Monster Hunter Generations Palico Skill Distribution Guide

Monster Hunter Generations Palico Skill Distribution Guide

Section 1: Support skills

First off, let's start with support skills, also known as active skills. Each cat can have up to 12 support skills, generated off a set of certain rules. Let's take each skill slot in order, starting with skill slot 1:

Skill slot 1 - This is a predetermined unique skill based on the class of your cat, and cannot be changed, unequipped, or modified in any way. It also cannot be taught or learned through the Palico Dojo. The skills are as follows:

Class
Skill
Charisma
Palico Rally
Fighting
Furr-ious
Protection
Taunt
Assisting
Poison Purr-ison
Healing
True Health Horn
Bombing
Mega Barrel Bombay
Gathering
Plunderang

Skill slot 2 - This is also a predetermined unique skill based on the class of your cat, similar to slot 1. However, there are two options per cat rather than just one this time, meaning you have a 50% chance to get a specific skill for this slot. Of particular note is that Charisma does not get a second unique skill - instead, it gains 1 additional point to its skill cost limit. More on this later.

Class
Option 1
Option 2
Charisma
None
None
Fighting
Demon Horn
Piercing Boomerang
Protection
Emergency Retreat
Armor Horn
Assisting
Cheer Horn
Emergency Retreat
Healing
Armor Horn
Cheer Horn
Bombing
Camouflage
Demon Horn
Gathering
Piercing Boomerang
Camouflage

Skill slot 3 - This will always be Mini Barrel Bombay

Skill slot 4 - This will always be Herb Horn

Skill slots 5-12 - This is when things get interesting; from skill slot 5 onward, palico skills are chosen randomly between 3 separate pools of skills. However, the chosen skills will always adhere to a specific set of rules:
  1. Each skill has an associated "cost"
  2. Each Palico will be given skills until they reach 8 cost (9 for Charisma cats, as they did not receive a second unique skill)
  3. Skills are chosen from one of three separate groups of skills - Group A skills cost 3, Group B skills cost 2, and Group C skills cost 1
  4. Palicos cannot exceed 8 cost (9 for Charisma). This means that if they currently have skills totaling 7 cost, the last skill must be a Group C skill as this will put them at 8 cost
  5. Palicos cannot have more than one Group A skill
  6. Once a skill is rolled from a lower-cost group, you can no longer roll skills from higher cost groups. This means if the first skill rolled is a Group B skill, that Palico cannot roll any Group A skills. Similarly, if the first skill rolled is a Group C skill, that Palico cannot roll any Group A/B skills and thus every single skill will be rolled from Group C
The skill breakdown per group is as follows:

Group A
Group B
Group C
Health Horn
Claw Dance
Sumo Stomp
Anti-Monster Mine+
Weapon Upgrade
Felyne Comet
Pilfer
Trampoliner
Dung Bombay
Pitfall Purr-ison
Go, Fight, Win
Ultrasonic Horn
Shock Purr-ison
Detox Horn
Soothing Roll
Giga Barrel Bombay
Vase of Vitality
Parting Gift
Rath-of-Meow
Mega Boomerang
Excavator
Flash Bombay
Big Boomerang

Big Barrel Bombay
Shock Tripper

Anti-Monster Mine
Chestnut Cannon

Barrel Bombay


Bounce Bombay


Explosive Roll



Thus, given the above rules, this means that these are all of the possible skill combinations for a Palico:
  • A, B, B, B *
  • A, B, B, C
  • A, B, C, C, C
  • A, C, C, C, C, C
  • B, B, B, B
  • B, B, B, C, C
  • B, B, C, C, C, C
  • C, C, C, C, C, C, C, C **
* This totals 9 points and is possible only for Charisma cats. In addition, add one C skill to the end of every other setup for Charisma cats

** B, C, C, C, C, C, C is not a valid combination even though it conforms to the rules. Why? Who knows.

As such, when planning out a cat build to aim for, keep in mind which combinations are possible and which ones are not. For example, if I wanted a cat with both Pitfall and Shock Purr-ison, that would be impossible to get as both of them are Group A skills. Similarly, if I wanted a cat with Pitfall, Trampoliner, Detox, and Flash, the only way to get it would be to make a Charisma cat as the ABBB skill combination is exclusive to them.

Section 2: Passive skills

Now that I'm done shoving a gigantic wall of text in your face, it's time to do it again! Passive skills work pretty much the same as active skills for the most part; there are some predetermined skills, while the rest are chosen based off the same rules as the active section. That said, let's get right to it:

Passive Slots 1 & 2 - These are predetermined skills based off the class of your cat, and will always be the same no matter what. The skills for each class are as follows

Class
Skill 1
Skill 2
Charisma
Slacker Slap
Last Stand
Fighting
Attack Up S
Handicraft
Protection
Guard S
Guard Boost
Assisting
Monsterdar
Pro Trapper
Healing
Defense Up S
Health Harmonics
Bombing
Heat/Bomb Res
Bombay Boost
Gathering
Gathering Pro
Pilfer Boost

Passive Slots 3-10 - These adhere to the same rules as the active skills; however, Charisma does not gain an extra skill point for passives - that boost applies only to active skills. Of minor note is that DLC cats with unique abilities will have it in the third slot, and I believe it's considered as a Group A skill so technically some DLC cats may have two Group A skills. As far as I'm aware this is impossible for hired palicos, though, so you can disregard it for the most part. The skills for each group are:

Group A
Group B
Group C
Element Attack Up
Attack Up L
Critical Up S
Status Attack Up
Critical Up L
Health Up S
Anger Prone
Defense Up L
Nine Lives (Defense)
Revival Pro
Health Up L
Boomerang Pro
Omniresistance
Nine Lives (Attack)
Stamina Drain
Support Priority
Guard L
Non-Stick Fur
Support Move +1
Knockout King
Negate Wind
Earplugs
Negate Sleep

Negate Stun
Iron Hide

Counter Boost
Negate Paralysis

Support Boost
Tremor Res

Negate Poison


Biology


Negate Confusion


Goldenfish Catcher



Again, a review of all the possible skill combinations:
  • A, B, B, B
  • A, B, B, C
  • A, B, C, C, C
  • A, C, C, C, C, C
  • B, B, B, B
  • B, B, B, C, C
  • B, B, C, C, C, C
  • C, C, C, C, C, C, C, C *
* again, B, C, C, C, C, C, C is not a valid combination. No clue why.

Section 3: Village Skill Distribution Chances

Now that we know how skill distribution works and what skill combinations are possible, the last step is to figure out how to maximize the chances of obtaining a specific combination. You are most likely aware that of the 4 different villages, each palico recruiter (meowstress and the 3 village grannies) has their own "bias" when it comes to skill distribution - Bherna village has "neutral" cats, Kokoto village has a higher chance of attack skills, Pokke village has a higher chance of defense skills, and Yukumo village has a higher chance of Utility skills.

However, the chances aren't always influenced the same way; certain skills have higher appearance rates than others, and other skills are affected by village bias much more than similar skills. Fortunately, the japanese wiki has a distribution chart of the chances of getting specific skills. One disclaimer to note is that the data is not sourced, so I'm not sure if it was compiled from gathering large amounts of data or if it was datamined from the game; however, it should serve pretty well as an estimate.

First off, let's start with the active skills; these are organized by group, meaning each percentage value is for the chance of getting a specific skill within that group. For example, if a group A skill has a value of 15%, that means that you have a 15% chance to get that skill if you happen to roll a skill pattern that includes a group A skill. Similarly, if a group B skill has 10%, that means you have a 10% chance per group B skill to get it. The skill distribution is:
Skill Name
Group
Bherna
Kokoto
Pokke
Yukumo
Health Horn
A
15%
10%
50%
15%
Giga Barrel Bombay
A
15%
25%
5%
5%
Anti-Monster Mine+
A
15%
25%
5%
5%
Pitfall Purr-ison
A
15%
5%
15%
25%
Shock Purr-ison
A
15%
5%
15%
25%
Pilfer
A
10%
5%
5%
20%
Rath-of-Meow
A
15%
25%
5%
5%

Skill Name
Group
Bherna
Kokoto
Pokke
Yukumo
Detox Horn
B
10%
4%
30%
10%
Big Barrel Bombay
B
10%
18%
3%
3%
Flash Bombay
B
10%
4%
5%
15%
Anti-Monster Mine
B
10%
18%
3%
3%
Trampoliner
B
10%
4%
10%
25%
Vase of Vitality
B
10%
4%
30%
10%
Weapon Upgrade
B
10%
13%
3%
3%
Go, Fight, Win
B
10%
4%
10%
25%
Claw Dance
B
10%
18%
3%
3%
Mega Boomerang
B
10%
13%
3%
3%

Skill Name
Group
Bherna
Kokoto
Pokke
Yukumo
Ultrasonic Horn
C
8%
4%
10%
25%
Barrel Bombay
C
8%
10%
4%
4%
Bounce Bombay
C
7%
10%
4%
4%
Parting Gift
C
8%
4%
24%
4%
Big Boomerang
C
8%
10%
4%
4%
Dung Bombay
C
7%
4%
15%
20%
Soothing Roll
C
8%
4%
15%
4%
Explosive Roll
C
7%
10%
4%
4%
Felyne Comet
C
8%
10%
4%
4%
Sumo Stomp
C
8%
10%
4%
4%
Chestnut Cannon
C
8%
10%
4%
4%
Shock Tripper
C
8%
4%
4%
15%
Excavator
C
7%
10%
4%
4%

As you can tell, there are pretty major differences between each - for example, if you wanted a boomerang cat with pitfall or shock trap, your chance of getting it with a pattern that includes a Group A skill would be 30% in Bherna, while only 10% in Kokoto. The tradeoff would be having an 8% chance to get Big Boomerang instead of 10% per Group C skill, which is fairly minor in comparison. Careful consideration of the chances per skill may give you some surprising results as to which village is the best for certain skill combinations!

Lastly, we have the passive skill chart. Just like the active skill chart, it is split up based on the group. The skills per group are thus:

Skill Name
Group
Bherna
Kokoto
Pokke
Yukumo
Omniresistance
A
15%
5%
25%
5%
Element Attack Up
A
15%
25%
5%
5%
Status Attack Up
A
10%
25%
5%
10%
Support Priority
A
15%
5%
15%
35%
Support Move +1
A
15%
10%
15%
25%
Revival Pro
A
15%
5%
30%
15%
Anger Prone
A
15%
25%
5%
5%
 
Skill Name
Group
Bherna
Kokoto
Pokke
Yukumo
Health Up L
B
10%
5%
20%
5%
Attack Up L
B
10%
20%
5%
5%
Defense Up L
B
10%
5%
25%
5%
Critical Up L
B
8%
15%
5%
5%
Knockout King
B
8%
5%
5%
20%
Guard L
B
10%
5%
5%
20%
Support Boost
B
10%
5%
5%
20%
Negate Stun
B
8%
5%
15%
5%
Earplugs
B
8%
5%
10%
5%
Nine Lives (Attack)
B
8%
15%
5%
5%
Counter Boost
B
10%
15%
5%
5%
Skill Name
Group
Bherna
Kokoto
Pokke
Yukumo
Health Up S
C
8%
6%
8%
15%
Critical Up S
C
6%
20%
3%
4%
Stamina Drain
C
6%
15%
3%
10%
Negate Poison
C
8%
4%
8%
4%
Negate Wind
C
8%
4%
8%
4%
Negate Paralysis
C
6%
4%
8%
4%
Negate Confusion
C
8%
4%
8%
4%
Tremor Res
C
6%
4%
8%
4%
Negate Sleep
C
6%
4%
8%
4%
Biology
C
6%
4%
8%
4%
Iron Hide
C
6%
4%
8%
4%
Non-Stick Fur
C
6%
4%
8%
15%
Nine Lives (Defense)
C
6%
4%
8%
10%
Boomerang Pro
C
6%
15%
3%
4%
Goldenfish Catcher
C
8%
4%
3%
10%

And that about wraps it up! As a final note, learned skills are not bound by any of this - there are no restrictions to which skills can be taught or learned, aside from the class-exclusive slot 1 skills. Hopefully this is actually useful to someone somewhere, rather than being a meaningless info dump. Good luck!

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