Monster Hunter World consists of the grind for better gear obtained by hunters from increasingly powerful monsters. Those who have completed the main story will soon unlock quests for “tempered monsters.” This is where the current endgame of the action RPG lies.
Those who finish the main story of Monster Hunter World have experienced several adventures and wild battles with gruesome beasts. You have risen as hunters to high rank, uncovered many secrets, and faced the dangerous Elder Dragons.
What does Monster Hunter World have to offer after the story?
Those who have played up to this point should have realized that the action RPG consists of hunting and fighting monsters repeatedly. Afterwards, loot and rewards are collected to craft better equipment.
It should come as no surprise that after completing the story, you will be doing exactly the same: You will hunt even stronger monsters in the endgame of Monster Hunter World and receive better gear in return. The only difference is that now you will also face tempered opponents.
Warning: Those who would prefer to be surprised by the endgame content should stop reading here.
Tempered monsters are the focus of the endgame in Monster Hunter World
Once you have completed the main story and thus defeated Xeno’jiva, you can unlock quests for tempered monsters. These monsters are, simply put, stronger versions of the standard monsters. It is important to note that tempered monsters are only stronger in attack, but can take no more damage. The defense values of tempered monsters remain the same, but they can deal significant damage to you.
Tempered monsters are divided into 3 different difficulties:
- Level 1: Hunter Rank 13+ – This level includes weaker monsters such as Tobi-Kadachi, Barroth, or Pukei-Pukei
- Level 2: Hunter Rank 30+ – This level includes stronger monsters such as Rathalos, Diablos, or Legiana
- Level 3: Hunter Rank 50+ – This level consists solely of Elder Dragons such as Nergigante, Teostra, or Kushala Daora
Blue tracks unlock investigations for tempered monsters
Once you reach the appropriate hunter rank, you can find special tracks for the monsters of the respective level. Your scoutflies will glow blue when they have picked up the trail of a tempered monster. For regular monsters, they glow green.
You need to follow the blue tracks of your scoutflies until new investigations are unlocked for you. You can tell whether you have unlocked an investigation with a tempered monster by the fact that the monster’s icon is surrounded by a purple-blue outline.
Tempered monsters provide augmentation: Warrior and Hero Stones
The tempered monsters are the toughest opponents in Monster Hunter World to date. Especially around Hunter Rank 50+, tempered Elder Dragons can knock you out with a single blow.
To take down these beasts, it is advisable to upgrade your armor with decorations. These are jewels that you can slot into your equipment. The jewels provide benefits such as increased damage, defense, faster reloading, or accelerated sharpening of weapons. Decoration slots are only available in high-rank armors and primarily for the beta sets of these.
Decorations and equipment slots both have levels from 1 to 3.
- Decoration levels: Higher-level decorations contain more powerful abilities.
- Slot levels: Slots can be filled with decorations of the same or lower level. A level 2 decoration CANNOT be attached to a level 1 slot.
Augmentations enhance weapons and armors BEYOND their maximum
Through the quests of the tempered monsters, you can receive special stones as unique rewards. You do not obtain these when hunting “normal” monsters. With these stones, you can further upgrade your weapons and armors. This process is also referred to as augmentation.
There are two types of stones:
Warrior Stones
Hero Stones
The drop chance for these stones is generally quite low. However, it holds true that the more difficult the quest, the higher the chance that you will receive a stone as a reward.
Augmentations are divided into 5 types:
- Attack Increase
- Affinity Increase
- Defense Increase
- Additional Slot (Here, 1 slot is expanded for a level 1 decoration)
- Health Recovery
A weapon can be improved 1-3 times, and for armors, the maximum upgrade level improves. Hero Stones are needed to upgrade weapons of high rarity (around 8). Hero Stones also have a rarer drop chance than Warrior Stones.
Collecting Warrior and Hero Stones is currently the main endgame of Monster Hunter World. This is the way to enhance your equipment beyond its maximum level and make the most out of it. These stones drop so rarely that it is a hard grind to acquire them. You will have to fight through several monsters to get the coveted augmentations.
You can only obtain the stones starting from level 2 (Hunter Rank 30+) of the tempered monsters. Tempered Elder Dragons have a higher chance of dropping the stones.
Monster Hunter World features event quests with fresh content
In addition to the tempered monsters integrated into the “normal” gameplay, there are also event quests. These can also be seen as part of the endgame as they provide the game with fresh content.
Event quests can include unlocking special armors like Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. These grant your character a special look from another franchise.
Then there are event quests for which you can earn special rewards such as additional decorations. The events also offer new challenges.
At this time, it is still unknown whether Capcom is planning another stage of endgame as DLC. Many fans are still hoping for the G-Rank, which would make the monsters significantly stronger. Until then, the endgame of Monster Hunter World revolves around farming tempered monsters in a loot grind spiral.
Have you already reached the endgame of Monster Hunter World?
For those who are still relatively early in the game, we have here a beginner’s guide to Monster Hunter World with tips and tricks
