Monster Hunter Rise Will Add Defender Weapons and Black Belt Armor

To help beginner players prepare for the upcoming Sunbreak expansion in Monster Hunter Rise, Capcom plans to release a set of Defender weapons and the Black Belt armor set. Both additions will help players breeze through early quests, with high damage output as well as a strong defense stat. The new gear and weapons will be available upon the release of the Version 3.9 free title update on February 24, 2022, for both PC and Nintendo Switch.

Defender weapons previously appeared in Monster Hunter World in a similar fashion. The weapons boast high damage output to make hunting early-game monsters easier. Additionally, they have their own upgrade tree, meaning players can choose to continue using the weapons in the later stages of the game. All 14 weapon types will be available.

Unlike the Guild Cross starting armor, which improves harvesting abilities, the Black Belt armor set focuses on combat. It has high defense and features useful skills, like the ability to recover more heath or reduce the effect of monster roars. It will also be available as layered armor. Much like the recently-released Origin armor set, the Black Belt armor is a returning set. As an added bonus, the update will also add the Veteran’s Talisman, which gives two levels of Recovery Up and one level of Constitution.

You can check out the official Monster Hunter Rise Defender weapon and Black Belt armor introduction video below:

Monster Hunter Rise is immediately available on the Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. The Sunbreak expansion is expected to release sometime in Summer 2022.