Monster Hunter: World has quite a lot of items to farm and collect. One of the most deviously rare drops is the coveted Monster Gem. They’re used to create armor sets, high-level weapons, and some of the best charms in the game. Of course, that only makes their scarcity more frustrating. You need to grind an awful lot of gems in the post-game.
So how do you raise your chances of grabbing this tough-to-get material? Our Monster Hunter: World gem guide will help you on your way!
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Capture Vs. Killing
Capturing monsters naturally increases the number of extra materials you get from whatever beast you face. So, naturally, you want to capture monsters more often than you kill them. Right?
Well, there are some pros and cons to both styles of elimination. Killing doesn’t yield as many rewards in total, but capturing also doesn’t increase the drop chance of rare items. You know what does? Slashing off monster parts (e.g. horns and tails). You can check exactly which body parts produce which gems by checking your journal.
The nice thing about killing creatures is that you have more total monster health to play with. It takes a lot of effort to cut off a tail, for instance, which might yield gems through extra carves on its own. But doing that extra damage also increases the odds of killing a monster outright by accident.
Time is also a factor. Killing a monster gives you 60 seconds to carve the carcass, collect items, and run back to a dropped monster tail to carve that as well. Dropped tails even appear on the map! You only get a fraction of that time if you capture a creature instead. So, if a monster drops a tail and flees to another area, make sure you carve its lost appendage first. That goes no matter what you’re doing, really.
Time is also a point in favor of capturing, though. You only need to bring a monster to about 30 percent health before you can trap it. That means it’s much faster to kidnap creatures than kill them all the way — which speeds up the process of farming the same monster over and over again.
In short: try to break a monster’s appropriate parts first. Then capture it. That won’t always be easy, or even possible, but it’s the goal you should at least shoot for every time while farming Monster Gems. Playing solo, or teaming up with friends that are on the same page as you, will help a great deal.
It’s also important to note that Elder Dragons cannot be captured at all. So don’t worry about them!
Use Investigations, Not Optional Assignments
Investigations are extra quests you can get from collecting tracks, breaking monster parts, and more. Investigations often have special restrictions — like a shorter time limit or only two hunters allowed on the quest— but that usually means extra rewards, too. These special quests offer additional materials on top of the normal monster carves and awards you get for completing the quest.
Normal investigation rewards are separated into three categories: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Gems have a chance of appearing as Silver and Gold rewards. Gems have somewhere between 6-8 percent chance of appearing as a Silver reward and 13-16 percent chances as a Gold reward. Taking on investigations is one of the best ways to get the Gems you need.
To get more investigations for a specific monster, simply take missions that force you to hunt it. Every time you gather that monster’s tracks, there’s a chance it will start an investigation back at HQ.
Take On Normal Investigations, Not Tempered Ones
If you’re going to take on investigations, it’s important to take the right ones in the first place. It’s the normal investigations that offer Bronze, Silver, and Gold rewards, with the increased odds of grabbing a gem.
Tempered Investigations set you against harder versions of the monsters you’ve come to fight throughout the game. You’ll know an investigation is tempered if the monster icon is outlined in purple. That’s not all, though; the rewards listed on the investigation will also be purple. Tempered rewards aren’t monster materials. Rather, they feature a chance of dropping rare Decorations and Streamstones.
Decorations and Streamstones are important for modifying your gear sets, but if you don’t have that all-important gear in the first place, it’s better to do the normal investigation to farm gems first. They’ll help you take on the tempered monsters down the line.
Use the Elder Melder
Have you been trying to get one gem forever, but just continue to have zero luck? Thankfully, the Elder Melder can help you out… if you have the right materials. You can make a gem with the Melding Pot, but doing so requires a Gold Wyverian Print. Currently, the only way to regularly get gold prints is by completing weekly Limited Bounties. Complete all three in one week and one of your rewards will be the Gold Wyverian Print.
Due to the scarcity of the print, it’s probably best to save this option for when you’re just tired of hunting the same monster again and again, without any no luck getting the gem you need. And consider saving it for monsters you actively have a tough time fighting.
The Palico Plunderblade
This one doesn’t work often. It’s a nice, passive way to farm more gems while you’re fighting monsters anyway, though. Your Palico can equip a Plunderblade for a tiny chance at grabbing gems off any monster it hits.
Technically, there’s a chance for the Plunderblade to steal any monster part. The odds of it being a gem are low — about one in a hundred — but it’s better than nothing. Just use it when you’re playing solo, and not too worried about losing, and it’s a great way to increase your odds over time.
And that’s it! There’s your guide to grabbing Monster Gems in Monster Hunter: World. It’s one of the most frustrating activities in the game (and the entire series, for that matter), so don’t feel alone. There are plenty of people out there who know just what you’re going through. Try to be patient and pull through this.
