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Monster Hunter Stories 3 Guide: Tips for Beginners

  • from PLITCH
  • 16.03.2026

Monster Hunter Stories 3 offers a fresh take on the Monster Hunter world. Instead of hunting monsters, you raise them as allies and fight alongside them. Our Monster Hunter Stories 3 guide will help you build stronger teams, master combat, and advance through the adventure more efficiently.

Collect Everything You Can

While exploring the world of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections, make sure to collect every resource you encounter. The game simplifies this process. Holding the interact button while moving causes your character to automatically gather nearby materials.

Monster Hunter Stories 3 Guide: Dragon flying over a castle on a rocky island in a lake with mountains in the background

Crafting is essential for your survival, especially when tougher monsters start appearing. Potions, meals, and battle items can quickly turn difficult fights in your favor. You’ll also gain small amounts of EXP while collecting materials. Although the reward is modest compared to winning battles, it gradually helps keep your party competitive.

Another important reason to gather is the Melynx Emporium. Many items you collect in Monster Hunter Stories 3 can be exchanged for Trade Points, which let you buy rare items and exclusive recipes.

Keep an eye out for these:

  • Plants and herbs for healing items and meals
  • Mining nodes and bone piles for crafting materials
  • Rare materials that appear randomly at gathering points
  • Trade Point items that can be exchanged at the Melynx Emporium

Restore Habitats

While exploring the regions in Monster Hunter Stories 3, you’ll encounter dangerous Feral monsters. Defeating them lets you set up campsites and start restoring the local ecosystem.

Several people with backpacks hiking through a rocky landscape with glowing blue crystals and plants

The Habitat Restoration system allows you to release Monsties you no longer need back into the wild. This helps repopulate the area with monsters and increases your chances of finding rare eggs with stronger abilities. As the habitat becomes healthier, your rewards improve.

Each region in Monster Hunter Stories 3 is divided into several sub-areas. Every sub-area naturally contains five native monster species, but you can also influence the ecosystem by filling five additional restoration slots yourself. Your choices directly affect which eggs appear in that area.

Tips for managing habitats effectively:

  • Focus on collecting native monster eggs first before adding new species
  • Use restoration slots to target specific monsters you want to farm
  • Release duplicate or unused Monsties rather than ignoring them
  • Prioritize ecosystems you visit often to maximize rare egg farming

Gene Tips

If you want to build truly powerful Monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections, you need to understand the gene system and the Rite of Channeling. At first, it might seem complicated, but once you start experimenting with genes, you’ll quickly see how much control you have over your team’s power.

Two armored figures stand before a large glowing dragon skeleton in a dark environment filled with blue lights

Use the Rite of Channeling to Improve your Monsties

The Rite of Channeling allows you to transfer genes between Monsties in your stable. This means even weaker Monsties can contribute valuable skills to your main team. Each Monstie has nine gene slots arranged like a grid, and the placement of genes is important.

You can strengthen your Monsties by:

  • Transferring strong abilities from other Monsties
  • Creating bingo bonuses by aligning matching genes
  • Mixing different attack types and elements
  • Building a moveset that fits your playstyle

Bingo bonuses happen when matching gene types or colors line up in a row, granting extra stat boosts and more powerful attacks.

Unlike earlier games in the series, you can now remove and rearrange genes freely, allowing you to experiment without permanently losing a Monstie.

Hatch More Eggs to Unlock Better Genes

To discover new genes in Monster Hunter Stories 3, spend plenty of time exploring monster dens and hatching eggs. Even if the Monstie itself isn’t useful for your team, its genes could be very valuable.

Some great ways to discover powerful genes include:

  • Exploring as many dens as possible
  • Hatching large numbers of eggs
  • Raising different Monsties to unlock their abilities
  • Using Habitat Restoration and Excursions

These activities can reward Monsties with high-rank genes or rare abilities, which are perfect for gene transfers.

Increase Ecosystem Rank for Stronger Eggs

Another important mechanic is Ecosystem Rank. Releasing Monsties back into their habitat raises that species’ rank in the area.

This has several benefits:

  • Monsties hatch at higher levels
  • Eggs gain a second elemental type
  • They receive powerful Egg Skills

Reaching Rank A in Monster Hunter Stories 3 is especially valuable because it unlocks stronger abilities tied to the environment’s element. Even if a Monstie does not fit your team, increasing its Ecosystem Rank can still help you discover new genes and powerful skills that can turn another Monstie into a real powerhouse.


Combat Guide

Combat in Monster Hunter Stories 3 relies on preparation, observation, and reacting to enemy actions. Going into battles with the wrong setup or ignoring what monsters do can make even normal encounters tough.

Two large red-and-black dragons with sharp teeth and horns in a dark environment

Choose the Right Battle Ally

Your Battle Allies in Monster Hunter Stories 3 aren’t just companions. Each one has different weapons, elemental resistances, and Monsties. You can switch your ally in the Party menu, where you can also choose their weapon and Monstie once you unlock more options through Side Stories.

Different allies bring different advantages:

  • Ogden frequently uses traps, which can immobilize strong monsters
  • Kora automatically uses Launch Bomb against Barrel Felynes
  • Some allies focus more on damage while others support your team

Their behavior is also affected by the items they carry, so keep that in mind when selecting your companion.

Adjust Battle Strategies

You can also adjust how your ally acts during battles. By default, they follow your lead, but you can customize their tactics in the Party menu.

You can set them to:

  • Target the same monster as you
  • Focus on large monsters first
  • Clear smaller enemies first
  • Attack different targets

Understand Monster Attack Signals

Monsters in Monster Hunter Stories 3 show their attacks with visual lines. Understanding these signals will help you pick the right counter.

Watch for these indicators:

  • Blue line means the monster is targeting your ally
  • Gold line means the monster is targeting you
  • Red line means the attack can’t be countered
  • No line usually indicates a powerful area attack or buff

When you see a blue or gold line, you can initiate Head-to-Head attacks by choosing the correct attack type.

To deal with dangerous attacks, you can:

  • Use Guard skills
  • Activate Dodge buffs
  • Try to stun or stagger the monster
  • Interrupt the attack with a Kinship move

Use the Kinship Gauge Wisely

As you fight, your Kinship Gauge fills up. When it’s full, you can ride your Monstie.

Riding provides several benefits:

  • Restores your Monstie’s HP
  • Removes status effects
  • Boosts attack power
  • Allows you to unleash a Kinship Attack

A Kinship Attack deals significant damage and completely cancels an enemy’s attack, making it ideal for stopping dangerous moves.

Break Monster Parts for Extra Control

Targeting specific monster parts is a key strategy. Many parts provide bonuses when broken.

Focus on parts that can trigger:

  • Stun
  • Stagger
  • Weakness breaks

Always match the correct weapon type to the part you want to break.

Weapon categories include:

  • Slash weapons such as the Great Sword and the Long Sword
  • Blunt weapons like the Hammer and the Hunting Horn
  • Pierce weapons such as Bow and Gunlance

Switching to the right weapon before attacking a weak point will significantly boost your damage and control during combat.

Use the Ranger Mess before Tough Fights

Later in Monster Hunter Stories 3, you unlock the Ranger Mess, where you can cook meals that provide temporary buffs. These bonuses can make tough encounters much easier.

Meals can provide effects like:

  • Increased attack or defense
  • Faster Kinship Gauge gain
  • More items while gathering
  • Higher chance of finding monster dens

Many of these recipes come from Eleanor’s Side Stories, additional quests, or the Melynx Emporium.


Side Stories and Side Quests

If you focus only on the main story in Monster Hunter Stories 3, you’ll miss some of the most valuable rewards and upgrades in the game. Side Stories and Side Quests might seem optional, but they are actually among the best ways to strengthen your team and unlock powerful tools.

Person in blue armor with shoulder pads and orange-tinted goggles standing in a dimly lit room with candelabras

Why Side Stories Are Worth Your Time

Each of your six battle allies in Monster Hunter Stories 3 has their own Side Story questline. These missions expand their character arcs and also provide valuable gameplay upgrades, helping you keep up with tougher monsters later in the game.

Completing them can unlock:

  • Unique crafting recipes
  • Blueprints for new tools
  • Stronger weapons for allies
  • Upgraded Monsties for companions
  • Rare utility items

For example, an early Side Story from Kora unlocks a barrel bomb recipe. These bombs let you free Barrel Felynes, which often results in extra rewards. The biggest reward comes at the end of each character’s story. When you finish a companion’s final Side Story, they unlock a new Monstie that you can assign to them from the main menu.

Side Quests are Great for Quick Progress

Besides the story-driven quests, you’ll also find many classic RPG side quests. These are usually quick tasks that reward you with useful resources such as:

  • Quick EXP for underleveled Monsties
  • Crafting materials
  • Extra resources for items
  • Small but useful rewards

If one of your Monsties falls behind in levels, completing a few Side Quests is one of the fastest ways to catch up.


Have a Diverse Set of Weapons and Monsties

Having a balanced team is one of your biggest advantages in Monster Hunter Stories 3. Relying on just one favorite Monstie or a single weapon type can lead to trouble when stronger monsters start appearing.

Anthropomorphic cat with blue eyes wearing a pilot cap and goggles pointing with an outstretched finger in a snowy landscape

Build a Balanced Monstie Team

Each Monstie in Monster Hunter Stories 3 belongs to a specific combat type and elemental category. Having a varied lineup helps you adapt to different enemies and battle scenarios.

Ideally, your party should include:

  • Speed Monsties
  • Technical Monsties
  • Power Monsties
  • Several different elemental types
  • Useful Riding Actions such as Wall Climb or Swimming

Before a tough boss fight, it’s often smart to adjust your team. Try to align your Monsties’ attack types and elements with the weaknesses of the monster you’re about to face.

Another helpful trick is switching Monsties during combat. Your Kinship Gauge and HP depend on the active Monstie, so if one is close to fainting, just swap to another to keep up the pressure on the enemy.

Upgrade Multiple Weapons and Armor Sets

Just like your Monsties, your equipment in Monster Hunter Stories 3 should also be diverse. Relying on a single weapon or armor set will restrict your options later in the game. Instead, aim to have multiple upgraded weapons and armor pieces with different elemental strengths and resistances.

  • Upgrade multiple weapon types
  • Craft gear with different elemental resistances
  • Adjust equipment depending on the monster you’re hunting
  • Use Layered Armor if you want to keep a specific look

Enhance Your Adventure in Monster Hunter Stories 3 with PLITCH!

If you want more control over your adventure, PLITCH’s Monster Hunter Stories 3 cheats let you customize the experience exactly how you like it. Whether you want to make tough fights easier or test out different team setups, the codes give you plenty of options.

For example, you can activate unlimited Health, unlimited Stamina, or invincibility for your character, party members, and Monsties to survive even the toughest battles. If you want faster fights, you can also use damage multipliers to deal significantly more damage to enemies.

PLITCH also assists with progression. You can add XP, increase XP multipliers, or boost Monstie experience to level up more quickly. Resource management becomes simpler with options like adding Bronze, Silver, or Gold Points, unlimited item use, and affordable item combinations.

These codes allow you to customize the game’s difficulty and progression to suit your preferred playstyle.

Check out this blog and our YouTube channel to learn more about PLITCH!

Happy Gaming!