As Monster Hunter: World prepares to get a major expansion later this year, it would seem to have little to prove. It's Capcom's bestselling game ever; it successfully elevated the series outside of Japan, and it helped kickstart a new Capcom renaissance. Still, hardcore fans have questions.
The biggest points of criticism leveled against Monster Hunter: World surround its monster count and its difficulty. Simply put, it didn't have enough monsters, and it was a little too easy. How well will Capcom be addressing these points in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne? That's what we wanted to find out.
In an interview last week, we asked executive director Kaname Fujioka and senior producer Ryozo Tsujimoto about Monster Hunter World: Iceborne's difficulty; about the introduction of more flagship monsters, and about which weapons need to be improved for the expansion. Here's what they had to say.
USG: The general consensus in the community was that Monster Hunter: World was a little too easy at various points. What are your thoughts on that?
Kaname Fujioka, executive director: Arch-Tempered Monsters were presented as challenging endgame content for Monster Hunter: World players who had been through the story and wanted to get a meaty challenge. The thing about the Monster Hunter: World difficulty curve is that we knew we had a lot of first-time Monster Hunter players. Also, for returning players, the Monster Hunter: World system was a bit of a different feeling from the previous titles. So we needed to get you onboard with that.
The onboarding difficulty curve was rather gentle compared to previous titles. It got high towards the end, but there was a gentle slope before. Coming into Iceborne, since by definition you have to have finished the story in Monster Hunter: World, we know you're already here [gestures upward]. It's not so much that this is Arch-Tempered and it's going to keep going up. Arch-Tempered is still quite a challenge, but the difficulty curve in Iceborne is sharper for sure because we know where you're at.
How does Clutch Claw change the approach to combat?
KF: The Clutch Claw is definitely a new tool at your disposal. You're going to want to get to grips with it. That's not to say that's it's going to be a solution to every problem. It's just one more card in your deck. It won't work every time. You shouldn't be spamming it, but I think it's a great addition to Monster Hunter: World's concept of using the environment to your advantage. People have always tried to push a monster, to knock it into a wall or into a trap you've set. The Clutch Claw will let you more-directly control that aspect, your ability to position the monster. There's a lot depth added to every weapon, since they'll all be able to build on the Clutch Claw.
The snow looks fantastic in the game, how much work and effort did it take to get that up and running to Monster Hunter: World's standards?
KF: It was something that we took a lot of time on. Right from the beginning of the development of Iceborne, we knew that the concept was to have an icy snow stage, because it was something we wanted in Monster Hunter: World. It would let us bring new styles of monsters. One of the most obvious things was to have that great feeling of deep snow. Trudging through it, leaving a path behind. Implementing that and the trial-and-error process pretty much the whole way through Iceborne's development. Towards the end of development, we were finally happy with how it looked and performed.
Partying up could be an awkward experience in Monster Hunter: World. What are your plans to address this in Iceborne?
KF: We've heard feedback from people since Monster Hunter: World came out. They want to have a smoother partying up experience and we're trying to improve that. We haven't gone over the details of the new gathering hub just yet. We have shown the new home base, but we intentionally didn't go into the gathering hub. In the previous game, one of the gripes was that all the facilities that you need to prep for your hunt weren't available in the gathering hub. By necessity, you had to hop back to the base and then your friends weren't there.
We're trying to make it so that, as much as possible, all the facilities you'll need to do your hunt prep are going to be contained in the gathering hub. While it's still the case that the gathering hub is the only place you'll see your friends, we think it'll be much easier to stay there while you're playing multiplayer. Stay tune to more details in the coming months."
"[T]he Hunting Horn [...] Maybe Needed a Few More Options"
What weapon did you feel needed the biggest boost in Iceborne and why?
KF: We did think that the Hunting Horn, while it's a great weapon that's amazing for supporting your team, maybe needed a few more options. It needed more strategies that players who use the Hunting Horn could have in their arsenal in terms of powerful moves and combos. We thought we could push it further and go deeper with the Hunting Horn, for people who felt that they couldn't use it or it wouldn't fit with their playstyle. I think hopefully it should suit more players' playstyle now."
What steps are you taking to ensure that older gear remains viable with the introduction of Iceborne gear?
KF: The upgrade trees have brand new extended parts for Master Rank. You're going to be going into your Master Rank hunts, and as you defeat monsters, you'll get the Master Rank-level materials, which will let you do those upgrades. As for the armor, I know it'd be weird to be like, "Here's Iceborne, now wear this. This is the new starter armor." [gestures at Iceborne artwork] This is actually a layered armor. The one you see in the artwork is there for atmosphere. That isn't actually a skill-based build.
This is what you're given because, in story terms, it's going to be cold out there. But inside, because it's layered armor, you can wear whatever skill build you want. If you got your favorite, just bring it. Inevitably, there does need to be transition into your new Master Rank gear, because the fun of the game is the cycle of hunt, craft, and loot. It's definitely viable to bring your high-rank gear into the Iceborne opening segments.
Can we expect more flagship monsters to be revealed?
KF: We're not done with returning fan-favorites. Stay tuned for further details. We're not done announcing monsters.
There have been a number of collaborations with others brands like The Witcher and Final Fantasy 14. Can we expect to see more of those?
Ryozo Tsujimoto, senior producer: We are definitely interesting in more collaborations. But because it's not something we can just make on our own, it has to be something that you get someone onboard with. They kind of tend to come out of the blue to be honest. They're not something we super plan on. Sometimes the timing is just right. The partner is just right. We have nothing to announce or confirm at the moment. As with World, we are definitely planning post-launch support with title updates.
Is Monster Hunter: World coming to Switch?
KF: [laughing] We have no plans.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne will be out September 6 on PS4 and Xbox One. Read more about how the icy weather affects the combat in the upcoming Monster Hunter: World expansion.
FAQs
What is the hardest weapon to use in Monster Hunter world? ›
The Charge Blade is the most complex weapon in Monster Hunter World.
What is the strongest monster in Monster Hunter world Iceborne? ›Teostra is one of those monsters, perhaps the most fearsome of the main game, back to devastate more hunters in master rank. This nuclear bomb of a lion is fearsome to fight and incredibly difficult. Between large amounts of fire swirling in the air and its use of explosives, Teostra is very difficult.
Is MHW Iceborne hard? ›Iceborne is difficult: it's balanced for the endgame crowd
I mean, I'm still getting to grips with the controls again and it took me a bit to realize that the default key assignments had changed since I last played, but I don't think those things mattered much.
Nuclear weapon
The explosive yield of Little Boy, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was equivalent to about 15 kilotons of TNT; the Russian RS-28 Sarmat (called Satan 2 by NATO) ICBM was designed to deliver a payload 2,000 times more powerful than Little Boy.
is fatalis the hardest fight in this game? Technically, the hardest is probably Extreme Behemoth if we are talking about using level appropriate gear meaning to fight him in HR gear. In MR side of things, Fatalis is the hardest alongside AT Velkhana and Alatreon depending on the player.
What is the most powerful monster in all of Monster Hunter? ›Don't underestimate it — pound for pound, Rajang is generally considered to be the Monster Hunter most powerful monster – and that includes Elder Dragons. Rajang is the only non-Elder monster to prey on Elder Dragons.
Who is the hardest monster in all of Monster Hunter? ›Arguably one of the most difficult foes to take down in the entire series, Extreme Behemoth (or 'Extremoth', as he's affectionately known by players) is an absolute titan that effortlessly ranks as Monster Hunter World's hardest monster.
What is the highest DPS weapon in MHW Iceborne? ›Dual Blades: The Dual-Blades have the potential to be the highest DPS in Monster Hunter World. Their Demon and Archdemon special modes allow them to chain lengthy combos without having to worry about counters.
What is the strongest Elder Dragon in MHW Iceborne? ›The Frozen Seraphim Dragon, Disufiroa, is the most dangerous Elder Dragon in existence and the apex of Dangerous First-Class Monsters. This legendary beast can bring the world around into disarray simply with its presence, as it holds extraordinary control over its specialized element known as Frozen Seraphim.
How hard is Shara Ishvalda? ›Shara Ishvalda has no element, but both of its forms hit extremely hard. Make sure to focus on getting the best defensive gear you can, as well as skills that can help you survive. The Clutch Claw is imperative in this fight, especially if you use a close-range weapon.
What is the strongest armor in MHW Iceborne? ›
The Velkhana set is, unsurprisingly, one of the best armor sets in Iceborne. It also happens to look the coolest. Velkhana armor pieces have 154 defense and offer great resistance to Ice and Water attacks. The skills provided by Velkhana armor, especially the set bonuses, make it an unbelievably great option.
How long does it take to 100% MHW? ›When focusing on the main objectives, Monster Hunter: World is about 48 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 393 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
Can you solo fatalis MHW Iceborne? ›The Fatalis hunt is a 30 minute fight, which is less than the 50 minutes you're normally allotted for timed hunts. You're going to have to be on point here. Fatalis has 3 phases you'll fight it in. For the first phase, you'll need to solo it before you can call in your friends for backup.
What is prioritize strongest weapon? ›Updated “Prioritize Strongest Weapon” setting
The goal behind this setting is to allow players to traverse quickly with melee equipped and be combat-ready after using an ability or interacting with the Spike, ult orbs, etc.
1. Tsar Bomba: The Tsar Bomba qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction in every way. The weapon was the Soviet Union's response to the nuclear program of the United States.
What is God's powerful weapon? ›Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Sounds like a pretty powerful weapon, doesn't it? We, as believers, need to utilize this amazing weapon we have been given.
Is Safi jiiva stronger than Alatreon? ›Alatreon is a Black Dragon. safi'jiva isn't. wich means that Alatreon will simply utterly obliterate Safi before he even has the chance of existing.
Is Fatalis a Wyvern or a dragon? ›The Fatalis are a group of ancient Elder Dragons who have prowled the lands since ancient times.
Can Fatalis be soloed? ›If you have Heavy Artillery 2 and are playing solo, Fatalis should topple down to the ground if all the machine gun shots hit. Run toward its head and wail on it again. Once it stands up, you can go and wall slam Fatalis once again if it's not enraged to inflict more damage on, yep, the head.
What is the oldest monster in Monster Hunter? ›Fatalis is one of the oldest creatures on this list as it was an Elder Dragon introduced in the original Monster Hunter.
What is the strongest sword in Monster Hunter World? ›
Black Fatalis Blade: The Great Sword with the highest base damage in the game, albeit at the cost of an affinity penalty. Lightbreak Blade: A powerful Great Sword with immense blast damage.
What is the most complex weapon in Monster Hunter rise? ›The Charge Blade is the most complex weapon in Monster Hunter Rise. Similar to the Switch Axe, it has two modes, shifting between Sword and Shield mode and Axe Mode.
Is there a monster stronger than fatalis? ›No other monsters are capable of defeating a Fatalis as far as I know. Fatalis is as close to a god as you can get in the Monster Hunter franchise and it is even said that every living thing fears Fatalis.
Is there more than one fatalis? ›Supposedly, there is an ancient species of Fatalis that's much older than the other two species. After sustaining injuries in battle, Fatalis flees from Castle Schrade and moves to a volcanic belt.
Is Disufiroa the strongest monster? ›Disufiroa is a powerful elder dragon that is often considered to be the strongest monster in G-rank (That became debatable in later updates). Although Disufiroa isn't considered a Forbidden Monster (aka Black Dragon), its strength far surpasses most other elder dragons.
Is Alatreon armor better than Safi jiiva? ›Safi set is for high risk high reward . Ala set offer a lot protection and a bit of offensive power but not as high as safi , but then you probably won't see you get 1 shot either . Alatreon's armour set is like Kushala's armour set. It's only good against him really.
What weapon has the highest faith scaling? ›While many weapons also scale off strength or dexterity, the Golden Order Greatsword scales much more off Faith than anything else.
Who is the best sword DPS? ›- Kaeya works great as both DPS and support in Genshin Impact. As a DPS, he currently has the highest Normal Attack scaling among all sword users. ...
- Albedo is easily one of the best supports in Genshin Impact. ...
- It's hard to believe that Xingqiu is a 4-Star character in Genshin Impact.
In Fire Active mode, Alatreon is impervious to Fire damage. Instead, the monster has a 3-star weakness to Ice, followed by 2-star weakness to Water. It also has a 1-star weakness to Dragon and Thunder.
Who is the oldest elder dragon? ›The Oldest Elder ( 最 さい 長 ちょう 老 ろう , Saichōrō; FUNimation "Grand Elder Guru", Viz "The Great Elder") of Namek was the eldest Nameccian living on the planet Namek, and the only Nameccian besides son of Katas to survive the cataclysm that nearly pushed their race to extinction.
Does DevilJho eat Elder Dragons? ›
There lines in 3U about DevilJho eating Elder Dragons as well. Ouma Diablos.
Can you sleep Shara Ishvalda? ›It's also moderately weak to water and poison, but it's probably not worth going out of the way to get a water or poison weapon. It should also be noted that Shara Ishvalda is immune to sleep, so don't bother with sleep weapons, ammo, or coating.
How hard is it to solo Alatreon? ›Fighting Alatreon solo might actually be the easier method, but this is also largely dependent on how confident you are in your skills. Make no mistake, it's still a tough-as-nails fight, but it alleviates some of the problems with fighting him as a team.
Can you cut off Shara Ishvalda tail? ›Shara's 'severable' part is actually its head. You can't cut Shara's tail, but its head can break twice for an extra carve.
Is Safi armor better than fatalis? ›Assuming you use Kjarr Bow, then Safi armor is better, because you can stack both Critical Element and Safi boost, while Silver Rathalos will overwrite Critical Element from Kjarr. Fatalis is more for comfy builds than pure DPS, and it's what I use.
Is Xeno jiiva armor good for Iceborne? ›2/15 Xeno'jiiva Alpha
The Xeno'jiiva is one of the toughest monsters you will face, but it is well worth the armor that you can craft from its parts. It is strong against water, thunder, and ice, not to mention it has amazing Level 3 active skills such as Flinch Free, Power Prolonger, and Blight Resistance.
An underrated survival skill. Safi armor is the best armor there is for elemental damage since kjarr weapons have crit element built in. 3 piece Safi and 2 piece Brachy can be a potent combo on blast weapons as well, though soulless meta slaves would prefer the Teostra 3 piece.
Is Valstrax in master rank? ›How to unlock Crimson Glow Valstrax in Sunbreak. Reach Master Rank 70 in Sunbreak and you will unlock the Top Gun of Monster Hunter's skies, Crimson Glow Valstrax. Yeah, you won't find this guy playing volleyball at the beach with lowered nets and Kenny Loggins music playing in the background, that's for sure.
Is fatalis limited time? ›Fatalis Event Quests
Once you've completed the special assignment "The Black Dragon" and spoken to characters to complete the story, you will unlock a special event quest for Fatalis, "Fade to Black". This event quest is only available for limited periods of time, and can be found under "Events" on the quest board.
Completing the story missions will see you reach MR 6, with the Master Rank cap then unlocking. The exact cap isn't known - but with High Rank having a cap of HR 999, as per previous Monster Hunter games, it's likely the same here. Levelling up from unlocking the cap after MR 6 works the same way as HR.
Can fatalis be slept? ›
Someone else pointed it out to me, but Fatalis sleep WAY longer than other monsters. 2 minutes! You can easily sleep it, then go back to camp get your weapon of choice, then hit it in the face.
Can you make fatalis armor without killing it? ›Full Fatalis Armor complete without killing it once. A challenge I gave myself for fun after realizing I had made 3/5 parts without killing it. Over 10 hours of stealing with plunderblade while testing out methods for cannons, bombing, etc. to efficiently break the wings/horn.
Do you have to beat Alatreon to get to fatalis? ›After the ending of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, you must discover Alatreon in the quest ""Blazing Black Twilight"" for the Fatalis event to begin. After the event has begun, in order to take on the special assignment "The Black Dragon", you must first slay Alatreon in the special assignment "Dawn's Triumph".
What is the most used weapon in Monster Hunter World? ›- Longsword .............. 20% of players.
- Bow ........................ 14% of players.
- Charge Blade ......... 10% of players.
- Greatsword ............. 9% of players.
- Dual Blades ............ 8% of players.
- Insect Glaive ........... 7% of players.
- Heavy Bowgun ........ ...
- Hammer ..................
Hunting Horns are often considered a difficult weapon to use in the Monster Hunter community. They are large, cumbersome, and melodies have to be constantly queued for emergency use. Monster Hunter Rise buffed Hunting Horns significantly and made their Melodies much easier to play.
What weapon kills fastest MHW? ›Bow and HBG are definately among the weapons with the fastest times. A result of damage output and uptime due to their ranged nature. Iceborne Spread HBG with shield is literally the most non-deco reliant weapon in the game and out-DPSed half the others with their meta builds before we got the title updates.
What is the easiest weapon to use in Monster Hunter World? ›Easiest Weapon #3: Long Sword
Happily, for the most part at least, this is true. The Long Sword has some very friendly and easy to learn attacks, and it's relatively long reach means the new hunter won't be putting themselves in danger zones too frequently.
Monster Hunter's most unpopular weapon, the Hunting Horn, has finally shed its perceived role as a support weapon in Monster Hunter Rise.
What is the strongest gun in the Hunter call of the wild? ›Rangemaster 338 | TheHunter: Call of the Wild Wiki | Fandom.
What is the strongest monster in monster hunters? ›Elder Dragons are the most powerful monsters in the world of Monster Hunter.
What is the best weapon to fight fatalis with? ›
Fatalis has 3 phases you'll fight it in. For the first phase, you'll need to solo it before you can call in your friends for backup. Fatalis has a big weakness to Dragon element weapons, and Blast weapons are also another solid choice if you hope to finish the battle.
What weapon does the most damage in MH rise? ›MHR great sword
Its kit offers a variety of powerful charge attacks, its single-hit damage is higher than any other weapon in the game, and it also allows you to guard – though this costs a good chunk of your weapon sharpness, meaning you'll whip out the whetstone quite a lot.
The popular streamer said that this Kastov-74u Warzone 2 loadout is an “AR, but it kills faster than literally anything,” even beating SMGs from up-close. FaZe Swagg also tuned some of these attachments to favor ADS speed and recoil stabilization.
What is the hardest enemy in MHW? ›Arguably one of the most difficult foes to take down in the entire series, Extreme Behemoth (or 'Extremoth', as he's affectionately known by players) is an absolute titan that effortlessly ranks as Monster Hunter World's hardest monster.
Is fatalis gear the best? ›Without spoiling the stats, Fatalis' gear is the best in the entire game. You are definitely going to want to farm for this.
What is the strongest fantasy weapon? ›The Odinsword is the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Norse gods of Asgard. It is much more powerful than even Mjolnir, the hammer wielded by Thor, and has the ability to channel the Odinforce itself. The sword belongs to Odin, but can be wielded by anyone who can carry it.
What is the easiest weapon in Monster Hunter Rise? ›- 7/7 Long Sword.
- 6/7 Hunting Horn.
- 5/7 Great Sword.
- 4/7 Lance.
- 3/7 Hammer.
- 2/7 Dual Blades.
- 1/7 Sword And Shield.