If you’ve spent any time crafting early-game poison weapons or insect glaive upgrades in Monster Hunter Wilds, you’ve almost certainly hit a wall looking for one deceptively common material. Monster fluid shows up in dozens of early and mid-game crafting recipes, but it’s easy to miss if you don’t know exactly which monsters to target and which routes to run. I’ve put over 70 hours into Wilds since launch, and I’ve tested every possible farming method to nail down the fastest, most reliable way to get monster fluid in Monster Hunter Wilds without wasting hours on random drops or fighting the wrong monsters.
How to Get Monster Fluid in Monster Hunter Wilds: Core Target Monsters
First off, you don’t need to grind high-rank bosses or explore endgame biomes to get monster fluid. 90% of all drops come from low-rank monsters, most of which you can find in the first two biomes you unlock. Most players who struggle to find monster fluid are wasting time fighting large monsters that have almost no chance of dropping it, so stick to these core targets to avoid that mistake:
- Neopteron small monsters: Altaroth, Bnahabra, and the new glowmoth variants found in the Forest of Embers and Crystal Spire biomes have an 18% drop rate per carve, making them the most consistent source of monster fluid for early players.
- Low-rank temnoceran bosses: Early-game boss Nerscylla has a 22% drop rate for monster fluid on carve, and a 30% drop rate if you capture it instead of killing it.
- Low-rank brute wyverns with poison attributes: Pukei-Pukei and the new Thorned Anjanath variant drop it as a rare 10% reward for breaking their poison sacs, so only farm these if you’re already hunting them for other parts and don’t mind extra monster fluid as a bonus.
For new players, small neopterons are by far the best option. They spawn in large groups, take one hit to kill, and you don’t have to sit through a long boss fight to get your drops. I don’t recommend farming boss monsters for monster fluid unless you need their other drops at the same time, since it’s far less efficient per minute. I’ve noticed that the Bnahabra spawns along the Forest of Embers coast are more likely to drop monster fluid than the ones deeper in the forest, for whatever reason. I don’t know if that’s a bug or intentional design, but I always hit those first now.
Best Early-Game Farming Routes for Monster Fluid
Once you know which monsters to target, you need a consistent route that lets you hit as many spawn points as possible in a short window. After testing 12 different routes across the first three biomes, I found the west Forest of Embers route is the fastest for early players, with an average yield of 7 to 12 monster fluid per 10-minute run.
Start at the southwestern camp in the Forest of Embers, then head north along the coast. You’ll hit three Altaroth nest spawns and two Bnahabra swarm points in the first five minutes of the run. Grab all the shiny drops on the ground near the nests too, I’ve gotten as many as 3 monster fluid from random shiny drops in a single run without carving a single bug. This route is perfect if you need a quick batch of monster fluid to finish a weapon upgrade before a boss fight.
Make sure you bring insecticide smoke for this route. Throwing one smoke bomb at a group of bugs will kill them instantly without damaging their carcasses, so you can carve every single one and maximize your monster fluid per run. If you use a fire weapon or explosive to kill them, you’ll burn up most of the carcasses and lose out on 70% of your potential drops. I made that mistake on my first three runs, and I only got 2 monster fluid total across 30 minutes of grinding, so don’t skip the smoke bombs.
Pro Tips to Maximize Your Monster Fluid Drop Rate
Even with a good route, there are a few small tweaks you can make to almost double your drop rate per run. These are all easy to implement even for brand new players who haven’t unlocked high rank or rare armor sets that boost monster fluid drops.
First, equip Geologist Skill Level 2 if you have it, since it will drastically increase the amount of monster fluid you get per run. This skill lets you carve small monster carcasses one extra time, which adds up fast when you’re carving 15 to 20 bugs per run. You can get this skill from the early Leather armor set, which you can craft with materials you pick up in the first hour of the game.
Second, throw on Luck Skill Level 1 if you can fit it into your build. It boosts all material drop rates by 10%, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but over 10 runs that adds up to 10 to 15 extra monster fluid you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. You can get this skill from the starting Charm you get after completing the first two main story quests.
If you do choose to farm Nerscylla for monster fluid, always capture it instead of killing it. Capture rewards have a 30% drop rate for the material, compared to 22% for carving, and you get extra rewards for completing the capture quest. You also don’t have to fight it for the last 20% of its health, so you save time too.
One last small tip: don’t skip the optional side quests that ask you to kill 10 Altaroth or Bnahabra. These quests often give 5 to 10 monster fluid as a first completion reward, which is a great way to stock up without farming at all. I cleared all these quests on my last playthrough and had enough monster fluid to craft all my early poison weapons before I even hit the third main boss.
Common Uses for Monster Fluid in Wilds Crafting
You might be wondering if it’s even worth grinding a stack of monster fluid early on, and the short answer is yes. It’s used in so many core early and mid-game recipes that you’ll regret not stocking up on monster fluid before you start upgrading your gear.
The most common use is for all early poison attribute weapons. Poison weapons are incredibly powerful for new players, since they deal consistent damage over time even if you’re not great at landing perfect hits. The early poison dual blades, longsword, and bow all require between 3 and 5 monster fluid each to craft. They’re especially useful against the first three main story bosses, which all have low poison resistance.
If you main insect glaive, you’ll need even more of the material. All early to mid-game kinsect upgrades require monster fluid to boost their attack and poison attributes, and you’ll need at least 20 total if you want to upgrade your kinsect to its second tier before hitting high rank. I main IG on most of my playthroughs, so I always farm extra to avoid running out mid-upgrade.
It’s also used to craft poison smoke bombs, which are one of the most useful utility items in the game for new players. You can throw them at groups of small monsters to clear them out without wasting weapon durability, or throw them at large bosses to apply poison without aggroing them first. They’re a lifesaver if you’re trying to collect materials in a high-level biome without fighting every monster you see.
At the end of the day, farming monster fluid doesn’t have to be the frustrating grind a lot of new players make it out to be. Stick to the small neopteron targets, run the west Forest of Embers route with insecticide smoke, and use the Geologist and Luck skills to boost your drop rate, and you’ll have all the material you need in less than 20 minutes. I always farm a stack of 30 monster fluid in Monster Hunter Wilds whenever I start a new character, and it saves me from having to pause my main story progress later to run back and grind for more monster fluid when I need it for upgrades.