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A Hunter’s life isn’t all about beating up monsters to death and skinning them. Sometimes, the Research Commission will need you to catch monsters half-alive for research purposes unless you want the quest to fail. Fortunately, capturing monsters in Monster Hunter World is no complicated task. Capturing works like killing a monster; once put to sleep, they will be gone from the quest and despawn after a couple of minutes. You don’t have to worry about them escaping from a trap.
Items Needed to Catch a Monster
To capture a monster in Monster Hunter World, you will need two items:
- Tranq Bomb x2
- Shock or Pitfall Trap x1
You will need to use the Tranq Bomb twice near the monster’s body and then put a Trap below it. You can either Tranq Bomb them first, then place a Trap, or vice versa, but it’s more recommended to do the former. It’s because the Trap item has a time limit: a monster will only stay trapped for around 5-6 seconds before the Trap breaks. The more often you trap a monster, the shorter the duration of them getting trapped as well.
Below are the materials needed to craft items necessary for trapping monsters in Monster Hunter World:
| Item | Materials |
|---|---|
| Tranq Bomb | Sleep Herb + Parashroom |
| Shock Trap | Trap Tool + Thunderbug |
| EZ Shock Trap | Provided in the Supply Box during Capture Quests |
| Pitfall Trap | Trap Tool + Net |
| EZ Pitfall Trap | Provided in the Supply Box during Capture Quests |
While all non-Elder Dragons can be trapped, there are special exceptions in the Iceborne expansion. Zinogre’ll get powered up if caught in a Shock Trap, Rajang’ll immediately escape from Pitfall Traps, and Raging Brachydios is immune during its last phase. Traps cannot be placed on vine floors as well.
Capturing a monster in Monster Hunter World has several benefits. First, unlike in other titles, capturing a monster doesn’t yield different drop rewards compared to carving. And when a monster has been captured, it can be fought again once in the Arena as an Optional Quest. Because of that, it’s safe to capture a monster once they’re weakened to end the quest faster instead of killing it.
Monster Hunter World: When Can You Capture a Monster?
Non-Elder Dragon monsters can be captured once they are below 30% health. Of course, you have no way of knowing that unless you’re using a mod on PC, but there are signs that indicate they’re ready for capture:
- The monster starts limping and trying to walk out of the area.
- Starts dropping Slinger Ammo without being hit by Clutch Claw attacks.
- The monster’s heartbeat beside the minimap starts to flatline.
- A skull icon appears on the monster’s icon in the minimap.
The Best Strategy to Capture a Monster
Waiting until it sleeps in its nest is the best way to capture a monster in Monster Hunter World. That way, you know your target isn’t going to run away, and you can safely drop the Bombs and Trap. Normal monsters usually can be found sleeping in these areas:
- Ancient Forest: Area 2, 6, 8, 14, 13, 16.
- Wildspire Waste: 3, 6, 10, 11, 14.
- Rotten Vale: Area 2, 4, 9, 13.
- Coral Highlands: Area 4, 5, 7, 9, 11.
- Elders Recess: Area 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10.
- Hoarfrost Reach: Area 3, 6, 7, 8, 13.
But occasionally, chasing it to different areas could be a huge pain in the neck. Especially when fighting the Rath family in Ancient Forest, where they will escape to the top of Area 16.
For that reason, as the monster starts limping away, you can shoot a Flash Bomb and put a Trap on its feet when it’s confused. This is especially effective on flying monsters since they’ll collapse on the floor first, giving you ample time to set up the Trap. Incapacitating it with a Clutch Claw wallbang beforehand also works wonders for capturing monsters in Monster Hunter World. For non-flying monsters, you can put a Trap on the path to their nest if you’re already familiar with their escape routes too.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
