Monster Hunter World Iceborne Monster List in Order

In story order, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne introduces its Master Rank monsters starting with Beotodus and Banbaro, moves through Viper Tobi-Kadachi, Nightshade Paolumu, Coral Pukei-Pukei, Barioth, Nargacuga, Glavenus, Tigrex, Brachydios and Velkhana, then the late-game run of Shrieking Legiana, Fulgur Anjanath, Acidic Glavenus, Ebony Odogaron, Namielle, Ruiner Nergigante and Shara Ishvalda. Free Title Updates then added Rajang, Stygian Zinogre, Safi'jiiva, Raging Brachydios, Furious Rajang, Alatreon and Fatalis. Below is the full Iceborne monster list in order, with quest names, plus the base game route you clear first.

We built this list from the Fextralife Monster Hunter World wiki's assignment tables, Game Rant's Iceborne start guide, Wikipedia's release history and update coverage from RPGSite, Siliconera, Gematsu and Wccftech, checked in November 2026.

Before Iceborne: The Base Game Story Order

Iceborne is a Master Rank expansion, so you reach it by finishing the base game. Game Rant says you need Hunter Rank 16, which you reach by completing the main story. The base game's assignments, as Fextralife lists them, run from small starter hunts to the Elder Dragons:

1. Great Jagras, Kulu-Ya-Ku and Pukei-Pukei in the early assignments.
2. Barroth, Jyuratodus, Tobi-Kadachi and Anjanath.
3. Zorah Magdaros (the first capture operation), then Paolumu and Radobaan.
4. Legiana, Odogaron, Rathalos and Diablos at 5 stars.
5. Zorah Magdaros again (the repel operation), then Pukei-Pukei, Anjanath and Pink Rathian in High Rank.
6. Nergigante, Kushala Daora, Teostra and Vaal Hazak at 8 stars.
7. Xeno'jiiva in Land of Convergence, the final story hunt.

Two parts of that route trip up first-time players. Zorah Magdaros is not a normal hunt: the first meeting, One for the History Books at 4 stars, is a capture operation, and the return in A Colossal Task at 6 stars is a repel defense in which the goal is to drive it away rather than kill it. Both end the fight on an objective, not a carve. The other surprise is how quickly the roster widens once you reach High Rank. Pink Rathian arrives in Old World Monster in the New World at 7 stars, and then four Elder Dragon assignments sit side by side at 8 stars. You can take Nergigante, Kushala Daora, Teostra and Vaal Hazak in any order you like, which makes it a good point to build one dedicated set per Elder Dragon rather than wearing the same armor into every fight.

Optional monsters such as Kirin and Bazelgeuse appear in later assignments, such as the two tempered Bazelgeuse in Beyond the Blasting Scales and tempered Kirin in Thunderous Rumble in the Highlands, but the list above is the main path to the credits. Once they roll, you are ready for the expansion.

How Iceborne Begins

Game Rant describes the opening: after the credits a notice tells you that a major new expedition is about to begin. Speak to the Feisty Fiver to the left of the quest board in Astera to start the first Iceborne quest, which has you follow the Handler through the Ancient Forest. That quest lifts the Hunter Rank cap and unlocks Master Rank. The Commander then sends you to Hoarfrost Reach, and defeating Beotodus there opens Seliana, the expansion's new hub.

Iceborne first launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 6, 2019, and reached PC on January 9, 2020, according to Wikipedia. Both versions share the same story order below.

Iceborne Master Rank Monsters in Story Order

The Fextralife assignment table gives the Master Rank story in this sequence. Where two assignments share a level, either can be done first.

Iceborne Master Rank assignments in order (Fextralife)

MR stars	Assignment	Monster
1	Baptism by Ice	Beotodus
1	Banbaro Blockade	Banbaro
2	Ready to Strike	Viper Tobi-Kadachi
2	No Time for Naps	Nightshade Paolumu
2	Play Both Ends	Coral Pukei-Pukei
3	Blizzard Blitz	Barioth
3	Ever-present Shadow	Nargacuga
3	The Scorching Blade	Glavenus
3	Absolute Power	Tigrex
3	A Smashing Cross Counter	Brachydios
3	A Tale of Ice and Fire	Velkhana (repel)
4	When the Mist Taketh You	Shrieking Legiana
4	The Thunderous Troublemaker!	Fulgur Anjanath
4	The Disintegrating Blade	Acidic Glavenus
4	Bad Friends, Great Enemies	Ebony Odogaron
4	The Defense of Seliana	Velkhana (repel)
5	The Iceborne Wyvern	Velkhana (slay)
5	The Second Coming	Seething Bazelgeuse
5	Under the Veil of Death	Blackveil Vaal Hazak
5	A Light From the Abyss	Namielle
6	To the Guided, A Paean	Ruiner Nergigante
6	Paean of Guidance	Shara Ishvalda
6	Return of the Crazy One	Yian Garuga

The expansion's spine is Velkhana. You repel it twice, once at 3 stars and again during the Defense of Seliana, before finally slaying it in The Iceborne Wyvern at 5 stars. After that come two returning threats in darker forms, Seething Bazelgeuse and Blackveil Vaal Hazak, then Namielle, Ruiner Nergigante and the final story fight with Shara Ishvalda in Paean of Guidance. Yian Garuga's Return of the Crazy One follows directly after Shara Ishvalda in the assignment list.

Post-Story Assignments and Returning Variants

The story ends with Shara Ishvalda, but the assignment list keeps going. Fextralife lists three later Master Rank assignments that pair monsters together: tempered Rathian and tempered Nightshade Paolumu in Sleep Now in the Fire, tempered Brachydios and tempered Glavenus in Big Burly Bash, and finally To the Very Ends with You against Ruiner Nergigante. The wiki places them at levels 49, 69 and 99, so they are spread across the long Master Rank climb after the story rather than part of it. Expect each one to be noticeably harder than anything in the main route, and treat the double hunts in particular as tests of whether your armor is truly finished.

Many of the names on the Iceborne list are reworked versions of base game monsters. Nightshade Paolumu, Coral Pukei-Pukei, Shrieking Legiana, Fulgur Anjanath, Acidic Glavenus, Ebony Odogaron, Seething Bazelgeuse, Blackveil Vaal Hazak and Ruiner Nergigante all build on monsters you already know. That makes the expansion easier to learn than its long list suggests: the basic shapes and openings are familiar, but each variant changes enough of the moveset and element to punish autopilot. Read their Hunter's Notes entries before each first hunt rather than assuming the old weaknesses still apply.

For anyone tracking a completion checklist, the cleanest way to organize the full roster is in three groups: the base game monsters you meet on the way to Xeno'jiiva, the Master Rank story monsters in the table above, and the Title Update monsters added afterward. That order also matches the difficulty curve fairly closely, so working down the list from top to bottom rarely leaves you underequipped.

Monsters Added by Free Title Updates

Iceborne kept growing for a year after launch. The dates below are the console release dates; PC caught up later on its own schedule.

• Title Update 1: Rajang, along with the Volcanic Region of the Guiding Lands, per RPGSite's coverage of the next update.
• Title Update 2 (December 5, 2019): Stygian Zinogre, a tempered Ruiner Nergigante and the Tundra Region, according to Gematsu and RPGSite. Windows Central reported that the new Safi'jiiva siege battle followed on December 13.
• Title Update 3 (March 23, 2020 on PS4 and Xbox One): Raging Brachydios and Furious Rajang, with PC following in April 2020, as Siliconera reported.
• Title Update 4 (early July 2020): Alatreon, the Legendary Dragon, per Siliconera.
• Title Update 5 (October 1, 2020): Fatalis, according to Wccftech. Wikipedia notes that Capcom called this the last major update.

If you are listing monsters for a completion run, put these after Shara Ishvalda. They arrived between late 2019 and October 2020, months after most players had seen the credits, so treat them as your endgame checklist rather than part of a first playthrough.

Using the Order to Plan Your Run

Knowing the order helps you build gear that carries you to the next wall rather than the one you just passed. A few patterns stand out from the list:

• Cold country first: Beotodus, Banbaro and Barioth come in the opening stretch around the frozen Hoarfrost Reach, so check each one's weaknesses in the Hunter's Notes and build an element weapon to match before the 3-star spike.
• A difficulty spike at 3 stars: Nargacuga, Glavenus, Tigrex and Brachydios arrive together. This is the point to upgrade your armor fully before pushing on.
• Velkhana's ice: the repeated Velkhana fights reward a dedicated ice-resistant set before The Iceborne Wyvern.
• Variants late: Shrieking Legiana, Fulgur Anjanath, Acidic Glavenus and Ebony Odogaron hit harder than their base forms, so expect a second gear refresh at 4 stars.

Your weapon choice matters more than any single set. If you are new and choosing one for this route, our beginner weapon guide compares the forgiving options in World, Rise and Wilds.

Iceborne Compared With Later Expansions

Iceborne set the template for the expansions after it: a High Rank base game, then a Master Rank expansion with a new hub, a headline Elder Dragon and a year of free monster updates. Rise followed the same idea with Sunbreak, and our guide to starting Sunbreak shows how its unlock compares to Iceborne's HR 16 gate. Wilds is heading the same way with its Ascendance expansion planned for 2027.

Several of Iceborne's stars have also turned up far outside the main series. Velkhana, for example, is a highly rated companion in Monster Hunter Stories 3, which our Stories 3 monstie rankings cover. It is a fun way to meet familiar monsters in a turn-based setting.

Skipping the Early Grind in Iceborne

The base game alone is roughly 30 assignments before Iceborne even opens, and the expansion adds about two dozen more before its endgame. If you would rather start the climb with resources in hand, the store's Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Modded Starter Save begins right after the tutorial with max money and points, quick Hunter Rank and Master Rank gain, all lures unlocked, 999 of all ammo and items in storage and max endemic life collected. You can rename the character when you first load it.

The page is specific about requirements: it works on PS4 and PS5, you must already own the game, and the Iceborne expansion is required. Other saves for the series are on the Monster Hunter store page.

Frequently Asked Questions