NOTE (READ BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD):

I am putting this at the very top to manage expectations. Rhyza may be the "weakest" monster, but that does not mean you can fight him with unenchanted iron or diamond gear. The intended progression requires at least Protection II Netherite for the fight to feel "fair" against Rhyza, and for later bosses, you are expected to use the armor crafted from the previous monster to survive (of course, also enchanted). Additionally, please understand that these are strategic hunts, not typical 1-minute Minecraft mob fights. If you feel like your weapons aren't doing enough damage, that is intended design. A single battle can take up to 20 minutes depending on your gear. This is an endurance test where you and the monster take turns breaking each other down, so do not expect a quick kill.

Overview

Tired of the same old "click-and-slash" Minecraft combat? Do you wish that fighting a monster felt less like a chore and more like an epic, strategic hunt?

Welcome to Monster Expansion.

This mod is a ground-up recreation of the skill-based combat from games like Monster Hunter, built with zero dependencies on other mods. We haven't just added new mobs, we've added a whole new, dynamic way to fight them.

Current roster:

Rhyza:

Skrythe:

Rakoth:

Leivekilth:

Note:

The current intended order is: Rhyza -> Skrythe and/or Rakoth -> Leivekilth.
It's advised to craft the previous monster's armor before battling the next.

The Hitzone & Part-Break System

Gone are the days of mindlessly hitting a giant, invisible health bar.

Combat Mechanics

Target Specific Parts: Monsters have different body parts with seperate health pools. These parts also have a damage type weakness. For example BLUNT is usually preferred to break a monster's head, while SLASHING deals more damage to its tail.

Break & Sever Parts: Focus your attacks on a single part to break it, or use a slashing weapon to completely sever a monster's tail! These actions reward unique crafting drops.

Elemental Weaknesses: Each individual part has its own unique set of elemental weaknesses. We've just introduced our first element, Ice, with many more planned for the future! A monster's head might be immune to Ice, but its wings might take massive damage from it. Monster armor also inherit the resistances/weaknesses for elements from the monster it was made from.

Your Skill is What Matters

Monster Expansion rewards precision, positioning, and movement. You can't just stand still and trade blows.

Active Dodging, Not Tanking: This isn't a mod you can "turtle" through. Monster attacks are specific and telegraphed, requiring good movement to dodge. Most heavy attacks will punch right through a vanilla shield or temporarily disable it. Eating too many attacks repeatedly will stun you, and some monsters have a chance to inflict unique status effects. Its advised to not face tank the monsters.

Dynamic Gameplay: Breaking a monster has real consequences. Sever a monster's tail, and its tail-swipe attack will have less reach because the parts that deal the damage are literally gone.

Features at a Glance

Massive, Multi-Part Monsters: Discover and hunt a growing roster of epic, hand-animated creatures with unique AI and attacks.

The Kobeko Companion: You don't have to hunt alone! Tame your own "Palico"-inspired lizard companion. This smart, utility-based AI will fight by your side, intelligently targeting monster parts and using craftable gadgets to support you in the field.

Custom Armor & Weapons: Use the materials carved from your kills to craft new, powerful 3D-modeled gear, including new weapon types.

📖 Guidebook (Coming Soon!): We are currently developing an in-game guidebook that will help you track monster weaknesses, get insight about monster behavior/status effects, and learn all about the world of Monster Expansion.

Important:

Survival taming is removed for Skrythe and Rhyza. You can still tame them, or spawn tamed ones via commands. Or if you had tamed them prior to this update, they will stay tamed. But you wont be able to tame other ones in survival

Credits:
Textures are done by Cliosow :3

Japanese translations by day
Russian translations by lacrite
Turkish translations by me

Many of the monster roars and sound effects were created by mixing and editing high-quality, Creative Commons 0 (CC0) assets from community-driven sites like:

Freesound

Pixabay

Zapsplat

I am incredibly grateful to the original artists who make their work available for everyone to use!

Note: The previous GPLv3 tag was a configuration error. The source code for this project has never been public/open-source; v0.5.1 aligns the license text with the project's actual status.