Monster Hunter Wilds can be played in single-player in its entirety (even offline), but a good chunk of the monster-slaying fun comes from tracking down and hunting these gargantuan beasts alongside your friends in co-op.
The Support Hunters in Wilds are all fine and well — they do great in battle, really — but at the end of the day, fellow High Rank Hunters will help get quests completed much quicker. This extra bit of efficiency goes a long way when it comes to grinding post-game content and materials, so here’s exactly how to play co-op in Monster Hunter Wilds to help you with that.
How to play co-op in Monster Hunter Wilds
First things first, if you’re hoping to quickly jump into multiplayer in Monster Hunter Wilds and begin hunting with friends, you’ll want to form a Link Party with them. We explain exactly how to do this below, so feel free to skip ahead if you wish to quickly get going. If, on the other hand, you want an overview of all multiplayer features in Monster Hunter Wilds, keep on reading!
Upon starting Monster Hunter Wilds and selecting your save file, you’ll be prompted to choose a lobby to join. Lobbies allow a large group of Hunters to communicate with one another and discuss teaming up for hunts or quests, and they’re great for large groups. That said, Lobbies aren’t how you jump into multiplayer hunts or quests; that’s where Link Parties come in.
Monster Hunter Wilds Lobbies explained
In Monster Hunter Wilds’ opening menu, you’ve a few lobby options to choose from. First things first, you can join a random, recommended lobby with strangers based on your settings, or you can search for a lobby.
When searching for a lobby to join, you’ve a few more options. You can join your friends’ lobbies using their Hunter ID or their Lobby ID. Alternatively, you can search for a lobby to join using filters such as the lobby’s language, skill level, and playstyle.
The remaining two lobby options — Private Lobby and Online Single Player — allow you to either create a private, smaller lobby that others can only join using the Lobby ID, or commence the game in online single-player. Playing in online single-player still allows you to join other players’ hunts or call for other players’ help during your own hunts via the SOS Signal function too!
If you’re wanting to start a lobby with a select group of people, choose one player to be the host and have them create a Private Lobby from the main menu. They can then share the Lobby ID with your group and everyone can begin joining!
Monster Hunter Wilds Link Parties explained
That said, being in the same lobby as your friends doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be hanging out with them at your Base Camp. Instead, lobbies mainly allow you to communicate with your fellow players and arrange hunts to go on together. You will need to set up a Link Party to begin hunting with friends.
Link Parties are limited to four players, and while multiplayer quests are usually limited to players in your lobby, being part of a Link Party allows your friend to join your quests regardless of what lobby they’re in! Think of Link Parties as an instance that exists separately from – and alongside – Lobbies.
To actively explore with your friends and begin slaying monsters together, open up your Communication Menu and select ‘Invite to Link Party’. Here, you can then invite Hunters from your friends list, lobby, or past interactions to join. Being part of a Link Party will also provide you with your own member-only Link Party chat and voice chat to use if need be.
Then, whenever someone in the Link Party selects a quest to do, everyone in the party will be notified and can get going. The Link Party also fortunately remains active even after the quest concludes, so you and your squadmates can quickly select another quest and get going again!
If you find yourself having issues with your friends joining your Link Party at all, make sure that all members’ crossplay is enabled — or disabled, as long as it is the same across all players — in the game’s settings.
For more on Monster Hunter Wilds, take a look at our list of all bosses, how to upgrade your armor before your next big hunt, and what gear you can unlock for your Palico.