Master rank monsters taking very long to kill.

[YELLOWSUPERCAR76]

I bought the Iceborne expansion a while ago and am having trouble with the master rank monsters. I can kill them, I just take far longer than i did on high or low rank missions. They feel absurdly tanky and spongey with fights taking very long no matter how many good hits I get in. Is the intended way to kill all of them to use the clutch claw soften mechanic?

[Suzaku]

Clutch claw weaken them and flinch shot them into walls for plenty of damage and an opening for even more damage. You'll eventually get stronger gear and your hunt times will get shorter. End-game IB is roughly the same as end-game high-rank in terms of time-to-kill.

Edit: Just saw someone post a screenshot of them beating MR Tempered Teostra in under 5 minutes. *Your results may vary.*

[mewlynx]

Yes, you need to use claw. Use wallbangs and keep key spots tenderized.

[F9]

Its pretty normal for them to take quite a while for the first time. Eventually, once you get better gear as well learning their movesets, you'll notice your times going down and down.

Also make use of the clutch claw and wall slams for that extra damage.

[Miggy]

As others have said, wall bangs and tenderize becomes virually mandatory when coming into Iceborne (quite the pain in the ass for light weapons especially). Other than that, ditch your HR gear if you haven't already no matter how nice they are.

[Veritas]

It takes until like mid iceborne to start seeing things like agitator, crit boost, weakness exploit on MR armors. I would argue it's better to mix MR pieces with defense skills like health boost with your older high rank pieces that have offense skills until you can replace them. If you're playing a light weapon, craft the clutch claw boost + cliffhangar charm, some of these monsters in iceborne have *atrocious* hitzone values until you tenderize them. At least that lasts for 3 minutes now instead of only 90 seconds.

But yeah, in general master rank hunts are a bit longer, they get much faster with quality gear obviously but it's still a few minutes slower than high rank hunts for most stuff.

[Miggy]

Originally posted by Snazzy Dragon:

It takes until like mid iceborne to start seeing things like agitator, crit boost, weakness exploit on MR armors. I would argue it's better to mix MR pieces with defense skills like health boost with your older high rank pieces that have offense skills until you can replace them. If you're playing a light weapon, craft the clutch claw boost + cliffhangar charm, some of these monsters in iceborne have *atrocious* hitzone values until you tenderize them. At least that lasts for 3 minutes now instead of only 90 seconds.

But yeah, in general master rank hunts are a bit longer, they get much faster with quality gear obviously but it's still a few minutes slower than high rank hunts for most stuff.

Problem with clutch claw boost is you can only meld them after iceborne story.

[Veritas]

Originally posted by Miggy:

Originally posted by Snazzy Dragon:

It takes until like mid iceborne to start seeing things like agitator, crit boost, weakness exploit on MR armors. I would argue it's better to mix MR pieces with defense skills like health boost with your older high rank pieces that have offense skills until you can replace them. If you're playing a light weapon, craft the clutch claw boost + cliffhangar charm, some of these monsters in iceborne have *atrocious* hitzone values until you tenderize them. At least that lasts for 3 minutes now instead of only 90 seconds.

But yeah, in general master rank hunts are a bit longer, they get much faster with quality gear obviously but it's still a few minutes slower than high rank hunts for most stuff.

Problem with clutch claw boost is you can only meld them after iceborne story.

Which is why I suggested making the charm for it! :P

[Miggy]

Originally posted by Snazzy Dragon:

Originally posted by Miggy:

Problem with clutch claw boost is you can only meld them after iceborne story.

Which is why I suggested making the charm for it! :P

Whoops, didn't see the charm. My bad :P

[Ninjaboots]

Originally posted by YELLOWSUPERCAR76:

I just take far longer than i did on high or low rank missions... ...use the clutch claw soften mechanic?

Don't be discouraged if the MR fights take awhile at first... at the end of HR, you were probably more familiar with the game and had better gear etc. so the hunts were going quickly, but when you first start out and have no gear, the hunts take longer, and starting MR is like starting a new game (almost), so, until you get new gear and get used to the clutch claw, hunts are going to take a bit longer.

By the time you hit the endgame, you'll have better gear and lots of practice slamming monsters into walls/each other and keeping their parts softened, and you should be able to do most of the hunts in MR in 10 minutes or less.

[NikemanBOOM]

Think of the HR endgame equipment as the starting equipment of MR. You're essentially starting over. Just like with HR, MR will have a slow start, but you'll eventually optimize your hunts, get better equipment, and get used to the new monsters' movesets.

[<//𝖅𝖊𝖆𝖑𝖔𝖙𝖙/]

Yeah as others have said, fights will become must faster soon, then you can look forward to the true end game, helping new players with your maxed out hunting horn build

[Kawalorn]

Even with clutch claw your kill times will be longer than before on average. Which I personally like, end game HR hunts were much too short IMO.

[STGY]

I dont personally like that flinch shot thing so i just wound hard parts of monsters and beat them good old fashioned way.

[GladiatorDragon]

Where are you in MR? If you're still using HR stuff, now's the time to switch. I remember timing out against Glavenus while I was still using my Defender Switch Axe, but after switching to the MR Bone SA, I was able to complete it.

Also, utilize CC and Slinger Burst monsters into a wall whenever possible. If there's another monster in the area, Slinger Burst them into your target monster to knock them both down (this works even if your target is enraged). Slinger Burst deals a nice chunk of damage, and the subsequent knockdown allows you to do even more damage to it.

Clutch Claw use is... relatively optional. I personally don't bother with softening outside of accidents (AKA I go for Slinger Burst, not knowing I don't have ammo). I do recommend utilizing the Slinger Burst though. It's extremely helpful for sure, but it isn't 100% required.

[YELLOWSUPERCAR76]

Originally posted by 76561198200512397:

Where are you in MR? If you're still using HR stuff, now's the time to switch. I remember timing out against Glavenus while I was still using my Defender Switch Axe, but after switching to the MR Bone SA, I was able to complete it.

Also, utilize CC and Slinger Burst monsters into a wall whenever possible. If there's another monster in the area, Slinger Burst them into your target monster to knock them both down (this works even if your target is enraged). Slinger Burst deals a nice chunk of damage, and the subsequent knockdown allows you to do even more damage to it.

Clutch Claw use is... relatively optional. I personally don't bother with softening outside of accidents (AKA I go for Slinger Burst, not knowing I don't have ammo). I do recommend utilizing the Slinger Burst though. It's extremely helpful for sure, but it isn't 100% required.

I had upgraded my weapons as soon as I started, and I am on the quest where you fight Velkhana. I stayed away from using the clutch claw because i just had bad luck with staying on long enough to soften them. Thanks to everyone for the pointers.