How to Get Armor Spheres in Monster Hunter Wilds: Best Farms, Smelting and Upgrade Costs

Defense matters more than you think in Monster Hunter Wilds, and the only way to raise it on a piece of armor is to feed it Armor Spheres. Early on they trickle in from quest rewards, but once you hit the endgame and start Transcending High Rank gear, you suddenly need thousands of points per piece.

This guide covers every sphere type, where each one comes from, the quests that farm them fastest, and what upgrading actually costs. Everything here is correct for the current version of the game: Ver. 1.041, the final major base-game update (February 2026), with Title Update 4's Transcend system in place. The Ascendance expansion isn't due until 2027.

Quick answer

The fastest farm for most players is the permanent event quest Endless Sky, Endless Sea (HR 41+), which pays out Hard and Heavy Armor Spheres. Before that, use Tongue-Tied (HR 21+). On top of either one, smelt your spare monster parts into spheres at the Smelting Foundry.

Requirements

• Upgrading armor: talk to Gemma at the Smithy and pick Forge/Upgrade Armor, then choose the piece and the spheres to spend.
• Smelting: unlocks in Chapter 2-4, at the Smelting Foundry in Azuz (Oilwell Basin), run by Roqul.
• Event quests: HR 2, 21, 31 or 41 depending on the quest (see below).
• Transcending: HR 100 and High Rank armor (rarity 5 or higher).

Step-by-step: how to farm Armor Spheres

1. Take whatever the story gives you. Your first spheres arrive as hunt rewards early in the story, and quest difficulty decides the tier: low-star hunts give Armor Spheres and Armor Spheres+, while higher-star hunts give Advanced, Hard and eventually Heavy spheres. Investigations follow the same pattern, so pick the highest-star ones you can handle.
2. Grab the permanent event quests. Four sphere quests sit in the Event Quests list for good, and since Ver. 1.041 lots of former limited-time event quests can be played offline too:
   • Careening Out of Control (HR 2+) – Balahara in the Windward Plains. Armor Spheres and Armor Spheres+.
   • Tongue-Tied (HR 21+) – a Tempered Chatacabra in the Windward Plains. Advanced and Hard Armor Spheres, and a very short hunt.
   • Wreaking Havoc in Wyveria (HR 31+) – Tempered Guardian Fulgur Anjanath in the Ruins of Wyveria. Hard Armor Spheres only.
   • Endless Sky, Endless Sea (HR 41+) – a double hunt against Lagiacrus and a Tempered Rathalos. Hard and Heavy Armor Spheres, which makes it the best sphere farm for anyone who can clear it quickly.
3. Repeat the highest one you can clear fast. Points per minute is what counts. A quick Tongue-Tied run can beat a slow Endless Sky clear for a newer hunter, but once you reach HR 41 and have decent gear, Heavy spheres at 5,000 points each are in a different league.
4. Smelt your surplus. Visit Roqul at the Smelting Foundry and turn spare monster materials into Smelting Points, then spend them on spheres. Common Low Rank parts are worth almost nothing, while late-game High Rank parts are worth far more. Title Update 4 also raised the Smelting Points certain monster materials give when you smelt spheres and ore.
5. Pick up bounties. Limited Bounties can reward Hard and Heavy spheres (online only), and Title Update 4 raised the sphere rewards for the Research Help bounties for monsters, fishing and endemic life.
6. Spend wisely at the Smithy. Upgrade the pieces you'll actually keep. Every level adds 2 defense to that piece.

How much armor upgrading costs

Each upgrade level costs more points than the one before it, and rarer armor needs more points and zenny for each level. In return, rarer armor has fewer upgrade levels. Patch 1.021 (August 2025) raised the upgrade cap for rarity 5 and higher armor, so High Rank gear now goes further than it did at launch.

The big sink is Transcending, added in Title Update 4. At HR 100, Gemma can Transcend High Rank armor to raise its level cap even further, so you can pour in more spheres:

Transcending itself costs a Hunter Symbol, the source monster's certificate and a rare part from that monster. Rarity 5 and 6 armor also gains extra decoration slots. Topping up all those new levels is where Heavy Armor Spheres earn their keep.

Tips and common mistakes

• Don't trade coins for spheres. Gawdygog in the Wudwud hideout will swap spheres for his coin currency, but the coins are worth more elsewhere and the spheres are easy to farm.
• Don't smelt parts you still need. Check your next armor and weapon crafts before you dump materials into the Foundry, especially rare plates and gems.
• Don't spread spheres thin. Ten half-upgraded pieces protect you less than a finished set you actually wear. Focus on your endgame set first.
• Don't skip Investigations. High-star Investigations pay out spheres on top of their other rewards, so save the good ones for monsters you're farming anyway.
• Upgrade before you Transcend. Transcending only raises the cap. The new levels still have to be filled with spheres, so make sure you have a stockpile before you spend the rare materials.