Monster Hunter Wilds Endgame Guide — High Rank, Tempered Monsters & Progression

Endgame Progression Overview

High Rank — What Changes After the Story

Completing Monster Hunter Wilds' main campaign is only the beginning. High Rank (HR) unlocks immediately after the credits roll, transforming the game from a story-driven experience into an open-ended gear treadmill. In High Rank, every monster you fought in the story appears as a stronger variant with increased HP, enhanced attack patterns, and — crucially — the ability to drop High Rank materials. HR materials are what you need to craft the best weapons and armor sets.

High Rank armor has fundamentally better skill distributions and more decoration slots than Low Rank armor. A single piece of High Rank Arkveld armor can carry skills that a full set of Low Rank armor might not match. Plan to replace your entire Low Rank set as quickly as possible when entering High Rank — prioritize defense-heavy sets initially to survive the harder monster hits, then transition to optimized mixed sets as you accumulate HR materials.

The HR material economy introduces two new monster behaviors: enrage states (monsters enter red-glowing enrage more frequently and deal more damage) and new attack patterns (some monsters gain new attacks at HR that did not exist at LR). Study each monster's new High Rank moves before assuming your Low Rank muscle memory is sufficient. Flagship High Rank monsters like Arkveld and Tempered variants are significantly different in behavior from their story versions.

Investigations — The Core Endgame Grind

Investigations are special quests generated dynamically through your in-game activities. Each time you investigate monster traces (footprints, environmental damage, monster sightings) during a hunt or expedition, you generate Investigation data. Once you have enough data on a specific monster, the Investigation appears in your Investigation Board. Investigations for a specific monster come with bonus reward slots beyond the standard quest rewards, making them more material-efficient than standard quests.

The Investigation reward slot quality is categorized: bronze, silver, and gold slots. Gold slots have the highest chance to drop rare materials and decorations. High-grade Investigations — those featuring Tempered or rare monster variants — tend to have more gold and silver slots. Running high-grade Investigations is the most efficient decoration farming method in the game, particularly for the Level 3 and Level 4 decorations that define endgame builds.

Investigations expire after a set number of uses (typically 5–10 completions per Investigation). They are automatically restocked as you continue to gather monster data in the field. Building a habit of interacting with every footprint and monster trace you see — even when you are not on a tracking quest — gradually fills your Investigation Board with high-quality research opportunities over time.

Tempered Monsters — Endgame Challenge

Tempered Monsters are special variants of existing monsters with significantly enhanced stats — higher HP, higher attack damage, and sometimes altered color or visual effects indicating their powered state. They are unlocked at high Hunter Rank through specific story events and Investigation unlocks. Tempered monsters do not drop unique material types (they drop the same parts as their standard HR counterparts), but their Investigation rewards include the best grade of decoration drops and the augmentation materials needed for endgame gear.

There are three tiers of Tempered Monsters corresponding to difficulty: Tier 1 (weaker tempered fanged beasts and wyverns), Tier 2 (stronger Tempered flying wyverns and brutes), and Tier 3 (Tempered Elder Dragons — the hardest encounters in the base game). Each tier's Investigations provide progressively better decoration grades. Tempered Elder Dragon investigations are the pinnacle regular endgame farming activity before expansion content.

Fighting Tempered Monsters requires optimized High Rank gear — their damage output can one-shot under-geared hunters. Fully upgraded armor with Health Boost 3 and appropriate elemental resistances is recommended before engaging Tempered Tier 2+. Tempered Elder Dragons additionally require understanding their unique attack patterns and often benefit from fire/dragon-resistance armor and Earplugs to maintain offensive uptime through their roar-heavy attacks.

Endgame Priority Checklist

1. Complete the main story → unlock High Rank → immediately start farming HR Doshaguma and Chatacabra for a stable defensive set.
2. Hunt Arkveld (HR) for the Arkveld Helm — the single best head piece for offensive builds due to its native Weakness Exploit 2.
3. Build your primary weapon's HR upgrade path to maximum level; prioritize the weapon type you are most comfortable with.
4. Unlock Investigations: interact with every monster trace during expeditions to fill the Investigation Board with bonus-slot quests.
5. Reach HR 50 to unlock Tempered Monster Investigations — run these for the best decoration drop rates.
6. Augment fully upgraded armor pieces using Tempered Elder Dragon materials — focus head and chest first.
7. Farm the Melding Pot using excess decorations to target missing key gems (Tenderizer, Expert, Charger).
8. Check Event Quests weekly — some events provide specific rare decorations as completion bonuses, not random drops.