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Niantic and Capcom's real-world monster hunting game 'Monster Hunter Now (MH Now)' is gearing up for its sixth season update. Prior to the Season 6 update, several new elements have been pre-applied to the in-game, such as the 'Training Area' as a practice area, the hunting mission content 'Skill Test Quest' with various conditions, and the 'Monster Hunting While Moving' function to prepare for the summer heat.

In the new season, the new monster 'Nargacuga' will appear, and the 'Hunting Horn' will finally be added as a usable weapon. In addition, additional strengthening functions for weapon stats, the addition of Elder Dragons and subspecies monsters, and other content are planned to enrich the summer.

Prior to the Season 6 update, Niantic held an online interview with domestic media officials on the 2nd. The interview was attended by MH Now Producer Yui Mugitani and Niantic's Korean developer, Game Designer Sangseok Shin. The interview introduced what new content hunters can expect in Season 6, followed by a developer Q&A to check out more details.

📒- Monster Hunter Now Season 6 'Red Gleam Disrupting the Dusk' Starts June 19
- 4 New Monsters Including Series' Popular Monster 'Nargacuga', New Weapon 'Hunting Horn' Added
- Niantic "We will increase the number of digging elements, such as Dimensional Transformation and Style Change"

Monster Hunter Now Season 6, 'Red Gleam Disrupting the Dusk' Update on June 19

Prior to the full-fledged interview, Game Designer Sangseok Shin introduced the new content of MH Now Season 6, which begins on June 19. The slogan for Season 6 has been decided as 'Red Gleam Disrupting the Dusk'. Designer Shin Sang-seok said that he worked on the key visual with the theme of 'What if Nargacuga existed in the real world?', and revealed a new key visual with a skate park background that blends well with Nargacuga's agility and sharp image. You can also see the hunter holding the new weapon 'Hunting Horn' that will be added in this season.

The most notable part of Season 6 is the addition of the 'Hunting Horn'. The Hunting Horn is a weapon characterized by generating 'melody' effects by collecting timbres through attacks, and was especially considered a technical weapon in the original series. Designer Shin Sang-seok said that he implemented the Hunting Horn's unique deep action with 'simple controls' suitable for Now, and introduced that various effects can be activated with timbres divided into blue and red. In addition, he advised that if you want an aggressive play, it would be effective to select a high-frequency shock wave melody to induce the monster's knockdown.

Along with the Hunting Horn, 4 types of monsters will be newly added to Season 6: Nargacuga, Great Jagras, Bishaten, and Barioth. In addition, Elder Dragons are scheduled to be added in July, and subspecies monsters in August.

First of all, Nargacuga is a monster characterized by its fast and agile movements. It uses battles to quickly attack from a favorable position, and all of the attacks that cause bleeding, the unique tail slam, and the faster movements after roaring and emitting red light from its eyes have been implemented in Now. The armor that can be crafted after defeating Nargacuga has a new skill called 'Increased Power When Accumulating Abnormal Status'. Designer Shin Sang-seok introduced that high synergy can be expected when used with existing status abnormality accumulation assist skills.

Great Jagras is characterized by spewing poisonous breath or staying in the air for a certain period of time, and using attacks that cannot be blocked by guard. The Great Jagras series armor that can be crafted after defeating it has the 'Last Shot' skill. It is a skill that increases the damage of the last bullet, and is expected to be especially compatible with bullet types with a small number of bullets.

Bishaten is a monster that rotates around its tail as an axis and spreads a wide range of attacks. It also attacks by throwing fruits such as persimmons while supporting its body with its tail. Some of these cause status abnormalities such as paralysis poison, making it difficult to deal with, so the point of attack is to destroy the tail area that is the axis first. The Tenga series armor that can be crafted after defeating it has the 'Additional Attack: Paralysis' skill. It is a skill that adds damage to paralyzed monsters, and is expected to be used with various paralysis attribute weapons or bowgun's paralysis bullets.

Lastly, Barioth is a Leviathan monster that swims through the snow. It covers its entire body with snow and ice membranes like Jyuratodus's mud, and part destruction becomes possible after removing this. Designer Shin Sang-seok introduced that the 'Hunting Horn Echo Enhancement' skill attached to the Barioth series armor will be very useful equipment for Hunting Horn and Hammer users.

Images of the layered armor added in Season 6 were also introduced. The 'Summer Vacation' equipment is provided as a season pass reward. The composition is eye-catching with goggles casually placed on the hat, a Hawaiian shirt, and a hip sack. Designer Shin Sang-seok said that you can enjoy more diverse styles by combining it with the summer coordination provided last year.

In addition, the 'Homewear' costume, which was designed with the idea of ​​going out to hunt in a hurry before going to bed, the 'Doctor', a new job motif costume, and the 'Nargacuga Motif', a new monster coordination costume, were also revealed.

A new content 'Dimensional Transformation Monster' will be added. With the setting that monsters that have crossed over through special dimensions appear, they show a much stronger appearance than normal monsters. It starts from 8 stars, and the point of attack is to weaken the monster by first destroying the purple aura area where the power of the dimension is concentrated. In the early stages of the update, 6 types of monsters will appear as dimensional transformation monsters: Barroth, Tobi-Kadachi, Anjanath, Jyuratodus, Rathian, and Barioth.

At the same time, the 'Style Enhancement' system will be added. It is possible to simply strengthen the stats of the weapon, and to change the battle style through the weapon's actions, 'Style Change'. In the early stages of the update, it will be introduced to three weapon types: Sword and Shield, Long Sword, and Light Bowgun, and materials from hunting dimensional transformation monsters and monsters of 9 stars or higher will be used for enhancement. Designer Shin Sang-seok said that the weapon action changes greatly, so it can be used like a completely different weapon, and that style enhancements for other weapons will be added as quickly as possible.

In order to allow users to experience style enhancement quickly after the update, a limited-time event will be held to ease weapon crafting materials. During this period, the number of materials required to craft the equipment will be reduced by about 70% or more, and in the case of Zenny, it will not be included at all.

It was also introduced how the style enhancement of the three weapons will proceed. First, the Sword and Shield will add two styles: 'Advancing Slash' and 'Just Rush'. If you select Advancing Slash, the existing shield attacks will be replaced with slash attacks, and the final hit of the charge attack can also be used to slash with the sword instead of the shield, making it easier to accumulate sever damage. On the other hand, Just Rush is characterized by making it easier to induce stun by increasing shield strikes and sword and shield combos.

The Long Sword is divided into 'Iai Stance' and 'Spirit Blade' styles. Iai Stance changes the style of holding down to utilize various charge attacks. You can charge up to 3 levels and use a long release slash, and you can also evade by swiping while charging. If you select 'Spirit Blade', the tap combo becomes more powerful when the gauge is strengthened to red. It can be said that the importance of maintaining the gauge increases in the existing battle style.

The Light Bowgun adds 'Sliding Reload' and 'Evasive Fire'. Sliding Reload allows you to reload bullets while moving while evading, and if you evade with at least one bullet used, you can change to the next type of bullet and fire. At this time, the 'Reload Speed' skill does not affect it, so you can try more diverse settings instead. 'Evasive Fire' is a style that allows you to fire during an evasion step. If you swipe when there are bullets, you fire, and if there are no bullets, you take the same evasion motion as usual. At this time, the effect of the 'Recoil Down' skill disappears, so you need to consider other skill combinations.

Finally, a 'Login Bonus' system will be added to MH Now. It is a unique system in which monster balloons arrive on the field and you pop them to get rewards. There are three types of monster balloons that appear, and the reward items you can receive vary depending on the balloon. Designer Shin Sang-seok said that if you are lucky, you may find a rare item balloon, and a rare balloon will appear for sure if you log in for 7 consecutive days, so it is good to participate consistently.

'Monster Hunter Now' Season 6 Update Briefing Q&A

Q. I'm curious if there were any difficulties in simplifying the operation of the Hunting Horn. If there is anything you paid special attention to in order to bring out the charm of the Hunting Horn in a different environment from the original?

Game Designer Shin Sang-seok (hereinafter Shin Sang-seok) = As expected, it was quite difficult. I had a lot of concerns not only about the operation, but also about displaying information on the screen. I paid a lot of attention to things like 'Wouldn't it be easier to display notes like this?', and in the end, I simplified many parts with the intention of making it as easy as possible to play in a short amount of time. I don't think the current appearance is the best because there are complicated parts such as what sounds are currently collected and what will happen if you use a special skill at this time. If there is a lot of feedback that it is difficult to understand after the release, we plan to modify it at any time.

Q. In the last interview, you said that you were reviewing the 'equipment switching' issue, but can you find any parts where related functions were introduced in Season 6?

Shin Sang-seok = We made it so that Zenny is not needed at all for the newly added style enhancement equipment, and the number of materials required has also been greatly reduced. It's a limited time, but you can say that it made it easier to change equipment here. In addition to this, we are constantly preparing various improvements to help those who think 'I don't know what equipment to make next' how to set up.

Q. There are many Niantic and MH Now fans in Korea. Can we expect a large-scale offline event or collaboration in Korea now that we are approaching the 2nd anniversary of the service?

Shin Sang-seok = We are trying to increase our presence in Korea, such as setting up a booth at the PlayXpo held at Kintex recently. It is difficult to say exactly when, but Niantic sees the Korean market as a very important market, so we will provide information as soon as there are more details.

Q. In style enhancement, you have to decide on one of the two styles, but can you change to another style later?

Shin Sang-seok = Of course you can change it. The recent training mode has also been added, where you can try out different styles first. If you play it and it doesn't suit you, you can prepare the materials and change it at any time.

Q. When hunting dimensional transformation monsters, you said that you weaken the monster by destroying the area where dimensional energy is gathered, but I'm curious about the difference before and after part destruction. And are the drop items of dimensional transformation monsters limited to dimensional transformation materials?

Shin Sang-seok = The degree of weakening when destroying a part varies depending on the monster. What is clear is that it becomes much easier after destroying it, so we recommend destroying the part first. The drop items will be in the form of dropping the monster's raw materials along with the dimensional transformation materials.

Q. One of the style changes of the Long Sword, 'Iai Stance', could only be used properly with the 'Focus' skill, which has a super armor effect in the original work. Do you have any plans to introduce these linked skills?

Shin Sang-seok = Of course. We plan to add skills that match each style as armor skills or drifting stone skills.

Q. I'm curious about exactly how the 'function to hunt monsters found while moving later' works.

Shin Sang-seok = This function is currently applied, but the UI will be improved in the next update to make it easier to check. When you move, the path is displayed on the map as footprints, and we made it possible to catch the activated monster again even after passing a certain distance. Even if you don't walk around in the hot streets in the summer, you can activate it and move to a shady place to hunt comfortably. We plan to upgrade it further in the future so that it can be recorded in the background even when the game is not turned on, making it easier to use.

Q. The newly added Skill Test Quest is receiving positive reviews. Please introduce the intention behind designing the quest. There is also feedback that progress has been blocked due to a lack of equipment setting skills. How do you plan to improve it?

Shin Sang-seok = It's not a complete form yet. I was worried because it was different from the content so far, but I am grateful for the positive reviews. The Skill Test Quest was added as an end content to give high-rank hunters who have nothing left to do more content to challenge. The main direction is to play within a set task, and we are considering various ways to lower the hurdles, such as providing the necessary equipment later.

Q. At the end of the last season's story, there was a hint of a base. Will this function be introduced this season?

Shin Sang-seok = I can't say exactly when, but it's something we're working hard on. I hope you will continue to look forward to it.

Q. Niantic's booth at the last PlayXpo was impressive. I'm curious about the feedback from the development team.

Shin Sang-seok = What I felt through the booth exhibition was that it took too long for users who didn't know the game at all to install it and actually play the game. We are currently trying to improve this part as well, and we are making it the biggest task. Many users visited the booth, and the entire development team was happy and celebrating.

Q. Styles for 3 weapons will be added through the update, but when will styles for other weapons be added?

Shin Sang-seok = I can't say for sure when, but as I said before, we plan to add them as quickly as possible.

Q. The action of the Hunting Horn feels very simplified. Can you use the recovery function like in the original?

Shin Sang-seok = Currently, the high-frequency shock wave with buffs and attack judgment is reflected. I thought a lot about recovery, but I haven't added it yet. We are still thinking about how we can add it in the future.

Q. There is no aim reset button when using gyro mode in the training mode in the current game. Is there a special reason?

Shin Sang-seok = We haven't been able to reflect it right now, but we are considering adding various other functions, including aim reset, in the future. We are planning to add various functions, such as strengthening the attack customization function and practicing evading the monster's attacks at the right timing.

Q. Two weapon styles have been added for each weapon, but will more styles be added in the future?

Shin Sang-seok = First of all, the priority is to add two types of styles to all weapons. I think the problem is whether to add more styles later. Personally, I want to be able to change skills. I think there will definitely be a desire to attach better skills to the weapons they use, so I want to improve these parts.

Q. In the current build, the weapon's 10-5 enhancement and the monster's 10 stars are the last. I'm also curious if you are considering vertical increases in weapon enhancement or monsters in the future.

Shin Sang-seok = We are thinking about it with a more open mind. Rather than making 11-stage weapons and 11-star monsters, we wanted to expand sideways in a more fun way, so we added the style enhancement system this time. We are always thinking about the inflation part.

Q. New Elder Dragons continue to appear, but the Elder Dragon equipment still gives the impression that it is disappointing in terms of performance. How much do you internally think the value of Elder Dragon weapons is?

Shin Sang-seok = There is a lot of user feedback. First of all, the value of Elder Dragon equipment is the highest. We are constantly continuing to balance patches, so please continue to look forward to future changes in these areas.

Q. Finally, do you have any messages you would like to convey to the hunters in Korea?

Producer Yui Mugitani = Season 6 is about to begin. MH Now is a game that is characterized by going out and enjoying it with others, and I hope you will play it in the summer when there are many opportunities to be active outside. We plan to continue adding digging elements such as the newly introduced dimensional transformation monsters and style enhancement, so please continue to pay attention to it.

Shin Sang-seok = There are really a lot of things I want to add, such as base camps, but there may be parts that feel lacking due to the limited development manpower. We plan to continue updating in the future, so please be sure to play it in a fun way. We are also preparing various guides to help people start together with people around them. We plan to hold many fun events in Korea in the future, so please look forward to them.

Webzine InvenReporter Park Gwang-seok
2025-06-10