Monster Hunter World: Gotta Kill 'Em All

[Antonok]

But really, how do you fight the Pika-Unicorn? It seems like he enters a state where he's just continuously surrounded by a zone of electric death roughly an acre in area.

He does surround himself with an electric barrier preventing melee hits. At that point, his horn is the only damageable part.

Kirin is easier with a bowgun than melee, and you can cheese the fight really easy with sleep ammo > bombs. You can get 2, maybe 3 rounds of that, with slicing ammo in the meantime.

[Velaryon]

So my first Rathalos fight was a ride!

Got into the quest, realized I'd forgotten to restock any poison-curatives. Said the heck with it, I'm going for it anyway. Got poisoned SO MANY TIMES. Managed to win anyway, only carted once.

At one point Tobi jumped into the fray. I accidentally jumped on Tobi's back instead of Rath's. Said the heck with it, I stabbed Tobi until I got the super-hit, and the super-hit damage splashed over to Rath, so hey, I guess that worked out.

Most hair-tearing WHY moment was when Rath hit the limp-away-to-nap state at the very BOTTOM of the map, flew straight up to the TOP of the map for his nap, leaving me to desperately run all. the. heckin'. way. back. to where the fight began - only to see him juuuuust standing up from his refreshing forty winks as I rounded the corner. *head-desk*

Oh yes, and this was the first mon I hunted where I came back from the first hunt without enough of the right mats to forge ANY of his armor set. Yayyyy.

yay

It's easy to forget when you're caught up in the hunt, but if you get in a situation like this again, you can fast travel to any of your camps at any time, as long as you're not in combat. That can save you a ton of travel time.

[Lector87]

It's easy to forget when you're caught up in the hunt, but if you get in a situation like this again, you can fast travel to any of your camps at any time, as long as you're not in combat. That can save you a ton of travel time.

*head-desk*

Thanks for the reminder! Too many mechanics in this game for a filthy casual like me.

[Lector87]

He does surround himself with an electric barrier preventing melee hits. At that point, his horn is the only damageable part.

Kirin is easier with a bowgun than melee, and you can cheese the fight really easy with sleep ammo > bombs. You can get 2, maybe 3 rounds of that, with slicing ammo in the meantime.

I was thinking I would probably have to learn a ranged weapon to deal with some of the high-level mons. I've been 100% CB for most of the game. I think I'll try Bow if I do pick up something ranged. Fits more with the character aesthetic than the Bowguns.

[Tome]

Kirin is also a lot easier with a weapon that has mind's eye (stops you from bouncing off) and some dragonseal (found on dragon element weapons and seals away some of an elder dragon's abilities, like Kirin's lightning cloak).

Switch axe does this fairly easily, not sure which other weapons have innate mind's eye.

[Lector87]

Kirin is also a lot easier with a weapon that has mind's eye (stops you from bouncing off) and some dragonseal (found on dragon element weapons and seals away some of an elder dragon's abilities, like Kirin's lightning cloak).

Switch axe does this fairly easily, not sure which other weapons have innate mind's eye.

The charged sword state of any CB is immune to bouncing, so there's that.

[Antonok]

Switch axe does this fairly easily, not sure which other weapons have innate mind's eye.

Long Sword's Spirit Slash combo has it.

[flare'90]

Kirin is also a lot easier with a weapon that has mind's eye (stops you from bouncing off) and some dragonseal (found on dragon element weapons and seals away some of an elder dragon's abilities, like Kirin's lightning cloak).

Switch axe does this fairly easily, not sure which other weapons have innate mind's eye.

Hunting Horn, after a self-improvement encore.
Hammer, Charged attack 2/3 in charged state.
Also IG and SnS aerial attacks have Mind's Eye, but good luck hitting Kirin with consistency with those.

Easiest way to deal with Kirin IMHO is a fire bowgun or bow, and aim for the face when he armors up.

[RagingBluMunky]

So, does poison shut down a Kushala's wind aura still?

[Tome]

So, does poison shut down a Kushala's wind aura still?

They replaced it with the new Elderseal status that comes bundled on all dragon element weapons. It does something to all the elders, as best I know.

[RagingBluMunky]

Alright, that's good to know, thanks.

Does elderseal do anything to Nergigante?

[chainer1216]

Yeah, it puts off and can shorten the duration of his rage(when he becomes redish)

[Anteros]

Oh yeah, tried the Kirin quest, realized I was fighting not so much a monster as a thunderstorm of AOE hell, and thought maaaaybe I'll leave ELDER DRAGONS alone until I've progressed a little farther in killing things that AREN'T ELDER DRAGONS.

But really, how do you fight the Pika-Unicorn? It seems like he enters a state where he's just continuously surrounded by a zone of electric death roughly an acre in area.

His move set is the most predictable in the game. Once you learn it Kirin will never hit you again. Most of the aoes actually have large safe spots you can stand in. The most dangerous part of the fight is that eventually you lose patience with how long it's taking, get greedy for damage, and tank a few shots you could have easily avoided.

[Velaryon]

His move set is the most predictable in the game. Once you learn it Kirin will never hit you again. Most of the aoes actually have large safe spots you can stand in. The most dangerous part of the fight is that eventually you lose patience with how long it's taking, get greedy for damage, and tank a few shots you could have easily avoided.

This so much. Even on low rank, Kirin fights take a painfully long time (and at least for me, the gear you can make from them don't seem worth the trouble).

[Calemyr]

Gotta agree. The Kirin is the most annoying monster in the base game, in my experience, at least in Tempered mode. Yes, his attacks are telegraphed more clearly than any other monster, but they hit hard, inflict a weakness to lightning (to make the rest hit even harder), and can cover huge areas of effect. Add in the monster's health, agility, the fact that it's a smaller target with only one real weak point, a weakness to one of the least useful elements in the game (few are weak to fire and many are resistant if not immune to it), and an Elder ability that makes them even more resistant to damage... Yeah, this tends to be a long bloody fight that is more of an endurance match than anything.

The only real advice I can give is to focus on the head and use some sort of a Nergigante weapon. The lightning sheath ability is its Elder ability, so you can counter it if you you use a weapon with Elderseal (which Nergigante weapons have in spades). It telegraphs its moves so it's not too hard to learn how to dodge its attacks, but it punishes mistakes harshly and takes such a long time to kill that it makes it easy to lose focus and slip up. Ranged weapons do well against him, partly because it gives you more time to react to its attacks and partly because its defense doesn't throw an archer off their tempo like it does a melee fighter. Other than that, thunder-resistant equipment and the thunder-proof mantle are your friends, as are the standard tactics like buffing items and food. I also find it easier to fight solo than in a group as its focus on AoEs tends to let it rack up the faints pretty quick against an unfocused pick-up group. An organized group, or at least a group of good players, can take it down fast, but there are few monsters that are more effective at tearing a typical group to ribbons in short order.

[Lector87]

My second whack at Kirin was a success! The first time, I didn't really notice that the blue lines on the ground telegraphed the lightning strikes. Once I saw that, it was a MUCH easier fight.

Charge Blade comrades - I spend almost all my time in sword+shield mode, with both charged, and I only whip out the axe for the SAED. I feel like I should use axe mode more, but I like S+S mobility and I want to save my phials for the SAED. How much time do you spend in axe mode?

Also, just unlocked high-tier armors. Any advice on prioritizing Alpha vs. Beta types, and which sets come in most handy in the end-game?

[Velaryon]

I'd say Alpha vs. Beta armor should be decided on a case-by-case basis. The difference between them (other than cosmetic) is that Alpha sets have one additional ability built into them, while Beta sets have an open slot to add a decoration for an ability. So if the ability built into the Alpha set looks useful, use that. If not, get the Beta set and fill it in with whatever else you've got.

Stronger monsters will generally result in stronger armor, and the abilities that come with each set will be more or less useful depending on your preferred weapon and what you're fighting. I found elemental resistance to matter a lot more than in low rank, since certain attacks can do a LOT of damage if you're not well protected against them.

As for specific sets, I got a lot of mileage out of my Rathian armor. It lasted me up until I started making new armor out of elder dragons (I really like Nergigante armor, when you get there). It's particularly helpful against things with fire breath because it has decent fire resistance.

[Tome]

If you want fire resistance starting out, make the Anjanath belt beta and stick a fire res decoration in there (you can have the elder melder make them, or should be able to soon). Instant Fire Resistance level 3, which more than covers your anti-fire needs.

In terms of what armour to make? Grab bits with attack boost, critical eye, weakness exploit in general for offence. Bone armour has a good chest piece and kula has nice legs. Handicraft can be decent for blademasters - the hornetaur legs and Zorah head have it.

I think Barroth and one of the metal armours have guard if you rely on that, or the bug helm and tobi armour if you prefer evasion like me. Earplugs are also good, as is windproof if you're fighting something that causes that.

You use charge blade, right? I think Focus and... Artillery? boost your weapon's special stuff?

[Anteros]

I've tried a lot of different sets and outside of weakness exploit the difference between them is pretty negligible. The most important thing is making sure you have enough armor to survive getting 1-shot. Everything else is pretty much quality of life changes or extremely build specific.

I tend to prefer the B sets just because they give you a bit more flexibility once you've built up a stock of decorations, but you end up with more than enough materials to make both A and B of most armor sets just from incidental hunting and quests.

[Lector87]

Thanks for the tips everybody!

How important do you think upgrading armor is? Low, mid, or high priority? Do you ever go out and farm spheres, or do you just take them as they come?

[Tome]

You should keep whichever armour you use as upgraded as you can. Shouldn't be a problem to get the spheres, you get plenty just doing quests and completing bounties.

That said, it's not the end of the world if you have to wait a few quests, so long as you're not getting oneshot.

[Anteros]

Thanks for the tips everybody!

How important do you think upgrading armor is? Low, mid, or high priority? Do you ever go out and farm spheres, or do you just take them as they come?

It helps, but it's not super high priority. You should fully upgrade a set before you fight Nergigante so he doesn't one shot you over and over with his dive, but it doesn't matter other than that. You'll just be chugging more potions than usual. Some of the tempered monsters will also wreck your day if you're wearing low quality stuff I suppose, but I always had my sets maxed out by then.

You'll have plenty of spheres if you're focusing on just making a few armor sets to use. If you're the type of player who wants to have a different set for every occasion then spheres will be scarce. Personally, I don't have the patient for that kind of grinding so I never used more than half my spheres despite keeping several sets maxed, and never going out of my way to earn them.

[Lector87]

*embarrassed glance at fully-upgraded low-rank Jagras set*

[Anteros]

*embarrassed glance at fully-upgraded low-rank Jagras set*

Hey, if you like it and it works for you then great. I think I used the Jagras set for a long time too before I unlocked high rank stuff.

[Lector87]

Loving this thread!

Favorite moment in the game so far?

[Lector87]

So it's usually obvious from the monster's description if it's going to do fire, frost, lightning, blast etc. damage.

How can you tell when a mon is doing "Dragon" damage?

[Tome]

So it's usually obvious from the monster's description if it's going to do fire, frost, lightning, blast etc. damage.

How can you tell when a mon is doing "Dragon" damage?

When they're a pickle.

No, really, I think joe is the only monster currently in the game who does dragon damage aside from the final boss.

Generally speaking dragon damage has a black and red glow or energy.

[Lector87]

Black or red glow, got it, I'll keep an eye out for that.

So what's up with A Colossal Task? How often does it recur? Is it my only chance to get Zorah mats now?

Also...

I haven't destroyed all the cores.
I haven't laid a finger on Nergi.
I haven't dropped any stalactites.

And yet I've beaten the mission twice now without any trouble whatsoever. Are the above "special objectives" completely negligible? Is there any way to fail the quest, except to stand there for who knows how long it would take Zorah to completely destroy the barrier? Will the difficulty of the quest scale as I level, maybe?

[Tome]

The cores and stalagtites just add extra damage. Missing them just means you have to do some more damage in the cannons/ballistae phase.

Nergigante is entirely irrelevant in the Zorah Magdaros fight and can be safely ignored.

You can fail it if you don't do enough damage before Zorah destroys the barricade.

Dragon attacks are more often red and black, but they really just get used for any sort of energy blast that isn't one of the other elements. Joe and Stygian Zinogre use the standard colour, but Xenojiva and Dalamadur use white/blue and the Magala line uses purple etc.

[Lector87]

Right now the only skill in the world I care about is Earplugs. Nothing I hate more than having a random roar interrupt my attack chain. In fact, I think CC is my pet peeve in any game...