Oh mannnn, I went back to that same quest I was doing with my friend last night (it's just a gathering quest) and that monkey jumped me again! I stupidly didn't make sure to restock my mega potions (and there were no supplies on that quest), so I was light on healing. I fought him hard for like 15 minutes and I had him on the ropes. the last 5 minutes of the fight I had like 20% HP and trying to be super careful but he still managed to win. I'm restocking my potions and going back in now. I'm gonna git you, monkey.
In retrospect I think maybe if I had taken one of the times he had run away to go gather some honey and herbs and stuff to make some more potions I probably would have beaten him easily. When monsters run away do they restore their HP over time and if so how much? If you take 5 minutes to gather some items while he runs will he be full HP again?
ed: Oh btw, my new bow split shots like 4 or 5 arrows, I discovered. Does each of those arrows do full damage, or is the bow's damage split 5 ways? I wasn't aware there were such drastic differences in the way weapons worked within the same type of weapon.
You're getting the hang of it. At first you were lost with the monkey but with time, trial and error, and experience, you're learning it's patterns, personality, and moves. That's the case with every monster. The first time you fight a monster it is best to lay low on attached and try to see a pattern. However, some monsters, regardless of how much you know their patterns, can still be a pain.
Try to always be at full health or near it, especially as a gunner.
Was the monster limping when it ran away? Most monsters leave areas just to try to escape you or to eat other monsters for stamina. They only regain HP when they go to their "lair" to sleep. Even when they sleep, the health gained is low and you'll have enough time to do what you want. Provided that the monster is attacked before it wakes up naturally, it will always be near death, but if it wakes up naturally it won't be as near death as you'd like (it can't be captured if it wakes up on its own I think).
You might be asking how can you tell if it's limping or about to go to sleep?
Usually the monster has a unique animation when leaving the area you're in (called limping) where it looks like it is trying to escape, but in pain. Usually this is seen by the monsters being extremely slow to leave and either stumbling instead of walking/running or trying to escape while dragging their legs.
If the monster leaves an area and it looks like it is healthy (it just normally flies or runs away quickly without any noticeable pain), then it is not close to death.
Once a monster is limping, it means it is near death, could be captured if you want to capture it, and will try to regain HP by sleeping in its lair.
I recommend using the Queen Blaster since Kecha Wacha (the name of the monkey) is weak to fire.
Always stock up on supplies and always eat at the kitchen/canteen before you do anything, always.
If you saw Gaijiin Hunter's tutorial, you'll see that each individual arrow does less damage but together they're quite strong. Arrows that spread like that are best used against wide monsters.
A thing YOU MUST learn as a bow user is critical distance. If you're shooting your arrows from too far away (and possibly too close too), you will notice that when you land your shots, nothing really happens. This means your arrows are doing useless damage, they're super weak.
However, when you're around mid to close range, and you fire your fully charged arrows, you may sometimes see that your screen visibly shakes/you feel a rumble once you land your shots. This means your arrows are doing as much damage as possible, critical damage if you will. I believe the damage is multiplied 1.5x
Also, the best coatings (arguably) to use are the power coatings, as they too also multiply your damage by 1.5x
You can buy coatings at the shop, they are usually near the final pages of items to buy right before the monster ecology books that tell you about a monster, their weakness, and how to deal with them (if you buy an ecology book, you can read it by going to your start menu, clicking Hunter's notes, and then monster list to see information about the monster(s) featured in the books you buy, personally I bought them all when I could). Try to buy as many Coatings as you can that your bow uses.
But yeah, buy arrow coatings at the shop if you haven't already and learn to successfully land all your shots within critical distance. Like I said before, you know your shots are doing maximum damage when the screen shakes.
You equip coatings by holding L and then pressing X and B to scroll up or down (as opposed to using Y and A to scroll left and right for items). Once you've selected a coating, you equip it by pressing A+X simultaneously with your bow drawn.
Power coatings increase power, close range coatings are for close range but I don't think are as powerful as power coatings, post on coatings make it so your arrows can potentially poison a monster if enough arrows hit, paralysis coatings give you the potential to paralyze a monster in place for a while if enough arrows hit, sleep coating puts a monster to sleep if enough arrows hit (if the first hit on a sleeping monster is a melee hit, is is twice as much damage. Any other type of hit is three times as much damage), exhaust coatings tire a monster and drain their stamina if enough arrows hit (I believe they have to hit the head), blast coatings blow up a monster if enough arrows hit, and paint coatings paint a monster on your map so you can always know where it is for a certain period of time.
Note that not every bow can use every type of coating. To see which coatings your bow is compatible with, go to the start menu, then to equipment, make sure you're looking at your weapon on the equipment screen and then scroll right to page 4 to see which coatings you can use with that particular bow. Coatings that are grey cannot be used with the bow in question.
In fact, I'll help you out! For example, the Queen Blaster I can use poison Coatings, paralysis Coatings, paint Coatings, and close range Coatings.
Also, I was wrong, the Queen Blaster doesn't have fire element damage, my apologies.
-Alternis
To be honest, I think critical distance can only be not reached (your screen doesn't shake) if you're too far away. From my experience, I don't think you can get too close. I've seen my screen shake at point blank range so I'd imagine that's still critical distance. However, my knowledge is limited when it comes to bows. Until another member can confirm or deny, assume critical distance is around medium to close range (any range in which you feel the screen shake when you land your hits).
With bows that spread it is best to make sure each arrow hits, but also hits within critical distance. If for whatever reason your screen doesn't feel like it shakes at point blank range, take a few steps back and attack from a little farther away because critical distance takes priority.
However, if I am correct and close range/point blank range still causes your screen to shake once your arrows hits, I would strongly recommend buying and using the close range Coatings for your bow, as that'll just do even more damage and are the closest thing to power coatings you have with that bow.
