Further Evidence of Quest Progression
Nothing too crazy here, though I found the conclusions somewhat interesting. This all started from the idea of trying to challenge some base assumptions to see if anything changes. The datamining community has been hard at work for a long time and most of the theories are built up on top of each other. My goal was to discard the theories and their underlying assumptions and see what conclusions we can arrive at by tackling this from a different angle. Spoiler Alert: Nothing changed. The datamines are rock-solid.
One thing you may have seen discussed often is the "Progression File". So fun fact: This isn't a progression file. It essentially functions as one, but if you want to be technical then what this "QuestTargetRescueSearchParams" file actually is...is the SOS Flare list. In World the SOS Flare list does sort monsters in the same order as you encounter them (or at least that's their default sorting), so again this functions as a progression list, but isn't. Ultimately this changes nothing but...I found the nuance relevant. Maybe you do too. Anyways. Discovering this means we can take this list as more-or-less face value for quest progression. It might not be 1:1 especially when high rank opens up as quite a lot of that seems to be Optional Quests instead of Missions, but that's what the rest of this post is for. So here's more stuff.
The first is QuestDifficultySearchParam. Here's the file.
Like QTRSP this file is for looking up quests. This one allows you to search for quests by Rank. Similar to Monster Hunter World these are grouped into "Missions" aka your Assignments / Main Story and then 7 Ranks. EX Might be for Events, not sure.
As for the Ranks, they're broken up into 7 tiers. I've posted this particular tidbit a few times on this sub and people spam downvote me every time I mention it but...Low Rank monsters range from Rank 1 through 3. High Rank from Rank 4 through 7. This number is distinct from the Hunter's Rank.
This is the same system as older title's Hub Ranks. This is actually pretty easily provable too thanks to the StoryFlags. Now a quick clarification. Rose has in the past mentioned something about a Mission List. This refers to a file called MissionActivityData. That file is not what I'm talking about right now. Instead I'm referring to StoryFlagPackingData. This file basically is just a huge list of 600 random story evens and then they all call upon like, one Mission Id to say you did it. It's kind of useless on its own, but since we know what story flags we're looking for w can get some good info.
- Story_000016 = Story / EX = MISSION_006010
- Story_000017 = RANK_2 = MISSION_002150
- Story_000018 = RANK_3 = MISSION_003260
- Story_000019 = RANK_4 = MISSION_006015
- Story_000020 = RANK_5 = MISSION_007035
- Story_000021 = RANK_6 = MISSION_008055
- Story_000022 = RANK_7 = MISSION_011125
From the MissionActivityData files and cross referencing it with HunterRankCupData; 6015 comes after unlocking High Rank. It all lines up cleanly with the low-rank final boss and if you do a huge breakdown like the one GameFAQs user did you can map the LR Final Boss more or less to Zotia. So yeah, a bunch of words to prove what we already knew, but I do think that this has turned "Very strong theories" into "absolute fact". Or not. You be the judge. Either way, rediscovering this stuff from an independent viewpoint has value to me. I hope it does to you too.
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Bonus Round: There's a StoryMapStageData file too that tells you exactly which Missions unlock each stage. It too basically just confirms what we already know, but maybe there's something spicy in this for the other dataminers. Here's the list.
- ST101 - MISSION_001010
- ST102 - MISSION_001075
- ST103 - MISSION_002160
- ST104 - MISSION_003220
- ST105 - MISSION_004260
- ST401 - MISSION_006020
- ST404 - MISSION_004320
- ST402 - MISSION_004320
- ST502 - MISSION_006020
- ST503 - MISSION_001030
None of this is particularly surprising I think except for maybe the 40X Stages. You unlock the plains after literally the first mission (rescuing the little girl). Forest gets unlocked after Quematrice. Oilwell after Uth Duna. Iceshard Cliffs right after Rey Dau. and Wounded Hollow right after Ice Apex. EDIT: I made an oopsie. 4260 is a smaller number than 4320...so 4260 comes first which means Wounded Hollow is unlocked shortly before taking on the Ice Apex. Sorry for the mess.
The same file I found this in also has a huge list of most missions and what stages are forbidden during them. This list is kind of weird since it implies you'll be able to travel from one region to another while on most hunts, though some do actually lock you down to just the region you're currently fighting in.
Soooo...yeah.