The Sunbreak monster list adds all sorts of fun and fearsome creatures to the world of Monster Hunter Rise, from giant crabs to vampiric elder dragons, and even pretty experienced players are going to have a tough time beating all of them. But the added challenge is the whole fun of master rank.
Some monsters, like the Aurora Somnacanth or Pyre Rakna-Kadaki represent variants of those that you’ve already encountered in the base game, whereas others like Malzeno are completely brand new to the series—it’s hard to know what to expect.
That said, I’ve put together the Sunbreak monster list. Here I’ll go through every new monster introduced in the expansion I’ve found so far, when you get to fight them in the game rank wise, along with some quick tips on attacks and new status effects you’ll want to watch out for. I also mention a few of the new skills that are specific to certain monster armour sets, such as Malzeno’s incredible Blood Rite.
While I avoid most story spoilers, if you’d prefer to go in blind or don’t want any info about Sunbreak’s monsters, this list might not be for you. There are also some new variant monsters beyond MR 50, so I’ll be sure to add them once I get to them.
Sunbreak monster list: Every new beast
Daimyo Hermitaur
Daimyo Hemitaur
When can I fight it? At the very start of Sunbreak.
The first of Sunbreak’s big ol’ crab monsters. Honestly, it’s hard not to love this guy as it waves its pincers in a menacing fashion and squeals at you in crab language. The main things you need to be aware of are: you can’t break the shell completely, it’ll generally scuttle away before coming back at you to attack, and it’ll counterattack if you hit it when it’s shielding. Also watch out for when it burrows underground, or fires a stream of water out of its mouth or the skull on its back.
Blood Orange Bishaten
Blood Orange Bishaten
When can I fight it? The third urgent quest.
Imagine a Bishaten but instead of fruit it throws bombs. The most annoying part of this monster is that, when you get hit, you have to roll to stop being on fire. Apart from that, its attacks are very similar to the regular Bishaten variant. The two new ones to watch out for are when it throws a big heap of pinecones in front of it before igniting them all, and when it pulls out a pinecone in each hand and slams them on the ground causing an explosion.
Garangolm
Garangolm
When can I fight it? The last urgent MR 2 quest.
Just your average volcanic gorilla. Garangolm is the first of the so-called “three lords”, some of the most powerful monsters that call the territory near Elgado their home. It’s a tricky battle due to its massive size, and later in the fight its armour will crack and become superheated, letting it launch itself into the air with explosions before slamming down its fists or head. It can perform multiple of these attacks in rapid succession, so watch out.
Shogun Ceanataur
Shogun Ceanataur
When can I fight it? MR 3 quests.
A hermit crab with very big claws. The Shogun Ceanataur won’t have its blades out all the time, but when it does you’re going to want to stay the hell away, especially when it sharpens them and jumps at you. Like the Hermitaur it can also burrow, and will chase you up to three times, popping out from the ground to slash at you and apply bleed. The good news is you can break the claws to make the fight a lot easier. Unlike the Hermitaur, you can also break the shell on its back completely, revealing a weak point. Deal damage to this while you can, since before long it’ll dip back underground and emerge with a brand new shell.
Aurora Somnacanth
Aurora Somnacanth
When can I fight it? The first urgent MR 3 quest.
The same old aquatic siren that you know, except instead of sleep, the Aurora Somnacanth inflicts ice. Its attacks are much the same, but watch out for when it jumps at you and creates an icy explosion at the impact point. It also has a big attack where it creates an arc of freezing fog in front of it that will gradually explode outwards, though this is very easy to avoid. Make sure to bring some nulberries to get rid of the cold effect and restore the cooldown of your wirebugs
Lunagaron
Lunagaron
When can I fight it? The last urgent MR 3 quest.
The second of the three lords is a big werewolf, and by werewolf I don’t mean another creature that turns into a wolf, I mean a wolf that is also a werewolf: a werewolf if you will. For the most part, the Lunagaron is your typical aggressive all-fours dog monster like its Odagaron cousin or the Tobi Kadachi. But when it howls and takes on its were-form, it stands up on its hind legs and grows long claws that it slashes at you with. As with the Shogun Ceanatuaur, you’ll want to stay away from its front and watch out for its jumping slashes.
Astalos
Astalos
When can I fight it? An urgent MR 4 quest.
The Astalos is kind of an insect wyvern and it can be a real pain to deal with due to the large amounts of thunder it throws out. It can slam its wings into the ground to create electric AoEs, zap you with its tail, or even slash you with the crest on its head. When you throw in the regular wyvern tail swipes and charges too, it’s a lot to handle. One attack in-particular to watch out for is when it runs at you slamming its wings into the ground and creating a trail of thunder AoEs. On the plus side, its armour set looks amazing, and has the extremely strong Chain Crit skill that boosts attack with successive hits.
Seregios
Seregios
When can I fight it? MR 4 quests.
The Seregios is a somewhat forgettable wyvern that has an annoying attack it likes to spam constantly. It’ll spin into the air, before sliding at you feet first, and it can be pretty hard to dodge. It’s not helped by the fact that this monster is also extremely aggressive. Like the Nargacuga or Tobi Kadachi, you should also watch out for it firing a volley of spines at you, since these will apply bleed if they hit. The Seregios armor set is quite unique, though, in that it offers the Bladescale Hone skill, letting you regain sharpness when you evade attacks with your weapon drawn.
Magma Almudron
Magma Almudron
When can I fight it? MR 4 quests.
The same old Almudron you know and love, now in fire flavour. Expect this magma-swimming monster to send lots of slowly flowing lava your way during the fight, as well as summoning exploding rocks. The one attack to really be aware of is when it dives in and out of the ground like a fish before landing upright on its tail, because it’s about to cause a massive explosion. Like the Blood Orange Bishaten, you’re also going to be doing a lot of rolling in this fight to stop being on fire.
Espinas
Espinas
When can I fight it? An urgent MR 4 quest.
The Espinas is a lot like a Diablos, except that its charges hit even harder, if you can believe such a thing. Next to the Astalos, this is the monster that gave me the most trouble in Sunbreak. It’s not that its attacks are especially complex, it’s more that its charge can almost one-shot you, and it does three of them back-to-back. Even if you survive getting hit by it, you’ll also be poisoned, so by the time you recover you might faint anyway. If you can find a way to deal with or avoid the charge, it shouldn’t be too much trouble. I do greatly recommend bringing some stun resistance and herbal medicine to quickly deal with poison.
Gore Magala
Gore Magala
When can I fight it? MR 4 quests.
This part-bat, part-creepy, eyeless, abyssal creature introduces another of Sunbreak’s status effects: frenzy. If you get hit by Gore Magala you are infected with the “frenzy virus”, causing a purple bar to start building near your health. The cure? Violence! Keep hitting Gore Magala and attacking to prevent frenzy from activating fully. If it does, you’ll lose the ability to heal except via items, and you’ll take more damage.
However, if you get the Shagaru Magala armor set you can use its Bloodlust skill to add benefits when you’re afflicted with frenzy, though it will also gradually lower your health. The main thing to watch out for with Gore Magala are its explosions, particularly the attack where it fires an orb in front of it that then explodes outwards in a line.
Pyre Rakna-Kadaki
Pyre Rakna-Kadaki
When can I fight it? MR 4 quests.
The spidery Rakna-Kadaki was never a particularly threatening monster, but the new variant is a little trickier to handle. The Rachnids that it uses to drag itself around now act as little bombs that the Pyre Rakna-Kadaki can detonate. You should definitely watch out for when it throws a load in front of itself, as it’s about to create a big AoE explosion. Apart from that, it still breathes fire, and you can still whack its giant web sack to deal lots of damage and stun in.
Malzeno
Malzeno
When can I fight it? The last urgent MR 4 quest.
The third lord and headlining monster of Sunbreak is an extremely fun fight. Malzeno is a powerful elder dragon, but also the host for the Qurio, a strain of creepy red moths who feed on life. Apart from the usual wing slams and tail swipes, the dragon has three main avenues of aggression: wind tremors/earth shattering, breathing fire, and Qurio attacks.
If it hits you with its Qurio, you’ll get Bloodblight, and the red recoverable damage section of your health will start to reduce as they feed on you. Once enraged and covered in red fire, Malzeno can also wrap itself in wings and warp to your position. One of the best things about this elder dragon is that its armour set adds the “Blood Rite” skill, letting you heal when you deal damage to broken parts.
Shagaru Magala
Shagaru Magala
When can I fight it? The first urgent MR 5 quest.
As with Gore Magala, this elder dragon inflicts frenzy, but it’s a pretty similar fight in many ways. You’ll want to watch out for its shoulder barges, ground slams, and yes, all of those purple explosions, beams, and orbs that it throws out during the fight. Remember, keep attacking to keep that frenzy status effect at bay.
Gaismagorm
Gaismagorm
When can I fight it? The last urgent MR 5 quest.
Though Malzeno is the poster-monster for Sunbreak, Gaismagorm is the true big bad. Otherwise known as the Archdemon of the Abyss, fighting this huge creature represents Sunbreak’s final story boss battle. The encounter is pretty similar to Wind Serpent Ibushi or All Mother Narwa, and involves chipping down the monster gradually and using dragonators to weaken it. Generally I’d say it’s best to target its arms and stay the hell away from its mouth, since it uses it to create big explosions. When it throws out rubble into the ground, it’s going to try and suck you in, so you’ll want to hide behind these.
Afflicted monsters
Afflicted monsters
When can I fight them? After you defeat Gaismagorm.
The true endgame of Sunbreak are the afflicted monsters. These are essentially creatures you’ve already fought that have been infected with the Qurio, those life-eating moths I mentioned earlier. This causes the monster to be more aggressive and attack faster, turning even basic foes into challenging encounters. To stun them you have to disperse the Qurio on various parts of their body, similar to a partbreak, but if you don’t do it fast enough, they’ll cause an AoE explosion. You also can’t capture them. The reason why these afflicted monsters are so important is that they unlock the highest rarity of weapons available, and give you the materials you need to craft them.
Furious Rajang
Furious Rajang
When can I fight them? The urgent MR 50 quest.
Furious Rajang, you say? Isn’t that just like a normal Rajang? Well, somehow they found a way to make the ape monster more of a handful. This variant is like the regular Rajang but in its enraged state all the time, and it throws out a lot of thunder, too. It can jump into the air and fire a series of projectiles, crack the ground with its fists before creating an AoE, and it even has a thunder dash that it does two times in quick succession. It’s a horrible fight, really. Bring friends, stun it as much as possible, hurt it with other monsters, and deal damage to the head in the rare instances where it’s not trying to punch you.