How to farm materials in Monster Hunter Wilds

If you’re looking for a faster way to farm materials in Monster Hunter Wilds, have I got a mechanic for you. Material Retrieval is a feature that you can unlock once you arrive in High Rank and complete the main story. After helping out the people of the Forbidden Lands so much, they decide to become your item mules, gathering whatever you need to feed that never-ending appetite for consumables.

You’ll have to complete some sidequests to unlock Material Retrieval in each specific region, but once you do, you can set your villagers to farm items while you head off and hunt. Here I’ll explain how to unlock Material Retrieval in each settlement and region, how it works, as well as the extra Gathering Boost mechanic that can speed things up.

How to unlock Material Retrieval in Monster Hunter Wilds

Once you arrive in High Rank, you can gain access to item farming by completing a variety of different sidequests. Though these gradually unlock as you raise your HR, the first two are available straight away:

• Beware the Gypceros: Speak to Zatoh in Kunafa and then hunt a Gypceros in the Windward Plains. This unlocks Material Retrieval with Murtabak.
• Aida’s Apprehensions: Speak to Aida in the Everforge and then hunt a Rompopolo in the Oilwell Basin. This unlocks Material Retrieval with Sabar.

After this, you’ll have to reach HR 15 and slay the Frenized Nerscylla in the Wounded Hollow. Once that’s done, you can:

• Speak to Apar in Suja: As soon as you complete the quest above, you can speak to Apar and unlock Material Retrieval for Suja—no monster hunting required for this one.
• Make Fluffy Dealings: Speak to Plumpeach in the Wudwud Hideout and bring her a Vibrant Pelt+ from a Congalala. This unlocks Material Retrieval with her.

The final quest isn’t available until you reach HR 20 and fight the Guardian Fulgur Anjanath and Tempered Lala Barina. After that you can start:

• Astonishing Adaptability: Speak to Tasheen in Sild and then hunt a Xu Wu in an optional quest of the same name. This unlocks the final Material Retrieval with Rysher.

How to farm materials

While you can speak to each village’s item gatherer individually and select what you want them to farm, the best way is to speak to Nata and collect the materials from him. Villagers will gather whatever item you select over time, but they’ll also find special items and even equipment materials that let you unlock some of the secret armor sets.

For example, Plumpeach in the Scarlet Forest can potentially grab the Great Hornfly, which unlocks the Butterfly and King Beetle armor sets. The only other way to get this item is through item trading with Gawdygog and Musharpeye at the Wudwud Hideout. If you change time by resting in your tent, you’ll notice that the items gathered by each villager have increased—each of them will harvest items incrementally over time.

If you don’t require any specific materials, I’d suggest setting villagers to gather ‘Any’ as this will give you a varied selection.

How to activate a Gathering Boost

You can supercharge your item gatherers in a specific region by helping out their village. If a Gathering Boost is available, you’ll spot a message on that region’s environment overview saying “A settlement is having monster trouble!” Select the notification and click Create Quest to be directed to the monster in question.

Once you successfully slay it, return to the Material Retrieval menu and you’ll spot a little blue arrow next to the item gatherer from the settlement you helped—this indicates they are farming items at a higher rate. Opening item selection for that gatherer will also show you how long the boost has left.

Gathering Boosts also affect item trade in the region you helped. If you look at the relevant trader—also marked with a blue arrow—you’ll see that one of their items has a randomly increased limit, letting you trade for more of it than usual.