Guardian Rathalos Guide - Weakness, Drops, and How to Unlock

Move Away If It Suddenly Ascends

In Monster Hunter Wilds, Guardian Rathalos adds an energy explosion to its stomp attack, making it much stronger than the regular species. It may either lightly hover before stomping or delay the attack slightly, so it's safest to create distance if it suddenly ascends.

Leg Attacks Inflict Energy Explosions

Besides the stomp attack, Guardian Rathalos' other leg attacks are also accompanied by energy explosions, increasing their power. The legs have good damage potential, making them a prime target for Focus attacks, but be sure to observe carefully and act with caution.

Use Flash Pods to Bring It Down in Flight

Once Guardian Rathalos enters flight, it becomes troublesome as it attacks with breath and tail while hovering. It's recommended to use Flash Pods to bring it down to the ground.

Brightmoss Triggers a Crash After Second Attachment

You need to hit the face twice, but if the monster is flying when the second Brightmoss attaches, you can trigger a crash down. Attach the first one while the monster is on the ground, then aim for the second one in the air for better results.

Actively Target and Destroy Wounds

A characteristic of Construct monsters is that their wounds naturally recover. To effectively target the dispersal of Wyvern Milk energy, be sure to destroy the Wounds whenever possible.

Chase and Follow Up When the Camera Pulls Back

Similar to the normal Rathalos, when attacking an airborne Guardian Rathalos and the camera pulls back, follow up with an attack. This provides a great opportunity for a crash and a stagger state.

Beware of Explosive Talons

The Guardian Rathalos uses Wyvern's Milk to imbue its talon attacks with explosive energy. Even if these talon attacks are normally something you can ignore when hunting the original species, we recommend being extra careful once you're fighting the Guardian variant.

Frequently Uses Talons

Becase of its ability to imbue explosions into its talons, the Guardian Rathalos will favor using these attacks compared to its regular counterpart.

Differentiate Fireballs and Flame Breath

Learn to identify the telegraphs of Guardian Rathalos' Fireballs and Flame Breath.

Fireball Attack

This move is telegraphed by a slight head movement where the Guardian Rathalos appears to be preparing to spit something out. This fireball travels to your current location but has no homing capabilities, so just prepare to move out of the way once the fireball has been released.

Flame Breath

The Flame Breath attack can be predicted by waiting for the Guardian Rathalos to swing its head back before releasing a flaming breath. This attack has a sweeping hitbox, so avoid it dodging underneath the Rathalos or using an Emergency Evade.

Keep Moving During Talon Dive

If both the Guardian Ratahlos' wings are glowing when it suddenly rises into the sky, it is preparing to use a talon dive that explodes once it hits the ground. It's easy to lose sight of the Guardian Rathalos during this move because of how quickly it rises, but just keep moving away to avoid being hit.

Avoid the Tail Whip

The Guardian Rathalos is a tall monster, so once you notice an incoming tail whip, quickly sleep between its legs to avoid the attack. Note that this attack is used even when standing in front of the Guardian Rathalos, so don't let your guard down.

Anticipate the Retreating Fireball

Similar to the original species, Guardian Rathalos can throw out a fireball while hovering backwards. There is almost no time between the telegraph and the release of the attack, so move aside quickly.

Tempered Monster with Tempered Wounds

As a Tempered Monster, Guardian Rathalos will appear with Tempered Wounds. These wounds can be destroyed just like normal wounds, making them great targets for attacks. Additionally, destroying these wounds will result in dropping Slinger Ammo, which may make this hunt easier.

Quick and Consecutive Attacks

In its Tempered form, the Guardian Rathalos is faster and uses a variety of talon attacks consecutively. There are also some attacks that may cause you to lose sight of the monster, but just do your best to keep sight of the Monster and avoid each attack acordingly.

Flame Breath + Fireball Combo

Tempered Guardian Rathalos will occasionally throw out a fireball immediately after it uses its flame breath attack. Once you telegraph the flame breath, move to pass underneath the Rathalos because using an Emergency Evade will make you vulnerable to the fireball follow-up (like in the video above).