Do you think Defender gear should be used? - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

By supportDrinker
Last updated:
Comments

As per title. Will be starting a new game (bought the original game and Iceborne recently). My friend mentioned that I should avoid overpowered gear (I think it was called "Defender armor") to "feel" the game more.

Wanted to hear opinions from other people, maybe other tips on how to enjoy game the most before starting

Sorry for my bad English.

Discussion

Like you, I started quite late in the game's lifetime - and I got the Iceborne expansion with the main game.

I had a friend, who played, and I wanted to "catch up with him", so that we could play on a similar level. So, I chose to use the Defender Gear to play through the main campaign.

With Defender Gear, the first part of the game is VERY easy. It comes with excellent defensive skills, and you will rarely have to bother learning about health/stamina conservation. You never need to do any "farming" for items, or monster pieces. The Defender Gear is designed so that you can, basically, bypass the main game and get to Iceborne content as soon as possible.

A result of this was that I was woefully ignorant of how to, actually, play the game when I got to Iceborne. The very first MR (Iceborne level, master rank) monster I faced - it killed me easily. Then it did it again, and again, and again. Up to then, I had easily facetanked every monster I saw. In Iceborne, that was no longer the case. Now, I found I had to go and farm up some appropriate monster items, to get sets/items that would make future fights easier/more possible.

This is the cycle of Monster Hunter. We get a mission to kill a new monster. We meet it, we struggle (at first), we learn, we adapt (changing tactics, or going to get new gear) until we finally win and progress. Then the cycle starts again. In going straight for Defender Gear, you just skip this process for the first 25 missions.

TLDR - Personally, if I could go back, I wouldn't use the Defender Gear from the start. I might only use it, if I got hopelessly stuck on a mission. The game isn't about sitting at max level, where you'll (repeatedly) fight the same monsters. The best part of the game is the wonder of encountering new monsters, and figuring out how to progress by them - and then, only when it's actually a challenge (imho)

This is really good answer. I think personally Mhw is one of those games where you have to love the process: fighting monsters. If you are in just for the ending credits, I doubt you will experience the true vision of what developer wanted to make

My opinion would be this:

Try the game and see how enjoyable it is for you in first 4-5 missions. If you like the combat and the difficulty. Do not go for defender set

If you see that the game is too hard then go for defender set, or maybe the story is more interesting for you (which I doubt)

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