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!