Have you fought Chained Arkveld in the Monster Hunter Wilds beta yet? The new trial for Capcom’s upcoming RPG lets you go toe-to-toe with its fearsome flagship monster, and it’s a terrifying first taste. Fast, aggressive, and with long-range attacks using its signature chains, the cover star is a serious threat, especially given that we’re going up against it undergeared and with a 20-minute time limit. But some players have encountered a particularly powerful bug that allowed them to bring the beast down in less than four minutes in total.
The second Monster Hunter Wilds beta is currently live, and along with all the returning foes from the first test it also includes two new fights. Gypceros is a long-time series favorite – and not too tough to bring down, despite a couple of nasty tricks up its sleeve. The Monster Hunter Wilds cover creature, Arkveld, is a different matter. I jumped into the successor to Capcom’s biggest and best RPG last night for a few attempts, but despite coming close I couldn’t quite bring it down before the time limit ran out.
Of course, there are lots of dedicated veteran speedrunners out there who are already putting their skills to the test. The fastest I’ve seen so far comes in just under the seven-minute mark, from ‘TSC,’ who showcases some very impressive skills with the Monster Hunter Wilds Gunlance. But YouTuber ‘Peppo’ has that time beat, as seen in the video below – although their method probably wasn’t what Capcom had in mind.
Jump to the 2:30 mark in the video and you’ll see exactly what happens. As Peppo explains it, one of the wounds on Arkveld’s right wing wasn’t disappearing after it was ‘destroyed’ by a successful focus attack. The new focus mode mechanic lets you deliver a powerful blow if you’re able to target a weakened part of your foe, and it’s one of the strongest ways to deal a devastating hit to any of the Monster Hunter Wilds monsters.
To make sure this isn’t too overpowered, the wound is supposed to be ‘used up’ after a focus attack, meaning you can only target each wound one time. Quite why this didn’t happen isn’t clear, although the fact it only appeared for Peppo’s co-op partners suggests that it may be an issue with the way the monster’s status was syncing across the network. Whatever the cause, the result is that Peppo’s team were able to repeatedly focus strike Arkveld, keeping it near-totally stunlocked and bringing it down just short of four minutes in.
Several commenters note that they’ve also run into this during the beta – so be sure to keep an eye out while you’re playing, because it will certainly give you a big advantage. It’s clearly not an intended method, so expect it to be patched out when the full Monster Hunter Wilds release date arrives.
If you’ve not jumped into the new beta, I’d certainly recommend giving it a try. Sadly, it doesn’t include the new weapon changes and performance improvements we’re expecting in the full game – you’ll have to download the new benchmark tool to test if your machine is ready for launch. Both of the new fights are well worth a look, however. I have a suspicion the version of Arkveld we’re fighting might not be its full-power form, but it’ll still push you to your limits under the beta’s specific conditions.
Can’t decide what to use in your next outing? Check out our tier list and thoughts about all the best Monster Hunter Wilds weapons. You can also learn how Monster Hunter Wilds crossplay works if you’re eager to team up with friends.
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