Might as well show the video to start

Monster Hunter has an impressive track record when it comes to releasing content over time, with significant content every couple months. Right now, a month from launch, the game is running 1.12 (that’s a lot of smaller patches). It takes about 30 or so hours to clear out all the main quests, including the 2 ‘hidden’ monsters. The gameplay loop is a mix of farming for better gear, and then materials to pull talismans (necklaces) which have a rather large RNG factor. This is a flip from World, where you gambled on decorations and crafted talismans. The ‘optimal’ farm for materials is the final boss, who takes 10-15 minutes to clear.

So what does 2.0 bring?

• Chameleos, a returning elder dragon from MH4 (and others)
• Teostra, a returning elder dragon last seen in MHW
• Kushala Daora, a returning elder dragon last seen in MHW
• Apex Rathalos and Diablos, end monsters for high level rampages
• Some Apex monsters will have regular quests (not sure how gear drops will change…)
• More layered armor! (think transmog, which avoid us looking like clowns)
• The return of Hunter Rank (HR)
• The return of Event quests (time-based events with unique rewards)
• Paid DLC customization (hair, voice, palico, palamute, cahoot, etc.)
• 1 free character edit (you have infinite of this in 1.12)
• Palico/Palamute level increase to 50
• New decorations

The trifecta of Chamelos, Teostra, and Kushala should work like a rock, paper, scissors. Elder dragons in general should add a new level of challenge and change up the meta a bit from the current high affinity (crit) / raw damage dominance. Weakness Exploit + Bow are scaling to crazy degrees, so it would be nice to have more strength from elemental attacks.

I’m sure that there are some other bits added. Mitzutsune in the video has blue bubbles which explode, that’s not in game right now. Maybe it’s Apex related… and that itself is scarier than anything else. Apex in a Rampage can kill me in 2 normal hits. HR Ranks should unlock other challenges, namely arena and rampage difficulty tiers.

And most elders in MHW had 1 hit kills that required quick movement… and since Rise has super improved quick movement, it should be an interesting twist – always needing to have 1 bug ready will certainly change my battles.

There’s a PILE here, and another large 3.0 update at the end of May. Impressive.