World & settlements
Explore the deep ocean, follow tunnels beneath the surface, and find a side worth defending.
Ocean domains
Sunken city ruins built from Void Bulwark, with arches, streets, rubble, a Tide Altar, and ocean residents. Spires and radiation patches give the domain its glow—and its danger.
Gila domains
Cave settlements connected by winding tunnels, with lava, resident gilas, and an Ember Altar. The three sizes are brood, warren, and court.
Visiting an altar
Ordinary human visitors can approach domain residents without starting a fight. Keep your weapons to yourself: residents retaliate if you attack them. Hunters and the opposing kaiju species are enemies.
Reach the altar and interact with an empty hand to choose its species. You do not need to defeat its residents to unlock a form. The choice is unavailable to hunters and characters who already chose the other species.
Raiding a rival domain
Ocean and gila settlements belong to opposing sides. Clear the defenders before breaking their altar. A guarded altar cannot be destroyed; taking an unguarded one feeds a beast.
Human settlements
Hamlets, towns, and cities have fortified walls, defenders, and a village heart. Hunters defend them against kaiju raids. Beast players attack them to feed and open growth gates.
Small raids are by far the most common. Larger attacks are less frequent, and devastating raids are rare. Do not expect a stage-8 raid every time you need your final hunter trial.
Radiation & spires
Radioactive ground feeds ocean beasts but hurts unprotected humans. New standalone void spires generate in deep ocean; surface and cavern spires no longer generate in new chunks. Old spires stay in existing chunks. Ocean domains also contain their own spires and radiation patches.
Wild encounters
Ocean kaiju live around water, and gilas can appear naturally on land and in dry caves. Rival species fight one another. Wild kaiju of the same species can fight similarly grown rivals, while friendly settlement residents respect their own species.