Monster Hunter Wilds – AI Companions And SOS Flare Guide

Are you curious about Support Hunters, also known as the NPC companions in Monster Hunter Wilds? Well, you don’t have to go at it alone when you’re trekking across the Forbidden Lands. By default, your Palico cat companion will stay by your side. However, it’s also possible to have other adventurers come to your aid. Our guide has all the details you need to help you with this particular gameplay mechanic.

How to use AI-controlled companions in Monster Hunter Wilds – Companions and SOS Flare guide

You can summon companions whenever you’re on a quest by using the SOS Flare. However, before we get to that part, it’s important to discuss some related facets. Most of the information is already mentioned in our crossplay/multiplayer guide. But, when it comes to the SOS Flare itself, you might want to check a few options.

SOS Flare and multiplayer settings

You can see the Monster Hunter Wilds SOS Flare settings by talking to Alma at your camp. The Settings panel has the following:

• Max Members: 1 to 4
• Multiplayer Settings:
  • Players and Support Hunters
  • Only Players
  • Only Support Hunters
• Automatic SOS Flare – Fire the SOS Flare automatically at the start of a quest or manually activate it.
• Quest Join Settings: Automatically allow people who tackle your quest to join up, or manually decide if you want them to join.
• Platform Permissions: All platforms (i.e. all crossplay enabled) or your platform only.

The SOS Flare Quest settings, meanwhile, lets you select from any type of monster or a specific monster, as well as the difficulty, quest type, platform, and more. You can then click on the SOS Flare Search button to find a player that’s undertaking a particular mission or hunt.

How to use the SOS Flare

When you’re out and about doing quests/hunts, you can use the SOS Flare via the radial wheel. Open the radial wheel and select the Actions tab. You should then see the SOS Flare icon as one of the available options.

The aforementioned Multiplayer Settings panel determines who’s able to squad up with you–i.e. Players and Support Hunters, Only Players, or Only Support Hunters.

Let’s say you picked Players and Support Hunters, which is the default setting:

• If you’re playing offline or online single-player, then Support Hunters, the AI-controlled companions in Monster Hunter Wilds, will join up. They’ll make their way from the nearest base to your location.
• Likewise, players who are searching for a particular hunt might see your SOS Flare request and they can hop on to join you for the battle. Each player that teams up with you replaces one of the AI-controlled companions in your squad.

Who are the AI companions in Monster Hunter Wilds?

There are three AI companions in Monster Hunter Wilds, each specializing in a particular weaponry:

• Alessa: Lance
• Olivia: Hammer
• Rosso: Heavy Bowgun

Note that your teammates are smart enough that they’ll be able to heal you and themselves at crucial times. They’ll also focus on monster wounds if they’re able to hit those spots. Likewise, they’ll lay down traps, and feel disappointed in case creatures run away instead.

How to remove AI companions

Since AI companions are quite handy to have in battles, you might be wondering if there’s any reason to disband your team in the middle of a fight. Well, you probably should if you’re trying to capture monsters.

Since you can only capture beasts that have been severely weakened, it’s imperative that they don’t take too much damage that would prove to be fatal. As such, you must remove AI companions from your squad to prevent them from accidentally killing your target. You can do this by pressing the Start button -> Missions & Quests -> Support Hunter Info.

You may also reselect the SOS Flare action from the radial menu. However, we’ve noticed that this could bug out a few times, as teammates themselves won’t leave automatically.

That does it for our Monster Hunter Wilds AI companions and SOS Flare guide. To learn more about squading up, you can take a look at our crossplay/multiplayer guide.