I feel like I've made some good progress over the weekend. Went from the beginning of 2-star quests to now in the special 3-star quest.
I've also bought two new armor sets (Jaggi armor, Ludroth Armor), and have tested the waters with the longsword, which helped immensely when fighting Qurupeco in the "Playing with Fire" quest. That Cha-Cha companion thing has been really helpful from this point, too. Seems like most weapons have a purpose depending on the situation, and i'm starting to get the hang of the fact that you need to learn the combos for each to make them effective weapons.
Quick question for anyone, is there any way to increase the amount your bag can carry? I'm finding myself limited a lot by the 3 page capacity the bag has, and didn't know if there's anything to increase capacity.