Monster Hunter Wiki



Palicoes

Palicoes can join your hunter on Quests and help you hunt monsters and gather items.

Main Palico and Sub Palico

MH4U-Palicoes Screenshot 001

You can bring one Main and one Sub Palico with you on a Quest. If you want to bring Palicoes with you on a Quest, your first one must be your Main Palico. A second, Sub Palico can be selected from the Palicoes you have recruited.

Main Palicoes are created when you first start the game and create your character. They are with you from the very beginning of the story.


Recruiting and Dismissing Sub Palicoes

Recruiting


Sub Palicoes can be discovered while on a Quest or received from other players. There are also special downloadable Palicoes that you can recruit.

You can scout Wild Palicoes by talking to them. Wild Palicoes that you have scouted will appear at the end of the quest, and you'll be given the choice of whether to recruit them or not. (If you abandon a quest, you cannot recruit any Palicoes.)


Dismissing

You can dismiss Palicoes via the Palico Board found in your house or on Sunsnug Isle, or by selecting Palicoes from the menu. Dismissed Palicoes cannot be recruited again. Your Main Palico cannot be dismissed.

  • If you reacquire or redownload Palicoes, their level and equipment will be reset.


1st Stringers and Reserves

Except for your Main Palico, you can set Palicoes to be either 1st Stringers or on Reserve.


1st Stringers

MH4U-Palicoes Screenshot 004

You can assign Palicoes to special training or to accompany you on quests while in your house or on Sunsnug Isle. You can set up to five 1st Stringers at one time. Sub Palicoes who are on your 1st Stringer list can affect the Forte of your Main Palico.


Reserves

While they won't be training or accompanying you on quests, Palicoes on reserve can help you in other ways on Sunsnug Isle. Palicoes on reserve will have their equipment removed and sent to the Palico Box.


Palico Statuses

Enthusiasm

When a Palico's Enthusiasm is high, their actions during a quest and when you use them at any village facility will come with added bonuses. You can recover Enthusiasm by making them rest or by feeding them.


Forte

MH4U-Palicoes Screenshot 005

A Palico's inclination during a quest.

There is a special Forte reserved only for your Main Palico that can be influenced by other Palicoes' Fortes.

For example, if Palicoes other than the Main Palico possess the Healing Forte, the Main Palico will also use the Recovery Forte. If you want your Main Palico to use a variety of moves, make sure you have Palicoes with different Fortes on your 1st Stringer list.


Forte Types

Palicoes have a variety of different Fortes to help your hunter during a quest.


Leadership

A Forte reserved only for the Main Palico. This Forte wildly changes depending on the 1st Stringers's Fortes.

"I'm an old paw at this. Put me with lots of my pals, and I'll cherry pick from their skills!"

Ability: Grudge Attack


Fighting

"A weapons pro like me will dish out Felyne Fury Combos and power you up with Demon Horns!"

Ability: Felyne Fury Combo

Requires Skill Effect
Demon Horn Boosts Palico and player Attack for a short time.
Piercing Boomerang Causes Palico's Boomerang to glow and pass through targets.
True Demon Horn Greatly boosts Palico and player Attack for a short time.
Felyne Fury Combo+ Strengthens and adds hits to the Palico's Felyne Fury Combo.


Protection

"I'll block meownsters' attacks and mock 'em to draw fire. I play the Armor Horn, too!"

Ability: Provoker

Requires Skill Effect
Armor Horn Boosts Palico and player Defense for a short time.
True Armor Horn Greatly boosts Palico and player Defense for a short time.
Provoker+ Upgrades Provoker and lets the Palico super block.

*There is no skill for 3 Protection Palicoes.


Support

"I purrvide intel on meownster locations and status. I'm handy with Shock Traps, too!"

Ability: Cat Nap

Requires Skill Effect
Shock Trap Causes the Palico to sometimes use Shock Traps during Quests.
Tracker's Eye Enables the Palico to report a large monster's position/status.
Pro Trapper Increases the Palico's Shock Trap count and proficiency.
Cat Nap+ Upgrades Cat Nap to the fastest possible recovery time.


Healing

Recovers the hunter's Health or recovers Poison/Stench status.

"I'll blow a Health Horn or drop recovery items if you get in a purrdicament."

Ability: Parting Gift

Requires Skill Effect
Health Horn Recovers Palico and player Health.
Detox Horn Removes item usage blocks and Poison from the Palico/player.
True Health Horn Greatly recovers Palico and player Health.
Parting Gift+ Upgrades Parting Gift so better recovery items are dropped.


Bombing

"I use barrel bombs to blow up beastly meownsters! ...Furrgive me if I hit you, too."

Ability: Mad Bomber

Requires Skill Effect
Trap Rigging Causes the Palico to set Barrel Bombs in fellow Palico traps.
Bomb Duty Causes the Palico to attack with only Barrel Bombs.
Big Barrel Bomber Causes the Palico to rush with a Barrel Bomb L when enraged.
Mad Bomber+ Causes the Palico to rush with a Barrel Bomb L+ when enraged.


Stealing

"If a meownster gets careless, I'll frisk it for materials! Oh, and I like big boomerangs."

Ability: Thievery

Requires Skill Effect
Mega Boomerang Upgrades the size and power of the Palico's Boomerang.
Boomerang Duty Causes the Palico to attack with only the Boomerang.
Stealth Decreases likelihood of Palico being targeted by monsters.
Thievery+ Upgrades Thievery so that materials are easier to steal.


Treasure

"Meow? Go on the offensive? Perish the thought! Purrcifists like me prefer gathering."

Ability: Gatherpaw

Requires Skill Effect
Hasty Harvester Increases the Palico's gathering speed.
Gathering Duty Prevents Palico from attacking so they can focus on gathering.
Gathering Scout Improves the Palico's ability to locate item Gathering Points.
Gatherpaw+ Upgrades Gatherpaw and causes the Palico to gather repeatedly.


Launching

Sends the hunter high into the air, creating an opportunity for a jump attack.

"Use me to leap up onto meownsters! I'll back you up with my Field Horn too!"

Ability: Cat-apult

Requires Skill Effect
Mounting Horn Lets Palico cheer on a mounted hunter and boost their gauge.
Mounting Damage The Palico's melee attacks make monsters easier to mount.
Cat-apult Taunt Creates a Taunt effect when Palico acts as a springboard.
Cat-apult+ Palico acts as a springboard for a longer duration of time.


Stamina

"My beautiful meowling will spurr you on and stop your Stamina from depleting!"

Ability: Meowrale Boost

Requires Skill Effect
Grudge Forte Skills more likely to trigger when taking damage.
Recovery Attack The Palico's spinning attack sometimes restores health.
Exhaust Attack The Palico's spinning attack drains a target's Stamina.
Meowrale Boost+ Prevents even more Stamina loss after a Meowrale Boost.


Team Attacks

A powerful cooperative technique that requires two Palicoes. The type of attack depends on the Palicoes, and its effectiveness depends on their level. Bonus effects are tied to the Enthusiasm of the Main Palico.


Rath-of-Meow

"I'll blast at targets using my Meownzer tank. I do more damage at higher Levels!"


Purrtuoso

"I'll up your meowximum Health and Stamina and heal you. I do better when me Level is high!"


Flying Bomb

"I'll leap onto meownsters and slow 'em down. The higher our Level, the longer I purrsist."


Target Priority

Indicates which type of monster a Palico will attack when both small and large monsters are present. Target priority is dependent on the type of head equipment a Palico has equipped.


Palico Skills

Each Palico possess their own unique skill. These skills can be activated during a quest, a Meownster Hunter quest, or at the Casting Machine.

Quests Skills
Skill Effect
Blunt Weapon+ Increases melee attack power when using a blunt weapon.
Cutting Weapon+ Increases melee attack power when using a cutting weapon.
Fire Synergy Adds Fire Element to Team Attacks. Effects depend on which Team Attack is used.
Water Synergy Adds Water Element to Team Attacks. Effects depend on which Team Attack is used.
Thunder Synergy Adds Thunder Element to Team Attacks. Effects depend on which Team Attack is used.
Ice Synergy Adds Ice Element to Team Attacks. Effects depend on which Team Attack is used.
Dragon Synergy Adds Dragon Element to Team Attacks. Effects depend on which Team Attack is used.
Paralysis Edge The Palico's melee and ranged attacks gain Paralysis effects.
Poison Edge The Palico's melee and ranged attacks gain Poison effects.
Sleep Edge The Palico's melee and ranged attacks gain Sleep effects.
Blast Edge The Palico's melee and ranged attacks gain Blast effects.
Team Attack Boost Greatly upgrades the tools used in Palico Team Attacks, giving them new properties.
Team Attack+ Slightly enhances Team Attack Power.
Weapon Element+ Increases elemental properties of the equipped weapon.
Affinity Boost Increases likelihood of the Palico dealing critical hits.
Frenzy Punisher Increases Attack against frenzied monsters.
Artillery Meowster Increases the power of the Palico's Cannon and Ballista attacks.
Team Signal Allows you to give a signal and order Palicoes to do a Team Attack.
Felvine Bomb Enables a Barrel Bomb-wielding Palico to occasionaly throw a Felvine Bomb.
Block Boost Increases likelihood of the Palico blocking attacks.
Big Block Boost Greatly increases likelihood of the Palico blocking attacks.
Negate Poison Completely prevents the Palico from being poisoned.
Earplugs The Palico is unaffected by most monster roars.
Non-Stick Fur Palico Recovers quickly from effects like Snowman.
Omniresistance Slightly increases all Resistances.
Negate Wind Palico is unaffected by certain amounts of wind pressure.
Team Attack Haste Decreases the time between team attack activation and the application of its effect.
Team Attack Redux Allows a team attack to be repeated immediately if it fails.
Attack/Defense Up Increases Palico's Attack and Defense.
Gathering Ban Palico will not gather at gather points.
Bounceback Allows the Palico to get back on their feet quickly after taking damage.
Slackproof Prevents the Palico from slacking.
Speedy Recovery Speeds up Palico's natural healing.
Last Stand No second chances! The Palico won't revive, but their stats greatly improve.
Slacking Recovery Palico recovers health while slacking.
Nine Lives (Attack) Increases the Palico's Attack each time they revive. Effective eight times.
Nine Lives (Defense) Increases the Palico's Defense each time they revive. Effective eight times.
Enthusiast Reduces the amount of Enthusiasm lost after completing a Quest.
Casting Machine Skills
Skill Effect
Meowster Fishermyan Sometimes increases rewards earned from the Casting Machine.
Fearsome Fisher When using the caster machine, schools of fish are slower and easier to catch.
Handsome Haul Increases the casting machine's net size.
Arowana Catcher Increases the likelihood of catching Bomb/Burst Arowana with the casting machine.
Scatterfish Catcher Increases the likelihood of catching Scatterfish with the casting machine.
S. Goldenfish Catcher Increases the likelihood of catching Small Goldenfish with the casting machine.
Meownster Hunter Skills
Skill Effect
Melee Strike As a Meonster Hunter, enables a melee attack.
Melee Barrage As a Meonster Hunter, enables a devastating blunt melee attack.
Melee Onslaught As a Meonster Hunter, enables ultimate blunt melee attacks.
Ranged Strike As a Meonster Hunter, enables a ranged attack.
Ranged Barrage As a Meonster Hunter, enables a devastating ranged attack.
Ranged Onslaught As a Meonster Hunter, enables ultimate ranged attacks.
Bomb Strike As a Meonster Hunter, enables a bomb attack.
Bomb Barrage As a Meonster Hunter, enables a devastating bomb attack.
Bomb Onslaught As a Meonster Hunter, enables ultimate bomb attacks.
Melee/Bomb As a Meownster Hunter, enables a blunt melee or bomb attack.
Melee Attack+ As a Meownster Hunter, sometimes enhances blunt attacks.
Ranged Attack+ As a Meownster Hunter, sometimes enhances ranged attacks.
Bomb Attack+ As a Meownster Hunter, sometimes enhances bomb attacks.
Recovery Boost As a Meownster Hunter, enhances health recovery effects.
Skill Technician As a Meonster Hunter, makes Palico Skills trigger more often.
Treasure Hunter Sometimes increases rewards earned.
Experience Boost Increases Meownster Hunter and Casting Machine experience.
Reward Reaper As a Meonster Hunter, sometimes increases the rewards earned.
Palico Facilities Skills
Skill Effect
Wild Card May trigger a random Meownster Hunter/Casting Machine skill.


Palico Facilities

Deploy/Train Settings

You can set your Palico settings via the Palico Board in your house or at Sunsnug Isle.


Deploy

Your Main Palico will accompany you on a quest when they are set to Deploy. You can also set one Sub Palico to Deploy. If your Main Palico is not set to Deploy, you cannot bring a Sub Palico with you.


Train

Palicoes will train either in your house or at Sunsnug Isle when set to Train. Even though they're not on a quest, training allows Palicoes to boost their status slightly. However, they will not train if their Enthusiasm is too low.


Rest

Palicoes will rest and slowly build up the Enthusiasm.