As part of the upcoming ‘Fulminations in the Frost’ major update for Monster Hunter Now, Capcom and Niantic will also be bringing weapon and monster balance adjustments.

According to the developers, the new Monster Hunter Now update will adjust the game balance of existing monsters and weapon types following feedback and data.

Weapon Balance Adjustments

In the announcement, the developers noted that they paid extreme attention to achieving a good balance between various weapon types.

Currently, close-range weapons suffer much more disadvantage than long-range weapons in terms of risk and damage, noted the development team.

To rebalance, the development team has adjusted long-range weapons to enforce the need for more accurate aiming.

In contrast, melee weapons are tweaked to reduce the risk and improve damage performance.

Great Sword

Arguably one of the most iconic of the series, the Great Sword requires risk to unleash big numbers with a single slash.

In the current version, the development team noted that the weapon suffers a slight imbalance between risk and return.

The changes are as follows:

• The transition from a Charged Slash to the next level of charge will be tweaked to be faster.
• Hunters will be able to evade quicker after a Charged Slash.
• The hyper armor state window will activate sooner while performing a Tackle.
• After a Jumping Wide Slash (performed by tapping after a Tackle), hunters can then follow up with a Charged Slash by tapping and holding.

Sword & Shield 

For the versatile Sword & Shield, the development team noted that the game now will have two weapons that can guard with the introduction of Lance in the upcoming update.

Now, adjustments will be made to highlight the Sword & Shield’s technical nature with better guard performance, reducing the overall damage reduction rate when blocking against monster attacks.

Additionally, the Sword & Shield will also gain the following changes:

• Ability to execute a perfect guard with a well-timed block, taking reduced damage compared to regular guarding and activating the Offensive Guard armor skill.
• Hunters can now transition from a guard to a backstep quicker than before.

Hammer

Hammer is described much like the Great Sword, a high-risk weapon, and adjustments made are to compensate for its short reach.

When the update goes live, the Hammer will receive the following changes:

• When using Lock On, hunters charging the Hammer will be moving toward the locked target more smoothly.
• Hammer users will also evade quicker after all attacks.

Bow 

While supposedly a technical long-range weapon that requires positioning, accuracy, and distance management, the Bow currently dominates in the attack performance department, dealing sufficient damage even without aiming at weak points.

With that in mind, the developers have adjusted the weapon to emphasize more on the technical aspect of the weapon and encourage positioning and precise aiming.

The changes for Bow are:

• Critical distance adjusted and damage reduction will be greater when far from monsters.
• All large monsters will be more resistant to shots aimed at non-weak parts.
• Perfect evade will increase the charge level by two.
• The speed of rapid arrows slightly increased for better accuracy when attacking parts.

Light Bowgun 

As with the Bow, the Light Bowgun has been adjusted to account for its ease of generating sustained firepower from a lower-risk position, especially with skills like Recoil Down and Reload Speed.

Changes made are as follows:

• Critical distance adjusted and damage reduction will be greater when far from monsters.
• All large monsters will be more resistant to shots aimed at non-weak parts.
• Successful perfect evade when ammo is maxed out will now grant a bonus of +1 to the ammo capacity.

Long Sword

Long Sword… gets no changes.

Monster and Other Tweaks

In addition to weapon balance, monsters, and various features will also be adjusted, and the changes are as follows:

• All large monsters’ strong roars will be effective over a wider range.
• The formula for calculating the rate of increase in damage when skills that increase attack power by a multiplier (e.g. Sneak Attack, Special Boost, etc.) are stacked has been changed.
• It will take slightly longer to evade just after getting up from when the hunter is thrown back.
• The window of invincibility after reviving will be slightly longer.
• It will be easier to launch an appropriate attack based on your proximity to a monster.
• Some of the rewards for Daily Quests will be increased:
  1) Sharp Claw, Wingdrake Hide: increased from 3 to 5
  2) Machalite Ore, Monster Bone M: increased from 1 to 3
  3) Dragonite Ore, Monster Bone L: increased from 1 to 2

The Fulminations in the Frost major update will be coming to Monster Hunter Now on 7th December 2023 and for new monsters and weapon details, you can read them here on GamerBraves.

Did you know that Capcom wants to know who is your favorite monster of all time in the series and currently having a poll? Read here to place your votes and why it is Khezu.

For more Monster Hunter content, such as an interview with the series producer Ryōzō Tsujimoto, the reproduction biology of Gore Magala, and many more, you can check them out here.