How play Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer with friends

To play Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer and join friends isn't the easiest thing in the world, as you'll need to join lobbies, learn the Hunter IDs of friends, and even form special squads through which you can team up to bring down major foes together. MH Wilds' online system isn't particularly intuitive on any level, especially joining SOS Flare requests in random matchmaking and multiplayer, so if you want to play with friends, we'll explain how it all works below.

How to play multiplayer with friends in MH Wilds

If you want to join a friend and hunt with them in Monster Hunter Wilds' multiplayer, you need to do the following:

1. Go into the pause menu and check your Hunter Profile under the Info tab.
2. Check the Hunter ID written here. It should be a short serial code of numbers and letters.
3. Give this code to all the friends you want to play with.
4. They should go into the pause menu on their consoles and pick Player List and Hunter ID search, which is under the Communication tab.
5. They then type in your Hunter ID to find you, whereupon they can then Send a Friend Request.
6. At your end, you accept the request in the Invite Notifications List. From that point on, you'll be in each other's Hunter Friends list.
7. At that point, when you want to play, select that friend and press Invite to Link Party to connect!
8. When one player in a Link Party starts a quest, all players in the Link Party will get an automatic invite to join.

Because Monster Hunter likes to be difficult, this is different from a Lobby or Environment link, which allows players to enter the same server and exist in the same space temporarily. An environment link and shared lobby means that when somebody starts a quest with Alma, all the players in that Lobby will be able to join, but it's no guarantee, and a Link Party is better for players with whom you'll be playing regularly.

Oh, and don't worry - the system above is completely compatible with the Monster Hunter Wilds crossplay system, so you can enjoy the game with friends on any console or platform with this method.

Monster Hunter Wilds online matchmaking and SOS Flares explained

The other way to play multiplayer online is through SOS Flares, which is random matchmaking for Monster Hunter Wilds. When a player needs help with a hunt, they can choose to send an SOS Request through the radial communications menu at any point during the quest. Then, other players can go to Alma and look through existing SOS requests from other players - you can even narrow down and filter the requests you look through, such as narrowing it down to a certain difficulty or monster type - then choose one to join.

Want to show off to your friends? Find out how to get the best Monster Hunter Wilds armor here, or customize it however you want with our guide on how to change Monster Hunter Wilds armor appearance!

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