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Monster Hunter World Iceborne: The Board Game launches May 18 on Kickstarter at 13:00 ET / 18:00 BST. Follow now to get notified on launch.
Welcome to today’s journal excerpt, hunters!
New here? Click here to check out the monsters we’ve already faced in preparation for our epic Kickstarter hunt.
Today, we’re taking on the third Absolute Power expansion monster: Shrieking Legiana!
Not that this beast needs us to introduce it. With all that shrieking, it can absolutely introduce itself. Hope you’ve packed your ear plugs!
Facing Shrieking Legiana in Tabletop Combat
from the journal of lead designer, Jamie Perkins
After facing Coral Pukei-Pukei and Nargacuga, this ice-encrusted monster returns us firmly to our frozen origins in Hoarfrost Reach.
Because Shrieking Legiana is about as difficult as Barioth, I’d recommend not setting your sights on this monster until you’re ready for a serious challenge. But, hey. You do you.
When you do take it on, be prepared for an assault on two fronts. Both from the screech deck, and an abundance of ice damage!
If ‘screech deck’ made you cringe, wait ‘til you find out what it does.
Unique to Shrieking Legiana, you can probably make a guess at its auditory effects. The stunning screeches of Shrieking Legiana will often have you dropping your weapons to cover your ears from the sound.
And while you’re distracted and scrambling to retrieve your weapon, you’ll have less time to react to the monster. Yes, screech cards modify Legiana’s behaviour cards to give YOU fewer turns and attacks.
This effect won’t be consistent, either. Sometimes, you’ll be at just the right distance or angle to avoid the worst of the sound, and the screech card you draw won’t have any modifiers at all. Phew!
Other times, you’ll draw a card like this one:
Eep.
Because Shrieking Legiana’s screech deck is separate from its behaviour decks, screeches and behaviours can also come out in wildly different combinations each time you face the monster.
Word to the wise: Keep an eye out for useful equipment in the gathering phase. You might find something that will protect your delicate ear drums…
Shrieking Legiana Behaviours
As promised, Shrieking Legiana brings the pain when it comes to ice elemental behaviours.
Brace yourself for Frozen Plunge:
After chasing you across the arena, the monster attacks in all directions. Be careful not to lead it straight to your fellow hunters!
Still, with three hunter turns to follow, at least you’ll get chance to retaliate. Or will you? That’s up to the screech deck.
But what about turf wars? I hear you ask. Can Shrieking Legiana invade my other monster fights?
Let’s put it this way. If you hear an ear-splitting screech in the distance, then you should definitely duck for cover, because yes, Shrieking Legiana can and will invade!
You’ll definitely want to duck when it lets Ice Spikes loose. Even if it’s targeting the other monster, you can absolutely get caught in the crossfire.
Alright, hunters. You’ve got a pretty good handle on the Iceborne monsters (so far).
How about we take a quick break and see what other threats are out there?
New Mechanic: Costed Time Cards
Before we get to costed cards, let’s talk about the time deck. The time deck features in both the World and Iceborne board games, but there are some differences.
For one thing, the Iceborne time deck let you know loud and clear that you’re in a totally different environment:
Hoarfrost Reach gives new meaning to the word ‘inhospitable’. With seismic activity and serious snowfall, sometimes it feels like the ground itself is out to get you.
Luckily, you don’t have to stand still and take it. If you’ve got the stamina, you can dodge it just like you would a monster attack.
And if you do manage to dodge, you can make a bonus move — again, just like you would a monster attack. See? We’re not that mean.
So, what are these ‘costed’ time cards?
Colloquially known as ‘event cards’, these red-symbolled cards are shuffled into the time deck as a result of choices you make in the gathering phase.
They’re another representation of how your decisions can affect the hunt ahead, just like turf wars.
Some event cards, like Supply Drop, will only benefit you if you spend a track token. This gives you another way to use track tokens, on top of spending them in the normal way to get one-off benefits in the hunting phase.
It’s possible that some of these costed time cards may make their way into the base time deck, too…
That’s all for now, hunters. Keep those ear plugs handy!
~ Journal Ends ~
What do you think of Shrieking Legiana and costed time cards, hunters? Let us know in the Gathering Hubs on Facebook and Discord.
We’re getting VERY close to the launch, now, and there’s still plenty more to show during the live campaign. Follow the Kickstarter now to join the hunt!
