#heavy bowgun for life.

[ball-slayer]

fighterz newbie wins his first online fight milestone

[theactualsunshinechild]

Laios would love playing Monster Hunter. Perfect intersection of his special interests in one video game. Probably Insect Glaive because you get a bug, or Charged Blade main.

Falin would play it with him and main Hunting Horn, and occasionally Hammer.

Marcille would play because Falin is playing and would end up settling on Heavy Bowgun.

Shuro would not play because Laios is playing, but theoretically would play Insect Glaive or Longsword.

Senshi would play once, main sword and shield, and then get more interested in finding ways of recreating the recipes in real life than the game.

Namari would occasionally play with them and would main Greatsword, and sometimes Hammer.

Kabru is a dedicated Longsword main and when he's playing with his own party he's very good about calling out where he's attacking so he doesn't stagger anyone. When playing with Laios' party he does not fucking do this. In fact he sometimes goes over to wherever Laios is on purpose and starts doing spirit blade things.

Chilchuck gets recommended the game by Laios, and says he's not interested in playing. He buys the game and plays it single player. He mains Bow.

[varilien]

i honestly don't remember why i did this because the way i ALWAYS am is that i cannot settle on a design i'll make edits every single time i draw it forever fdhgjhdk

also spose i'll tell y'all more about leaden skies while we're here

since wolfwood's the only licensed hunter of the group, he's the only one who can take on hunts legally, although the others are more than capable of defending themselves as necessary in an emergency

okay OBVIOUSLY milly has huge gunlancer vibes but i've set her up with a handy Knight Lance her old instructor gave her when she was just starting out with the guild. i like to think she's always making friends with hunters she meets and convincing them to show her some tricks with whatever they're proficient in

meryl has a hand-me-down Guild Knight Saber set from her family that she brought with her when she moved out to work for the guild. guild work is good work for a variety of reasons, and she's probably got more than one relative working for them as well, hence the sabers. her family is generally very supportive

vash is a pacifist. despite this, he keeps one half to a very old dual blade set on his person at all times, as well as a God's Island light bowgun. it's anyone's guess how he got so proficient with both when he refuses to fight

wolfwood has a range of proficiencies with many weapons (chapel never would have let him get so far in his studies if he couldn't be that adaptable), but he tends to favor greatswords, charge blades and heavy bowguns. his Punisher has seen him through some of the worst days of his life

that said i don't wanna draw any of these things LMAO

[yakool-foolio]

So what are the Nocturnal Hunters Guild AU version of the NDA gang like besides Yakou (unless you want to talk about post-exile Yakou as well)?

I'll give some tidbits on the guild members, which includes the train group since they live in this AU! Well, all except for Zilch technically. There's only one Zilch in this AU and that's Yomi's right hand man. All the hunters were brought in overseas from other continents to aid Yakou with the growing Qurio-infested monster problem spreading across Amaterasu Kingdom and its surrounding territories, threatening to destroy the entire continent's ecosystem.

Yuma is a brand new hunter accepted onto the guild after losing his memories due to the Rampage a few years prior. Despite his inexperience, he's proven himself to be a reliable ally that works best in teams to provide support, even if it just leads him to becoming bait.

Aphex grew up in a family of highly renowned researchers, but after the Rampage tore their home apart, he barely escaped as the sole survivor, his parents savagely mauled by monsters. After those horrid events, he trained in the great sword and hunts to avenge his parents' untimely deaths. Enjoying the thrill of the hunt and unafraid to train his fellow hunters the hard way, he finds a new place to call home in the guild.

Zange is a retired commander of Amaterasu Kingdom's calvary, kicked out after he expressed distaste for the new ruthless rulers. He specializes in the lance. Despite his age, he still can be a heavy-hitter, since his wisdom from running the guard never faded.

Pucci is a quiet handler who surveys the biome for danger before hunters are sent out on missions. Her work is underappreciated by the majority, but she doesn't care much for any attention put on her.

Melami is a smithy focused on her talent for creating armor sure to catch the eye of any hunter. However, rumor has it her creations are haunted by the spirits of dead monsters, bringing out fierce tempers from anyone who wears them.

Halara has a knack for remembering a monster’s past attacks in order to predict them during a hunt. They require a high price for their assistance with quests, but they're still greatly sought after. However, they’re prone to losing their calm composure and get embarrassed when they're being out-performed by other hunters.

Desuhiko can be a little in over his head with his ceaseless yearning for fame and glory as a legendary hunter, so he's got a long way to go. Some argue he's a better hunting horn player than a hunter. Nobody can complain about his hearty buffs to the team, though.

Fubuki belongs to an upstanding family of blacksmiths who are well known for their ornate designs in armor and weaponry. Fubuki longs for a life of adventure, so she goes out on hunts frequently to test out her skills with her light bowgun made just for her. She tends to mistake monsters for many different things which can get her in troubling situations, but she's swift to slip out of a monster's grasp.

No one believes Vivia to be a good hunter due to him being constantly tired. On the contrary, he's got an eagle eye for weak points in monsters since he performs autopsies on monsters and memorizes the most common causes of death from weapon wounds. However, he's one of the few hunters who despises hunting unless there's no other option. He sympathizes with these beautifully dangerous beasts, which many hunters don't quite understand.

Before exile, Yakou worked as a quest receptionist who secretly ventured on hunts to carry out unwanted quests. Some of his experience as a receptionist still shows when handing out assignments to the hunters in his guild. He can be pretty picky about who goes out on what quests, which usually leads to none of his advice being followed by the more rambunctious adults. He prefers not to pick fights with the kingdom and remain in hiding, but there's an ache to restore the kingdom to its true former glory that never fades.

[callsignbaphomet]

So I said I was gonna talk a bit about one of my MH hunters and yeah.

First off, I know MH lore is very, very scarce and there's a lot of read between the lines and like The Elder Scrolls a lot of it is open to interpretation or open canon as some say so my bad if something doesn't make sense (tbh I don't care, I'm just here to have fun).

I have a few hunters and palicoes but mainly focusing on some of the main ones.

Sanaa and Ingvarr (both hunters, currently retired) had moved to the New World where they had kids, two boys.

Loke became a hunter at a pretty young age and had a significantly amazing career until he was almost killed fighting off an Alatreon. He was one of the very few survivors. His injury meant he can no longer hunt but he became a handler (not sure if handlers are only female but idc).

Jelani became a researcher. Always the animal lover and always curious he wanted to study them but he always saw them after hunters returned with crippled and near death monsters or their carcases. He wanted to get a different perspective on the monsters so he became a hunter as well to study the way they moved, behaved, fought and survived both out of combat and in combat. He vowed to never kill non-Elder Dragons if he can help it. He'll always go for the capture.

Dagny (Jelani's palico) is Hati's (Loke's palico) older sister. Both are two of Bheka's (Sanaa's palico, also retired) kittens. Tanngrisnir (Ingvarr's palico, retired) is the kittens' dad.

Sanaa retired from hunting but is now part of the botanical research team working alongside others to make potions and other healing and medicinal items. Her palico assists her still.

Ingvarr and his brother Jørgen alongside both of their palicoes (Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr respectively) are the local head blacksmiths (yeah, yeah, pretty much in par with Oracle but I always put those two as some type of craftsmen even in AUs).

Loke used to main the switch axe, great sword and the heavy bowgun.

Jelani mains the light bowgun, long sword and charge blade.

Angelus mains the dual blades, long sword and light bowgun.

Trevor mains the charge blade, switch axe and heavy bowgun.

Ginger and her wife Jasmine both main the sword and shield and the bow.

Latoya mains the lance, hammer and heavy bowgun.

Sunflower is Latoya's palico.

Ice Cream is Trevor's palico.

Aria is Jasmine's palico.

Sorceress is Ginger's palico.

Glitter is Angelus' palico.

Once while he was out gathering materials, observing monsters out in the wild and getting notes Jelani ran across a near dead Rathian in her nest nuzzling her clutch of eggs that had been destroyed. When Jela realized she was still alive he felt horrible especially when he saw Glavenus tracks all over the nest and realized what happened. So against every instinct he had he went and gathered the supplies and bandaged up the Rathian. He checked in on her every single day and brought plenty of food and medicine for her and basically nursed her back to health until she was strong enough to move again. He took to calling her Freyja and once she was healthy enough to fly he distanced himself as he wasn't sure how Freyja would react to seeing him so close now that she was able to defend herself.

Jelani has A LOOOOOT of pets and has managed to find a lot of rare endemic life. He's the guy you go to if you want a pet of your own.

Angelus and Jelani are indeed together and often hunt together. They're actually married. They married pretty young.

Every so often Jelani sees Freyja and she sees him but neither attacks the other, they just glance at each other and each time they get closer and closer. He knows where her nest is and leaves either some meat or fish for her.

[kariachi]

Quick little ficlet in the same au from most of the past week. More Manvin, Manny gets a present.

~~

There weren’t words in Manny’s head, nonetheless his mouth. The fingers of his remaining hand curled as he pulled it back from the unwrapped bundle.

A gunlance set. A proper gunlance set, not like the training weapons that were all he’d gotten to use before- Before his egg hunt had gone horribly wrong. He’d always preferred the heavy bowguns and switch axes, but even if he hadn’t have dropped out of rider training after that- suddenly keenly aware of how quickly the life of a rider could turn, and reminded that he was the only child of an only child, what would happen to his parents and grandmother if they lost him- both weapons worked best with two hands. The gunlance had never been low on his list though, and was a one-handed weapon…

“Babe?” Smile spreading across his face, Manny barked a quick laugh.

“You built me a fucking weapon set.” Kevin just shrugged, smiling back.

“Figured, we wander away from the village enough, and if something goes wrong it’s more likely to be you needing to defend yourself than me…” Manny shook his head, wrapping an arm around Kevin’s waist and burying his face in his neck.

“I am so fucking keeping you.” Snorting laughter, Kevin laid his cheek on his head.

“All I’m asking.”

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 46: Anteka

Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve finally made it to the Second Generation of Monster Hunter! We’ve got all sorts of crazy monsters to talk about, but before we get to the heavy hitters, we’ve gotta give the little guys some time in the spotlight. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about a Small Monster--or a monster that wasn’t based off another, for that matter--but there’s nothing to do but try. Let’s begin our foray into new territory with the Anteka!

(How it appears in the Second Generation)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Rise)

Appearance: Anteka may look plain on the surface, but they’re actually not so simple; they’re meant to be like reindeer, but have antlers that are similar to that of the musk ox in how close the bases are to each other. The shape and size, however, are completely different from just about anything I’ve ever seen, and might be too heavy for a real animal of the Anteka’s size to manage. I can tell you what their eyes are from, though: thems’ goat eyes. It’s kinda hard to tell since they’re so small on the Rise render, but I can see horizontal pupils. Basically, Anteka are a conglomerate ungulate, which is A) a phrase I don’t think anyone’s ever said before, and B) rather interesting, but not anything extraordinary. 5/10.

Behavior/Lore: As decently-sized herbivores, Anteka serve as a valuable source of food for the predators of their frigid habitats, such as Giaprey and several larger monsters. Perhaps it’s this pressure that makes them rather high-strung; unlike Kelbi, which prefer to flee at the first sign of trouble, Anteka prefer to retaliate against attackers by ramming them with their antlers, which are present on both sexes.

Unfortunately, that’s all that can be said about Anteka behavior. It seems to be the herbivores’ lot in life to be prey and nothing else (well, for the Small Monsters; not a lot will try to eat a Diablos, and probably fewer succeed). Part of me feels like it’s unfair to expect more from Anteka, given that they’re not meant to be as exciting as other monsters, but the other part is telling me to rate these things on how I feel rather than worry all the time about my opinions being wrong. To save myself some stress, I’ll just give Anteka a 3/10.

Abilities: All they can do is charge you. Again, I feel kinda bad about judging them for how little they do, but I need to stop acting like I’ll be judged for what I say here. Since Bullfango does the same thing Anteka do, I’ll give the latter what the former got in this department. 2/10.

Equipment: Like most other Small Monsters, Anteka have no armor based off them. They do, however, have several weapons. Here’s a Long Sword simply called the Anteka Blade:

Sorry for the small image, but hopefully it’s easy enough to see the details here. Basing the sword’s blade off of the shape of Anteka antlers is a neat idea, though I question the Generations Ultimate description claiming that the weapon “trades flashiness for top-tier ease of use.” I can’t see this thing being any easier to use than the standard design for Long Swords, but then again, I’m no swordsman or martial artist. Next is a Heavy Bowgun as it appears in Frontier G Genuine:

If you’re wondering why I don’t show Heavy Bowguns very often, it’s because most of them tend to look pretty samey, only really differing in what monster parts are slapped onto the main body of the gun. That being said, this looks fine, though I question the logistics of putting heavy antlers on the barrel

Now, if you’re thinking these weapons look kinda bland, then I have good news for you: despite the monster being more moose-like than reindeer-like, several Anteka weapons in Frontier G Genuine are Christmas themed, adding a touch of whimsy that I didn’t see coming when I went to grab weapon images. It was tough to choose which one to show here, but I think I wanna go with the Lance:

Sorry that it’s so big, but I shrunk down the image a lot and the website doesn’t think I did, for some reason. Still, there’s a lot to love here: obviously you’ve got a Christmas tree being used as a lance, but the tree has a star on top for extra-thematic stabbing action, and the shield is a wreath with a plush Anteka head (at least, it looks like plush). I also like the bow on the lance’s handle, and the ornaments near its tip. Speaking of the tip, that seems to be where most of the “tree” part is; everything below it looks scaly, as if it were from a dragon.

Funnily enough, it seems that the majority of Anteka weapons are Christmas themed, making the first two I showed outliers. Because of this and the fact that the Christmas weapons don’t seem to be in any mainline games, it’s hard for me to grade this category. I think I feel safest calling this a 6/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: Honestly, it’s not surprising to me that I feel so lukewarm about Anteka, because they weren’t exactly designed to impress. Obviously the Large Monsters are meant to steal the show in terms of lasting impressions, so it makes sense that the Small Monsters wouldn’t be made to compete with them. They earn brownie points for the Christmas weapons, but otherwise, Anteka are just kinda...there. And that’s all they need, I guess. 4/10.

[scalproie]

yknow, despite not playing them myself, the light bowgun and heavy bowgun are absolutely the funniest weapons in monster hunter because you've just slayed this gigantic, larger than life itself, ancient creature who's almost akin to a god due to its impact to the world and all the civilizations that it destroyed... and you're looking at the dead body of this pure force of nature and you're like "what am I gonna do with this?" and the answer is. a gun

[gaijinhunter]

Monster Hunter Rise: 2nd Trailer and news blowout

Hey guys this is Gaijinhunter. I am uploading this as a text post since I caught a cold and have been unable to edit a video.

There was a huge second wave of news for Monster Hunter Rise with the reveal of the 2nd trailer the other day during the Game Awards 2020 show. Keep in mind the actual full length trailer is much longer and better than the shorter edit they showed during the show so makes sure you watch it. It showcased a second map, 2 new monsters, several returning monsters, and more. They also updated their official website with a ton of information so instead of doing a trailer reaction or breakdown, I am going to give you all the info they shared but split up by category, trying to focus only on the new stuff.

New Map

Director Ichinose hinted in an interview that one of the new maps would be nostalgic and boy he wasn't kidding. The Flooded Forest from Third Generation has been massively remade and is back in MH rise. Of course given this game’s focus is verticality, there is no underwater combat sections but they really nailed it from what I can see. One of the most iconic parts of the forest was the ruins in the backgrounds, and now you can scale up it using the wirebug. How cool is that. 

With the new map we also got the reveal of 2 new monsters.

First up is the mermaid wyvern, the Somnacanth. This marks the much hyped return of the leviathan class of monsters which were missing in world and iceborne. This Monster looks so wild. It has a special breath that will put you to sleep, is super aggressive, and has this crazy taiko drum like chest in which it will grab oysters and other things and bust them against it to break them open and buff itself. The Japanese name is quite a mouthful and is called Isonemikuni. This is the monster that Ichinose teased with his cute drawing on twitter.

Next up is the tengu beast, Bishaten. This monster is really unique, it looks like a mix of a monkey, bat, and bird. It has a huge and powerful tail it uses for massive mobility and it will chuck various fruits at you as well. One of the most iconic fruits it throws are persimmons, which are very Japanese and if you haven’t had them before, they are kind of an acquired taste. It’s Japanese name is Bishutendo. 

For returning monsters we have a few. First is our favorite sponge, the Royal Ludroth. This is a fan favorite and a great early to mid game monster. It has one of the best move sets in my opinion, very telegraphed but it can still catch you off guard even if you are super used to it. Strategically figuring gout where to stand in order to cut off its tail or break the sponge has always been really fun and intersting so I’m delighted to see this monster return, also look at that texture of the sponge!

Then we got the return of the Great Wroggi, the anti-poison skill tutorial monster. This thing really messed me up back in MH3G until I spent the time to get the materials to craft anti-posion decorations and even then, like the Great Izuchi, it fights really well with its sidekick small wroggis and I cant wait to see the improved cooperative AI that they are making for the Great Izuchi applied to this monster as well. It’s armor also spots a really cool Crocodile Dundee hat and look in the trailer and you can see the palico armor as well. So cool.

Finally, we got a small scene that appears to show a snow map and a group of baggi getting hit by a Khezu lightening shot. Does this mean the Great Baggi will return? Not sure. But that scream 100% is a Khezu, and I cannot wait to see how it looks with higher resolution texturing, I bet it will be creepy as heck. So while not technically confirmed, I’d say it’s safe to say Khezu is returning in some form. The balance of all these monsters is so great, I love the selection so far.

As far as other returning monsters that might return, I think we all expect nargacuga and zinogre. These are flagship monsters from games directed by Ichinose and he even tweeted his palamute and palico both named after these two monsters. Especially given the Japanese aesthetic, I think it’s pretty much guaranteed they are returning. Then I think mizutsune is also highly likely given its Japanese design, the fox theme, the kimono armor. Plus the model for it doesn't look that far off from the new Somnacanth. Anyway I have super hyped.

Interaction with animals and endemic life

One of the huge features of Monster Hunter Rise is the focus on wild life and animals to buff your hunter or be used as tools during a hunt.

There are 4 major types of Endemic Life: Temp Buffer, Permabuffer, Hunting Helper, and environmental.

For Permabuffer, we got a new render of the Spiribirds, which will buff your hunter if you move near one, and the effects depend on the color of the pollen it is carrying. Green increases your max Health, Orange increases your defense, red increases your attack power, and yellow increases your max stamina. There is even a special rainbow colored one, which I assume will buff all 4.

Via their website, Capcom announced a new item called the Petalace, a bracelet made of a plant called a Sending Sprig that each hunter has equipped. This is what collects the pollen from the birds and buffs your hunter. There is a variety of Petalaces in the game and some may increase the amount in which an attack boost is applied from a single Spiribird, raise the max value that health can be boosted, and more. Here in the screen shot we can see the caps for each and the amount gained for each buff. Just a quick note but this is not going to be replacing charms as we know that they are giving away a talisman for pre-order.

For Temp Buffer creatures, they revealed the name of the Clothfly, a butterfly that will temporarily increase your defense once you interact with it and cause it to generate a cloud of dust. In previous videos we have seen Peepers that reduce stamina usage, birds that raise your base stats, and a dragonfly that boosts your affinity and I had calculated it out to being applied for 90 seconds but we’ll have to wait for hte final game to see if that depends on the effect or if they change it, but it sounds about right.

For Hunting Helper creatures, we got an adorable new render of the Stinkmink. You can carry up to 5 Hunting Helpers and use them like items. The Stinkmink can be used to cover yourself in a special pheromone that will attract large monsters to you, even allowing you to lure one monster toward another to cause a turf war. I personally can think of other applications like luring a monster toward a trap and stuff like that.

And for environmental endemic life, they didn't show it in the trailer but there are also wildlife that can be used like environmental traps. For example, use raw meat and the giganha fish will go crazy, damaging anything nearby be it a hunter or monster. I can’t wait to see someone hunt a Great Wroggi using only raw meat. I love that we finally will have more use for this item.

NPCs

In the new trailer we got to hear several of the NPC villagers talking and on the website they go into a lot more details. They have quite the star-studded cast in Japanese and the English voice actors are also very interesting picks. This really marks the first time in Monster Hunter that the main cast of villagers will all be called by name and speak, which I think adds a lot of personality to the game.

First we have Fugen the village elder of Kamura and skilled long sword user. 

Then we have Hinoa the Quest Maiden, a cheerful and optimistic girl who serves as the quest giver in the village while her twin sister runs the gathering hub. While not announced in any other language, the French and Italian language sites for the game list her sister’s name as Minoto. Hinoa’s name is Hinoe in Japnaese and for the rest of the cast their names are identical between the two languages.

One thing I am excited for is that they said that one of the ways they will help communicate the uniqueness of Kamura is through songs and they shared a sample of one of them in the full trailer. This one is sung by Izumi Kato. If you remember back in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate they featured songs by the wyverian Diva, and I am so happy they decided to do songs again, they add so much richness to the world and are just lovely to listen to.

Next up is Yomogi, our village chef. In this game you will eat meals at her Tea Shop, where her speciality is the Bunny Dango she makes along with the help of some palicoes. I love that we’ve seen her in past videos with a heavy bowgun, so the idea that all the villagers are active participants in the story is great. 

Then we have Hamon the blacksmith. He used to hunt alongside Fugen back in the day but now creates weapons for the hunters of the village. His grandson also appears in the game and is a kind-hearted youth that loves your hunting companions.

Next is Kagero the merchant. Despite his mysterious appearance he is actually very warm and kind. If there is a sale going on, not only can you buy most items for half off, but you can also participate in a lottery where you spin a wheel and it dispenses a colored ball. Get a rare color ball to win a rare prize. You can do it once per sale, but you can also scan an amiibo to spin two more times, but only once per day per amiibo you own.

Finally we have Komitsu the sweet-tooth, she sells candy apples in town. What these do is still not yet revealed.

Companions

We got an adorable render for the Cohoot, the pet owl that shows the positions of monsters on your map. You can interact with it in the town and even dress them up in fancy outfits.

Kamura Village

We got gameplay showing that the entire village is open to the 4 person multiplayer session and you can even ride around on your palamute and use your wirebug while in the village to zip around and have fun. There is still a gathering hall but the ability to see each other in the village as well as jump around and really explore it is a lovely change they are making.

Story wise we got more info about the Rampage, both a story mechanic and new quest type. For some reason the monsters will sometimes gang up and attack the village all at once and no one knows why. They call this a Rampage. There was a really bad rampage 50 years ago that nearly destroyed the village and in response the town has created a Stronghold to stop further invasions. This looks like a new quest type with multiple monsters all at once, and a slew of different artillery options at your disposal. I could see this as being a really fun type of quest to do online with other players. 

And of course the most exciting news was that there will be a demo in January with more details to come later. That is far earlier than I expected and I now have to finish up my back catalogue of games in like the next month.

And that about wraps it up. Cpacom said that they will be sharing weapon preview videos for all 14 types very soon and if they do the way they used to do it, we’ll get one new video a day for 2 weeks. I hope you enjoyed this recap of the news and please let me know down in comments what you thought about the second trailer. And until next time, happy hunting.

[lonesovereignty]

MHR Sunbreak Weapon Thoughts

Since Capcom has shown us what stuff all the weapons will be getting in Sunbreak I just wanted to throw my thoughts out there on weapons I'm excited about for people curious. Some may be short and some may be long :P. I'll also probably make another post for weapons I think were left to the wayside.

All the new Greatsword moves are really... great. This is a weapon I wanna definitely try out, the new combo moves look like they feel great to hit. The new stance is what really sells for it me though, it looks super satisfying to do. Overall Greatsword looks like a new weapon and they did a great job.

Longsword was the weapon I mainly used in Monster Hunter World Iceborne and Monster Hunter Rise. I am very glad they made this weapon fun in Iceborne and still fun in Rise. The Harvest Moon skill is pretty neat, but the biggest thing for me is the new sheathe. The animation is so damn cool, its everything I ever wanted out if this weapon and the attack it allows look even cooler. Longsword users has absolutely been fed this time around and I'm here for it.

I've tried out Dual Blades in this game a bit and they're more satisfying to use than ever before tbh. The air spiral attack gives it that nice oomph I look for and the new combo makes it more mobile while attack which is always a strong point with these weapons. I'll give em a try.

I have not played either lance weapons until I tried out Gunlance in base Rise in which it is fair for me to say: I suck at it. It's very fun though!! I like the added mobility it has with blast dash and the new weapon skills seem to only add to make it more fun with more explosions lol. A weapon that makes explodes monsters has been appealing to me lately. (hence my recent decision to pick up GNB in FFXIV) Hope they are able to fix up what people complain about which is the low damage.

The Insect Glaive was something I always liked since they introduced it in MH4U (one of my favorite MHs). It may not be as overpowered as it was back then but the new moves has made me more interested in wanting to play it. I am glad they brought back the MH Gen move where you can chuck the bug at monsters, and the new aerial attack looks really fun. Insect Glaive mains are absolutely thriving in this expansion and it is a weapon I am absolutely trying out at some point.

Last but definitely not least! The Heavy Bowgun. I really enjoyed using this weapon in previous Monster Hunters until they changed it up in World. I'm not a huge fan of World Heavy Bowgun since they removed Siege Mode from the weapon and it never felt the same as it did before. This ultimately led me to switch to Longsword lol. Fortunately they're bringing it back, the one thing I loved most about this weapon! My baby is back and it's definitely the weapon I am going to be mainly using in Sunbreak.

Closing thoughts

Sunbreak is seeming to turn out to consume my life for a good bit and I am okay with that lol. I'll be playing on the Switch version but eventually I'll hop on to PC and play both versions for friends.

If you've managed to read all this, thanks it means a lot to me.

[yuusa]

⟡ 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 (𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃) 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒 | 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐈

⁀ ✦ 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗞���𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗨𝗦𝗘?

— 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝘼𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙂𝙇𝙄𝘼, 𝙎𝘾𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙈𝙊𝙐𝘾𝙃𝙀, 𝙇𝘼 𝙎𝙄𝙂𝙉𝙊𝙍𝘼.

— 𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘓𝘐𝘈

He tries to be a Bow main but utterly fails and gets decimated by even the smallest of monsters in game

When he’s playing Bow he burns through his stamina so you end up having to cover for him when his character is bent over, breathing like an animal trying to regain stamina

He loves the look of Dragon Piercer but hates how long it takes for it to charge up

He likes to mess around with Scaramouche by using the arc shot which pelts him with rocks, this usually knocks him out of his combo and flinches him

His actual main is Insect Glaive, he thinks its fun bouncing around in the air and mounting monsters

His shoutout for a mount is “Ride me harder” and when he joins a public server, he won’t saying “Hello Comrade!” into the chat

He thinks of his Kinsect as his best friend because he wouldn’t stop hitting the monster with it and calls out to it 

His hated Elder Dragon is Kushala Daora because when he switches to his actual main, he gets ping ponged in the air by its wind attack and never has the chance to get close

He also hates Lunastra with a burning passion, he cannot stand the amount of damage she does and the flames she puts out into the arena

His favorite Elder Dragon is Namielle because it makes the coolest roar and its a water element, making it even cooler in his eyes

— 𝘚𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘈𝘔𝘖𝘜𝘊𝘏𝘌

Trust me, he would 100% be a Longsword main just to piss everyone off in the team

He’d make a full raw build, he thinks running elemental builds is completely useless (hes a raw > element kind of guy)

He makes it his own personal goal to sever every monster’s tails and break parts while flinching everyone around him so they can’t engage 

He would sometimes use his clutch claw but only because he doesn’t want La Signora to steal the glory

His guilty pleasure is Heavy Bowgun, Tartaglia would definitely make fun of him for choosing it because if he were to use it in real life, he’d collapse under the weight (and also because Tartaglia puts in the effort to flinch Scaramouche while he’s reloading, which ends up pissing him off)

However, it doesn’t change the fact that once he steps into a public server with a Safi Burst Cannon, locked in with a spread build, he annihilates every monster with a rain of bullets (You know things gets serious when a bowgun user enters a game)

His hated Elder Dragon is Alatreon, I like to think that he was walled the moment he had to fight Alatreon without Farcasters and other items, he definitely struggled to make an elemental build just to fight it

His favorite Elder Dragon is Fatalis, he thinks that its a great challenge and he’s completely for the meta builds in the game, when you tell him you’re struggling on the solo part he’d scoff at you

An honorable mention would be Shara Ishvalda because he likes to tell Tartaglia to stare into its eyes during the fight, and listening to him squeal and squirm because Ishvalda never stops looking into the players’ soul

— 𝘓𝘈 𝘚𝘐𝘎𝘕𝘖𝘙𝘈

She would be using Dual Blades because she finds its design to be extremely elegant and the most unique (She’d probably take into account elemental damage as well as raw)

She likes the look of Velkhana’s Dual Blades, but appreciates the uniqueness of Ruiner Nergigante’s claws and Yian Garuga’s fan 

She might consider using Switchaxe or Hunting Horn, some of the Hunting Horns in the game are incredible in terms of design, but she doesn’t like the idea of sharpening a blunt weapon

Switchaxe would be a secondary option to her because she loves puncturing a monster’s head, riding it, and spamming Zero Sum Discharge until its slain (She used this technique of spamming ZSD to defeat Fatalis, much to Scaramouche’s annoyance)

Out of everyone in the group she’d be the only one to actually use her clutch claw to its full advantage because she uses a light weapon which creates a lot of slinger ammo

Oh, Scaramouche can’t get a hit to Alatreon’s horns? “Pathetic,” she’d say. She’ll wallbang Alatreon and break the horns just to act completely smug about it later on

Her hated Elder Dragon is Arch-Tempered Velkhana, send prayers to anyone who asks her to carry them for a Velkhana ticket because she will murder you. She cannot stand how much damage it does and even if you try to convince her its for a good cause, she would outright refuse you

Her favorite Elder Dragon is Safi’Jiiva because she thinks its really satisfying to see her scale the large dragon and break its back with Heavenly Blade Dance

A close second would be Kulve Taroth because she finds her to be beautiful and her layered armor is worth farming for (her elemental weapons are amazing as well)

[kyumiterasu]

Omori Monster Hunter AU (the team of MHW)

Because I quit MHW for Omori and didn’t regret it

The team

Sunny

Sunny’s the main DPS overall, and the primary blademaster.

While you were partying, he studied the blade. He always chooses melee cutting weapons.

His favorite and default is the sword & shield. He likes mobility and at least some protection.

For the frustrating fights, he brings out the greatsword.

Since he specializes in cutting, he usually does most of the tail-severing.

Although he’s just as shy and aloof as usual, he’s ruthless on the field. He often kills his targets on capture quests, so his teammates always intervene.

Has Mewo as his palico.

Kel

The gunner and secondary tank.

Uses all the gun weapons. Light bowgun, heavy bowgun, and gunlance.

His favorite is the bowgun duo. He loves them both equally - he appreciates mobility, but also loves sniping and going all TF2 Heavy.

Because only one of his main weapons is a blade, he doesn’t sever tails often. But when he does, he’s always the first to carve it.

Speaking of gunlance, he makes a reliable shield when he has one. Hence why he’s on tank duty.

He has Hector as his palico (because there weren’t dogs - yet).

Aubrey

The secondary DPS.

Stop! Hammer time.

Expect a lot of stunning.

Breaks off the most monster parts on average.

Funnily enough, has the worst luck when it comes to drops, carves and rewards. She goes to the Elder Melder a lot when nobody’s looking (but Sunny notices).

She made Kim her palico (which her namesake was actually proud of).

Hero

The support guy/healer.

A passionate hunting horn user.

Has multiple Lifepowders, Dusts of Life, Hardshell Powders and Demon Powders on hand.

Has the highest monster part luck - he has a lot of plates and gems, much to Aubrey’s frustration.

He lost a coin flip with Kel, so his palico is Hector Jr.

Basil

The elemental DPS.

Uses the bow with such proficiency that Hero wonders if he’d be interested in archery.

Prefers to capture monsters instead of killing them, so he’s afraid of elder dragons.

That being said, he was a lifesaver when the gang met Alatreon for the first time.

Teams up with Kel to apply status effects.

Polly’s his palico.

Mari

The secondary blademaster and primary tank.

Her favorite weapon is the insect glaive, though she’s also quite proficient with the lance, gunlance, and charge blade.

She and Kel take turns on tank duty.

Likes to tease Hero with her kinsects.

She made another Mewo for her palico (Mewo 2), which confuses everyone.

[codenamebaphomet]

Name: Uersang (Guerra which is Spanish for war and Sang which is Norwegian for song, so basically WARSONG) Title: Singing Star Dragon Monster Class: Elder Dragon Element(s): Thunder Ailment(s): Thunderblight, Paralysis, Deadly Poison, Bleeding Weakest To: Fire (☆☆☆), Dragon (☆☆) Susceptible Status: Blast (☆☆☆) Sleep (n/a), Stun (☆), Paralysis (n/a), Poison (n/a) Immune To: Thunder, Ice Weak Point(s): Head, throat Size: Large Related Monster(s): Meteorburst Uersang (Variant) Signature Attack: Event Horizon

Info: The first thing anyone will notice about this dragon is that it communicates using its vocal cords to create a plethora of songs. Every roar, growl, howl, hiss and screech has a musical undertone that varies depending on this monster's mood and what it's trying to communicate. Second thing to notice is that the thunder and electricity it generates is hot pink in hue. This monster also has very small particles embedded into its scales that glitters in the light so if one flies low enough during the night it'll look like a distant shooting star while a wispy song trails behind.

Because they make their homes in the stratosphere and are seldom ever seen on land there's not much known about them.

Habitat & Diet: This elder dragon makes its home in the lower parts of the stratosphere where temperatures are freezing giving it an unnatural tolerance to the cold. For the most part this creature spends all day and night flying through the stratosphere. It does this by gliding to save energy. It requires a lot of hydration which it easily gets as it flies through clouds when it flies down to the troposphere where it collects water vapor to hydrate. Uersang doesn't require much food but its diet consists of fish. On the rare chance it touches ground it's been known to eat Aptonoth and fruit.

Abilities: Despite the fact that this elder dragon spends most of its life flying it has a poor chance at winning dog fights. Before attacking Uersang will give off a warning, its usually calm singing roar will turn violent and loud. If ignored it will strike the enemy hard and force it to land by paralyzing it. Once on the ground it will stand on its hind legs, spread its wings and give a secondary warning roar. If the target ignores this second warning it'll commence attacking by overwhelming the target with incredible speed and thunder attacks as well as an array of status effects. Uersang likes to get close and personal as its saliva is toxic and each bite will cause deadly poison to the hunter. The edges of its wings are sharp enough to cause bleeding. It can also envelop itself in crackling electricity after which it'll accost the hunter with a barrage of physical attacks such as body slams, hip slams, tackles, headbutts and tail slams that can cause paralysis. However, it does have a few ranged attacks to get the hunter off of it. It'll stand on its hind legs and let out a roaring song that'll cause lightning to strike it 5 times and as it runs through its body, this causes no harm to it, the lightning will be released through its back feet and spread on the ground in a ripple affect with small gaps in some areas. Being hit by the ripples will cause medium to high damage and leave the hunter with thunderblight. It's signature move, called Event Horizon, sees Uersang letting out a powerful roar that'll cause hunters to flinch, it then goes flying high into the sky and once it's high enough it unleashes a catastrophic white beam of energy with hot pink lightning crackling through and around it. The beam is targeted at the hunter it locked onto before it took to the sky but the lightning will spread through the entire arena causing tic damage that can kill if the hunter doesn't have a full health bar and/or full thunder resistance. Eating health items usually negates a faint but it has to be done fast. Those caught in the beam vanish without a trance only leaving behind a smell of burning flesh. It's possible to block Event Horizon but only if using Guard Up, however, 80% of your stamina will be used up and there is some significant recoil especially if blocking the beam.

The longer the fight goes the more aggressive, faster and angrier Uersang becomes. It's best to concentrate on the head to get the two breaks which will slow it down drastically. Easier said than done though, its habitat has shaped this monster's entire body to become extremely hardy. On top of that it WILL notice when hunters concentrate too much on its head and given the fact that THAT is its weak point it will use a combination of range and close attacks to prevent serious injuries to its head.

Pre-broken head 2x: At this stage Uersang's thunder is not as potent but its speed is grueling. While the thunder element won't do catastrophic damage it can build up due to the constant attacking

Post-broken head 2x: This stage sees Uersang moving at a far slower pace but its thunder element is heavily increased. It does more ranged attacks and tries to keep any threat away from its head. It will continue to fight until it perishes or the threat is taken care of.

1 head break: At this stage Uersang is at its deadliest. It's already been injured so it needs to prevent further injuries to its delicate head so it interchanges between ranged and close combat. Its thunder element has gotten a boost in power but it lost a small portion of its speed.

Behavior: Uersang is an extremely docile monster. When it lands, as rare as that is, it will explore, eat, drink and relax. It's been known to let humans and wyverians get close though not too close. In even rarer occasions if it doesn't feel like the humans or wyverians closing in are a threat it'll stick around, some reports say this monster has been known to play around in the snow and is no stranger to chucking snow at anything or anyone near by to bait them into a bit of play. It might even get curious and approach a human or wyverian as it seldom gets to see them.

However, it's best not to agitate this monster as it angers quickly and retaliates even quicker. For the most part it's docile and calm but it severely lacks patience. Once it's engaged in a fight it'll go all out until either it dies or the threat dies.

Researchers have reported that even when this dragon lands it doesn't land to sleep. This is because during the day one half of the brain shuts down while the other is active. At night the active part shuts down and the other activates therefore this monster never needs to sleeps.

During breeding season Uersang will partake in risky courtship rituals high in the stratosphere and when it comes time to lay eggs these monsters will make nests in very high places away from people and other monsters. However, given Valstrax's tendency to also live in places of high altitude they have been known to engage in turf wars. These turf wars are often fought by the Guersang that isn't about to lay eggs. If the partner loses then the Uersang carrying fertilized eggs and its partner will retreat. This is the only time a Uersang will flee from battle. While one Uersang watches over the eggs the other will bring food, specifically fish. After hatching, the babies will be able to fly after 9 days and the family will abandon the nest to return to the stratosphere. Once the babies are 9 months old they all go their separate ways.

Extra Deets:

Before it's first head break Uersang's head is extremely tough.

Anything under purple sharpness will bounce off, this can also be circumvented by use of the skill Mind's Eye. This affect is nullified after 1 head break.

After 1 head break Uersang uses a combination of close and ranged attacks. Some of the attacks vary in this stage.

Uersang's roar requires level 5 earplugs to block.

Uersang's front claws, throat, jaw, head, horns, wings can be broken. The tail can be broken but not cut off.

Uersang has a grab attack that cannot be blocked. It grabs a hunter by the head with its front claws and slams the hunter down with all its strength. This will cause a faint regardless of health. If using Guts Uersang follows that attack with a quick swipe. Best to avoid the grab.

Using Flash will work but it will also immediately put it in rage mode.

Once Uersang's throat has been broken it will no longer be able to roar.

It has two kinds of scales: the scales on it’s skull, back, shoulders and tail are much bigger than the scales on the rest of its body which are very tiny yet durable.

Monster materials:

Star Shard

Meteor Cortex

Uersang Claw (break front legs)

Uersang Sabertooth (break jaw)

Uersang Lash (break tail)

Ozone Webbing (break wing(s))

Strato Horn (1 head break)

Starlight Amethyst (2 head breaks)

Lålning Cord (break throat)

Uersang Weapons: Each weapon has purple sharpness and comes with the skill Gliese 436b which gives Mind's Eye/Ballistics. All weapons have hot pink lightning crackling through and around them. All are thunder element.

Cosmic Lålning (Insect Glaive)

Lightyear Aria (Long Sword)

Supernova Symphony (Light Bowgun)

Nebula Choir (Heavy Bowgun)

Galatic Canción (Hunting Horn)

Hubble's Reprise (Great Sword)

Pulsar Rhapsody (Bow)

Constellation Opera (Charge Blade)

Shootingstar Crescendo (Dual Blades)

Exosphere Cadenza (Switchaxe)

Lunar Rhythm (Sword & Shield)

Planetary Staccato (Lance)

Protostar Harmony (Gunlance)

Stellar Melody (Hammer)

* all Uersang and Meteorburst Uersang weapons gives off a faint musical note when swinging them. The Hunting Horn sounds like a violin

IG Kinsect bonus: Spirit and Strength boost Bow coatings: power, +paralysis and +poison DBs: one is thunder and the other is poison Horn songs: Movement Speed Up, Health Boost (L), Attack Boost (L), Thunder Resistance Boost (L), Melody Durations Extended, Impact Echo Wave, Elemental Effectiveness U

Kinsect: Name: Kepler 438b Attack Type: blunt Dust Effect: poison Element: level 20 Power (ele): lvl 14 Power (non ele): lvl 15 Speed: lvl 20 Heal: lvl 1

Armor Skills and Set Bonuses: 2 pieces give the skill Exoplanet Orchestra (Complete invulnerability while dodging. Think Bloodborne). 4 pieces give the skill Exoplanet Concert (True Critical Element).

Orbital Helmet - Critical Eye lvl 4

Orbital Chest - Attack Boost lvl 4

Orbital Arms - Thunder Attack lvl 6

Orbital Waist - Health Boost lvl 3

Orbital Legs - Constitution lvl 3

Vs Fire -5 Vs Water 1 Vs Thunder 4 Vs Ice 0 Vs Dragon -3

** Here’s the Insect Glaive and the Kinsect! Here’s the female armor set!

[iturbide]

HONESTLY I HAVE ONLY PLAYED RISE AND A BIT OF WORLD? But Monster Hunter is *delightful*. It’s such a wonderful, optimistic game that’s radiating with vibrancy, and this atmosphere fits the Golden Deer so well! So please consider — the Monastery, but instead of being surrounded by the three countries, the continent is mostly composed of wild areas with sparse settlements. Claude ran away from home to pursue his dreams of becoming a Hunter with his mighty Bow, and joins the Hunters’ Guild of the central settlement. Some highlights of this cast include:

Either Hammer or Switch Axe Hilda - she can honestly go both ways

Heavy Bowgun Lysithea - she WILL shoot those monsters to oblivion

Light Bowgun Lorenz - I’m a sucker for support!Lorenz

Hammer Raphael

Gunlance Marianne - she deserves some explosives in her life

Lance Leonie

Hunting Horn Ignatz - I always make him my dancer!

(ALSO PETRA IS THERE and she has an Insect Glaive because I’ve stolen Petra from the BE and she belongs to the Deer now ok? Ok.)

Byleth is their Handler, responsible for organizing hunts and collecting intelligence on monsters. They used to be a veteran hunter, but after a heart sickness got the best of them, they settled down as a Handler.

Absolutely no plot bullshit happens, ever. It’s just… fun times where everyone chills around, builds the Monastery together and hunts monsters! Also, have I mentioned the kitchen is staffed with cats? Because it’s important you know that the kitchen is staffed with cats, and it’s absolutely DELIGHTFUL

ALL OF THIS SOUNDS DELIGHTFUL I’m very curious about this thing about Byleth with a heart sickness???  Though might I offer: rather than Claude running away from home, why not him going on a rite of passage with his parents’ blessing?  I have a major soft spot for his parents as I’ve developed them and the way I’ve built Claude’s backstory in canon involves a lot of teenage rebellion from Claude and him leaving home to make his own way (only to end up in an equivalent situation that’s ultimately worse because he doesn’t have the parental support he hadn’t previously recognized).  Since there’s no plot bullshit it means that we don’t have to deal with the whole ‘Almyran vs Fodlani prejudice and death of his uncle’ nonsense and it’s entirely likely that he’s either past his teenage rebellion or presenting it differently, so can he just have a good relationship with his parents and leave with their blessing and keep in touch with them via letters and maybe get care packages from them because that’s just really sweet to me?

(Please steal Petra though she belongs here with us in the Deer.)

Also I HAVE SEEN THE CATS AND I LOVE THEM (and also they were in the Dragalia event and I loved them there too look at how they pun)

[khytal]

here’s a yakuza/monster hunter (world) crossover that nobody asked for

kiryu (“the dragonlord”): greatsword -big smack -highest damage weapon

majima (“the mad demon”): dual blades -speedy, flashy -archdemon mode

nishiki: hunting horn -people underestimate the power of a hunting horn -could be so much more with proper recognition

haruka: insect glaive -acrobatic?? dance?? -i almost made haruka the handler but i’d like it better if she could fight

akiyama (a merchant): lance/insect glaive -leg power (not really for insect glaive but akiyama is pretty acrobatic so)

(this is a long post there’s more people below the cut)

saejima (“the tigrex-slayer”): hammer/greatsword -big smack -the charge up mechanic

tanimura: longsword -counter

shinada: prefers switch axe/chargeblade but can use any weapon -following the fact that his combat style is intended to be based around weapon usage

kaoru (observes monster behavior): light/heavy bowgun -gun go brrrrrr -captures monsters if they’re a disturbance

ichiban (the rising star): prefers sword and shield, but can use any weapon -dragon quest nerd who supports his friends (i think) -based on the job system

kazama (nearly-retired hunter): light bowgun -support from afar-ish -i’ve never seen him do anything combat-wise besides shoot a gun

daigo (6th fleet captain/leader): gunlance -can be good or bad -sturdy (reliable, most of the time)

mine (lone hunter): gunlance -can be good or bad -sturdy (tough boss)

ryuji (the wild dragon): greatsword -only a greatsword can rival another greatsword in terms of damage output

yuta: longsword -no particular reason?? it seems to fit him somehow

rikiya (helps out the head chef): dual blades -skinny lad -fast like snake i guess

mikio (helps out the endemic life research team): hammer/hunting horn -bonk -supportive bonk

yumi (explorer): bow -not intentional i swear -spends her time checking out locales, avoids fights with monsters but can defend herself if necessary

hana: melder -how about a semi-cranky elder melder

the florist of sai: research team leader -the guy who sits around and compiles hunting data/findings and maybe gives advice before a hunt if he feels like it -also runs the arena

date: the handler (i’m sorry sir) -because it’s funny -he can’t do much we all know this

[freyaloi]

SO, Alatreon is here and let me tell you he’s one tough customer, and after many many tries I've finally beaten his story quest. (of course he gave me a load of junk as a reward but that’s my life in the series for you, lol)

I’ve not had this stern of a challenge since AT Nergi. (although behemoth too but i’m no pro) My poor wrists and arms need a rest. 

I can’t really offer anyone a proper strategy yet since my run was very much flail and see what happens, as i was experimenting with strategies myself and still learning how to fight him,  but i’ll share what i can under the cut to avoid spoilers for those who want to figure it out on their own. (You absolute maniacs, go you and i also feel so very sorry for you)

__*If you are solo or two manning it, take your palicos with the plunderblade, it’ll help get you started.* Also Farcasters are disabled for the entire fight, so don’t bother with them. 

Surviving Escaton Judgment

Alatreon has 3 elemental modes, fire, dragon and ice. You need to counter these in order to weaken is ultimate, the Escaton Judgement. There is no way to survive this in a practical manner, you HAVE to weaken him with the appropriate elements.  (Ice for his fire mode, dragon for his dragon mode, fire for his ice mode. Note: you can use dragon at any stage to weaken him but it’s not as effective, and fire and ice also work on his dragon mode but again, not as effective) You will know what mode he is in by his colour.

You will know when you have because he will topple in a dramatic way. 

Doing so will weaken his ultimate and allow you to survive it IF you eat astera jerky or max potions. You will need to do this every time he enters either ice or fire mode.

To somewhat manage and control the fight make breaking his horns a priority if you can, but ONLY if you have managed to weaken his ult first, if not focus on that. Surviving is ult IS ABSOLUTE PRIORITY. (forget any part breaks until that’s done too)

To break his horns you need to weaken his head and wall slam him, but careful, this can ONLY be done in DRAGON mode. You can also break them with normal weapon attacks but to be safe, use the wall slam strategy, it has yet to fail me. 

I highly recommend trying to get his LBG as soon as possible regardless of whether or not you are playing solo or in a group, as it can rapid fire all of the elemental ammo.

If melee, coordinate who uses what element with your squad (Unless you are confidant you can break his horns, in which case, all use the same one for max elemental dps). I recommend fast elemental weapons if you can; dual blades, insect-glaives, bows, and light bowguns seem to be a good choice against him. 

If fighting him solo and melee, first of all good luck! (i feel you, i did it with dualblades and lbg)

 Secondly, break his horn asap. You’ll likely be starting the fight with ice weapons and so make sure to break his horns when he’s shifting out of fire mode into dragon. This will disable his ice mode till the next elemental rotation. In theory by the time he switches back to fire, you can break his other horn when he’s in dragon mode and hopefully kill him before he switches back to ice on the third rotation. If you can’t kill him by then? That’s were his lbg comes in buuuut, try kill him before then, because it gets messy otherwise. (only way back to camp is to cart, sooo)

Oh and he hits incredibly hard so be careful as well as several pin moves, lots of aoe attacks and ranged stuff. 

Other than that, it’s just a case of learning his moves. Like with AT nergi, it’s a balancing act of aggression and caution. But for the love of Gog, weaken his ult, for your sanity and your squad. And if your using a heavy weapon, please tenderise for the light weapon users, he doesn’t give you many opportunities to tenderise without it costing you the elemental stagger. (i’ve learnt that the hard way)

I hope hope some of this helps those that may still be struggling. 

Good luck and happy hunting!