Hunting Together RPG Desert Guide: How Progression Leads to the Desert City

Quick answer

The desert city comes after the first major town, not at the level 25 boss gate. The route is: starting forest (levels 1–8) → second wilderness zone (levels 9–16) → transition zone (levels 17–24) → Gorilla King at the Level 25 Boss Gate → the town and its surrounding fields → intermediate elemental maps at levels 34, 42 and 50+ → the desert city, where monster affinities change.

• The level 25 Gorilla King is the gate into town, so clearing it is a town milestone, not the desert itself.
• Levels 34, 42 and 50+ are the intermediate elemental maps that lead into the desert city.
• Monster affinities change in the desert city, so the elemental situation there is not the same as in the earlier zones.

Hunting Together RPG builds its world from level-tiered zones separated by gatekeeper bosses, and the desert city sits at the far end of that chain rather than behind a single unlock.

The zone chain in order

From the starting forest to the town's doorstep

The first three bands are the opening stretches of the level-tiered zone chain: the starting forest, the second wilderness zone and the transition zone that leads toward the first major town. Levels 1 to 8 are the initial starting forest, home to rabbits and low-level beasts. Levels 9 to 16 are a second wilderness zone with boars and lizards. Levels 17 to 24 are a transition zone described as leading toward the first major town. If you are using your level to judge how much distance is left before the desert, those three bands are the early part: none of them is the desert, and the transition zone is explicitly the approach to town rather than a destination of its own.

Because the zones are level-tiered and separated by gatekeeper bosses, each band doubles as a checkpoint. You spend the band in its own area, and movement into the next territory is gated rather than completely open. On this particular route, the named gate is the Level 25 Boss Gate. If you want the wider picture of how these areas open up, the locations guide and unlock areas pages deal with the world map side, while the leveling guide covers pushing through a band.

The Gorilla King gate is the town milestone

At the Level 25 Boss Gate, a Gorilla King blocks progress to the next territory. Defeating the boss clears the gate, which lets you enter the town and its surrounding fields. This is the step that is easiest to misread when the desert is your goal: the Gorilla King is the door to town, not the door to the desert. Beating it does not place you in the desert city; it places you in the first major town and the fields around it. Treat the town as its own milestone between the transition zone and the elemental stretch.

The useful consequence is that you can split preparation. The gate is a boss encounter, and the town is what follows it, so reaching the town tells you the level 25 barrier is behind you. For the fight itself, the bosses guide is the relevant reference; for this route, the point is simply that the gate stands between the transition zone and everything after it until the boss is dealt with.

Levels 34, 42 and 50+: the elemental stretch

After the town, the next progression breakpoints are 34, 42 and 50+. These are described as intermediate elemental maps, and their role in the route is to lead into the desert city. Levels 34, 42 and 50+ are the intermediate elemental maps that lead into the desert city, where monster affinities change. Read them as the stretch that carries you there rather than as a single confirmed entrance level.

The other detail that matters is what changes there. Monster affinities change in the desert city. In practice, that means the elemental matchup you have grown used to in the forest, wilderness, transition zone and town-side fields is not a safe assumption once you arrive. The desert is flagged as a shift in how monsters respond, not just a change of scenery, so treat the elemental stretch as preparation for a zone whose monsters behave differently rather than as a longer version of the maps before it.

Recognizing where you stand

• Your level band places you: 1–8 forest, 9–16 wilderness zone, 17–24 transition zone.
• A boss fight against the Gorilla King at the Level 25 Boss Gate means you are at the town threshold; clearing it opens the town and its fields.
• Levels 34, 42 and 50+ are the intermediate elemental maps, and they lead into the desert city.
• Inside the desert city, monster affinities change, so the prior zones' elemental expectations stop carrying over.

Read as one chain, the progression is continuous: the forest teaches the basics, the wilderness and transition zones carry you to the first major town, the Gorilla King gate opens that town, and the elemental maps at 34, 42 and 50+ deliver you into the desert city. The beginner guide covers the earlier bands in more depth, and the progression guide is where to go if you want the growth path around these level thresholds rather than just the route itself.