New Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Update Will Add Layered Weapons Feature

Get ready hunters, the third Monster Hunter World: Iceborne update will hit March 23 for PS4 and Xbox One. As previously announced, two new monsters, Raging Brachydios and Furious Rajang, will be part of the update. In the Developer Diary 5 broadcasted on March 21, the dev team shared a lot more details about what fighting those two monsters will entail, but also revealed that layered weapons will be a new feature.

Layered weapons have been an add-on that Monster Hunter fans have clamored for before (a lot of “Finally!” comments showed up during the broadcast), and it basically means that players can alter the appearance of their weapon without changing its stats. The update on March 23 will roll out phase one of the layered weapons feature, and the second wave will arrive in April.

The first wave will allow you to customize certain weapons, specifically those that have a clear base and attachment to them. Players can swap them out however they want. In April’s second wave, players will be able to change the appearance of unique weapon designs, but only on weapons that can be augmented.

But back to the two new monsters, Raging Brachydios and Furious Rajang: They’re both variations of existing monsters Brachydios and Rajang. The normal Rajang only gets golden fur when it’s enraged, but the Furious Rajang will always have golden fur. When the variation gets enraged, its golden fur will sparkle, and get even more vicious than its normal counterpart. The Furious Rajang also doesn’t have a tail, which is different from the normal version. That means when its four legs get hard as rock and impossible to injure during enragement, players will have to attack its head instead of the tail on the normal version. The Furious Rajang will also have a strong pinning attack, and teammates will have to help each other out to get out of its grasp.

The Raging Brachydios is much larger than the normal version and moves a slower pace. However the slime on the monster’s body can now trigger explosions in a wide area. When you attacked the normal Brachydios, the slime on the monster’s body detonated. But in this variation, when you attack the slime-covered monster’s part, the slime will drop onto the ground and then explode. A particularly gnarly new feature is also this monster’s special ability to get to a certain place when requirements are met, and set the entire place on fire. While in this phase of the battle, players can’t use forecasters, can’t use traps, and can’t escape the area.

Part of the March 23 update includes a powerful Banishing Ball for use exclusively in the Guiding Lands. Only quest leaders can use it, and when they do, any monster the Ball is thrown at will disappear from the Guiding Lands. There’s also other updates, like modifications to the Hunter Helper system, armor and charm levels, and a new festival in April. The seasonal event is dubbed the Full Bloom Fest and comes with a very rose-themed special armor. It will run from April 10-7. You can check out the full third title update details on Monster Hunter’s website.

You can also read GameSpot’s Monster Hunter World: Iceborne review if you haven’t checked out the game yet. Our reviewer, Ginny Woo, says, “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is more of the same, glorious slog for everyone who’s ever been taken down by a fire-breathing facsimile of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and thought, ‘I can’t wait to do that 50 times over.'”