Upgrading your Palico companion and their gear in Monster Hunter Wilds is essential to bolstering your hunting prowess. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to effectively enhance your Palico’s abilities and equipment.

Upgrading Palico Abilities

Your Palico can gain several new abilities through the completion of specific quests. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how to unlock each ability:

1. Attract Vigorwasps
– Quest: Healing Help
– Process: Capture a Vigorwasp using your capture net. Completing this quest enhances your Palico’s capacity to attract Vigorwasps, providing healing benefits during hunts.

2. Flashfly Cage
– Quest: Flash Course
– Process: Gather flashflies using the capture net. This quest allows your Palico to deploy flashflies to blind monsters, offering strategic advantages in battles.

3. Plunderang
– Quest: Purrfect Plundering
– Process: Completing this quest enables your Palico to wield the Plunderang, which helps gather additional materials during hunts.

4. Vigorwasp Revival
– Quest: A Gutsy Move
– Process: By completing this quest, you upgrade your Palico’s Vigorwasp capabilities, further enhancing their healing functions.

5. Rath-from-Above
– Quest: Rath-from-Above, Go!
– Process: This ability becomes available after reaching High Rank 20. Hunt the Quematrice in an optional quest to unlock this powerful ability.

Leveling Up Your Palico

Once you’ve unlocked these abilities, the next step is to level up your Palico. This is straightforward—you simply need to take your Palico on hunts. By engaging in battles and completing quests, particularly after unlocking High Rank content, your Palico can achieve levels up to 30. Each level gained enhances their Support Moves and overall effectiveness in combat.

Upgrading Palico Gear

To further amplify your Palico’s role in battle, upgrading their gear is crucial. Here are the key steps:

– Crafting Armor and Weapons: Utilize materials obtained from defeated monsters to forge specialized armor and weapons for your Palico at the smithy. This not only enhances their defensive and attack capabilities but also allows for a degree of customization in their looks and functionalities.

– Select Effective Weaponry: Equip your Palico with weapons that induce conditions like paralysis or sleep. Options such as the Felyne Barina Needle or the Rompopolo Blaster can dramatically improve their utility in hunting situations, allowing for more strategic engagement with larger monsters.

Tips for Maximizing Palico Utility

– Complete Relevant Quests: Prioritize quests that unlock and upgrade your Palico’s abilities. The more abilities your Palico has access to, the more versatile they become in various hunting scenarios.

– Engage in Regular Hunting: Make a habit of taking your Palico on hunts to steadily gain experience and level up their skills. Continuous engagement in gameplay is key to maximizing their potential.

– Customize Gear Thoughtfully: Leverage crafted equipment to bolster your Palico’s support capabilities. Tailor their setup based on your specific hunting style or the monsters you are targeting.

By following these strategies, you can significantly enhance your Palico’s effectiveness and utility in Monster Hunter Wilds, making them not just companions, but invaluable assets in your hunting adventures.