With Monster Hunter Rise now available on PC and Nintendo Switch, more people than ever are jumping on the monster-slaying train. With a shiny new game to play and new hunters to train, multiplayer is going to be full of new and old Monster Hunter Rise fans. That said, the only thing standing between hunters and glory with friends is a less-than-intuitive matchmaking system.
As was the case with the previous entry Monster Hunter World, players are able to join other hunters through the Quest Board. Unlike MHW, Monster Hunter Rise doesn't list quests in the same fashion, nor does it allow players to tackle Village quests as a team. While Monster Hunter Rise does offer a tutorial on joining other players and using the quest board, it's unfortunately not very clear.
Creating and Joining a Lobby
To create a group with friends that includes up to four players total, one will need to speak to the Courier. The Courier can create an online session with a host of options from objectives, hunter ranks allowed, and more. A lobby can be left open for players to join or a password can be put in place to prevent unwanted hunters from joining. A joined lobby acts as nothing more than a way for players to interact with one another outside of a hunt. It still won't allow players to join one anothers' Village quests.
Joining a lobby is even easier than creating one. Simply speak with the Courier and open up the Friends list. From there, select the option to join their lobby and input the password if needed.
Quest Board
The bulk of multiplayer features is still found at the Hunter Board in the Hub section of the village. The Hunter Board itself is located just to the right of the Minoto the Hub Maiden and can be easy for new players to miss. Players can initiate a multiplayer quest at Minoto by selecting Yes (Send Join Request) that will allow them to launch the quest and will automatically fill in extra players looking for the same quest.
If grouped in a lobby and the lead player has selected a quest, the others in the group can select Join Hub Quest to join and ready up for the posted quest. Otherwise, players can use the Respond to Join Request option. From there, the choices will vary depending on what kind of quests the player can join depending on what they've unlocked. Select the category and browse the quest list to find what one is after. Once selected, Monster Hunter Rise will begin matchmaking.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch