if you hit them with Cut / Blunt / Ammo
• Severable Points: Tail
• Breakable Points: Head / Chainblades
• Effective Status Effects: None
• Effective Items: Flash Pods / Shock Traps / Pitfall Traps
• Immunities/Resistances: Elemental attacks done to the Chainblades / Exhaust / Sonic Bombs
• Can be Captured?: Yes

Strategy: The wild, empowered version of Arkveld functions the same as the Guardian model, with all the same weaknesses and exploits, as well as resistances. Everything you learned from the previous encounter applies here - stay out of the way of the chains when they come at you, but then move back in to damage them before they can be retracted. Again, you can overcharge them with dragon damage, but it only forces Arkveld out of rage mode.

And with that, that's all of the large monsters currently in MH Wilds and how to kill them! Of course, that's not going to be the end, and we'll be updating this page accordingly when the Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap brings in more beasts for players to slay further into the year.

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Monster Hunter Wilds mount mechanics explained

To mount a monster in MH Wilds, you need to leap onto its back from an elevated position while hitting it with a jump attack with any of the Monster Hunter Wilds weapons. However, there's an invisible meter attached to each monster that builds up to this ability, so you can't do it over and over. If that meter isn't full, jump attacks will simply be that.

This element isn't tutorialized in-game, but as far as the community understands it right now, you build up the meter for mounting in MH Wilds by hitting the enemy with the same kind of jump attacks that would allow you to mount it.

Simple enough, but it does build slowly though - don't expect to mount the same monster more than twice in a single hunt. It also goes without saying that melee-focused players using weapons like the Monster Hunter Wilds Long Sword will likely land these special attacks more often.

Mounting explained

Once you're on a monster and mounting it in MH Wilds, things get a little complicated. Here's how it works:

• You can reposition yourself along its body with the analog stick to move around.
• You can perform light and heavy knife attacks on the section of the body you're holding onto with Circle and Triangle (PS5), or B and Y (Xbox).
• You can also hit it with your equipped weapon using R1/RB.
• If the monster tries to shake you off, the screen will darken. Press R2/RT to brace yourself and hold on, or move quickly to a new section of body. Either should let you hold on.
• Once you've damaged a section of the monster's body for long enough, it will open a wound. Hit the wounded area with either a Weapon Attack or Heavy Knife Attack to do massive damage with a finisher and dismount.

One thing I've personally noticed is that there really isn't much need to use a knife attack - just rely on the weapon and your R1/RB strikes, they're more powerful. This is also a good time for any other players to attack - the monster can still hurt them as it thrashes around, but it won't be doing any major moves while it's mounted.

Want to learn more gameplay essentials? Discover how to capture in Monster Hunter Wilds, or find out how to get the very best Monster Hunter Wilds armor!

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Otherwise, the Long Sword, which is a staple of the RPG series, will be familiar to veteran hunters, packing some decent range and poke capabilities for a melee weapon. That means it's a fairly simple weapon for beginners to pick up but the Spirit Gauge increases the skill ceiling substantially, and this Monster Hunter Wilds Long Sword guide will help you get there.

Monster Hunter Wilds Long Sword guide

The Long Sword in MH Wilds is comparatively simple weapon that is all about building up the Spirit Gauge, a little bar in the top left that changes color when you do certain attacks. A heightened spirit gauge allows you to do new, more powerful moves, but some of these can drain the gauge, meaning you'll have to build it back up again. The Long Sword is a Monster Hunter Wilds weapon that requires a mix of precision and planned thinking, setting up attacks that will either raise your power level, or unleash the energy you've been building up.

Monster Hunter Wilds Long Sword Spirit Gauge explained

In the top-left hand corner of the HUD, beneath your health and stamina, you'll find your weapon sharpness, and beneath that, the Spirit Gauge. This has four levels, or colors, which determine how much damage your weapon does:

• Grey: 1.0x
• White: 1.02x
• Yellow: 1.04x
• Red: 1.1x

It's important to note this color refers to the outline of the gauge, rather than the bar inside. You can fill the gauge by performing basic attacks, such as the Overhead Slash, Thrust, and Fade Slash.

Once the gauge is full, you should switch to using spirit attacks until the gauge changes color. This means it's increased by one level. Spirit Thrust and Spirit Blade I, II, and III are some examples. Using these will deplete the gauge, so as soon as the color changes, switch back to using normal attacks.

Charge the gauge again until it's full, switch to spirit attacks, rinse and repeat until eventually, the gauge and the outline both turn red. One key thing to remember is that Spirit Roundslash is the outlier, in that performing this also helps charge the gauge. It takes a few seconds to charge, but performing it successfully is one of the most effective ways of increasing your gauge level.

A red Spirit Gauge means you can now perform crimson attacks, which replace all of your normal attacks. These deal more damage and are performed quicker, simply leading to a higher DPS.

Monster Hunter Wilds Long Sword moveset

Here are all of the basic Long Sword moves and attacks:

• Overhead Slash
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Thrust
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Fade Slash
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Spirit Slash
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Spirit Thrust
  • PC: R + LMB
  • PS: R2 + Triangle
  • XB: RT + Y
• Spirit Helm Breaker (after Spirit Thrust, when Spirit Gauge is white or higher)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Spirit Release Slash (after Spirit Helm Breaker, when Spirit Gauge is red)
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Special Sheathe (after attacking)
  • PC: R + Space
  • PS: R2 + X
  • XB: RT + A
• Iai Slash (after Special Sheathe)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Iai Spirit Slash (after Special Sheathe)
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Spirit Roundslash (hold and release)
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Foresight Slash
  • PC: R + RMB
  • PS: R2 + Circle
  • XB: RT + B

Your goal should be to get a red Spirit Gauge as quickly as possible. Since the Long Sword doesn't have any form of guard, you should also master the art of evading enemy attacks and learning monster move patterns.

Want more help with the Wilds? Check out how to mount monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds to climb over their bodies to strike, or check out all the best Monster Hunter Wilds tips about the game here!

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How to use traps to capture monsters in MH Wilds

To capture a monster alive with a trap in MH Wilds, you need to do the following:

1. Lower the monster's health significantly with any of the Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, to the point where NPC followers will shout "nearly there" or similar phrases (about 10% of the monster's max health).
2. Deploy either a Pitfall Trap or Shock Trap.
3. Once the trap is ready, lure the monster to stand on it and trigger it.
4. While the monster is stuck in the trap, quickly run over and use a Tranq Bomb or other sleep-inducing device.
5. If the monster's health is low enough, it should fall asleep in the trap. This will instantly register it as captured. If it's the last target of the hunt, the mission will immediately end (and no, you can't carve it while it's alive).

Obviously there are a few things to keep in mind here, most importantly being that some monsters cannot be trapped, like Jin Dahaad (largely because they're too, well, large). We include info on which monsters can and can't be captured in our page on the Monster Hunter Wilds weaknesses of every monster in the game!

You can tell which monsters you can and can't capture by the phrasing of the mission objective: if it says to HUNT the monster, you can capture it. If it says to SLAY the monster, you can't. Also, though it doesn't tutorialize the way in which you capture monsters until the endgame, you can capture monsters before that point.

If you're struggling, here are some tips for capturing monsters in MH Wilds as a rule.

• Some monsters are immune to either the Pitfall Trap or Shock Trap. If it's immune to one, you'll need to use the other. Make sure you have both on you, or check their resistances in the field manual.
• There're various ways to put monsters to sleep, and all of them work, but the Tranq Bomb is the most reliable and easy to use, as well as working for every build and character type. You can also fire Sleep ammo from weapons like the Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun.
• To get the monster to stand on the trap, a Luring Pod or other device will help, though most times you can just put it in its rampaging path.
• If the monster leaves the area without standing on the trap, make sure you retrieve it before you move on.
• You may need to use more than one Tranq Bomb to knock out the monster.
• The dialogue from allies to mark a weakened monster is only one way to tell they're close - they'll also limp more frequently, a visual indicator of low health. This sign isn't a guarantee, but it does bode well. Some monsters will also return to their nest when at low health (such as the Rathian in the Scarlet Forest returning to a treetop full of Wyvern eggs).

Should you kill or capture monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Capturing and killing monsters in Monster Hunter each change the percentage of drops for each monster - so depending on whether you kill or capture them, certain drops will be more or less common, or may not even be possible at all. The numbers vary depending on the monster, but the ultimate reality is this: capturing generally offers a better chance at rare items, though it varies from monster to monster, so for the best odds you should work your way through the Monster Hunter Wilds monster List we've laid out and try to both slay and capture every one at least once. Again, the Field Guide will show the percentages involved on drops, so you can make an educated choice.

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if you want to know when that will take to reach that point, we won't spoil here, but you can find the details on our guide for how long is Monster Hunter Wilds. Those armor sets and what they're suited to are as follows:

• Arkveld α (Alpha): Elemental power, weakness exploitation, speed and aggression.
• Arkveld β (Beta): Less significant skill buffs than the α model, but more decoration options.
• Guardian Arkveld α (Alpha): Exploiting monster wounds and damage focus.
• Guardian Arkveld β (Beta): Less significant skill buffs than the α model, but more decoration options.
• Guild Ace α (Alpha): Across-the-board elemental defense, evasion, status effects and staying at full health.

Basically, the four Arkveld armor variants are suited to aggressive play, whereas the Guild Ace is one for careful strategy, rewarding the use of status effects, dodging, and granting a damage buff when you're at full health. Of these sets, which one you'll get the most out of will depend on your own personal playstyle and skill level: ranged players will thrive with the Guild Ace, whereas Dual Blades users should grab the Arkveld models.

Once you have those sets, use Gemma's forge to upgrade the armor you get with Armor Spheres, either earned through mission rewards or through forging at the Everforge. Armor spheres will bring the defense of these pieces up to 12, a massive boon. Then, if you've chosen a set with space for Decorations, make sure you equip the right ones to fit your playstyle.

At this point, you'll have the game's best armor! Well, at least until future updates change what's available with new monsters and armor sets, as well as Master Rank gear. Of course, if you want to change armor appearance in Monster Hunter Wilds, you'll need to check out our guide here. However, if you're stuck with early-game armor for now, you might need to know how to get Sharp Fangs in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Why not read our Monster Hunter Wilds review, where we described it as "The new peak of the series and an early contender for game of the year".

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Monster Hunter Wilds Bow guide

The bow in Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons that's largely about targeted play and using specialized arrows to take down enemies through strategic strikes on specific parts - it's all very Hawkeye. The short version is that you use the Tracer arrow to mark a specific section of a monster, then use specific coatings and arrows to inflict damage and conditions that best exploits the monster's weakness.

Keep in mind that the bow does have movement abilities attached for when you need to back away, though don't get it wrong - this is a weapon you don't want to use up close if you can avoid it. If you're working with other players in Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer, having them hold the monster's attention while you attack from a distance is a massive help. Additionally, you don't need to worry about ammo when using the bow, but there is a special Trick Arrow gauge that you need to keep an eye on.

Monster Hunter Wilds Box Ready Tracer explained

The first, and arguably most important mechanic for the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds, is Ready Tracer. This move fires an arrow with a flare attached, and rather than immediately disappearing when it makes contact with a monster, it stays lodged in their side. This acts as a homing beacon for all subsequent arrows that are fired while the flare is still lit.

This makes it perfect when you want to target a specific body part or wound, and moves that fire multiple arrows simultaneously such as Thousand Dragons and Focus Fire: Hailstorm are best suited for this.

Monster Hunter Wilds Bow coatings and Trick Arrow gauge

In the bottom-right hand corner of your HUD, you'll find your Trick Arrow gauge, above where you select which coating you want to equip. Every time you load a Tracer, this will consume part of your Trick Arrow gauge, as will equipping a coating. Coatings are essentially buffs and status effects you can apply to your arrows. Here's the full list:

• Blast: Arrows inflict blast.
• Close-Range: Increases damage but reduces range.
• Exhaust: Arrows inflict stun.
• Paralysis: Arrows inflict paralysis.
• Pierce: Arrows can pierce through enemies.
• Poison: Arrows inflict poison.
• Power: Increases damage.
• Sleep: Arrows inflict sleep.

Coatings aren't items, so you don't need to worry about managing, crafting, and storing specific ones, but each type of Bow can only use certain coatings. For example, the Expedition Tree can only equip Power and Poison coatings, while the Bone Tree can use Close-Range and Paralysis coatings. No matter which of the Monster Hunter Wilds full roster you're going up against, grab something that you think will best exploit their weaknesses accordingly.

Monster Hunter Wilds Bow stamina explained

Stamina isn't unique to the bow, but it is the only ranged weapon that consumes stamina when firing, and the stronger an attack is, the more stamina it will consume. This means you need to keep a close eye on your stamina levels and balance the stronger attacks with weaker ones. Charging attacks also consume stamina, as does the Charging Sidestep move, which isn't an attack per se, but is an essential part of using the Bow's impressive mobility.

Monster Hunter Wilds Bow moveset

Here are all of the basic Bow moves and attacks:

• Shoot (hold to charge)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Aim (hold)
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: L2
  • XB: LT
• Quick Shot
  • PC: F
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Power Shot + Volley (during combo)
  • PC: F -> F
  • PS: Circle -> Circle
  • XB: B -> B
• Arc Shot (while aiming and charging a shot)
  • PC: F
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Charging Sidestep (while aiming)
  • PC: Space + WASD (directional)
  • PS: X + LS (directional)
  • XB: A + LS (directional)
• Flying Swallow Show (after Charging Sidestep)
  • PC: R
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Dragon Piercer
  • PC: R + F
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Thousand Dragons
  • PC: LMB + R + F
  • PS: R2 + Triangle + Circle
  • XB: RT + Y + B
• Select + Apply Coating
  • PC: Mouse Wheel up/down -> R
  • PS: L1 + Triangle / X -> Triangle
  • XB: LB + Y/A -> Y
• Ready Tracer (while charging a shot)
  • PC: E
  • PS: Square
  • XB: X
• Focus Fire: Hailstorm (while aiming)
  • PC: Shift
  • PS: R1
  • XB: RB

Ultimately, the Bow is a very handy ranged weapon, but it doesn't quite have the best range despite this. You can't sit too far away from your foe, or you'll see the out of range warning pop up. If your reticle is glowing orange when you're aiming, you're within critical distance, and will deal maximum damage, provided all of your shots hit. This is more important to keep in mind when using attacks like Thousands Dragons, which fire multiple arrows simultaneously.

You pretty much always want to fire off a Tracer shot when possible because these will ensure your arrows land and you can target specific wounds with ease, but as mentioned before, keep a close eye on your stamina. Consider using items and meals with stamina buffs before going into a big monster fight with something like the Rey Dau in Monster Hunter Wilds.

If you time Charging Sidestep correctly and dodge right before an attack hits you, you'll perform Discerning Dodge, which is a secret move that fills up one segment of the Trick Arrow gauge. Learn how to do this consistently and you'll never be short of coatings and Tracers. Arc Shots also apply Tracers by default, but they're tough to land if the monster isn't stationary.

Want more help for the Hunter's Guild? For a face lift, find out how to change appearance in Monster Hunter Wilds. Or if you're a newcomer, check out our Monster Hunter Wilds beginner's guide to see all the best first steps to take!

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Like many of the Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, the Insect Glaive has undergone some radical changes from previous games such as World, because it's less about aerial combos now, so the moveset focuses more on ground-based attacks. While you can still vault into the air and use the Vaulting Dance attack in Monster Hunter Wilds, you'll be down on the surface quicker than previous iterations of the weapon which would allow you to dance in the air for some time. Here's what you need to know about how to use the Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Wilds including an explanation of its basic mechanics, the Kinsects and extracts, along with its moveset.

The Monster Hunter Wilds Insect Glaive and Kinsects system explained

The first thing to know about Kinsects is that they have their own equipment slot, so you must visit Gemma, the blacksmith, to purchase and equip different ones. This is also where you can upgrade your Kinsects. Don't equip the Insect Glaive and expect it to be good-to-go from the start, which is different to a weapon such as the Bow which has various coatings available by default.

Different types of Kinsect will suit different builds, and with the base Insect Glaive you'll have access to the Mauldrone and Culldrone Kinsects. You can select these in the Raising Kinsects menu to choose different nurture effects, which allows you to specialize your build. One aspect of this to keep in mind is the Dust Effect, which the Kinsect will leave behind in the air. If you attack the powder, it will explode, resulting in either blast, poison, or paralysis on the monster, or health for you.

Kinsects are essentially giant bug companions to the Insect Glaive, and with the ability to equip one at a time, you can send it out in fights to deal damage, but most importantly, harvest extracts. There are four types of extract that generally come from the following body parts:

Send your Kinsect out and target various body parts of your monster foe to extract the different colours. Red, white, and orange are the important ones, with green only coming in handy if you need to heal. Combine all three and you'll have more powerful attacks and new attacks in your arsenal, along with all the buffs that come with each colour.

Insect Glaive moveset

Here are all of the basic Insect Glaive moves:

• Rising Slash
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Wide Sweep
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Vault (follow up with Rising Slash or Wide Sweep for mid-air attacks)
  • PC: R + Space
  • PS: R2 + X
  • XB: RT + A
• Focus Thrust: Leaping Strike (while in focus)
  • PC: Shift
  • PS: R1
  • XB: RB
• Kinsect: Mark Target
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Kinsect: Fire
  • PC: R + Shift
  • PS: R2 + R1
  • XB: RT + RB
• Kinsect: Harvest Extract:
  • PC: R + LMB
  • PS: R2 + Triangle
  • XB: RT + Y
• Kinsect: Recall (while Kinsect is in flight)
  • PC: R + RMB
  • PS: R2 + Circle
  • XB: RT + B

The Insect Glaive is tricky to pick up and can be quite daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be flying (although not quite as much as you would in previous Monster Hunter games, unfortunately). Descending Slash - executed by slashing while coming down from a Vault Dance - is one of the most powerful attacks at your disposal, and some players rate the Glaive as one of best weapons.

If you're struggling to master the Kinsect controls and mechanics, be aware that performing moves in focus mode will extract buffs automatically, so rather than trying to control your Kinsect from afar, get in the habit of using focus mode constantly and hitting a variety of body parts to quickly accumulate the buffs.

Want to know more about the game? Our beginner's guide for Monster Hunter Wilds has all the info you need to start out, or find out about the options for playing with friends on our explanation of Monster Hunter Wilds crossplay.

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However, if you're ready to lay down some heavy fire, you can use this weapon's unique Ignition Mode, which allows you to fire two special ammo types, Wyvernheart and Wyverncounter, and all the standard ammo types are also available to you. It's not quite as complicated as some Monster Hunter Wilds weapons like the Insect Glaive, but if you thought the Heavy Bowgun was a simple a point-and-shoot gun, think again. Here's how to use the Heavy Bowgun in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun guide

The Heavy Bowgun in MH Wilds is a weapon focused on high firepower and resilience but sacrifices agility and movement. To summarize in advance, to use the Bowgun effectively you need to alternate between the two fire modes - regular and ignition. Regular allows you to use all the various ammo types to exploit monster weaknesses, whereas the limited-use Ignition Mode allows you to fire a high-power machine gun stream, or a shotgun blast that can counter enemies attacking you, Bloodborne-style.

When in peril, you can't evade enemies very well, so instead you need to learn how to guard as part of the weapon's moveset. If that loss of mobility bothers you, you might be better advised to try the Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun instead.

Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun Ignition Mode explained

To get the most out of the Heavy Bowgun, you'll want to be switching between the standard mode and Ignition Mode regularly. While the standard mode allows you to fire all your different ammo types such as Pierce, Spread, and Poison (full list below), Ignition Mode introduces Wyvernheart and Wyverncounter.

Wyvernheart fires a continuous stream of bullets, which ramp up in damage the longer you shoot for without interruption. Wyverncounter, on the other hand, is essentially a shotgun blast that you only want to use up close. However, Wyverncounter also offsets your foe if they're attacking you when you use it, which is Monster Hunter Wilds' way of saying it knocks the monster off-balance.

Both of these consume the Ignition Gauge, which forces you back into the normal fire mode when it depletes. Focus Blast: Wyvern Howl is also available in both modes though and it doesn't consume your Ignition Gauge, but it should only be used to target monster wounds as it deals increased damage.

Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun ammo explained

When you're in the standard mode for the Heavy Bowgun, here are all of the ammo types available, although you should be aware that not every Heavy Bowgun can use all ammo types. If you inspect your weapon in the menus, you can find the full list of ammo info.

• Normal Ammo
• Pierce Ammo
• Spread Ammo
• Slicing Ammo
• Sticky Ammo
• Cluster Bomb
• Wyvern Ammo
• Poison Ammo
• Paralysis Ammo
• Sleep Ammo
• Flaming Ammo
• Water Ammo
• Freeze Ammo
• Thunder Ammo
• Dragon Ammo
• Recover Ammo
• Demon Ammo
• Armor Ammo
• Exhaust Ammo
• Tranq Ammo

Normal, Pierce, and Spread Ammo have unlimited capacity, whereas all the others must be crafted. As you'd expect, each type of ammo has different effects, so make sure you read up on them to ensure you're taking full advantage of their properties. They also have different effective ranges, so pay attention to when your reticle turns orange, as this means you're within critical distance.

Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun moveset

Here are all of the basic Heavy Bowgun moves and attacks:

• Fire
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Aim/Focus
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: L2
  • XB: LT
• Reload
  • PC: R
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Ignition Mode
  • PC: F
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Guard
  • PC: R + F
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Select Ammo
  • PC: Mouse Wheel up/down
  • PS: L1 + Triangle/X
  • XB: LB + Y/A
• Wyvernheart (in Ignition Mode)
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Wyverncounter (in Ignition Mode)
  • PC: R
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y

There are two final things to keep in mind about the Heavy Bowgun: guarding and mods. Guarding allows you to defend against incoming attacks, but if you time it exactly right when the incoming attack is going to land, you'll perform a perfect guard. This still consumes stamina but negates all damage, and against certain monsters, you'll enter into a power clash. If you win, your foe will be staggered and open to more damage.

Mods can be applied to all Heavy Bowguns, and they essentially add perks to your weapon, such as increased ammo magazine size, upgrades one of the fire modes, or improves the recovery speed of the Ignition Gauge. The more you play, the more Heavy Bowgun mods you'll unlock.

For more help on the field, why not check out our how to play Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer with friends? Alternatively for those bold hunters to prefer close range combat, check out our guide to the Monster Hunter Wilds Long Sword, or for whose who want to get REALLY close range, how to mount monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds!

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With that in mind, we'll list every monster in MH Wilds, in the order that they're encountered, along with some basic information about what to expect from each hunt against them. We'll keep more detailed information to a minimum, but it should go without saying that the following guide contains spoilers about what monsters you can fight in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Full Monster Hunter Wilds monster list

Here is a full list of every monster in Monster Hunter Wilds at launch, in the order that players will likely experience them:

1. Chatacabra
2. Quematrice
3. Lala Barina
4. Congalala
5. Balahara
6. Doshuguma
7. Uth Duna
8. Rompopolo
9. Rey Dau
10. Nerscylla
11. Hirabami
12. Ajarakan
13. Nu Udra
14. Guardian Doshaguma
15. Guardian Rathalos
16. Jin Dahaad
17. Guardian Ebony Odoragon
18. Xu Wu
19. Guardian Arkveld
20. Zoh Shia
21. Yian Kut-Ku
22. Gypceros
23. Rathian
24. Guardian Fulgur Anjanath
25. Rathalos
26. Gravios
27. Blangonga
28. Gore Magala
29. Arkveld

This is the rough order that you'll encounter them in the game, with some variations depending on player choice. You'll also notice that some have "Guardian" variants, which we'll cover the details of in their specific entries to stop things from being spoilt for people.

How many monsters are in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Monster Hunter Wilds technically has a total of 29 Large Monsters for players to fight, though in reality when you remove very similar variants of the same monster, it's probably more accurate to say that it's about 26.

Of the 29 monsters listed however, 11 of them are returning monsters, and 18 of them are new to the series, having never been seen before. Some of them, like Rey Dau and Chatacabra, were revealed in press material and the beta prior to launch. However, others have been kept secret right up until launch hour!

Chatacabra

The Monster Hunter Wilds Chatacabra is a giant toad covered in thick hide and plating that some might remember from the Beta. Its major wildcard element is the long tongue, but that's also its weak point.

• New monster

Quematrice

This giant rooster uses fire to attack hunters, which it does by generating oil from its large tail, and then igniting it through melee attacks. Players can hack off the tail to limit its options.

• New monster

Lala Barina

This eerie spider seems to have a rose built into its abdomen, and it uses it to send out clouds of flowers that knock out those nearby. Players can bash the flower back into its body, temporarily stopping this assault.

• New monster

Congalala

This giant ape with pink fur has been in a few Monster Hunter games before this, starting in MH2, and is probably best known for trying to fart clouds of toxic gas at players. It also summons smaller Congalala to help it in tough situations.

• Returning monster

Balahara

This tunnelling sandworm is one of the first creatures you'll see in MH Wilds, though it'll be a little while before you get to fight one. They burrow and leap at players to ambush them, but they're weak to sound and their mouth is vulnerable.

• New monster

Doshaguma

Another veteran of the beta, this giant bear is slow but heavy-hitting, and come in packs lead by an alpha that's the target of the hunt. Wise hunters will split up the group with dung pods, then play evasively to bring down this behemoth.

• New monster

Uth Duna

An aquatic predator that uses water to its advantage, both swimming to safety and sending waves out to hamper players. It also has large, curtain-like fins that shield it from damage, but damaging them enough to drain the moisture out of them will force it to retract this defensive shield, sending it into a rage.

• New monster

Rompopolo

A hideous combination of crow, mosquito and tar monster with a catchy name, Rompopolo uses sacs on its body to create both poisonous and explosive clouds. Damaging those sacs will limits its power to ruin the environment.

• New monster

Rey Dau

A huge lightning dragon and apex predator, the Monster Hunter Wilds Rey Dau channels electricity through the blue crystals on its body to fire bolts out through its head. Shatter the crystals to limit its powers, and be careful not to be downrange of its explosive shots, which can kill most players.

• New monster

Nerscylla

This vast, vile spider is focused on poison damage, as well as a protective layer of hides draped across its back. Stay away from the front to avoid being poisoned and webbed up, and try to cut through those hides to leave it vulnerable. If it looks familiar, that's because it first appeared in Monster Hunter 4.

• Returning monster

Hirabami

An elegant and ethereal creature that floats through the air, the Hirabami lets its tail droop down and lash out at nearby players. To beat it, you'll need to hurt it enough to bring it down to ground level, than go all out. Ranged fighters like those who love the Monster Hunter Wilds Bow will have the advantage here.

• New monster

Ajarakan

Ajarakan is the latest in a recurring series of enraged apes, but unlike the beloved Rajang, this one focuses on fire damage. Ajarakan repeatedly sets itself ablaze, so players will need to either use items to cool it down, like special ammo fired from the Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun, or insulate themselves accordingly.

• New monster

Nu Udra

This nu monster - sorry, new monster - is initially referred to as the Black Flame. It's a fiery octopus that uses flailing, hard-to-predict movements and ambushes to hamper players, but its arms can be cut off with persistence and a big weapon.

• New monster

Guardian Doshaguma

The Guardian Doshaguma is the first of the Guardian variants - namely, tougher versions of monsters that can summon special crystals with their attacks. These crystals are heavily volatile, and detonate when hit by elemental energy from anybody - but that includes the players too.

• New monster

Guardian Rathalos

The Rathalos is one of Monster Hunter's most enduring foes, but this is a Guardian version, which means new weaknesses, strengths, and the same crystals that all those variants can summon. As ever, watch out for its fire breath and poison strikes - nobody likes to burn and be sick at the same time.

• New variant of returning monster

Jin Dahaad

This massive ice monster is protected by a series of plates and ridges that massively reduce any incoming damage. Players will need to shatter those plates first to leave exposed sections of skin, as well as evading its frost breath, AOE attacks, and ability to suddenly climb walls for an advantageous angle. It's also so big that no trap will fit it, so knowledge of how to capture Monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds won't help you here.

• New monster

Guardian Ebony Odogaron

This slathering predator first appeared in Iceborne, and while the base version isn't in the game, there is the Guardian variant for players to deal with. Odogaron is fast and aggressive in any form, and will force players onto the defensive unless they can keep pace with it.

• New variant of returning monster

Xu Wu

Another octopus, this one has a weird, bony ridge and a love of hunting Guardian monsters. Like Nu Udra, its prone to random flailing, unpredictable movements and ambushed, but its large, bulbous head provides an obvious target for hunters, not to mention you can sever its tentacles.

• New monster

Guardian Arkveld

The flagship monster for MH Wilds, Arkveld tore through the beta and now returns to devastate players. It has retractable chains built into its wings that it throws out to do heavy damage at range, as well as imbuing them with elemental power that can explode.

• New monster

Zoh Shia

One of the deadliest monsters in MH Wilds, this huge dragon with birdlike qualities has a shell on its head that needs to be cracked open to do the best possible damage. However, the powerful elemental attacks it generates mean that this is easier said than done.

• New monster

Yian Kut-Ku

The most classic of MH monsters and introduced in the very first game of the series, this ridiculous chicken-like wyvern has a habit of running around and furiously pecking anything nearby. They're quick and prone to going into frenzies, so slower hunters might find themselves getting bowled over.

• Returning monster

Gypceros

Another classic bird beast, the Gypceros uses an elastic tail in conjunction with stunning flashes. If you hear it clicking its beak together, it's about to flashbang everything nearby. It might also run in to inflict poison effects on those incapacitated.

• Returning monster

Rathian

Referred to often as the "Queen" of Monster Hunter, Rathian is a huge dragon and series veteran that shoots fire and has a poison stinger built into the tail.

• Returning monster

Guardian Fulgur Anjanath

Anjanath is a dinosaur monster that's been around the games for a while, and Iceborne introduced the sub-species Fulgur Anjanath, which was imbued with lightning. Now we have the sub-sub-species, Guardian Fulgur Anjanath, which brings the same explosive crystals to bear as the other guardians.

• New variant of returning monster

Rathalos

Arguably the most iconic of all monsters in Monster Hunter, Rathalos is the king to the Rathian's queen. After killing the Guardian version, the classic Rathalos will later prowl the map, with the same focus on fire and poison that its always had.

• Returning monster

Gravios

Gravios is a giant, stone dragon with very limited mobility, but its massive size, dense armor plating, and ability to spew various gasses from the gaps in that plating makes it a real threat. Like Jin Dahaad, players will have to crack the plating to get at the vulnerable areas beneath, ideally targeting the head and chest.

• Returning monster

Blangonga

A white-furred baboon, the Blangonga is a lot like the weaker Congalala, with a focus on farting and summoning smaller apes to help it. However, the Blangonga is stronger and comes with icy powers that can freeze a hunter in place and leave them unable to escape a follow-up attack.

• Returning monster

Gore Magala

Gore Magala is a powerful elder dragon that brings with it the Frenzy, a status condition that drives monsters berserk and can impact players. Its huge size, fast movements and breath attacks make it a force to be reckoned with, and the fact that Gore Magala is canonically just an infant version of the more powerful Shagaru Magala makes us wonder if the greater dragon will be coming in later updates...

• Returning monster

Arkveld

After killing the Guardian Arkveld, eventually you'll be able to fight the standard version of the deadly White Wraith, as it becomes a recurring monster roaming the world. All the same rules and perils still apply, only now you're also able to use traps and capture it for a greater payout - and its materials will make up some of the best Monster Hunter Wilds armor.

• New monster

We expect to see plenty new monsters added as part of the Monster Hunter Wilds roadmap! But if you want some tips on actually playing the game, check out our essential Monster Hunter Wilds beginner's guide here, or all the little Monster Hunter Wilds tips we wish we'd known before we started...

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Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun guide

The Light Bowgun in MH Wilds is, to explain in advance for those considering it, something you use as a mixture of targeted ranged fire that exploits weaknesses, and evasion. Unlike the Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun, it's something you can use more with some real agility, dodging attacks that come your way, but the payoff is that you lose out on the raw firepower of the weapon's larger cousin.

Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun Rapid Fire Mode explained

Much like where the Heavy Bowgun has Ignition Mode, the Light Bowgun has Rapid Fire Mode, which does exactly what it says on the tin: it fires at a faster rate. However, this consumes the Rapid Fire gauge, which can be replenished by landing shots or simply waiting. When available, you should be using Rapid Fire, but the drawback is that only standard ammo types are available in this mode.

Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun Chaser Shot and Burst Step

The Chaser Shot is not when you accidentally drink the water before the spirit, fortunately. In Monster Hunter Wilds, the Chaser Shot is the Light Bowgun's move which allows you to follow up any shot with another quickfire shot, both in and out of Rapid Fire Mode. There's nothing particularly special about it, it's just an essential move you should learn how to time if you want to master the weapon as it allows you to deal more damage in a shorter timespan.

Meanwhile, the Burst Step is another simple move that allows you to essentially dodge forwards while firing your gun at the same time, but it's only possible in Rapid Fire Mode. Nailing the timing requires practice, but if you can learn how to do it consistently, it's another tool in your arsenal.

Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun ammo explained

Here are all of the ammo types available when using the standard mode of the Light Bowgun:

• Normal Ammo
• Pierce Ammo
• Spread Ammo
• Slicing Ammo
• Sticky Ammo
• Cluster Bomb
• Wyvern Ammo
• Poison Ammo
• Paralysis Ammo
• Sleep Ammo
• Flaming Ammo
• Water Ammo
• Freeze Ammo
• Thunder Ammo
• Dragon Ammo
• Recover Ammo
• Demon Ammo
• Armor Ammo
• Exhaust Ammo
• Tranq Ammo

Much like the Heavy Bowgun, Normal, Pierce, and Spread all have infinite supply, while the others require crafting. Different Light Bowguns can only equip certain ammo types too, so make sure you inspect your weapon in the menus to double check what's available to you.

Monster Hunter Wilds Light Bowgun moveset

Here are all of the basic Light Bowgun moves and attacks:

• Fire
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Aim/Focus
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: L2
  • XB: LT
• Reload
  • PC: R
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Rapid Fire Mode
  • PC: F
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Special Ammo
  • PC: R + F
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Select Ammo
  • PC: Mouse Wheel up/down
  • PS: L1 + Triangle/X
  • XB: LB + Y/A
• Chaser Shot (immediately after firing in Rapid Fire Mode)
  • PC: F
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Burst Step (in Rapid Fire Mode)
  • PC: WASD + Space
  • PS: LS + X
  • XB: LS + A

The only additional tip for the Light Bowgun is to remember to select your special ammo at camp. These add one final trick to your sleeve, such as the Wyvernblast, which embeds a bomb in the ground beneath you. It'll explode when attacked, dealing serious blast damage to enemies in its radius. Or you can equip Adhesive Ammo, which fires "a special kind of ammo that sticks to monsters" and will eventually explode, and attacking the monster with the Adhesive Ammo stuck to them will increase the damage it deals.

Need help on the hunt? We've got all Monster Hunter Wilds monster weaknesses listed here in a handy table for easy reference, or if you're wondering how long the journey ahead might be, we've answered the question "how long is Monster Hunter Wilds" here!

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