The anomaly grind so far doesn't seem that bad.

[Nonexistinghero]

I'm currently up till AR201 and I'm still getting 2-3 levels per quest. Encountered a very nice Bazelgeuse with 1 faint, 2 people max and 35 minutes. Quest takes roughly 10 minutes, so that's about 5 an hour and about 13-14 levels. It gives me like an 820% multiplier at the end.

I do know that it used to take much longer since 400 seems to be pretty much the base for doing a quest on your level since the last title update. And I suppose the grind will probably get really bad once I hit 230-240 or so. At first I thought the grind would be too much to bother going beyond 200, but at this rate I'll be 241 in just a few hours so I can fully upgrade my weapon.

I don't have any intention of going to 300 though, bringing all monsters to 300 and fighting and defeated all of those super versions of the Risen monsters. Main reason I focused on AR grinding is because I need to grind to MR180 to unlock the last Risen monster in a regular quest (I have already defeated them all through investigations though). After getting fully powered up I'll focus on clearing away the rest of the quests and all of the events quests.

[Miomio]

There's a exp bonus until AR220 I think, so that's probably why.

The anomaly grind is one of the most fun things in MH, but people seems to only care about the rewards and decorations they can craft with it, they do not care about the fun of it. And I say this because a lot of people i've met in the game, once they kill Gaismagorm they instantly want to farm some decos like Attack Boost+, and Critical Eye+, and those are AR221+, once they know that, is an instant "♥♥♥♥ anomalies, bad endgame" while they just spam things like Arzuros or Volvidon without any quest modifiers, truly a thing of beauty.

I'll recommend you to fight the new versions of the Risen Elders, they are way better than the normal ones, new moves, new follow-ups, and some of them go from decent to good fights *cough* Valfalk *cough*. So yeah, give it a try if you can.

[Nonexistinghero]

Ah, so the final 20 or so levels might take a lot longer. Well, we'll see once I get there. I think I can get to at least 220 today.

Well, I haven't had a whole lot of variety in terms of monsters. I do fight a different monster every now and then if I feel like it. My setup is pretty much final and I have no space for attack and expert jewels (I like the comfort of not being able to get stunned, some extra evade window and a few other QoL extras. I do have Weakness Exploit 3 and a few other dps stuff like coalescence 2, build up boost 1, protective polish + purple sharpness, counterattack 2, crit boost 3, maybe a bit more).

I think the least fun part of the anomaly grind is the progression reward system. It's just awfully balanced. It doesn't take too long to unlock the first slot, maybe first 2. Then after that you need to be level 100-110 or so for the next one, 161 to unlock 1 more and 181 to unlock the next. I already bought the final 8 slot attack boost upgrade around 141, so you're required to increase your quest level by 40 to 181 to actually even use it.

Well, it might be a bit different depending on the weapon. My Reconqueress Switch Axe could be a worst case scenario , but differences are probably minimal and I'm assuming 241 is required for every single final slot upgrade. I just need 3 more materials and then I have a fully upgraded weapon and complete set.

I 'might' give the superpowerful elders a try, but I do know I have to grind quite a bit more to get them all and well... I want to place some importance first on other things. Might get there eventually, but it'll be on hold once I have a fully upgraded weapon.

[Miomio]

Originally posted by Nonexistinghero:

I think the least fun part of the anomaly grind is the progression reward system. It's just awfully balanced. It doesn't take too long to unlock the first slot, maybe first 2. Then after that you need to be level 100-110 or so for the next one, 161 to unlock 1 more and 181 to unlock the next. I already bought the final 8 slot attack boost upgrade around 141, so you're required to increase your quest level by 40 to 181 to actually even use it.

Well, it might be a bit different depending on the weapon. My Reconqueress Switch Axe could be a worst case scenario , but differences are probably minimal and I'm assuming 241 is required for every single final slot upgrade. I just need 3 more materials and then I have a fully upgraded weapon and complete set.

I 'might' give the superpowerful elders a try, but I do know I have to grind quite a bit more to get them all and well... I want to place some importance first on other things. Might get there eventually, but it'll be on hold once I have a fully upgraded weapon.

The slot upgrade problem you have is because they were added slowly throughout each Title Update, so TU1 was until AR100, then TU2 to AR120, TU3 to AR200, TU4 to AR220 and TU5 to AR300. At first we had like 5 slots or something like that, maybe 6, and unlocking the weapon slots didn't give us small buffs like they do now for free (Attack, Sharpness, Element)

As for the super Risen Elders, you already have access to 3 of them since AR181 irrc, you can fight them in Anomaly Quests instead of Anomaly Investigations, same with the other 2 Risens, you unlock them at AR241 i think. Later in Anomaly Investigations you'll only fight those versions of the monsters, AR241+ for Teostra, Kushala and Chameleos and AR271+ for Valfalk and Shagaru.

[JPM岩]

The AR Grind really isnt that bad, because it's not really any different from killing monsters in the end game in other games, youre just killing monsters for the hell of it.

[Lochlann]

I always assumed the main reason people take issue with the grind at all is either because they don't like the anomaly gimmick or they're minmaxers who hopelessly try for a perfect build. Otherwise, what exactly do you want from a Monster Hunter end-game?

[Miomio]

Originally posted by Loch:

I always assumed the main reason people take issue with the grind at all is either because they don't like the anomaly gimmick or they're minmaxers who hopelessly try for a perfect build. Otherwise, what exactly do you want from a Monster Hunter end-game?

They are not minmaxers really, they just follow some guides online of "INSANE DPS, MAX DAMAGE, BEST [Weapon] BUILD FOR ENDGAME", you know, really endgame sets that requires really endgame stuff like decorations. Once they know they need to work for their sets, then it becomes a problem.

Since the average players is really bad in general, anomaly hunts take like 30 min and people get exhausted, on top of that, the game doesn't make a good job explaining the anomaly modifier bonus, so people see a 25 min and think "Damn, i can't make this one, i don't have enough time" so they do 50 min hunt most of the time, even if in 25 min hunts monsters have less HP. Now imagine the average player hunting an Afflicted Bishaten without quest modifiers, it'd take like 30 min to get less than 300 experience (not even close to a level) and like 3 anomaly parts, that's not really fun and they have to do this until AR221 at least, and monsters get more and more HP the higher you go. That's the main reason people hate anomalies, I've seen this exact scenario time and time again...

TL:DR people just want the reward without putting in the effort, and the lack of knowledge makes it worse.

[Nonexistinghero]

I dunno, I've seen a lot of Youtubers complaining about it being a huge grind even after the final title update and they tend to be pretty good. Still, I'm not exactly obsessed with getting the best of the best. At first I just wanted to grind AR a bit to make my weapon a bit more powerful. But since the grind wasn't as bad as I read, I decided to at least give it an attempt to try and max it out.

I did notice I'm now getting a smaller modifier after reaching 200 (it went down to 600 something) and I noticed I get a bit less levels. Still, 221 seems pretty doable and I think I can power through the final 20 levels.

Also didn't create a meta set with a guide. I basically just kept adjusting my current set bit by bit to improve it. I could probably push for a little bit more damage if I dropped the gobbler lvl 4 since I'm not healing much with items right now. Would need to see what else I can cram on it for the biggest damage boost in a lvl 4 slot.

By the way, I am using some visual mods, the feminine animations mod and I made my character a tiny bit smaller and more slender (the default body for women is kinda buff). Can you just play online safely with that or would you recommend turning all mods off? Have done nothing that makes anything easier though, just to make it visually more pleasing.

[Lochlann]

I sorta doubt that, plenty of people like to make the best builds they possibly can, they just don't like grinding for hours upon hours just to never get anything in return.

I try to avoid grind the best I can and I also get pretty good luck as well, so I've never really had to spend too much time grinding, but even having to hunt a Legiana 10 times for a gem felt like ages. The idea that one day I might get unlucky enough that I might have to hunt a monster 20, 30, 40, maybe 50+ times for a material that just won't drop is probably one of my biggest gaming nightmares. Nothing wrong with letting people vent about their bad luck

[Dagný]

Anomaly system is the best thing about this game

Originally posted by Nonexistinghero:

My Reconqueress Switch Axe could be a worst case scenario , but differences are probably minimal and I'm assuming 241 is required for every single final slot upgrade. I just need 3 more materials and then I have a fully upgraded weapon and complete set.

What if I told you you're wasting your grind with that switchaxe?

Originally posted by Miomio:

And I say this because a lot of people i've met in the game, once they kill Gaismagorm they instantly want to farm some decos like Attack Boost+, and Critical Eye+, and those are AR221+, once they know that, is an instant "♥♥♥♥ anomalies, bad endgame" while they just spam things like Arzuros or Volvidon without any quest modifiers, truly a thing of beauty.

The anomaly quest you unlock when you reach 240 (or something like that) for Shagaru and Valstrax drop the item and it's MR10 to join. All time time only 1 person asked me for it.

[Nonexistinghero]

I know I could do a lot more damage, but I like it a lot because it has nice initial raw and does nice exhaust damage. I go with it for comfort. A thunder SA would require me to change up my build quite a bit. Primordial Malzeno's SA could probably work without a whole lot of adjusting I guess unless I want to max out elemental damage specifically.

As for luck... usually I fall on the side of bad luck. I had to kill high-rank Almudron in base Rise on the Switch 30 times to get the 2 golden orbs I needed (on the Switch version I obtained all the final SA upgrades pre-Sunbreak).

[Miomio]

Originally posted by Dagný:

Originally posted by Miomio:

And I say this because a lot of people i've met in the game, once they kill Gaismagorm they instantly want to farm some decos like Attack Boost+, and Critical Eye+, and those are AR221+, once they know that, is an instant "♥♥♥♥ anomalies, bad endgame" while they just spam things like Arzuros or Volvidon without any quest modifiers, truly a thing of beauty.

The anomaly quest you unlock when you reach 240 (or something like that) for Shagaru and Valstrax drop the item and it's MR10 to join. All time time only 1 person asked me for it.

The same happens with Afflicted Dire Darkblood, you can get that item at MR10 but only with Chaotic Gore Magala. I don't even remember which item Shagaru and Valfalk drop in the anomaly quest, but I thought you needed the Risen Pure Blood to craft those decos.

[Dagný]

Originally posted by Miomio:

Originally posted by Dagný:

The anomaly quest you unlock when you reach 240 (or something like that) for Shagaru and Valstrax drop the item and it's MR10 to join. All time time only 1 person asked me for it.

The same happens with Afflicted Dire Darkblood, you can get that item at MR10 but only with Chaotic Gore Magala. I don't even remember which item Shagaru and Valfalk drop in the anomaly quest, but I thought you needed the Risen Pure Blood to craft those decos.

It's Risen Thickblood, the same as AR 241+, you missed by 20 levels but it happens

[Miomio]

Originally posted by Dagný:

Originally posted by Miomio:

The same happens with Afflicted Dire Darkblood, you can get that item at MR10 but only with Chaotic Gore Magala. I don't even remember which item Shagaru and Valfalk drop in the anomaly quest, but I thought you needed the Risen Pure Blood to craft those decos.

It's Risen Thickblood, the same as AR 241+, you missed by 20 levels but it happens

Oh yeah, my bad. I was thinking of Risen Pure Blood as the final item they drop, but it was Risen Thickblood instead.

I thought they dropped Risen Pure Blood in the Anomaly Quest, but i wasn't sure bc i did those quest like twice each. Good to know that they drop Thickblood tho.

[Soji]

I dont mind them. They remind me of hyper monsters from GenU and those were pretty fun when you had to attack parts that did way more damage to you while the 'hyper' buff was active on it. Definitely a grind to get all the different levels up. Still think my favorite end game was GenU with deviant permits the most.

[Tenz]

It was annoying and I didn't grind until exp boosts came out and I'm glad I didn't cheat it but it feels like there is a good amount to grind after you beat the game.

It's only there so you can do something slowly over time and feel some progress. Youtubers did the last 200-300 levels in like a weekend that I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on and they most likely cheated it.

The final part of the grind most of the fights swap to arena fights that basically remove the map play and spirit birds. It's kinda weird only doing arenas at that point tho.