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How to unlock the Guiding Lands
The Guiding Lands become available after the main Iceborne story, when the game sends you on your first expedition to the new locale, according to a Steam Community guide by Banri. This is separate from gaining access to the Iceborne campaign itself: Capcom Support says you must complete the base game and reach Hunter Rank 16 to enter the expansion’s campaign (Capcom Support).
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What the six regions do
The Guiding Lands combine six biomes: Forest, Wildspire, Coral, Rotted, Volcanic, and Tundra. Each has its own level. Those levels influence which monsters—including tempered variants—can appear there, so the region you develop affects the materials and hunts available to you. The region-and-spawn overview comes from Banri’s community guide; Capcom’s update notes independently confirm that materials vary by region level.
The core progression loop
- Choose an upgrade target. Identify the monster material or gathering material your planned weapon or armor upgrade needs. There is no single best region configuration for every player; the right target depends on the upgrade.
- Raise the relevant region. Hunt there and build regional progress. Banri’s guide describes researching tracks, breaking parts, trapping, capturing, and slaying monsters as ways to contribute. It also notes that increasing one region can lower others, so developing one area may involve a tradeoff.
- Hunt, gather, and collect. Monsters and the region’s bonepiles and mining outcrops provide Guiding Lands-specific materials. These are used for high-level equipment upgrades and augmentations. Exact material needs depend on the monster, region level, and upgrade; check the Hunter’s Notes or an up-to-date item table for a specific recipe.
- Change focus when your needs change. Once you have the materials for a target, build another region or pursue a different monster rather than assuming one fixed setup serves every upgrade.
Why region levels matter—and how to manage them
Capcom’s October 10, 2019 Title Update 11.01/11.0.0.1 notes state that the Guiding Lands provide different materials at different levels. The update also added the ability to fix region levels for an individual player, including during multiplayer, and changed the system so merely locating a monster no longer changes a region level. These controls let you choose whether your levels continue to fluctuate or remain fixed for your own progression. Read Capcom’s Title Update 11.01 notes.
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- Contains both Monster Hunter: World and the Iceborne expansion
- Explore sprawling locales teeming with undiscovered creatures and thriving ecosystems
- Battle fearsome monsters not only to craft new weapons & armor, but also to drive the story forward and uncover the mysteries of the New World and Hoarfrost Reach
- Extensive single-player campaign that also allows drop-in multiplayer; use the SOS Flare to summon other hunters for an assist!
- Use monster materials, as well as items found growing in the wild, to craft new items and gear
Using tracks and Guiding Alchemy to find a target
Tracks and monster encounters help you pursue hunts in the Guiding Lands. Capcom’s Title Update 11.01 notes say special tracks are guaranteed when you capture a monster or carve its body or a broken part, within the update’s documented game context.
For a more direct way to call a target, Guiding Alchemy lets you bring parts from other monsters to the Elder Melder and craft Special Tracks that lure a chosen monster. Capcom described the feature in its July 2020 Title Update 4 coverage, noting its usefulness for optimizing equipment augments. Read Capcom’s Title Update 4 notes.
Rank #2
- Monster Hunter World Iceborne Master Edition includes the original Monster Hunter World
- Massive Volume of Content - Iceborne builds on every aspect of World with a wealth of new challenges and surprises
- New Story Introduces Hoarfrost Reach Locale - Picking up the plot from World, hunters will travel to a snow-covered terrain which progressively expands with the story, eventually becoming the largest region in World so far
- New and Returning Monsters - The new locale is home to brand new frigid climate foes as well as returning fan favorites joining the Monster Hunter: World lineup. Leading the pack is the new flagship monster Velkhana, an elder dragon with powerful ice attacks that is a pervasive threat in the new story
- Master Rank difficulty option - A brand-new quest tier above High Rank that makes new and existing monsters more ferocious than ever
Choosing what to level next
Use your planned upgrade as the starting point, not a universal “best regions” list. Before investing time, check which material it requires, which monster or gathering point provides it, and the region level associated with that source. Then decide whether to let region levels shift as you progress or fix them for your own play during multiplayer. The available guidance supports these as practical decision points, but it does not establish one max-level arrangement that is best for every build.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #3
- Contains both Monster Hunter: World and the Iceborne expansion
- Explore sprawling locales teeming with undiscovered creatures and thriving ecosystems
- Battle fearsome monsters not only to craft new weapons & armor, but also to drive the story forward and uncover the mysteries of the New World and Hoarfrost Reach
- Extensive single-player campaign that also allows drop-in multiplayer; use the SOS Flare to summon other hunters for an assist!
- Use monster materials, as well as items found growing in the wild, to craft new items and gear
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