Fatalis comes to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne in its final, free update

On Oct. 1, Capcom will launch Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’s final title update. But Capcom saved the best for last, as its final update brings fan-favorite Fatalis back to Castle Schrade.

For those who never faced Fatalis in the original Monster Hunter — or many of the other games it’s appeared in — it’s a giant, black dragon. Unlike some of Monster Hunter’s other dragons, Fatalis is a traditional, Arthurian beast, with dark scales, big wings, and fire spewing from its gullet.

In Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, Fatalis is a special fight, and 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 Fatalis.

Capcom decided to add Fatalis into Monster Hunter World: Iceborne after a strong reaction to the 15th anniversary art. “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 in the game now.’”

Image: Capcom

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

Better, 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. It’s the best, stupid thing in a game filled with great, stupid stuff.

To fight Fatalis, players need to complete the Iceborne story and the Alatreon investigation.

Fatalis launches alongside patch 15.01, which adds additional features to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.

Alongside Fatalis, there’s a new, limited-time hunt for Arch-tempered Velkhana. There’s also 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. Capcom will announce which bugs the patch fixes at a later date.

There will also be a new Halloween celebration, the Fun Fright Festival.

As its final update, this new addition to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne prepares the game for maintenance mode — as players presumably wait for the next Monster Hunter game. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne will still see new event quests for the foreseeable future.