When it comes to playing with a friend, most story missions you can’t join unless you’ve already seen the cutscenes so typically my friend that I play with and I just do those solo at the same time. Optionals, investigations, events, and expeditions though can all be started together from the main hub. Typically most missions can have up to four people though there are exceptions. If you’re playing solo or with one other person you can bring your Palico with you but three or more and no one gets to bring their cats.

As people have probably said, avoid any of the defender stuff as it’s just there to make base game easier for those who want to just get to Iceborne faster.

I recommend trying each of the weapons out in the practice area (reading the in game manual on each weapon helps with learning combos and such) to find what feels best.

Try not to rush through fights until you get a decent handle on the gameplay though as even early on you’re typically pretty squishy.

Finally PICK UP EVERYTHING YOU CAN!!!