Monster Hunter Stories 2 | How to climb vines

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin sees you wandering across wide-open spaces, as well as traipsing around monster dens and darker, narrow caverns. Most of the time you can explore everywhere without assistance, however, there are some obstacles you can’t always overcome. One of the first examples of this is vines, that you cannot climb. Often at the top of these vines are extra collectibles or chests, so it’s well worth exploring them. We’ll show you in this handy guide, exactly how you climb vines in Monster Hunter Stories 2.

What do vines look like?

Dotted around the various locales you can explore you’ll find sheer cliffs that are too steep to traverse normally. Attached to them will be some bright green leafy vines, which highlight that you can actually climb up them. Atop these areas will often be areas you can’t otherwise reach with treasure atop them. Alternatively, the vines will provide shortcuts to areas of the map that you can get to but require a longer route around, so it can be handy to climb them whenever you can.

How do I climb vines in Monster Hunter Stories 2?

Like other special traversal methods in Monster Hunter Stories 2, like swimming or jumping, to climb vines, you need to be riding a monster that has the special skill required to execute it. The skill in question is called “Ivy Climb” and so when you are looking through your Monstie collection and deciding which ones to take with you, you’ll want to make sure one of them has this skill. Then all you need to do is make sure you are riding that monster as you approach the vines, and a quick press of the action button will see you climb up to that new area.

Which Monsties have the Ivy Climb skill?

The biggest frustration you’ll likely have is that you start seeing climbable vines from very early on in the game, but it takes a while until you actually find a monster that has the skill you need. The first monster you can technically find on your journey that has the skill is a Tigrex that is found asleep as a Royal Monster in the Harzgai Rocky Hill area. The trouble is, as a Royal Monster, he will likely be too strong to take down when you first come across him, so it’s much better to continue your adventure and return here when you are stronger for an easier time.

Alternatively, if you progress the story further until you reach the Loloska region, you will find some pink monkey-type monsters called Congalala which also have the skill and are much easier to take down when you first fight them.

With the right Monstie and know-how, you should now be able to climb vines in Monster Hunter Stories 2