Nintendo fans can expect even more Monster Hunter in their future with the upcoming release for the Nintendo Switch exclusive game, Monster Hunter Rise. It’s a Monster Hunter adventure created exclusively with the Switch in mind, giving players the handheld experience. For those who want to pre-order the game, you may have noticed one of the bonuses is layered armor. What is that, and what type of benefits does it provide when you jump into the game?

Layered armor is a concept many players from Monster Hunter World are likely familiar with. It’s an item that goes over a character’s actual armor and modifies their appearance. However, the altered appearance does not change their stats. So they can wear the best armor in the game and still have on the best stats that they need to take on any monster hunt in the game. For Monster Hunter Rise, it’s likely the concept is precisely the same, and the pets in the game will have their own layered armor that grants players appearance customization layered over the actual stats.

The layered options for the Monster Hunter Rise pre-order bonus includes Palamute Retriever Costume layered armor and the Palico Forest Cat Costume layered armor. It’ll modify your animal companions’ appearance to the pre-order bonus, but it won’t alter or provide players specific stats beyond what’s available to everyone. It’s also extremely likely more layered armor options will be available in the future, and through exclusive events. We’ll find out when the game launches on March 26, 2021.