A Hunter’s life is not all about battling gargantuan fire-breathing monsters. Sometimes, they might have to track down and catch Endemic Life or small creatures found all over the Forbidden Lands. Especially when two competing researchers offer them rewards for catching those Endemics. Completionists will also want to catch a Sandstar to unlock the ‘I Caught a Shooting Star!’ Achievement. This Monster Hunter Wilds guide will help you complete the questline and how to get the Achievement.
Endemic Life Catching Side Missions Questline and ‘I Caught a Shooting Star!’ Achievement Guide
1. ‘Dareel’s Research Report’ – Don’t Forget Your Ghillie Mantle
For his research in the Forbidden Lands, Dareel will first ask you to catch a Tracktail Lizard. From the Windward Plains Base Camp head out south to Area 11 or 13. If it’s during Daytime or Nighttime at Plenty season, you should spot a couple of them standing on their tails on the sand.
Nevertheless, these are shy creatures, they will run away and burrow if you get too close. Because of that, you should hide yourself by wearing a Ghillie Mantle. We also recommend slotting in Tool Specialist to gain faster Mantle cooldown reduction.
2. ‘Samin’s Research Report’ – Bird Watching and Catching
Seeing that his colleague is getting help from a Hunter, another researcher got jealous. Speak to Samin across the camp’s table and he’ll say he wants you to catch something in the Forest.
That something is a fluffy bird called Dapperwing. It seems this Endemic Life can appear anywhere in the Scarlet Forest, but we caught one and saw a couple others in Area 12. They are often seen perching on tree branches, hanging roots, or ruin rubble. Thankfully, Dapperwings won’t flee if you get nearby them. Whip out a Capture Net and the job’s done.
3. ‘Dareel’s Research Report (Cont.)’ – Competition’s Heating Up
Dareel is not about to be outdone by his junior. This time you need to head out to Oilwell Basin and look for a bright green-skinned creature, Ember Rufflizard. It can be located in various areas of the Basin, mostly found crawling in Area 2, 7, 8, and 9.
The glowing green lizards appear much more often in the lower parts of Ajarakan‘s turf during the Firespring Inclement season. You don’t need to use Ghillie Mantle as they don’t seem to be bothered that much with other creatures.
4. ‘Samin’s Research Report (Cont.)’ – Chill, We Got This
For the fourth Side Mission, you’ll need to present Samin a Rime Beetle taken from Iceshard Cliffs. This one is a piece of cake.
Do you often see those blue beetles rolling snowballs with their legs? The one that drops Frostburst Slinger ammo when caught? Yep, those are Rime Beetles. There’s no way you would have trouble completing this Side Mission — as long as you catch one with a Capture Net. You can even easily set a waypoint to any of them scattered in the area. Catch it and report back for your final set of tasks.
5. ‘Dareel’s Special Research Report’ – ‘I Caught a Shooting Star!’ Achievement Soon
Dareel finally realizes how silly his competition with his fellow researcher, and does bother the Hunter too. For his last request, he wanted to research a Gillopod.
For a rare Endemic, Gillopod can be easy to find, even if it doesn’t always show up. From Ruins of Wyveria Base Camp’s entrance, take a right. Keep going until you walk past a huge hole in a broken wall. Head inside and look to the wall on your left, you should find weird, sponge-like creatures chilling on it.
Gillopod is the rare version of those Pillopod Endemics; twice as big and colored blue instead of pink. Gillopod seems to spawn often during Plenty or the Wyvern’s Wakening Inclemency season.
6. ‘Samin’s Special Research Report’ – Finally Unlocked the ‘I Caught a Shooting Star!’ Achievement
Likewise, Samin is ending his rivalry with his senior. But not before he troubles you with another rare Endemic Life. Scientists, am I right? Thankfully, doing this Side Mission will also reward you with ‘I Caught a Shooting Star!’ Achievement.
Samin said he wants to see the elusive Sandstar, though at least this one lives in Windward Plains. All you have to do now is hop on to your Seikret and head in between Area 13 and 16. Spotting one shouldn’t be too hard; the shiny blue rodents often appear during Plenty or Fallow season at Nighttime. But things are never as easy as they are with this game.
First of all, like most other Endemics, Sandstar will run away if approached it. However, it goes really fast — even faster than a Seikret. Hiding your visage and smell with the Ghillie Mantle will not work this time around as well. Maybe it’s like the Predator and it can sense predators through their body heat.
So, how do you catch it? You need to shoot it with a Screamer Pod and leave it disoriented for a few seconds. The Pod can be taken from the Baunos Wingdrake flying around the area with the Slinger.
But you need to switch between the Slinger Ammo and the Capture Net fast, otherwise, the Sandstar will recover and escape! For that reason, we suggest putting both Slinger Pod and Capture Net into radial menu slots. That way, you can quickly swap between items without having to go through the item menus.
There you have it. Now the researchers’ wishes are satisfied, and you obtain the ‘I Caught a Shooting Star!’ Achievement to boot!
