Monster Hunter Outlanders Beginner's Guide

Monster Hunter Outlanders has brought monster hunting to smartphones, but right from the start it throws eight weapon types, two control schemes, Adventurer recruitment, and several progression systems at newcomers. Getting your head around all of that at once isn't easy. In this guide, we've put together some tips to help you find your feet during your first few hours.

Monster Hunter Outlanders launched as a free-to-play game on iOS and Android on October 29, 2026. For a comfortable experience, the developers recommend an iPhone 13 Pro or a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone with 8 GB of RAM, although the game can even run on an iPhone 8 Plus or an Android phone with a Snapdragon 835 and 4 GB of RAM. Keep in mind that it takes up around 16 GB on Android and around 20 GB on iPhone.

Performance depends on your phone's hardware and the settings you choose, so on a midrange device, it's best to start with lower graphics quality. There are no universal settings that work for everyone, so head into the graphics options as soon as you've installed the game. If your phone starts heating up, cap the frame rate and lower the shadow and texture quality. That will usually help improve FPS.

Instead of choosing a gender, the character creator offers two body types: Type 1 and Type 2. The game then asks you to pick a difficulty:

Your first battle starts almost immediately, and it's against a large dragon. It attacks slowly and lets you land plenty of hits, so it's more of a tutorial than a real fight. Afterward, you'll reach the first settlement, where you can meet other players.

The game has two control schemes, and you can switch between them in the settings at any time.

Adventure mode simplifies combat down to three main buttons:

You still have to watch the monster and react at the right moment, but there are fewer buttons to press. This mode is convenient when you're still getting used to the game or repeatedly hunting the same monsters for materials.

Classic mode is closer to the mainline games. Every attack and weapon move has its own button, and there are separate buttons for your teammates' Ultimate attacks and your Buddies' abilities. There's more to press, but you have full control over the hunt.

There are a couple of less obvious tricks, too. Swipe upward toward the sprint icon while running and your character will start running automatically, making it much easier to travel around the map. And for the Hammer's charged attack, you only need to tap the button rather than hold it down. That makes it easier to time a perfect dodge.

The game also supports controllers. You can connect one over Bluetooth just like you would with any phone. On a PlayStation controller, for example, hold down the PS and Share buttons. A controller makes the game noticeably more comfortable to play, although you'll still have to tap the screen during certain tutorials.

Whichever mode you choose, spend some time at the training grounds. Try out attacks and dodges, and get a feel for how your weapon moves.

There are eight weapon types at launch, with more promised in future updates:

Your main character can freely switch between every weapon type. Early on, though, it's better to pick one and learn its timings, positioning, and how it performs against different monsters. That way you won't spread your upgrade materials too thin. You can come back to another weapon once you've got a feel for the overall rhythm of the hunt.

Incidentally, weapons don't work exactly the same way they do in the mainline games. Each weapon type gets a bonus for a perfect dodge or perfect guard. For example, after a successful dodge, the Great Sword can go straight into a charged attack.

Your main character isn't the only hunter in the squad. You can also obtain other Adventurers through recruitment, a lottery system that uses in-game currency. Unlike your main character, each recruited Adventurer is tied to a single weapon type but has a unique set of moves. Pepper, for example, uses a Heavy Bowgun and can stay airborne for extended periods while raining shots down on a monster.

Adventurers fall into three roles:

Early on, it's better to build a balanced squad rather than fill every slot with the same role. Having at least one Support Adventurer greatly reduces the chances of failing a hunt.

It's important to understand that recruitment gives you Adventurers and Buddies, not weapons or armor. Equipment is crafted from materials earned through hunting. Upgrade materials are also sold in paid bundles, though. For your first few hours, the free squad the game gives you is enough. Even if you only upgrade your main character, you can complete hunts without much trouble. Some events award duplicate copies of top-rarity SSR Adventurers, and you can obtain another one through a guild.

Buddies help out during hunts as well. Alongside the familiar Palicoes, the game introduces new little creatures. They distract monsters and help with smaller tasks, so it's always worth bringing them along.

The golden rule hasn't changed: learn to read the monster. Squad power matters, but knowing a monster's behavior can make an even bigger difference. For example, you can defeat a six-star Anjanath with a little over half the recommended power if you already know its moves from earlier games.

Here are a few things to remember during combat:

You can also drink potions while moving, just like in World and Wilds, so healing no longer leaves you helpless. Hunts are noticeably shorter than in the mainline series. Depending on the quest, the time limit is six to ten minutes rather than the usual 50, but most battles only last a few minutes.

The core progression loop is classic Monster Hunter: gather materials, craft weapons and armor, then upgrade them. Pick up everything you come across along the way, including herbs, ore, bones, and other resources, because you'll need them for crafting. Equipment requires fewer materials than in the mainline games, so you won't have to spend hours chasing the same monster.

After a hunt, prioritize upgrades in this order:

Don't waste rare materials on low-level gear. Craft only what you need right now.

Beyond equipment, Adventurers have levels, engravings, insights, appearances, and Buddies. There are plenty of systems, and it's hard to know where to invest your resources at first. The progression guide can help: it shows you what to improve to raise your overall power. Keep in mind that some of the resources used by these systems are limited by Energy.

Sometimes the story stops at quests that tell you to "Increase Power." To clear them faster, don't skip daily and weekly tasks. They're the most reliable free source of resources. Also keep leveling up your Adventurer, increasing your Ecology Rank, and earning Proofs of Mastery. These systems are connected and unlock more difficult content.

There are several handy tools for farming specific materials:

You can also hunt in open areas. That's closer to the mainline series: a weakened monster may flee, and other creatures sometimes join the fight.

One of the biggest questions for mobile gamers. In Monster Hunter Outlanders, hunting and crafting are completely free, while paid purchases speed up progression and give you additional recruitment attempts. Outfits don't affect combat power, so there's no reason to buy them for their stats.

Choose the right server before creating your character. The international version has servers for Europe, North America, and Japan. If you're planning to play with friends, agree on a region in advance. Characters can't be transferred between regional servers, and you can't form a squad with players from a different region.

If you do decide to pull on recruitment banners, here's how the guarantees work on a featured Adventurer banner:

Buying the monthly pass for the first time lets you choose one of three top-rarity Adventurers. You can also strengthen Adventurers using tickets earned from daily activities rather than just duplicate copies, so improving your squad for free is possible. It simply takes longer.

On top of that, the developers removed separate Buddy banners after the second beta test and introduced free ways to obtain them. Buddies can still appear on certain Adventurer banners or be earned through gameplay, such as seasonal event rewards and exchanges. Recruitment Contracts are awarded for quests or can be bought with Rutacoin, a currency you can earn just by playing.

Newcomers should start with the beginner banner. It guarantees a top-rarity Adventurer within just 50 pulls, and those pulls cost less. In addition, every ten pulls on any banner guarantee an SR Adventurer, one rarity tier below the highest.

There's no PvP in the game, so purchases don't give you an advantage over other players. Money only speeds up progression: a powerful recruited Adventurer will make the early hunts easier, but the free squad is perfectly capable of getting the job done.

All in all, Monster Hunter Outlanders is more forgiving to newcomers than the mainline games, without losing the thrill of the hunt. Pick one weapon, learn how monsters behave, and don't skip your daily tasks. Happy hunting!