Rathalos Weakness and Strategy Guide

Learn how to beat Rathalos in the game Monster Hunter World (MHW)! This guide explains everything about Rathalos's weakness, carves, rewards, and a complete strategy guide for beating and capturing it. Find out what parts are breakable and severable, and what drops and Monster materials are available.

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Rathalos Weakness, Body Parts, and Resistances

Rathalos Characteristics

Roar	Wind	Tremor	Blight	Status
Big	High	None	Fire	Poison
Breakable Parts
Head, Back, Left Wing, Right Wing, Tail

Locations and Areas Visited

Map	Starting Area	Visited Areas	Rest Spot
Ancient Forest	16	1 / 5 / 8 / 14 / 16	16
Elder's Recess	Coming soon!	3 / 4 / 9	4

*The starting location may change depending on the Quest.

Weakness, Body Parts, Extracts

Head

Neck

Torso

Back

Wings

Legs

Tail

Higher values indicate higher damage.

Vulnerability to Status Effects and Items

All Monster Guides

Countermeasures against Rathalos

Recommended Weapon Element and Armor Skills

How to Beat Rathalos

Fight Near the Feet

Staying near the feet will force Rathalos to constantly attack using the claws from its feet and then lowers his head after. This can allow you to attack and break its head.

Aim for the Head

Rathalos' head can easily break if you deal enough damage to it. Try to focus on this part whenever you can reach it. Also, attacking Rathalos' head continuously can stun him for a short duration. This can be abused if you are using a weapon like the Hammer or the Charge Axe.

Flash Pods

Using Flash Pods against Rathalos when he is flying has a chance to bring him down and stun him for a few seconds. Always bring a Flash Pod handy since it can be difficult to fight when Rathalos is airborne.

Flashing After the Roar

Rathalos will always perform a short roar before doing the jump back flame attack. This has a small window where you can drop Rathalos into the ground by using a Flash Pod while he is jumping back.

Enraged Flame Breath

When Rathalos is enraged, the damage of the fireball after he jumps back can be extremely dangerous, especially if you do not have a high fire resistance. Try to stay away from Rathalos and patiently wait for an opportunity to attack when he is enraged.

As for the roar, you can try wearing gear with Earplugs to prevent getting disabled before Rathalos shoots the fireball.

Destroying the Wings

Attacking the wings as an alternative can also be a good idea. If you manage to destroy Rathalos' wings, this will stop him from flying and performing airborne attacks which can be helpful later in the fight.

Rathalos Attack Patterns

Rathalos Carves and Rewards

Carvings and Hunt Rewards

Rewards for Each Body Part

Shiny Drops

How to Get Drops

Quest Clear & Investigation Rewards

Plunderblade Rewards

Plunderblade

Palarang

Quests Where Rathalos Appears

All Quest Guides

Related Links

All Monster Guides

List of All Base Game Monsters

MHW (Base Game) Monsters

Anjanath	Barroth	Bazelgeuse	Behemoth
Deviljho	Diablos	Dodogama	Great Girros
Great Jagras	Jyuratodus	Kirin	Kulu-Ya-Ku
Kulve Taroth	Kushala Daora	Lavasioth	Legiana
Leshen	Lunastra	Nergigante	Odogaron
Paolumu	Pukei-Pukei	Radobaan	Rathalos
Rathian	Teostra	Tobi-Kadachi	Tzitzi-Ya-Ku
Uragaan	Vaal Hazak	Xeno'jiiva	Zorah Magdaros

Colored Variants

Ancient Leshen	Azure Rathalos	Black Diablos	Pink Rathian

Arch-Tempered Elder Dragons

Arch-Tempered Great Jagras	Arch-Tempered Kirin	Arch-Tempered Kulve Taroth	Arch-Tempered Kushala Daora
Arch-Tempered Lunastra	Arch-Tempered Nergigante	Arch-Tempered Teostra	Arch-Tempered Vaal Hazak
Arch-Tempered Xeno'jiiva	Arch-Tempered Zorah Magdaros

Monsters by Game

All Monsters by Game
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