With Monster Hunter World releasing on January 26, players may be coordinating schedules to begin tackling the highly-anticipated game with friends, but some gamers may prefer to give this game the solo treatment. This attempt may be harder if you are a newcomer to the series, so these beginner tips may be very helpful. If attempting to solo the game, the following advice may be helpful for newcomers and veterans alike.

Lower tier monsters like Great Jagras may not be difficult to solo, but higher-tier Elder Dragons are likely to be extremely difficult. Utilizing Monster Hunter World’s many features should offset this disadvantage. One of those helpful features is the Palico companion, so complete as many quests to improve it as possible.

Unlocking a Palico gadget - by doing a small quest for a Palico tribe - can be one of the most helpful things you do during a solo playthrough, as it will enable you to recruit members of the tribe and a certain monster type in its respective zone. This means you can have your Palico, a companion, and a monster helping you out in combat. Moreover, match your Palico gadget to your style because “if you’re using a slower weapon…the taunt Palico [can] provide a critical distraction." Also, if a slower weapon is giving you issue in a battle with a monster, try faster weaponry such as the longsword or dual blades.

When a monster flees, restocking is a solid option for solo play. Although you can only carry so many potions, you can repetitively restock if you have the materials. Consumables can make or break a fight, so go prepared. Another option is to recruit from tribes and repetitively use the NPCs as fodder; if they die, return to camp, fetch more, and batter the monster until it is dead.

Another solo method is to draw the monster to another and allow them to fight. Clean up afterward should hopefully make a difficult fight much easier, but this method can also backfire. If both monsters focus on you, run and retry. While former installments of Monster Hunter World have been known to be difficult combat-wise, this newest entry at least provides a multitude of solo methods in order to tackle the rather lengthy game.

With that being said, a solo playthrough of Monster Hunter World should not be terribly difficult, as gamers have reportedly solo’d Rathalos and Diablos in the beta. If you’d prefer a solo playthrough, then these tips should help, but if you’re still undecided about purchasing the game, check out our review roundup.

Monster Hunter World releases on January 26, 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC version releasing sometime fall 2018.

Source: Game Informer