Monster Hunter Wilds players looking for a more challenging endgame will have their wishes granted in August.

Monster Hunter Wilds is set to ramp up its endgame difficulty with the addition of a new level of quest difficulty and reward system involving Talismans, in the game's Ver.1.021 Update slated to release on 13 August. Weapon balance adjustments are also planned for this upcoming patch, alongside various improvements and adjustments to the game's systems.

Monster Hunter Wilds developer Capcom teased the details of the game's next update on Tuesday (29 July), adding that the endgame-related changes coming in the Ver.1.021 Update will also be arriving ahead of their original release date at the end of September. The Ver.1.021 patch was originally planned to only include weapon balance adjustments and system improvements, but more weapons are now also getting balance changes alongside the earlier arrival of more endgame content.

What can we expect in Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming endgame update?

While Capcom is set to release more details on what's to come in the Ver.1.021 Update in the near future, we can expect the upcoming endgame content to build on previous Monster Hunter Wilds updates, as well as take from previous titles.

Capcom has steadily increased the difficulty of Monster Hunter Wilds' endgame in the months since the game released. In April, the game received its first 8-star quest for Tempered Mizutsune. 8-star Tempered versions of Gore Magala, Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, and Jin Dahaad then followed at the end of May. The game's most recently-added monsters, Lagiacrus and Seregios, also arrived with 8-star Tempered versions in late June.

In addition, Monster Hunter Wilds brought back Arch-tempered monsters first introduced in Monster Hunter World, with the Apex predators of the game's locales receiving this designation. So far, Arch-tempered versions of Rey Dau and Uth Duna are already available to hunt, with their exclusive event quests even becoming permanently available after first getting added as limited-time event quests. Arch-tempered versions of Nu Udra and Jin Dahaad are also expected to be added in future updates.

Capcom is expected to increase the difficulty of Monster Hunter Wilds' endgame by adding 9-star, or even 10-star, difficulty quests. 8-star Tempered monsters already have stronger attacks and higher health pools compared to their 7-star counterparts, so Capcom may up the ante by further strengthening them as well as giving them new moves.

Alternatively, the developers may implement a new kind of endgame quest altogether. In Monster Hunter 4 and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, monsters can become infected by the Frenzy Virus released by Gore Magala and Shagaru Magala. These ‘Frenzied’ monsters essentially turn rabid, becoming stronger and more aggressive than usual, but have lower health pools as a result of the disease. This system was reintroduced in Monster Hunter Wilds, though it did not offer a more significant challenge compared to Tempered monster hunts.

But what hasn't been added to Monster Hunter Wilds are ‘Apex’ monsters. Not to be confused with the Apex predators of specific locales (e.g. Rey Dau of the Windward Plains), Apex monsters refer to monsters that managed to overcome the Frenzy Virus and became a much more lethal threat as a result. These exceptionally strong monsters have the heightened aggression and strength of Frenzied monsters, but no longer suffer from the disease's ill effects.

With Gore Magala already present as one of the most challenging endgame threats in Monster Hunter Wilds, having its Frenzy Virus start creating Apex monsters is a logical way to increase the game's endgame difficulty. 

A more challenging endgame grind has to offer ample rewards to make the effort worthwhile for players, of course, and this is where the new Talisman reward system may come in. Talismans are a piece of equipment that allows players to get more skills in addition to those they get from their weapons, armor, and decorations. In Monster Hunter Wilds, Talismans can only have one skill, and must be crafted and upgraded with various monster parts.

We expect Capcom to allow players to add more skills, or even decoration slots, to their Talismans through the more difficult quests set to arrive. A similar system was implemented in Monster Hunter Rise, where players can complete endgame-level quests in order to craft Talismans with randomly-generated but more powerful skills on offer.

These are just our speculations, of course, but there are plenty of signs pointing towards Capcom taking this route. With that said, we can only wait and see what they have in store.

After the Ver.1.021 Update in August, Monster Hunter Wilds is still getting more content updates. The game's Title Update 3 is set to arrive at the end of September with a new monster. Following that will be Title Update 4, which is set to add another new monster plus even more challenging hunts, some time in Winter.