Rathalos Guide: Monster Weakness, Carves & Rewards, Armor Sets – Monster Hunter World

Another flying wyvern you will face in Monster Hunter: World, is Rathalos. Located in the Ancient Forest, this “King of the Skies” is capable of dealing both poison and fire damage, making this fight pretty tough. If you choose to track down this beast, you can do so by following the trail of Gashes and Scales it leaves throughout the area. To help you take down this beast, here’s our Rathalos guide.

Rathalos Information

Difficulty: Master (5⭐)

Location: Ancient Forest

Size: Large

High Rank Subspecies: Azure Rathalos

Species: Flying Wyvern

Weak To:  Dragon 3⭐, Thunder 2⭐

Breakable/Severable (Weak Points): Tail (Weak Point), Head (Weak Point), Back (Weak Point), Legs

Material (Carves + Low Rank Rewards):

Rathalos Scale (5⭐) Rathalos Shell (4⭐) Rathalos Webbing (4⭐) Rathalos Marrow (3⭐) Rathalos Plate (⭐)

Rathalos Shell (4⭐) Rathalos Scale (3⭐) Rathalos Wingtalon (3⭐) Flame Sac (3⭐) Monster Bone+ (3⭐) Rathalos Webbing (2⭐) Rathalos Tail (2⭐) Rathalos Plate (⭐)

Material (Carves + High Rank Rewards):

Scale+ 5⭐ Carapace 4⭐ Wing 4⭐ Medulla 3⭐ Plate ⭐ Ruby ⭐

Carapace 4⭐ Scale+ 4⭐ Wing 3⭐ M Hardbone 3⭐ Inferno Sac 3⭐ Tail 2⭐ Plate ⭐

Reward Money:  5400 z

Storyline Quest:  A Fiery Throne Atop the Forest

Hunting Quest Text: “The First Wyverian’s not gonna spill the beans about Zorah until we stand on top of the food chain. That means we gotta hunt us a Rathalos!… Does that mean we have to eat it too?”

Characteristics: The apex monster of the Ancient Forest, also known as the “King of the Skies.” A terrible wyvern that descends upon invaders, attacking with poison claws and fiery breath.

Useful Information: Rathalos prefer to stay airborne to unleash their myriad of attacks, but a well-placed flash bomb or a shot from your slinger can send them crashing to the earth. Wounding their wings gives them a moment of vulnerability whenever they try to take flight.

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Rathalos Fight Guide

Main Fight Mechanic: Poison + Fire+Roar

Poison: Poison in Monster Hunter: World, slowly drains the Hunter’s health. The status effect is denoted by two pink dots above the the health bar. While poisoned, you will also see your health bar turn purple to indicate the health drain. The way to cure poison is to use an Antidote.

Fireblight:  When being afflicted with Fireblight, a small flame will appear over the hunter’s health bar (two for Severe), and the red health bar will turn red and begin to decrease. To cure this affliction, simply roll into water once, roll on the ground three times, or consume a Nulberry. When the Rathalos’s mouth has flames in it, you know fire attacks are coming.

Roar: Large monsters have the ability to roar. This ability disrupts whatever action the hunter was doing (stun locks you briefly). There’s not much you can do about it in the early game (you’ll get better armor perks later).

Attacks:

Fighting Rathalos can be a major pain, and is easily one of the hardest monsters you’ve faced up to this point. Rathalos has a collection of moves it will use to crush you, so let’s take a look at them.

*I attempted to grab all the attacks I saw. Let me know if I missed some in The Pit.

• Charge – Charges the hunter while on the ground.
• Tailwhip – Like other monsters, Rathalos has a tailwhip it uses if your are behind it.
• Claw (Poison) – While hovering in the air, Rathalos can fly towards with claws ready to strike. This will poison you.
• Firebreath (Fire) – Shoots 3X fireballs while on the ground (similar to Pukei Poison Attack).
• Bite – Will try to bite you when near its head on the ground.
• Dive – Dive Bombs the hunter while flying.

Fight Tips:

Rathalos can be a tough fight. The monster is fast, mobile, and likes staying airborne during much of the fight. Here are a few tips to help make the fight a bit easier.

• Eat up – Head into the fight having eaten a meal from the Canteen (do this for every fight to make life easier).
• Bring Nullberry, Antidoate and Healing – Make sure you have Nullberry, Antidote and healing on you. Going into the fight without them makes it way harder.
• Wear Fire Resistant Armor: If you have access to it, wear some armor that has good fire resistance into this fight.
• Exploit Elemental Weakness: This isn’t applicable for a first fight (you won’t have access to elemental weapons), but is useful if you want to farm. As noted above, Rathalos is especially weak to dragon elemental damage.
• Attack the Wings: Attack the wings to hinder Rathalos flying.
• Bring Flashbombs + Flash Pods: A well placed Flashbomb or Flash Pod can bring Rathalos crashing to the ground for easy damage.
• Hit and Run – Using the Hit and Run method in this fight is pretty useful. Run in and deal some damage then immediately retreat.
• SOS – If you need to, send out an SOS and get some extra help from the MHW community.

Note: share your tips in the comments and I will add them here.

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Rathalos Set (Rarity 4)

Armor Requirements:

Human: All Materials are Rathalos Carves/Drops unless noted.

• Helm – 2x Scale, 2x Shell, 2x Wingtalon, 1x Marrow
• Mail – 2x Scale, 2x Shell, 2x Webbing, 1x Plate
• Vambraces – 2x Shell, 1x Webbing, 2x Flames Sac*, 2x Monster Bone+*
• Coil – 2x Scale, 2x Shell, 1x Webbing, 3x Monster Bone+*
• Greaves – 3x Shell, 2x Scale, 2x Wingtalon, 1x Tail

Set Bonus (3 or more pieces equipped): Rathalos Power (Critical Element) – Increases elemental damage (fire, water, thunder, ice, dragon) when landing critical hits.

Palico: All Materials are Rathalos Carves/Drops unless noted.

• Blade – 1x Scale
• Helm – 1x Shell
• Mail – 1x Shell

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Rathalos α+β Set (Rarity 6)

Armor Requirements:

Human: All Materials are Rathalos Carves/Drops unless noted.

• Helm – 4x Scale+, 4x Carapace, 2x Inferno Sac, 1x Medulla
• Mail – 4x Scale+, 6x Carapace, 3x Wing, 1x Rathalos Ruby
• Vambraces – 6x Carapace, 2x Wing, 2x Inferno Sac, 6x Rath Wingtalon
• Coil – 4x Scale+, 4x Carapace, 2x Wing, 2x Tail
• Greaves – 6x Carapace, 4x Scale+, 2x Inferno Sac, 1x Plate

Set Bonus: 

2 Pieces: Rathalos Mastery (Critical Element) – Increases elemental damage (fire, water, thunder, ice, dragon) when landing critical hits.

4 Pieces: Rathalos Mastery (Mind’s Eye/Ballistics) – Prevents attacks from being deflected. Also Shortens the distance before ammo and arrows reach maximum power.

Palico: All Materials are Rathalos Carves/Drops unless noted.

• Blade – 1x Scale+
• Helm – 1x Carapace
• Mail – 1x Carapace

More: Monster Hunter: World monster guides

This concludes our Rathalos guide. Wish to add something? Drop a comment in The Pit below.