Monster Hunter: World grimalkynes guide (2024)

In Monster Hunter: World, it’s dangerous to tackle the New World alone. Sometimes that means taking on monsters along with your fellow (human) hunters. But even playing solo, you’re never really alone — you’ve always got your faithful palico by your side.

You might run into other palicos — either other hunter sidekicks or freelancers — out in the world. But there are also native felynes that you can meet and befriend called grimalkynes. Grimalkynes are the New World (distant) relatives of your palico (both grimalkynes and palicos belong to the lynian species). There’s a tribe of grimalkynes in each area of the New World, and each tribe has its own tools that your palico can learn to use.

This guide will teach you how you find them, what you get for your effort and the locations of the tribes.

Finding grimalkynes and their doodles

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Finding grimalkynes works a lot like tracking monsters. Just like you find monster traces, you’ll find grimalkyne doodles scattered around the New World that will help lead you to the New World’s inhabitants. You won’t earn any research points for finding them, but your scoutflies will treat them the same way, highlighting the next doodle to find and, once you find enough of those, leading you to the grimalkyne village.

Capcom

Capcom

Just like you meet and help out Commission researchers — like the piscine and endemic life researchers — you’ll also run into the lynian researcher. He’ll give you hints to finding each area’s tribe of grimalkynes — you can check to see where the lynian researcher is hanging out by looking for his green dot on the map.

Capcom

After you’ve collected enough doodles, you can have your scoutflies lead you to the local grimalkynes. You’ve got a couple of options here. You can either seek out the grimalkyne icon on your map (assuming you can find it). It’s a white, stylized, not-quite-stick figure version of a pair (or more) of grimalkynes. You can also just select the gauge in the bottom left of the screen.

The benefits of befriending grimalkynes

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When you finally track down the locals, you’ll have to complete some sort of challenge. You’ll either have to chase one of them or complete a quest. Once you do, your palico will vouch for you and they’ll become your allies.

Befriending a grimalkyne tribe has a number of benefits beyond just, you know, being neighborly.

• They’ll appear in other areas of the New World and be available as tailriders (temporary helpers you recruit during quests or expeditions) there. They’ll bring their special skills and tools with them.
• They’ll become available as members of tailrider safaris once you unlock that option. Tailrider safaris are optional, behind-the-scenes collection missions for a group of palicos to do while you’re busy doing other things.
• You’ll be able to choose their tribe-specific tool for your palico to carry (more on this below).
• They’ll teach your palico how to speak to a species of small monster. At first, this might mean that your palico can convince one to follow you for a little while. Later, your palico might talk it into becoming a (temporary) mount.
• The grimalkyne settlements are usually near new potential campsites.

These are the grimalkynes in your neighborhood

Each area of the New World has a distinct tribe of grimalkyne. Each of these tribes has a village, a unique tool for your palico and knows how to speak to one species of small monster in the area. In this section, we’ll show you how to find grimalkynes in the Ancient Forest, the Wildspire Waste, the Coral Highlands and the Rotten Vale.

Bugtrappers in the Ancient Forest

The Bugtrappers of the Ancient Forest are in the northeast in area 6, up in the canopy of the trees. When you get close, you’ll spot a lone bugtrapper who will flee when you spot him. Follow him along the narrow treetop pathways, and he’ll eventually lead you to the village.

Once your palico befriends them, you’ll get the flashfly cage palico equipment, and they’ll teach your palico to speak with jagras. The flashfly cage lets your palico bring flashflies to any fight. When you hit the flashflies with your weapon or interact with them with circle/B, you have the chance to blind and stun monsters.

Protectors in the Wildspire Waste

The Protectors of the Wildspire Waste are also in the northeast, in area 8. You’ll find these to the north of the quicksand patch (where you’ve probably fought a barroth or eight). There’s a hidden hole against the northern cliff where you can drop through. You’ll find the Protectors nearby.

To befriend them, you’ll have to complete a collection quest. Three members of their tribe have been scared by a barroth, and it’s up to you to go retrieve them. Check your map for their locations, then go grab them with your capture net. Take them back to the village, and you’ll earn their trust.

The Protectors give your palico the shieldspire and teach it to speak kestodon. The shieldspire is, as the name suggests, a shield. It serves well as a distraction for monsters so you can catch your breath or deal some damage while the monster is looking the other way.

Troupers in the Coral Highlands

In the Coral Highlands, you’ll find the grimalkyne Troupers, unsurprisingly, in the northeast, in area 11. When you track them down, you’ll need to complete the Troubled Troupers quest for them, during which you’ll have to track and kill two tzitzi-ya-ku.

After you complete Troubled Troupers, your palico will get the coral orchestra and learn to speak to shamos. The coral orchestra behaves like a hunting horn instrument, giving boosts to things like your attack or defense stats.

Plunderers in the Rotten Vale

The Plunderers in the Rotten Vale are probably the hardest to find, but they give your palico a super useful tool. To find them, you’ll need to progress the main story past the 14th assigned quest, Into the Bowels of the Vale, and gain access to the lower parts of the Rotten Vale.

Before you set off to find them, make sure you have at least one (but preferably several) pieces of raw meat in your item pouch. Then, look for the Lynian Researcher in area 13. After you speak to him, wander off for a minute. You have to wait until an odogaron drags a corpse down to this area (you don’t have to fight the odogaron, thankfully). When you come back to the area near the Lynian Researcher, you’ll spot a Plunderer grimalkyne, but he’ll run off when you approach.

Talk to the Lynian Researcher again or just check your map — there’ll be a new icon for the Plunderers in area 15. He’ll run off again, but your palico will make a couple of comments about how hungry he looks. Then it’ll suggest you leave some meat for it.

Drop a chunk of raw meat on the ground where the palico was standing, then back off a ways — the mouth of the tunnel you came through is a safe distance. The grimalkyne and his friends will come down from the cliffs and eat the food you left.

This time when you approach, you’ll all be friends. The Plunderers will give your palico a plunderblade and teach it to speak to girros. The plunderblade lets your palico steal monster parts from the monsters you fight during the fight (rather than having to wait to carve them off a corpse). This makes it a great tool for farming or grinding monster parts to build armor. As your palico levels up with the plunderblade, it’ll grab more and better materials.