Monster Hunter Now launches Season 8: Interdimensional Defenders! Hunt new monsters like Astalos and Goss Harag, master six new skills, and defend your local area in the major Base Defense weekly event.
Season 8 Arrives: Interdimensional Defenders Warps the World
Monster Hunter Now is diving headfirst into its eighth season, and developer Niantic is determined to shake up the stability of the game world. The new season, titled Interdimensional Defenders, has officially gone live. It brings a substantial wave of new content, systems, and a revolutionary feature that turns local exploration into a siege-like event.
This update is the largest yet, focusing heavily on rewarding diverse builds and encouraging local team play.
New Monsters and The Riftborne Threat
Season eight’s headline additions are the formidable new hunts. Hunters will need to prepare their best gear to face several powerful new threats:
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Astalos: The electric-charged flying wyvern.
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Quematrice: A dangerous new monster joining the roster.
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Goss Harag: The massive, ice-bladed Fanged Beast.
The ultimate challenge comes from a unique variant: Riftborne Khezu. This warped, interdimensional monster offers unique customisation paths and unlocks exclusive new gear for its weapon line, giving players a major incentive to hunt this powerful foe.
Combat Overhaul: Six New Skills and Gear Diversity
The addition of new monsters is matched by a significant shake-up in combat mechanics. Six new skills are dropping this season, designed to reward specific playstyles and encourage build diversity:
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Perfectionist: Grants auto-perfect evade, rewarding high precision.
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Ammo-Saving Perks: Essential for Bowgun users.
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Morph-Attack Boosts: Enhancements for complex weapon types.
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Advanced Elemental Amplifiers: New perks specifically designed to supercharge Thunder and Ice elemental setups.
The Major Shift: Base Defense Weekly Sieges
The single biggest feature shift in Season 8 is the introduction of the Base Defense event. This completely overhauls the function of local Exploration Bases:
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Weekly Siege Event: Exploration Bases now culminate in a weekly event where local hunters must team up to take down “riftcharged monsters.”
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Riftcharged Monsters: These are beefed-up versions of existing monsters that cannot be defeated in a single encounter, turning the hunt into a communal damage accumulation challenge.
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Defence Points & Rewards: Your collective damage translates into Defence Points. The rewards you walk away with are determined by your highest-scoring weapons. Crucially, Featured Defence Weapons receive bonus points, actively pushing hunters to diversify their arsenal instead of sticking to a single “main” weapon.
Quality-of-Life and Progression Upgrades
Niantic also delivered essential quality-of-life (QoL) upgrades to smooth out the daily grind:
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Material Exchange: Players can now exchange gems for missing gatherables and small monster drops. This won’t replace regular farming but perfectly smooths out those frustrating moments when you are short one crucial Sharp Claw.
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New Season Pass: As usual, a new Season Pass arrives with fresh tiers of rewards and cosmetics.
With new monsters, an emphasis on diverse skills, and the engaging new Base Defense feature, Season 8: Interdimensional Defenders is an essential update for every hunter.
🎁 Claim Your Freebies
If you’re prepping for the high-stakes hunts and need a few extra freebies to help with crafting and upgrades, our Monster Hunter Now codes page has you covered!
