Hi, I’d like to suggest making Hunter Rank Level-ups feel rewarding, and something to celebrate.
My Experience:
Right now, Hunter Ranks don’t really do anything after the major milestones of HR11 (tutorial completion) and HR15 (unlocking the rest of the Weapons). There are minor milestones every 10 Hunter Ranks, but they are minimal and thus feel very “whatever”. Even then, those also stop at HR60, anyway. This is in contrast to regular MonHun where, while you still don’t get any benefits or buffs per individual rank, you continue to get unlocks (usually in the form of new monsters) at high major HR milestones like 50, 100, etc., so this makes levelling up your Hunter Rank in Monster Hunter Now not very exciting.
My Suggestion:
Since MHN functions differently on a fundamental level compared to regular MonHun games (can’t hunt at will, ranking up takes more points at higher HR, etc.), what I would suggest is not to start locking new monsters behind high HR requirements, but to instead add tiny permanent overworld buffs for every Hunter Rank level-up. I think it should not include any combat advantages, and instead should be things like:
- “Each Hunter Rank gives you +0.2% (example number) Wander Radius permanently”
or
- “Each Hunter Rank gives you a +1% Zenny bonus from successful Hunts”
or
- “Each Hunter Rank makes your HP regenerate +0.1% faster”
Alternatively, the rank-up perk could rotate between different bonuses per rank, e,g. HR2 = +1% Zenny, HR3 = +0.5% Wander Radius, HR4 = +0.5% HP Regen Rate, repeat. These example numbers are very small, but they’re just an example.
This would make ranking up your HR feel rewarding, without touching the core combat of the game (nothing that gives veteran players an unfair mechanical advantage), even if it’s a tiny overworlds buff per rank, it’d still be something to look forward to, and the bonuses would add up over your playtime. It would give players something to strive towards and look forward to every rank, and would motivate players to play more (so it’d be good for player retention and revenue, :P).
Thank you for your consideration!