Beyond the simple cap raises after G10-5: expanding and deepening the style system

Suggestion

I’ve heard that the upgrade cap for weapons and armor may be raised beyond G10-5 in the future.

Personally, I’m not very in favor of simply adding G11 and beyond to increase gear stats.

The reason is that merely increasing gear numbers is unlikely to bring about significant changes or depth to the gameplay itself, and I believe it will most likely end up being nothing more than stat inflation.

Therefore, I’d like to propose a direction that further develops the current “Style” system.

For example:

・Adding new styles to each weapon
・Further developing existing styles
・Adding skill trees or branching paths within existing styles
・Providing a unique upgrade path or branches for “No Style” as well

This is the kind of approach I have in mind.

In particular, adding growth elements to “No Style” would mean that beginners don’t need to immediately understand the complex style system, and can grow gradually while learning the basic controls, making the game more accessible for new players.

Rather than a simple status increase, if players can choose the direction of their weapon and their playstyle, different builds and combat styles can emerge even with the same weapon, greatly enhancing the diversity and freedom of the game experience.

Also, regarding armor, rather than simply adding G11, I’d like you to consider a direction that broadens the options for equipment builds, such as unlocking new skill-based upgrade elements after reaching G10.

The method of simply continuing to raise the upgrade cap to G11, G12, and so on may be relatively easy to implement for the development team, but I’m concerned that in the long run it will lead to stat inflation and make it difficult to feel growth in the gameplay itself.

I’d like Monster Hunter Now to aim for a deeper growth system along the lines of “how to grow your weapon” and “what kind of combat style to choose,” rather than a simple increase in numbers.

In order to avoid following the same path as the past ‘Monster Hunter Explore,’ I’m hoping for a direction that deepens the diversity of styles and builds, rather than a simple raising of the equipment cap.

Current Status

Currently, there are almost no growth elements for weapons and armor beyond reaching G10-5.

On the other hand, the implementation of the style system has given rise to new ways of playing with each weapon, different from simple stat upgrades.

Regarding equipment growth in future endgame content, I believe there is room to further develop this style system, rather than simply raising the grade cap.

I’m mostly in favor.

But lately, players have gotten way too strong due to inflation — even a regular hunter with fully refined gear can take down a ☆10 in the 40-second range with room to spare.

As for TA players, they’re consistently hitting the 20-second range, and it’s true that they’re getting fewer chances to challenge stronger monsters.

If you want a fight with some real challenge, having a ☆11 would be nice.

In the end, even after all sorts of upgrades, there are still situations where you can just treat monsters as punching bags.

On the other hand, even players who’ve been playing for a decent amount of time still take quite a while to take down a ☆8 monster, so the gap between players is pretty extreme, I think.

With things in this state, it’s obvious that implementing a ☆11 would cause a huge uproar, so I’d like to see a massive buff to ☆8 weapons and armor, plus buffs up to ☆10 (the current max enhancement), so hunters can get stronger (especially in defense).

大剣や片手剣はスタイル込みで不憫なので、特に更なるスタイルの追加が望まれるところ

現在のスタイルは全てサンブレイク式なので、ワイルズ式モーションの追加が欲しい

モンスターの強さは現☆10が天井であってほしい

これ以上が追加されたところで初心者からしたら雲の上の話でしかなく、☆11や☆12を倒した報告が上がっても、憧れどころか辟易する事になりかねない

強いモンスターを倒すだけなら強い武器を一本極めれば良いけど、複数本作る負担が大きくなり、たくさんの武器種に触れることが難しくなってしまうので、現状の「☆10下位<一般武器<☆10上位<10-5スタ変完凸武器」くらいのバランスを維持してほしい

もうNOW初期の太刀一本だけ強化してた時代には戻りたくない