Turning off Monster Hunter Wilds’ Seikret autopilot lets you have more fun

Monster Hunter Wilds’ Seikret mounts are helpful. Maybe a little too helpful. With a single button press, they will scoop you up and shuttle you across the map to whichever monster you happen to be hunting. It’s wonderfully convenient, but after a few dozen hours, you might yearn for a little more control. 

The good news is that your big bird has some unadvertised features that can make traversal and exploration feel more lively.

Turn off cruise control

Even outside of autopilot mode, Seikrets default to a control scheme where R1/RB increase your speed, and R2/RT will slow you down. The benefit is that you can rest your left thumb during long treks, but when it comes to fine movements, I find it to be less responsive.

If you want your Seikret to control more like your hunter, pop into the options menu, tab over to controls, flip to the second page, and switch “Seikret Manual Controls” to Type 2. 

Pull the e-brake and drift

If you’re manually controlling your Seikret, you get access to a Mario Kart style drift boost, and it feels really, really good. While holding the sprint button (R1/RB), and without letting go, hit the brakes (R2/RT). Your Seikret will start to scramble as you crank the control stick in the direction you want to go, and when you release the brakes, it will take off with a drifting dash that gives you a nice boost of speed.

Glide

In the scripted opening of the game, your Seikret leaps off a rocky outcrop and spreads its wings, gliding gracefully to the earth. It took me 90 hours of monster hunting to realize I could do it again. Oops! Any time you leap from a ledge while mounted on your Seikret, holding R2/RT will engage glide mode. While gliding, you can steer yourself towards where you’d like to land. I haven’t found an especially practical use for this yet, but it’s definitely fun.