Expeditions and Guild Quests

 

New to MH4U is a concept known as Expeditions. These are outings you take into the Everwood - just like Moga Wood Freehunts, and based on your activities during the Expedition, you can unlock Guild Quests. These Guild Quests have a chance of giving you the best weapons and armour in the game, but how do they work?

 

Expeditions:

 

This is the game's free-hunt mode. Basically, you run into the Everwood without really knowing what will show up (you will know up to 2 monsters that wil show up from the Expedition icon in the World Map Menu, but you may have 5 monsters appear). The aim is basically to do whatever (gather, hunt monsters, etc) and end via the menu or reach the caravan waiting at the end for a few more rewards. Hunting monsters nets you Caravan Points, and even if you die against a monster, it doesn't matter - you can die as many times as you like and not fail! In addition to this, Expeditions are the main way to find new outfits for dear Poogie, and you can also find new Palico recruits in the Everwood too.

 

To top it all, there are some monsters that can ONLY be found in the Everwood (although some event quests may take them out of their natural habitat). These are: Velocidrome, Yian Kut-Ku and Blue Yian Kut-Ku, Yian Garuga, Basarios and Ruby Basarios, Kirin and Oroshi Kirin.

 

Obtaining Guild Quests

 

This is pretty simple, really. You have two ways to improve your chances. Hunt large monsters and pick up shiny drops - 1 shiny drop gives you roughly a 10% chance of a Guild Quest, 2 gives 20% and 6 gives you a Quest, guaranteed. Killing one monster also gives you a good chance - we think about 80%! So two monsters, or a monster and 2 shiny drops is a guaranteed Guild Quest!

 

However, just because you beat a Basarios in an Expedition does not mean you will get a Basarios Guild Quest. It gives you a higher chance, but you will end up with many Velocidrome and Yian Kut-Ku Guild Quests if you frequent the Everwood.

 

The Guild Quest's Level

 

So, you have your Guild Quest and might be wondering why it has a level. Well, this corresponds to rank:

Level 1-30 = Low Rank.......................................Level 31-85 = High Rank......................................Level 86+ = G-Rank

 

Guild Quests tend to start at a low level, but you can level them up. Every time you beat a quest of the same rank as yourself, it will gain a level (so a Low Rank quest when you are still in Guild Hall Low Rank, or a G-Rank Guild Quest when you're G-rank). Clearing a quest which you are a higher rank causes the rank to go up by 3 (if you are 1 Rank Level higher) or by 5 (if 2 Rank Levels higher).

 

Relics - The Best Gear?

 

The Everwood is home to a special breed of Weapon and Armour. Every time you mine ore from blue nodes or clear the quest, you might receive a Relic. However, this equipment is slightly different to normal gear - you will find it has random sharpness, attack, affinity, element, phials, ammo/coatings and notes if a weapon or random defence, resistances and skills if an armour. However, in order to use the Relic, it must be be cleaned by the Rust Abolisher in Harth. This person can also level up your Relics, but levelling up the Relic will not change its sharpness or any other stat apart from its attack.

This effectively means you could get a Weapon with more attack than any Weapon it is possible to craft, or an Armour with skill combinations that do not exist on forgeable armours.

 

Even if the stats of the Relic are always random, you can have some control over the type of Relic you find, as any Guild Quest will have one armour piece and two weapons that can be obtained. For example, you might be able to get the Master Bang Sword and Shield, Vprey Claws Dual Blades and Khezu Helm from a Velocidrome Guild Quest, but each time you obtain the Relic, it will have different stats, and the higher the level of the Quest, the more likely it is to have good stats. The look of the weapons and armour will never change for this quest, so if you are looking for a specific weapon or armour piece, you will need a new Guild Quest.

 

The Relic Armour never has any skill points of its own, however, you can obtain Relics with special Decorations in them, which give points towards some of the two-in-one skills (such as Honed Blade, Brutality or Avarice). You can get up to +6 in a single armour piece (and Weapons may have some of these Decorations too!), so it is possible to get an armour set with 3 of the two-in one skills and still have the talisman free.

 

Farming For Good Gear?

 

First, you need to know what weapon or armour you want.

 

Next you need a Guild Quest that will give that type of weapon/armour. Play the Quest until you get the Relics, but do not continue with the Quest any more if you do not like the look of the Relics - just go on another Expedition until you get a new Quest.

See MH4U: Relic Weapons and MH4U: Relic Armours for lists of what weapons and armours are obtainable as Relics, and which Guild Quests they can be found from. 

 

When you have a Guild Quest with Relics you like, just keep clearing it, gathering in treasure rooms and mining at mining nodes (Relics are most common from blue nodes). The higher your Quest level, the more likely you will be to get a Relic with good stats.

 

It really is all a matter of luck. You could get a brilliant weapon straight away, or it could take you a long time.