Support Monsties: Best Builds & Skills
Support Monsties are the backbone of any well-rounded team in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, focusing on healing allies, buffing the party, and debuffing enemies. While they may not boast the highest raw damage, their utility is indispensable for prolonged engagements and overcoming challenging encounters. Their strength lies in their ability to sustain the team, mitigate damage, and create advantageous conditions for your offensive Monsties. A well-built Support Monstie can keep your Rider and other Monsties alive through the most brutal assaults, making them crucial for tackling high-difficulty quests and boss fights.
When building a Support Monstie, prioritize skills that enhance healing, provide buffs, or inflict status ailments that benefit your team. Essential skills include Heal Up XL, which significantly boosts the healing output of restorative abilities, and Support Boost, increasing the effectiveness of all support skills by 20%. For defensive buffs, consider skills like Defense Up XL, which provides a substantial boost to your team's defense, or Resistance Up, which increases resistance to all elemental damage by 15%. For offensive support, skills like Crit Rate Up can be invaluable, increasing the critical hit rate of all allies by 10%. A great example of a versatile Support Monstie is the Pukei-Pukei, which can learn several healing and status-inflicting abilities. Equipping it with Poison Attack +5 and Heal Up XL allows it to both debuff enemies and keep the party healthy.
Another crucial aspect of Support Monsties is their ability to manage the Kinship Gauge. Skills like Kinship Gain Up can accelerate the rate at which your Kinship Gauge fills, allowing for more frequent use of powerful Kinship Skills. Pairing this with a Monstie that has access to team-wide healing Kinship Skills, such as the Kirin's Lightning Blessing, can create a powerful synergy. For builds focused on debuffing enemies, consider Monsties that can inflict Sleep or Paralysis, and equip them with skills that increase the chance or duration of these effects. For instance, a Nargacuga with Paralysis Attack +5 can be a potent disruptor. Remember to consider the Monstie's natural elemental affinities when choosing skills; a Water-elemental Support Monstie might benefit more from Water Attack +5 to contribute some offensive pressure while still focusing on support.
Common mistakes when building Support Monsties include neglecting their own survivability. While their role is to support, they can still be targeted and defeated. Ensure they have at least some defensive skills or gear to keep them in the fight. Another mistake is not tailoring the support skills to the specific needs of your team or the challenges of the current area. If you're facing a boss that deals heavy elemental damage, prioritize resistance-boosting skills. If your offensive Monsties are struggling to land hits, focus on crit-boosting skills. A well-rounded Support Monstie build often includes a mix of healing, buffing, and potentially some offensive or debuffing capabilities, ensuring adaptability in various combat scenarios.