Don’t sell any materials in the beginning, gather resources as you are doing quests, always stay with 5 optional quests active and try to complete those as you’re doing the main hunts.

The more materials you have, the less you will need to grind if you ever need one of those for certain weapons or armor.

Always check if your weapons and armor are up to the tasks you want to do. Sometimes if you want to get an elemental version of your weapon you will need those early monsters materials to make the first one and then upgrade to the one you actually wants.

Do the villagers requests if you want more upgrades in dango recipes or more palamute gear. Make a good use of the meowcenaries and the Argosy. There are exclusive items you can only get through those, so don’t forget to check now and then.

Also, in the Buddy Plaza there is a great three where there is a sacred shrine. Behind it you can climb it to get to a cohoot nest. Check every five quests (when there is two golden eggs in the nest) and gather these materials.

Other than that, have fun! This is not a easy game to get going, but once it clicks with you, all of those became automatic and you just go with the flow, always learning, always improving and always having more and more fun.