The Ruthless Rajang ushers in the Volcanic Region and Special Event Quests.

Get ready, hunters! The indomitable Rajang has finally made its way to the New World, and this ruthless beast offers a challenge for even the most experienced hunters.

■New Monster: Rajang Your new Special Assignment will begin after you’ve finished the main story campaign of Iceborne—this means you’ve solved the mystery of the Old Everwyrm—and visited the Guiding Lands at least once. Once you feel ready for a brutal fight against one of the strongest monsters in the world of Monster Hunter, head over to Seliana and speak the Admiral to begin your quest. Defeating this ultra-aggressive foe will, of course, yield materials to craft some of the most powerful weapons and armor in the game. Good luck, hunters.

■Guiding Lands: Volcanic Region The lead up to the battle against Rajang is also treacherous, as the Guiding Lands will expand with the scorching Volcanic Region. This biome is home to some fiery monsters, such as Lavasioth, Uragaan and the explosive Brachydios. Pack some Cool Drinks before braving this intense heat.

■Raccoon City collaboration

The special Raccoon City collaboration Event Quest will be available for a limited time to Iceborne hunters. Take on this peculiar Blackveil Vaal Hazak, to get materials to craft Full Armor Sets based on iconic Raccoon City survivors Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Other rewards include some fanciful Raccoon City themed pendants for your weapons.

■Weapon Design Contest Winner

Charge Blade fans, rejoice! The majestic “Black Eagle” is Iceborne’s weapon design contest winner, featuring unique feathery special effects. Congrats again to its creator, sheep! Here’s a word from Monster Hunter series executive director and art director Kaname Fujioka:

To put it simply, the main reason we chose this weapon design as this contest's winner is that "it looks cool." The way the black feathers form a wing-like silhouette, the contrast between the gold ornamentation and the lightning-like glow effects, and the nice gloss on the feathers all combine to create a weapon that not only looks cool but can be called beautiful as well. We also thought it was very interesting how the feathers open up, alluding to the release of energy when the weapon changes from its shield form into an axe. The design we received was very complete, so we were able to implement a version that loses none of the original design. We think the final product balances the hardness of the charge blade with the pleasant softness of the feathers, creating a delicate yet powerful-looking weapon that we hope other players will think looks as "cool" as we do.

■Palico Design Contest Winner

The perfect companion to hunters’ Wiggler headgear is finally here! This adorable set includes a headpiece, armor and a coral-shaped weapon for your Palico. Once again, congrats Zyralynn_art! And here are some comments from Kaname Fujioka:

We received a terrific variety of design ideas for the Palico gear, just as we did with the hunter weapon. We're very grateful for all of the wonderful entries. We had a lot of fun choosing the Palico gear, because many of them had such iconic visual gags. We had trouble narrowing it down because there were so many funny ideas, but in the end we had to choose the "Wiggler Head" design, especially since it would make such a great companion to the hunter head armor that was so popular in World. We also thought it was a nice touch that the Palico version uses the "Wiggler Queen," which is the rarer of the two endemic creatures. The simple way the Palico was wearing the pot as