Step into the wilds of Monster Hunter Wilds, where the mysterious directive to “Investigate the regions and raise your HR” unfolds as both a challenge and an adventure. As you traverse diverse landscapes and confront new High Rank monsters, uncover how exploring, hunting, and completing side quests weave together to elevate your Hunter Rank and unlock the secrets of the Forbidden Lands. Ready your weapons and prepare to chart your own path through this evolving questline that blends story progression with relentless monster hunting mastery.
Once you unlock High Rank, you will embark on a mission that shows how the events leading up to the end credits have affected the world around you. The introduction of your first High Rank monster, Yian Kut Ku, being non-native to the Forbidden Lands, is a big hint of what’s to come.
This is where Monster Hunter Wilds makes the most of its open-world design: the rolling shadow mission “Investigate the regions and raise your HR.” This page explains what it means in practice, and how to effectively progress it.
What ’Investigate the regions and raise your HR’ means
The phrase “Investigate the regions and raise your HR” in Monster Hunter Wilds refers to a recurring objective players encounter after reaching High Rank status. It means exploring different areas of the game world to uncover new monsters and environmental changes caused by the evolving story, while simultaneously increasing your Hunter Rank (HR) by completing hunts, quests, and missions. Progression involves reaching specific HR thresholds, which unlock new story missions and tougher monsters. To raise your HR effectively, players often focus on side missions involving large monster hunts, which reward HR points and materials for upgrading gear. This cycle of investigating regions and raising HR continues until you reach the next soft cap, allowing you to advance further in the High Rank campaign.
Once in High Rank, each time you reach a new hunter rank (HR) soft cap, you will unlock the next story mission (denoted with a red asterisk on the map).
Complete each of these missions, and you will raise your soft HR cap by a few levels and be told, once again, to “investigate the regions and raise your HR” until the next soft cap, where new missions will unlock. This is effectively the game’s new loop – and one where you’re free to define your way forward.
But what are the best ways to progress through “investigate the regions and raise your HR,” exactly?
How to raise your HR cap in Monster Hunter Wilds
To raise your Hunter Rank (HR) cap in Monster Hunter Wilds, you need to progress through the main story missions and complete key quests that unlock new HR soft caps. After finishing the credits and entering High Rank, your HR cap starts at 7 and increases incrementally by completing specific story chapters and missions, such as capturing Yian Kut-Ku at Chapter 4-1 or defeating Frenzy Monster Nerscylla at Chapter 4-2. Each time you reach a soft cap, a new story mission marked with a red asterisk appears, which you must complete to unlock the next HR cap. Alongside main quests, completing side missions and hunts also grants HR points, helping you reach the cap faster. This cycle of investigating regions and completing missions continues until you reach higher HR levels, unlocking tougher monsters and better gear.
There are two main ways to increase your HR. The first (and most obvious) is to hunt monsters.
This can either be in the form of optional quests that you start by talking to Alma, or initiating a hunt while out and about, exploring the wilds. After you finish a hunt, you will receive a given number of Hunter Points as part of the (sometimes very busy) rewards screen.
Get enough Hunter Points and you will raise your HR. Generally speaking, it takes one or two Large Monsters to raise your HR for the first few dozen ranks.
The second way to do this is to complete side quests. These are denoted with a yellow asterisk on the map. You can view and swap between these in the (again, very busy) Start/Options menu.
These are pretty varied – some will have you chasing down endemic life or catching fish, while others will see you battle a pair of very powerful High Rank monsters. As such, since some are a lot more difficult than others, they will reward you with more points.
However, there are more reasons than this to finish your side quests. We strongly advise you prioritize these over your optional quests, as they unlock some very useful items and mechanics.
Essentially, the aim is to keep increasing your HR rank to break through the soft caps and keep progressing to new story beats. Our how to unlock High Rank explainer goes into these specifics and more.
How to ’Investigate the regions’ in Monster Hunter Wilds
To “Investigate the regions” in Monster Hunter Wilds means to explore the various biomes of the Forbidden Lands as part of your High Rank journey. This objective appears repeatedly as you progress, marked by story missions that unlock when you reach new Hunter Rank (HR) soft caps. To advance, you need to complete these missions by hunting monsters in different regions like Windward Plains, Scarlet Forest, and Oilwell Basin, which also reveals how the game’s story affects the environment. You can raise your HR by completing side quests, field surveys, and investigations, often by repeatedly hunting monsters you are comfortable with or need materials from. Using the map’s area overview, you can start or save investigations efficiently to optimize your hunting and HR progression. This cycle of investigating regions and raising your HR continues until you reach the next soft cap, unlocking new missions and areas to explore.
This command is a little less grandiose than the game makes it sound. There is no rigid structure here: You’re effectively free to do your own thing. If you check your world map at this point, you will see a bunch of unidentified monsters roaming around. Approach them and their icons will update to whatever it is that you’re looking at.
Once a monster is identified, it remains identified. For example, you don’t need to worry about all Rathalos being a surprise; once you’ve seen one, all of the Rathalos on the map will be identifiable for the rest of the game.
There are two important things to note at this point.
- The first is that you are free to tackle the cool new monsters at your leisure. You are free to go out and do what you do best.
- The second is that you need to visit each of the regions in turn, talking to the locals, finding out what’s different and exacting swift, Darwinian revenge on those invading species.
So, simply put: go visit each of the friends you’ve made over the course of the game, and keep an eye out for cool new monsters. Remember, science is more fun with a sword in hand.
What are the most effective strategies to quickly increase my HR in Wilds
To quickly increase your Hunter Rank (HR) in Monster Hunter Wilds, the most effective strategies are:
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Complete Side Quests and Optional Missions: After finishing the main story, focus on the numerous side quests available across all regions. These quests often yield significant Hunter Rank Points (HRP) and unlock valuable items and mechanics, making them the fastest way to raise HR in High Rank.
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Prioritize Main Story Quests Early On: In Low Rank, completing main missions and special assignments is key to reaching HR 15 before credits roll.
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Speedrun Specific Monsters Like Gravios: For HR 41 and above, repeatedly hunting Gravios with a Water Element Heavy Bowgun can boost HR quickly. This method requires preparation but can defeat Gravios in 1-2 minutes per run, allowing efficient farming of HR points.
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Participate in Event Quests: Limited-time event quests such as “Anguish and Atrocity” offer large HR boosts and can be completed quickly, especially with multiplayer support via SOS flares.
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Hunt in Multiplayer: Joining multiplayer hunts accelerates quest completion and HR progression, as well as allowing you to benefit from team strategies and buffs.
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Repeat Short, Easy Quests: Farming low-difficulty optional quests repeatedly provides steady HR gains and materials for gear upgrades, which in turn helps tackle tougher monsters and quests.
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Use Buffs and Optimize Gear: Preparing with buffs like Demon Powder and crafting gear optimized for speed and damage (e.g., Water Element Heavy Bowgun) maximizes efficiency in hunts.
Combining these approaches-focusing on high-reward side quests, speedrunning key monsters, leveraging event quests, and playing multiplayer-will raise your Hunter Rank swiftly and unlock new content and challenges in Monster Hunter Wilds.
How do side quests and optional missions accelerate my HR in Wilds
Side quests and optional missions accelerate your Hunter Rank (HR) progression in Monster Hunter Wilds by providing additional opportunities to earn HR points beyond the main story. These quests often involve hunting specific monsters or gathering materials, rewarding you with HR points upon completion and unlocking new content as your rank increases.
Unlike main story assignments that gatekeep HR progression until completed, optional quests can be repeated multiple times, allowing efficient farming of HR points while gathering valuable crafting materials to upgrade your gear. Completing side missions from NPCs also leads to new optional quests and can unlock powerful items that boost your stats, further aiding your hunts and HR advancement.
In essence, side quests and optional missions serve as a vital supplement to the main story by continuously providing HR rewards and materials, enabling you to steadily raise your Hunter Rank and access tougher monsters, new areas, and better equipment in the High Rank phase of the game.
