"Monster Hunter Now" will see its first elder dragon come into the fold with Kushala Daora coming to the game in its second season. (Niantic)
Over its first official season, “Monster Hunter Now” made plenty of strides to mature the gameplay that it feels like a brand new game. The Vernal Intruder season introduced quality-of-life improvements such as more loadouts and layered armor while also revamping the Hunt-a-thons, so that solo players can find allies across the planet.
Every change that Niantic and Capcom implemented has made the experience better. It’s gotten so good that I’ve spent more time hunting monsters than catching pocket ones. It seems as though “Monster Hunter Now” is in a better place than “Pokemon Go” as the teams flesh out more of the gameplay with the latest addition being Driftsmelting.
Now, “Monster Hunter Now” enters its second season and it’s called “Dancing Tempest.” For the first time, the developers are introducing elder dragons to the mobile game with Kushala Daora debuting along with Elder Dragon Interceptions.
That’s the lead monster but two more are scheduled to launch. The first is Khezu, a wormlike wyvern that has electrical attacks and is historically weak to fire. Basarios is the other confirmed new monster. It’s a rock-themed wyvern that also spews out gas. It’s traditionally weak to Dragon and Water. Both of these creatures will be in the wild while Kushala Daora is available through a new type of encounter.
Along with the new monsters, players will be able to craft new weapons and armor that will also have novel skills such as Kushala Frostwind, Artillery, Special Insurance and more.
To help players battle these new targets, the team is introducing a new weapon: the Gunlance. It looks like the normal lance but can attack from range. The Gunlance’s attack power also increases as it heats up from firing. To go along with these additions, “Monster Hunter Now” will add new medals to display on their guild card.
With the new materials, players will need more space in their Item Box. Niantic is giving players a free 250-slot expansion and it will be raising the cap on Item Box capacity. Speaking of Shop items, Niantic will be offering a Season Pass again. That means players will need to start claiming their rewards if they haven’t yet. They have one month after the start of the season to do so.
Niantic said it will add more large monsters throughout Season 2, so expect more target-rich environments. The release of Driftsmelting was a surprise that came late in Season 1. It offered a welcome reward for walking around to hunt monsters while also boosting armor stats through Driftsmelt slots. Essentially, some monsters drop stones that randomly give bonuses that players can slot into armor once it reaches a certain level. The move gave players more of reasons to upgrade their armor beyond Grade 6.
The “Dancing Tempest” season begins at 5 p.m. June 12 and it will kick off with an increased presence of Khezu in swamps and Bsarios in deserts. Coral Pukei-Pukei is also making a return, but they’ll be in Hunt-a-thons.
Lastly, “Monster Hunter Now” will have a celebration for the launch of the two revamped “Monster Hunter Stories” games coming out in June. Players can earn limited-edition hunter medals and layered outfits.
Originally published at Gieson Cacho