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While there are many ways to defeat monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds, mounting is a technique that many hunters will want to use as often as possible. Even if some players might be eager to pull off some of the new moves, mounting can be highly effective to open wounds and even knock the monster down. However, the game doesn’t tell you many things regarding how to do so. That’s why we’ve prepared a quick guide to help you during your next monster rodeo.
How To Mount a Monster in Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds will never give you a proper tutorial to start mounting a monster, but it isn’t challenging. First, you need to find a way to land an aerial or jumping attack on a monster. Some weapons have the ability to do this already, like the Insect Glaive or Sword and Shield. If the one you’re using lacks the ability to do so, you can find a ledge, jump off of it, and hit the monster. This will let you mount it on the spot.

When mounting a monster, your controls will change. Each button has a new function you need to get familiar with.
- R1/RB: Draw Finisher (Breaks a monster’s wound and dismounts you. Only use this after you’ve wounded the monster more than once).
- Light Knife Attack: Circle/B (Fast attack when mounted).
- Strong Knife Attack: Triangle/Y (Heavy attack when mounted).
- Brace: R2/RT (Prevents the monster from shaking you off or damaging you. You must hold the button).
- Move: Cross/A or Left Stick (Allows you to move to another part of the monster).
Mounting Tips

Since mounting can be an overwhelming mechanic for some Monster Hunter Wilds players, we’ve gathered a few tips that the game doesn’t tell you about.
- You can’t steer a monster.
- In World and Rise, you had the ability to steer a monster to make it crash into a wall or other surfaces. Here, however, we haven’t found an active way to do so, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. When mounting a monster, after damaging it enough, the foe will move toward some spots of the area and slam itself. For instance, when mounting Rey Dau at the highest spot of Windward Plains, if you damage it enough, it will crash against some of the pillars around it.
- Mounting doesn’t have a cooldown; it’s a state.
- If you want to mount a monster a second time, you need to land more aerial or jump attacks. Monsters have an invisible protection against the mounted state, and the more of the aforementioned attacks you land, the faster you’ll break this protection, thus making them vulnerable to mounting.
- You can open at least three wounds when mounting a monster.
- Most players get scared when mounting a monster and focus on wounding an area to finish off with a Draw Finisher. You can wound all three parts if you’re fast enough. Normally, you can only move between three monster parts: its head, back, and tail. If you’re fast enough and Brace when the monster attacks, you can open a wound on all three parts. Then, you can use the Draw Finisher on the most difficult part to target, which is usually the tail.
While it may take a bit of practice, once you get the hang of mounting, you’ll be able to break many monster parts and even sever a few if you’re good at it. If a monster is too slippery and doesn’t stay still for you to mount it, lead it toward a ledge so you can jump onto it to cause some damage.