New Dauntless Behemoth Winterhorn Skraev Debuts at E3 2019

Phoenix Labs showed off a new Behemoth for the first time on its Treehouse stream today at E3.

We got our first look at Dauntless running on the Nintendo Switch during today’s Treehouse stream, which was exciting enough, but to make things even better, developer Phoenix Labs also showed off a brand new Behemoth.

Developer Phoenix Labs called the new Behemoth one of the most challenging in the game. Called Winterhorn Skraev, it’s a tougher evolution of the owl-like Skraev from the game’s original release. A Behemoth called the Winterhorn Skraev actually appeared in Dauntless during the Beta, but it was removed by the developer to further refine its look and its abilities. The first Skraev had the ability to freeze players with frost attacks, and the Winterhorn Skraev takes that much further.

In addition to throwing up ice walls and sending damaging winds your way, the Winterhorn Skraev can also lay down an ice totem that can cause frost damage, obscure your vision, and even trap you in place, giving the Behemoth a chance to go in for the kill.

Most of the Dauntless segment on the stream was devoted to explaining the basics of the game. Nothing in the core game has really changed in the Switch release, but it was a good introduction to the game for those who hasn’t played before.

On the surface, Dauntless looks a lot like a free-to-play Monster Hunter with more arcade-like combat. Instead of spending lots of time preparing for fights, gathering materials and crafting, though, Dauntless tosses you right into the thick of things, letting you get into a fight in minutes. Fights only last 15-20 minutes, or even shorter if you’re really on your game, as opposed to Monster Hunter fights that can run near an hour.

Even if you’re already playing Dauntless on PC, PS4 or Xbox One, the news of its launch of Switch may still be interesting to you. Dauntless has featured cross-play and cross-save since it launched out of Beta in May, letting you continue your progress no matter what platform you’re playing on and play with people using any platform. Those features will also be available on the Switch version when it launches later this year.