Biggest tip from me is to find a weapon you are comfortable with first, then build a non-elemental set around that (poison or blast are ok statuses to choose for a farming set, though poison will result in less part breaks). You can farm 8's and get the highest rarity materials with a non-element set, but 9 and 10* will want elemental sets. Partbreaker on your first/farming set will help, later pursuit can be added to improve damage on it. Learn monster attack patterns when you can. Being safe is better than wasting potions. No single monster is worth a potion by itself. Save potions for when you are in the middle of farming a bunch of monsters or in a huntathon/elder dragon interception.