How to hunt the Rathian! MH3U (Blademaster/Gunner)

Hunting the Rathian! The Rathian should be the first wyvern that you can encounter during the storyline or even in the online tavern. She is a rather soft wyvern to begin with having her head as the weak spot for shot types so if you can snipe her head precisely, this fight will be quite easy but if you want to break the wings you may also do so as this will make her stagger and fall to the ground when she is in flight mode.

She has seven(7) different types of attacks when grounded. The single fireball, triple fireball, step back ground fire ball, tail back flip (can poison and stun) that will always make her go to flight mode right after, a 360 tail swipe, full on head charge (may vary if she uses triple charge or just a single one) and a bite that doesn't do a whole lot of damage even for gunners.

While she is on flight mode she has four(4) different attacks. The dual bite lunge, the tail back flip (a lot of times she does this twice), the diving claw that ends up pinning the hunter down when it connects and a forward bite attack that does little damage. She always roars when she goes enraged and back hops flying.

RANGED TACTICS:

Bowgun

Its main elemental weakness is dragon while the secondary one is thunder. As a gunner, you can easily break her out of flight mode by staggering her whilst she's in the air. Pierce shots on bowguns are strong but beware of the recoil because it will plant you down and gives less time to recover. Keep moving to one side preferable to the left when she's grounded and to the right when in flight. When using the HBG use the roll to widen or close the gap between you and her, just keep a close eye on your stamina bar. The LBG that has a thunder/dragon rapid fire capability can do large amounts of damage in short bursts.

Bow

If you're good at precise aiming for the head and other weak parts, Rapid bows are good. Elemental bows are strong if you use the 2nd and 3rd stage of the charge pair this up with a good level 3~5 scatter bow and you're good to go. Bring coatings that your bow can use, though the bow may lose the elemental damage when a status coating is applied, a good paralyze or maybe sleep coupled by a couple of barrel bombs+ can do massive amounts of damage just be sure to hit the bomb and not the monster when it's asleep.

MELEE TACTICS:

You can use any melee weapon you're not limited to the list below.

Gunlance

Guard +1 can easily neutralize all his attacks. When you want to duke it out, use that guard stab and follow it up with an upswing. Upswings are fast, strong, versatile attacks, you can do several upswings while avoiding left or right, the upswing animation cannot be interrupted by the Rathians wind pressure. When tripped, use the longest combo you can do while using the shelling in between for maximum damage output.

Switch Axe

Most Switch Axes can get a huge buff from power phials when in sword mode, the axe mode's upswing has the most vertical reach but be warned that this may launch fellow Blademasters in the air when in multiplayer so be aware of the reach. Most dragon Switch Axes can only be unlocked at G rank so your bet is using thunder types at the early get go. With the vertical reach this has, knocking her out of the air and cutting her tail off will be easier. All of the Switch Axes attacks negate Rathian's wind pressure.

Dual Blades

Fast! Fast! Fast! coming in and going out of the her attack range is crucial, if you can avoid her attacks without getting hit and exploiting small openings then the Dual Blades is a weapon for you. What it lacks in attack range makes it up with its quick agile attacks. When Rathian's in flight mode, you can clip her tail end and proceed to knock her out of the air. You can also focus your attacks on her legs as she can be easily tripped and then proceed to Demon Dance away at her HP. Evasion +1 can help you avoid most of her attack, you can also roll over her fireball if you time it perfectly with Evasion +1. While in Demon mode wind pressure is negated so another thing to keep in mind.


Don't forget to bring:
1. Flash bombs (you can knock her out of the air)
2. Traps (when monster is fatigued)
3. Bombs (sleep bombing)
4. Combination materials (extra coatings/ammo)

How to hunt the Rathalos! MH3U (Blademaster)

This guy, is a lot harder for Blademasters compared to Gunners because you can easily be hit by his back hop fireball which really hurts when it hits! But do not be discouraged! For this type of enemy, I'd advise the Switch Axe or maybe even the Longsword because of the vertical range it has for a melee weapon. But if you're using Dual Blades, Sword and Shield or any weapon that has limited range, go attack the legs and try and trip him, and when he does, wail on his head! The trick is that always be aware that he may do a Back Hop fireball on you and roll out of harms way.

When he hovers over the ground, his tail is dangling, try attacking it at the end of the tail, and if it drops down to the ground squirming, attack the head. His wind pressure may bug you but if you've got the correct distance, you can easily avoid it. For weapons with a lot of vertical range, try going for the head after he does a his tri-fireball up in the sky, time your attacks, a good upswing and vertical chop by the Switch Axe will deal massive damage to him. When he does his hover charge on you, you can clip his wings with an upward strike if you got the right spacing to do it without getting hit, since he does this a lot, you can practice this almost all the time.

When he is grounded, keep your distance well, not too far not too close, because he will charge at you over and over again, but if he does his fireball attack on ground  this is a good opening to unleash a couple of good attacks on his head. If he does charge a lot don't fret, you can always attack his legs or tail if you can reach it, just be sure you are right behind him because he can do his back hop fireball attack WHILE turning towards you so attacking his side isn't such a good idea especially if he's enraged.

He isn't called King of the Skies for nothing, because he favors staying up in the air a lot more than being grounded. Watch out when he goes to rage mode because he will always roar first then do a back hop fireball and that'll hurt a lot if it connects. As for elemental weakness, Dragon is his weakest and Thunder secondary. Hope this helps you on your quest to vanquish the mighty Rathalos!

How to hunt the Rathalos! MH3U (Gunner)

The Rathalos! The majestic wyvern king of the skies! A worthy enemy that improves over every rank in the game. Traps are important, trapping a fatigue monster gives it more time spent in the trap thus means more damage can be dealt during that time. As a gunner or an archer, keep your distance well from him, when he hovers over the ground his only means of attacking you is by fireball or by attacking you with his claws in which these two attacks are almost always done in front of the Rathalos so run to either the right or left side.

When the Rathalos does the "ready to fly animation" and goes up into the sky, go under his shadow so he can't hit you with his homing poison claws or tri-fireball. He has five(5) attacks while he is grounded, the single fireball strike which you can easily capitalize on due to the delay animation, his 360 degree tail whip, his charge attack which he often does, a bite attack that does a bit of damage and his back hop fireball which deals a lot of damage. When he gets enraged he always roars and does the back hop fireball afterwards so don't stay in front of him (unless you've got the earplugs skill) when he goes to rage mode.

You can flinch out the Rathalos in the sky by exceeding the damage threshold, the wings or the head are the easiest to flinch out. Flinching out a Rathalos while it's in the sky creates an opening to deal damage to its head which has the highest hitzone so fire away while he is in the sky while avoiding his attacks. While the Rathalos hovers, wind pressure will make you stagger so don't stay under him unless you have the wind pressure negate skill turned on.

Gunner armor can be squishy but gunners were never meant to duke it out up close, never stay still for more than 2 seconds unless you've flinched him, keep moving, if you're using the HBG stay moving and use the roll to maintain distance. If you're using the LBG and you use the rapid fire often, keep in mind that rapid firing anchors you to the ground for quite sometime so always mind your shot delay.

Bullets, what bullets to use as a hunter who uses bowguns for a rathalos hunt? either solo or with a hunting party, I'd advise to bring Pierce and Normal shots. Normal shots to the head and Pierce shots for the body or the wing, you may bring Dragon or Thunder shots which is his primary and secondary elemental weakness respectively. But what if you're using a bow? A good Scatter bow with dragon or thunder element can make him flinch a lot. Just try to aim at the side of the head and keep your distance 3-4 back hops away from him to get that 1.5 distance damage multiplier, couple this up with a bunch of power coatings and close range coatings(if the bow has any access to those).

Hope this helps you guys!