Environment 1
Image: Capcom / Nintendo Life

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin has a huge world to explore, from varied towns and villages, to intriguing dungeons and monster dens, right through to the enormous spaces of the open world. However there are some quirks and small details you'll need to know to ensure you get the most out of the world, and more importantly nab all-important treasure chests.

How to Use the Environment in Monster Hunter Stories 2

Check the Map, Always

Capcom has been pretty generous with the map in Monster Hunter Stories 2, with the mini version and the larger map in the menu (accessed by pressing X) showing various icons to point you in the right direction. When you see an icon, always go and check it out.

Rock Breaker
Image: Capcom / Nintendo Life

The Right Monsties for the Job

Each monster in your party has uses that go beyond battling, so there's another aspect to consider beyond element / battle types when choosing who to take with you on your journey. As you progress and view monsters in the stables (use ZL / ZR to toggle through their stats) you'll see that each has distinct abilities and instincts useful in the wild. The least valuable are those that give you a boost when searching nests and resources, though early on this is perhaps still useful.

The most important abilities, though, relate to traversal options monsters have. Some examples below.

  • Rock Breaker - treasure chests are often hidden behind a large boulder, the right monster can break through.
  • Swim - Rather self-explanatory! Some dungeons and dens have rivers to cross.
  • Jump - Large jumps are shown by a circular rock on the ground, with the right monster you can clear the gap.
  • Ivy Climb - various goodies are found at the top of vines, a monster about 15-20 hours into the game will open these up.
  • Ground Dive - As you progress some areas will have mounds of loose soil, you can dig through these to reach unobtainable areas.

Our advice is that in your party of 5-6 monsters (it varies depending on the story) try to have one monster for each of these traversal options. It'll allow you to reach more treasure chests, which can contain money, potions, permanent character buffs and other very useful goodies.

That's it for this page, but you should also check out our hub page below for further Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin guides!

Further Reading: