Hit the Pink Rathian wall...

[Chrius]

I tried the pink rathian mission 3 times and died, though I wasn't really preparing before the fight and I was playing solo, I noticed the steep difficulty increase. I'm sure I can beat her if I play defensively (I'm using Gunlance) and prepare before the fight. The last 2 tries I got her limping but was kinda greedy and ended up dying because of that...

But, while looking into this fight I saw a lot of people mentioning that while this is kinda difficult for where you are in the story, it's mostly a skill check and later monsters tend to be WAAAY harder, and some also suggested removing the Palico to learn the fights better (though for some reason in every single post related to this, people were using the long sword)...

Now here's the problem, I only have the Pukei-Pukei and Zorah Magdaros armors (HR) so far, and I only have a few decorations so nothing is set up specifically for any fights (basically I'm playing with w/e I can get for now). Because of that I kinda need the Palico to heal me (In this fight specifically, since everything up to at least normal HR Rathian doesn't do an absurd amount of damage and it's easy to get out of the way to heal), since I've been playing as basically a tank with the shield up pretty much all the time while the monster is facing me (and the sidestep is kinda ♥♥♥♥)...

So my question is... Should I go back to LR to learn how to defeat everything without needing the Palico, or just keep trucking the way I'm going so far?

[Mhblis]

Keep trying.

Youve reached High Rank. Nothing in LR will really help you.

Honestly for MH you should really be preparing for fights.
-----

Keep trying the fights.

My first advise is to focus more on avoiding attacks than making hits.

Abuse flashpods to get damage windows.

[Nope]

You'll be fine, I use Zorah armor up until first Elder dragon in story lol

Pink rathian is anything but a gate check, well maybe for weapons as you'll need blue sharpness to not get the bounce back when attacking her certain part. Though you won't need to care if you use gunlance for burst combo

All you need for now is just upgrade your weapon and get some health boost 3 (don't forget the meal), if they hit you hard upgrade your armor too

Pink rathian aren't any harder than normal one, she just tougher and hit harder that's it, well maybe the chicken run spam more than regular rathian
Just stay calm and don't be greedy, else you'll suffer more (okay a ♥♥♥♥ ton more) when you met the angry my little pony

[Suzaku]

Consider going over your current armor and looking for skill upgrades where possible. If you have access to pink Rathian, then I'm pretty sure you could pick up something like the Alloy gloves and Paolumu pants. That'll give you 2 points in health boost and divine protection, which should help upgrade your survivability considerably. And of course, upgrade whatever you have as high as you can, because every point of defense helps.

[River Victor]

Healer cat isn't that good. It becomes obsolete if you can replace it with buffer cat. Buffer cat PREVENTS statuses and damage from happening, and buff you with numerous boosts. Healer fix things AFTER it happens, and it's very bad at it. You'll appreciate your cat more if you never experience stun in the first place because of the stun negator. If you use healer cat, you get stunned, you get hit, you issue order for heal, you pray that it heals you on time, and you have to wait for it to heal you, and you pray nothing hits you in the mean time. All that, you could've done it yourself. If you use buffer cat, none of that would have happened in the first place.

[lexilogo]

"Remove palico to make fights easier" is horrible advice IMO and people should stop saying it.

SURE, it does mean monster aggro is always directed towards you, so you can learn its moveset better (in theory). However, the reason Palicoes even exist at all is because the game doesn't intend for monster aggro to be directed at you 100% of the time.

In other words, by removing your Palico, you're just training for a situation the game never, ever puts you in. By bringing your Palico, you can get time to heal and therefore spend more time fighting with the monster, which is ultimately the #1 thing that helps you learn its moveset anyway.

Okay, after taking down that bad advice:

Originally posted by Chrius:

Now here's the problem, I only have the Pukei-Pukei and Zorah Magdaros armors (HR) so far, and I only have a few decorations so nothing is set up specifically for any fights (basically I'm playing with w/e I can get for now).

Not having many decorations at this point is normal. However, you should have more armor than Pukei/Zorah.

The Pink Rathian segment of the game is essentially the game telling you "Okay, go kill some HR monsters, work your way back up the food chain, then we'll test you against this monster to see if you've acclimated to HR". If your armor is Pukei/Zorah I am a bit worried you might not have done as much of that as you perhaps should.

That is okay though and you can very much beat Pink Rath with that armor, especially as you've described you've already gotten her low twice, so don't worry about it too much.

If you do decide to walk away from Pink Rathian and prep more, do NOT go back to Low Rank, stay in High Rank. High Rank will give you more useful materials and help train you better, while Low Rank monsters will mostly be a cakewalk with your new HR weapons/armor.

Originally posted by Chrius:

since I've been playing as basically a tank with the shield up pretty much all the time while the monster is facing me (and the sidestep is kinda ♥♥♥♥)...

This sounds maybe a bit wrong to me? Of course when using a Gunlance the shield is of course your main method of dealing with monster attacks, but you shouldn't have your shield up 24/7 while a monster is facing you. Only raise your shield when it's actually going to be blocking attacks.

It's okay to go into "bunker mode" and just hold up your shield for dear life every now and then, but it sounds like you're doing it whenever the monster is facing you which is bad practice. Pink Rathian has some hard hitting attacks, but they have significant tells to allow you to predict them.

And yeah, the sidestep is mostly bad for dodging attacks, but the neutral (backwards) evade is actually quite effective.


As for specific Pink Rathian advice:

Originally posted by Nope:

Pink rathian aren't any harder than normal one, she just tougher and hit harder that's it, well maybe the chicken run spam more than regular rathian

This is wrong. The two main differences with pink rath (maybe there's some minor AI tweaks I don't know about) are that she has a new spinning backflip maneuver that's far deadlier than the standard Rathian straight line flip (harder to avoid and I believe does more damage), and that her tail is very tough and difficult to sever, requiring you to aim for the spikes at the end to avoid bounces.

Anyway, here's a few things you can do to make the fight easier:

-As per standard Rath, focus the tail. Pink Rath's is harder to sever but it's doable.

-Flash Pods earn free knockdowns if you flash airborne monsters, so make sure to bring them and use them against Pink Rath whenever she takes to the skies. You won't have that long of a window because Rathians don't like staying in the air but if you can down her you can get free damage.

-Bring Herbal Medicine to cure Poison quickly

-As per usual with many monsters bringing what you need to capture the monster can help a lot. Those two tries when you got her limping? You could've ended the fight right then and there by getting her in a trap then using two Tranq Bombs on her.

[Nope]

Originally posted by lexilogo:

"

Originally posted by Nope:

Pink rathian aren't any harder than normal one, she just tougher and hit harder that's it, well maybe the chicken run spam more than regular rathian

This is wrong. The two main differences with pink rath (maybe there's some minor AI tweaks I don't know about) are that she has a new spinning backflip maneuver that's far deadlier than the standard Rathian straight line flip (harder to avoid and I believe does more damage), and that her tail is very tough and difficult to sever, requiring you to aim for the spikes at the end to avoid bounces.

First I did mentioned about the weapons bounce back
Second despite the new move which actually laughable easy to avoid (I'm not even kidding, I got hit from normal flip more than the new one and I'm playing aggressively) she's just a tougher rathian
Aside that you got good advices for OP

[cruste]

Originally posted by Nope:

Pink rathian is anything but a gate check, well maybe for weapons as you'll need blue sharpness to not get the bounce back when attacking her certain part. Though you won't need to care if you use gunlance for burst combo

nonsense
burst combo consist of 2 swings before you can release all shells, the swings will bounce if your sharpness is too low so you never reach the phase to release the shells.

iam sure you mean shelling, 2 shots> quick reload > repeat

@op why haven't you simply trapped the monster, while it was low?

Originally posted by lexilogo:

"Remove palico to make fights easier" is horrible advice IMO and people should stop saying it.

it is a good advise for late game, when it comes to reducing your killtimes

some monster are pretty annoying when it comes to aggro shifting for example teostra or nergigante and you are faster, if they simply stay focused on one target

[JebKerman]

Originally posted by cruste:

Originally posted by Nope:

Pink rathian is anything but a gate check, well maybe for weapons as you'll need blue sharpness to not get the bounce back when attacking her certain part. Though you won't need to care if you use gunlance for burst combo

nonsense
burst combo consist of 2 swings before you can release all shells, the swings will bounce if your sharpness is too low so you never reach the phase to release the shells.

iam sure you mean shelling, 2 shots> quick reload > repeat

Only the upswing can bounce, as such you can brute force the start of the fulllburst combo with Shell -> Quick Reload -> Slam if you're facing a bouncy part.

Shell -> Shell -> Quick Reload would definitely be preferable for Wide though.

[.eff]

Pinky has a tougher armor compared to Rathian especially on its back and wing. Since you're using Gunlance, learn to do the upswing > slam > fullburst > side swing > spike. As for the tough back/wing, either move to a different spot and do a shell attack since shell attack ignores armor.

In terms of survivability, if you have the slot, either get Health Boost or Poison Resistance. What makes Pinky harder for those that encountered it for the first time is actually her tail swing. She swings just like Rathian, which is avoidable by side stepping but she has another type of swing that has a bigger attack radius and even bigger damage. Since you use Gunlance, just block it and since she's flying for a bit after that, do an upswing > shell > shell > spike.

Over time, you'll learn her move better and become a better hunter. No need to go LR. Just get better, learn the move, learn your weapon, use your items like Flash bomb or Piercing Pod (if she drops it) that can stop her from doing whatever it is she's trying to do.

[Popcorn]

Originally posted by .eff:

Pinky has a tougher armor compared to Rathian especially on its back and wing. Since you're using Gunlance, learn to do the upswing > slam > fullburst > side swing > spike. As for the tough back/wing, either move to a different spot and do a shell attack since shell attack ignores armor.

In terms of survivability, if you have the slot, either get Health Boost or Poison Resistance. What makes Pinky harder for those that encountered it for the first time is actually her tail swing. She swings just like Rathian, which is avoidable by side stepping but she has another type of swing that has a bigger attack radius and even bigger damage. Since you use Gunlance, just block it and since she's flying for a bit after that, do an upswing > shell > shell > spike.

Over time, you'll learn her move better and become a better hunter. No need to go LR. Just get better, learn the move, learn your weapon, use your items like Flash bomb or Piercing Pod (if she drops it) that can stop her from doing whatever it is she's trying to do.

For the upswing>slam>fullburst>sideswing>spike, i would recommend reload rather than spike afterwards, cuz yes spike does good dmg, but reload goes back into slam, making u able to full burst again. However, using both of these will require to read pinky a little more closely. Ive gone thro the story with GL as well on my second character, the only difficulty i had so far with it was spikey boi, who kept running around so much
To OP, some skills that will help ur dmg is artillery and capacity boost, art giving more dmg for shelling and cap giving u one more shelling. Health boost can help as well

[JebKerman]

Originally posted by wameng0409:

To OP, some skills that will help ur dmg is artillery and capacity boost, art giving more dmg for shelling and cap giving u one more shelling. Health boost can help as well

On this, good pre-pink rathian pieces you could make would be:
Helm: Barroth (Guard)
Chest: Paolumu Alpha (Artillery) or Bone (Attack Boost)
Arms: Tobi Kadachi (Evade Extender) or Paolumu (Artillery)
Waist: Radobaan (Guard) or High Metal (Capacity Boost)
Legs: Anjanath (Artillery)
Charm: Your choice (I'd probably advise Health Boost, Guard, or maybe a resistance skill)

[Popcorn]

Originally posted by JebKerman:

Originally posted by wameng0409:

To OP, some skills that will help ur dmg is artillery and capacity boost, art giving more dmg for shelling and cap giving u one more shelling. Health boost can help as well

On this, a good pre-pink rathian set you could make would be:
Helm: Barroth (Guard)
Chest: Paolumu Alpha (Artillery)
Arms: Tobi Kadachi (Evade Extender)
Waist: Radobaan (Guard) or High Metal (Capacity Boost)
Legs: Anjanath (Artillery)
Charm: Your choice (I'd probably advise Health Boost, Guard, or maybe a resistance skill)

Lol, i used rathian helm and bone body, dont remember bout the charm tho,. Gr8 minds think alike

[JebKerman]

Originally posted by wameng0409:

Originally posted by JebKerman:

On this, a good pre-pink rathian set you could make would be:
Helm: Barroth (Guard)
Chest: Paolumu Alpha (Artillery)
Arms: Tobi Kadachi (Evade Extender)
Waist: Radobaan (Guard) or High Metal (Capacity Boost)
Legs: Anjanath (Artillery)
Charm: Your choice (I'd probably advise Health Boost, Guard, or maybe a resistance skill)

Lol, i used rathian helm and bone body, dont remember bout the charm tho,. Gr8 minds think alike

I think that was basically my high High rank armour set until I hit elder dragons and wanted/needed Guard Up. Can't quite remember the set I ended up with but I suspect it was bulky, gold, and, of course, looked ridiculous, as is the fate of the gunlancer until they expand their decoration collection.

[DaBa]

No, don't get rid of the palico. This is a terrible advice I see way to often. It will not make your hunt any easier, it will make it harder. Removing the palico only helps if you're already a very experienced player, and you need the monster to only target you because of the weapon you're playing or because you have a very specific plan that would get screwed up if palico takes monster aggro. In all other cases, a palico makes hunts easier. Don't listen to people who tell you to hunt without it.

Now, as for the fight itself, the solution is very simple. Your problem is that you die too much. You said it yourself "I got her limping but was kinda greedy and ended up dying because of that". You also said that you rely on the palico for healing. This means you get hit WAY too often. Don't be greedy, play carefully, understand monster attacks, and you'll be good to go. I didn't see you hunt so I have no idea what the exact problem is, but I have a gut feeling you're too greedy with the attacks you're doing and don't give yourself enough time to evade attacks, and then get hit because of that. You need to work on this, you should never overcommit with any of your attacks. Better be safe and deal less damage, than get hit and waste time healing or potentially carting. You should have no problems doing any of that against Pink Rathan since that monster is very predictable, so you can anticipate every single attack with ease. The charge might catch you off guard sometimes, but you'll never die from it unless you were already hit beforehand.

Good luck.

[Chrius]

Thanks for all the tips. I'll try this again tonight when I get back from work.
With a bit more preparation and maybe some better consumables I'm sure I can do it.

Also I just realized I'm a moron... I was rushing the pink rathian yesterday because of the event limited quest. I thought I wouldn't have time today during the day to actually do it... not realizing that I already killed normal HR rathian a few times before this, and that's probably good enough for the quest...