Sorry for the necroposting.
I have to say that I feel ashamed now. I got this game for Christmas, but was so put off by its starter missions and how long it took to get into the game that I barely played up until this past month.
At which point, I've done relatively well for myself. I have a full set of Helios (and its GS, Rathalos, and Lagiacrus armor and I figure I'm decent with a GS. Although, then again, the GS's, especially the special rustshard one, generally just pound the Rathian/Rathalos.
So, after beating the real cause of the earthquakes several times and completing some of the hardest offline quests, I decided to go online. I'm currently like HR14 or so, but I don't really have that many friends yet.
My online name is Serris, I forgot my ID, and I'm in the North American region or something. I try to get on every day, generally on the topmost rookie servers. I'm not sure if I should go on the open servers just yet, either. I'm hoping to get to HR31+ before I do, but it's slow going, especially with all the miscellaneous gathering quests you need to do in the early star missions.
Anyone got any tips for playing longsword or hammer? I'd like to branch out from GS's, but not being able to block is kind of annoying. I'd also like to try bowguns, but those are just different from the blademaster stuff that I'd rather not waste the time and money. (Although I need to find a use for those 200 Bone Husk L's and 300 Bone Husk S's that are sitting around in my item box. I can't bring myself to sell them, just in case I do decide to try gunner.)