what causes skulls being hidden when capturable?

[GameSuki]

So i know you need to pick up tracks to see skulls on monsters when capturable which goes on for couple of hunts but what causes it to reset? Like what's causing me to be unable to see the skull? I remember seeing something about session related but it didn't have detailed explanation

[JebKerman]

You pick up tracks in the quest untill the monster's icon on the minimap has a green outline (or is fading between purple/orange (Tempered/Arch-Tempered) and green). That's essentially it.

There's a bit more too it, your 'scoutfly level' for a given monster decays every hunt you don't pick up tracks for said monster, you can see your current scoutfly levels at Ecological Research under the 'Research Levels option'.

[Nerevar]

check the orange bars on the researcher. that is pretty much it. these decay over time everytime you complete a quest or hunt another monster. once it drops below a certain level the skull isnt shown anymore. no clue why they did this tbh. its maybe to encourage keep picking tracks again idk. it will never drop below lvl 1 tough.

[Anima]

When you hit the capture threshhold while the monster is enraged the skull won't be shown until the monster isn't enraged anymore. That's why skulls on monsters like silv rath or gold rath rarely appear since most of the time they are enraged when you hit the threshhold.

[Misery1ndex]

Originally posted by Anima:

When you hit the capture threshhold while the monster is enraged the skull won't be shown until the monster isn't enraged anymore. That's why skulls on monsters like silv rath or gold rath rarely appear since most of the time they are enraged when you hit the threshhold.

Does research level of the monster still apply to the skull showing up? I just started playing again and i didnt get skulls for either Rajang or Stygian Zinogre the first couple times i killed them. The zinogre kind of looked like he limped away crying, but when he got to his nest he enraged instead of going to sleep, but killed him shortly after that, so he was in the capture threshold but didnt even know it. Happened with both of them

[Kawalorn]

Originally posted by Misery1ndex:

Originally posted by Anima:

When you hit the capture threshhold while the monster is enraged the skull won't be shown until the monster isn't enraged anymore. That's why skulls on monsters like silv rath or gold rath rarely appear since most of the time they are enraged when you hit the threshhold.

Does research level of the monster still apply to the skull showing up? I just started playing again and i didnt get skulls for either Rajang or Stygian Zinogre the first couple times i killed them. The zinogre kind of looked like he limped away crying, but when he got to his nest he enraged instead of going to sleep, but killed him shortly after that, so he was in the capture threshold but didnt even know it. Happened with both of them

In case of Zinogre, were you nearby when he reached his nest? Monsters don't go to sleep if you are next to them in Iceborne.

[Misery1ndex]

I wasnt very close at all. it looked like he was about to sleep and then got pissed off and went berserk. i was still quite a ways away from him. He would've gotten in a quick 10-15 second snooze before having his face blown up by mega barrel bombs lol

[JHarlequin]

In master rank, if you are even in the room they tend to see you. If you are in direct line of sight but in another room, sometimes they still see you when they are about to lie down.

I also saw rajang lie down and then as I moved in he got up and raged. I have a feeling that some monsters are very sensitive at times. If you really want to let them sleep and sneak up on them sacrifice and use the ghillie mantle, otherwise, stay out of sight and the room until they are fully asleep. (You could also try smoke bombs to give you some cover wherever you want)

As for the skulls, the comments are right, if they rage you can't see the skull. If they have been raging a while but you have been beating on them enough to suspect they might be capture ready, look at that life blip at the bottom of their image. If the times when it is blue it is nearly flat then they might be weak enough and you could capture even while they are raging. I am not sure if raging will help them break out of traps faster, but it seems possible.

[Nerevar]

Originally posted by Kawalorn:

Originally posted by Misery1ndex:

Does research level of the monster still apply to the skull showing up? I just started playing again and i didnt get skulls for either Rajang or Stygian Zinogre the first couple times i killed them. The zinogre kind of looked like he limped away crying, but when he got to his nest he enraged instead of going to sleep, but killed him shortly after that, so he was in the capture threshold but didnt even know it. Happened with both of them

In case of Zinogre, were you nearby when he reached his nest? Monsters don't go to sleep if you are next to them in Iceborne.

this isnt new in iceborne. monsters never sleep in thier nest when the hunter is nearby. was already the case in basegame.

doggo should never reach his nest tough. just fire 1 pierce pod at him. stops his running and you can capture right away. and since he drops pierce pods when attacked by light weapons make use of these.

[Misery1ndex]

Originally posted by JHarlequin:

In master rank, if you are even in the room they tend to see you. If you are in direct line of sight but in another room, sometimes they still see you when they are about to lie down.

I also saw rajang lie down and then as I moved in he got up and raged. I have a feeling that some monsters are very sensitive at times. If you really want to let them sleep and sneak up on them sacrifice and use the ghillie mantle, otherwise, stay out of sight and the room until they are fully asleep. (You could also try smoke bombs to give you some cover wherever you want)

As for the skulls, the comments are right, if they rage you can't see the skull. If they have been raging a while but you have been beating on them enough to suspect they might be capture ready, look at that life blip at the bottom of their image. If the times when it is blue it is nearly flat then they might be weak enough and you could capture even while they are raging. I am not sure if raging will help them break out of traps faster, but it seems possible.

That makes sense. Though ive had some monsters literally go to sleep with me next to them, though i dont ever really notice or give it much thought, but probably the more aggressive monsters may avoid sleeping, but even Nergi will go right to sleep regardless of how close i am, like i could be putting down barrel bombs before theyre even finished laying down.

Its funny that they even go to sleep, not realizing that some pesky human just beat the piss out of them, and not think "what if he attacks me in my sleep? I'm sure he will go away, so i will take a nap" lol

[Kawalorn]

Originally posted by Nerevar:

Originally posted by Kawalorn:

In case of Zinogre, were you nearby when he reached his nest? Monsters don't go to sleep if you are next to them in Iceborne.

this isnt new in iceborne. monsters never sleep in thier nest when the hunter is nearby. was already the case in basegame.

doggo should never reach his nest tough. just fire 1 pierce pod at him. stops his running and you can capture right away. and since he drops pierce pods when attacked by light weapons make use of these.

Nah, It is very much new in Iceborne. In base I had monster lie down directly on top of me. I used that all the time.

[Lusus Symphonia]

Learn to use the heart rate monitor, it's more reliable than that POS mini-camp full to the brim of pointless (to the specific objective) icons.

[Misery1ndex]

Originally posted by Red Monk:

Learn to use the heart rate monitor, it's more reliable than that POS mini-camp full to the brim of pointless (to the specific objective) icons.

I never once relied on that heart rate monitor, i think ive looked at it maybe once or twice accidentally in the 550 hours i have in game + the 200 hours ive got on PS4. the skull(which shows up like 90% of the time for me), or the indication its low when it wimpers and limps off to its nest are better indictators imo.

[TormentedSalad]

Monsters are able to be captured a little bit after the 2nd slinger pod dropped the threshold is between the 2nd and 3rd hp based pod

[JanWar]

Originally posted by TormentedSalad (Dan):

Monsters are able to be captured a little bit after the 2nd slinger pod dropped the threshold is between the 2nd and 3rd hp based pod

The problem with this is since iceborne, light weapon clutch attack produce pod drop and it kinda cluttered the area specially if you rarely pick up pod.

[Lusus Symphonia]

Originally posted by Misery1ndex:

Originally posted by Red Monk:

Learn to use the heart rate monitor, it's more reliable than that POS mini-camp full to the brim of pointless (to the specific objective) icons.

I never once relied on that heart rate monitor, i think ive looked at it maybe once or twice accidentally in the 550 hours i have in game + the 200 hours ive got on PS4. the skull(which shows up like 90% of the time for me), or the indication its low when it wimpers and limps off to its nest are better indictators imo.

The amount of monsters I've killed due to back after back trap, ko, topple etc throughout the series which stops a monster from leaving enraged mode, has made waiting for the skull to appear and the limp animations to show a nightmare, it's all situational really but my eyes go south to the pulse when a monster runs away as they often run to another zone before deciding "Oh ♥♥♥♥, I'm dying" and limping off to bed.