Monster Hunter Now’s massive Season 8: Interdimensional Defenders is live (Dec 11)! Hunt Astalos, Goss Harag, and Riftborne Khezu, master six new skills, and battle Riftcharged Monsters in the Base Defense weekly cooperative event.
The Fabric of Reality Tears: Season 8 Arrives in Monster Hunter Now
Monster Hunter Now is diving headfirst into its eighth season, and developer Niantic is dramatically escalating the stakes. The new season, Interdimensional Defenders, went officially live on December 11, 2025, bringing the largest overhaul to the game’s core loop since launch.
The theme centers around instability, chaos, and powerful new threats emerging from the mysterious Abyss. Hunters must brace for a major shift in how they explore and defend their local territory.
New Hunts: Astalos, Goss Harag, and the Riftborne Curveball
Season 8 introduces a formidable roster of monsters, challenging hunters to diversify their gear and strategies:
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Astalos: The thunder-charged flying wyvern arrives, demanding strong anti-Thunder defenses.
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Goss Harag: This ice-bladed Fanged Beast joins the fray, necessitating fire-based counterattacks.
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Quematrice: A dangerous new addition that will test advanced hunters.
The ultimate prize and threat is the Riftborne Khezu. This warped variant monster is tied to the Abyss and drops materials needed to unlock exclusive customization paths and unique skills for its weapon line.
Game Changer: The Base Defense Weekly Siege
The most significant system update is the introduction of the Base Defense feature, which transforms local Exploration Bases into cooperative siege events:
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Weekly Co-op Event: Local hunters can now team up for a weekly event to take down Riftcharged Monsters. These powerful, beefed-up foes cannot be defeated in a single encounter.
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Accumulated Damage: Success depends on the community’s combined effort to deal enough damage over the event period.
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Reward Structure: Rewards are based on your accumulated Defence Points and the effectiveness of your equipment. Critically, Featured Defense Weapons gain bonus points, strongly incentivizing players to expand their arsenal beyond their main weapons.
This feature is designed to foster local cooperation and heavily reward those who invest time in diverse weapon crafting.
Combat Depth and Progression Upgrades
To support the challenging new monsters and Base Defense events, Season 8 delivers crucial combat and QoL updates:
| Feature | Details | Impact |
| New Skills (x6) | Including the Perfectionist skill (for auto-perfect evades), ammo-saving perks, morph-attack boosts, and powerful new Elemental Amplifiers for Thunder and Ice builds. | Shakes up the meta and encourages highly specialized gear sets. |
| Material Exchange | Players can now exchange Gems for missing gatherables and small monster drops. | Smooths out progression by eliminating the frustration of being short one rare material. |
| Season Pass | The new Season Pass is available, featuring fresh tiers of rewards and cosmetics to unlock throughout the season. | Provides consistent rewards for daily play. |
🎁 Exclusive Freebies: Active Season 8 Codes
To help every hunter gear up for the Base Defense event, there are currently active codes providing valuable freebies. Remember that codes must be redeemed via the official Monster Hunter Now offer redemption website, not in the app!
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MHNS8YT: Rewards for the new season!
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MHNGIFT2025: General reward bundle.
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MHN2YEARS: 2nd Anniversary rewards (Claim before Dec 30, 2025).
