Hunting wyverns in Monster Hunter Freedom requires planning and preparation, and the inventory system plays a key part in that process. I’ve often failed a quest simply because I neglected to pack an essential item or sufficient quantities of an item.

Like the rest of the game, the inventory system is quirky. There are 20 slots for 20 different items and there are limits for individual items. Just to complicate matters, these limits differ from item to item. For instance, you can carry a maximum of 10 potions but you can only carry one pitfall trap at a time.

It is possible to work around these limits and a successful hunt often hinges on doing so. For instance, pitfall traps, which temporarily snare wyverns, are a combination of nets and trap tools. Since you can carry a maximum of two trap tools, you can potentially have up to three pitfall traps in total (though not simultaneously). The key word is “potentially” since the success rate for creating a pitfall trap is 65 per cent.

This is where the books of combos come in. When stored in your inventory, the books improve the chances of combining items. I would strongly recommend packing Book of Combos 1 through 3 whenever you’re planning on combining pitfall traps since these dramatically lower failure rates. The downside is these three books take up three separate inventory slots.

There are certain areas and situations in the game that require strict inventory management. Take, for example, the Smoke Clad King, a four-star village elder quest to kill an Azure Rathalos, an even tougher variant of the challenging Rathalos.

The quest takes place in volcanic areas which means you’ll have to pack cool drinks to avoid your health being gradually depleted. As the Azure Rathalos is capable of poisoning you, you’ll also have to pack antidotes. In addition, the Azure Rathalos recovers its health by sleeping in area 7 and you can only awaken him by using throwing knives since his sleeping spot is inaccessible.

You’ll quickly find yourself running out of inventory slots and you will have to make some hard choices about what to omit. Leave behind the wrong items and you might find yourself ineffectually swinging away with a blunted weapon or gasping and wheezing as your stamina runs out during a hunt.

If you do happen to forget an essential item, consider abandoning the quest. This will dump you back at the Kokoto village with all the items you had at the start of the quest, saving you the trouble of acquiring those items all over again.