Monster Hunter Rise: Deciphering the Village and Hub Rank System
Welcome back to the world of Monster Hunter Rise. If you played the game on Nintendo Switch or PC a few years ago, you’re probably already familiar with the world, monsters, and systems of Monster Hunter and are ready for the game on PS5 and Xbox Series S. However, if this is your first go-round with the series, you have quite a lot to learn.
Don’t worry, learning is part of the fun! There are only a few things the game doesn’t explain very well, and one of those things is the difference between Village and Hub missions, and what the benefits of each are.
Thankfully, that’s exactly what this guide is for! So before you become a monster-hunting pro, Give this guide a look and keep this information in mind as you progress through the game. If you’re ready, grab your weapon of choice, summon your Palicoes and Palamutes, and let’s get started!
Why Two Paths?
Monster Hunter has always split up its gameplay between a Village path and a Hub path. The Village Elder will give you missions that pertain to the game’s storyline, and act as a kind of extended tutorial for the real meat of the game: The Gathering Hub.
The Gathering Hub is where you will link up with friends to go on missions, and it’s also where you can be connected with other players you don’t know and help them on their own missions. You’re going to spend an awful lot of time in the Village quests, but you could spend hundreds and hundreds of hours in The Gathering Hub whether you go on missions with friends or solo.
Why Bother with Village Quests?
If you’re a veteran Monster Hunter player, or if you’re returning to Rise after spending a bunch of time in it previously, you know the Village Quests are pretty important. But for those who don’t know, the Village Quests are where you learn how to do Rampages, a new inclusion to the Monster Hunter franchise, and they are also where you unlock benefits that are critical to your success in more difficult missions.
As you climb the ranks of the Village Quests, the citizens of Kamura Village will take notice of your skill and expertise, and they will give you missions to complete for them. In return, you will unlock new and upgraded dango recipes as well as better items to purchase at the shop. The dango in particular is of great importance because it will give you a health and stamina boost along with various other possible perks if you eat before a mission.
In addition to all of that, the Village Quests should also serve as your first introduction to all of the monsters in the game, accompanied by a cutscene. It’s also worth noting that, while they aren’t cakewalks, the missions and monsters of the Village Quests are much easier than the ones in the Gathering Hub. You’re going to want to complete the Village questline before you start digging into the horrors of the Gathering Hub.
What’s So Great About the Gathering Hub?
From the information we have already gone over, you should know that the Gathering Hub quests are much more difficult than the ones in the Village, and that the Gathering Hub is where you can meet up and hang out with friends.
However, the Gathering Hub is also much, much more than that. When you’re ready for marathons of Monster Hunter Rise, you could spend hours and hours in the Gathering Hub without ever needing to step back out into the village. The Gathering Hub is self-contained, and has just about everything a hunter could need in-between hunts. There’s a kitchen, two shops, and an armorer upstairs for all of your forging and upgrading needs.
As you can see, the Gathering Hub is pretty awesome. But then again, it kind of needs to be. This is where you will find some of the most difficult missions in the entire game, ones where you’ll need an entire squad of hunters to have any hope of tackling them efficiently. Because of that, here’s an extra tip: be extra nice and helpful to the random hunters you join. You never know when you’ll need that kindness returned, and if you find yourself in an extra tough hunt that random hunter might just drop in and help you out!
