Quick Links
As players make their way throughWild Hearts' campaign, they will likely notice new armor being added to the list of crafting choices fairly often. When completing new hunts for the first time, players will usually gain yet another option. Like many games of a similar nature,Wild Heartswill require the player to carefully study these armor sets, how they stack up against the target kemono, and how the active and passive skills they provide may help in the hunts to come. Given the steep requirements for crafting, players will sometimes need to mix and match pieces from different sets, and the results can work extremely well. Unfortunately for the aesthetically-minded player, what they often don’t do, is look very good at all. -
Wild Heartspresents a solution to the problem of ugly or mismatched armor through ‘cladding.‘This transmog system allows players to change an armor’s appearance to that of any other armor that is unlocked. Before hunters get their hopes up, running out to Minato to get their outfits looking fresh, there are several steps that must be completed before cladding becomes available.
Related:The Best Things About Wild Hearts (& The Worst)
How to Unlock the ‘Cladding’ Transmog System in Wild Hearts
While the transmog system does technically exist inWild Hearts, players hoping to use it early in the game are going to be disappointed. ThoughWild Heartsplayers can change their physical appearanceearly in the game, for all intents and purposes, cladding is end-game content. It will not become available until after players fully complete Chapters 1-4, and begin completing the main-story tasks in Chapter 5.
Like several useful mechanics in the game,Wild Heartsdoes not do much to let the player knowcladding exists. Up until the moment it unlocks, players without advanced knowledge of the system will more than likely have no idea it’s even in the game. However, players who wish to know exactly when cladding is available should follow these steps:
1. CompleteWild HeartsMain Story:
The first step to unlocking cladding is to simply reach the credits at the end of Chapter 4. To do this, players need only complete every story mission marked by the yellow symbol. The kemono will get significantly harder in Chapters 3 and 4, butusingWild Heartsco-op systemwill be a significant help here. Unfortunately, there is no way to bypass this requirement or unlock cladding early.
2. Complete One Volatile Kemono Hunt:
Once the player has completedWild Hearts’final hunt, the hunter will wake up back in Minato. With the beginning of Chapter 5, it is revealed that there are severalvolatileanddeeplyvolatilekemono roaming the world of Azuma. Completing any one volatile hunt will meet the conditions to unlock cladding.
3. Speak to Yataro and Collect Keystones:
To actually unlock cladding, players must simply visit Yataro after completing one volatile hunt. Sadly, just unlocking it will not give the hunter free rein of the transmog system.Like pretty much all upgrading inWild Hearts, changing an armor’s look will require a frustratingly high amount ofmagical orbs, which comes in several different types and are only awarded from volatile hunts. . On top of this, armor can only take on the look of other armor that the player has already crafted.
Players will see under rewards thatkeystoneswill be given for completing these hunts. Upon completing the hunt, players will receive magical orbs that match the keystone type, and magical orbs that match the kemono type. Both types of orbs are often required cladding materials.
How to Use the ‘Cladding’ Transmog System in Wild Hearts
Now that the system has been unlocked, players can visit Yataro anytime they’d like to use the cladding system. Select the appropriate option from his menu to open up the transmog screen, which shows all requirements for altering armor appearance.
From here, the player can follow the simple process of picking the base armor piece to be altered, ensuring the required upgrade materials are in their possession. The simply select the desired appearance the individual piece. Again, armor can only take on the appearance of other crafted armor. Unfortunately, players cannot take on the appearance of sets that have not yet been crafted.
Wild Hearts’cladding system is very easy to use. The only real issues are the time it takes to unlock, which making it more of a fun end-game mechanic that has no use during the main game, and the material requirements that require grinding the volatile hunts until a suitable stockpile is obtained. Still, it’s hard to deny that spending the last few hunts ofWild Heartskitted outin gear that looks just as good as it functions does feel pretty cool.
Wild Heartsis available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
