Capcom has pulled the curtain back on Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's Title Update 1, the first in a series of free content drops that will release for this expansion over the coming months. The returning Lucent Nargacuga and Seething Bazelgeuse were teased prior to Sunbreak's release this June, and players were told the Forlorn Arena map would also be added. However, an official Monster Hunter Digital Event this morning laid out the other new monsters, mechanics, and supplementary content that will become available tomorrow, August 10.

Title Update 1 seems pretty cut-and-dry after the Digital Event showcase, which is a shame. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's marketing left few surprises to discover upon booting up the expansion, and some additions in this first update would have been fun to discover organically. Still, having that advanced knowledge should give fans time to prepare their best armor for greater challenges to come.

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New Monsters and the Forlorn Arena

capcom free title update august 2022

Monster Hunter Rise's base expansion added just two maps: the expansive new Citadel with multiple environmental biomes, and the Jungle map from Monster Hunter 2 adapted for Rise's open-world format. Forlorn Arena, originally introduced as "Tower 3" in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, has returned twice before in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Generations. According to Sunbreak director Yoshitake Suzuki, designers sought to maintain the map's original atmosphere while adding new elements and background features.

This arena often houses quests with rare species like Lucent Nargacuga, which is returning for the first time since 3 Ultimate and boasts the ability to turn invisible (comparable to the Elder Dragon Chameleos) by refracting moonlight with its white fur. Lucent Nargacuga is also shown to have abilities like scattering rings of poisonous scales. Meanwhile, Seething Bazelgeuse from World is similar to the Furious Rajang variant in that it is always in a rage state which makes its scales explosive, but can access a further "seething" state with "critically volatile" scales.

The two new monsters announced today for Title Update 1 are Silver Rathalos and Golden Rathian, commonly called the "metal Raths" by fans. This rare species duo was introduced in the ultimate version of Capcom's original title, Monster Hunter G, and are notable for having access to an "incandescent state" with more frequent attacks. Suzuki says the metal Raths also have new moves following their last appearance in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Fans will have to really learn their stuff to gain access to each of these four armor sets, which come with new skills that have not yet been detailed.

Anomaly Research Quests

capcom free title update 1 august 2022

Much of the narrative in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak revolves around its flagship monster, Malzeno. This Elder Dragon is known to control leech-like creatures called Qurio, which inflict Bloodblight that slowly drains a hunter's health unless they can fight back. In the postgame, hunters gain access to Anomaly Quests against regular monsters that have been buffed by the power of the Qurio. Defeating these beasts grants access to eight afflicted monster parts needed to upgrade weapons to rarity 10 (and craft certain skill decorations), but also Outfit Vouchers for Layered Armor.

Title Update 1 will add the A5 rank with new Anomaly Quests against monsters including Lunagaron, Diablos, and Seregios. However, some of these will need to be unlocked through the new Anomaly Investigations system. Anomaly Investigations have randomized conditions like target monster, locale, and player numbers, but are at set strength levels that increase as the player boosts their Anomaly Research Level by completing investigations. The system has been compared to Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate's Guild Quests, which similarly grew harder as players completed them.

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Rewards improve as one's Research Level grows, and more can be purchased at Bahari's Research Lab. Some of these exclusive rewards can further upgrade weapons through "Qurious Crafting" with augments such as additional attack, sharpness, and decoration slots - though there's a limit for each weapon similar to Buddy Skills. Armor pieces can be granted random upgrades for more defense or even additional skill points. More basic Anomaly Quests and a higher level cap for Anomaly Investigations will be incorporated in each Sunbreak Title Update, according to Suzuki.

Event Quests and Sunbreak DLC

capcom free title update 1 august 2022

If Anomaly Investigations and perfecting one's armor sets through randomized perks isn't enough to keep players occupied, Capcom is planning to release weekly Event Quests starting on August 18. Though the first official one has yet to be announced, all marketing around the new feature showcases a battle against two Furious Rajang. This also showcases the Dual Threats quest type, in which a pair of monsters (such as the metal Raths) work together rather than potentially start a Turf War while in the same area.

Monster Hunter series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto also announced new DLC coming with Sunbreak Version 11, including the first sets of Layered Armor based on NPCs that will allow players to look like Fiorayne and Utsushi "regardless of which body type you choose for your character" (with voice lines for Fiorayne sold separately). Additional layered armor, gestures, stickers, hairstyles, and music tracks - namely piano variants of songs like Malzeno's theme "Scarlet Feast" - will also be available to purchase.

Smaller improvements such as bug fixes and the Steam achievements will also be included in Title Update 1 (though achievements based on Version 11 will come with Title Update 2, according to Capcom). While this will no doubt make Sunbreak's endgame content more substantial, its general lack of new monsters may leave a lot to be desired. Luckily the next free Title Update is confirmed to have a late September release window including more rare species, subspecies, and "powered-up" monsters. Fans will just have to wait and see whether Azure Rathalos and Pink Rathian join their metallic cousins down the line.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is available now on PC and Switch.

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