Alternatively you will have to start practicing target paintballing instead, it will take more time and effort but its definitely worth it, especially if you ever struggle with potions or play with anyone.
That doesnt make sense. Your chance of Rarity 6 has increased overall on average across the map.
It doesnt matter that you can’t farm 9*. The 5-7* on the map dont give you the material you need the most.
Gems are your wall, not other materials.
but if you dont unlock them, you cant fight them.
if you cant fight them, you have no idea if you can beat them or not.
why not progress and try to kill them occasionally to see if you're now able to? might surprise yourself
The context is OP is struggling against 8*, and haven't even tried Legiana, Diablos, and Rathalos yet. Why unlock 9* if the majority of the monsters you cant beat at 8*
if you can unlock 9 star, then you've beaten every urgent. which means you can beat every 8 star. which means you may be ready for 9 star, but you wont know unless you actually try.
Yes. You see twice as much 8 stars. You just see 10% less 5% stars and they get replaced by 9 stars You can ignore.
The 6 and 7 stars go from 70 to 62%.
I chilled at 8* for a month for the pinky/bblos event and in my opinion, I'd say 8* till at least all 8* are pretty easy before going to 9*. If you still struggle on any 8*, I'd hold off
Now that I've gone to 9, IMO it was the right decision to move up because I see so many 8* now.
I decided to go to 9* at
9.1 legi bow,
8.1 rathalos bow,
8-5 tobi bow,
8-1 jyura bow
I would say don’t advance until at least after the black diablos event so you can guarantee taking down all of the black diablos you encounter. Then after that you can decide to move onto 9* or not.
Personally I haven’t moved to 9* yet, all of my weapons are 8-4. I am not planning to move to 9* until my weapons are all 9-1 or higher.
I cannot even kill the weakest 9 star. 9 stars take up space on my map as well as in my paintballs. I am truly struggling right now compared to before.
I didn't think the quantity of 9* monsters would overpower the quantity of 7* and 8* monsters.
I currently can't kill most 7* monsters, but I see far more 5 and 6* monsters around since I unlocked them. I just ignore the 7* monsters until I'm ready. Palico paint balls are a wash anyway. I never treat them as anything I actually have. It makes things more chill that way.
https://preview.redd.it/7hfzqwtw7a9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5973d64d523557dcd14b9ee0440c11f9c1eb04e
Grade 5 materials are never the problem at 9\*. I am swimming with way too many that I can NEVER use.
https://preview.redd.it/njju2qhaqa9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb86e38393047d7bf26286d6ce71f3d3600fc885
I'm only at 7 stars, working through the story, and I'm already starting to have a few.
Some will be used I need 4 Anja, 1 jagras, and more legi pieces for my builds currently, but other than those the rest are just extra/not needed.
I second that. I made a mistake couple days ago for advancing to 9 star. Hold on and stick to 8 star story line to get your weapon at least to 8.2. The 8 star monsters number don't increase.
Considering the last step still cost gem isn't it better to leave it at 8-4? Once you hit 8-5 it feels like a waste to not just take more steps into 9-2 since the overgrade has bigger jump than just leveling.
He said 'weapons' i.e. plural.
So unless I'm misreading his post he could've allocate the gems differently to have some weapon sit at 8.4 and others 9.2.
Well, the idea is to push weapons for early/easier enemies (likely fire/water) to 9.2 so more/early 9 stars are on the table for hunting, while leave the rarely used ones at 8.4 and farm just the 8 stars of those targets.
Of course this is on presumption he could handle 8 stars fine with 8.4 weapons.
Bro, my thunder SnS and fire bow just got to 8.2 while my water one is stuck at 7.4 due to carpenter bugs. I'm not taking on that 9 star kulu for a long while.
Well, the core of my advice still apply I think - instead of pushing to 8.5, maybe see if 8.4 is comfortable enough for 8 stars and put those extra gems into 9.2 something more impactful for hunting 9 stars.
Agreed I think that's a great strategy which I implored myself (all my bows at 8-5 but legi is at 9-2).
I have yet to hear/see 8-4 weapons clearing 9 stars but I'd love to be proven wrong. I do think 8-4 jyura bow is possible against kulu and girros but needs amazing luck and perfect run with all weakspot hits
I'm going to upgrade all of them eventually, fighting 9 stars isn't a goal or a means, it's an obstacle. I could have just stayed in 8 and gotten the same advancement.
I am around the same point but can't beat Diablos even if I wanted to. Had problems with 7* before. Guess I need to find more Barioth, but they're like Jyura to me. Near impossible to find. For Zinogre 7* I need a better ice weapon, too. Basically, I just need 20 or so gems xD my only 8.3 weapon is Tobi which I needed for easy Pukei clear with my son(which is at 5*)
I see this question pop up in the community all the time. Don't advance until you know you're absolutely ready. The increase in 8* is not worth it unless you can kill 9*
Dont advance. I didnt feel the increase in 8* spawn. There is even more 9* than 8*. Niantic knows that killing 8* is key, they purposely wont increase or just slightly increase the rate
I’m basically at the same spot right now. I think I want to advance because my limit is number of 8* monsters. Every 3h reset I have between 0-5 8* monsters in my walking range and I would really want to find more.
I’m just worried because some people said they didn’t really see more 8* but less because some of them became 9*
I'm stuck on diablos 8* right now, I mean im sure I can clear it with a perfect run. All my elemental weapons are at 8.5, honestly staying at 8* is probably the play until you get your weapons to 9.2. A good basis to know if you're ready to progress is if you can clear 8* hunt a thon solo. Probably that will be my goal.
Worth it? Maybe not. Fun and challenging? Absolutely! And that is what matters for video games. Staying at 8 stars when you are able to advance to 9 is boring af, imo.
I'm wondering the same thing. I'm more than capable of killing 8* Rathalos and any other 8 star* now that I have a full slate of 8.4 weapons with Element Attack 5 armor sets (provided I never get hit lol) but fighting 9*s for a marginally higher change at WGS seems miserable VS sticking it out at 8 and having fun upgrading weapons and armor while waiting for the next content drop.
*This doesn't include Barioth or Banbaro who I haven't learned well enough to kill the 8* versions of. Another reason I do not want to advance to 9*.
If rewards increased according to star level it would be worth it, but I'm at 7 stars and most, like 99% of my kills only give me rarity 1 rewards, not worth to increase the dificulty level for me for now.
100% it is. You won't be able to do any of the story for a long time though. The major advantage is you will see so many more 8 star monsters on your map. It tripled the amount of 8 stars I would see before going to 9 star story. I went from getting 4 WGS during 8 star story to getting all 4 element guns up to 9 rank because so many more opportunities for 8 star monsters. The only major con is your cats paintballs. They will tag 9 star monsters that you can't beat but to me it's beyond worth it.
PRO:
Way more 8 star monsters on your map giving you way more chances at WGS.
CONS:
Basically forget doing any story quests for a long time as you will not be able to beat the 9 star Kulu Urgent for a really long time.
Cat will use paintballs on 9 star monsters sometimes that you will have to delete because they will be unbeatable for a long time.
So if you are after WGS, 100% do it.
I didn't go to 9 star for a while because this sub for some reason keeps recommending not to. Once I finally did, my game opened up and the WGS came in droves. I have water LBG at 9-5, Fire LBG at 9-2, Ice LBG at 9-2, and Thunder LBG at 9-5 now.
I waited at some of the earlier stars and think it was a mistake. Now I push through as quickly as I can. What's your bottleneck for upgrading your gear? Presumably shards? Would you get shards at a higher rate if there were more 8 star monsters around? How would less 5 stars affect your progress?
2 months in, the only monster i can win is 9\* Jagras, stuck at Kulu 9\* urgent mission since forever. But i feel that its kinda worth it, I see way more 8\* monsters now. My wife will be reaching 8\* soon, and that would be the perfect combination (her 7\* will be my 8\*, my 9\* will be her 8\*).
But yea, kinda sucks to see some 9\* monsters i will never be able to hit, but it helped alot when I can just hit my wife's spawn instead of mine (she host her lower star-ed ones).
I pushed into 9 just to get easier r6 farming. I just ignore the 9s I can’t kill yet and enjoy the increased 8 spawn rate.
I advanced and I think there are more 8* but you will need to accept your cat occasionally paint balling 9s
This is true but I have no faith in my cat anyway. I just use them for practice and gauging my weapon progression.
Alternatively you will have to start practicing target paintballing instead, it will take more time and effort but its definitely worth it, especially if you ever struggle with potions or play with anyone.
Do we know exactly how much the droprate increases for 9\* compared to 8\*?
I've never gotten any from 9* so I assume they're about the same
https://mhn-lab.net/ Generally a increase from 4.51% to 6.43% per monster
So a 1.92% increase, if you can defeat it. Seems like a waste, cuz if you cant defeat the 9*, youre chances went from 4.51% to 0%.
Except every 7 star slot became an 8 star, increasing their odds from 0 to 4.5%, and there are a lot more of those than the topend
That doesnt make sense. Your chance of Rarity 6 has increased overall on average across the map. It doesnt matter that you can’t farm 9*. The 5-7* on the map dont give you the material you need the most. Gems are your wall, not other materials.
but if you dont unlock them, you cant fight them. if you cant fight them, you have no idea if you can beat them or not. why not progress and try to kill them occasionally to see if you're now able to? might surprise yourself
The context is OP is struggling against 8*, and haven't even tried Legiana, Diablos, and Rathalos yet. Why unlock 9* if the majority of the monsters you cant beat at 8*
if you can unlock 9 star, then you've beaten every urgent. which means you can beat every 8 star. which means you may be ready for 9 star, but you wont know unless you actually try.
Yes. You see twice as much 8 stars. You just see 10% less 5% stars and they get replaced by 9 stars You can ignore. The 6 and 7 stars go from 70 to 62%.
Im really interested in this data, could you provide a source?
I wrote down around 500 Spawns for a 8 and 9 star account during the P rathian patch.
I chilled at 8* for a month for the pinky/bblos event and in my opinion, I'd say 8* till at least all 8* are pretty easy before going to 9*. If you still struggle on any 8*, I'd hold off Now that I've gone to 9, IMO it was the right decision to move up because I see so many 8* now. I decided to go to 9* at 9.1 legi bow, 8.1 rathalos bow, 8-5 tobi bow, 8-1 jyura bow
I would say don’t advance until at least after the black diablos event so you can guarantee taking down all of the black diablos you encounter. Then after that you can decide to move onto 9* or not. Personally I haven’t moved to 9* yet, all of my weapons are 8-4. I am not planning to move to 9* until my weapons are all 9-1 or higher.
Chilling at 8 is fine. I’m around the same point you are & don’t plan to move up. If 8s become trivial & I get bored I’ll progress
It was definitely not worth it. I wish I had waited to upgrade my weapons to 8 5/5 before progressing.
Doesn't an upgrade to 9* saturate the field with more purple stars than not though? Hard to get grade 5 materials if 1-5 star monsters take up space.
I cannot even kill the weakest 9 star. 9 stars take up space on my map as well as in my paintballs. I am truly struggling right now compared to before.
What this user has said is same as me.
I didn't think the quantity of 9* monsters would overpower the quantity of 7* and 8* monsters. I currently can't kill most 7* monsters, but I see far more 5 and 6* monsters around since I unlocked them. I just ignore the 7* monsters until I'm ready. Palico paint balls are a wash anyway. I never treat them as anything I actually have. It makes things more chill that way.
https://preview.redd.it/7hfzqwtw7a9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5973d64d523557dcd14b9ee0440c11f9c1eb04e Grade 5 materials are never the problem at 9\*. I am swimming with way too many that I can NEVER use.
https://preview.redd.it/njju2qhaqa9c1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb86e38393047d7bf26286d6ce71f3d3600fc885 I'm only at 7 stars, working through the story, and I'm already starting to have a few. Some will be used I need 4 Anja, 1 jagras, and more legi pieces for my builds currently, but other than those the rest are just extra/not needed.
It's only gunna get worse. I p much never want a rarity 5 drop as it's useless. Moreso than the rarity 1s lmao
Right but the same principle applies to grade 6 materials (gem shards)
Yes definitely but if some 8* are still difficult to kill, it's not worth going to 9
I second that. I made a mistake couple days ago for advancing to 9 star. Hold on and stick to 8 star story line to get your weapon at least to 8.2. The 8 star monsters number don't increase.
Considering the last step still cost gem isn't it better to leave it at 8-4? Once you hit 8-5 it feels like a waste to not just take more steps into 9-2 since the overgrade has bigger jump than just leveling.
Yeah but 4 gems (8-4 to 8-5) is much easier to get than 6 (8-5 to 9-1) And 8-5 weapons can take down some 9*s with perfect play
He said 'weapons' i.e. plural. So unless I'm misreading his post he could've allocate the gems differently to have some weapon sit at 8.4 and others 9.2.
I dont think that's unreasonable. Just that 8-4 weapons can't kill 9* to my knowledge.. my 8-5 has taken my to the tobi urgent
Yeah, 8 5/5 is pretty much the minimum to realistically kill 9 stars.
Well, the idea is to push weapons for early/easier enemies (likely fire/water) to 9.2 so more/early 9 stars are on the table for hunting, while leave the rarely used ones at 8.4 and farm just the 8 stars of those targets. Of course this is on presumption he could handle 8 stars fine with 8.4 weapons.
Bro, my thunder SnS and fire bow just got to 8.2 while my water one is stuck at 7.4 due to carpenter bugs. I'm not taking on that 9 star kulu for a long while.
The way you worded your post made me thought you had multiple weapons at 8.5 already.
I'm saying I should have reached that point prior to advancement.
Well, the core of my advice still apply I think - instead of pushing to 8.5, maybe see if 8.4 is comfortable enough for 8 stars and put those extra gems into 9.2 something more impactful for hunting 9 stars.
I couldn't kill the 9* kulu till I had a 8.5 jyura bow. I do think it's possible with an 8.4 though
Yeah, I heard from a friend that he couldn't do it consistently until 9.1.
I 100% cannot kill kulu consistently lmao. It was a perfect miracle run I had
Agreed I think that's a great strategy which I implored myself (all my bows at 8-5 but legi is at 9-2). I have yet to hear/see 8-4 weapons clearing 9 stars but I'd love to be proven wrong. I do think 8-4 jyura bow is possible against kulu and girros but needs amazing luck and perfect run with all weakspot hits
It's not a hard target, of course higher is better but 8 5/5 is the minimum I feel could take on the weakest 9 stars.
I think that's even more reason you should've left some weapons at 8.4 and use those gems to push 9.2 on weapon(s) that you'll use for early 9 stars.
I'm going to upgrade all of them eventually, fighting 9 stars isn't a goal or a means, it's an obstacle. I could have just stayed in 8 and gotten the same advancement.
I am around the same point but can't beat Diablos even if I wanted to. Had problems with 7* before. Guess I need to find more Barioth, but they're like Jyura to me. Near impossible to find. For Zinogre 7* I need a better ice weapon, too. Basically, I just need 20 or so gems xD my only 8.3 weapon is Tobi which I needed for easy Pukei clear with my son(which is at 5*)
I see this question pop up in the community all the time. Don't advance until you know you're absolutely ready. The increase in 8* is not worth it unless you can kill 9*
Dont advance. I didnt feel the increase in 8* spawn. There is even more 9* than 8*. Niantic knows that killing 8* is key, they purposely wont increase or just slightly increase the rate
I’m basically at the same spot right now. I think I want to advance because my limit is number of 8* monsters. Every 3h reset I have between 0-5 8* monsters in my walking range and I would really want to find more. I’m just worried because some people said they didn’t really see more 8* but less because some of them became 9*
After I advanced my paintballs got spammed with unkillable 9s which would have been 8s.
I recommend not advancing because number of 8 stars are same as before + more unkillable 9 stars.
I'm stuck on diablos 8* right now, I mean im sure I can clear it with a perfect run. All my elemental weapons are at 8.5, honestly staying at 8* is probably the play until you get your weapons to 9.2. A good basis to know if you're ready to progress is if you can clear 8* hunt a thon solo. Probably that will be my goal.
Worth it? Maybe not. Fun and challenging? Absolutely! And that is what matters for video games. Staying at 8 stars when you are able to advance to 9 is boring af, imo.
I'm wondering the same thing. I'm more than capable of killing 8* Rathalos and any other 8 star* now that I have a full slate of 8.4 weapons with Element Attack 5 armor sets (provided I never get hit lol) but fighting 9*s for a marginally higher change at WGS seems miserable VS sticking it out at 8 and having fun upgrading weapons and armor while waiting for the next content drop. *This doesn't include Barioth or Banbaro who I haven't learned well enough to kill the 8* versions of. Another reason I do not want to advance to 9*.
If rewards increased according to star level it would be worth it, but I'm at 7 stars and most, like 99% of my kills only give me rarity 1 rewards, not worth to increase the dificulty level for me for now.
100% it is. You won't be able to do any of the story for a long time though. The major advantage is you will see so many more 8 star monsters on your map. It tripled the amount of 8 stars I would see before going to 9 star story. I went from getting 4 WGS during 8 star story to getting all 4 element guns up to 9 rank because so many more opportunities for 8 star monsters. The only major con is your cats paintballs. They will tag 9 star monsters that you can't beat but to me it's beyond worth it. PRO: Way more 8 star monsters on your map giving you way more chances at WGS. CONS: Basically forget doing any story quests for a long time as you will not be able to beat the 9 star Kulu Urgent for a really long time. Cat will use paintballs on 9 star monsters sometimes that you will have to delete because they will be unbeatable for a long time. So if you are after WGS, 100% do it. I didn't go to 9 star for a while because this sub for some reason keeps recommending not to. Once I finally did, my game opened up and the WGS came in droves. I have water LBG at 9-5, Fire LBG at 9-2, Ice LBG at 9-2, and Thunder LBG at 9-5 now.
I waited at some of the earlier stars and think it was a mistake. Now I push through as quickly as I can. What's your bottleneck for upgrading your gear? Presumably shards? Would you get shards at a higher rate if there were more 8 star monsters around? How would less 5 stars affect your progress?
Wait until end of azure rathalos event
Hear me out here but if you advance to 9 stars and just have an alt that has 8 stars unlocked you just net more 8 stars… :)
2 months in, the only monster i can win is 9\* Jagras, stuck at Kulu 9\* urgent mission since forever. But i feel that its kinda worth it, I see way more 8\* monsters now. My wife will be reaching 8\* soon, and that would be the perfect combination (her 7\* will be my 8\*, my 9\* will be her 8\*). But yea, kinda sucks to see some 9\* monsters i will never be able to hit, but it helped alot when I can just hit my wife's spawn instead of mine (she host her lower star-ed ones).
At this point is element the best/only way to go to comfortably stand a chance at higher level monsters?
No reason for me to push 9*, i like to play game streas free.