How do you land a flying Monster like Rathalos?

[Shavanna]

As i fought Rathalos for some parts, I was really annoyed, how it was out of attack range 50% of the fight. In normal/HR, i could you flashpod him, but in Iceborn, he is immun after two shots. What do you do, to get him to the ground?

[Juliane_L]

-his flash immunity reset after some time
-head bonk him.
-flinch shot
-breaking the wings make him weaker to flash pods.

[TyresTyco]

Not much. Air attacks, flinches, claw attacks, wallbangs, ko dmg, uppercuts, certain pods also ground him good.

[Kawalorn]

He flies low so I can reach him easy with my Charge Blade. I also prioritize breaking it's wings, which makes it sometimes fail when it tries to fly.

[JebKerman]

If not enraged: Flinch Shot
If enraged: Flash, Mount

if those are unavailable, find some terrain to get some air and take the fight to it. Since it's presumably enraged you can 'lead' it to more favourable zones, if need be.

There is also the option of biting the bullet (heh) and investing in some ranged weaponry.

[mewlynx]

Don't flash if he isn't enraged, use flinch shots instead. If he's enraged/flash immune, try going for a tail break, or, if you're confident, try head sniping him so he falls out of the air.

[Shavanna]

Originally posted by maelynx:

Don't flash if he isn't enraged, use flinch shots instead. If he's enraged/flash immune, try going for a tail break, or, if you're confident, try head sniping him so he falls out of the air.

With 'head sniping' you mean hit its head once, when it flies or break it then?

[Vandals[UK]]

As a veteran hunter, I do not limit myself to just melee weapon.

I can pull out my bow, LBG or HBG.

In fact, stepping into multiple weapons greatly extend the game life of Monster Hunter Series.

P.S: I specialised in GreatSword, LongSword, Hammer, Horn, Lance, Bow, LBG and HBG.

[Lusus Symphonia]

Originally posted by VandalsUK:

As a veteran hunter, I do not limit myself to just melee weapon.

I can pull out my bow, LBG or HBG.

In fact, stepping into multiple weapons greatly extend the game life of Monster Hunter Series.

P.S: I specialised in GreatSword, LongSword, Hammer, Horn, Lance, Bow, LBG and HBG.

Ugh, god that was painful to read.. but I agree, pick your tools for the job but none of that specialise/veteran ♥♥♥♥.

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by Rex:

Originally posted by maelynx:

Don't flash if he isn't enraged, use flinch shots instead. If he's enraged/flash immune, try going for a tail break, or, if you're confident, try head sniping him so he falls out of the air.

With 'head sniping' you mean hit its head once, when it flies or break it then?

I mean consistently hitting his head while he is airborne. Breaking it will cause him to fall, but even if it's broken enough damage will cause him to fall down. Granted, it's much harder to do on Rathalos than on Rathian, but it's an option.

[lexilogo]

First, tenderise wings. Then, use both your wallbangs to get enough quality time with Rathalos to break one of the wings, ideally both. Then, once he does his enrage roar + fireball takeoff combo, use a Flash Pod to ground him again.

Rathalos' normal takeoff (not the enrage fireball takeoff) often fails if it has broken wings which lets you keep it grounded for a lot of the fight.


Varying on weapon you might also have other options for anti-flying moves like uppercuts and so on that can more easily reach Rathalos while he's in flight. A relatively consistent one is using special flinching pods like scatternut/crystalburst, or monster pods like piercing/thorn/bomb, as that can at least get Rathalos out of an aerial combo.