Honestly ? It just takes practice . If you intend to learn combos though keep in mind most weapons have two kinds of combos , infinites and movement combos . Your infinite is best for when the monster is knocked down or trapped and you don ' t want to waste any time you could be spending punching it in the face , while movement combos are those actions you use to reposition while still dealing damage instead of just rolling or waddling away . You ' ll always be safe just spamming the next button in your combo till you see the animation for it start . except you ' ll also be less safe since doing so can make you miss a queue to dodge or defend against an incoming hit . If you ' re just starting out though , I ' d say it ' s better to take it slow and play it safe until chaining a series of stabs and sidesteps is just second nature . The past several Monster Hunter games all give you exorbitant amounts of time to do hunts , don ' t be afraid to spend it finding out what works for you against a monster .