Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak adds Seregios, Switch Skill Swap, and Follower Quests
Capcom held a Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Digital Event today announcing a lot of new information for the upcoming release of Monster Hunter Rise's big expansion. Notable highlights include the return of Seregios to the Monster Hunter series, the ability to Switch Skill Swap in the middle of combat, and the new Follower Quests where specific missions allow players to venture with NPCs.
Sunbreak is aiming to bring back a good handful of fan-favorite monsters. In its last Digital Event, Capcom unveiled that Astalos would be coming. This time the spotlight is on Seregios. Many of its defining features seem to be retained in Sunbreak, like how it can shed its Bladescales towards players. As Monster Hunter veterans know, Seregios is also a tricky monster to fight due to how often it can inflict the Bleed status on its enemies. The new Sunbreak trailer shows off the changes to the Seregios model when it enters its Enraged state too.
Two monsters from Monster Hunter Rise received new subspecies in Sunbreak - Aurora Somnacanth and Magma Almudron. Unlike a regular Somnacanth that emits powder to put hunters to sleep, the Aurora subspecies produces a chilling air around it to freeze them instead; it can even focus that into a deadly ice breath. Magma Almudron foregoes muddy environments to live in lava regions instead. The defining ball tail that Almudron possessed now spews magma constantly.
Old monsters from lower Ranks will be getting new moves, attacks, and behavior patterns in their Master Rank versions, like previous Monster Hunter expansion releases. The new Sunbreak footage showcased some of Aknosom and Tigrex's new moves only exhibited in the Master Rank version of these hunts.
One of the more surprising parts in today's Sunbreak Digital Event is the detailed breakdown of the fight with Sunbreak's flagship monster, Malzeno. Its unique Bloodblight mechanic has players contending with the fearsome monster as it continually tries to absorb their life force; if Malzeno successfully absorbs enough life force, it evolves. Long-time Monster Hunter players will be familiar with this because it resembles the Frenzy status effect from Gore Magala in previous entries.
Sunbreak allows players to take key NPCs as Followers in specific single-player only quests. Each Follower has their own set of weapons and armor. Much like Palicos and Palamutes, Followers aid players in recoveing their health, placing traps, and dealing damage to foes. Unlike them however, Followers can also ride monsters on their own. Both Elgado and Kamura hub villages will have their own set of Followers to choose from. In Elgado, players will be able to have Fiorayne, Luchika, Jae, Admiral Galleus, and Master Arlow as a Follower. Meanwhile in Kamura, it's mentioned that several characters can be brought along, but specifically mention Kamura twins Hinoa and Minoto can be Followers too.
Another big feature announced for Sunbreak is the Switch Skill Swap system. Players are able to customize and set two loadouts, the Red Swap Scroll and Blue Swap Scroll, in advance. Then they can swap between these red and blue loadouts on-the-fly. Reminder that the Switch Skill loadouts allow players to configure not only just Switch Skills, but Silkbind Attacks as well. Therefore, players can access other Silkbind Attacks mid-combat in Sunbreak now. A new Swap Evade maneuver lets players safely Switch Skill Swap during an evasive maneuver from an incoming enemy attack.
Lastly, a few significant quality-of-life improvements are coming to Sunbreak. Hunters can now initiate a wallrun without having to Wiredash into a wall first. They can also continue to attack a monster while it's in a downed, mountable state rather than automatically be forced to ride it immediately upon attacking it. More quality-of-life enhancements are still yet to be revealed, but will be shared at a later time.
Capcom will start releasing introduction videos on all of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's classes on May 16, which will highlight the expansion's new Switch Skills and Silkbind Attacks for all of them.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is releasing on June 30 for the Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam).
