“Monster Hunter Now” is kicking off its first official season, and Niantic is introducing a huge set of upgrades to its second-most popular game. In The Vernal Invader, which begins at 5 p.m. PDT on March 13, players will encounter three new large creatures and they’ll get their hands on a new weapon: the Charge Blade.
Fans of the Switch Axe will have to wait a longer, but the Charge Blade is a welcome addition to the new arms available. They’ll need it against Odogaron, Tzitzi-Ya-Ku and Deviljho. Each of those monsters come with fresh features.
Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, from left, Deviljho and Odogaron are the new targets coming to “Monster Hunter Now.” (Niantic)
MEET THE NEW MONSTERS
With Odogaron, it resembles Tobi-Kadachi but has a much different behavior, senior producer Sakae Osumi said. It’s huge and agile while also inflicting a new status effect called Bleed. Hunters who suffer the injury will see additional damage every time they’re hit. The only way to stop it is to avoid attacking and evading for short period of time.
Tzitzi-Ya-Ku is a medium-sized monster that’s comparable to Kulu-Ya-Ku. Its special attack will stun players if they attack head-on, so it’s best to target the creature from behind or the flanks.
Lastly, Deviljho is coming to the game and the big pickle is doing it in the most fitting way possible. Its arrival coincides with the new Invasion mechanic. When Hunters visit a volatile territory, there’s a chance that the creature will tear through the battle, ambushing the hunter and replacing the monster that they though they were hunting. It creates an element of surprise to the gameplay and it will force players to adapt because they may not have the equipment to take on the beast.
Deviljho gets more violent during combat. Its face turns redder until it unleashes a huge breath attack.
Along with the new monsters, there will be new armor and weapon sets for each one. Players will also have the ability to add new status effects when attacking creatures. In addition, players will have fresh skills available including Latent Power, Quick Work and Status Sneak Attack.
Players hold the new Charge Blade weapon in “Monster Hunter Now.” (Niantic)
THE NEW WEAPON
As for the Charge Blade, it sounds as if Niantic adapted the weapon fairly well to its accessible, tap-heavy gameplay. The weapon features a Sword Mode, which has a shield an blade similar to the first weapon players receive in the game. If they hit the special move button, it transforms into the Axe Mode that deals more damage but is significantly slower.
Players will have to charge up the blade and the five vials available in Sword Mode and then unleash the power in the Axe Form along with the Super Amped Element Discharge. In the main games, the move is one of the most powerful and is right up there with the Great Sword’s True Charged Blade Slash. Players can switch back and forth freely amid combat, but I suspect there will be a delay in the animation so it’s best to pick the right moment to do it.
LAYERED ARMOR AND SEASON PASS
When it comes to the actual foundation and quality-of-life elements for “Monster Hunter Now,” Niantic is revamping a lot features. The biggest is the introduction of a Season Pass. It will have two tiers, a free one and a premium one that you have to pay for. Completing activities allows players to climb it. All players have access to the free tier and the rewards contained within. They include potions, rare crafting material and costumes (more on that later).
The Season Pass in “Monster Hunter Now” comes in a free tier and a premium tier. (Niantic) The Premium Tier essentially offers players access to more items. They get the free tier stuff and the premium stuff, which is more items, rare crafting material such as Wyvern gems and more costume items. The paid currency of the game, Gems, are not available in either tier. The scripted awards are available up to level 100, and beyond that, it appears to be uncertain. The Prime Hunter’s Pass will still be in the game because it serves a different purpose, Osumi said.
He also added that hard-core players can complete the season pass in a month but while more casual players, who go at the game in 20 minute sports, can finish it in about two months or so.
As for other improvements, players will finally get Layered Armor. These are cosmetic skin that players can use over their normal armor. It allows players the freedom to express themselves so that they don’t look like a hipster with mismatched clothes. Players can use any armor item as a Layered Armor so they can dress in a full Rathalos set but have armor pieces with different functions underneath.
If armor isn’t your thing, “Monster Hunter Now” has costumes. Players can dress in T-Shirts and jeans, cat ears and other special items. Those are some of the rewards in the Seaspon Pass. To make sure others get to see your outfit, players will be able to see the gear of ther hunters in the Hunt-A-Thon screen before readying up to battle a monster.
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With so many pieces of gear and weapons added to the game, “Monster Hunter Now” is increasing the Loadouts to 10 slots. Thankfully, players will also be able to rename them so they can better organize their gear and wear the right equipment for a hunt.
Lastly, Niantic is adding 16 new quests as part of the Celebration Quest Line and they feature some very nice rewards after the fourth stage. They include several coveted monster materials. The new quests will be available after the prologue in the Special Quests tab and they’ll be available from March 14 to March 24. That’s just Part 1 of the celebration marking the six-month anniversary of “Monster Hunter Now” and the 20th anniversary of the “Monster Hunter” franchise.
