KEY POINTS

  • Fatalis, a fan-favorite from the original "Monster Hunter," will finally arrive in the final update for "Monster Hunter World: Iceborne" on Oct. 1
  • With black scale, large wings, and breathing fire from its gullet, Fatalis looks like what people traditionally think of when the word "dragon" is mentioned
  • Players will need to complete the Iceborne story and the Alatreon investigation to have the honor of battling Fatalis

For the final update of “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne” launching on Oct. 1, Capcom is bringing back an old, scaly friend. Fatalis is coming back to Castle Schrade.

First appearing in the original “Monster Hunter” and subsequently in other games as well, the giant, black dragon known as Fatalis is what many traditionally think of when the word “dragon” is mentioned. Huge in size, resplendent in dark scales, possessing big wings, and of course, breathing fire from its gullet.

It was no surprise with that kind of description why Fatalis had become so popular with fans of “Monster Hunter.” Capcom decided to add Fatalis into “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne” after a strong reaction to the 15th-anniversary art, Polygon reports.

“We decided we wanted to show Fatalis off for the first time in a while,” said executive director Kaname Fujioka. “As you expect from bringing something out from the past, the old assets were dated and kind of hard to use, even after touching them up in CG. So, we decided to properly recreate Fatalis for the 15th anniversary. It completely went viral on the internet. It was a huge hit. And we thought, ‘okay, we can’t not put him in the game now.’”

In “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne,” Fatalis is a special fight, in what seems like a hybrid between an arena battle and the spectacle of something like Zorha Magdaros. Players can use siege weapons like the Dragonator, cannons, and ballistae to help them take down the big, bad, black dragon.

Fatalis comes with new resources to carve, which Hunters can turn into weapons and armor. But for Fatalis, the Palico armor overshadows the Hunter armor. The Fatalis set turns the Palico into a mini-black dragon, think Fatalis but with cuter eyes.

The Fatalis Palico weapon is a tiny Hunter. When sheathed, the Hunter rides on the Palico’s back. But when it’s time to fight, the Palico rips the hunter off its back and starts beating monsters to death with it.

Players will need to complete the Iceborne story and the Alatreon investigation to have the honor of battling Fatalis. The dragon launches with patch 15.01 that adds some other traditional features to “Momster Hunter World: Iceborne.”

There’s a new, limited-time hunt for Arch-tempered Velkhana. A host of new system additions, like a new Clutch Claw Boost, new gems at the Elder Melder, new layered armor, new Pendants, and voice acting where previously there was none are also coming.

As its final update, this new addition to “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne” prepares the game for maintenance mode. Upon its arrival on Oct. 1, players will likely be waiting for the next “Monster Hunter” game after this launch. In the meantime, “Monster Hunter World: Iceborne” will still see new event quests for the foreseeable future.

In June, it was announced that “Monster Hunter World” would not be coming to the Nintendo Switch in the immediate future.

Monster Hunter: World
Capcom is planning to release two major titles before March 31, 2019. Capcom