The layered Armor is a cosmetic feature in Monster Hunter: World that allows you to change your armor’s appearance while retaining its stats and skills. This is fantastic for players who want to look stylish while still being able to use whatever Armor they need for the equipment bonuses! This guide will walk you through unlocking layered Armor in the game.
To unlock layered armors, you must complete Special Event quests, collect tickets, or take out tempered monsters for special materials. Once you have done these, the Armor will be available to be crafted for some requested items by the Smithy.
Unlocking the Feature
In the base MHW game, layered armors are automatically unlocked once you’ve obtained one of the tickets needed to craft them. These tickets are primarily obtained through Event Quests on rotation, which include various collaboration events, seasonal festivals, or Arch-Tempered hunting quests.
In the Iceborne Expansion, the layered armor feature can also be unlocked after reaching Seliana, when you’re given the Direwolf set for free. This means you have to finish the main storyline of the base game first!
Once you’ve obtained these tickets or unlocked the feature, you can check the Research Hub or the Smithy for your progress on crafting the specific layered armors. The Research Hub is often for the limited-time event quests and collaborations, where you can obtain the layered Armor by fulfilling certain bounties. In the Smithy, you can craft most other regular layered armors, such as those based on monster equipment.
Similarly, there are Layered Weapons in the game that serve the same aesthetic function.
Gathering the Materials
There are two main sources of materials needed for crafting layered Armor. As mentioned, some can only be obtained from limited-time Event Quests, which constantly rotate. If you want a particular set, you must see if the quest is available or wait until it goes back up. And when they do return on rotation, be sure to farm them as much as you need because you never know when they’ll return!
The other layered armor sets require materials from Guiding Lands. This means you’ll have to go through the entire storyline of the Iceborne expansion before you can start collecting the materials. And even after unlocking Guiding Lands, certain monsters will only appear at specific area levels, so there’s still some work to do.
Once you’ve crafted your layered Armor, you can check your Item Box and wear them anytime. As with other types of equipment, you can customize most of their color palettes.
Layered Armor Examples
Let us review some Layered Armor in the game and the ways you can unlock them. Each Armor has a very different way of unlocking, so we are just giving you an idea of how to unlock them. If you want a full detailed list of all the armors and their unlocking methods, check the Layered Armor Wiki.
Brigade Layered Armor
Acquired through Lunastra’s Quest Line, this includes the following:
- Special A: The Blazing Sun
- Special A: Pandora’s Arena
- Special A: No Remorse, No Surrender
If you don’t have the questline, then you will need the following items for the Smithy to craft this Armor (This is a full armor set, no individual pieces):
- Research Points x 5000
- Hunter King Coin x 5: Arena quest 5, 6, and 7
- High Commendation x 5
Bushi “Homare” Layered Armor
This Armor is divided into 5 pieces. Each piece requires the following items to craft. The tickets are obtained from Kulve Taroth Siege.
Wisdom of Homare | Research Points x 800 Bushi Ticket x 4 Immortal Dragonscale x 3 |
Spirit of Homare | Research Points x 800 Bushi Ticket x 4 Immortal Dragonscale+ x 3 |
Strength of Homare | Research Points x 800 Bushi Ticket x 4 Kirin Hide+ x 3 |
Foundation of Homare | Research Points x 800 Bushi Ticket x 4 Fire Dragon Scale+ x 3 |
Flight of Homare | Research Points x 800 Bushi Ticket x 4 Deceased Scale x 3 |
Butterfly Layered Armor
You can get this Armor by completing Gajalaka Outbreak! Arena Quest. The required items to craft this Armor are:
- Research Points x 5000
- Summer Insect Field Guide x 2
- Great Hornfly x 5
Shadow Shades Layered Armor
These shades can be acquired by completing deliveries during the Summer Twilight Festival. The requested items for these glasses are:
- Research Points x 1000
- Summer Twilight Ticket x 2
- Black Crystal Ticket x 1
Beetle Layered Armor
This is a full-layered armor. It can be yours after completing The Name’s Lavasioth! Quest. The requested items for this Armor are:
- Research Points x 1000
- Beetle Ticket x 4
- Great Hornfly x 2
There are tons of armors in the Layered Armor section with unique ways of getting them. Again, visit the Wiki to get the full picture of how to get each one of them. You can also check which ones you like the most so that you can focus your efforts on that armor set.
These armors are not cheap and ask the player to grind quite a lot. Have patience; soon, you will be hunting in your favorite swag.
Take Note!
Remember that layered Armor does not affect your stats and skills in any way. When wearing something that looks cool and powerful, it’s easy to forget that you still need to configure your base equipment, so be careful.
Also, while you’re free to mix and match most layered armor pieces, some of them, called Full Armor, come as complete sets, so you can’t exchange any of their parts.