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!