YMMV / Monster Hunter Now

• Difficulty Spike: The game's difficulty rises sharply once you unlock 4* monsters. The game expects you to have high Grade 3 or low Grade 4 equipment to challenge 4* monsters; at this point, Overgrading becomes more difficult due to demanding large quantities of rare materials, such as Machalite Ore and Monster Bone +, which are difficult to reliably obtain due to the random nature of Gathering Points and biomes. As a result, the monsters you get can significantly outclass your gear for quite some time and deal huge amounts of damage while being HP sponges themselves.
• Game-Breaker:
  • The Bow weapon class is extraordinarily strong and is a favorite among high-end active players. Unshackled from many of the constraints it normally suffers from in the main series games, such as limited Coatings and Stamina, the Bow is able to dish out enormous amounts of damage from a relatively safe range and can use its Charging Sidestep to dance around monsters while rapidly tacking on the pain. The Dragon Piercer from Monster Hunter: World makes a return as the weapon's SP Skill and is one of the most powerful in the entire game, striking multiple times through a monster for absolutely insane results.
  • The Poison Element is considered arguably the best in the game. Unlike normal Elements, which either deal bonus damage or open them up to attack (in the case of Thunder Element), the Poison Element inflicts the Poison status, which is a persistent Damage Over Time to whatever you're fighting. Given the strict Timed Mission nature of the game's combat, having the ability to continue whittling away at HP even when you're not attacking is a godsend and can make or break some higher-difficulty fights.