Get ready to grind Monster Hunter Wilds' new 9-star quests and obtain the new Appraised Talismans to achieve the perfect build.
Monster Hunter Wilds is set to release its Ver.1.021 Update, which adds 9-star Tempered monster hunts, a new ‘Appraised’ Talisman system for the endgame grind, weapon balance changes, and more, on Wednesday (13 August). Capcom revealed in late July that Ver.1.021 adds content that was originally slated to release in September, with the developer now sharing details for the update ahead of its release.
We listed all of the biggest changes coming in Monster Hunter Wilds' Ver.1.021 Update below:
9-star Tempered monster hunts
Monster Hunter Wilds now has a new level of difficulty in the form of 9-star Tempered monster hunts, with the quest targets including Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, Jin Dahaad, Gore Magala, Arkveld, Mizutsune, Lagiacrus, and Seregios. These 9-star Tempered monster hunts will start appearing once players reach Hunter Rank (HR) 100 or higher.
Based on how 8-star Tempered monster hunts increase the difficulty from their 7-star counterparts, we can expect monsters in 9-star quests to have higher health pools as well as faster and stronger attacks. Some may even have entirely new moves or attack combos.
In order to facilitate clearing these 9-star quests, Capcom has raised the upgrade limit for armor of rarity 5 or above, extended the duration of meal effects from the Portable BBQ Grill, Meal Invitations, and the Canteen, and adjusted the strength of support hunters.
Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda also said in a letter to the community that players can expect to see more 9-star hunts in the future. These can come in the form of any new monsters also having 9-star Tempered versions available to hunt upon their release or future Event Quests featuring 9-star targets.
Rey Dau and Nu Udra will now also appear in the Wounded Hollow if players are at HR 100 or higher. Additionally, each region's apex predator will be more likely to appear even with that region is not experiencing an Inclemency.
But why should players bother clearing these harder quests? One of the quest rewards upon clearing a 9-star quest will be the ‘Glowing Stone’ appraisal item. This material is required for the new Appraised Talisman system that expands Monster Hunter Wilds' endgame grind. We'll elaborate on this new system below.
Appraised Talismans
Unlike regular Talismans, Appraised Talismans cannot be crafted or upgraded at the Smithy. Instead, Appraised Talismans can be created at the Melding Pot in Suja using Glowing Stones. Upon creation, Appraised Talismans will have a random selection of armor skills, weapon skills, and decoration slots for both weapon and armor skills.
Based on the preview image released by Capcom, Appraised Talismans have Rarity levels that can go up to level 7. We can expect Appraised Talismans with high Rarity levels to have multiple useful skills and decoration slots.
According to Tokuda, the new Appraised Talisman system “[allows] for more customization and experimentation with builds. We hope this leads to more engaging gameplay and encourages hunters to try different weapons and armor based on the talismans they obtain.”
Weapon balance changes
The Ver.1.021 Update also includes balance changes for 11 weapon types, namely the Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Hunting Horn, Lance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun. Meanwhile, the Gunlance and the Bow only received bug fixes.
The likes of the Long Sword, Sword & Shield, and Switch Axe only received one or two lines of changes, but the Lance and Insect Glaive in particular received a hefty amount of buffs. You can check out all of the weapon balance changes in the official Ver.1.021 Update notes.
Aside from weapon balance changes, the update also buffed a few offensive skills to make them more relevant in the endgame. The skills that received buffs include Bubbly Dance, War Cry, Powerhouse, Burst Boost, Affinity Sliding, Shock Absorber, and Ballistics.
The weapon balance changes in Ver1.021 notably reverts nerfs that some weapons received in previous updates, according to Tokuda. The game's director explained that:
" […] in previous updates, we aimed for greater diversity in hunting styles and equipment builds, including equipment with elemental properties. We performed balance adjustments, including some downward adjustments, to ensure no single strategy was overly effective against monsters introduced later on. However, this resulted in some hunting styles becoming less viable and certain weapon types experiencing lower-than-intended viability. We apologize for the results and that we did not communicate our balancing intentions clearly enough.”
For the full list of changes coming in Monster Hunter Wilds' Ver1.021 Update, check out the official Ver.1.021 Update notes.
