Monster Hunter Wilds’ First Title Update Arrives on PC in April, Introducing a Grand Hub, Mizutsune, and Fresh Quests

Monster Hunter Wilds will receive its first proper title update on Thursday, April 3rd PT and Friday, April 4th in the UK. The update adds a new social hub to the beast-bashing action-RPG, together with a new monster you might recognise from previous games, some tougher varieties of existing monsters, and a bunch of additional quest types and outfits. Plenty to chew on, once you pick out the bones. Here’s a trailer.

Let’s start with the monsters. These include the “dazzling and dangerous” Mizutsune, a returning face from Monster Hunter Rise, which will be available in both standard and eight-star Tempered varieties. It’s a big frilly rainbow lizard that “moves almost as if it’s dancing, and skillfully attacks foes with debilitating bubbles”, according to a PlayStation blog post. Hands up if you now wish there was a real-life dancing school that involved bubbles. (There probably is.)

As with all of Monster Hunter’s apex predators, Mizutsune is a source of materials for new armour sets. Where is my bubblesuit, Capcom? How am I supposed to do dancing emotes without a bubblesuit? To hunt (or capture) the Mizutsune, talk to Kanya in the Scarlet Forest Base Camp at Hunter Rank 21 or above.

The first title update also begins Capcom’s rollout of “Arch-tempered” monsters – the toughest monster variations yet. First on the menu is the Arch-tempered Rey Dau, which will be available at Hunter Rank 50 or above as part of an event quest on Tuesday 30th April.

Title update 1 also sees the return of the Zoh Shia in High Rank play, this being a critter that you could hitherto only fight once as part of the story. As of 3rd/4th April, you’ll be able to battle the Zoh Shia repeatedly. Look out for the High Rank Zoh Shia quest in the environment overview. You might also stumble on the poor dear during the Wyvern’s Wakening in the Ruins of Wyveria. Fell it and you can craft some new High Rank hunter and Palico equipment that, to my eye, makes you look like you’ve been tarred and feathered.

That’s it for new monsters. But what about the real monsters here – other human players? Well, title update 1 introduces the Grand Hub, a majestic social space that has “long served as a place of worship for the people of Suja”, where carved totems rear above the tents and you might occasionally hear the songs of the faithful after dark. Also, it’s got a bowling alley where you roll barrel bombs at targets to win items and pedants.

To do this, you’ll need Barrel Bowling Vouchers, which you can earn via login bonuses among other means. It’s a retention mechanism, in other words. The Grand Hub will be available from Hunter Rank 16 – just chat to Tetsuzan in Suja, the Peaks of Accord.

What else? Well, they’re bringing back arena quests, which challenge you to complete a hunt as fast as possible using pre-determined equipment, together with limited-time Challenge Quests and Free Challenge Quests, where you can earn pendants. There’s a new free outfit for Alma, and some other cosmetic DLC gubbins. Read more on the PlayStation blog.

Capcom are already teasing the game’s second title update, which lands this summer – there’s a glimpse of another new predator in the video above. There is, as yet, no word of any significant overhaul for the PC version’s technical tribulations at launch. I’m not sure how bad it is right now – have you had any frame rate issues lately?