Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is finally out on PC. And with it comes a host of new changes and things to keep in mind. Here are some quick tips to point you in the right direction so you can jump into the Hoarfrost Reach and start hunting without missing a beat.
Focus on armor
As soon as you start the expansion, new gear becomes available. Due to the inclusion of Master Rank, even earlier monsters get new armor sets with much higher defense. Just like with the bump to High Rank, these monsters are now more dangerous and tankier, but they won’t be as much of a problem as new ones.
However, you may want to wait until you’ve fought the first couple of monsters, as the skills on those sets can be quite helpful. For instance, using even early MR sets, you can easily get yourself max-level earplugs, which will come in handy. Vitality increases are also really easy to stack too, so if you need a bit of extra life, you can come by it pretty easily.
People seem to have a lot of trouble with this big guy. When playing online they would often get carted with a surprising amount of frequency.
Upgrade your weapons ASAP
The first couple of monsters don’t do all that much damage, so you can go in without constantly worrying about carts. However, they have very large amounts of health. If you’re going in solo you should try and have the best weapons you can, as the fights might take a long time otherwise. Thankfully, Iceborne lets you forge rarity 9 weapons straight away, so you don’t have to farm too much just to be able to fight.
Even using rarity 9 weapons solo can still take a good, long while, though. I noticed that the barrier to entry to make rarity 10 weapons can vary based on weapons. For instance, making a rarity 10 hammer was possible considerably earlier than making most of the rarity 10 longswords. Then again, if you’re going solo then you probably have some great builds from farming endgame, so that might not be an issue at all for you. People who jump into Iceborne directly after beating the main game will possibly not be so lucky.
Get used to the clutch claw
It might not seem like it, but the clutch claw is now your new best friend. It’s a fairly reliable way to get in and do some damage whenever you need to. But this is Monster Hunter after all, so that doesn’t mean doing so is going to be safe. Whenever you’re dealing with a monster part that’s either too hard or not soft enough to do decent damage to, simply latch onto it with the clutch claw and hit it. You’ll need to do this twice sometimes to get the visible damage to show on the monster.
Iceborne has some really lovely sights to see, such as this icy, blue cave. I wonder how much this place would echo.
Once you see this change, you’ll be good to go in regards to going after that part. But as you’ll soon find out, it’s only temporary. Any wounded monster part will heal over time, and you’ll have to latch on and strike it all over again. Monsters will, naturally, not take these lying down. Depending on where you latch on, they can easily throw you off. And you can get hit while detaching. It’s also got a very short range, so don’t expect to zip onto foes from a ways off because you’ll just be leaving yourself open.
Drink up
While in Hoarfrost Reach, you’re going to be very susceptible to the cold. Remember how the cool drink worked in the Elder’s Recess? It’s similar to that. But it doesn’t last as long. The cool drink’s effects tend to stay with you until you cart, but the hot drink only lasts a few minutes. And trust me, you don’t want to be in the middle of a fight when the drink wears off. Without it to protect you, your stamina will gradually decrease to such a small amount that you won’t be able to run.
Thankfully, hot drink isn’t difficult at all to come by. You’ll find plants with peppers growing on them throughout the area, and you’ll automatically craft two drinks each time you gather from these plants. Make sure to chug one every few minutes, or else you can easily put yourself in a precarious position when up against a monster that doesn’t care much for giving you space.
“I’ve got a great way to repackage Tobi-Kadachi! What if they were basically exactly the same but were poisonous instead of electric! Brilliant, right?”
Don’t forget about the new side stuff
Even though there’s a ton of major content to sink your teeth into here, there’s also some more forgettable optional stuff that has some good rewards waiting. For starters, you have a camera now that a researcher wants you to use to get specific photos of Grimalkynes. Doing so will net you some rewards. Make sure to look at the photo info page from time to time.
Then there’s the fuel center. You can feed items into the Seliana generator and get some useful stuff by helping out every now and again. It’s really easy to forget about these things coming off of the base game, but every little bit helps.
Making charms is easier than ever
Some of the new monster variations in Monster Hunter world: Iceborne can go a little hog wild with the status effects. But making a charm to block sleep, poison, or blast is now even less of a problem than it was before. Since all of those charms are made with High Rank monster materials and you’re using Master Rank equipment, farming these monsters to make charms will now take no time at all, even if you’re group-averse.
Yes, you can capture the penguins. I’ve always wanted to be friends with a penguin, so this was good news for me.
Take care of story missions on expeditions
A great many of the monsters are first encountered on expeditions. Due to how long they can take solo, you may want to consider fighting them this way, even if the rewards are fewer. You can cart as many times as you like without fear of failing, so it’s a great way to save some frustration if a monster is taking you longer than you’d like.
Unfortunately, if you take too long, the monster will eventually leave the zone and your ability to hunt them during the expedition will be gone forever. This happened to me after 40 minutes of slowly wearing down a shrieking Legiana that was hanging out with a regular Legiana. I was not at all happy. You’ll have no choice but to accept the assigned quest and deal with them the old-fashioned way.
That’s all for our beginner tips for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. It’s a tough expansion, but with some new gear and a large amount of help, you’ll probably make it through alive. Maybe. As always, make sure to leave any tips of your own in the comments below. Good luck, hunters.
Published: Jan 9, 2020 11:00 am