Monster Hunter Wilds: Players discover a bizarre way to dodge attacks using paid emotes

In Monster Hunter Wilds, creativity has always been part of the hunt, but this time the community has gone too far. Players are using paid emotes, originally designed for the photo mode, as real tactics to escape brutal monster attacks — with surgical precision.

As reported by Automaton, it all started when a hunter used the Vanish Sign emote to literally float above a horizontal attack from Mizutsune, one of the classic monsters in the franchise. Instead of dodging or blocking, the player simply opened the emote wheel, selected the pose and... remained suspended in the air, unharmed.

"The emote allows you to levitate for a few seconds, enough to easily avoid low blows," explains the report. This trick promises to be even more valuable against the new variant Tempered Mizutsune, which is already giving many people trouble.

It's not just the Vanish Sign that has become a survival tactic. Other emotes are also entering the arsenal of smarter hunters: the Shinobi Pose puts the player in the air, while This Can't Be and Celebratory Knee Slide bring the hunter closer to the ground, helping to avoid high blows.

Of course, controversy soon arose: is this pay-to-win or not? Technically, yes. Paid emotes give a real advantage in combat, even though they were created for photos. But they also show how precise the hitboxes are in Monster Hunter Wilds — if you've ever complained about taking damage even though you thought you had dodged, maybe it's time to reconsider...

And how much does this advantage cost? It's actually "cheap": the Photo Pose Set Vol. 1, which includes the Vanish Sign, is priced at US$ 4, while the Celebratory Knee Slide costs US$ 2. For an extra US$ 6, you can get a package of stylish dodges.

Monster Hunter Wilds, developed by Capcom, is the big bet to keep the franchise on top after the resounding success of Monster Hunter World in 2018 and the excellent performance of Monster Hunter Rise in 2021. Without an exact release date yet, Wilds is set to launch in 2025, with versions for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

It remains to be seen if the Capcom team will fix this "little problem" before the official release or if they will let the most stylish hunters take over the hunt with their photographic leaps.