Technical First Aid

The Shortest Troubleshooting Guide Available

Foreword

How does this guide work?

With zero promises and no guarantees at all, like any other troubleshooting guide.

How does this guide differ?

With the bold assumption you know all basics about personal computers and your operating system. That also includes that your PC is working fine and you did the basic routine checks already like compatibility mode, drivers updates, ScanDisk, antivirus, connection port checks, peripherials etc.

That includes YOU KNEW what you did when you (bought) overclocked (your) stuff.

And of course it also includes your knowledge of third party apps which come with famous brands like ASUS, MSI, Logitech, etc. which often cause issues with many other games.
(GameFirst VI, Nahimic, Logitech G HUB e.g.)

What does this guide offer?

A summary of the most successful workarounds you can find on Steam in regards of technical issues with Monster Hunter Rise plus a list of recommended tools.

What does this guide not offer?

Magic. As mentioned before, the bold assumption is you know what you are doing, so anything beyond what is realistic you should not expect here. In fact, you should not be here if you tried everything already.

Note about Mods

I am not fond of having mods being used as "fixes" for issues which should be addressed officially by Capcom. So I mention them here due the lack of non-modded-alternatives. Whether you use them is your personal decision, and as mentioned before: the assumption is you know what you are doing. Risks etc. what a third party modification can and cannot do included.

Mods after Patches

Considering the very nature of mods - them altering game files either directly or indirectly - please keep in mind that you might need to "reinstall the mods" or even wait for an update of the mods you are using, every time the game gets patched.

So while mods solve issues, they are often enough also sources of issues. I recommend for every patch therefore: uninstall all mods before applying a patch, then verify your game's files first - once that is done and you made sure your game is working fine, reinstall one mod after another, step by step so you can exclude any faulty mod should you notice the game is having issues.

As a last resort for users with issues related to mods, this might help
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2828650446

Where to find Patch Notes?

For the latest:
https://www.monsterhunter.com/rise-sunbreak/update/en-uk/

For anything older than Sunbreak release:
https://www.monsterhunter.com/rise-steam/update/uk/

Quickstart

These steps covers most issues at once - details can be found below

Mods to use:

REFramework
https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterrise/mods/26

DeviceStutterFix
https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterrise/mods/137

- increase virtual RAM to match your actual RAM or higher (1,5x - 2,5x)
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-virtual-memory-size-windows-10

- use Borderless Gaming (freeware) with game's screen set to windowed mode
https://github.com/Codeusa/Borderless-Gaming/releases

- disable Autosave Feature

Crash after every 2nd Hunt

Fixes random crashing (after ~2 hunts) as of January 16th, including for other DLLs like ReShade and other DLL wrapper mods. Sometimes these crashes would occur without any mods installed as well.

REFramework
https://github.com/praydog/REFramework
https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterrise/mods/26

A third party modification which is suspected to "fix" issues related to the anti-tampering software which comes with Monster Hunter Rise.

Graphics Stutterings

The tip above plus

- Start with reinstalling related drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller

- Set game to use graphics card in high performance mode (Windows 10 Settings -> Display -> Graphics Settings -> Select App -> Select Mode)

- Increase game's priority in task manager

- Disable Steam Overlay for the game



- increase virtual RAM to match your actual RAM or higher (1,5x - 2,5x)
A very good tutorial how to do so with images can be found here: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-virtual-memory-size-windows-10

- disable Control Flow Guard with Windows Defender's Exploit Protection or check for something similar with your security software of choice

- same for Controlled Folder Access (Virus&Ransomware Protection), Memory Integrity (Device Security/Core Isolation)

- disable auto-save





- adjust ingame dynamic shadows and other values (like FPS cap and resolution) while using vsync etc.; the game is highly sensitive in that regards as if it works with profile patterns - changing a single thing manually there can cause chain reactions for better or worse - keep that in mind

A lot of the issues are suspected to be caused by the anti-tampering software which comes alongside with the game. I cannot tell. But clearly some approaches on the matter are addressing that aspect directly.

Better Framerates

Currently only available via modding.



RiseTweaks
https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterrise/mods/37

Important Note

While REFramework plugins like the mentioned DeviceStutterFix can do you a great boon, REFramework scripts like RiseTweaks are commonly known for causing desynchronisation issues in Multiplayer. Please use this recommendation with care, preferably in Singleplayer only.

Game Randomly Freezing

Suspected to be directly connected with "Gaming Services" which comes with Xbox Play Anywhere. The service seemingly creates virtual devices which can under circumstances randomly activated, leading to the PC registering them as plugged/unplugged devices, leading to freezes and recoveries after a few minutes. Removing the faulty app is the best course of action.

Removing the service via powershell

get-appxpackage Microsoft.GamingServices | remove-AppxPackage -allusers 

The issue seems to be so common, that a third party mod is also available which addresses the issue directly.

DeviceStutterFix
https://www.nexusmods.com/monsterhunterrise/mods/137

Bad Fur Day & Texture Issues

An issue which occurs often after graphics drivers updates and game updates. When the game got updated, do not think of the game got updated. Treat it like a new game. Some PCs seems to handle that better than other. If you experiences weird grains, bad textures (as if they are blank or glowing) or bad fur shades after the patch, it is a graphics card issue in which the compilation after an update failed to trigger.

Force the graphics card via the game to recompile the shaders. That should do the trick. You can enforce the recompilation by deleting the existing shader files which you can find here:

..\Steam\steamapps\shadercache\1446780\ <--- all folders

..\Steam\steamapps\common\MonsterHunterRise\ <--- shader.cache*

OR in your Steam Library folders if you used individual pathing and additional folders throughout your hardware.

Recompiling Shaders Issues

This is something which can be considered a niche tip, as Monster Hunter Rise shaders-files are not that big that they should cause any troubles. However, low-end PCs which just barely meet the minimum requirements might benefit from changing the shader cache used by their graphics cards, as a bigger cache would allow the pre-compiled shaders to remain there for longer, instead of having them overwritten whenever you start a different application which might use the same cache as Monster Hunter Rise.



It can help, but the major issue would lie mostly in the storage device which is used by the game and your graphics card. If the cache is located on a slow storage drive, it might be the very reason why the issues exist to begin with. In such case adjust the settings accordingly so the cache runs from the fastest storage drive available to you.

Gamepad/Controller Issues

Xbox Wireless Controller

On a similar topic like with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, there have been a lot of players who experienced issues with their Xbox Wireless Controllers. A workaround for the moment would be to disable Steam input within the Controller Configuration for Monster Hunter Rise.



In some cases where the Xbox controller suddenly stops working while it has worked before, changing the screen mode did the trick. As in: from fullscreen -> windowed mode/borderless windowed mode and once when fixed back to fullscreen. Since it might be related with overlay issues it gives the idea to keep the mentioned workarounds from the Quickstart section in mind.

If you have issues with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller check also
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2717405530
The Bonus section at the end of that guide also offers a small guide how to fix controller drift.

Mouse + Keyboard Input Issues

A lot of input issues could be tracked down to third party apps.
Specifically with Logitech and Razer mice e.g. which normally comes with support apps for macros e.g.

Originally posted by Brickmastercat:

For anyone having an issue on keyboard and mouse with being locked into your wirebug reticle or a ranged weapon reticle (...) I'm not sure if this is all logitech items, but I would assume it is, if you press anything that activates G-Shift in your logitech hub, that immediately causes the issue! For example, I have the G600 mouse, which by default triggers G-Shift when you press down a third click to the right of right click, and I kept accidentally doing it. But you can disable it in the G-Hub, which should eliminate your issue in game!

Those issues are caused by functions which under normal circumstances are supposed to give you as a player more comforts. However, it causes issues with games which make strong usage of "combo-inputs", especially with Capcom typical games like Monster Hunter or Street Fighter.

Check your third party app settings' and deactivate those comfort functions for the game and it should resolve any related issues, allowing proper aiming and triggers within Monster Hunter Rise.



Not every keyboard and not every mouse is good to use for gaming.
Because of these kind of issues, special gaming keyboards and mice support anti-ghosting effects and much more, which could enhance your personal gameplay experience. I personally recommend to you the usage of a gamepad, as Monster Hunter Rise was natively designed for such. Similar to how you would get an arcade joystick-gamepad for native arcade games.

Save Game Loss

This issue happens according to the forums so often, that there has been a guide for quite a while with a recommended course of action how to handle and prevent such cases.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2743342837

Multiplayer

Desynchronisation Issues

Mainly observed when a user is using REFramework scripts. REFramework itself is harmless and delivers a great base for many game modifications. However, the usage of scripts in Multiplayer have turned out to be an ordeal in form of causing stutterings, short freezes, and common disconnects. If you experience such often, please consider removing any REFramework scripts (LUA files) and play with people who do not use such to avoid the issue. REFramework plugins on the other hand are safe to use.

Check also this guide on the matter
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2915995696

Lobby Issues

Having issues in finding random people when playing Multiplayer? There might be not enough players in your region. By switching your Steam's download region you can also switch the game's multiplayer region.





Currently recommended are servers in Japan and the U.S.A. which are most frequented.

Servers based on China are known to have issues with Multiplayer in general.

Extra

There were also some suspicions about Steam's newer WebSocket technology interfering with Steam's friendlist compatibility and therefore the matchmaking with Monster Hunter Rise. A possible solution would be starting the Steam client with launch parameters which enforces it to use the UDP/TCP, by adding

-nofriendsui -udp

or

-nofriendsui -tcp 

You might need to delete the config cache before it takes effect ..Steam\config\config.vdf

While this workaround seems meaningful, Steam has also deployed several client updates since the release of Monster Hunter Rise, which are supposed to address this specific issue.
Therefore make sure your Steam client is up to date.

Sound Issues

A lot of reports about sound issues have been identified as bad settings with individual soundcards. Mainly it is about players reporting that the spoken languages and other sounds ingame sound like within a cave - an indicator that a discrepancy between the soundcard's surround sound settings and the ingame sound settings exists.
Make sure to check your hardware accordingly.

Other Drivers Issues

As mentioned in the foreword, this guide is not supposed for beginners but for advanced PC users. However, since there are some issues which commonly appeared during the transition to the version 10.0.2.0 PC/Steam, I like to give these a special mention here - for future reference.

Commonly Windows 11 users have encountered drivers issues which were resolved with running the game in Windows compatibility mode. Most turned on the option to run the game in Windows 8 which seemed to have fixed their issues.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2831410978
Similar to the ASUS GameFirst IV issues for connections, it turned out that MSI mainbards started to have driver incompatibilities in regards to their audio drivers, mainly caused by a service called Nahimic. Shutting down mentioned service resolved related issues. It was discovered by analysing affected users DxDiag.txt files.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2831340548
Aside from a rather mild bug in regards of Palicoes, a rather dangerous bug in regards of the Insect Glaive, there have been several performance issues with 10.0.2.0 which reminds you of what could have been seen with 3.9.0.0. It is unclear whether the issue is going to be addressed by Capcom, or if there is more beyond an individual issue, but the resemblances are there. Most likely due to the newly implemented DLSS support causing several GPUs with outdated drivers to malfunction.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2763430311

Recommended Tools

These tools I recommend in addition to Windows in-built tools like ScanDisk for Troubleshooting.

CrystalDiskInfo - Check your Storage for possible issues
https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/crystaldiskinfo_portable
It can always be the case that there are hardware issues you do not know about, and by coincidence a game just reveals them without actually causing them.

I also recommend you to run Check Disk Utility
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-how-do-i-start-chkdsk-and-defragment/c1f2fb49-7b71-409d-b713-6c10a28c9e51

CPU-Z - System Profiler
https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/cpu-z-portable
Helpful for people who want to help you so you can share details about your system's specification.

GPU-Z - Graphics Cards Specific
https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/gpu-z-portable
As above with CPU-Z but for graphics cards

Revo Uninstaller - Mostly you do not need this...
https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/revo_uninstaller_portable
... but it is great for reinstalls to be sure that a game leaves no leftovers you do not know about.

Display Driver Uninstaller
https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

For reinstalling DirectX
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

For reinstalling Visual C++ Redistributables
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53840

For sharing information
https://pastebin.com/
https://imgbb.com/

Any security app trial version will do to check if your internet security - if its Windows Defender only - is messing up with the game's connection.

Also recommended AVG TuneUp as trial version to check on miscellaneous PC settings.

Borderless Gaming
https://github.com/Codeusa/Borderless-Gaming/releases
This last one is special. While everyone might think "the app itself has already the borderless windowed mode available", this third party app often delivers performance increases. It is hard to explain since it makes no sense on first glance - though it is suspected that the borderless window option provided by games does often "emulate" that badly. Setting the game to windowed mode and making use of the third party app often lead to a significant increase of frame rates and stability. Worth to give the freeware a try!

Afterword

This guide is just a mere shortcut of information which you can find on the forums. If you consider this better than the official Troubleshooting guide, then feel free to give it an upvote or whatever you like. This guide has more of a reference for the future purpose.

For more troubleshooting approaches, please make use of the official resources or the forums.