Skip to main content

Buddies: Palicoes and Palamutes

By ScotPublished Updated Sources checked

Tactical Quick Answer

Monster Hunter Rise gives you two kinds of animal companion: Palamutes you can ride for stamina-free travel, and Palicoes that fill one of five support roles chosen when you hire them. You can bring two Buddies solo but only one when hunting with other players. Dual Gathering Palicoes pull gems off monsters with Pilfer, a Fight and Healer pair adds 30% affinity and keeps you alive, and double Palamute stays competitive for damage and traversal.

You do not have to hunt alone, even in single-player. Monster Hunter Rise pairs you with two types of animal companions: Palicoes (felines) and Palamutes (canines). Understanding how to use and upgrade them significantly smooths out your progression.

Know the limit before you plan a team. You can bring two Buddies on Village Quests and on Hub Quests played offline, but only one if you are hunting with other players, and none at all on Arena quests.

Palamutes (The Mounts)​

Palamutes are new to Rise and focus heavily on mobility and aggressive offense.

  • Riding: Hold the command button near your Palamute to mount it. Riding a Palamute allows you to traverse the map without consuming stamina. You can sprint up vines and drift around corners.
  • Item Usage on the Move: While riding, you can safely consume Potions, eat Rations, or sharpen your weapon. This is invaluable when a monster flees to a new zone or when you need to heal while retreating.
  • Combat: Palamutes carry two things at once, a piece of Gear and a Scroll, set from the Buddy Board. Gear covers the weapon they fight with, such as the Dual Bladed Chain, Steel Fang, or Large Shuriken. Scrolls are the behavior modifiers, and the Heavy Strike Scroll is a strong pick because it raises attack and stagger chance together. Sunbreak also gives them the Palamute Pouch, worth eight extra item slots you can draw from on the move.

Palicoes (The Support)​

Palicoes return from previous games, serving as versatile support companions. Unlike Palamutes, Palicoes come in five distinct support types, determined when you hire them at the Buddy Plaza.

  • Healer: Drops healing bubbles and uses horns to restore your health and cure status ailments. Highly recommended for beginners learning a new weapon.
  • Assist: Specializes in crowd control. They lay traps, Shock Purr-ison from level 15 and Poison Purr-ison from level 20, and bind monsters with Felyne Silkbind, which fires Ironsilk from a Palico-sized ballista and never uses a Wirebug.
  • Gathering: Steals materials directly from the monster during combat and gathers extra items from the environment. The best choice if you are farming for specific rare drops.
  • Fight: Focuses on buffing your attack and affinity (critical hit chance) while dealing decent melee damage.
  • Bombardier: Pure explosive offense. They throw barrel bombs and use explosive lances to deal fixed damage.

Buddy Plaza Operations​

The Buddy Plaza in Kamura Village is the central hub for managing your companions.

Hiring and Training​

You can hire dozens of buddies from Iori the Buddy Scout. Once hired, send unused buddies to the Buddy Dojo to level them up passively while you hunt. Higher-level buddies have more health, deal more damage, and unlock new support moves.

The Argosy​

Send your spare buddies on trade requests via the Argosy submarines. This is the primary method for generating a passive income of crucial crafting items like Honey, Bitterbugs, and Thunderbugs.

Meowcenaries​

Deploy a squad of four buddies on a Meowcenaries expedition. They passively gather monster parts and unique materials (like Kamura Tickets or specific scraps) from a chosen route while you complete quests.

Equipping Your Buddies​

Buddies require gear just like you do.

  • Visit the Buddy Smithy (next to the main Smithy) to forge weapons and armor for them using Scraps.
  • Scraps are cut-offs generated when you forge your own equipment, and you can also exchange monster materials for them directly. They come in matched pairs per material, so a Rathian Scrap buys Rathian buddy gear.
  • Equip your buddies with weapons that inflict Sleep or Paralysis. Even a small amount of status buildup from your companions frequently results in one or two free openings per hunt.

Endgame Optimization​

All of this assumes solo play, since a multiplayer hunt gives you one Buddy and the pairings below stop existing. Palamutes are not outclassed late, and dedicated players run double Palamute for damage and traversal as readily as double Palico. Pick the pair that matches the hunt.

  • For Material Farming: Run dual Gathering Palicoes. Pilfer, unlocked at Gathering level 20, is a boomerang attack that steals materials off the monster, and it can pull gems and plates at roughly 1% to 3%. It will not hand you Mantles, which do not appear in the Palico steal tables at all. Endemic Life Barrage is their level 1 move and covers the status side.
  • For Difficult Encounters: Run a Fight Palico and a Healer Palico. Rousing Roar is the Fight type's level 1 move and gives every ally a 30% affinity boost for two and a half minutes, which is large enough to change what your weapon build should look like. It is affinity only. The Fight type's attack and defense buff is a separate move, Power Drum, at level 10.
  • For Damage and Ground Cover: Run two Palamutes. They fight well on their own, and you keep a mount available at all times.

Sunbreak adds one more layer, Secret Support Moves, a single powerful extra move per Palico set at the Buddy Piazza in Elgado.

Frequently Asked Questions​

Should I run two Palicoes or a Palico and a Palamute?

Match the pair to the hunt, not the rank. Double Gathering Palico farms materials, Fight plus Healer carries hard fights, and double Palamute is a real option for damage and traversal that stays viable late. The choice only exists solo, since multiplayer allows one Buddy.

Which Palico support type is the best?

It depends on what you are doing. Healer suits beginners learning a new weapon, Gathering is the pick for farming drops, and Fight hands every ally a 30 percent affinity buff for two and a half minutes through Rousing Roar.

Can you heal while riding a Palamute?

Yes. While riding you can safely drink Potions, eat Rations, and sharpen your weapon. That makes the Palamute very useful when a monster flees to another zone or you need to recover on the move.

How do I get Scraps for buddy gear?

Scraps are cut-offs generated when you forge your own equipment, and you can also exchange monster materials for them directly. Spend them at the Buddy Smithy next to the main Smithy.

What does the Buddy Dojo actually do?

Spend Kamura Points at the Dojo to put idle buddies into training, and they level up passively while you hunt. Higher-level buddies gain health, deal more damage, and unlock new support moves. Buddies in your party or out on the Argosy or Meowcenaries cannot train.