Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak stream reveals Switch Skill Swap abilities, follower quests, and more on Malzeno

At today’s Monster Hunter digital event, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yoshitake Suzuki provide insight Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

During the demo, the duo revealed three monsters, toggled skill-swap abilities, follower quests, and more information about the flagship Elder Dragon, Malzeno.

Serregios, the flying dragon known as the “Thousand-Blade Dragon”, returns in the expansion. This monster is known for its high-flying maneuvers and the super-sharp blade scales that cover it, which tend to shed during combat. If you get hit by one of the scales, you risk a “bleeding” state.

In addition to returning monsters with new abilities and behaviors when they appear in Master-level quests, two new monster subspecies introduced in Monster Hunter Rise will arrive in the expansion. One of them is the newly launched Aurora Somnacanth, which releases a “persistent cold mist” that freezes anything that gets too close. It can even glide across ice to strike, and will exhale a dangerous icy breath.

Then there’s Magma Almudron, who prefers the heat of lava caves and uses lava to enhance his attacks, which can get overwhelmed if not careful.

But there is also the Elder Dragon Malzeno to contend with, as it commands a swarm of parasitic entities that capture and absorb the energy of its prey. When fighting directly, the monster will attack with vampire moves, and if it gives you a “blood plague” state, the two of you start a duel to determine who’s life force runs out first. If you fail, Malzeno evolves into “a more horrific form”, wreaking havoc on survivors.

To defeat these beasts, you’ll need to find new ways to fight, and that’s where the toggle ability ability comes in.

You’ll be able to use the Toggle Skill Swap feature, which allows you to switch skills to two different loadouts, which can be changed dynamically during the hunt. If you find yourself under attack while performing a switch skill swap, you can perform a swap evasion in any direction to avoid danger, or reposition for a sustained attack. Beginning May 16, more information on the conversion skills of each of the 14 weapon types will be provided through a set of short videos exploring each weapon.

Sunbreak will also give you new ways to connect with the game’s characters through new follower quests. These single player hunts allow you to accept and complete quests with your favorite story characters. Each follower has their own specialties and will even help you by restoring health, placing traps and even riding monsters.

Members of Elgado Outpost such as Fiorayne, Luchika, Jae, Admiral Galleus and Master Arlow will visit as followers, in addition, members of Kamura villages such as Hinoa and Minoto will also visit as followers. You’ll unlock followers as you progress through the story, and you can even earn rewards for completing follower quests.

Finally, during the presentation, a cool Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Nintendo Switch Pro Controller was revealed. It features Malzeno and will arrive with the expansion when it releases for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on June 30. While the price wasn’t announced, it’s likely to be priced the same as the previous Pro Controller at $69.99.