Tempered monsters are a prime component of Monster Hunter World‘s endgame. Unfortunately the game doesn’t do a great job of explaining them, but investigations for these monsters are mandatory if you’re trying to craft higher-end accessories using materials like Dragoncore Ore.
We’re going to touch on what these special monsters are, along with the details of the tempered monster investigation system, so you don’t end up running in blind and getting frustrated over the little stuff.
Without further ado, let’s get to it.
What are tempered monsters?
Are they exactly what they sound like? Yeah, basically.
Tempered monsters are simply stronger variations of monsters you’ve probably already slain in Monster Hunter World. They’re just like the standard variation, but do significantly more damage in a fight. Luckily their HP stays the same.
You don’t have to be rocking a high HR (Hunter Rank) to fight these bad boys (and ladies), but you do have to at least be HR 13 to begin. We’ll go over that more below.
How to initiate tempered monster investigations
This here is the tricky part — that’s really saying something considering the fights you’re going to be getting yourself into. There are some big things to know about this process so you can get what you need, without much guesswork.
You have to unlock tempered monster investigations before you can start hunting these monsters down. And to do so, you need keen eyes and patience.
Your Scout Flies will occasionally notice some monster tracks on the ground when out in the wild, which they will mark as blue for you to wander over and collect. Upon collecting enough tracks of a tempered monster, you will be able to start an investigation.
I hope you remember this stuff.
Ins and outs of tempered monster investigations
I mentioned above that you must be HR 13 to begin tempered monster investigations, but they have tiers based on your HR. The higher the tier, the better the loot.
Initiating one of these investigations at HR 13 through HR 29 will pit you against a monster with a threat level of one. At HR 30 through HR 49, you can start to take on investigations for monsters with threat level two. And at HR 50+, you can start taking on tempered monsters with a threat level of three.
So what do these threat levels mean? Aside from the obvious indication of monster strength and the below monster brackets, not much.
When you collect traces of a tempered monster, it will be of a particular tier — and once you initiate the investigation, the monster you are actually up against will be a random one within the highest tier of traces you have picked up. So let’s go over which monsters are in each tier so that you know what you’re getting into before initiating a tempered monster investigation:
- Threat level 1: Paolumu, Pukei-Pukei, Radobaan, Barroth, Tobi-Kadachi, Rathian, Jyuratodus, Anjanath
- Threat level 2: Odogaron, Diablos, Azure Rathalos, Pink Rathian, Black Diablos, Uragaan, Legiana, Bazelgeuse, Lavasioth
- Threat level 3: Vaal Hazak, Kirin, Nergigante, Teostra, Kushala Daora
If you don’t want to remember all that, just keep in mind that the minimum HR requirement for the investigation will indicate its threat level as well. A threat level one investigation will require HR 13, level one will require HR 30, and level three will require HR 50.
Farming monster traces
This part is actually pretty easy, as long as you have an investigation waiting to be done.
Normally there are only a set amount of tracks to be found on a map, but you can find several more than when on a standard expedition if you are already on a tempered monster investigation.
The gist of this is to initiate a tempered monster investigation, and then to follow the target monster around to gather its tracks. This allows you to gather far more than you would be able to otherwise, so you can farm tempered monsters without the normal runaround.
That’s about it for tempered monsters and their investigations. There’s not much to say about the monsters themselves, but anyone getting seriously into MHW needs to know about the tempered monster system and how to take them on.
If this guide tickled your fancy, check out our other player-made Monster Hunter World guides. Happy hunting!
