Patrolling the hunting grounds of the Ancient Forest, the king and queen of the skies, Rathian and Rathalos, reside at the very top of the Ancient Tree. These two dragons mean trouble for any hunter tracking them down. Between their poisonous barbs and fire breathing attacks taking these two down is challenging and rewarding, so here are some tips and tricks on bringing these monsters down.
Rathian and Rathalos move and attack in very similar ways with a few minor differences. On land each monster has a basic charge where the monster will rush at its target and can chain this charge up to three times. They each have a strong bite where the monster will lunge its head to the left and right in succession at the hunter and a tail swipe where the monster will spin around twice sweeping a huge arc which can cause knockback when hit.
Both of these monsters have ways of poisoning their target and can breath fire, but they both have different attacks and danger areas to avoid. Rathians tail is its poisonous area. While the monster is on the ground it can poison its target by hitting with the blunt end of its tail. While in the air, watch for the monster to rise up a bit higher than normal. It will then spin around doing a backflip whipping its tail around in front of it causing knockback and poison if it strikes its target. To avoid the air attack dodge to the left or right of the monster, this attack only hits the area in a straight line from where its tail is. If the tail is cut off, Rathian can no longer poison its target. During the battle, Rathian will roar and flames will start to form around its mouth signaling that the monster will now be able to shoot fire. On the ground, Rathian will breath a large fire ball directly in front of it or shoot out three fireballs one after another to the left, right and center in the direction of the hunter. Try to get behind the monster when you notice the flame around its mouth to avoid being signed by these attacks.
Rathian and Rathalos both share the same weaknesses. The head, wings and tail are all weak points on the monster and both tails can be severed off. The wings, back head and chest can all be broken when inflicted with enough damage. The monsters are very weak to dragon elemental damage and have a medium level weakness to thunder, but both are immune to fire all together.
The sleep, paralysis and stun ailments are all effective against the monsters, but Rathian is a bit more susceptible to stun so bringing a blunt weapon like the hammer or hunting horn and some flash bombs to the hunt will help bring this monster to the ground for a few seconds to get in some free hits.
Both Rathian and Rathalos provide a significant challenge when hunters first encounter them and are great practice for learning how to navigate multiple types of damage at once. Farming both of these monsters will provide several powerful weapon trees and armor sets that will be useful well into high rank questing. Hopefully these tips and tricks will help topple these ferocious dragons.
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Which was showcased at E3 2003.