Monster Hunter World surprisingly released its second free DLC this week, and it packs a punch! The patch brought many new content along with Kulve Taroth and a new quest mechanic. At the same time, it included some improvements that were enthusiastically received by the community.
The developers of Monster Hunter World caught us off guard this week with their second free DLC. The update was not even heavily announced. There was a trailer, and two days later the expansion was already here.
Capcom released this update at just the right time. The mood in Monster Hunter World had already been a bit flat over the past weeks, and players started to complain that there was nothing left to do. Hunters were also somewhat disappointed that the Daemonjho was an already known monster that came as DLC for the game.
Below are reasons why Update 3.0 is a significant update.
Kulve Taroth is a new Elder Dragon in the franchise – What a beautiful creature!
Kulve Taroth is a monster that no hunter has encountered yet, as it is new to the franchise. This dragon lady is referred to as Goldilock or Goldi in the community, as she is covered in a sparkling metal layer. Along with her, a new map for the game, the Eldorado Caves, was also introduced.
Goldi, however, is a massive monster and majestically strides through the Eldorado Caves. It is an impressive sight when the Elder Dragon encounters you for the first time. Since she is so huge and protects herself with golden plates, Kulve Taroth takes on the role of a raid boss. Therefore, she can be fought with 16 players simultaneously, while hunters normally venture in parties of up to four.
Famous Monster Hunter players, such as YouTuber Arekkz, generally report positively about the fight with Kulve Taroth. From the tweet below:
“I love this new Kulve Taroth siege, it’s so much fun. It’s a great evolution of the large monster fights. It’s no longer just a large monster running while we stab at its feet. She has different segments that require various play styles, and the loot grind is enjoyable!”
This all occurs in a new investigation that directly introduces a new quest system, the siege quest.
New siege quest for 16 players brings the community together
The 16 players can be a bit confusing. Hunters still play in groups of up to four players. In total, four groups of four can participate in the quest, but you only see your own four teammates.
Nevertheless, everyone works together on the progress of the quest. The achievements of other groups are displayed on your own screen. This could mean that the group managed to break parts of the Kulve Taroth or investigated traces of her.
The kicker is that it becomes easier to obtain good rewards when as many players as possible participate in the quest. Because everyone in the team earns points for various achievements, and the final score determines the quality of the loot.
It has indeed been observed that hunters have been looking for each other since the quest appeared to form a full team of 16. In special groups, players are searching, streamers are hosting events where they gather as many players as possible, and the social hub in the gathering place is usually filled with other players.
More than 300 new relic weapons can be obtained from the quest through a random system!
Together with the new siege quest, a new weapon system was also introduced. From the rewards of Kulve Taroth, hunters receive a random relic weapon that needs to be evaluated first. The stats of the individual weapons with the same name are always the same. They are not randomly generated.
A publicly available relic weapon spreadsheet shows that there are about 300 random weapons in this quest! The community is still busy collecting the weapons there. There may be many more hidden in the quest.
Each monster also has an armor set made from the body parts of the creatures. The armor from Kulve Taroth looks elegant and has quite strong stats and abilities. Of course, there is also a new Goldi armor for the cat companion.
New quality-of-life adjustments solve several problems – Players feel understood and heard
Especially well received in the community were the new quality-of-life features from Update 3.0. Many of the smaller wishes of players were implemented in this patch, for which some publicly thanked on forums like Reddit.
For example, a nerf to Flash Pods killed two birds with one stone: Especially the tempered Elder Dragons should provide a challenging fight, and many hunters found the battles with the particularly strong beasts not epic enough. Those who had enough Flash Pods in their pocket could simply throw them at the monsters and paralyze them.
With the nerf, the effectiveness of Flash Pods against tempered Elder Dragons becomes weaker with each use and ultimately fades. This aims to make the fights more exciting and eliminate the “spam strategy.”
In return, the drop rate of Thunder Stones from tempered Elder Dragons was increased. Players criticized the rarity of these stones as they are used to upgrade weapons and armor. However, it could take weeks to even obtain one of those stones.
Exactly through such adjustments, the developers signal to players that statements like “We are looking into the problem and thinking about solutions” are not empty words for them.
Capcom truly engages the hunter community
It should also be noted that Monster Hunter World is not a “games-as-a-service” title. It is not designed to be constantly refreshed with new content. However, Capcom has already brought quite a bit of new content to the game and earned a certain respect in the community.
Additionally, all these updates have been completely free. Only cosmetic items are available for purchase in the shop, and these are direct purchases without hiding behind loot boxes.
There is truly little to complain about this concept, and if so, it is at a high level.
Kulve Taroth and her siege quest will remain in the game until May 3rd. After that, the Elder Dragon will disappear and return at an indefinite time.
Learn everything about the Kulve Taroth quest here: Unlocking Kulve Taroth, tips, armor & weapons
