How to get rare eggs in Monster Hunter Stories 2

Rare Monster Hunter Stories 2 eggs are what should aim for when assembling the best Monstie team. Rare eggs have a higher chance of producing stronger Monsties, and while you can mostly get by without endless research and spreadsheets, you’ll still need to consider your genes for the late-game and PvP challenges.

But even if you get a rare egg, much of the gene system boils down to chance. Either way, this guide explains how to tell if an egg is rare, what weight and smell mean, and how to increase your chances of getting a Monster Hunter Stories 2 rare egg, which is easier than you might think.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 eggs: How to get them

Whatever Monster Hunter Stories 2 egg type you want, there’s only one way to get them: stealing them from dens. Monster Hunter Stories 2 dens are random mini-dungeons scattered around the map outside settlements. Each has one monster nest, and these contain one-to-three eggs, depending on the situation around the nest.

Nests connected to story events—hunting a Pukei-Pukei, for example—will only have one egg and a lower chance of it being rare. Your best chance of getting rare eggs is in random dens, since you can rifle through the nest and increase your chance of finding something better.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 egg smell and weight

Smell and weight determine an egg's rarity. In Monster Hunter Stories 2, an egg’s rarity determines how many gene slots the hatched Monstie will have and what quality genes they’ll receive.

The egg’s weight hints at how many of the nine gene slots the Monstie may have, while its smell points to gene quality. In other words, Monsties from heavier eggs will have more gene slots available, while Monsties from smellier eggs will usually have better active and passive skills.

There are three classifications for weight and three for smell. Navirou’s comments when you grab an egg can be confusing compared to how the nursery categorizes them, but here’s how the game breaks both categories down.

• Weight: Light, Normal, Heavy
• Smell: Normal, Good, Amazing

The ideal egg is heavy and smelly, though these are seldom found even in rare monster dens. You could get a rare egg that only has a good smell, but is still light, for example. That’s particularly true in the early and mid-game. Don’t expect to get a full 3×3 grid with good genes until you’ve progressed a fair bit through the story.

How to get rare eggs in Monster Hunter Stories 2

There are, effectively, three types of rare eggs indicated by the light that shines when you pick one out of the nest. No light means a normal egg. Golden light denotes a rare egg, and rainbow means you’ve (probably) found the rarest egg.

The rarest eggs have a rainbow gene. These make filling a gene line easier since they stand in for all attack types and elements. Finding an egg with a shiny rainbow halo doesn’t guarantee it will actually have a rainbow gene, but it does mean the chance is higher. 

You can find rare eggs in normal dens, but your best chance of finding rarer eggs is in rare dens.

One way to boost your chances of getting a better quality egg is by using a Gathering Charm at the village pot and offering a Finding Prayer. Gathering Charms increase your chance of finding rare items, and the Finding Prayer raises an egg’s chance of having rare genes.

Before you can assemble your dream Monstie team, you need to hatch them.