Monster Hunter Stories 2 — Monster eggs, genes, and Rite of Channeling guide

Monstie basics – Monster Dens, Everdens, egg rarity, and hatching in the stables

You’ll find lots of Monster Dens as you explore different zones in Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

The key facets to consider are the following:

• Regular Monster Dens – These are numerous, but randomness does apply. It means that going back and forth the hub/town or fast travel point can yield different results.
• Rare Monster Dens – These can also randomly appear in zones and they have a golden hue. As the name implies, they tend to have rarer eggs.
• Escapee Nests – These are also Monster Dens, but they’ll only spawn nearby if a particular enemy escapes after a battle.
• Everdens – Unlike Monster Dens, Everdens are permanent fixtures that remain marked on the map once you spot them. They also tend to look like blocky squares instead of having the conal shape of Monster Dens. Moreover, they’re your primary source for obtaining bottlecaps for the Melynx Inc. shop.

All types of dens in the game have a nest in a small chamber. This will have several resources (i.e., bones, ores, mushrooms, and flowers) that you should pick up before grabbing the egg.

In some cases, the nest will have a monster that will aggro once you’re close. In others, the monster might be asleep or out cold (i.e., after escaping a fight). And, yes, it’s also possible that the nest has no monster at the start, but it’ll appear once you’re trying to take the egg.

As for the eggs themselves, there are many times when you can only pick one out of the bunch (the rest would disappear). But, there are also moments when you can continue selecting one after the other until the entire set disappears.

Try to pay attention to what Navirou is saying. Navirou’s comments and the “glow” (once you pick up the egg) determines the egg’s rarity or the hatchling’s bonus stats. In general, you should prefer those with stronger smells and heavier weights.

Once you claim an egg, go outside the nest so you can fast travel back to the main area. Find more Monster Dens/nests if you wish, but take a look at the ones you already have by opening your menu and checking the “Egg Carton” screen.

Whenever you feel like it, you can return to any hub/town to hatch those monster eggs in the stables. Do take note of your stable limit, though, because you’ll only have space for 12 Monstie’s at the start of the game. You can add more slots by purchasing stable upgrades from the Melynx Inc. shop (i.e., you’ll go from 12 slots to 25 once you purchase your first upgrade).

All right, let’s go ahead and talk about Monstie genes and the Rite of Channeling in the next part of our Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin guide.