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Multiplayer and Expeditions

Monster Hunter Wilds supports full cooperative play for up to four hunters. You can play the entire game solo with AI companions, or team up with friends and strangers through multiple matchmaking systems. The game also features open-world expeditions where you can explore freely without quest constraints.

Multiplayer Systems​

Link Parties are the best way to play with friends consistently. When you form a Link Party, every member gets automatic prompts when someone posts or starts a quest.

How to set up a Link Party:

  1. Open your menu and go to the Communications tab.
  2. Select "Link Party" and invite friends from your friends list or lobby.
  3. Once formed, all members get notifications when any member posts a quest.
  4. Accept the notification to join automatically.

Link Parties persist through multiple quests. You do not need to re-invite after every hunt. When someone posts a new quest, everyone in the party gets the join prompt.

Lobbies​

Lobbies are the traditional gathering hub. Up to 16 players share a lobby instance.

Lobby TypeDetails
PublicOpen to anyone. Players can search for lobbies by quest type, target monster, or Hunter Rank.
PrivatePassword-protected. Only players with the code can join.
Friends-OnlyRestricted to your friends list.

You can see other hunters in the hub, arm-wrestle at the Gathering Hub, and check each other's gear. Post quests from the Quest Board, and anyone in your lobby can join.

SOS Flares​

The SOS Flare is your mid-hunt call for backup.

How to use it:

  1. Open your radial menu during a quest.
  2. Go to the Actions tab.
  3. Fire an SOS Flare.
  4. Other hunters browsing SOS listings can now join your quest in progress.

Responding to SOS Flares:

  1. Go to the Quest Board.
  2. Select "Join Request" or "Respond to SOS."
  3. Filter by monster, quest type, or Hunter Rank.
  4. Pick a quest and join.

If no human players respond to your SOS, the game fills empty slots with NPC Support Hunters. These AI companions fight alongside you and contribute to damage, but they are not as effective as human players.

info

NPC Support Hunters do not alter the solo HP scaling threshold. The monster stays at solo difficulty when only NPCs fill the empty slots. This makes SOS flares useful even if no human players respond, since you get AI backup without the health penalty of multiplayer scaling.

Squads​

Squads function as persistent groups (like guilds or clans). Up to 50 players can join a single Squad.

What Squads give you:

  • A shared Squad Chat channel
  • Easy access to join each other's lobbies
  • A Squad Card showing collective hunt statistics
  • Squad-exclusive sessions where only members can join

Create or join a Squad from the Communications tab. You can belong to multiple Squads simultaneously.

The Grand Hub and Arena​

At Hunter Rank 16, you unlock the Grand Hub in Suja (Peaks of Accord) by talking to the NPC Tetsuzan. The Grand Hub is the game's dedicated multiplayer hub instance, separate from the starting village of Kunafa.

What the Grand Hub offers:

  • Arena Quest Counter: Accept timed competition quests with predetermined equipment loadouts. Completion times upload to global leaderboards.
  • Barrel Bowling: A multiplayer minigame that yields exclusive Pendants and utility items.
  • Full player lobby: See and interact with other hunters in a shared social space.

Multiplayer Scaling​

Monster difficulty adjusts based on the number of active human players in the quest.

Hunters in QuestEstimated HP Scaling
1 (Solo)100% (Base HP)
2~160%
3~200%
4~240%

Scaling is not strictly linear. Four coordinated hunters deal far more than 2.4x a solo hunter's damage, so full parties are the fastest way to clear hunts. Stagger thresholds, status application buildup, and wound creation are shared across all team members.

tip

A full party of four focused on the same body part will wound and break it much faster than a solo hunter. Coordinate with your team to focus fire on the same part (head for stuns, tail for severs) for the biggest efficiency gains.

Playing Story Quests in Co-op​

Story quests (Assignments) have special rules for multiplayer:

  1. Unlock multiplayer first. You must complete the opening story missions and reach your first base camp solo before multiplayer unlocks.
  2. Form a Link Party with your friends.
  3. Everyone starts the same Assignment individually from their own Quest Board.
  4. Watch cutscenes separately. Some story quests have mandatory cutscenes that must be viewed solo. Once the cutscene ends and the hunt begins, the game allows party members to sync up.
  5. Join after cutscenes. If the game does not auto-sync, fire an SOS Flare or have party members manually join after the cutscenes complete.

This cutscene requirement can feel clunky, but it only applies to first-time story missions. Repeating assignments after clearing them works like any normal quest.

warning

If you and a friend are both doing a story quest for the first time, you may each need to watch the opening cutscene solo before the game lets you join each other. Start the quest, watch the cutscene, then invite or SOS your friend once the hunt phase begins.

Environment Link lets you roam a map with friends outside of a quest.

How it works:

  1. Form a Link Party.
  2. Select "Environment Link" from the menu.
  3. Your party deploys together into a free-roam version of the selected map.
  4. Explore, gather, hunt any monsters you find, and trigger dynamic events.

Limitations:

  • You cannot post or progress quests while in Environment Link.
  • No quest rewards, but you keep all gathered materials and monster drops.
  • Best used for farming materials, exploring new regions, or practicing against specific monsters.

Open-World Expeditions​

Expeditions are the solo counterpart to Environment Link. You deploy into a region with no time limit and no quest target.

Why run expeditions:

ReasonDetails
Gathering runsFarm ores, bones, plants, and bugs without quest pressure
Track buildingCollect monster tracks to level up Scoutfly tracking and generate investigations
Material farmingHunt any monster you find for drops. No faint limit means no quest failure.
Region explorationFind all camp locations, endemic life, and environmental features
Crown huntingLook for unusually large or small monsters for crown achievements. Use binoculars to check size before committing to a hunt.

During expeditions, monsters come and go naturally. If you are hunting a Rathalos and it leaves the map, another monster will eventually cycle in. Inclemency weather events trigger on their regular timer, so you can experience weather-specific monster behavior.

tip

Expeditions and Environment Link are the best ways to build your investigation stockpile. Collect tracks for every monster you pass, even ones you are not hunting. Each track generates investigation progress, and investigations are the most efficient way to farm rare materials.

Investigation Size Locking​

A common crown hunting mistake: Investigations lock the procedural generation seed of the target monster. Running the same Investigation repeatedly gives you the same monster size every time. To farm crowns effectively, cycle through different, newly generated Investigations, or rest at camps during Environment Link free-roam to force a server-side respawn with a new size roll.

Multiplayer Etiquette​

These are not rules the game enforces, but following them makes you a better hunting partner:

  1. Bring Lifepowders. They heal the entire party. Carry some and use them when teammates are low.
  2. Do not wake a sleeping monster without coordination. If someone puts a monster to sleep, the first hit deals double damage. Wait for the Great Sword user or a Barrel Bomb setup.
  3. Do not trip melee players. Long Sword users standing behind the head can trip Hammer users. Position yourself to avoid hitting allies (or use Flinch Free Lv 1 to ignore it).
  4. Call out traps. If you are placing a Shock Trap or Pitfall Trap, use a quick chat message so teammates know to lure the monster over.
  5. Match the host's goal. If the quest leader is trying to capture, do not kill the monster. Watch for skull icons and trap callouts.