Monster Hunter Rise Buddy Plaza guide: Palico, Palamute, hiring buddies, Meowcenaries, training, and more

Monster Hunter Rise is one of the best Nintendo Switch games out there. However, since it has so many layers to it, it can be a bit daunting for people to get into. To make fighting monsters easier, you'll definitely want to take advantage of the Buddy Plaza. Palicos and Palamutes are definitely cool, but they're more than just pets. In the Buddy Plaza, you can level them up in the dojo or send them off on missions to bring back awesome loot. Having the extra loot on hand will make it easier for you to upgrade your armor and weapons.

Note: You'll need to first hire Buddies from Buddy Handler Iori if you want to take advantage of everything the Buddy Plaza has to offer.

Where is the Buddy Plaza?

When you're in the center of Kamura Village, look towards your home, and you'll see a wooden bridge that leads off into some trees. Cross this bridge to enter the Buddy Plaza.

Hiring Palicos and Palamutes from Buddy Handler Iori

Iori helps you hire additional Palicos and Palamutes for your party in exchange for Zenny (the gold in-game currency). You'll get to choose from a list of buddies, each with different skills and levels. The higher the level, the more Zenny they will cost.

Make sure to consider both their equipable skills and stats instead of solely looking at their level when selecting one. Some of them have really dopey names. Fortunately, you'll be able to change their name once they're hired.

You can have 21 Palamutes and 21 Palicos, which gives you plenty of room to hire all of the cool Buddies you see. If you run out of room but still want to hire more, then you'll need to select Dismiss Buddy and choose a fur friend to say goodbye to. Once a position opens up, you'll be able to hire another Buddy. You can also Dismiss Buddies from the Buddy Board.

Palicos have one of five different support types: Fight, Healer, Gathering, Assist, and Bombardier. You'll want to consider which support types works well with your fighting style.

Recommended for Beginners: If you're new to Monster Hunter, then we highly recommend that you choose a Healer type. They will help you regain health and recover from various status conditions, so you don't always have to focus on doing it yourself while battling monsters.

Recommended for upgrading: If you're at a point in the game where you really want to upgrade your armor and weapons but are having difficulty getting the materials you need, you'll want to have a Gathering type in your party. They're more likely to help you get the materials you need faster.

Recommended for Endgame/Veterans: If you're a seasoned hunter or have been playing the game for a while, we recommend going with the Assist type or Fight type Palicos. Assist types will lay down traps making it easier to take down big prey, while Attack types will give you and themselves an attack boost.

You technically cannot customize a Palico or Palamute's coloring and body parts after it has been created. However, you can create a new one by asking Iori to Scout a Buddy. Selecting this option takes you to the buddy customization page that you encountered when the game started.

You'll be able to choose the fur coloring, tail types, patterns, and eye shapes of Palicos and Palamutes all over again. Plus, you'll also be able to choose the Support Type for any Palicos you create. Check back with Iori later, and you'll see a list of Buddies that closely resemble your search criteria, though there will likely be some slight differences between hiring options. Hire the Buddy that you like the look of best, and they can join your hunting party.

Meowcenaries

By talking to Chief Kogarashi (the cat in black armor), you can pay Kamura Points to send up to four Buddies on expeditions to fight monsters or gather plants in various lands. The reason to do this is that your Buddies will send back loot — The more Buddies you send, the more loot you will gain. Just note that you cannot send any Palicos or Palamutes that are currently in your hunting party or that are training at the Dojo.

If one of the boxes is sparkling, you might get special items when your Buddies complete that quest. As your personal level increases, your Buddies will be able to explore more locations and thus fight more monsters and gather different materials.

Note that there is an Expected Outcome meter that changes depending on the level of the Buddies you send. To get more goods, you'll want this meter to be higher. To do that, you'll want to send Buddies that have higher levels. To raise your Buddies' levels, you'll want to send them to the Buddy Dojo.

It will take some time for your selected Buddies to accomplish their tasks and send loot back to you, so check back with Chief Kogarashi regularly to Receive Items. If you want to pull a Buddy from a quest, you'll need to Recall all of the Buddies out on the mission.

Buddy Plaza Shrine

Just to the left of the Meowcenaries, you might have noticed a tree that has a scroll locked behind shrine doors. This gets unlocked when players complete all of the Village Quests.

from MonsterHunter

Cohoot's Nest

Just to the left of the Meowcenaries station, there's a tree with the Buddy Plaza Shrine in it. If you run around behind it, you'll discover vines going up the trunk. Climb up and you'll find your Cohoot's nest. Sometimes you'll find loot in here for you to grab, so check it often.

Training at the Buddy Dojo

The Buddy Dojo allows you to level up your Buddies without taking them on hunting quests. It's the perfect way to get weaker Palicos and Palamutes to get up to your level while you're out doing other things.

Talk with Buddy Expert Shurubei near the entrance to the Buddy Plaza to enter up to six Buddies. You pay Kamura Points by the round. Any rounds that have already been paid for are marked with a Green icon, while rounds you want to purchase are marked with a blue icon. If you use a special item like a Lagnaipple, it will give a special boost to the training sessions.

Source: iMore

Any Buddies training in the Dojo will show up fighting the mechanical Tetranadon in the center of the Buddy Plaza. It will take some time for your Buddies to level up, so check back on them in between your hunting missions. You can also take individual Buddies out of training without affecting the others at any time by pressing Select Buddies and then choosing the Palico or Palamute you want.

Buddy Board

The Buddy Board allows you to view any Buddies currently under your employ, change who is currently in your hunting party, and adjust both the equipment and settings for your Buddies. Note that you cannot forge or upgrade armor and weapons here, you can merely select from what's already in your inventory.

While there is an Appearance Settings tab, this does not allow you to customize the look of an established Buddy, but rather only allows you to change the color of their base outfit.

You can also choose to get rid of a Buddy by selecting Dismiss Buddy. Since there are 21 slots for both Palicos and Palamutes, you likely won't need to use this feature that much.

Note that Buddy Boards can be found in multiple locations. For example, near Hinoa the Quest Maiden. You can access all of the functions mentioned above from any Buddy Board, not just the one in the Buddy Plaza.

Trading with Rondine at the Argosy

By talking to Rondine at the Argosy, players can send Buddies off to trade for specific items. The amount of items the Buddy acquires and their effectiveness depend on a Buddy's Bargaining Skill. Using a Lagniapple increases their Bargaining Skill further. Once a Buddy is selected to trade, an adorable animation ensues showing a Buddy being sent off in a submarine.

Once a Buddy has been sent out, you'll want to check back frequently to see what goods they were able to send back. You'll need to exchange Kamura Points to purchase these items from Rondine.

Since I spend a lot of my time capturing monsters, I have my first Argosy Buddy looking for Thunderbugs so I can make Charge Traps easier. You can also purchase rare decorative items from Rondine to place in your home.

Hunter weapon training area

If you head right from the Argosy, you'll see two Palamute statues with a boat between them. Interacting with the boat brings you to the training area. This is the one area that's kind of out of place in the Buddy Plaza as it focuses more on the hunter than on your Palico and Palamute buddies. Here you'll be able to practice with the 14 weapon types available in the game.

The controls for the weapon you currently have equipped will be listed on the left side of the screen. Additionally, the training area will also help you understand what buttons to push to activate combos. You should definitely play around in here if you don't know what your preferred weapon type is. You can also join Hub Quests by interacting with the Quest Board near the training area entrance.

The start of a beautiful friendship

Palicos and Palamutes are absolutely adorable and can really help you on your journey to becoming a high-level monster hunter. Make sure to take advantage of all that the Buddy Plaza has to offer to become a powerful warrior.