In Monster Hunter World: Iceborne (MHW), the celebrations for the 2nd anniversary started last night. The package of many old and new events is called “Grand Appreciation Fest”. Our author Larissa reveals to you which rewards are at the top of her farming list.
There is a lot going on in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne right now. This is not only due to the recent release for PC but also to the large number of event quests currently available. Now is the perfect time to dive back into Iceborne.
You can expect the Festival of Gratitude from last year and the new Astral Festival until February 14th. Additionally, many new and old event quests for Low, High, and Master rank, so let’s get to it!
I will also be playing a lot again for the next three weeks. There are several rewards that are of high interest to me. I prefer to collect decorative armors for myself and armor for my Palico. Additionally, charms for the weapons. I love Fashion-Hunting.
A decorative armor like from outer space
At the top of my wish list is of course the armor from the Astral Festival. You can obtain it if you diligently collect event tickets. As a login bonus or for dailies, you will receive Astral Tickets. With those, you can craft the Astral α+. Also the armor for your Palico and a first charm for the weapon.
For the decorative armor I desire, you need special tickets. The best way to get these 5 VIP Astral Tickets is to help out. You will join low-level quests via emergency signals. You will get VIP Tickets even faster if you craft the Astral α+ beforehand. This increases your chance of getting the special tickets. The set effect is available from 3 pieces, and it increases again at 5 pieces.
You will need the following materials for the Astral α+:
- 5x Astral Ticket
- 3x Gracium
- 5x Monster Strong Bones
- 2x Pure Crystal
The Astral α+ is not the best armor but requires little and is more than sufficient for Low rank. In addition to the important set bonus, it brings the following skills:
- 2x Critical Boost
- 2x Divine Blessing
- 3x Effective Area
- 2x Unfazed
- 2x Weakness Exploit
A pair of Wyverian ears against the cold
Your character will also look great with the Wyverian ears that can be farmed during the Astral Festival. For that, you need to embark on the quest “Flora Frostbite”.
In that quest, you will collect 10 frost flowers from frozen foliage. You can best find these plants in area 15 and 7, where you also fought Velkhana.
For the Wyverian ears, you only need one Wyverian Ticket from the aforementioned quest and three large bones. Unfortunately, the ears are hardly useful for a fight with “Mycology” and “Survival Expert”. I find them extremely stylish nonetheless.
Through the event quests “Pearl Snapper” and “Crash Up”, there are even more beautiful hats to be collected. On one hand, the Pearl Source set with “Recovery Up” and the Crash Penguin mask with “Invulnerability”.
Transform your Palico into an alien
My Palico shouldn’t miss out either. I like to change its gear and colors. During the Astral Festival, you can transform your companion into an alien, and it looks super cool.
For your Palico armor and weapon, you need the following materials:
- 3x Astral Ticket
- 3x Pure Crystal
Of course, you can change the color of the gear. In my case, it is set to black. The weapon consists of astral insects and small Palicos flying through the air.
Absolutely all new charms
This may sound crazy and meticulous, but I will again try to farm as many charms for my weapon as possible. By the way, my favorite is the talking tofu with a hat and knife from the Resident Evil crossover.
The Astral ornaments, as they are called during the Astral Festival, come in various versions. And I want them to match the color of my weapon.
New decorative armors from High-Rank
With the new event came a wave of new decorative armors. All from High-Rank. You can choose between Alpha, Beta, and even Gamma. This gives you even more possibilities to unleash in Monster Hunter World. The Vaal Hazak Gamma is very appealing to me.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne keeps getting more decorative armors. There is great hope that equipment from the Master Rank will also be available soon. This brings us very close to our wish for a free choice of armor.
And what about Safi’jiiva?
Some of you might be thinking that I have forgotten the siege surrounding Safi’jiiva. The reason for this is that I will not be farming him. My main weapons are the bow and the light bowgun. I already have everything I wanted from both.
What kind of mission is this? However, since it is an important highlight of the event, I want to say a few words about it. As with Kulve Taroth, Safi’jiiva is a siege mission. You will fight him in 4-person teams within a session of up to 16 people.
So 4 groups can fight the red dragon at the same time. You all work together towards your progress. You can learn more about Safi’jiiva’s strengths and weaknesses in our Monster List from Iceborne.
What rewards are there for this quest? For completing the siege, there are Safi weapons. You can further upgrade them and equip them with various skills. For example, you can add affinity increase or attack increase.
The most interesting aspect of the Safi weapons is the essences. You can only equip one per weapon. The essences are named after monsters and bring a part of the set bonus of the respective beast with them. So if you have “Lunastra Essence” on your weapon, you need one less armor piece to achieve the Lunastra set bonus.
This gives you more flexibility in your equipment. You are no longer dependent on as many armor pieces for your set and can choose more sensible skills.
