Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak walkthrough and guide for story quests in order

Our guide to when quests unlock during the story.

Guide by Nic Bunce Contributor

Updated on July 5, 2022

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak continues the franchise's panchant for interesting and unique monsters.

Each game and expansion takes this incredibly deep pool of monsters and makes it that little bit deeper - and Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak is no exception.

While those who are Barioth-levels of long-in-the-tooth will no doubt have guessed the structure of the Sunbreak expansion, it will no doubt be a little daunting for newer players - especially when the difficulty curve starts to really ramp up.

And with the addition of two new quest types, you may be wondering how if and how they matter - which is where this Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak walkthrough and guide comes in.

Cover image for YouTube video — Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak launch trailer Watch on YouTube

Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak walkthrough

Sunbreak follows in the footsteps of Monster Hunter World’s Iceborne expansion - something that helped simplify the franchise’s story structure, making it something much easier for new players to jump into and follow.

Getting through the Sunbreak DLC is the most straightforward Monster Hunter questline yet. Everything is linked to ‘Key Quests’ in your highest level of Master Rank (MR) quests, and any Urgent Quests you’re asked to look into as you progress.

Like the base game, Rise, your Key Quests are shown by a red diamond to the left of the quest name when talking to the quest giver. In Sunbreak, this can either be Minoto in the Gathering Hub, or the new character Chichae in Elgado.

This straightforward design makes blasting through MR quicker and easier than ever. When trying to advance to the next rank, you can pick any Key Quest that still has a red diamond to the left and no tick mark to the right. This means you can either pick the easy option and fight the weakest monster, or you can go for the one you think will give you the loot you need to level up your weapons and armour. The choice is all yours.

As always, it's useful to know what quests and their respective monsters are coming up. The further you progress, the more materials are available to you, and if you know your favourite monster is just an area away, you know exactly when to take an hour out of the story to start farming.

If you don't prefer the below format, we also have a dedicated monsters list of what is in the expansion and when it unlocks.

Note you need to have played your way through a number of missions in the base game to start Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak, which then allows you to unlock Master Rank as well as Sunbreak's missions.

How to unlock MR1

Simply put, do the first mission of the Sunbreak DLC:

Uninvited Guest - Hunt a Daimyo Hermataur

MR1 story quests

From here, you will need to do a set number of Key Quests to unlock an Urgent Quest and level up. At this point, the easiest are:

A Sinking Feeling - Slay a total of 15 Hermataur or Velocipray
Need a Hunter ASAP! - Hunt a Kula-Ya-Ku

However, you can also do the following if you’re feeling brave:

You Had Me at Poofy - Hunt a Royal Ludroth
Catnap Ruined - Hunt 2 Arzuros

Tip: Do ‘A Sinking Feeling’ and then get the Velocipray armour if you like catching large monsters. The defense boost is great, and the Capture Master ability gives you a ‘High chance of increased capture rewards’, and we all know that the chance to get additional rare items for basically nothing is excellent.

You’ll also get the option to craft the super-powerful Power Talon and Defence Talon items, so make sure you do so!

Do the Urgent Quest:

Tetrandon Blockade - Hunt a Tetrandon

Do two more Key Quests (any of the following):

It Could be Worse… - Hunt an Aknosom
The Red Rolling Terror - Hunt a Volvidon
Barroth to a Great Start - Hunt a Barroth
[Redacted] - Hunt 2 Great Wroggi
BRRRR Plus ZZZzzz Equals? - Hunt a Lagombi and a Great Baggi

Do another Urgent Quest:

Scarlet Tengu in the Shrine Ruins / The Assault of the Scarlet Tengu - Hunt a Blood Orange Bishaten

Tip: It’s like the normal one, but with fire-breathing and firey pinecones instead of fruit. Fun.

Congratulations, you’ve just unlocked Master Rank 2! In doing so you’ve also unlocked Follower Quests and Support Surveys.

While these aren’t necessary to progress within the game, they are a fun addition that really fleshes out the world of Elgado, and are recommended should you need to farm items and don’t want to simply replay the same old quests!

MR2 story quests

Do two Key Quests from the following:

The Queen’s Garden - Hunt a Rathian
The Alabaster Devourer - Hunt a Khezu
Somnacanth Sleep Aid - Hunt a Somnacanth
Poison Drops in the Sand - Hunt a Pukei-Pukei
Bird Wyvern Jamboree - Hunt an Aknosom and a Kula-Ya-Ku

Do the Urgent Quest:

Provoking an Anjanath’s Wrath - Hunt an Anjanath

This adds the researcher Bahari to your list of known characters. He’s found Garangolm tracks - the first of the Three Lords.

Do two more Key Quests:

Rumble in the Jungle - Hunt a Tobi Kadachi
Pent-Up Frustrations - Hunt a Basarios
Messed Up Situation - Hunt a Jyuratodus
Shrine Ruined - Hunt a Great Izuchi and a Rathian
Now That’s What I Call Great! - Hunt all target monsters (Great Izuchi, Great Wroggi and Great Baggi

Do the Urgent Quest:

A Rocky Rampage / Ganagolm Gone Mad - Hunt a Garangolm

This mission unlocks the Citadel, where Dame Fiorayne joins you on the hunt.

Beating the mission unlocks MR3 and Bahari in Elgado. Congratulations!

Learn how to start Sunbreak - the first expansion - and from there, how to unlock Master Rank, use Switch Skill swap, and progress onward with our Monster Hunter Sunbreak walkthrough. There's also a monsters list, as well as individual pages on beating Garangolm, Lunagaron and Shogun Ceanataur. For the base game, we have a number of Monster Hunter Rise tips and lists of ore locations, bone locations, weapon types, how to use Insect Glaives and Kinsects, details of how to join friends in multiplayer, how to capture monsters and learn about wirebugs and great wirebugs.

MR3 story quests

Do three Key Quests:

Trial of the Almudron - Hunt an Almudron
My Ceanataur Gently Weeps - Hunt a Shogun Ceanataur
White Knight on Ice - Hunt a Bartioth
Oh, My Garsh Harag - Hunt a Goss Harag
Nocturnal Nuisances - Hunt an Anjanath and a Tobi Kadachi

Do the Urgent Quest:

Keep it Busy - Hunt an Aurora Somnacanth

Like a normal MR Somnacanth, but it’s an ice-type variant. Instead of sleep-breath it uses ice-breath. When you see it get ready for an AOE attack, run because it will ignite the icy mist it exudes. Other than that, pack a few Nulberries to get rid of the ice-blight and rapidly thaw your Silkbugs!

Congratulations - you’re now asked to do a few more Key Quests while Bahari analyses what is clearly a vampire bat. Specifically three more Key Quests from the following:

Shadow in the Jungle - Hunt a Nargacuga
A Sandy Spider Nest - Hunt a Rakna-Kadaki
Purging Hatred - Hunt a Magnamalo
A Tale of Two Titans - Hunt a Garangolm and a Somnacanth
Rock, Razor, Pincers - Hunt a Daimyo Hermataur and a Shogun Ceanataur

Do the Urgent Quest:

Ice Wolf, Red Moon / Howling Moon - Hunt a Lunagaron

Congratulations for real this time - you’ve just hit MR4!

MR4 story quests

Do two Key Quests:

A Mizutsune’s Appeal - Hunt a Mizutsune
Dust Devil Despot - Hunt a Diablos
King of the Crumbling Castle - Hunt a Rathalos
Pincers Versus Pyro - Hunt a Shogun Ceanataur and a Rathian

Do the Urgent Quest:

In Search of the Doctor - Hunt an Astalos

This is where you meet Doctor Tadori, a doctor for your base, Elgado.

Time for more Key Quests - two, in fact:

Sacrilegious Thunder Wolf - Hunt a Zinogre
A Thousand Scales of Dread - Hunt a Seregios
Hot Mud in Your Eye - Hunt a Magma Almudrun
White Knight, Armored Warrior - Hunt a Barioth and a Magnamalo

Do the Urgent Quest:

A Slumbering Jungle Espinas - Hunt an Espinas

We’re still in MR4, which means more Key Quests. Do any two of the following:

Dark Wings, Dark Work - Hunt a Gore Magala
Absolute Power - Hunt a Tigrex
A Mighty Need - Hunt a Pyre Rakna-Kadaki
Spooky Citadel!? - Hunt a Garangolm and a Lunagaron

Do the Urgent Quest (finally):

Witness by Moonlight / Crimson Moonlight - Slay Malzeno

Congratulations! You’ve taken down the big bad, Malzeno, and unlocked MR5.

MR5 story quests

First, do two Key Quests:

Settle the Score! - Hunt a Rajang
Bazelgeuse Warning - Hunt a Bazelgeuse
Evil Forest - Hunt a Lunagaron and a Zinogre
Blade in the Darkness - Hunt a Gore Magala and a Seregios

Do the Urgent Quest:

Dark Citadel, White Wheel - Slay a Shagaru Magala

Time for more Key Quests - nothing major, except that all of your options are now Elder Dragons... so, good luck! Any of two of the following:

Leave No Trace Behind - Slay a Chameleos
The Frozen Dictator - Slay a Kushala Daora
Burn Brighter than the Sun - Slay a Teostra

Time for an Urgent Quest:

Gathering of the Qurio - Hunt a Lunagaron

Tip: This one is a little creepy in that there’s no endemic life or small monsters. It’s just an epic battle against Lunagaron. If you rely on Spiribugs for stamina, maybe pack a few well-done steaks.

After you’ve collected your items, an epic cutscene follows. You won’t want to miss it, so put your headphones on and enjoy.

You’ve now met Gaismagorm, the Archdemon of the Abyss. Slay it to get to HR6.

Do the Urgent Quest: