ugh, gaf has convinced me to buy another game. Thanks gaf. I hope I don't regret it like I did The Evil Within. Midnight eshop download for me.
As a new monster hunter player, can I get some tips?
Weapon types in MH are kind of like characters in a fighting game, pick the one you like and learn its moveset. The game isn't about memorizing complex combos, rather you need to focus on safely and consistently hitting the right parts of the monster. What are the right parts? Well, if you're bouncing off, that's probably not the right part.
When a large monster spots you, your character's run animation (while your weapon is sheathed) changes a little. It'll look like a silly panic run when you run away from the monster, but the important thing is if you dodge during this run animation you do a 'superman dive'. This dive has a very long animation that is mostly invulnerable, so while it looks silly it's amazing for dodging attacks that would be otherwise unavoidable.
Drooling = tired monster. It will have slower attacks and be generally easier to fight, traps and such will be more effective. It will try to escape and eat to regain stamina.
Limping = almost dead monster. It will try to escape and sleep to regain health. Once it's limping, you can catch it in a trap and throw two tranquilizer bombs to capture (often better chance for rare rewards). I dunno if MH4 has capture-only quests but if it does, bring extra traps and tranqs before going in.
Treat it almost like a turn-based game, be patient. For example if you need to heal - back off and wait for an attack, dodge then chug your potion as the monster is charging away. Then wait for another attack before going back in. As long as you don't get greedy and try to do too much between monster attacks, you should be able to avoid getting mauled. It's going to happen anyways, though - MH isn't easy but it's worth the effort.