Monster Hunter: World: A quick collection of tips for defeating the AT Elder Dragons before Icebourne!

In the opinion of an SnS player, Vaal Hazak was one of the easier AT’s. The biggest tip I have for this fight is to get level 3 Effluvia Resistance. This prevents your health from being halved. Another note, Effluvial Expert does NOT help. It negates ENVIRONMENTAL effluvia, so the yellow clouds that stay there forever and it also reduces damage from the acidic waters in the Vale. AT Vaal has a grayish cloak of dust that has some powerful DOT, there is no way to negate this, you just have to play around it. I found Vaal to be the easiest to wallbang and tenderize so make sure to take advantage of that.

Dragon element is definitely the way to go here, considering its weak to it and you get elderseal. I personally used the Witcher’s Silver Sword 1, but any dragon element weapon would work, preferably one with a respectable dragon element and high elderseal.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
–Witcher’s Silver Sword: 252 Raw, 0% Affinity, 300 Dragon Element, High Elderseal, and 1 level 1 decoration slot. There is an upgrade to this sword, but I haven’t yet beaten the Ancient Leshen and I did it just fine without.
–Death Stench Bowels Beta: Provides 2 levels of Dragon Element Up, and 2 level 1 decoration slots. This is a good piece to boost your damage output.

AT Kirin is just Kirin. Dodge the attacks and learn to punish them. My biggest tip would be to get as high Thunder Resistance as you can. Another note, you should tenderize and wallbang it as much as you can, to kill it the fastest. Its also weakest to fire, so building around that helps. I wish I could say more but for me Kirin has always just been a pain that takes one attempt to relearn the patterns an then a second to breeze through easily.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
–Corona: 266 Raw, 20% Affinity, 180 Dragon Element, and 1 level 1 decoration slot. This sword’s high affinity works well with the Rathalos set bonus.
–Rathalos Coil Beta: Provides 2 levels of Fire Element Up, and 1 level 2 decoration slots. This is a good piece to boost your damage output. This also gets you closer to the Rathalos set bonus, Critical Element, which is nice to build around for Kirin. Remember to upgrade this if you use it.

AT Teostra hits like a truck, you should get that defense as high as you can without ruining your build. Just freaking run from the supernova, after a few tries, if your not in an enclosed area, you should be able to escape the blast range pretty easily. If you can dodge it reliably, there is no need for elderseal and you can make an ice build for more damage. During this quest you can get a free turf war between your Teostra and a Kushala Daora (Daora leaves after this turf war). This is free damage and you should ALWAYS make this happen. AT Teo has a ridiculously high stun rate, so some stun res wouldn’t hurt. Another note, I can’t stand fireblight, so I incorporated a lot of fire res into the build, this isn’t needed, but it was for me. This was the first AT elder dragon I defeated.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
–Rathalos Vambraces Beta: Provides 2 levels of Fire Resistance and 1 level 1 decoration slot. Remember to upgrade this if you use it.
–Damascus Mail Alpha: Provides 2 levels of Defense Boost, 2 levels of focus, and 1 level 1 decoration slot. This piece is nice for that extra defense and has the added bonus of looking really good.
–Kushala Glare Beta: Provides 2 levels of Ice Element Up and 3 level 1 decoration slots. It also counts towards the Kushala Windproof set bonus.
–Kushala Cocoon Beta: Provides 2 levels of Ice Element Up and 2 level 1 decoration slots. It also counts towards the Kushala Windproof set bonus.
–Kushala Cista Gamma: You need to defeat AT Kushala Daora for this chestpiece, but its well worth it. It provides 3 levels of Ice Element Up, 1 level of evade extender, and 1 level 2 decoration slot. This is probably the best piece of armor for this fight you can get in High Rank.

This was the one I did last. Levels in wind resistance help, but not as much as you would think, so don’t ruin your build for it. The biggest thing it does is make its wind shield blow you away SOME of the time. This is pretty big for melee players but can (and probably should) be ignored by ranged players. During this quest you can get a free turf war between your Daora and a Teostra (Teostra leaves after this turf war). This is free damage and you should ALWAYS make this happen. Other then that, AT Daora doesn’t deal nearly as much damage as some of the other AT’s but it can spam attacks sometimes and cart you so be careful.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
Empress Greaves Beta: They provide 2 levels of Health Boost and 2 level 2 decoration slots. With more health you can take more hits.
Empress Crown Beta: It provides 2 levels of Evade Extender, 1 level 3 decoration slot, and 1 level 2 decoration slot. More mobility to help dodge Daora’s attacks.

I would say that this was the second hardest AT for me. It hits harder then anything you seen before, Is ridiculously fast, has a few new attacks that WILL mess you up, and has that ridiculous dive attack. The good thing is, I found an easy way to reliably dodge the dive attack. Evade Extender makes you roll and superman dive farther. I had mine at level three, but you could probably pull it off at level two. When it flies up to dive, run to the side and roll as last moment as you can. This worked 90% of the time for me and the fails were usually because of enclosed spaces. This is the best way I’ve found to avoid the quite likely one hit cart attack without the use of farcasters. Evade Extender also helps dodge its other attacks.

Other then that, boost your defense as high as you can. During this quest you can get a free turf war between your Nergigante and either a Kushala Daora or a Teostra (This additional moster leaves after the turf war). This is free damage and you should ALWAYS make this happen. Another note, Divine Blessing is a lifesaver in this quest. It has saved me from carting multiple times. One more note(for mouse and keyboard players like myself, USE HOTKEYS. Hotkey your max potion and bring materials to craft more. I went through these things like crazy. I never used hotkeys till this quest and now I use them regularly.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
Empress Crown Beta: It provides 2 levels of Evade Extender, 1 level 3 decoration slot, and 1 level 2 decoration slot. I use this headpiece a lot.
Empress Greaves Beta: They provide 2 levels of Health Boost and 2 level 2 decoration slots. Makes it so you actually have a chance to chug a max potion inbetween attacks.

Honestly, this is the easiest one. This is the only one I did with a friend. We were doing SO horribly, we didn’t break a single Magmacore(They have a crap-ton of health in the AT quest) and we took FOREVER to drive off Nergigante, but then we still managed to beat it. The key to winning this quest is Level 2 Heavy Artillery. This doubles the damage that cannons and ballistae deal. It only costs two level one decoration slots and makes ALL the difference. Another thing that IS needed to win is to know when to one-shot binder Zorah. Its claw attacks on the wall are ignorable but its fireball attacks destroy it. If you one-shot binder it while its charging the fireball you can cancel the attack. This is REQUIRED. There are two binders, one on each side of the wall, and one more that regenerates on the boat. This one seems to regenerate a bit to slowly to be used every fireball, so don’t completely rely on it. One last thing, the dragonator is ready right once you get to the wall so use it right away to have it come back again soonest.

Aside from heavy artillery and and fire resistance, bring anything that will help you repel Nergigante quicker, you can’t just skip it in this quest.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
–Rathalos Vambraces Beta: Provides 2 levels of Fire Resistance and 1 level 1 decoration slot. The Fire Resistance helps with the Magmacores. Remember to upgrade this if you use it.

This was the hardest one for me. First of all, I am a Sword and Shield main, and I beat it with bow. It is SO hard to get reliable damage with on Xeno with SnS. During its glowing phase, you want to hit its chest to topple it and get the most damage. It is JUST out of reach of the SnS leap attack for 99% of the fight. I tried multiple builds (including a poison build) and I just couldn’t get enough dps to beat it within the time limit. Oh yeah by the way you get 30 MINUTES! Who the HECK thought that was a good idea? SO anyways, I had been trying to learn bow for a while but I hadn’t gotten good enough yet to use it on any of the AT’s. But Xeno’jiiva is SO anti-SnS that I had to beat it with my secondary weapon, the bow. So to all the SnS players, I just couldn’t get it, I gave up, doesn’t mean you have to, but good luck.
tldr: Probably don’t use SnS.

Ok so for tips. Many of AT Xeno’s attacks have ground tremors that are EXTREMELY annoying. Level 3 Tremor resistance negates this completely, this allows you much better dodge its attacks. It also spreads lava everywhere that not only has strong DOT but also gives you fireblight. Heat guard negates BOTH fireblight and the lava floors. This isn’t needed but I STRONGLY recommend it. Fireproof mantle does the same thing but its limited so, you decide. As for its attacks, the scariest one its its body slam in its glowing phase. My strategy to dodge it was to stand near the front leg but not too close, after the first blast, IMMEDIATELY roll into where the leg is. This is much easier with Evade Extender. Other then that, focus on dps. You have 30 minutes to do 25,500 damage(on solo), this is not easy. I managed it by buffing the element on my bow an including some weakness exploit. Poison on Xeno was nerfed, but isn’t useless. I tried to build around it(with SnS and Bow) and I couldn’t get enough dps. I gave my palico a poison weapon and focused on my element.

Like with AT Nergigante, hotkeyed max potions will be your friend here. Every attack carves at least half your health bar. You often won’t have time to use a mega potion, so you will go through these quickly. Bring materials to craft more.

This was the hardest one for me, the true final boss of High Rank. Good Luck

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
–Empress Crown Beta: It provides 2 levels of Evade Extender, 1 level 3 decoration slot, and 1 level 2 decoration slot. I use this headpiece a lot.
–Clearmind Charm: This is what I used to get heatguard, since I didn’t have a jewel.
–Zorah Hide Gamma: You can only get this piece if you have already beaten AT Zorah Magdaros, but I highly recommend you do. (Its a lot easier then this one). It gives two level of Tremor Resistance so you only need to use one footing jewel. It also has 3 level 1 slots, which is awesome.
–Rathian Palico Set: Extra poison dps on the side.
–Flying Kadachi Strikebow: 204 raw, 15% affinity, 270 Thunder Element, CR, power and Paralysis+ coatings. It also has 1 level 1 decoration slot. This was the bow I used, it has good element and affinity. My favorite bow so far tbh.

This ones tough. There are two big problems you will face. One, AT Teostra is there too, and they will double team you. My solution for Teostra is a bit complicated. Normally, he leaves after completing a bond attack with Luna, but that can take a while. In all my runs I would be fighting Luna in area 12 early on. This is where Teo flies in and causes trouble. Usually, Luna would fly off to area 9 shortly after, leaving you with Teo. What I did was topple Teo and run away to area 9. Teo stopped following and returned to the middle of area 12 and I was free to fight Luna unimpeded. Teo would stay there for a while and eventually leave. I don’t know how replicable this is but it allowed me to lose Teo early.

As for the supernova, It’s much more powerful then then normal one. If you can’t get out of it you will die. The most reliable way for me involved Wind Resistance. Before Luna uses her supernova, she roars and flies in the air. The wind from her flying will stop you from moving, by the time you regain control most of your health bar will be gone and then she uses the second blast and your dead. If you get level 5 Wind Resistance, you can just book it after the roar you still take massive DOT as you run away but if you get out of range you’ll be safe. I typically chug a mega potion as I get farther away. Astera jerky can be better as it restores all of the red parts of your health bar. 5 levels of wind resistance is tough to get considering they need level 2 slots. So I used three Kushala pieces to get the set bonus, which accomplishes the same thing. This works incredibly reliably once you get the hang of it, although it is certainly difficult in Luna’s nest area. There is little place to run there. I stuck around the exit so I could book it when she started the supernova.

As for more general tips, get your Fire Resistance as high as possible, Luna uses more fire attacks while Teo uses more physical attacks. Ice is the strongest element against her, and two of the Kushala pieces provide Ice element up. if you can dodge the supernova reliably you can ditch elderseal and focus on dps through an Ice build.

Related pieces of armor and weapons:
–Kushala Glare Beta: Provides 2 levels of Ice Element Up and 3 level 1 decoration slots. It also counts towards the Kushala Windproof set bonus.
–Kushala Cocoon Beta: Provides 2 levels of Ice Element Up and 2 level 1 decoration slots. It also counts towards the Kushala Windproof set bonus.
–Kushala Cista Gamma: You need to defeat AT Kushala Daora for this chestpiece, but its well worth it. It provides 3 levels of Ice Element Up, 1 level of evade extender, and 1 level 2 decoration slot. This is probably the best piece of armor for this fight you can get in High Rank.
–Rathalos Vambraces Beta: Provides 2 levels of Fire Resistance and 1 level 1 decoration slot. Remember to upgrade this if you use it.

Health Boost: 3 Levels in Health Boost gets you an additional 50 health points that REALLY helps when these monsters deal so much damage. The best armor piece I’ve found is the Empress Greaves Beta: They provide 2 levels of Health Boost and 2 level 2 decoration slots. I use these greaves alot.

Evade Extender: I talked about this in a few of the fights but this is a really good skill for any quest. It makes dodging safer and more reliable. The best armor piece I’ve found is the Empress Crown Beta: It provides 2 levels of Evade Extender, 1 level 3 decoration slot, and 1 level 2 decoration slot.

Fortitude: It costs a SINGLE level 1 decoration slot, and it massively increases your defense and damage when you cart(up to two times). After carting twice you have a +20% attack buff and a +30% defense buff. This is MASSIVE and really helps stretch your few lives. It also helps with morale knowing that you’ll only get stronger with each cart.

Wallbanging and Tenderizing: You can only do this if you have the clutch claw, and therefore the Icebourne DLC. You don’t have to have started the DLC, you just have to have it downloaded. Clutch claw a monsters face, you can either attack it to wound the part (your attacks deal increased damage to wounded parts) or unload your full slinger of ammo into its head and launch it into a wall, if you sucessfully hit it against a wall you get a free topple. You can’t wallbang it if it is enraged. Most of you will probably know how to do this already. You should wallbang the monster as often as possible for the free topples and tenderize it to keep increased dps.

Hotkeying and Radial Menu: This is for Mouse and Keyboard players like myself. Playing on keyboard is worse I admit it. The radial menu is a bit of a nightmare, but for those who are already in too deep on M&K, I’ve found a way to make it work. You can change your settings so that one click of your number keys uses the correlated radial menu item. If you have materials for max potions and a max potion hotkey setup, and you run of of max potions, it’l auto-craft them for you. Hotkeying helps so much and not only for potions but everything. Definitely try to get used to using them.

Welp, those were the biggest things that helped me defeat each of the AT Elder dragons before entering Icebourne. On my first playthrough btw! I hope they helped! If I think of anything else I’ll add it to the guide!