Monster Hunter Wilds: Multiplayer and Support Hunters

Pick the multiplayer system that matches the job

At the title screen, choose a lobby type: Recommended Lobby for a public group, Lobby Search to find conditions or an ID, Private Lobby for an invite-only session, or Online Single Player when you want your own world. You can change the lobby later by speaking to Alma and selecting the lobby option. To share a private lobby, open Start Menu → Communication → Member List and give friends the displayed Lobby ID.

For a regular group that will run several quests, use Start Menu → Communication → Link Party and invite Hunter Friends. A Link Party can contain up to four hunters. It keeps the party together after a quest and shows members a prompt when somebody posts one, even if the group began in different lobbies. It does not put everyone in the same field automatically.

Use Environment Link for shared exploration

When the Link Party wants to travel through the same field together, the host sends an Environment Link invitation while not in an active quest. Accept it to enter the host’s environment for exploration and field hunts. Story progress can stop an invitation when one hunter has not reached that point, so use normal posted quests when the group is at different story stages.

You want to…	Use this
Find public players or join a known lobby	Recommended Lobby, Lobby Search, or a Lobby ID through Alma’s lobby options.
Run repeated posted quests with friends	A four-hunter Link Party.
Roam the same map and follow field targets together	Environment Link from a Link Party host outside a quest.
Ask for drop-in help mid-quest	An SOS Flare.
Keep the hunt to friends plus NPC help	Link Party invitations and quest settings that allow Support Hunters only.

Post, join, or call for help through Alma

Speak to Alma at camp and open the Quest Counter. Post/Join Quest lets you post an optional or available quest, look at Lobby Member Quests, Link Member Quests, or search SOS Flare Quests. When posting, set the player limit, a passcode if the hunt is private, recruitment text, and the multiplayer setting. The standard quest limit is four hunters.

After a quest begins, open Start Menu → Mission and Quests and activate the SOS Flare. The same menu lets you disable it. In the Quest Counter settings, choose whether the hunt accepts real players, Support Hunters, or both; an automatic SOS option can fire at quest start. If no player answers the flare, Support Hunters can fill the assistance role. A Link Party member can still join by invitation when ordinary cross-play matching is disabled for the posted quest.

Wilds supports cross-platform multiplayer on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. In Quest Counter settings, the host can choose platform permissions for public joins; make sure the group agrees before posting. Then return to the hunt basics: state whether the target is a capture, stop risky damage at the skull cue, and give teammates room when the monster changes target.

Group moment	Better habit
Monster is sleeping or near capture	Let the quest poster’s plan lead; stop attacks that may end the hunt incorrectly.
Teammate has aggro	Attack a reachable side, then leave room for the monster’s turn.
Monster moves areas	Restock or sharpen only if the route and timer give you room.
A player faints	Reset the pace and avoid turning the return into another rushed cart.

Connection, lobby, cross-play, and exact assistance settings can change with platform updates, so this guide does not promise a particular matchmaking outcome. The shared basics do not change: communicate the objective, recognise the monster’s state, and make the group safer rather than louder.