Each one has special effects suited for all the different fights you’ll go on a couple on offer are piercing for monsters with an especially tough hide, sticky that stick (duh) onto their target and then explode, plus there’s even a healing ammo that you can fire at allies to boost their health. Remember to vary your ammo though, which you do by tapping up or down on the D-pad. You aim it just like a gun with L2, and fire with R2. For those that prefer to hunt from afar (while your adorable Palico takes all the aggro), try the Light Bowgun. Getting up close and personal isn’t for everyone though. Once the sword in the top left is charged up, hit R2 to unleash it, which’ll boost your damage, change your dodge to a dash and help you resist knockback. Quick, with a respectable amount of damage, they let you get in and out of fights incredibly fast and let you go into demon mode if you press R2.

First off, the Dual Blades are probably your best bet if you’ve never played a Monster Hunter before. But instead of picking the one that looks like it’d make a monster cry at the mere sight of it, there are only a few that are suited to beginners. No surprise considering there’s a grand total of 14 weapons to choose from. When you start off in Monster Hunter World, the choice of weapons is slightly overwhelming. And if you're already looking for something more advanced, check out our big bounty of higher-level Monster Hunter World tips designed for the experienced hunter. But right now, you really need this Monster Hunter World starter guide. By the time you're taking on the wonders and horrors of High Rank play, decked out in resplendent dino-skeleton armour and rocking a super-specialised heavy gunner build, you'll look back at these naive days and laugh.

So let us get you over that initial hump. You'll live and breath this stuff before long, but at first it's all going to feel a little impenetrable.

And all of it is couched within menu upon menu of dense, glorious stats. Weapon classes, upgrade trees, items, and abilities offer unfathomable strategy for months on end.

Monster Hunter's combat is a deep, richly nuanced, and immensely gratifying affair, full of secrets, details, and evolutions to discover and master tens of hours into the game. As such, if you're a series newcomer - and particularly if you're playing solo, without a hunting squad to bounce ideas off - you're likely to find things a bit intimidating once you're past the barnstorming cinematic opening and into the game proper.

Mount and blade beginners guide