There are a few ways to play with friends in Monster Hunter Wilds’ multiplayer system, which has a number of complicated options that can seem initially overwhelming.
This guide explains the easy way to join up with friends to tackle quests or just explore the world together, as well as join randoms if you want to get your multiplayer fix without waiting for people you know to come online.
Below, we explain the various ways to play Monster Hunter Wilds in co-op and multiplayer, whether it’s through a Link Party, Environment Link, or SOS Flares.
How to play with friends in Monster Hunter Wilds with Link Party
If you want to run multiple quests with up to four friends, the simplest process is to create a Link Party with them. First, know that it doesn’t matter what lobby you are in — whether it’s a public or private lobby you might have joined by Lobby ID, or if you are playing in Online Single Player — as the Link Party feature works regardless of the lobby system.
You can play with friends via Link Party by doing the following:
- Open the menu screen.
- Tab over to the “Communication” tab with the speech bubble icon.
- Select “Link Party.”
- To make a party, choose “Invite to Link Party” and select the friends you want to invite. (The easiest way to find a friend is search for their Hunter ID, which works in crossplay with other platforms. You can find your Hunter ID code on your by going to the “Info” tab on the menu, then “Hunter Profile,” then “Toggle Online ID.” Once they are in your Link Party, you can then add send a friend request on the “View Link Party Members” screen so you don’t have to share a Hunter ID code again in future.)
- If you’ve been invited to a Link Party, you’ll need to select the “Invitation List” option and accept that invite.
- From there, once someone has posted a quest, you will see the quest appear in-game automatically for you to join when you’re ready.
1/4Image: Capcom via Polygon
Beyond being the most direct way to play with a friend, Link Parties offer a number of benefits. There’s dedicated voice and text chat between your group, and after you finish a quest, you will stay grouped up so you can take on another one — but you can also decline subsequent quests if you prefer to do something else in the meantime.
In other words, you are linked together and can jump into each other’s quests, but you are still in your own lobbies and/or instances of the game between those sessions.
However, since you are in your own lobbies, you don’t see one another in-game outside of quests — and that’s where Environment Link comes into play.
How to see friends in multiplayer with Environment Link
Image: Capcom via Polygon
Environment Link is a way to share the same world and explore together, which by default, forming a Link Party doesn’t do. This is partly due to the lobby system — which, if you’re in a public lobby for example, is how you might be visibly seeing random other players in your world already — but also, keeping everyone separate by default in a Link Party means it can prevent you from stumbling into challenging late game monsters a friend has unlocked that you yet have not.
To join together via Environment Link, the person who wants to host everyone in their game must:
- Invite friends to your “Link Party” as shown in the steps above.
- Open the menu screen again.
- Tab over to the “Communication” tab with the speech bubble icon.
- Select “Link Party.”
- Select “Invite All to Environment Link.”
Image: Capcom via Polygon
First, depending on where you are in the story, you might not see the “Invite All to Environment Link” option at all. This is because key story moments may prevent Environment Link invites — in which case, progress further until the world state has settled down to “normal,” or ask someone else in your Link Party to play host in their world instead. (In our testing, it was possible to be invited to someone else’s Environment Link world even if you’re temporarily story-locked in yours.)
Second, from our experience (and it looks like that of the community as well), you cannot post quests via Alma or the Quest Counter when in Environment Link. If that’s the same for you, then drop out of this and go for a regular Invite Party.
Image: Capcom via Polygon
How to get the best of solo and multiplayer with SOS Flares
If you’re interested in playing with randoms to take down a specific monsters without the confusion of joining a public lobby, you can answer SOS Flares, which are created by other players when they need an assist on their hunts.
You can join an SOS Flare by doing the following:
- Enter your tent.
- Scroll over to the “Quest Menu” option with the quest marker icon on a page.
- Select “Post/Join Quest.”
- Scroll down to “SOS Flare Quests.”
- Fill out the information, if you’re looking to help out with a specific hunt.
- Hit “SOS Flare Search.”
- A list of available flares to answer should come up. Select whichever one tickles your fancy.
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.
