If you’ve been grinding endgame Monster Hunter Wilds trying to craft that perfect Bishaten armor set or maxed-out water bow, you’ve probably hit a wall looking for nova crystal. I spent three full evenings running random maps last month, wasting hours on low-rank mining nodes before I figured out exactly where this rare material spawns, how to farm it efficiently, and what to use it on first. This guide pulls from all my trial and error, plus tips I picked up from other veteran hunters in my playgroup, to help you skip the frustration and get the materials you need fast.
What Is Nova Crystal in Monster Hunter Wilds & What Is It Used For?
Nova crystal is a endgame rarity 8 crafting material that only drops in high-rank and master-rank map areas. It’s recognizable by its pale blue, glowing appearance, and it’s required for almost all of the best endgame gear in the current game build. For example, I needed 7 pieces to craft my endgame water attribute bow, another 4 for the critical boost chest plate I use on all my blademaster builds, and 3 more for the rare attack up level 4 decoration I’ve been chasing for months.
You won’t need this material for any early or mid-game gear, so don’t stress if you haven’t seen it pop up in your mining rewards before you hit high rank. That means if you’re still working your way through the main story, you can save this guide for later – you won’t be able to farm it until you’ve beaten the final story boss and unlocked high-rank expeditions. It’s also worth noting that nova crystal can’t be earned as a quest reward from most low-difficulty hunts, so you’ll have to go out of your way to mine it if you want to get enough for your builds.
Where to Farm Nova Crystal in Monster Hunter Wilds: Best Locations
The biggest mistake I made when I first started farming this material was checking every mining node I saw on low-rank maps. Only high-rank and master-rank mining outcrops drop Nova Crystal, so you’ll want to stick to expeditions or optional quests in high-rank versions of these three maps for the best drop rates:
- Frostspine Peaks high-rank: The highest drop rate (around 18% per node) comes from the blue mining outcrops near the northern dragon nesting area, right next to the ice wyvern spawn point. You’ll need a hot drink to survive the cold here, but there are 6 mining nodes within a 2-minute walk of each other, so it’s the most efficient spot for solo farming.
- Volcanic Caldera high-rank: After you beat the high-rank Bazelgeuse optional quest, 4 hidden mining nodes spawn in the southern lava cave area. These nodes have a 15% drop rate for nova crystal, and they also drop firecell stones which you’ll need for fire attribute gear at the same time.
- Skyward Archipelago master-rank: If you’ve unlocked master rank, the floating crystal clusters that spawn only during in-game daytime have a 22% drop rate for nova crystal, the highest in the game. The only downside is these nodes only respawn every 10 minutes, so you’ll want to combine farming them with hunting small master-rank monsters while you wait for respawns.
Always bring a gathering set with Geologist 3 skill when you head out to farm. This skill lets you mine each node one extra time, which effectively doubles your drop rate over time. I used a low-rank gathering set with Geologist 3, Botanist 2, and Stamina Thief 1 for weeks before I got my endgame build sorted, and it cut my farming time by almost 60%.
Pro Tips to Farm Nova Crystal Faster
Even if you’re hitting all the best locations, you can speed up your farm even more with a few small tricks I picked up from my playgroup. First, eat a Dango Booster with the Gathering Up buff before you head out on any expedition. This buff increases your chance of getting rare materials from gathering nodes by 10%, which adds up a lot over 2 or 3 hours of farming. I always make sure to eat at the canteen right before I fast travel to the map, so the buff doesn’t run out before I get to the first mining node.
If you see a notification for a rare mining outcrop spawn while you’re on the map, drop whatever you’re doing and go to it immediately. Rare outcrops have a 70% chance to drop nova crystal, and they only stay spawned for 5 minutes before they disappear. I’ve gotten 4 pieces of nova crystal from a single rare outcrop before, so it’s always worth the detour, even if you’re in the middle of fighting a small monster.
So what if you don’t want to farm alone? You can bring up to 3 friends along to split the work. Split up across the map to check all the mining nodes at once, and you’ll be able to collect 3 or 4 times as much material in the same amount of time. Just make sure you agree to share any rare drops you get, so no one leaves the farm empty handed.
One thing to watch out for: a lot of the best nova crystal spawn points are near powerful monster spawns. I’ve been knocked off a cliff by a random Rathian mid-mine more times than I can count, so I always carry a few dung pods with me to drive off monsters that get too close. It’s way cheaper to use a dung pod than to have to run all the way back to camp after you get knocked out.
Best Uses for Nova Crystal: Don’t Waste It on Low-Tier Gear
Nova crystal is pretty rare, so you don’t want to waste it on gear you’ll stop using after a few hunts. I made the mistake of using my first 3 pieces to make a low-level decoration that I replaced a week later, and I kicked myself for it when I needed those pieces for my endgame bow build. You’ll get far more value out of every piece if you plan your crafts ahead of time instead of using materials as soon as you get them.
Prioritize endgame weapons and armor sets that you’ll use for 50+ hours of play before you use it for anything else. For most hunters, that means crafting your main build’s weapon first, then the core armor pieces that work across multiple builds. For example, the critical boost chest plate works for every blademaster build I use, so that was the first armor piece I crafted with nova crystal. If you play multiple weapon types, pick the one you use for 70% of your hunts first, and save leftover material for your secondary builds later.
If you have extra nova crystal left after you finish your main build, don’t sell it. The upcoming title update for Monster Hunter Wilds is adding new master-rank armor sets that require nova crystal as a crafting material, so you’ll want to have a stockpile ready when the update drops. Selling nova crystal only gives you 500 zeni per piece, which is nothing compared to the value of the gear you can make with it.
You also don’t want to use nova crystal for consumables or low-level charms. Most of the low-level charms that require nova crystal can be replaced with better charms you’ll get from high-rank hunts, so it’s not worth wasting the material on them. Wait until you can craft the endgame charms with +2 to critical boost or attack up before you use nova crystal for charms.
At the end of the day, farming nova crystal in Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t have to be the frustrating grind I made it out to be when I first started. Stick to the high-rank Frostspine Peaks nodes if you’re new to endgame, bring your gathering set, and focus on using your materials for core endgame gear first, and you’ll have all the nova crystal you need in no time. I now have a stockpile of 22 pieces saved up for the upcoming update, and I haven’t had to run a dedicated farming run in weeks, since I now hit the mining nodes whenever I’m in the area for a hunt. Small, consistent efforts will get you way more material than grinding for hours on end when you’re burnt out.