Monster Hunter World Iceborne Rajang Guide: Everything You'll Need to Know About the Rajang Update

Earlier this week, Capcom released the next major "Title Update" - Title Update 11.0 - to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, including the expansion's 1st extra DLC Monster - Rajang.

Players who have downloaded this latest patch now have access to the Special Assignments that eventually unlock Rajang in The Guiding Lands, but what sets him apart from the other monsters to be found in Monster Hunter World? Here's everything you'll want to know.

What's new in the Rajang Update

Much like with the various post-launch DLC monsters for Monster Hunter World's basegame, Rajang's launch coincides with a large supply of new content. Rajang brings a few new Turf Wars to the table, new weapons, and two new sets of armor for both male and female hunters. Here's all of what you can expect;

• New, Rajang weapons for each of the game's 14 weapon classes. Complete with new stats, new models, and of course new materials dropped from the beast itself that are required to craft and upgrade these tools.
• New armor sets for both the male and female hunter. Much like the other High Rank/Master Rank armor sets, the Rajang set includes an Alpha and Beta set, that both look different as well as offering slightly differing stats and armor skills.
• Rajang includes his own specific side quest, which requires players to have already unlocked the Guiding Lands, and then speak with The Admiral. After taking on a Kirin in the Hoarfrost Reach, you'll be tasked with a quest to investigate the situation in the Guiding Lands. Quickly, however, you'll discover a new Volcanic section of the map, and will be tasked with Taking down Rajang.
• Alongside the new content centered around Rajang and the Guiding Lands, players also now have the ability to further customize their room, and invite other players to visit it. The Guiding Lands have also seen some balancing changes as a whole, to coincide with the new area to explore within it.

How to Find Rajang / Unlock His Special Assignment

Rajang is now available to anyone hunting that has already cleared the games final hunt - Shara Ishvalda - and have unlocked the Guiding Lands. As mentioned in the last section, players will be tasked with several special assignments before being granted the ability to hunt Rajang freely:

• After reaching Master Rank 24 or above by hunting Shara Ishvalda and investigating the Guiding Lands, talk to The Admiral to receive the Special Assignment "Sterling Pride" - a hunt against a Kirin in the Hoarfrost Reach.
• Upon completion of the Special Assignment, speak to The Admiral for a small scene. You'll be told that the Kirin from the Reach was fleeing something in The Guiding Lands - and it's time to investigate exactly what. You'll receive the Special Assignment "Reveal Thyself, Destroyer", and will be tasked with hunting the - at the time, unknown monster - Rajang.
• Completing this Special Assignment will unlock Rajang Spawns in the Guiding Lands, as well as the Volcanic Portion of the Guiding Lands for exploration.

As an aside, you'll also receive the Rajang Claws Pendant, which you'll be able to attach to your weapons.

Battle Tips for Rajang

Rajang features a variety of mechanics that no other monster in the game can take advantage of. Not only is it the first Fanged Beast that players will have the opportunity to fight in Monster Hunter World, but Rajang's playstyle is quite frankly entirely different from any other monster in the game.

• Because the Clutch Claw was never designed to be used against a monster with such a small head, you'll have to Claw Attack from his arms to steer him for a slinger burst into a wall takedown.
• ...adding onto this, Rajang can (and will) grab hunters grappled to him and throw them off if you aren't careful. Don't let your guard down!
• When Rajang enters his Rage mode, he can enter a secondary Rage state where his forearms - one of his weak points - will become incredibly hard. If you've already broken his forearms before he enters this state, you can continue to target them, but otherwise, they will cause your weapon to bounce right off. Aim for the tail, as breaking it will make this state last a shorter amount of time.
• Finally, and this cannot be stressed enough, do NOT overextend your attacks. Rajang is fast at the best of times and can hit like a truck when fully enraged. He also includes a lot of attacks that can either hit from across an area or allow him to very quickly close the gap between the two of you. Rajang newbies, beware!

A Note About Rajang

Rajang, unlike previous update monsters, is added directly into the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne endgame experience. Don't let it's relatively low required Master Rank fool you - it's just as difficult as some of the monsters that you'll encounter at higher Guiding Lands levels. Rajang's update probably isn't most exciting because of his introduction to the game, per-se, but rather the significance of Capcom adding a new zone to The Guiding Lands, an entirely new type of monster in Fanged Beasts, and the implications of those two actions. Will we receive another entirely new monster in December's update, using a skeleton that hasn't been represented in Monster Hunter World yet? Will we see an Hoarfrost Reach region added to the Guiding Lands? It's very interesting stuff. Not to mention, more armor sets have been added as Layered Armor Sets, which is something the fanbase was very vocal about requesting!

Capcom has detailed some of the other future updates incoming for Iceborne, but it's worth saying that Capcom has certainly started Iceborne's post-launch content with a boom. The base Iceborne experience was already the best that the series has ever been, so seeing Capcom continue to add to it, with such confidence, is encouraging for the series' future. Happy hunting, folks!