Potions are one of the most important consumable items in Monster Hunter Wilds. You can quickly and easily heal yourself, making it possible to survive all the monster fights that unravel throughout the game. There are several ways to get potions and there are also different kinds of healing items that will benefit you during your various hunts.This Monster Hunter Wilds guide serves as a comprehensive explainer on how to use potions and other healing items, including all the details you need about how to craft potions.How to find herbs in Monster Hunter Wilds Handily, you need very little to make the standard potion. The crafting recipe to make one potion is one herb.In the early game, you can find herbs scattered around Windward Plains. There is an herb plant just outside the Windward Plains base camp by the camp exit, for example.Herbs look like a leafy plant that grows on the ground and are highlighted in green light. You will likely find loads of herbs by collecting plants as you explore various regions, however, you can use your map to find more.To find herbs, scan the map for icons that look like tiny plants. Some of the plant icons mark resources like ivy and other plants, though, so double-check your map to make sure that its actually an herb before trekking there.If you have trouble navigating to any point of the map, press down the right control stick to mark it with a Waypoint and your Seikret will automatically run to it after you close the map.How to craft potions in Monster Hunter Wilds Monster Hunt Wilds uses an auto-crafting system where the game automatically creates certain items when you collect the necessary materials while exploring the world. The default game settings are set so that it will automatically craft potions and mega potions. In other words, if you dont do anything, the game will immediately create potions when you collect the appropriate materials. Nice!However, you can also manually craft potions and some other healing items. Here is how to do it:Open the Items and Equipment menu.The top option highlighted under this sub-section says Crafting List. Select it. This will prompt a menu that contains a full list of craftable items. The first item at the top of the list is the potion. Select it and press the button again to craft it.You now have a potion! If it doesnt work, check how many potions you have in your Item Pouch. The game wont let you carry more than ten potions at a time so it wont let you make more if you hit the max already. (You also just might be out of herbs as well.)The previous steps apply to crafting other healing items, like mega potions and First-Aid Med+ as well. You just need different materials to craft each item. In addition to crafting, you also purchase potions from the Provisions Stockpile at any base camp for 66z each.How to use potions in Monster Hunter Wilds You have a couple of options that will allow you to heal and use potions while in the middle of combat. The first is the Optimal Heal option. Here is how to use the Optimal Heal to use potions and other healing items:Hold L1 to bring up the radial menu.As you continue to hold L1, push the right thumbstick to the left. This will navigate the cursor on the circular menu so that it highlights the option Optimal Health Recovery.Let go of the right control stick and your character will use the selected healing item, like a potion.If your character didnt heal, its possible you were interrupted. The radial menu doesnt pause gameplay so the fight continues in the background. If a monster attacks you as you are trying to heal, it doesnt work. Youll know the potion or other healing item worked when your character glows green and your green health bar increases.The Optimal Heal option on the radial menu appears to use the healing item that best corresponds with the amount of damage you need to heal. (Polygon tried to test this, but it ended up using regular potions each time, so we couldnt verify which conditions prompted the use of which items.)If you would like to select each healing item you use individually or use other healing items like a well-done steak (if youve cooked one), theres another way to do it. Here is how:Hold L1. This will bring up the radial menu, but you are actually going to ignore it. Instead, look toward the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.As you hold L1, press the Square or Circle buttons (on PS5) to scroll through items in your Item Pouch. Keep pressing either option until you find the item you would like to use. (We used a well-done steak in the example above.)Once it highlights the correct option, let go of L1. Now that item is registered to the Square button. Press the Square button to use the item you chose. Your character will use said item and heal if you registered a healing item.To also help you understand Monster Hunter Wilds, we explain how to change weapons, provide some Seikret tips, and detail how fishing, cooking, and layered armor work.