Top Monsties For Completing and Solving in Monster Hunter Stories 3

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In the mainline Monster Hunter games, any monster can be dangerous, but the later ones tend to be tougher. The same is true in Monster Hunter Stories 3, both for the monsters you fight and the Monsties you travel with. Because of this, some Monsties naturally stand out as better than others. While all can be made stronger with effort, the top-tier Monsties don’t require much customization to be effective.

Monstie Tier List Explanation
To understand our rankings, it’s helpful to know how we define each tier:

S Tier: Monsties that are incredibly strong right from the start, with high base stats and powerful genes.
A Tier: Monsties that can become very strong with a little gene adjustment and have good overall trends.
B Tier: Monsties that need some work and have more niche roles, but still perform well with some customization.
C Tier: Monsties that are decent but require a lot of effort to be useful; their stats and skills are more specialized.
D Tier: Monsties that are weaker overall, mainly useful early in the game or in very specific situations, and need extensive work to be viable.

Any Monstie can be improved through gene editing, but top-tier Monsties are naturally powerful, and their advantage only grows with the Rite of Channeling and Excursion features, widening the gap further.

Note: This ranking does not consider the many dual-element Monstie combinations, as the variations are too numerous to include here.

S Tier Monsties

These are the best Monsties, usually unlocked late in the game. They possess some of the highest stats, and their default skills and genes make them capable of handling most battles with little need for customization. Many are difficult to obtain early on, but they excel in combat.

Monstie	Reasoning
Malzeno	One of the fastest and can heal itself with Blood Rite.
Velkhana	Extremely high overall stats, including HP.
Namielle	Maxed-out HP and defense, making it one of the tankiest.
Arkveld	Well-rounded with high stats and resistance to almost all elements.
Ratha	Locked to the party but versatile and treated as top-tier in all habitats for excursions.
Rathalos	Similar to Ratha in stats.
Azure Rathalos	Slightly more attack but less defense.
Dreadking Rathalos	Less defense, more HP and attack, with powerful new moves.
Stygian Zinogre	Very high stats, dragon element, and skills to boost Dragon attacks.
Thunderlord Zinogre	A stronger Zinogre with higher attack at the expense of defense.
Soulseer Mizutsune	Good stats and skills that increase evasion, boosting survivability, plus Burn infliction potential.

A Tier Monsties

These Monsties are easier to obtain, often available early or mid-game. They can be very effective after some gene adjustments, making them reliable in a variety of situations.

Monstie	Reasoning
Tobi-Kadachi	Remains powerful through the game and benefits from high Crit-Rate genes.
Rey Dau	Well-balanced stats, boosts Thunder attack and speed naturally.
Seregios	High Crit-Rate Skills and useful normal element, effective against certain enemies.
Silverwind Nargacuga	Highest speed and consistent Skills, very hit-oriented.
Grimclaw Tigrex	High attack, slightly fragile, but very powerful with buffs.
Brute Tigrex	Higher defense than Grimclaw but lower attack. Better early on but less damage potential.
Ivory Lagiacrus	Found early, with good stat trends and resistances.
Black Gravios	Highest HP and defenses, very tanky.
Gravios	High defense and slightly lower HP than Black Gravios.
Dreadqueen Rathian	Strong HP, attack, and speed, but lower defense; good for aggressive play.
Glavenus	Balanced stats, solid default skills.
Hellblade Glavenus	Very high HP and attack but very low defense.
Espinas	High stats, resistant to all elements.
Diablos	Strong overall and high stats, even against Elder Dragons.
Black Diablos	Higher attack but lower defense than standard.
Bloodbath Diablos	Maxed attack and HP, with little defense.
Magnamalo	Good all-around stats with the ability to inflict Blastblight naturally.
Deviljho	Very high attack with skills to increase power.
Brachydios	High attack and HP, with Blastblight skills.
Astalos	Team focused on high attack and speed, with thunder attacks.
Boltreaver Astalos	More attack and HP at the cost of some defense.
Odogaron	Extremely fast, can inflict Bleeding, and self-heals.
Ebony Odogaron	Higher attack, HP, and Dragon element, but less defense.
Zinogre	All-around high stats with powerful Thunder attacks.
Mizutsune	Good attack and evasion-focused skills.

B Tier Monsties

Relatively easy to find, these Monsties work well with some gene adjustments. They fill specific roles but aren’t as versatile or powerful as higher tiers.

Monstie	Reasoning
Tigrex	Balanced stats, but without the mutations’ expertise.
Lagiacrus	Better defense than Ivory, but less potential without mutations.
Rathian	Strong early-game, but lagging behind more advanced variants.
Pink Rathian	Slight improvement over Rathian but still not top-tier.
Almudron	Useful with mud-related skills, but overall modest stats.
Barioth	Faster and more versatile than Tigrex, with a similar role.
Sand Barioth	Ice element swapped for Normal; slightly lower defense but higher attack.
Legiana	Good stat spread and signature ice attacks, but somewhat generic.
Nargacuga	Fast and hits hard but lacks the precision of Silverwind.
Green Nargacuga	Adds some powerful skills but overall weaker stats.
Deadeye Yian Garuga	Better attack and HP, but more needs to be done for utility.
Garangolm	Defense-oriented, but less overall than Gravios.
Canyne	Fast with powerful skills, but weaker stats.
Khezu	Capable of inflicting paralysis, but not outstanding.
Red Khezu	Better defense but still limited usefulness.
Lunagaron	High attack and speed; needs more default skills.
Goss Harag	Strong attack, requires tuning to reach full potential.
Shogun Ceanataur	Fast and durable with Bleeding skills, needs minor adjustments.
Shrouded Nerscylla	Better than basic Nerscylla due to skills but weak stats overall.
Rakna-Kadaki	Higher overall stats but no unique skills to capitalize on that.
Barroth	Great defense but lacks standout features.
Jade Barroth	Balanced, uses Ice, but still very standard.
Anjanath	Good attack but lacks unique traits.
Fulgur Anjanath	Higher HP and Thunder element, but no clear niche yet.

C Tier Monsties

These Monsties are the most basic. They can work in certain scenarios but generally require a lot of work to be effective.

Monstie	Reasoning
Aknosom	Decent stats but poor resistances and skills.
Yian Garuga	Balanced stats, lacks that standout feature.
Somnacanth	Good speed and sleep skills—useful niche.
Aurora Somnacanth	Same as Somnacanth but with Ice.
Royal Ludroth	Useful early but quickly outclassed.
Purple Royal Ludroth	Slight stat tweak but similar usefulness.
Arzuros	Weak overall and vulnerable to ailments.
Bishaten	Speedy with some gimmick Skills; niche utility.
Blood Orange Bishaten	Better attack and burn potential but still limited.
Plesioth	Decent stats but nothing special.
Green Plesioth	Similar to Plesioth but with higher attack and HP.
Tetranadon	Moderate HP and attack, low versatility.
Blangonga	Okay stats but very vulnerable to ailments.
Ajarakan	Can inflict Burn but weak overall.
Nerscylla	Poison and sleep potential, but weaker than Shrouded Nerscylla.

D Tier Monsties

These are the weakest, mainly useful early or in very niche cases. They often need extensive work to be played effectively.

Monstie	Reasoning
Velocidrome	Very fast, but nothing else noteworthy.
Great Izuchi	High crit-rate skills but poor overall stats.
Kulu-Ya-Ku	Good speed and defense buffs but limited elsewise.
Yian Kut-Ku	Low stats, no special skills.
Blue Yian Kut-Ku	Slight stat variation, still weak.
Gypceros	Can inflict Darkness but overall unimpressive.
Purple Gypceros	Similar to Gypceros, minor differences.
Paolumu	Decent defense but lacks offensive power.
Chatacabra	Some unique Skills, but stats are lacking.

This covers the Monsties available in the game. There are numerous ways to improve any Monstie further, like environment skills or dual-elements, so experimentation is encouraged to push beyond initial rankings.