Monster Hunter Tri - The MMO - Part 1: The Tank

So have you ever been playing Monster Hunter and thought, "Man I wish this game was more like an MMO?" No? Well neither have I, but Neon was bored last night and part of today and decided that she doesn't give a shit and that she wanted to make a team of players that was based on this thought. So, what does a good MMO team consist of? Well obviously you need a tank, lets start there:
(Disclaimer: This is not a serious 'High Tier' elitest set. This is a set for something to do when you have everything and for the pure enjoyment of trying something new in Monster Hunter. I am sorry if you do not have an open mind about that, you can leave now and save yourself some time. But just like speed runs, naked runs, etc. this is something you can do in your spare time for pure enjoyment.)

Well let's see, in Monster Hunter what are the kind of skills that you would like to have if you were trying to take all the damage off your team? Well obviously you need some sort of Defense boost; so why not just aim for AuL? What else? Well if I were a tank I would like to just NOT take damage if I could avoid it. In Monster Hunter that's kind of hard to do, unless of course you Evade or Guard. Evasion is good and all, and arguably better over guard (if you know what you are doing with it), but Neon and I both think that Guard is better for this set. There are a few reasons why; first, you're going to want to use a lance for this set, why? Because you can get a lance with Def+ and because your damage doesn't mean the most to this group it doesn't matter that those lances aren't the best. Another reason, counters. If you are the one is going to be taking all the punches from the monsters you are going to need to be able to counter if you want to be useful. So now I know you're thinking, "well how are they going to keep the monster from attacking other players and staying on them?" That's where taunt comes in. Done and done. Lets take a look at the armor set.

Weapon: Elder Babelspear
Slot: Iron Wall Jewel
Comments: +24 defense and 2 slots? Do I need to explain?

Head: Uragaan Helm+
Slot: Defense Jewel

Chest: Agnaktor Mail+
Slot: Defense Jewel

Arms: Uragaan Vambraces+
Slot: Iron Wall Jewel, Defense Jewel

Waist: Uragaan Faulds+
Slot: Stone Wall Jewel

Legs: Uragaan Greaves+
Slot: Turtle Jewel, Defense Jewel

Charm: Guard +4, Sense -10
Comments: Well I know this seems in the scales of Godly improbable, but I'm sure if you are charm farming enough you will run into something like this at some point. It's a nice way to take a horrible seeming charm and turning it into something useful.

So in case you haven't figured it out the skills that this set gives you are:
Defense Up (L)
Guard +2
Taunt

And you're probably wondering how that will look; check it out:

Very Morrowind looking to me, I like it.

Time for some Calculations:
5 Pieces of Armor with 78 Max defense = 390 Defense
+24 from the Lance = 414
The formula for DuL is 10 + (DEF x .1) so; 10 + (414 x .1) = 465.4 Defense (Raw).

Well now, that's a lot of defense, around 45.4 Defense more than Alatreon (the highest Defense Armor) and So gear up and start taking some hits! Again, I know what you're thinking, "but Tenelen! You could get way more Defense if you used Items too!" Well isn't that a great idea! Why don't we just set up the inventory for this character as well.

Inventory:
Potions
Mega Potions
Mega Dash Juice
Mega Armorskin
Adament Seeds
Adament Pills
Might Seeds
Might Pills
Tranqs
Dung Bombs

Optional (depending on the quest)
Some Combo Books
Honey
Shock Trap
Pit Fall Trap

A quick run down of the inventory items goes like this:
Obviously you are going to need potions, in case you do hit (hopefully you don't).
The Mega Dash Juices are essential, because that way you don't lose any stamina during the high amount of guarding you will be doing.
Tranqs for support capping, dung bombs for keeping only 1 monster in the zone at a time of in case you get pinned. The optional shouldn't be needed other than maybe traps, but if you get a team with the other 3 sets of gear we have prepared you won't have to worry about it.
(Note: Bring Max of all listed items.)
Wow! That's a lot of Armor items. Should we do some math again?

More Calculations: (Edit: After finally trying it, the numbers are easy)
Boosts from;
Mega Armorskin: +15 Defense
Adament Pill: +15 Defense
Adament Seed: 3 Min Pill extension (if taken after)

Total Defense: 495.4

Well now that we know when you get hit with pretty much any attack you will laugh at the monster and continue on you better get to farming some supplies.

Stay tuned for the next few days to see all the other "Characters" that we have created and how they will ban together to form an amazing, and fun, team of Monster Hunters! We'll even give you a guide on how to use them and maybe even some video demonstrations.