Throughout Monster Hunter Rise, players will be crafting different sets of armor as they fight various monsters and acquire new crafting materials. However, one armor set may end up being a personal stand-out. In that case, Monster Hunter Rise players may want to keep it for a little bit longer. That's where armor spheres will come in, allowing players to upgrade the defense of their current armor without needing to craft something brand new.
Obtaining Armor Spheres
Armor spheres can be earned from a variety of different places. One of the most unconventional is from rock lizards. This endemic life form, and its slightly upgraded cousin, the boulder lizard, can drop armor spheres when kicked. Finding one will essentially just be a bonus; they're not a reliable source of armor spheres. A more reliable source of armor spheres comes from just completing quests. Finishing quests will often result in players being rewarded with armor spheres.
One of the most efficient ways of getting armor spheres is by completing optional subquests. Players can choose which subquests they would like to take on by talking to either Hinoa or Minoto and selecting the appropriate option from the menu. There are a variety of different subquests, generally in three categories: item collection, endemic life, and hunting. Essentially these subquests are what the bounty system from Monster Hunter: World has become. In both games, players are given a small side objective like "collect 12 plants" or "capture 2 monsters" and are awarded items when the objective has been met.
Monster Hunter Rise's subquests are, in their current state, even simpler than the ones in Monster Hunter: World. While World did have objectives like "hunt 3 monsters," there were also frequent objectives that were more specific, like requiring players to hunt specifically fanged wyvern class monsters. Rise makes no such distinction in its objectives; any type of monster will do. The subquests to collect items are fairly straightforward and similar to World. Unique to Rise though are the objectives that ask players to collect Spiribirds or Spiribugs.
Not every subquest completion will award the player with armor spheres. Some will award players with bones or other materials, but the vast majority will award armor spheres. As players make it farther into the game, the level of armor sphere rewards will increase.
Using Armor Spheres
Using armor spheres is fairly simple. There are several varieties of armor spheres: standard, armor sphere +, advanced armor sphere, and hard armor sphere. Each type of armor sphere is given a different numerical value. 1 for armor spheres, 5 for armor spheres+, 20 for advanced armor spheres, and 80 for hard armor spheres. Each piece of armor meanwhile has a numerical value that must be met in order to increase its defense. For example, if a particular piece needs 10 points to upgrade, then using 5 armor spheres and one armor sphere+ will be sufficient to upgrade it. It does also cost zenny to upgrade pieces though.
Monster Hunter Rise is now available for the Nintendo Switch. A PC release is slated for 2022.