In Monster Hunter Wilds, you only have one Felyne companion to assist you during hunts, but this single Palico can provide tremendous support with the right equipment and skills. While your Palico may be small, it can significantly impact your hunts through strategic weapon choices and unlockable abilities.

Best Weapons for Your Palico

After defeating Nerscylla, you’ll be able to craft special weapons for your Palico. The Nerscylla Felyne weapons are particularly powerful as they come with a sleep status effect. With these weapons equipped, your Palico can induce sleep on monsters at least once per hunt, creating perfect openings for powerful attacks or giving you breathing room during intense battles.

These sleep-inducing weapons are considered among the most effective options for your Palico, as the sleep status provides strategic advantages that other weapon effects might not match.

Basic Palico Skills and Attacks

Your Palico comes equipped with several basic skills that prove useful during hunts:

1. Heals – Restores your health during combat
2. Cleanser – Removes negative status effects like poison or paralysis
3. Shock Trap – Temporarily paralyzes monsters
4. Small Bomb – Deals explosive damage to monsters
5. Horn – Increases your attack power
6. Decoy – Distracts monsters to create attack opportunities

To maximize your Palico’s potential, you’ll need to complete specific side missions that involve capturing environmental creatures and hunting monsters. These missions unlock valuable additional skills that can significantly enhance your hunting experience.

Side Mission Unlockables

Completing side missions will grant your Palico these powerful abilities:

1. Boomerang – Allows your Palico to steal monster materials during hunts
2. Flying Turret – Provides long-range support attacks
3. Flashbomb – When deployed and struck by players, creates a flash effect that stuns monsters
4. Big Vigorwasp – Deploys a large Vigorwasp that provides substantial healing
5. Revive – Allows your Palico to revive you once per hunt if you fall in battle

Your Palico will sometimes hint at environmental traps you can use. Additionally, capturing specific environmental creatures unlocks special abilities:

• Capturing Flashflies enables your Palico to deploy flashbombs during hunts
• Capturing Vigorwasps allows your Palico to deploy healing Vigorwasps and gain the ability to revive you

Tips for Maximizing Palico Effectiveness

• Complete side missions before tackling difficult hunts to ensure your Palico has access to its full range of abilities
• After defeating Nerscylla, prioritize crafting its weapons for your Palico to gain the sleep status effect
• Pay attention to your Palico’s environmental hints, as they can lead to advantageous hunting situations
• Consider which Palico skills would best complement your hunting style and prioritize unlocking those

With proper equipment and unlocked skills, your Palico companion can become an invaluable asset in Monster Hunter Wilds during hunts, providing support, healing, crowd control, and even a second chance if you fall in battle.