Skip to main content

Progression and Quests

By ScotPublished Updated Sources checked

Tactical Quick Answer

You advance in Monster Hunter Rise by clearing a set number of Key Quests until an Urgent Quest unlocks, and beating that Urgent Quest raises your rank. Village and Hub run on separate tracks, though three Special License Tests each bump your Hub level by one rank and let solo players skip the redundant early grind. Once you clear the 7-Star Urgent against Thunder Serpent Narwa, your Hunter Rank uncaps, every quest starts awarding Hunter Rank Points, and the 8-Star Hub tier opens up.

Progressing in Monster Hunter Rise means increasing your Hunter Rank (HR) and unlocking tougher monsters. The game separates its campaign (Village) from its multiplayer hub (Hub). Understanding how these intertwine saves you from unnecessary grinding.

Key Quests and Urgent Quests​

You do not need to complete every quest on the board to advance. Progression relies on completing a specific number of "Key Quests."

  1. Identify Key Quests: Look for quests carrying the orange Hunter's Guild crest next to their name. The game calls it the Guild mark.
  2. Fill the Quota: The quest list at the counter shows a running "Key Quests Completed" tally against the total you need. The panel in the upper right of the screen is a different thing, the Progress Guide, which names your current objective.
  3. The Urgent Quest: Once you complete the required number of Key Quests, an "Urgent Quest" unlocks. This is usually a boss fight against a new, challenging monster.
  4. Rank Up: Successfully completing the Urgent Quest increases your rank and unlocks the next tier of difficulty (e.g., moving from 2-Star to 3-Star quests).

Village vs. Hub Progression​

As outlined in Getting Started, you have Village Quests and Hub Quests. They have separate progression tracks.

If you play entirely solo, you should start with the Village Quests. They introduce the monsters gradually and provide the story context. Be prepared for the difficulty shock when you transition, though the reason is often misstated.

Hub Quests do scale to your party size, adjusting on the fly as players join or leave, so hunting one alone puts you on the one-player row instead of fighting a four-player monster. What changes with party size is health, part health, and the thresholds for status, stun, and mounting. The monster's attack multiplier is identical at every player count.

The shock is real anyway, because the Hub baseline simply sits higher than the Village one. A Low Rank Hub Rathian has around 5,400 health solo against roughly 2,900 in the Village, and Hub quests carry a higher attack multiplier than the Village tier you just left. You need better loadouts, not a different number of hunters.

Special License Tests​

If you complete the Village Quests, you do not have to start from the very beginning of the Hub Quests. As you reach higher ranks in the Village, you unlock Special License Tests.

There are three of them, at Village 4-Star, 5-Star, and 6-Star, all set in the Shrine Ruins and all pitting you against multiple monsters at once. The first sends Rathian and Aknosom at you, the second Magnamalo, Bishaten, and Great Izuchi, the third Rathalos, Zinogre, and Almudron.

Each test raises your Gathering Hub quest level by exactly one rank instead of jumping it to match your Village progress, so clearing all three takes you to Hub 4-Star and the doorstep of High Rank. That still skips the redundant early Hub grind, which is the point. Note that a test disappears if you raise your Hub level past it under your own steam.

Low Rank vs. High Rank​

Your progression is split into two massive tiers (three if you own the Sunbreak expansion).

  • Low Rank (LR): Covers all Village Quests, which top out at 6-Star, and Hub Quests up to 3-Star. Monsters hit softer, have simpler move pools, and drop basic materials.
  • High Rank (HR): Starts at Hub 4-Star. Monsters gain new attacks, deal significantly more damage, and drop High Rank specific materials, often denoted by a "+" in the material name like "Rathian Scale+". The "+" is not universal, since Carapace, Ruby, and Plate parts are High Rank too.

Your Low Rank armor will not carry you far into High Rank, so craft a basic High Rank set early to absorb the damage spike. It does not go dead the instant you cross over, and Capcom's own free Black Belt S set is explicitly built for both ranks.

Uncapping Hunter Rank​

Initially, your Hunter Rank is tied directly to your Hub tier (e.g., completing the 4-Star Urgent makes you HR 4). Clearing the 7-Star Urgent "Serpent Goddess of Thunder" against Thunder Serpent Narwa lifts that cap. After this point, every quest you complete awards Hunter Rank Points (HRP). Accumulating HRP levels up your Hunter Rank continuously (e.g., HR 45, HR 100). The uncap itself arrived in the Version 2.0 update and has been standard in every PC build.

The base game does have 8-Star Hub quests. Roughly three dozen of them open up after the uncap, covering the Advanced hunts, the Apex fights, the Elder Dragons added in Version 2.0, and Master Utsushi's Challenge quests. So the Advanced quests are not appended to the 7-Star list on the Hub side, they sit in a tier above it. On the Village side, where the board stops at 6-Star, the Advanced quests really are appended to the existing list.

Sunbreak's Master Rank does not use the 8-Star label at all. Its quests run on their own MR 1-Star through MR 6-Star track, with Anomaly quests numbered A1-Star through A8-Star on a third track again.

Note also that Thunder Serpent Narwa stopped being the end of the story back in Version 3.0, which added a new ending in which Ibushi and Narwa merge. The Urgent Quest "The Allmother", against Narwa the Allmother, is the base game's true final story fight, and it has been in every PC build since launch.

Frequently Asked Questions​

Do I have to complete every quest on the board to rank up?

No. You only need to clear the Key Quests, which carry the orange Guild crest next to the name. The quest list at the counter tracks how many you have completed against the total needed before the next Urgent Quest appears.

How do I skip the early Hub grind after finishing Village Quests?

Take the three Special License Tests, unlocked at Village 4-Star, 5-Star, and 6-Star. Each throws multiple monsters at you in the Shrine Ruins, and each passing run raises your Hub quest level by exactly one rank, so all three take you to Hub 4-Star.

When does High Rank start in Monster Hunter Rise?

High Rank begins at Hub 4-Star. Low Rank covers all Village Quests, which end at 6-Star, plus Hub Quests up to 3-Star. Craft a basic High Rank set early, since Low Rank armor will not carry you far into the damage spike.

Where are the 8-Star quests in the base game?

They open after your Hunter Rank uncaps, and there are around three dozen: the Advanced hunts, the Apex fights, the Elder Dragons, and Master Utsushi's Challenge quests. Sunbreak's Master Rank does not use 8-Star at all, it runs on its own MR 1-Star to MR 6-Star track.

What does uncapping Hunter Rank mean?

Before the uncap, your Hunter Rank is tied directly to your Hub tier. Clearing the 7-Star Urgent against Thunder Serpent Narwa removes the cap, after which every quest awards Hunter Rank Points and your HR climbs continuously into numbers like HR 45 or HR 100.