Monster Hunter 3 UltimateWhere the forget are my advanced armor spheres
What is it?Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is an "expansion" of sorts to the third installment of Capcom's Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter 3 Tri. You play as a hunter who arrives in the quaint Moga Village, investigating a series of tremors believed to be caused by an enormous monster. Players can use the materials they gather from their hunting exploits to create a multitude of armors and weapons to assist them in their endeavors. It's a game that's very popular in Japan, however not so successful in the American and European markets (which is Capcom's reasoning for delaying the US/EU releases by like, a year). It has a version out for the Wii U and 3DS, the only differences being the Wii U has much prettier graphics and support for playing multiplayer online. The 3DS is limited to local wireless, but can be routed to support online play with the Wii U.
WeaponsThere's a variety of weapon types available in MH3U. Twelve, in fact, and each one is special in it's own little way.
BlademastersHunters come in two types: Blademasters and Gunners. You can switch any time you want, but the armor and weapons are a little different. For example, Blademasters are up-close and personal with the baddies, meaning they have more straight up defense. Gunners aren't as likely being physically hit, but you gotta watch out for that fire breath! Because of this, Gunners' armor has higher elemental defenses rather than physical defense.
Sword and Shield 
These weapons focus mainly on elemental damage and status effects in exchange for brute damage. Being one of the only types with shields (besides the lances), they're great for throwing a flurry of special attacks and blocking incoming damage. Seriously, a big monster can charge at you and you'll stumble back instead of being blown back by a steam train.
Dual Blades 
Basically what you get if you swap your shield for another sword. Capable of unleashing a blizzard of attacks at the cost of defense, players can unleash a demonic power and do a substantial amount of damage to their opponent. Hunters wielding dual blades are awesome at creating large combos -- and each sword can even have it's own elemental effect!
Great Sword 
A huge-ass blade that can do a ton of damage. It's so big that you can actually block with it (providing even more defense than a sword and shield), but attacks kinda slowly and is a bit difficult to master. Each time you block it reduces the sharpness a little bit, but you can sharpen any weapon with a whetstone. These baddies are a popular choice amongst experience hunters, but seem a bit cumbersome to the newbies.
Long Sword 
It's like a Great Sword but a lot more swift and nimble. Very popular amongst most hunters. Can stock up power over time and unleash a "Spirit Combo," releasing a ton of quick and powerful strikes. Basically a huge katana.
Hammers 
Your ordinary hammer. This thing crushes monsters under it's huge weight. Hunters can smash a monster's head repeatedly to stun them, allowing for even more blows. Very fun to use if you can handle the slower speed.
Hunting Horn 
I'm... actually not sure what this is. It's basically a hammer, but you can play songs and provide buffs to yourself and allies. You can still smash monsters' heads and stuff, so that's all that matters.
Lance 
A huge lance with a nice big shield to accompany it. They're really huge and are a bitch to carry, but you can block and attack at the same time.
Gunlance 
Because the normal lance wasn't enough. A lance with a gun inside of it, basically.
Switch Axe 
A nifty weapon that changes from an axe to a sword. Does a lot of elemental damage in it's sword form and can release a huge burst of it's element. Harder to carry in sword form, apparently.
GunnersFor when you don't want to get rough n' tough with the monsters. Big ol' ranged weapons that are great for picking off them at a distance, if you can maintain that distance, that is. Like I said earlier, benefits better from more elemental resistances rather than physical defenses.
Light Bowgun 
A lightweight, easy to carry crossbow that shoots bullets. It doesn't come with as much firepower as a heavy bowgun, but basically they're really easily made and not hard to master. There is a HUGE variety of ammo types available for all the ranged weapons. Use the correct ones for the correct situations! Oh, you can also fit custom parts to them. Loves those elemental ammos.
Heavy Bowgun 
The bigger but slower brother to the Light Bowgun. Can hit like a truck, but is a bit harder to carry. The only ranged weapon that can have a shield attached. They prefer the raw damage ammunition types, but you can use elemental if you
really want to. Basically, it's a mobile artillery set. They're also huge.
Bow 
Your average bow. Uses arrows instead of bullets, obviously. It's very versatile and can really be used for any situation, but it's more geared towards advanced gunners. You're able to run and shoot with a bow despite it's massive loving size, so it's loved for being a fast weapon. You would
THINK that the bow would sacrifice damage for it's sheer attack speed, but you'd be wrong. This thing does lots of damage, and fast. Oh, it also has unlimited ammo.
MonstersOkay, so you've got two types of monsters generally. The small ones and the big ones. Obviously the smaller ones are easier to kill, but each large monster is unique in their own little way. There's not much to say about these guys, so I'll just drop some pictures of a couple.
Small Monsters
There really aren't a lot of pictures of small monsters out there.
Large Monsters
There are a lot more than this, but I don't want to sap your bandwidth nor spoil anyone here. If you are really interested, go check out the
wiki.
PlayersIf you play Monster Hunter 3 (Tri or Ultimate), list your preferred weapon and I'll drop you in over here. Just tell us your character name and favorite weapon type! Feel free to share guild cards as well.
Players[3DS]Flame (NNID: aaronawest): Aaron, Sword and Shield
[Wii U]the hacker: L's & D's, Dual Blades
[WiiU]Lego lad (NNID: ProMonsterhunter): maxis, Light Bowgun
[3DS]Birdin: Draven, Longsword
[3DS]Jubel: Jubel, Hunting Horns / feet
[???]NoZoner: Pringal, Hammer
[???]MrKitKat (Tri): Hammer
[3DS]Lordician: Lordician, Switch Axe / Dual Blades
[Wii U]Taboo (NNID: Naeggi): Jaye, Everything but hammers and bowguns
[Wii U]CreamTurk3y (NNID: CreamTurk3y): CreamTurky, Dual Blades
[WiiU]Deve (NNID: DevionEX): Deve, DB, SnS, GL, SA, LS, everything else besides Gunner
[???]Zanaran2 (NNID: Twilliam): Hammers and switch axes
Basically, this game is awesome and needs more players. If you are interested in playing online though, get the Wii U version -- although I've personally had a ton of fun on singleplayer mode for months now on the 3DS.
also this is the first huge thread i've made so if i did something wrong please tell me
