After first unveiling Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak during September’s Nintendo Direct, Capcom has finally given details on the upcoming DLC, which the company calls a “massive expansion.” These include new monsters and locations, as well as the return of monsters from past games.
Related: Will Monster Hunter Rise have cross-save?
Fans of the series will recognize the returning monster shown off in the new trailer for the Tokyo Game Show as the Shogun Ceanataur, who was last seen in Monster Hunter Generations. It’s a nightmare-inducing hermit crab that uses a giant skull for its shell, which is appropriately creepy given the vibe that the expansion is going for. The electrifying Astalos, also last seen in Generations, is returning as well.
Brand new monsters will also be added for the expansion. A trio of new monsters, dubbed The Three Lords, will be the central focus of Sunbreak. The Three Lords is made up of Garangolm, which can cover its arms in moss and magma to attack with water and fire when enraged; Lunagaron, an icy counterpart to the fiery Odogaron that can create body armor through ice; and Malzeno, Sunbreak’s new Elder Dragon.
New variants will be included along with the new and returning monsters, such as Blood Orange Bishaten, which will lob exploding pinecones rather than persimmons like the Bishaten in the base game.
Sunbreak director Yoshitake Suzuki described the new castle ruins location shown in the reveal trailer as “eerie,” noting how the sky turns crimson at nightfall. These ruins are centralized in The Citadel, one of Sunbreak’s new areas. The Citadel is made up of different environments ranging from “lush forests to icy mountains”, each environment will have its own new endemic life, like Morphed Wirebugs and Marionette Spiders.
Sunbreak is targeted for players in the endgame of Rise, as it requires hunters to complete the 7 Star Hub Quest “Serpent Goddess of Thunder” before its content can be played. The story picks up right where the base game left off, after the Rampage of Kamura, with a Lunagaron suddenly spotted at the Shrine Ruins. Players will join knight Dame Fiorayne as she investigates a threat to her homeland and travel to her country, which hosts the new hunter base Elgado, replacing the village of Kamura. Elgado is home to a new set of characters including the researcher Bahari and new Quest Damsel, Chichae.
A Master Hunter rank is also being introduced and will include its own set of quests.
Related: What is the release date of Monster Hunter Rise on PC?
Elder Dragon Malzeno and Follower quests
Capcom recently revealed several new features of the upcoming Sunbreak expansion in a new digital event. The monster pictured above is the flying wyvern Seregios, a fan favorite creature returning in Sunbreak. All monsters will be getting new attack patterns and behaviors during Master Rank quests, and two new subspecies were also revealed.
Aurora Somnacanth and Magma Almudron will be bringing a new element of fire and ice to Sunbreak, and they will also get new armor and weapons to craft with them. In addition to these returning hunts, Elder Dragon Malzeno, the star and new enemy of this expansion, has several recent attacks and status effects based on its vampire-influenced design.
Malzeno can inflict a new status known as bloodblight, and any hunters who succumb to this affliction will have life absorbed by Malzeno. This creature will then use that power to transform and make the fight more challenging than it already was planning to be.
A prominent new feature coming with Sunbreak is Follower Quests. These quests will allow players to bond with the inhabitants of the new Elgado outpost and offer unique rewards, unlocks, and abilities for completing them. They will also provide tutorials for the new Switch skills coming to all 14 weapon sets contained in Rise.
Capcom will continue to reveal further details on new locations and Malzeno, as well as other monsters, leading up to the launch of Sunbreak in Summer 2022.
