Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is just around the corner. Our author Larissa wonders if the addon is even suitable for newcomers.
Starting from September 6, fans can battle new monsters in the new addon Iceborne. But should only seasoned hunters do this, or is Iceborne also suitable for newcomers? After all, you need nothing more than hunter rank 16.
From level 16, everyone, including newcomers to Monster Hunter World, can travel to the snow-covered Hoarfrost Reach. You reach this rank by completing the main story. It is a low requirement and no additional missions are necessary.
The 3 big questions:
- Can newcomers jump straight into Iceborne, or are the challenges awaiting them too difficult?
- How good does the equipment need to be to tackle Iceborne properly?
- How high must the skill level be to face the challenges without getting frustrated?
Gifted equipment is strong, but hunters remain inexperienced
What about the equipment? Every player will receive the “Guardian” armor set for free on September 4. This will make it considerably easier to get through the low rank and probably also through the high rank in Monster Hunter World.
So equipment isn’t a problem for entering Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.
But is this armor a curse for players or a blessing?
What about experience? In the base game of MHW, players had to earn their high-rank armor and learned many useful things about the game along the way. And this gifted set could actually spell doom for newcomers.
This armor is a carry armor. It carries newcomers through, and in Iceborne, they don’t understand how the game works.
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Due to the easier difficulty, many experiences are missed that would otherwise have been collected. Especially in the missions that come after the main story, players usually gain essential combat experience.
These important experiences would be missed by the players:
- Monster behavior: The move sets of many monsters are very similar. When players have already faced many battles, they can better assess new monsters and defeat them more easily.
- Items and their effective use: Many items in Monster Hunter World make the hunt easier for you. For example, there are knives that cause status effects or special powders that can save your life in tight situations.
- Learning from other players: By playing with other hunters, you also learn useful tricks. This includes, for example, the sleep trick in Monster Hunter World, where you can place bombs in front of the monsters’ noses.
How important is the equipment in this regard? My long-standing experience with the Monster Hunter series has often shown me that it’s not just the armor that leads you to success.
If you master your weapons in Monster Hunter World well and can anticipate the movements of the monsters, it is possible to have a tough battle even without armor. But that requires practice.
If you breeze through your story too easily, you miss many valuable player experiences that will help you in tough fights.
Iceborne promises tough challenges
In Monster Hunter World, I usually take down most monsters with my favorite weapon, the bow, in just a few minutes, but that will surely change with Iceborne. The newly introduced Master Rank plays an important role here. This new difficulty level is also supposed to make life hard for seasoned veterans.
What do the developers say? This was already evident during the play sessions at Gamescom. There, players could get a first impression of Iceborne. Our author Leya also took this opportunity and received further information directly from the developers in an interview. You can see more about this in the following video.
Watch Monster Hunter World: Iceborne with the lead developers of MONSTERSANDEXPLOSIONS on www.twitch.tvShould newcomers stay out?
This does not mean that absolutely no newcomer should play the Iceborne addon in Monster Hunter World. However, one should probably prepare for a high frustration curve. The motto is not to give up immediately, but to persevere.
Some good players might not have any problems at all, but one should not get overconfident due to the strong gifted armor. In Monster Hunter World, experience counts more than equipment:
- Anyone planning to start with Iceborne as a newcomer is well advised to perhaps play a few rounds in the main game first.
- Anyone familiar with “Monster Hunter” as a franchise will likely be able to succeed with the “gifted armor,” even if they haven’t perfected the main game yet.
In any case, I am looking forward to the new challenges and hope to meet many of you in Iceborne.
Here you can find out how to prepare well for Iceborne:
What is your opinion on the topic? Do you think one should already get started with JR 16 in Iceborne?
