How well do Monster Hunter games play with mouse and keyboard?

[Xialoh]

I'm not really a Monster Hunter player, but my cousin loves this series, and he's always been a console player. I bought Monster Hunter World on PS4 some years back to play with him a bit, but couldn't get into it beause I hate controller for anything involving aiming, and couldn't play ranged classes at all as a result.

Since this is going to have crossplay, I'm planning to pick this up, and I'm just wondering if it's going to work out well like I'm hoping? I feel like without the annoyance of controller stick aiming, this series should be straightforward for me, and I can comfortably pick up a ranged class.

Unless it's like Dark Souls where the game is designed to make using mouse and keyboard borderline impossible.

[Kackstift]

i play HBG/LBG.. with mouse+KB.. all other weapons feel better with gamepad.. even bow..

but for a good HBG/LBG play you will need to play with mouse+KB

[Xialoh]

Originally posted by Kackstift:

i play HBG/LBG.. with mouse+KB.. all other weapons feel better with gamepad.. even bow..

but for a good HBG/LBG play you will need to play with mouse+KB

Interesting, why would bow be better with controller while the other 2 are better with m+kb? Seems like they would all be aiming dependent?

Also in case anyone does decide to ask: I could just play melee classes, but I do have a preference for ranged, and melee feels very slow in Monster Hunter to me. I mean, it's obviously slow compared to most games really.

[Corrupt-nz]

Great no problems

[Mechanique]

Originally posted by Xialoh:

Originally posted by Kackstift:

i play HBG/LBG.. with mouse+KB.. all other weapons feel better with gamepad.. even bow..

but for a good HBG/LBG play you will need to play with mouse+KB

Interesting, why would bow be better with controller while the other 2 are better with m+kb? Seems like they would all be aiming dependent?

Also in case anyone does decide to ask: I could just play melee classes, but I do have a preference for ranged, and melee feels very slow in Monster Hunter to me. I mean, it's obviously slow compared to most games really.

Because bow has auto-aim, you fire the flare arrow at a target and all further shots home in on it until you deal a damage threshold or it expires and exploded. Meanwhile, with bowguns you need to aim to deal damage reliably, which is easier with with a mouse for someone who is not used to a controller.

But overall, it's like every 3d person arpg ever and is meant to be played with a controller, especially those that are made in Japan. You can, of course, play with KBM but that will not be a good experience considering how many buttons are involved in gameplay and that navigating through menus need multiple keys pressed at the same time. Don't punish yourself.

[ominumi]

Judging from the Open Beta the issue is mouse buttons. Just make sure it has more than 5 buttons or else you'll need to rebind all the keys. Other than that, it's like playing a MMO. Just the button masher type not the clicker type.

[LonesomeSparrow]

m&k is fine. just try to keep in mind that the game tutorials will show you side buttons of a mouse for certain actions even if your mouse doesn't have any side buttons.
the default key for those actions on m&k is ALT

[Xialoh]

Originally posted by Mechanique:

Because bow has auto-aim, you fire the flare arrow at a target and all further shots home in on it until you deal a damage threshold or it expires and exploded. Meanwhile, with bowguns you need to aim to deal damage reliably, which is easier with with a mouse for someone who is not used to a controller.

But overall, it's like every 3d person arpg ever and is meant to be played with a controller, especially those that are made in Japan. You can, of course, play with KBM but that will not be a good experience considering how many buttons are involved in gameplay and that navigating through menus need multiple keys pressed at the same time. Don't punish yourself.

I'm an MMO player (well, usually am), so I doubt this game can come up with a hotkey requirement count that I can't deal with. My mouse currently has around 11 buttons and I'm used to setting up dozens of combinations if needed. The only problem could be if I run out of comfortable, easily accessed hotkeys for actions I need to perform frequently...

Anyway, that explains it. Had the same problem in Red Dead Redemption 2, where moving to mouse and keyboard meant losing the crazy auto aiming that came with.

On the other hand, I gained AHK macros and other general comforts so it worked out. Hopefully this game will be the same.

[★ Moonlight ★]

May I dare to ask how Dark Souls is unplayable on KBM? That's my preferred way to play the games because I find it easier, whereas I prefer controller for Monster Hunter

[Xialoh]

Originally posted by ★ Moonlight ★:

May I dare to ask how Dark Souls is unplayable on KBM? That's my preferred way to play the games because I find it easier, whereas I prefer controller for Monster Hunter

I played Dark Souls Prepare to Die edition years ago (as in around the time that released on PC, whenever that was). I remember starting the game, and it was basically unplayable, as someone told me it would be at the time. The controls felt...very floaty iirc. I switched to controller for that game, which I very rarely do.

Maybe it's better in modern times. Maybe I just didn't stick with it long enough because someone reinforced my immediate negative opinion of it. I imagine newer Dark Souls titles probably work better with mouse and keyboard though.

[★ Moonlight ★]

Originally posted by Xialoh:

Originally posted by ★ Moonlight ★:

May I dare to ask how Dark Souls is unplayable on KBM? That's my preferred way to play the games because I find it easier, whereas I prefer controller for Monster Hunter

I played Dark Souls Prepare to Die edition years ago (as in around the time that released on PC, whenever that was). I remember starting the game, and it was basically unplayable, as someone told me it would be at the time. I switched to controller for that game, which I very rarely do.

Maybe it's better in modern times. Maybe I just didn't stick with it long enough because someone reinforced my immediate negative opinion of it.

Can't say, I've never played PTD , only the remastered version which replaced it which had perfectly fine keyboard and mouse controls

[Xialoh]

Originally posted by ★ Moonlight ★:

Can't say, I've never played PTD , only the remastered version which replaced it which had perfectly fine keyboard and mouse controls

Apparently the original release had input lag, bad keybinding support, and particularly bad mouse and keyboard support that required mods to fix. The Remaster addressed all of these problems.

Good to know that if I ever buy Elden Ring, I shouldn't need to switch to a controller.

[AurumHawke]

MH works very well with KBM, including the Melee weapons.
With Wilds' new Focus mode, Melee can take more advantage of better camera control.

Mouse controls the camera - very precise. Raw-input has been an option since it was added shortly after World released.
Movement and Actions are fully split between hands, and no single digit needs to be responsible for more than 2 buttons, and combinations. 5-button mouse covers everything important.
Mousewheel handles the scroll menus easily (mechanical wheel-lock is nice-to-have).
Garbage radial shortcut menu is replaced with F1-F4 tabs and 1-8 wake/use selection.

Only issues are in the default keybinds and how the rebind options are grouped - usually around the "new" action (Claw, Wire, Focus).
World (Claw) was fine except for a massive conflict with weapons that already had an aiming mode.
Rise (Wire) was fine.
Wilds (Focus) is mostly fine, except one keybind covers too many actions.

[ホロ]

the default keybindings of m&k in wilds is unplayable for me and i need to change / customize it like world to be able to play it

[Xialoh]

Originally posted by AurumHawke:

MH works very well with KBM, including the Melee weapons.
With Wilds' new Focus mode, Melee can take more advantage of better camera control.

Mouse controls the camera - very precise. Raw-input has been an option since it was added shortly after World released.
Movement and Actions are fully split between hands, and no single digit needs to be responsible for more than 2 buttons, and combinations. 5-button mouse covers everything important.
Mousewheel handles the scroll menus easily (mechanical wheel-lock is nice-to-have).
Garbage radial shortcut menu is replaced with F1-F4 tabs and 1-8 wake/use selection.

Only issues are in the default keybinds and how the rebind options are grouped - usually around the "new" action (Claw, Wire, Focus).
World (Claw) was fine except for a massive conflict with weapons that already had an aiming mode.
Rise (Wire) was fine.
Wilds (Focus) is mostly fine, except one keybind covers too many actions.

Interesting, thanks for the details. Based on this it sounds like maybe the controls will feel good enough for me to actually enjoy playing MH this time around. As it stands I'm going to buy it mostly as a concession to socialize with family I only otherwise see once every year or two, but controls that actually feel good to play could make it a personal interest as well.

[AurumHawke]

Well, I did try KBM on DS:PtDE and just couldn't - unusable and no way to fix at the time.
It didn't even feel right on controller, but I was well-used-to the 3DS MH controls by then.

Melee keybinds are fairly decent by default, I think my key difference is swapping Guard/M5(front) with Secondary/RMB.
Very comfortable with most-used and most-combined (with Primary/LMB) actions.

Ranged takes a bit more work to get like a shoot/scope FPS, then a bit more to make sure it's consistent enough with Melee to swap between them.
If anything has keybind issues with Claw/Wire/Slinger, it's going to be Range or Glaive.

But I was wasting Slinger shots in Wilds-Beta's Focus mode since it soft-conflicted with Melee's Secondary. A 3rd thumb-key might have helped there, but it's just as easily switched from toggle to while-held.