Learning how to capture monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds is a good way to end a fight quickly, and get more rewards in the process.
It’s only an option when the monster is nearly dead — which just so happens to be when it’s at its most dangerous. To capture a monster, you’ll have to prepare with certain traps and bombs.
You can also capture small monsters, known as endemic life — the little bugs and lizards you see running around — to earn some extra Guild Points and to complete certain side quests.
Our Monster Hunter Wilds guide will tell you all about capturing monsters large and small, and how to craft the materials you’ll need for capturing them.
When can you capture monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds?
Technically, you can capture monsters at any time in Monster Hunter Wilds provided you have the necessary traps — see a later section on how to craft these. As soon as you can wear a monster down, and can craft traps and tranq bombs, you’re ready. You don’t need to formally “unlock” anything.
That said, you won’t get an official quest that involves capturing a monster until after the credits roll in the main story and you enter High Rank, though. In that mission, Chapter 4-1 “New Ecosystems,” you’ll get the tutorial popup for how to capture.
Again, you can still capture large monsters at any time if you prefer to get started ahead of then, as explained below.
How to capture monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Before you can capture a monster, you’ll need to make sure you have traps — like shock traps or pitfall traps — and tranq bombs in your item pouch. You don’t have to add them to your radial menu(s), but you do have to be able to access them from the item bar.
Image: Capcom via Polygon
There are two steps to capturing a monster. The first step is to wear a monster down and reduce their health until they’re almost dead. Your palico might say something like, “It’s looking weak! Almost there!” The more reliable clue is when a skull icon appears next to their icon on your minimap.
When the monster is weak, it’s time to trap and capture it. There are a couple more steps now — setting traps and hitting it with tranq bombs. If the monster is weak enough, one or the other might knock it out. If it’s still going strong, you might need to use both.
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Lay a trap and lead the monster into it. Once it’s ensnared, run up and drop a few tranq bombs on or near it. When the monster passes out, you’ll get several rewards for its capture, just like you would if you carved its corpse.
How to craft traps and tranq bombs
Crafting the items you need for capturing a monster will take a bit of work. For traps, you’ll need to buy trap tools from the provisioner in any base camp.
The items you’ll need to craft include:
- Pitfall trap — 1 trap tool and 1 net (made from 1 ivy and 1 spider web). You can find ivy in Windward Plains and Scarlet Forest. For spider webs, you need to look someplace where there are spiders. You can find some in Scarlet Forest, Oilwell Basin, and Iceshard Cliffs.
- Shock trap — 1 trap tool and 1 thunderbug capacitor. You’ll make thunderbug capacitors by collecting thunderbugs. You’ll only find those in Windward Plains.
- Tranq bomb — 1 sleep herb and 1 parashroom. Sleep herbs can be found in Windswept Plains, Scarlet Forest, and Iceshard Cliffs. For parashrooms, all four regions — Windward Plains, Scarlet Forest, Oilwell Basin, and Iceshard Cliffs — have them.
When can you capture endemic life in Monster Hunter Wilds?
You can’t capture any endemic life in Monster Hunter Wilds until after you attempt to visit Y’sai’s village and get turned away. On your way back to the base camp in Windward Plains, you’ll meet your first Doshaguma and gather some honey.
Image: Capcom via Polygon
When you drop off the honey at the provisions shop, he’ll give you your Essential Items: a portable BBQ grill (for cooking), fishing rod (for fishing), binoculars, capture net, throwing knife, paint pod, and ghillie mantle.
The capture net is what you’re after. To equip it on your bow caster, hold down L1/LB, hit down on the D-pad, and then move the right thumbstick to the upper right to highlight the net in your Essential Items.
How to capture endemic life in Monster Hunter Wilds
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Once you have the capture net, capturing endemic life is just kind of point and click. When you spot an interesting bug or lizard, you just need to equip your capture net. Aim it at what you want to capture. If it’s something you can nab, the reticle will turn yellow-orange. You’ll fire the capture net with R2/RT.
Just make sure you don’t fire the hook slinger with circle/B instead. That will collect the creature instead of capturing it.
Capturing endemic life this way doesn’t get you any materials, but it does earn you Guild Points that you’ll use for things like building pop-up camps and increasing your hunter rank on your way to High Rank.
Our Monster Hunter Wilds guides can outline your progress with our main story walkthrough and monster list ahead of reaching High Rank, help you settle on an armament with our weapons list and best weapons explainers, and show you how to get ores, bones, and monster tails.
