Hunter Rank, or HR, is the signature leveling system in Monster Hunter games, and it has made a return in Monster Hunter Wilds. However, it can be confusing to tell what the maximum rank is and what you need to do to reach it.

Monster Hunter Wilds Maximum Hunter Rank

Some armor is locked behind high ranks. Screenshot by Dot Esports

The Hunter Rank is a leveling system that increases as you complete mission quests and take down monsters. There is no other leveling system in the series, and there is no other way to increase your Hunter Rank other than playing through story missions. At the time of writing, there is no definite known hard HR cap in Monster Hunter Wilds. However, there are several soft caps that you will encounter while playing through the game.

Low Rank is essentially the category of ranks you achieve during the game’s main story. The maximum HR cap you can reach before the credits roll on the main story is HR 15. After reaching this rank, you will reach several caps that can only be unlocked progressively after completing several post-game chapters and missions.  You’ll know you’ve hit a soft cap between chapters if you notice your HR is no longer going up, and this means you have to complete the next specific chapter to lift the cap. After completing all post-game chapters, the maximum HR should then be HR 999, which would be consistent with previous Monster Hunter titles. However, at the time of writing this isn’t a definite cap.

Here are the currently known HR soft caps in Monster Hunter Wilds:

HR15: First cap after the main story
HR20: Second Cap before completing Chapter 4-2: Lurking Shadows (Investigating the Frenzied Shadow)
HR25: Third cap before completing Chapter 4-3: Wyvern Sparks and Rose Thorns (The Thundering Flowers)
HR30: Fourth Cap before completing Chapter 5-1: Storm-cold Vortex (Frozen Lord on the Precipice)
HR35: Fifth Cap before completing Chapter 5-2: A World Turned Upside Down (Shrouded in Black)
HR40: Sixth Cap Cap before completing Chapter 6-1: What Lies Ahead (Awaking From a Dream)

How to increase Hunter Rank in Monster Hunter Wilds

Hunter Rank is separated into two categories: Low Rank and High Rank. Low Rank is the first set of ranks you achieve by playing through the main story, the cap of which is HR 15. After playing through the main story, you will then transition into High Rank, where monsters will be more challenging and grinding becomes more necessary. Additionally, getting more high-rank armor and weapons will be extremely critical.

To increase your Hunter Rank, you must simply play through the story missions and hunt several monsters. Playing through optional quests will not increase your Hunter Rank. 1–3 star missions are Low Rank missions, while 4 stars and above are High Rank missions. High Rank missions have orange stars, while Low Rank missions have blue stars. This is an important distinction, especially when grinding or gathering materials for weapons and armor. It prevents you from wasting time on Low Rank Missions when you have a high HR.