Monster Hunter variants

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

HERMAN the Gunlancer Vs. More Monsters


Tetranadon-This was the "platypus" that was beating up Khezu.  Wyvern's Fire blasted for hits of 56 near the beginning, while Wyrmstake Cannon shot for 4-62.  Tetranadon inflicted a Water ailment with its attacks that affected Stamina consumption.  At least once it inflated its stomach and rushed forward.  An Escuregot emitted a healing field, which helped restore HERMAN as Tetranadon was fleeing.  Later in the fight, a Turf War ensued between Tetranadon and Lagombi, which was entertaining to watch!  Lagombi grabbed onto Tetranadon's torso and started biting its face, only for Tetranadon to bite back.  HERMAN charged Lagombi into Tetranadon for 37 while riding the rabbit, and also charged Tetranadon into Lagombi.  Tetranadon died just before the Wyrmstake Cannon combo activated.


Kulu-Ya-Ku-This "oviraptor" liked to hold an egg in front of its body as a shield.  HERMAN opened the battle with a Blast Dash that swung for 35.  Kulu-Ya-Ku was so fast that Wyvern's Fire actually missed the first time, but not the second.  Kulu-Ya-Ku's jumping attack made HERMAN see stars for a while and stunned him.  A Wyrmstake Cannon struck down Kulu-Ya-Ku as it was digging in the ground with its beak.


Barroth-Blast Dash only hit the armored mud dinosaur for 27 at the beginning.  Wyvern's Fire and the final hit of Wyrmstake Cannon were still as effective as always because the Gun part of the Gunlance didn't care about Barroth's tough hide.  Barroth preferred to headbutt or spray mud around the arena. 


The Rampage Approaches-Monster Hunter Rise had a new mode to challenge HERMAN.  Rampage functioned like a tower defense game combined with traditional Monster Hunter mechanics.  HERMAN needed to set up various traps and turrets around Red Stronghold to fend off hordes of low rank bosses like Tetranadon and Azuros.  Crag Shots from a Ballista to a monster's head would stun it for a few seconds, and Retreat Shots pushed them backwards. 


As the Rampage progressed, the Stronghold leveled up, allowing HERMAN to place new defenses like Cannons.  I wasn't used to these mechanics, so HERMAN still had to fend off infiltrators with his usual Gunlance moves and the help of automatic Counter Signal buffs.  The town elder volunteered to fight as a Warrior of Kamura installation, and he must have fended off three Azuros with one blade technique.  HERMAN won the battle by fighting one last Great Wroggi personally, who remained on the battlefield after all the other bosses had disappeared.  His grade was a B.  Completing the first Rampage unlocked the Ramping-Up feature at the blacksmith to further upgrade weapons.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Bishaten-This bat dragon liked to throw fruit at HERMAN which could be blocked with a shield.  The Gunlancer attacked with his usual Wyrmstake Cannon and Wyvern's Fire for the usual damage when possible, especially when it was stunned.  The A button combo was the finisher. 


In the Lava Caverns, HERMAN fished up enough Flamefins to craft the Wyvern Bone Gunlance that had been taunting him since the previous rank.  It had 120 Attack, 0 Affinity, and a Lv 2 Long shelling type.  He equipped Defense Boost I as his Rampage Skill to complement his slow but sturdy fighting style.


Third Wheel-The first Arena challenge forced HERMAN to fight both a Tetranadon and an Azuros.  He actually died on the first attempt, and I abandoned the quest then since I wanted to get through as many missions as possible without riding on the cart.  Perhaps I was too stingy with Mega Potions.  One trick that came in handy was to use a switch to divide the arena with a wall so HERMAN would only have to fight only one monster.  PROWLER's healing orbs were as helpful as always, and it wasn't even a Healing class cat!  Azuros fell first, and ramming Tetranadon into walls helped in finishing it off.


Volvidon-"A Song of Red and Fire".  Did you really have to have a Game of Thrones reference in your quest title, Capcom?  Anyway, Volvidon was an armadillo in a volcano that the Generations Ultimate cats had battled.  It rolled around as you'd expect an armadillo boss to do, but it also spat a paralyzing ball after a Wyvern's Fire missed.  Rise's more elaborate maps made it difficult to find Volvidon after it ran away once.  Generations Ultimate's simpler approach has its merits since Monster Hunter doesn't have the exploration depth of Breath of the Wild.  Wyrmstake Cannon made it flail around for a bit before dying.


Pukei-Pukei:  HERMAN replied to its opening roar with a Wyvern's Fire.  Pukei-Pukei sometimes attacked with licks and poison spits.  Ground Splitter was a decent approaching attack that added to Wyrmstake Cannon's power when used afterwards.  Wyrmstake Cannon was the finishing move too.


Basarios-A stone dragon would have probably been more difficult for other classes that didn't have fixed power explosions.  Wyvern's Fire singed it from behind.  HERMAN chugged plenty of healing items when affected by burn status from its fire, since I hadn't yet realized that Nulberry cured that kind of "Blight".  Wyvern's Fire awakened Basarios when it was resting in a cave after running away.  The finisher was either a basic shot or a Palamute attack.


Rathian-The queen dragon of the desert attacked with both fire and poison tail flips.  The first attempted failed and so I restarted the mission.  Take 2 was less dramatic than the first and ended with a simple X button poke combo since it had a faster animation than shots. 


Special License Test 1-To avoid redundancy between Village and Hub quests, Capcom wisely created Village quests that allow players to bypass lower rank Hub missions.  In this case, HERMA had to fight both Rathian and Aksonom in Shrine Ruins.  However, they were not always in the same confined space, unlike the Arena battle.  HERMAN had barely cut up Rathian before Aknosom greeted him, but I was familiar with both bosses by then. 



Tobi-Kadachi:  The electric badger (?) was rude enough to roar at HERMAN, who repaid it with a Wyvern's Fire.  Bishaten and Tobi-Kadachi conveniently participated in a Ride Wyvern rodeo, and Tobi-Kadachi was eager for more when it moved close to a Great Wroggi.  HERMAN had to drink an Antidote at the end to cure poison.


Barioth-HERMAN usually raised his shield to deal with its icy winds.  Khezu charged into Barioth during a Ride Wyvern session, but I missed when riding Barioth.  Two Wyvern's Fires missed as well.  Barioth had never heard of the Tortoise and the Hare and fell asleep TWICE during the battle!  The second time came just before it closed its eyes for good.  Wyvern's Fire didn't miss that time!


Somnacanth-The sleep-inducing dinosaur was smaller than other monsters, making it harder for HERMAN to connect with Wyrmstake Cannon.  It was fast and smart enough to back away from a charging Wyvern's Fire too.  Somnacanth's breath made HERMAN drowsy, and he was sometimes stunned as well.  Somnacanth's sleep gas might have been too effective when it started snoozing during the fight.  Somnacanth went on a Ride Wyvern tour until it crashed into a Barioth.  Somnacanth fell just before the final hits of an A button Wyrmstake Cannon combo.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Magnamalo-When HERMAN accepted the next story mission, I thought the monster on the box wouldn't die in this battle, and confront the village Kamura at some higher * rank.  I was wrong.  The credits rolled after the battle, in case people were sick of Monster Hunter Rise at less than 14 hours or something.


Take 1 of the battle involved Ride Wyvern attacks that slammed Magnamalo for 46, and successful Wyvern's Fire for four hits of 60.  Magnamalo sometimes charged, but shot fireballs from its tail at least as often.  One special attack caused fire to erupt from the ground after a brief charge.  The game suggested using Wirebugs to dash out of the way, but HERMAN as a Gunlancer specialized in staying put and guarding.  A tail whip when HERMAN was at around 1/3 max HP sent him to the cart and made me restart the mission.


Take 2 didn't involve any free Ride Wyvern situations, but HERMAN won, and that was what counted.  He aimed at Magnamalo's tail with Wyvern's Fire twice.  You'd think the final boss would have learned after the first time its tail was scorched.  One disadvantage of being a Gunlancer besides slow movement speed is the long delay in wielding and sheathing your weapon.  HERMAN couldn't always take advantage of Magnamalo writhing on the ground, and once had to resort to 7-9 power X button pokes to the tail.  HERMAN held his shield up against both fireballs and melee slams.  Blast Dash followed by a quick shot struck Magnamalo from behind for 30, then around 3 hits of 17.  The finishing move was an anticlimactic normal blast, which went right before the useless Wyrmstake Cannon animation.


After the battle, HERMAN crafted a Golem Gunlance with 150 ATtack, 0 Affinity, and Lv 2 Long shelling type.  His armor which he had kept since the Arena battle was a mismatched set:  Tetranadon Helm, Tetranadon Mail, Ingot Vambraces, Chainmail Belt, Ludroth Greaves, Fortitude Petalace I, and Legacy Talisman.


Let's see how the 5* Village quests go for HERMAN.  I've already tried a 2* Hub quest involving a Barroth, and it took far longer to kill than the original Village version.  Perhaps they gave it more HP for multiplayer?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Nargacuga-This wasn't just a familiar boss to the Generations Ultimate cats:  the bat dragon unlocked Piercing Boomerangs for non-Gathering type Prowlers when killed.  It was a tough battle in GU since its hide blocked some boomerangs if I'm not mistaken.  HERMAN the Gunlancer greeted it with a Wyvern's Fire and later forced it to participate in a Wyvern Ride rodeo with Arzuros.  Nargacuga tended to shoot spikes from its tail or swipe with its wing arms.  While it was distracted by Arzuros, HERMAN injected a Wyrmstake Cannon.  Later he rocketed to Nargacuga with Blast Dash, then launched a shotgun blast for three hits of 19.  Nargacuga jumped backwards just as HERMAN was about to shoot Wyvern's Fire, but fell asleep at the end of the fight and perished to Wyrmstake Cannon.


Once Nargacuga was dead, HERMAN unlocked the Melding Pot in Kamura, which allowed him to create new Talismans.  His first Choice was Constitution Lv 1 to reduce Stamina loss from blocking.  He enlisted in a Rampage mission where the final boss was. . .Nargacuga.  Surprisingly, I got an S rank even though HERMAN had to do a lot of the fighting himself when the monsters bashed the gates.  I didn't even complete some of the optional objectives like "Inflict 4 Elemental Blights" or "Repel using Ballista".


Zinogre-Its weakness was spending too much time charging up electricity and leaving itself open to attack.  HERMAN timed a Wyvern's Fire correctly for once.  When Zinogre was fully charged, it grew a mane and sometimes cast lightning attacks.  HERMAN could still block them effectively with the shield.  The Blast Dash + triple blast trick still worked if Zinogre was occupied.  Anjanath and Zinogre headbutted each other in a Ride Wyvern session late in the battle.  One Wyvern's Fire only connected with one of its four hits, something I hadn't seen before.  A regular blast killed Zinogre when it had its electric mane.


Anjanath-Speaking of the King of Rome. . .Anjanath the Tyrannosaurus Rex was the next boss after its performance in the Zinogre battle.  Anjanath was slow compared to other Rise enemies at first, at least until it unfurled its wings and grew a crest on its head.  Anjanath's long range attack threw a boulder at HERMAN, although it also breathed fire when in its winged state.  Having the low ground was a tactical advantage when HERMAN shot upwards with Wyrmstake Cannon.  Blast Dash + triple shot slew the dinosaur.


Special License Test 2-Great Izuchi, Bishaten, and Magnamalo teamed up in Shrine Ruins to provide the 3* Hub quest test.  Great Izuchi died shortly after a Ride Wyvern into Bishaten, but HERMAN rode on the cart and quit the mission after a sudden defeat at 3/4 (!) HP.  Maybe it triggered a Hellfire blight explosion when it twirled its tail?


To feel better after that loss, I took on a mission where HERMAN shot both a Tetranadon and a Volvidon at once with a Wyvern's Fire.


Rathalos-Supposedly Rathalos is a Monster Hunter monster, but to me it looked similar to other dragons.  I experimented with a Wide shot Delex Harpoon II at first.  That was a mistake!  Wide gets only 2 shots before having to reload, which defeats the point of even having a Gunlance instead of a regular Lance.  Couldn't even pull off a Wyrmstake Cannon with that small of a magazine.  It was so bad that HERMAN switched back to his old Golem Gunlance I as soon as he could fast travel to camp.  Rathalos constantly threatened HERMAN with its breath that inflicted a fast-acting Burn blight.  Rathalos picked up Anajnath with its talons in an impressive Turf War, but this gave HERMAN the chance to Wyvern Ride them both.  HERMAN shot Rathalos in midair in the end with a regular shot.  Rathalos was large enough that both Wyrmstake Cannon and Wyvern's Fire were viable.


Rathalos dropped rare Rathalos Plate items after dying, and HERMAN crafted its hide into a Rathalos Helm and Rathalos Braces.  Nargacuga was turned into Nargacuga Mail and Nargacuga Greaves, while Zinogre became Zinogre Coil.

[Boro]

pretty epic. I don't remember if you can roll with gunlance or only sidestep, or if sidestepping enough (3) times also removes burn, but rolling thrice removes burn.

Hub quests are the "standard fare" of monster hunter in Rise. They scale with player count (about 50% per player) and they are what you are "meant" to hunt. Village quests are in comparison the "easy mode", to ease you into the game, with nerfed monster hp.

One important thing later on is to get the right food bonuses. There is one that reduces enemy health, and for you there is one that prevents deflection and another that improves sharpening speed. You have a fixed chance of getting them that depends on the food bonus itself, but if you make motley mixes, which are great to get some important things like herbal medicine for laughably cheap, you are rewarded tickets that can be consumed to guarantee the food skills.

Herbal Medicine is important, as it not only cures poison, but also heals a bunch. Better yet it has a faster animation. And you can get it as cheap as one blue mushroomand 85z, whereas crafting would require an extra antidote instead of the 85z! Would surely help against monsters like rathian, pukei and bishaten and whoever else poisons.

I decided to finally give this game a shot on the PC after being distracted with Genshin Impact (my siblings play it), and made my huntress, Mashu.

For starters, she took out a hub Arzuros with the starting light bowgun. Then I reconsidered my life choices, as it took forever. Decision #1: Start with the easy mode.

Bowguns live and die by their ammo loadout, namely if you can move while A: Shooting and B: Reloading, as displayed with the footprints and the circular icons respectively on the ammo selection display. Additionally, Rapid Fire is just better (It has higher MV% than a normal shot when added together)

The starting kamura bowgun (50 raw) has rapid fire normal 1, which is about as pitiful as it gets, even though you have infinite amounts of it. Both the Bone (Cross bowgun I, 80 raw) and the Iron (Hunter's Rifle, 70 raw) bowguns have rapid fire normal 2, which is a stronger, albeit limited to a stock of 99 ammo. You can carry materials to craft on the field, pretty handy with the wirebug given mobility to disengage, or if you set up a radial menu command to craft yourself a full stack.

Since the Hunter's Rifle I had better firing characteristics (it can reload on the move) than the bone one, I picked that for my first hunts and voila, it had almost double damage on the bigger monsters. Higher base raw value and higher % on the ammo type is worth it.

The smaller monsters don't deserve any special attention, besides the fact that if you get the sub-camp location scouted out, doing the izuchi quest becomes worth it since both the requirements of the sub-camp (given by kagero the merchant) and the quest are the same - 8 izuchi. Sub-camps are a big deal, as I could almost instantly finish my fireberry quest by getting the fireberries around the starting area in the south, and then teleporting to the sub-camp which also has a set, and a bunch of sets around it.

Anyways, the big deal here was great izuchi. It took some 70ish shots, and the light bowgun's special ability of wyvernblast, which places a landmine dealing armor-ignoring damage whenever you or the monster trigger it. A preferred tactic was placing down a trio when the monster was reeling, and then melee attacking it 2-3 times, each mine dealing 20ish damage, and having about 3 triggers before expiring.

After doing that, and entering into the "big boy" 2* quests, I had enough time for another one. I should have grabbed some icium on an expedition, but I was in a hurry, so I got my exploration, and the Lagombi down in one go. Normal 2 only did 3 hits of 5 on the weakspot, and it was a little hard to get said weakspot targeted, but this is a village quest. there wasn't too much hp to deal with. I ran out of ammo, and of course I didn't set up the controls for the radial menu hotkey like back on the PC, but spread got the job done. I'd have preferred capturing instead of killing, but them's the breaks. I will get the traps and tranqs, as well as the controls worked out soon enough anyways.

Armorwise the Arzuros was killed in the starting kamura gear, then I crafted it to a coil, and then went for izuchi mail and headgear. Nothing interesting skillwise, critical eye is a joke until way later in the game. The izuchi bowgun is also to be skipped, it's just that bad. It has rapidfire slicing, which is interesting in that it doesn't need to be in the "optimal range" like most ammunition. As long as it sticks on the target, it will release a number of hits that deal slicing damage. All other ammo deals shot type damage. It's the only way for bowguns to do cut tails.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

pretty epic. I don't remember if you can roll with gunlance or only sidestep, or if sidestepping enough (3) times also removes burn, but rolling thrice removes burn.

Hub quests are the "standard fare" of monster hunter in Rise. They scale with player count (about 50% per player) and they are what you are "meant" to hunt. Village quests are in comparison the "easy mode", to ease you into the game, with nerfed monster hp.

One important thing later on is to get the right food bonuses. There is one that reduces enemy health, and for you there is one that prevents deflection and another that improves sharpening speed. You have a fixed chance of getting them that depends on the food bonus itself, but if you make motley mixes, which are great to get some important things like herbal medicine for laughably cheap, you are rewarded tickets that can be consumed to guarantee the food skills.

Herbal Medicine is important, as it not only cures poison, but also heals a bunch. Better yet it has a faster animation. And you can get it as cheap as one blue mushroomand 85z, whereas crafting would require an extra antidote instead of the 85z! Would surely help against monsters like rathian, pukei and bishaten and whoever else poisons.

I decided to finally give this game a shot on the PC after being distracted with Genshin Impact (my siblings play it), and made my huntress, Mashu.

For starters, she took out a hub Arzuros with the starting light bowgun. Then I reconsidered my life choices, as it took forever. Decision #1: Start with the easy mode.

Side. . .step?  With Gunlance?  No, I just block, Blast Dash into enemy fireballs, and get knocked down while trying Wyrmstake Cannon!  Really, Gunlance has a wonderful shield even if the class can barely move with its weapon drawn.


You're meant to start with Village quests in Generations Ultimate as well.  My previous attempts at the game involved trying Guild quests before I was supposed to, and that explained many of my problems with it.  Rise is much better at introducing new players than Generations Ultimate, which practically requires YouTube tutorials.


I do use food bonuses in both GU and Rise, even though they aren't mentioned in my posts.  My preferred Dango setup in Rise is usually weapon sharpening + increased defense + better HP restoration from items.


Saw Herbal Medicine in the crafting menu while making Deodorant, but never thought to make it myself.  Thanks for the tip!


Light Bowgun is actually one of the most popular weapons according to Capcom data from last summer.  It comes in 3rd place with 24.2% of players.  First is Long Sword at 40.2%, because it's the default weapon and everyone loves katanas.  I'm a weapon hipster since Gunlance is 2nd to last with only 6.9%.  That explains the "nobody uses Gunlance" joke I saw in a YouTube video about "what your weapon says about you".  Only the Lance is used less often.


I managed to clear Special License Test 2 today, and crafted a new Gunlance with the Magnamalo parts.  The trick was to put the Gunlance away and frantically rub Deodorant on HERMAN's armpits whenever he contracted Hellfire.  There were some other monsters that he killed today, but I'll save that for another post.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Mizutsune-Did I fight the bubble dragon in GU with the cats?  I think so.  It wouldn't be a Gunlance playthrough without missing at least one Wyvern's Fire, and that was the case in this fight too.  Mizutsune either sent bubbles swirling around the arena or shot water beams which could be blocked.  If they hit, they had a chance to inflict the water type blight that penalized Stamina.   It spent much of the battle in a tight cave, making it an easier target than some other bosses.  The second Wyvern's Fire connected, and Mizutsune ran headfirst into an Arzuros during Ride Wyvern.  Mizutsune fell asleep just as HERMAN was charging another Wyvern's Fire.  Do all the monsters have narcolepsy?  Wyrmstake Cannon was the final blow.  


Almudron-Killing the mud dragon was required to advance to the next Village rank, but this was surprisingly easy to do.  Almudron liked to create mud pillars, tail whip, or stay conveniently in range for Wyrmstake Cannon and Wyvern's Fire.  HERMAN launched one Wyvern's Fire as Almudron was stunned.  Almudron saved face once when Wyvern's Fire missed as custom required.  Ground Splitter powered up the last regular shots that defeated the boss.


The next mission was Special License Test 2, and HERMAN avenged his loss by crafting a Sinister Gunlance I with Magnamalo's body.


Diablos-As you'd expect, the monster had devil horns.  And the first Wyvern's Fire missed.  (Maybe I should have gone with regular Lance.  All you need to understand is poke range, and you can charge at bosses without ammo!)  Blast Dash + Burst Fire connected as Diablos the dragon was starting to burrow.  Wyvern's Fire #2. . .second verse, same as the first.  Ride Wyvern was Diablos vs. Tigrex.  Wyvern's Fire #3 actually hit for once!  A Blast Dash attack slew the dragon.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

HERMAN replaced Ground Splitter with the original Hail Cutter since it "reduces the cooldown time for Wyvern's Fire".  That way, I could miss with Wyvern's Fire EVEN MORE!  The Gunlancer conquered a couple of Rampages, which were fun to play if not as challenging as 5* and 6* rank should have been.  The point of doing this was to craft the Canyne Cannon I, with 130 Attack and a Lv 2 Long shelling type.  Canyne Cannon I could also equip Wyrmstake Boost as a Rampage Skill.


Tigrex-HERMAN fought the multicolored dragon in a Rampage before taking it on in a 6* Village quest.  Botched a Wyvern's Fire as Tigrex roared to fulfill the quota.  Tigrex sometimes ran back and forth as if imitating Nargacuga.  A second Wyvern's Fire didn't miss after HERMAN chased Tigrex down to another area.  Ride Wyvern crashed Great Baggi into Tigrex.  HERMAN once came close to being dragged back to start on the cart, but he drank a Mega Potion in time.  A third Wyvern's Fire barrage was successful when HERMAN was behind Tigrex, and the buildup shots killed Tigrex before Wyrmstake Cannon could activate.


Goss Harag-This was a bear-like monster that slashed with ice blades.  Wyvern's Fire scorched Goss Harag's backside at the beginning as it roared.  Tigrex made a cameo appearance to Ride Wyvern into Goss Harag.  The boss was most dangerous when it used its signature ice slash, though it also had a frosty breath attack at mid-range.  Finding an opening to attack was the most difficult part of this battle, since Gunlance isn't a counterattack weapon like Lance.  Wyvern's Fire hit for a second, third, and fourth time later on.  Unusually good accuracy for me!  While Goss Harag was stunned, HERMAN attacked it up and down with Hail Cutter.  True to form, HERMAN whiffed a Wyvern's Fire late in the battle.  Tigrex returned for another Ride Wyvern rodeo, and Wyrmstake Cannon put down Goss Harag.


HERMAN's last 6* quest of this update was A Test of Courage, which required killing both Zinogre and Magnamalo in Shrine Ruins.  Somehow I think Magnamalo encounters will get old before I'm finished with Rise.  I did learn that dodge rolling can get rid of Hellfire, not just regular burning.  Thanks for the tip, Boro!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Much of the rest of 6* Village rank consisted of boss rush quests.  The Generations Ultimate equivalent is more fun since you sometimes have to fight both enemies on the same screen.  Two Lagombis at once was a true test for the cats!  HERMAN croaked once in Like a Flash of Lightning to the Mizutsune, because if you're having a bad day with Gunlance, you'll feel it.  King of Sky, Bane of Land sent HERMAN against Rathalos and Tigrex.  Special License Test 3 for the next Hub rank featured Rathalos, Zinogre, and Almudron.  Rathalos was becoming predictable by this point, and Almudron was one of the easier high rank Village monsters. 


HERMAN was now done with Village missions:  he had a blue check mark next to 6*, and no way to proceed further.  His only choice was to battle The Blue Apex, a special Rampage mission.  This was no Village Rampage quest where HERMAN could easily get A or S rank!  The Gunlancer needed to defend two areas instead of one, and there weren't enough Defender Ballistas, Defender Cannons, and Wyvernfire Artillery to keep Apex Arzuros and his minions away from the last gate.  It became apparent that Hub Rampage mode was biased to multiplayer, since Apex Arzuros was functionally invincible.  More players could have used the manual artillery or simply distracted the monsters. 


It took about 3 tries for HERMAN to win, and he did so without riding the cart.  The way to go was to summon the Limited villagers at the last gate.  By the end, HERMAN chugged healing items and literally ran out the timer to make the monsters concentrate on him.  Don't know if he can succeed at higher * Rampage missions that way!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Many of the 4* and 5* Hub quests were recycled from Village missions, but now the monsters like Lagombi and Aknosom were stronger.  They still fought the same way as before, so I won't bother giving details on them.  One new Dango had a 50% default chance of powering up "gunlance shells", so it became part of HERMAN's diet as soon as possible.


Jyuratodus was a new boss for the Urgent Quest to move up to 5* Hub rank.  It was a dragon that flailed around in the muck, dove underwater for a powerful rising attack, whipped with its tail, and shot mud balls.  The diving move and mud balls were simple to block with the Gunlance shield.  Jyuratodus's size made it an easier target for Wyvern's Fire and Wyrmstake Cannon than other monsters.  HERMAN once awakened Jyuratodus with a Hail Cutter reload.  An Arzuros was available for Ride Wyvern since it seemed to be everywhere in Rise.  Wyvern's Fire struck down Jyuratodus as it roared defiantly at HERMAN after limping away from him.


After that battle, HERMAN melded a Quick Sheathe talisman since he took so long to put away his Gunlance when he needed to run away or heal with items.  He then crafted a Golem Gunlance II with 180 Attack, 0 Affinity, 10 Defense Bonus, and Lv 3 Long shelling type.


In lesser quests like Bad Review, HERMAN gathered new materials from the Sandy Plains.  He was obsessed with bone piles because that's where some of his Gunlance requirements came from.  Be sure to gather items once you reach high rank in the Hub!  Bone Gunlance II became Behemoth Gunlance with 208 Attack, 0 Affinity, 0 Defense Bonus, and most importantly Lv 4 Long shelling type.


The last quest in this part was to slay an advanced Royal Ludroth.  The boss was reused, but HERMAN had learned some new tricks in the meantime.  The "forward step" used Stamina but was a safer approach when he didn't want to sheathe his weapon or Blast Dash.  But Blast Dash itself was becoming a viable offensive option.  If you press A in midair after a Blast Dash, you can use Aerial Shelling and then slam down with a powerful Jumping Smash.  In training, Aerial Shelling dealt 29-30 to the dummy, and Jumping Smash was 100 damage.  For comparison, the final hit of Wyrmstake Cannon with the Behemoth Gunlance is 89 damage.  Aerial Shelling is about the same strength as a normal shot, but is generally safer.