It’s finally been half a year since Monster Hunter World’s Iceborne expansion was released. While the game can easily be called a complete experience right then and there, Capcom has insisted of implementing updates after updates that made its player-base keep coming back for more, myself included. And what we currently have now is just another cog in the steamworks to an ever-growing and constantly expanding roster of a monsterpedia. Enter Raging Brachydios and Furious Rajang, the latest variants that will break your spirits of becoming The Greatest Hunter of all Time.
Unlike the past title updates, this is something that I find very monumental for certain reasons. The greatest thing about this is the potential of having more than just another set to look at, more weapons to collect and monsters to find every now and then. Safi’jiiva, the latest siege-exclusive monster is something that broke METAs to the point everyone that has ever played the siege would more often than not, only use Safi weapons against others. At that point, I wouldn’t blame them, there’s a lot of flexibility when running these weapons such as an Insect Glaive that can pump out a full 100% affinity at all times that can even come with Master’s Touch to never sharpen on a hunt. The ability to mix some four and two piece set bonuses, two three-piece sets or even 2-2-2’s.
This new update doesn’t completely break the Safi-mentality but it does a good job at knocking on its doors. The Raging Brachy melee weapons themselves come with a hint of purple sharpness that can easily be maintained with Master’s Touch, some impressive raw attack values and a generous amount of decoration slots. Compared to a Safi weapon that has two Sharpness Vs, Attack VI, Attack V and Slot Upgrade III, Brachy gives a higher raw attack value and higher blast status when compared to a Shatter-type Safi weapon with its only downside of 5% less affinity and the inability to pump up higher sharpness with handicraft. Something that is insignificant to a set running Master’s Touch anyway.
On the other end, the new Rajang weapons feel a bit too overshadowed by the Brachy. It does improve upon the regular Rajang weapons such as having a base of purple sharpness that can be further increased with handicraft but in exchange for a much lower raw attack value. Although its level four decoration slot has been removed in exchange for having 15% affinity and higher thunder element.
But what really shines in this update is its armour sets. Raging Brachydios and Furious Rajang both comes with two secret skills each. Brachy gives Agitator Secret and Artillery Secret for its two and four piece bonuses respectively while Rajang provides Maximum Might Secret and Heroics Secret. They also come with a very flexible amount of decoration slots like double level four deco slots in multiple pieces. In turn, these sets fit well with the older set bonuses like a Teostra and Raging Brachy mix set that is perfect for my Greatsword Build. You can run the full four-piece Raging Brachy and it works extremely well with sticky ammo, impact charge blade and gunlance builds. While Furious Rajang two piece is also a great alternative to an LBG that can run pierce on normal reload and still have like the three-piece Safi with Resentment.
The hunt for these monsters themselves are pretty straightforward. Similar to their regular counterparts, they share quite a few similarities but also some very noticeable differences. Furious Rajang aside from always being in a powered up state that has its golden boy look at all times, can still be flinched shot to walls and ledges. It enters rampage mode when angered that has its golden fur growing longer but unlike its regular counterpart, he doesn’t have a tail to break his rampage mode, instead you’re supposed to hit its head. He also has more devastating moves like an aerial spark ball that he shoots after a jump and five spark balls will be lined up in the ground that would explode momentarily. There’s the electric surge that shoots three surges of electricity in a growing arc, however this gives you enough time to move away or in between before the electricity moves outward. Some of his moves also does tremor effects such as the grab which makes it harder to flash when an ally gets grabbed. But unlike regular Rajang, he is one that is better killed than captured due to its rare heart that has a higher chance on carves than the rewards.
Meanwhile, Raging Brachydios is by far the more annoying fight in my opinion. While he isn’t an impossible hunt like an Extremoth for most people, he does make the unprepared suffer due to its large AoE moves aside from the constant puddles of slime. You can however nullify the slime puddles with the Fireproof Mantle or by equipping three levels of blast resistance to make for a comfier run. Most of his devastating attacks are directed frontward or behind though so flailing your weapons to its sides are the safer spots. One of the more annoying stuffs from Raging Brachy though is his falling slimes when parts of his body glows red. This is a sign that when hit, they will drop a slime that can do explosive damage and knock you off so it’s advisable to avoid hitting it when its downed especially in multiplayer where not everyone can i-frame through it. It’s also a great idea to use your traps a bit early on in the hunt as once it moves out to its final area, all manners of traps will be rendered useless aside from the inability to leave the area (farcaster included) once entered as he will block the entrance.
The major change to Raging Brachydios in this phase is his body is now completely dark and will constantly spawn slimes of red goo and while it doesn’t necessarily inflict blastblight, it does an extremely high DoT effect that even the Fireproof Mantle cannot negate should you stay in it for long periods of time. These red slimes can however be delayed should you flash him while entering the area which helps to get more damage in before playing it safe since afterwards, he will be detonating all the red slimes with a roar that you won’t be able to move away from should you be standing in slime once it happens. However, this is something that can easily be noticed once Raging Brachy places more slimes in the area and you’ll have ample time to find a safe spot should you be paying attention.
This update also brings the increased armour level cap to pump in higher defence values which will help you survive more hits against these new monsters aside from the upgrades to certain charms like Fury Charm V, Power Charm V, Mighty Charm III and Challenger Charm V. The steamworks has also been revamped by adding a power output change to 10 times the normal amount and while it gives you 10 per swing, it also requires 100 fuel each but the biggest oversight here is the time it takes to max out is still the same, making it cost more fuel while still giving you the overdrive rewards for that of the normal output. Something you’d only use should you have tons of stored fuel that is impossible to deplete without an immense amount of time at your fingertips. You can now also change the look of your weapons but only for a limited few such as weapons that have the default ore and bone base and its monster wrapping.
The title update has brought in some interesting stuffs to the game and while I find myself enjoying the new set of gear that I’m finally rocking, it also comes with some worries for the next few stuffs that gets added. Since Safi has made such a huge difference to how builds are made, the game and Capcom is now going on a phase where new stuffs has to be on par if not better. And this will definitely be felt with the upcoming major monsters like the Master Rank Kulve Taroth, the Arch-Tempered Namielle or Alatreon later down the line.
For more info on Monster Hunter World head here https://www.monsterhunter.com/world-iceborne/us/
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