Technobubble is a regular technology feature by reporter Jason Hidalgo. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo
LATEST UPDATE: Just got my Japanese copy of Monster Hunter X so I've started a Monster Hunter X Key Quests Guide! As for previous updates, I posted a guide on how to unlock every guild quest monster from low rank to G-rank via the Everwood. Make sure to check it out if you haven't unlocked all the guild quest monsters yet! Now on to the Key Quest guide.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate easily features hundreds of different quests. But not every single one is necessary to progress the main story. Must complete all 5★ Hunters Hub Key Quests to unlock. G4 Hunters Hub Key Quests. But you - I bet you could take that monster on. Ex-Hunter Merchant.
A wise person once said, 'Haste makes waste.'
That is, unless you've played the Japanese version of the latest Monster Hunter game to death like I did and now need to blaze through your village/caravan and gathering hall quests to reach the endgame quickly in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Maybe it's your first crack at the latest game in the series but you still want to progress in a jiffy.
Then it becomes 'He who strikes first, wins.' Just ask Charlie 'Tigrex Blood' Sheen.
For newcomers to the game, you don't have to finish every quest to unlock the next rank or batch of missions in Monster Hunter. Instead, you can finish what are called 'key quests' to unlock the next set of missions right away.
If you're in a rush to get to 10-star village/caravan quests or those tougher Gathering Hall missions to be able to craft better gear, here's a list of key quests to speed up your progress.
MORE GAMES AND GADGETS: Catch up on the latest technology features and reviews at the Technobubble hub
CARAVAN AND VILLAGE QUESTS
These refer to the campaign mode of the game, which progresses the story. Monsters are not quite as tough as they are in online/multiplayer mode but you have to solo them.
LOW RANK
1-star
Steak Your Ground
Deliver 1 Well-done Steak or Rare Steak
A Winning Combination
Deliver 1 Mega Potion
Subquest: Slay 3 Jaggi
— Pretty basic stuff. Just talk to your caravan leader, the hat maniac to unlock. No, your goofy little hat ain't worth risking my life by jumping onto a Dah'ren Mohran. But, hey, I'll do it anyway.
2-star
Ancestral Steppe Fungus Run
Deliver 5 Unique Mushrooms
Sub: Deliver 1 Choice Mushroom
Den Mothers
Slay 5 Jaggia
Kelbi Cure-All
Deliver 3 Kelbi Horns
Sub: Slay 8 Kelbi
— These quests are unlocked once you finish 'A Winning Combination.'
Chip Off the Old Blockade
Slay 8 Konchu
— Unlocked by finishing any of the quests mentioned above.
The Stinking Seltas
Hunt a Seltas
Sub: Break the Seltas's horn
— Unlocked by finishing 'Chip Off the Old Blockade.' Finishing this mission upgrades your grain/bread and vegetable ingredients at the canteen. For the full scoop, check out my MH4U Canteen Food Ingredients Upgrade Guide. It also unlocks expeditions, which lets you do free hunts in the Everwood. To progress further, you'll need to do two expeditions: Kill Velocidrome and Kill Yian Kut Ku. These unlock:
Urgent Quest: Swing Into Action
Hunt a Kecha Wacha
Sub: Topple monster while mounted
— Finish this 3-star quest and you unlock the 3-star caravan/village quests.
3-star
Boulder-bash
Hunt a Tetsucabra
Sub: Wound the Tetsucabra's jaw
— Unlocked after finishing 'Swing Into Action.'
Shipshape Skin
Hunt a Gypceros
Sub: Wound the Gypceros's crest
— Unlocked after finishing 'Boulder Bash.'
Road Work
Capture a Gendrome (Village: 3 Star)
Sub: Slay 5 Genpreys
— Unlocked after finishing 'Shipshape Skin.' Finish this to trigger:
Urgent: Nerscylla Thrilla
Hunt a Nerscylla
Sub: Break Nerscylla's poison spikes.
— Finish this to unlock 4-star caravan/village quests.
Before going further, I also noticed one more urgent pop up while I was doing 3-star quests. I believe this appeared after I finished 'Kecha Wacha Wallop,' which is not considered a key quest.
Urgent: Research Basarios
Hunt a Basarios
Sub: Topple monster while mounted
— Makes Basarios show up in the Everwood.
4-star
Pink Stink
Hunt a Congalala
Sub: Wound the Congalala's comb
— Maybe I was just sleep-deprived, but I could've sworn this was called 'Wild Palico Panic' when I first tried it. Anyway, now it says 'Pink Stink' in my mission board so 'Pink Stink' it is.
An Ice Surprise
Hunt a Zamtrios
Sub: Wound the Zamtrios's top fin
— I could've sworn this one was named 'Meownster Hunt Havoc' the first time I did it, too. Seriously, I think I'm losing my mind. Maybe I already did.
Najarala Hunt
Hunt a Najarala
Sub: Wound the Najarala's back
— Take down this snake in the grass and you'll get an emergency Gore Magala expedition if I remember correctly. Repel that sucker and you should unlock:
Urgent: Tipping the Scales
Hunt Gore Magala
Sub: Wound Gore Magala's feelers
— Gore! Gore! Gore! With apologies to JR's Barbecue Sauce. Bring down the flagship monster and say hello to 5-star quests.
5-star
Major Miner Problem
Hunt a Gravios
Sub: Wound the Gravios' chest
— Hello, big guy. Just bring him down, baby
Advanced: Odd Ape Out
Hunt a Congalala
Sub: Break the Congalala's claw
— I was reading a Japanese forum once and some dude didn't even mention him by name and just said 'that filthy ape.' I don't know why but that made me laugh. Yes, I'm easy to please.
Now do two of the following quests:
Zinogre Zone
Hunt a Zinogre
Sub: Wound the Zinogre's head
The Royal Guard
Hunt a Seltas Queen
Sub: Hunt a Seltas
King of the Skies
Hunt a Rathalos
Sub: Sever the Rathalos' tail
This will unlock:
Advanced: Tigrex Terror
Hunt a Tigrex
Sub: Break the Tigrex's claw
— Tigrex, he's grrrreat. At unlocking the next quest:
6-star
Urgent: Advanced: Heaven's Wheel
Slay Shagaru Magala
Sub: Break Shagaru Magala's horns
— Finish Gore Magala's true form after shedding its skin and you're on the fast track to high rank questing.
HIGH RANK
7-star
Skiff Scuttler
Hunt a Daimyo Hermitaur
Sub: Break D. Hermitaur's claw
— I was in a rush to go through quests so I waltzed into this quest while still using a bone weapon. Can you say Bounce City?
Hot-air Buffoon
Hunt an Emerald Congalala
Sub: Deliver 1 Territorial Dung+
Facility Facilitation
Hunt a Cephadrome
Sub: Hunt 6 Cephalos
Hunt-a-thon: Nerscylla
Hunt 2 Nerscylla before time expires or deliver a Paw Pass ticket
Sub: Deliver 1 Queen Substance
These missions will unlock:
Urgent: Skiff Competition
Hunt a Monoblos
Sub: Break the Monoblos's horn.
— Charge! Have fun Guard Point masters. Oh yeah, welcome to 8-star quests
8-star
Finish one of the two following missions:
Hide-and-Freak
Hunt a Khezu
Sub: Wound the Khezu's head
— Man, this guy… A bonafide troll.
Take a Powderstone
Deliver 1 Powderstone
Sub: Hunt an Iodrome
Either of the previous missions will unlock:
In the Pink
Hunt a Pink Rathian
Sub: Wound the Pink Rathian's head
— One of my favorite monsters to hunt. I personally find her more challenging than Azure Rathalos. Whatever you do, stay away from her left cheek… Take her down and you get:
Ladykiller
Hunt a Seltas Queen
Sub: Wound the Seltas Queen's head
— Lets… volt… in! I still remember the first time my cousins saw the docking manuever while playing the Japanese version of the game. 'Wait, did they just combine? That's awesome!' Finishing this also unlocks the Wyceum research center, which will be key later when fighting frenzied and extreme monsters, especially those that make your weapons and bullets bounce.
Nocturnal Commission
Capture a Rathian
— This unlocks a pretty cool cut scene, plus your next urgent.
Urgent: Dance of a Thousand Blades
Hunt a Seregios
Sub: Topple monster while mounted
— Say hello to the flagship monster of Monster Hunter 4G. This, by the way, provides the earliest opportunity to craft those Seregios weapons, which was quite helpful when I started doing Guild Hall quests.
9-star
Say hello to key quests galore. Here's the order that I went through them:
Black Rock Down
Hunt a Black Gravios
Sub: Wound Black Gravios's back
An Omen in the Skies
Hunt an Azure Rathalos
Sub: Deliver 1 Large Wyvern Tear
The Echoing Roar
Hunt a Brute Tigrex
Wound the Brute Tigrex's head
Forge Ahead
Hunt a Stygian Zinogre
Sub: Wound Stygian Zinogre's back
Advanced: Glacier's Bane
Hunt a Brachydios
Sub: Suppress Brachydios's frenzy
Advanced: Tyrant's Maw
Hunt a Deviljho
Sub: Topple Monster While Mounted
These will unlock
Urgent: Death by a Thousand Cuts
Hunt an Apex Seregios
— Whee, apex monsters! Don't forget to use that Wystone.
Urgent: Kushala Kushowdown
Hunt a Rusted Kushala Daora
— This a siege-style battle in Dundorma with your NPC allies. Finish it and you level up your Wystone and unlock 10-star quests, which are the final batch of hunts for offline mode. Enjoy!
GATHERING HALL QUESTS
Say hello to the multiplayer part of MH4U. Yes, you can still solo missions if you want but keep in mind that the monsters will be tougher. For the bulk of these, I basically formed a two-man party with my cousin, which provides just the right balance difficulty-wise. Plus we only had to do the urgents twice as opposed to three or four times with a bigger team. Then again, feel free to do whatever works for you.
LOW RANK
Hunter Rank 1
Bug Burger
Hunt a Seltas
Sub: Break the Seltas's horn
Kecha Konundrum
Hunt a Kecha Wacha
Sub: Wound the Kecha Wacha's ears
Tackling a Tetsucabra
Hunt a Tetsucabra
Sub: Wound the Tetsucabra's jaw
The Gypceros Project
Capture a Gypceros
Sub: Slay 5 Konchu
2-star Urgent: Web Sighting
Hunt a Nerscylla
Sub: Break Nerscylla's poison spikes
HR2
Royal Assassination
Hunt a Rathian
Sub: Wound the Rathian's head
A Ghastly Gift
Capture a Khezu
Sub: Wound the Khezu's body
Zamtrios of the Deep
Hunt a Zamtrios
Sub: Wound the Zamtrios's head
Nix the Najarala
Hunt a Najarala
Sub: Wound the Najarala's back
3-star Urgent: Dark Wings, Dark Work
Hunt Gore Magala
Wound Gore Magala's wing
HR3
Tigrex Tough Love
Hunt a Tigrex
Sub: Break the Tigrex's Claw
Temper Tantrum
Hunt a Gravios
Sub: Wound the Gravios's back
Royal Audience
Capture a Rathalos
Sub: Wound the Rathalos's wings
Tuff Turf
Hunt a Zinogre
Sub: Wound the Zinogre's head
The Royal Guard
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Guide
Hunt a Seltas Queen
Sub: Wound the Seltas Queen's tail
4-star Urgent: Sand Sailor
Slay a Dah'ren Mohran or repel it.
Sub: Btreak Dah'ren Mohran's horn
— Unlocks drinks at the canteen and High-Rank Expeditions
HIGH RANK
HR4
Face Two Face
Hunt 2 Kecha Wacha
Sub: Deliver 1 Large Beast tear
Purple People Eater
Hunt a Purple Gypceros
Sub: Wound Purple Gypceros's chest
Buffoonish Baboon
Hunt an Emerald Congalala
Sub: Wound Emerald Congalala's comb
Dastardly Duo
Hunt a Gendrome and Tetsucabra
Sub: Wound the Gendrome's head
5-star Urgent Quest: Rathian's Wrath
Hunt a Pink Rathian
Sub: Wound the Pink Rathians wings
HR5
Writer's Block
Hunt a Najarala and a Rathian
Sub: Deliver 1 Large Wyvern Tear
The Red Menace
Hunt a Red Khezu
Sub: Wound the Red Khezu's head.
Dread Locked
Hunt a Gore Magala
Sub: Wound Gore Magala's wingarm
Advanced: Frenzied Foe
Hunt a Tigrex
Sub: Break the Tigrex's claw
6-star Urgent Quest: Ore D'Ouvre
Hunt a Black Gravios
Sub: Wound Black Gravios's back
HR6
Bring Down the Sky King
Hunt an Azure Rathalos
Sub: Wound the Azure Rathalos's wing
Infernal Overlord
Hunt a Stygian Zinogre
Sub: Wound Stygian Zinogre's head
Ear Ache
Hunt a Brute Tigrex
Sub: Wound the Brute Tigrex's head
Brimstone and Brachydios
Hunt a Brachydios
Sub: Wound the Brachydios's head
7-star Urgent: Advanced: Stop the Wheel
Slay Shagara Magala
Sub: Break Shagaru Magala's horns
HR7
Advanced: Grim Tidings
Slay an Akantor
Sub: Wound Akantor's head
Advanced: Storm Front
Slay a Kushala Daora or repel it
Sub: Wound Kushala Daora's head
Advanced: Teostra Tangle
Slay a Teostra or repel it
Sub: Wound Tesotra's head
Advanced: Fleet Action
Slay Dah'ren Mohran or repel it
Sub: Break Dah'ren Mohran's horns
Urgent: Advanced: Speartip Menace
Slay a Dalamadur
Sub: Wound Dalamadur's head
— Finish this and you unlock the cap on your hunter rank, which should jump up pretty high. It also unlocks:
Urgent: Advanced: Glacial Grinder
Slay an Ukanlos
Sub: Topple monster while mounted
— This unlocks G-rank quests. Woot!
While I've sunk in a ton of time in the Japanese version of the game, I haven't gone through all the G-rank quests in the Western version so I don't know the English names of all the stuff yet. For such quests, I will name the monsters you need to hunt as part of G-rank key quests. I'm adding subquests, too, in case there are non-key quests that feature the same monster. I will update this section as I verify information in my U.S. copy:
G-Rank 1
Sculptural Seltas
Hunt a Desert Seltas
Seeing Spots
Hunt an Ash Kecha Wacha
Sub: Wound Ash Kecha Wacha's ears
— Apparently, someone in Monster Hunter's localization team is an Ash Ketchum fan...
Berserker Rage
Hunt a Berserk Tetsucabra
Sub: Wound the B. Tetsucabra's jaw
Line in the Sand
Hunt 2 Cephadrome x2
Sub: Wound the Cephadrome's tail
Fashion Victim
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate Hub Key Quests
Hunt a Daimyo Hermitaur
Sub: Break D. Hermitaur's shell
— These missions will unlock…
Hit List: Plum Daimyo Hermitaur
Hunt a Plum Daimyo Hermitaur
Sub: Break P.D. Hermitaur's Claw
— The Diablos skull accessory always cracks me up
Grand Finals Confrontation
Hunt a Tigerstripe Zamtrios
Mhgen G4 Key Quests
Sub: Wound T.Zamtrios's dorsal fin
— This guy loves switching to Jabba the Hutt mode
Serpent Serenade
Hunt a Tidal Najarala
Sub: Wound Tidal Najarala's head
Hunter in Green and Red
Hunt a Rathian and a Red Khezu
Sub: Deliver 1 Large Wyvern Tear
— No matter the color, Khezu remains a cave-dwelling troll.
Urgent:Seer of the Swords
Hunt a Seregios
Sub: Sever the Seregios's tail
— Bring dung bombs just in case he grabs ya'.
G-Rank 2
Course Correction
Hunt a Shrouded Nerscylla
Sub: Wound S.Nerscylla's outer hide
The Azure King and the Tyrant
Hunt an Azure Rathalos and a Tigrex
Sub: Deliver 1 large Wyvern Tear
Temper Tantrum
Hunt a Gravios
Sub: Wound the Gravios's head
How to Zap your Zinogre
Hunt a Zinogre
Sub: Slay 5 Slagtoth
These quests will unlock:
Brute Force
Hunt a Brute Tigrex
Sub: Wound the Brute Tigrex's head
Pestering Pest
Hunt a Desert Seltas Queen
Sub: Wound D.Seltas Queen's tail
Hollow Promise
Hunt a Black Gravios
Sub: Wound the Black Gravios's chest
Fire Drill
Hunt a Brachydios and a Stygian Zinogre
Sub: Sever the Stygian Zinogre's tail
Showdown at High Noon
Hunt a Diablos
Sub: Sever the Diablos's tail
Then...
Hunt Black Diablos (Sub: break both horns)
Urgent: Chaos Gore Magala
G-Rank 3
Advanced Chameleos (Sub: break horns)
Advanced Kushala Daora (Sub: cut tail)
Advanced Teostra (Sub: wound wings)
Advanced Ukanlos (Sub: wound front feet)
Urgent: Gogmazios (Sub: destroy back)
Well, that's it for now. Make sure to check out the Technobubble hub for more of our guides for Monster Hunter Ultimate 4!