• Don't need items. Prowlers don't need to carry around pickaxes, bug nets, potions, traps, or any of that silly human stuff. This frees up a lot of space in your inventory. Because of this, regardless of how good/bad you are at Prowler mode, Prowlers are ideal for gathering quests.
  
  
• They can gather/mine/carve faster than humans can, making them even better at such quests.
  
  
• They don't use stamina. Prowlers can run forever and don't need puny things like well-done steak to keep them going.
  
  
• Palico armor is very cheap to make. Monster Hunter is notorious for requiring you to farm for rare drops from monsters to craft your armor and weapons (and then not giving you what you want). Cat armor is crafted from generic "scraps," made from any monster part. So that pile of lizard scales you got while farming for its rare drop will do you just fine!
  
  
• No armor skills. Hate the fact that your fashionable armor has lousy skills? Worry not! Prowlers don't do any of that poo poo. Fashion Hunt all you dang want. The only thing you have to worry about is your defense, and even then... not really.
  
  
• Prowlers excel at support. They can learn skills that heal and buff their allies, cure statuses, and even give their companions infinite stamina for a short period! That's not to say they can't kick rear end on their own, but it takes some set up... More on that later.
  
  
• Cats can automatically see the location of any large monster(s) on the map. For that reason alone, it's worth it to hunt with at least one Prowler. They can save you a lot of time tracking down your quarry! Certain Palico builds can also tell you when a monster is weak enough to capture! (Sadly this functionality is not available to human-controlled Prowlers, but you can tell if a monster is sleeping or whatever.)
  
  
• Lastly, and most significantly, they have 9-lives. Oh pshaw, you say, of course they do. They're cats! No, no. That's not what I mean. When mere humans drop to 0 HP during a quest, they are "carted," dragged back to base camp by a helpful band of Felynes before the monster can finish them off. If you cart three times, it's game over, quest failed. (This also holds for multiplayer quests.) Prowlers work a bit differently. When they reach 0 HP, they eat a stashed acorn for a partial HP refill. They can do this twice before being carted for real. So, they quite literally have 9 lives. Oh, and your acorns are refilled if you sleep in the bed at base camp. This means, Prowlers are only really constrained by time on quests, if you hoof it (paw it?) back to base camp after losing an acorn.
  
  
• They're cute, and fun to play as!
  

• You're a dang cat, what do you expect? If normal human Hunters are outmatched and outgunned by the vast majority of monsters, Prowlers are doubly so. They aren't as durable as their human counterparts and they don't hit as hard. Hunts will take you longer than average. You would think Prowlers would be relegated to support-bot role and... well you might be right. But we'll see, won't we!
  
  
• You're tiny. Prowlers have a tough time targeting specific monster bits to break/hack off/etc. But since you don't strictly need those parts to craft cat equipment, it's less of a big deal than you would think.
  
  
• Less variety. Prowler Mode essentially counts as a separate weapon. So, they only have one moveset while human Hunters can have over a dozen, based on what weapon they have equipped. Prowler weapons can have slightly different properties, such as being blunt or sharp, or being better at melee or ranged attacks, but it's nothing compared to the variety proper Hunters get.
  
  
• No armor skills. I know I also listed that in the pros, but it also is a drawback. Prowlers can have some of the same skills Hunters can get on their armor, but they're innate- determined when you recruit a Palico. This means Prowlers, and Palicoes in general, are heavily dependent on the blessings of the RNG. It can take ages to get the cat you want. I will go into Palico builds in more detail later. Just keep it in mind for now.
  
  
• They can't use items. See above, but it can also work against them. Your ability to heal/buff/set traps/etc. is determined by your innate skills. Didn't roll a cat that can set traps? Too bad! Try again.
  

chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Oct 17, 2017

chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Oct 17, 2017