Does anyone know of a good article covering how the Palico minigame works? And recruiting palicoes in general. Like, what different traits are out there, is there any way to influence which you get, is there an efficient way to power level them, etc...
Certain types of cats tend to show up in certain maps.
I can't tell you much about leveling them or choosing specific types since I don't really bother with that stuff. I will say that I like bomb cats as a ranged player and support cats otherwise.
As for Meownster Hunters, you want to get 1-2 cats with Unreal Blocking. It's very useful, although near as I can tell the only way to get it is just to keep recruiting cats.
Before sending them out take a look at the abilities that show up on the route you're sending them on and counter them, it's rock-paper-scissors. The final enemy on the route is always by far the hardest so make sure to counter its attacks. Having multiple bomb attacks will power up your bombs, etc. Sometimes you'll see an enemy with two ability types - what I do in that situation is I use cat attacks that aren't weak to either ability. Even if it's not 'strong' against that monster, unreal blocking will probably keep you going until it's defeated.
If you see a star on the route, that means Trenya will show up. He was a recurring character in past games and will give your cats scraps from monsters that aren't in MH4U. It's how I got my sweet ass Wroggi hat.