Capcom has recently unveiled new details about the upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance expansion, showcasing the 'Boost Bracer' mechanics through a series of weapon breakdown videos. This new system allows hunters to enhance their combat actions with increased speed and impact, adding more powerful attacks to existing movesets. The Boost Bracer effectively acts as an on-demand 'sicko mode' for hunters.
In an interview with PC Gamer at TGS, Monster Hunter developers discussed how the Boost Bracer would evolve the game's combat flow. When asked which weapon they predicted would gain the most popularity in Ascendance, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto immediately stated, "Hammer should definitely go up a place or two."
Tsujimoto, who has been the producer for the Monster Hunter series since 2007, is a well-known proponent of the hammer weapon. His guild card from Monster Hunter Rise, which he revealed at the 2023 Justdan Game Festival, showed he had completed all 895 of his hunts using the hammer. In prerelease interviews for Monster Hunter Wilds, he humorously declared that "both of my weapons will be hammers" when discussing the game's new mid-hunt weapon swapping feature.
The hammer's new toolkit in Ascendance features the return of Rise's Impact Crater switch skill as a way to enter boost mode. Once activated, players will have access to a mid-charge boost dash for repositioning and a new one-armed slam attack that can follow up the hammer's most powerful charged attacks.
Offering a different perspective, Ascendance director Takuro Hiraoka suggested that while the long sword typically leads in popularity rankings, the gunlance might attract new players with its updated mechanics. "There's definitely an appeal—a special kind of romance—to gunlance this time that'll maybe see it go up the rankings as well," Hiraoka stated. The gunlance's Ascendance updates include using explosive shells for airborne plunging attacks and 'overheated' stake thrusts.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is slated for a 2027 release and is available to wishlist on Steam.