... Rathalos OP.

So basically, I went to the trouble of getting maxed out Ceanataur S armor, and Rathalos just so blows me up anyway. Two hits at 150 HP I'm still dead.

This is non-sense, and I have absolutely no idea what to do anymore, because on the highly likely chance that he claws me, I'll be stunned, taking poison damage and I'll lose half my HP. Furthermore, that means that I'll be subject to his fireballs when I attempt to use an antidote. If I try to leave the area, I'll end up dying from poison long before I get a chance to use the antidote.

Need better armor. Suggestions?

Preferably something available at HR5, and has 450+ defense.

Edit: I killed it, but I still died twice, almost three times right before I killed it. Used 18 potions.

WorldEaterrr wrote:

So basically, I went to the trouble of getting maxed out Ceanataur S armor, and Rathalos just so blows me up anyway. Two hits at 150 HP I'm still dead.

This is non-sense, and I have absolutely no idea what to do anymore, because on the highly likely chance that he claws me, I'll be stunned, taking poison damage and I'll lose half my HP. Furthermore, that means that I'll be subject to his fireballs when I attempt to use an antidote. If I try to leave the area, I'll end up dying from poison long before I get a chance to use the antidote.

Need better armor. Suggestions?

Preferably something available at HR5, and has 450+ defense.

Edit: I killed it, but I still died twice, almost three times right before I killed it. Used 18 potions.

You're armor should be fine. I think your problem is just not recognizing his patterns.
If he flies straight up, you have two options (depending on how quickly you can react):

1. Stand directly beneath him (look for his shadow). This will make any attack he does (yes even the homing/auto-target poison claw) miss. It will also let you get a hit or two, as he comes down to land.

2. If you can do so quickly enough, toss a flash bomb towards him. It gets him back to the ground immediately & he will be 'blind' for a few seconds. This can fail sometimes when he does the Fireball Attack... due to his face being pointed up at the sky for a second before actually spitting the fireball.

Assuming you're at G - Rank, more defense will not really make a huge difference. Pretty much anything that enter's Rage Mode will be able to kill you in 2 or 3 hits... 400 defense or 600 defense, it will not matter. Monsters simply just have too much of an attack boost (for Rage Mode) at that point in the game.

Not trying to be rude, but really: You just need to start recognizing patterns & work on timing your dodge rolls, not to get "greedy with attacks" & when it Is / Isn't safe to use items.

Oh & Herbal Medicine is better then Antidote. Gives you about an "Herb's worth of Healing", plus removing the poison.

red1228 wrote:

WorldEaterrr wrote:

So basically, I went to the trouble of getting maxed out Ceanataur S armor, and Rathalos just so blows me up anyway. Two hits at 150 HP I'm still dead.

This is non-sense, and I have absolutely no idea what to do anymore, because on the highly likely chance that he claws me, I'll be stunned, taking poison damage and I'll lose half my HP. Furthermore, that means that I'll be subject to his fireballs when I attempt to use an antidote. If I try to leave the area, I'll end up dying from poison long before I get a chance to use the antidote.

Need better armor. Suggestions?

Preferably something available at HR5, and has 450+ defense.

Edit: I killed it, but I still died twice, almost three times right before I killed it. Used 18 potions.

You're armor should be fine. I think your problem is just not recognizing his patterns.
If he flies straight up, you have two options (depending on how quickly you can react):

1. Stand directly beneath him (look for his shadow). This will make any attack he does (yes even the homing/auto-target poison claw) miss. It will also let you get a hit or two, as he comes down to land.

2. If you can do so quickly enough, toss a flash bomb towards him. It gets him back to the ground immediately & he will be 'blind' for a few seconds. This can fail sometimes when he does the Fireball Attack... due to his face being pointed up at the sky for a second before actually spitting the fireball.

Assuming you're at G - Rank, more defense will not really make a huge difference. Pretty much anything that enter's Rage Mode will be able to kill you in 2 or 3 hits... 400 defense or 600 defense, it will not matter. Monsters simply just have too much of an attack boost (for Rage Mode) at that point in the game.

Not trying to be rude, but really: You just need to start recognizing patterns & work on timing your dodge rolls, not to get "greedy with attacks" & when it Is / Isn't safe to use items.

Oh & Herbal Medicine is better then Antidote. Gives you about an "Herb's worth of Healing", plus removing the poison.

Well, the problem is that I already do most of that. I suppose my dodge timing isn't very great. What it essentially comes down to is just not knowing when to attack or heal. When I heal, I usually have to find a safe spot. For example, in area 4 I tend to sit behind the rock near the entrance. But then there will be times when I go to attack, and I'll get insta charged. Or when I do get charged, or poison clawed, I get stunned.

The problem doesn't lie entirely with Rathalos, though, for as I can interpret movements fairly well, there is still a good amount of "get fucked up", simply because the monsters like to surprise me. It's a given that I've only been playing the game for about 70 some odd hours, so I guess I'm just getting over-hyped, as I played MHT for about 200+ hours and I was actually able to figure out most of the monsters moves on there without even thinking about it, considering that by that point, it's instinct.

As for the herbal remedies, I think I will have to try that. More times than not, I've died because antidotes were like, "lolkdie." :P

I usually heal just as he misses me with a tackle (so I'm drinking the potion while he is still running past me), or if I'm underneath him during his mid-air hover. Regardless of where I am, if I see Los fly straight up, I always expect the Poison Claw. Always have that Panic Dive ready (if you can't reach his shadow immediately).

Freedom Unite is definitely more difficult then Tri, however. In MH3, monsters only gained more HP / ATK / DEF, going from Low Rank to High Rank. In MHfu, monsters not only gain increased stats, but actually new attacks.
Example being Gypceros: In Low Rank, trying to do his "Flash" after losing his face stone, would cause him to stand there like a defenseless idiot. Higher ranks, he would release a large Poison Cloud trying to do the Flash.

Herbal Medicine can be occasionally bought from the Little Old Lady standing right outside the Guild Hall. It can also be made. I think its Cactus Plant & Bitterbug (not 100% on that, as I usually just buy them).

It's really just learning his attacks, once you truly understand Rathalos the only time it will be tough is G rank / random stuff. Most of his attacks are easy to understand after fighting him for so long.

Nova wrote:

It's really just learning his attacks, once you truly understand Rathalos the only time it will be tough is G rank / random stuff. Most of his attacks are easy to understand after fighting him for so long.

I've fought well over 80 Rathalos in MHT, however, in this game it comes down to the fact that dodging his attacks is more difficult only because he moves a lot more frequently, and not only that, but when you do get hit, it hits like a truck. In my experience, I've dealt with relatively easier game play, albeit, Rathalos doing itty-bitty damage due to his ridiculous lack of over-all strength.

In MHFU, however, he's extremely over-powered and the claw attack is near unavoidable. Of course if you do just stand under him, he turns in circles for days and eventually gives up.

One of the biggest problems I've had with him though is the fact that he likes to fly around a lot, like... flying around the map. It happens primarily when he's trying to land and you hit him, yet that's one of the best times for me because it allows for multiple hits in a short span of time, while not risking being hit at all. Unfortunately, he /does/ fly away EVERY time.

Regardless, I haven't been playing much at all, since I think the next thing I need to do is... Diablos, IIRC. And then Basarios, and then Dual Tigrex. Not fun stuff.

Honestly I wish I had a way to play with you and show you how to make Rathalos a joke, but alas I do not. Once you finally understand it, he's easy. Even Silver Los.

WorldEaterrr wrote:

I've fought well over 80 Rathalos in MHT, however, in this game it comes down to the fact that dodging his attacks is more difficult only because he moves a lot more frequently, and not only that, but when you do get hit, it hits like a truck. In my experience, I've dealt with relatively easier game play, albeit, Rathalos doing itty-bitty damage due to his ridiculous lack of over-all strength.

In MHFU, however, he's extremely over-powered and the claw attack is near unavoidable. Of course if you do just stand under him, he turns in circles for days and eventually gives up.

One of the biggest problems I've had with him though is the fact that he likes to fly around a lot, like... flying around the map. It happens primarily when he's trying to land and you hit him, yet that's one of the best times for me because it allows for multiple hits in a short span of time, while not risking being hit at all. Unfortunately, he /does/ fly away EVERY time.

Regardless, I haven't been playing much at all, since I think the next thing I need to do is... Diablos, IIRC. And then Basarios, and then Dual Tigrex. Not fun stuff.

Don't compare tri's Los to freedom unite , they are quite different. Tri's Los is based on floating around and attacking you from above while on mhfu he fights mainly on land.

Now the only counters to the claw attack is standing underneath him or doing that long last-moment jump (I dont remember the actual name). The second is quite hard to time , so I suggest that when you see rathalos flying up , imediatly seath your weapon and run beneath him. Then after you hear the fireballs exploding or his shriek run out of his shadow.

Generally speaking I would suggest fighting him from his sides as his charge deals a lot of damage.
My strategy is : 1. Go behind him at all times and cut his tail 2. Break his face using shok trap or just by hitting him when he throws a fireball on land 3. Break the wings 4. Just attack him and in a little while he will fall...

This is how I learn to fight monsters that I am having problems with, or learn how to use certain weapons on certain monsters:

Step 1: Go on a quest without attacking the monster the entire time, find the monster and just dodge or block all of its attacks. Keep doing this step until you can last through the entire quest without having to use a potion and you will be golden.

Step 2: Now do the same thing as step 1, except with your weapon unsheathed at all times. You can use potions on this step, but the ultimate goal is to only use 4 at most until the quest is up. You can make that number higher or lower depending on your preference.

Step 3: Look at the monster patterns and find a time where you believe you can attack the monster safely. Attack the monster only during that time. After you have gotten familiar with an attack window, find another one and move on from there until you are confident enough to attack the monster consistently.

Step 4: This one is completely optional. Pick a hitzone on the monster and attack only that one hitzone. This helps your ability to accurately hit a weak point on a monster.


If you go through these steps it should help you leaps and bounds, I used to be able to do naked runs on monsters without taking a single hit until I took a 3-4 month break from monster hunter.

I remember once getting some Los scales from Low Rank so I could get Corona.
Ceanataur S armour with Armourcharm and Armourtalon.
Total defense is 457.
HE STILL CARTS ME ONCE.
Same with Low Rank Tigger. /mad/

I can't give you MUCH advice, considering I've only just got to the Khezu, but I have the 100 Rathalos award on Tri, so I'm kinda familiar with him.

Step 1: BRING A LANCE/GUNLANCE!!!! TBH though, I'd only use this online, but I did Mating Season on tri with a lance (Rathian and Rathalos), plus, his claw attack won't give you much trouble if you block it (not sure, but you'd probably need some sort of guard skill, not sure though, you might get lucky).

Step 2: WHEN IT IS TOTALLY SAFE, charge the feet, who cares if your sharpness goes down, the amount of hits you get on the legs is enough to topple him over swiftly, BUT ONLY DO IT WITH AN OPENING, he will be merciless if you time your charge wrong (e.g while you're charing at him, he'll charge at you, knocking you back and doing minor damage to him).

Step 3: POKE POKE POKE POKE!!! While he's on the floor, POKE HIS HEAD UNTIL HE GETS UP!!! You can get the tail if you want, but his head is his weak point, so if you just want to get the quest done, and that's it, then just poke the head (if using a gunlance, shoot the head!!).

Step 4: Rinse and repeat 2 & 3

EDIT: Can't use gunlance, as far as I know, it lacks the charging ability.

Step 5: (If you do 2, 3, and 4 succesfully), he is weak, give chase! I'm not at this quest YET, but I think capture quests are tri-only so it's your choice - capture or kill. If you choose to kill, follow him to the next area, and repeat stages 2, 3, and 4. If you decide to capture, go capture him. I would SUGGEST letting him go to sleep, BUT DO NOT LET HIM OUT OF YOUR SIGHT, there are two things he'll do when weak: sleep, which is when you can trap and tranq him out of nowhere, and feed, where he will regain stamina and GAH!!! You gotta repeat the fight again! So be sure you follow him just in case he feeds, if he decides he wants to go to sleep, either leave the area he's in and come back in a few seconds, or crouch down at the entrance of the area and let him go to sleep, DO NOT TRY THIS IN A CRAMPED AREA!

But TBH, I don't even KNOW if there's any cramped areas where you do that quest, because I don't even know the name of the MAP. As I said before, I only just got to the Khezu.

Anyway, hope this was helpful, and good luck!