Here are the best teams in Monster Hunter Outlanders and how to build them: four recommended teams with swap options, a team for each element, how to combine the Assault, Disruptor, and Support types, how the Co-op Skill and Squadmate Skills fit in, and the differences between solo and co-op.
Best Teams
| Team | Highlights |
|---|---|
Midori team     | Fills the Spirit Gauge easily with burst damage and evasion, and stacks damage buffs from several adventurers. Wants Ryunosuke for fire support |
Pepper team   | Built cheaply from standard and low-rarity adventurers; Haze can be bought in the Adventurers' Guild Shop. The team centers on Pepper, who attacks freely while airborne |
Luka team   | A thunder-focused team that attacks from range while evading. Some attacks pierce, so mind your attack angle |
Arkaya team    | A tough dragon team that stacks dragon buffs and heals and supports while shields keep damage down. The same team works with Pyro as your main |
Midori team
| Main | Buffer | Suppression | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midori | Ryunosuke | Fated Adventurer (Long Sword) | Haze |
A team that stacks buffs on Midori for huge damage. Midori is an evade-and-counter attacker, though, so putting the monster in suppression with Disruptor Buddies or adventurers makes her damage harder to keep up.
Use Ryunosuke's Ultimate right before Midori's special move whenever you can.
Swap options
| Adventurer | Details |
|---|---|
| Replaces Ryunosuke a candidate for fire elemental resonance. Her Ultimate restrains the monster, so use it while the Spirit Gauge is charged | |
| Replaces Haze a healing support. Support-type Buddies let you stack buffs |
Pepper team
| Main | Elemental resonance | Buffer | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pepper | Fated Adventurer (Great Sword) | Haze | Madelyn |
A water-focused team built around Pepper. Everyone can be obtained from Standard Recruitment or by playing, which makes it great value.
The Protagonist's Disruptor or Support Squadmate Skills in particular have effects that help Pepper.
Swap options
| Adventurer | Details |
|---|---|
| Replaces Haze or the Protagonist if she replaces Haze, switching the Protagonist to dragon too is recommended | |
| Replaces Haze an elemental resonance slot and a stand-in until you get Haze |
Luka team
| Main | Elemental resonance | Flex | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luka | Luxheart | Fated Adventurer (Great Sword) | Haze |
A team built around Luka, who excels at ranged attacks: buff her with Haze and the Protagonist, then hold the monster in place with Luxheart once the phials are full. Luka's piercing shots work well even against monsters that move around a lot or that you're fighting for the first time.
Give the Protagonist a thunder weapon.
Swap options
| Adventurer | Details |
|---|---|
| Replaces Haze or the Protagonist a Support-type buffer | |
| Replaces Haze a Support slot that can heal |
Arkaya team
| Main | Debuff and buff | Flex | Buffer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkaya | Keres | Pyro | Haze |
Arkaya raises the party's survival and toughness, while Haze and Keres support it by powering up dragon damage. Once you have Keres and Arkaya, you can also turn this into a dragon team built around the Protagonist, and raise Arkaya's damage too.
Just switching your main to Pyro or a dragon Protagonist turns this into a dragon-focused team.
Swap options
| Adventurer | Details |
|---|---|
| Replaces Pyro elemental resonance with Haze, and can also disrupt the monster | |
| Replaces Pyro or Keres can be the main dragon attacker, or a stand-in when you're short on members |
Best Team for Each Element
| Lead adventurer | How to play the team |
|---|---|
Fire Midori |
|
Water Pepper |
|
Thunder Luka |
|
Ice  Rhodes |
|
Dragon Arkaya |
|
Combining Assault, Disruptor, and Support
Adventurers come in three Ultimate types. The in-game descriptions are: Assault excels at dealing big damage to monsters, Disruptor at restricting monsters and applying debuffs, and Support at buffing and healing the party. Disruptor and Support adventurers play an important role as the party's sub members: apart from the adventurer you control, fill the party with Disruptor or Support adventurers while keeping elemental resonance in mind.
Disruptor: debuffs and disruption
Disruptor adventurers have many debuffs, such as dazing the monster or boosting part-break efficiency with their Ultimate or Squadmate Skill. Rutaco Buddies you pair with them are similar, so when you add a Disruptor, check that it fits how your main adventurer plays (see the Midori team above).
Support: healing and buffs
Support adventurers often heal the party or hand out buffs such as Affinity with their Ultimate or Squadmate Skill, and the Buddies they can take are similar. Some specialize in dragon or fire, so check that their strengths are what your party needs.
Co-op Skill and Squadmate Skills
When you party up with other players or AI adventurers, a powerful Co-op Skill becomes available after some time. The whole party focuses fire on a specific part, and if you knock the monster down, the damage multiplier goes up.
AI adventurers count too, so if you match into co-op content alone with AI adventurers filling the empty slots, you can still use it.
Squadmate Skills are what your party members contribute during the hunt, and they're a big reason to pick Disruptor and Support members. For example, Haze's and Madelyn's Squadmate Skills trigger when you deal damage while airborne, which is why they pair well with Pepper, and the Protagonist's Disruptor or Support Squadmate Skills also help Pepper.
Solo vs. Co-op
- When matching for co-op content alone, you can fill the empty slots with AI adventurers, so you can take it on solo and still use the Co-op Skill.
- The party screen shows that monster health is adjusted to the number of players taking part.
- Solo with only AI adventurers, this health adjustment seems to have little effect.
- Solo, you're limited in the kinds of Ultimates you can bring. In a party, each member brings their own, which widens your strategy a lot.
Tips for Building a Team
Control a weapon you're used to
Pick a main adventurer whose weapon type you're used to. There are many weapons, and controls change from adventurer to adventurer, so narrow down your weapon types until you get used to them.
Stack buffs and debuffs on your sub members
Use the members other than your main to add as many buffs and debuffs as you can. Stacking buffs such as Affinity and elemental damage raises your overall damage.
Unify your party's elements
Putting adventurers of the same element in the party grants buffs through elemental resonance. Rather than mixing many elements, keeping your adventurers to one or two elements has many benefits. A Support Protagonist in particular can charge the Ultimates of adventurers of the same element.
Pick buff-focused Buddies too
For the Buddies you pair with your adventurers, choose the best Buddy for each adventurer or ones that support the whole party. Some Buddies suit specific goals, such as breaking parts.
Adjust the Protagonist to fill the gaps
The Protagonist can freely change weapon type, element, and Ultimate type as needed. Switching type also changes the available Buddy types, Ultimates, and Insight plans, which makes the Protagonist versatile, for example to cover a missing type in your Ultimate charge cycle.
The screenshots are from the Japanese version of the game.