Monster Hunter Freedom (1) help

[Dominicy]

Well, I'm trying to upgrade my Flame Falchion (Sick of Deathprize >.>), so I've been messing around a bit (since I've not been getting flame sacs from Rathalos for awhile), experimenting, if you will.

First up, a big WOOOOOOOOOOOOOT; because I found out that you can also get small blue Kut-Ku ears from the hard (4 star+ guild hall) Kut-ku quests, and not only by killing ten Kut-ku on that one quest.

I noticed that if you hit a monster (example : Rathalos) after you've killed it and finished the quest, you get less in the rewards.

I've also noticed that playing with the pig at your house (assuming you got it in the first place) before going on a mission gives you LESS rare items but MORE rewards.  For example, I tried not petting the pig, killing Rathalos, and carved off it, first time Wyvern Marrow (2% drop), then some other item, then a Flame Sac. (8% drop)  Either this is a huge coincidence that after six-ish Rathalos fights I got no Flame sacs, or not petting the pig helps when trying to get SPECIFIC items.

Anyways, I also need help.  I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas on how to kill the Azure Rathalos (who seems to fly much more than Red) or repel the Yian Garuga.  If you also use SnS that'd help alot...

[ZeroKirbyX]

Duh.

[Dragonium]

Considering I've racked up upwards of 400 hours gameplay on my main character, I think I can help.

Yes, you can get Small Blue Kut-Ku Ears from that quest. In fact, that seems to be the easiest way in the game to get hold of them. You can also trade them with the Forest Elder to get Monster Bone+, which becomes pretty handy later since you need it for Green Rarity (I forget the number >.>) equipment.

That seems to be coincidence, since hitting the monster after it's dead doesn't always change the rewards. The game is full of little misleading things like that.

Petting the pig seems to have exactly the effect that you described. It's thought that the pig improves your luck at getting good rewards, but it's not proven. Other people say that the pig is simply a way to practice the Meat Cooking mini-game.

Okay, now to help you. I use SnS, so I can indeed help you.

Azure Rathalos (The Smoke Clad King)

Azure Rathalos does indeed fly more than the standard Rathalos. He's also faster, slightly less predictable, and looks and sounds cooler than the normal one.

The first thing to remember is that items are your best bet. Without them, it becomes very difficult to keep him on the ground. The best way to get him is to abuse Flash Bombs (You can get them from the 2* Velocidrome quest, or combine Bomb Material and Flashbugs). Remember that you can carry 5, and you can also have the materials to make more. Use plenty on him to Stun him long enough to knock chunks of his health.

Also, it is vital that you keep him Paintballed at all times, or combine equipment to give yourself AutoTracker. Losing track of where he is is very dangerous because he loves to move around the map. Keep in mind that he can move 2 Zones at a time, whereas standard Rathalos an only move 1. Knowing where he is at all times will make things easier.

You should also keep the Throwing Knives you start with on backup, because when he's nearly dead he'll fly to the second-most-northerly Zone and go to sleep on an island which you can't get to. Save your Throwing Knives and you can use them to wake him up with no trouble.

Also make sure you carry plenty of Potions and Cool Drinks, because the final battle with him will be in a hot Zone, and you'll get hit plenty.

Weapon-wise, you should invest in a Poison Battleaxe if you don't have one already. He doesn't get poisoned much, but the PBA is a pretty damaging weapon anyway. Sharpness is an issue, and the PBA has decent green. Just don't upgrade it, since its upgraded forms are actually worse than it.

Use your Rathalos strategy, keep an eye on his location, and use items to your advantage, and he goes down pretty easily. Your next task is to kill enough Azure Rathalos to make full Rathalos Soul Armour.

Repelling Yian Garuga

This is simpler than it seems. First, you should accept that yes, he is so unfairly powerful that he will kill you in one or two attacks. You should also accept that you will not kill him in one run. However, you also have two good points on your side. Firstly, any damage you do to him in the mission will carry over to the next time you try. Which means that even if you only hit him once every time you try, he will eventually go down. Keep smacking him and he'll die. The second advantage you have is that you don't have to kill him, you only have to do enough damage to him. Break his body parts to hurt him more, much of his body can be broken. Once his HP is about 3/4 gone, wait for the mission to end, and victory is yours!

However, it gets interesting here. The next time you attempt the mission after successfully repelling him, you won't start with a fresh Garuga, you'll still have your repelled one. And he still has 3/4 of his HP gone. And he's still just as vulnerable. Kill him. Do it.

That's about it. If you have any problems, ask me. Good luck.

[Dominicy]

Hmm, I'm beginning to think the pig is just there to laugh when he tackles you, because I'm not getting any more Flame Sac...

Eh, I'm just going for Gravios I guess, finish Rank 4 finally, I guess.  If I'm not mistaken he gives Flame Sacs at a 10% drop rate, and can be carved FOUR times...

WISH MEH LUCK. *goes to gather trap tools, nets, cold drinks, a farcaster, psychoserum, herbs, blue mushroom, potions and possibly mega potions*

...Mega potions ARE made with normal potions combined with honey, right? o,o

OUTCOME : *Slowly walks out of volcanic cave, mostly completely unharmed, but missing six whetstones* I WINNED, BUT, no Flame Sac.

[Dominicy]

I got all the flame sacs, upgraded my sword, so now my brother and I are working on getting up to G-Rank because well, why not?

We just yesterday finished the three star quests.  I went into the guild hall and looked at how it says that they're all cleared while I was waiting for him when I see : It's not clear.

I just think to myself "HUH!?!"  When I went in and saw the quest A GIANT DRAGON ATTACKS, I poked him."Ummm..." He looks over and we both start freaking.

We get freaked even more by the epic music and how huge he is in the fight itself...  We kept going and found out, he was a total pansy.  There IS an upside to fighting him besides bragging rights (as crappy as they may be), I got a rust stone. :D

Next up on my repellant list, Yian Garuga. :P

[Dragonium]

Hehe, congrats. Lao Shan is kind of easy if you have decent equipment, due to the fact that he never attacks you. The only way he can hurt you is if he steps on you or hits you with his tail by accident. Anyone who fails to beat him must really suck.

I have three things to say about Yian Garuga.

 

In terms of predicability, he works a lot like Rathalos. He turns around slowly when he's going to use his fire breath attack. He also alternates between firing one big fireball, and firing three short-range ones. Keep an eye on him.

 

When he's enraged he doubles in speed and power, which makes him a bit on the deadly side. Avoid him until he calms down.

 

When he's nearly dead, he becomes enraged practically every other time you hit him. When this happens you should abuse items or just be brave and hit him hard.

Good luck. Garuga's a nasty bugger.

[Dominicy]

Slashed his tail off, severed his intact ear, broke his beak over his eye (gouging out one???), cracked his beak at the chin.  He wasn't so bad...Repelling him, anyway...

There's just one thing I'm wondering about.  We (my brother and I) did the "Four Horns" quest to get HR 2, we won, but I didn't increase in rank.  Was that because I wasn't the one to host it or...?

[Dragonium]

Yeah, with co-operative missions only the person who "hosts" the quest increases in HR afterwards. Sadly, you're going to have to do that bitch of a mission all over again, only remember to host it next time. :p