If you’ve booted up Monster Hunter Wilds for the first time, you’ve probably noticed the glowing blue quest markers on your map that take priority over every side activity. Those are your Monster Hunter Wilds main quests, the core path that moves the story forward, unlocks new regions, monsters, and gear that makes your hunt worth the effort. I’ve put 120+ hours into the game so far, and I’ve messed up enough quest order and missed enough hidden objectives to know exactly what you need to focus on to make your playthrough as smooth as possible. You don’t have to grind unnecessary low-rank quests for hours if you know how main quests work, and that’s exactly what we’re breaking down here.
How Monster Hunter Wilds Main Quests Fit Into Your Overall Progression
Let’s start with what most new players miss: main quests aren’t just story filler. Every time you complete one, you’re unlocking access to content you can’t get anywhere else, from the massive new desert and rainforest biomes to endgame elder dragon fights. If you ignore main quests to grind side hunts first, you’ll end up stuck with low-level gear that can’t stand up to even mid-tier optional monsters later. That doesn’t mean you have to rush through every main quest as soon as it pops up, though. I usually take 1 or 2 side hunts between main quests to farm a bit of extra ore or monster parts for upgrades, so I don’t hit a wall when I get to a tough story boss.
Your main quest progress is also tied to your hunter rank cap, so you can’t hit higher ranks and unlock rare decorations until you knock out key story milestones. For example, the first three main quests unlock the scoutfly upgrade that lets you track hidden monster nests across the map, which is the only way to get rare monster eggs for the palico ranch. If you skip those early quests, you’ll have to wait 10+ hours to unlock that feature, even if you’ve already hunted dozens of monsters in the open world. You can always go back and replay old main quests if you missed something, but it’s far more efficient to pay attention to your objectives the first time around. Main quests are always marked with a blue flame icon in the quest hub, so you never mix them up with optional or event quests.
Key Objectives You Should Never Skip During Main Quests
A lot of players speed through main quest cutscenes and run straight to the monster marker, but they miss small optional objectives that give huge, permanent rewards. I made this mistake on my first playthrough, and I had to go back and replay 3 early main quests just to get the extra inventory slots I missed out on. These objectives never take more than a couple of minutes to complete, and the payoff lasts for your entire playthrough. The three most important ones to watch for are:
- Optional collection objectives for research levels: Most early main quests ask you to take 2 or 3 photos of local flora or small monsters, and hitting these bumps your research level for the region by a full rank, unlocking better scoutfly tracking.
- NPC side conversations mid-quest: If you see a named NPC with a speech bubble during a main quest, stop and talk to them. These chats often unlock exclusive layered armor or crafting recipes you can’t get anywhere else.
- Hidden environmental shortcut unlocks: Many main quests take you through blocked paths in the open world, and interacting with the rope winches or climbable ledges during the quest will unlock them permanently for fast travel later.
I missed the NPC conversation in the second main quest on my first playthrough, and I didn’t get the free layered armor set that lets you dress like the quest hub blacksmith until I replayed the quest 30 hours later. It’s a small cosmetic, but it’s one of my favorite sets in the game, and I kicked myself for skipping it for so long. You don’t have to go out of your way for every small collectible, but these three objectives take less than 2 minutes each to complete, and the payoff is well worth the extra time. I still use the shortcut I unlocked in the canyon biome during my first 5 hours of play every time I hunt the barroth that spawns near the dry riverbed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Main Quest Progression
Even experienced Monster Hunter players make silly mistakes with main quest order that set their progression back hours. The biggest one I see is taking on a main quest boss without upgrading your weapon at least once between story fights. Monster Hunter Wilds scales main quest boss difficulty much faster than previous entries, so that starter iron sword you used for the first great jagras hunt won’t do enough damage to take down the first story elder dragon even if you land every hit perfectly. I’ve seen players spend 3 hours trying to beat the first apex story boss with unupgraded gear, when they could have spent 20 minutes farming a few extra monster parts to make a better weapon and beat it on the first try.
Another common mistake is ignoring your palico and palamute gear upgrades before a main quest. I fought the fire-themed apex monster in the volcanic biome with level 1 palico gear once, and my support cat went down in one hit, leaving me without healing for the entire 25-minute fight. It was miserable, and I lost the quest by 30 seconds because I didn’t have that extra potion burst when I needed it. You also don’t want to skip main quest tutorials for new mechanics, like the wirebug dash upgrades or the new monster mounting system. Even if you played hundreds of hours of Monster Hunter Rise, the Wilds versions of these mechanics work differently, and the 2-minute tutorial will save you hours of frustration later. Another mistake I see all the time is joining a multiplayer main quest without checking if you’ve completed the required pre-requisite quests first. If you join a friend’s main quest for a boss you haven’t unlocked yet, you won’t get any story progress for it, and you’ll have to replay the entire quest again when you reach that point in your own story. That’s a huge waste of time, especially for longer boss fights that take 20+ minutes to beat.
Best Rewards You Unlock Through Monster Hunter Wilds Main Quests
The story is fun, but the real draw of knocking out main quests is the exclusive rewards you can’t get anywhere else. The first big one most players get is the unlimited fast travel unlock after you complete the third main story arc. Before that, you have to use limited fast travel charges that refill every 10 minutes, so unlocking unlimited travel cuts down your time running between hunts by almost 40% in my experience. You also unlock the ability to host multiplayer main quests after you beat the fourth story arc, so you can bring friends along to help you beat tough bosses if you’re stuck. Before that, you have to run main quests solo, so having a solid set of armor and upgraded weapons is even more important for those early story fights.
Next, you unlock high-rank hunts after you beat the final base game main quest boss. High-rank monsters drop parts for the strongest gear in the base game, including decorations that give you huge skill boosts like attack up L or critical eye L. You also unlock the guild card customization system after you beat the first major story boss, so you can show off your hunt stats and layered armor to other players in multiplayer lobbies. The most underrated reward, though, is the extra palico equipment slots you unlock halfway through the main story. These let you equip your support cat with extra healing items or trap tools, making every single hunt (main or optional) way easier. If you want to access the post-game tempered monster hunts, you have to complete all base game main quests first, so there’s no way around working through the story path if you want to chase the strongest gear in the game.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to follow a strict order to enjoy your playthrough, but understanding how Monster Hunter Wilds main quests work will help you avoid frustration and get the most out of every hour you put into the game. Take your time, stop to grab those small optional objectives when you see them, and don’t be afraid to take a break to farm a better set of armor if a story boss is giving you trouble. I still go back and replay old main quests on higher difficulty to farm extra rare parts for my endgame builds, so the content stays useful long after you beat the final story boss. You don’t have to rush, but knowing what to expect will make your hunt a lot more fun.