During a livestream, a June 30 release date was provided alongside information on the expansion’s story, new monsters, a new hub area, and pre-order information. The story follows the events of the Kamura Village defense against the Rampage, which concludes in the base game. News of the village’s survival inspired the knight Dame Fiorayne to seek aid from the brave Hunters who saved the village. Upon accepting the call for aid, you will set out for the port of Elgado Outpost. This maritime waystation is the home of a laboratory that’s researching monster activity troubling the Kingdom as well as the Command Post. Here, you will interact with new characters including the commander of the Knights of the Royal Order Admiral Galleus, a scientist named Bahari, Minayle the Blacksmith, the merchant Oboro, and the quest giver Chichae. Your new allies will assist you in crafting new gear and will instruct you on how to perform new Wirebug techniques. The three new monsters you’ll be up against are called the Three Lords. These are Garangolm, the Fanged Wyvern Lunagaron, and the Elder Dragon Malzeno. In addition, other monster variants and returning favorites including Blood Orange Bishaten and Astalos will challenge you in the added Master Rank quest difficulty. Researching the behavior of the Three Lords will take you across the Kingdom to new locales, including the newly-unveiled Citadel. This locale features snow-swept peaks and lush forests, and at the center of it sits a long-abandoned fortress that serves as a bastion for the monsters it was built to keep out. To help new players prepare for the expansion, new armor sets and weapons for Monster Hunter Rise have been added. This includes the Defender series of weapons with a high attack power for helping you advance through early hunts, and can be paired with the Black Belt armor and Veteran’s Talisman. As you approach High Rank, the Guild Cross set speeds up the process of harvesting useful items that can be stockpiled for future hunts. If you do not purchase the Sunbreak expansion, you will receive an update when Sunbreak launches that will require 13GB on Nintendo Switch and PC. The update will be required for online play, and includes weapon balances, item packs, and character edit vouchers. As far as purchasing Sunbreak, in addition to the digital-only Standard Edition, a special Deluxe Edition will include expansion in addition to bonus content such as layered armor sets, gestures, and hairstyle. You can also select the Monster Hunter Rise plus Sunbreak set in physical or digital versions for Switch and digital-only for PC. This set includes the Standard Edition of Monster Hunter Rise, as well as the expansion which is included as a digital voucher in the physical version. Purchasing any version of Sunbreak early will net you the Loyal Dog and Striped Cat layered armor sets for Palamute and Palico companions. Upon release, on Switch, you will also be able to purchase three new Malzeno-inspired amiibo that unlock special layered armor for your hunter, Palamute, and Palico partners. More information about Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will be revealed at a later date. Until then, enjoy the new trailer and have a look at some new screenshots.