I’ve mentioned numerous times the obscure and obtuse systems that make MHW run so well.  Nergigante is a solid example of that.

Imagine if you will, a giant dragon that continually grows thorns, and if those thorns grow numerous enough, it will throw them at you for a 1 shot kill.  There really isn’t a good way to avoid him using the skill, but enough damage will break the thorns and delay the attack.  Further, the deadliest attack is a dive bomb that not only can kill you straight on, but will explode the thorns sideways as well.  Fun times.

Now onto the obscure systems – namely food and diving.

Food

Food items are based on type and color.  Any increment of 2 (2, 4 or 6) provides a larger benefit.  Food types provide either attack, defense or resists in small/medium/large amounts.  Food colors have a chance of providing a specific buff – there are 6 color types.  One of the most notable ones is from 6 blue items, which can provide a buff that gives 1 free death per quest.  The catch is that ingredients can only be used once per quest, and that buffs can only be triggered if the ingredients are fresh (random if they are, per quest).  You can use a voucher to assure that they are fresh, but you are severely limited in vouchers.  And additional ingredients are found in quests…so it’s unlikely to have say, 6 blue fish before you’re all the way at the end.  And this doesn’t count random daily buffs from food.

All of this is provided in a 2 paragraph tutorial screen that sums to say “eat food before eating to get benefits”.  I needed to test each food combo, click a button to get a description of the skill, then cancel and repeat.  Fun times!

TLDR: Always be eating.

Diving

There are many avoidance moves, depending on a few factors.  Most weapons allow you to roll out of the way, though movement speed can be slow for large weapons.  Some provide a side lunge attack to close the distance, or to run away. Understanding how those moves works allows you to stay away from the face, and focus on the sides without getting hit.

Then there’s superman.  This is achieved by sheathing your weapon, pressing run and dodge at the same time.  You will launch yourself on your belly and for most of that duration, be immune to damage.  The catch here is that each weapon takes a different amount of time to put away, and you need stamina to dive.  One of the only effective ways to avoid Nergigante’s dive bomb attack is to use this move.

It took me way too long to figure out this invincibility bit, and once I did, Nergigante became a different fight altogether.

(Side note.  Diving/jumping from ledges acts differently if you have your weapon out or not.  Ledges can act as walls in some cases)

Free Addition: Flash Pods

Flashbugs can be turned into Flash Pods.  You can have up to 10 of the former, and 3 of the latter.  Using this on your sling attack will cause a monster to be disoriented. Using it on a flying dragon causes them to fall down and get slightly stunned.

Flash Pods have a ~90% success rate.  Be sure the monster is affected before running over.

TLDR: Always have Flash Pods.

The more I play of this, the more I realize the sheer stupid pleasure of a grind.  Where else would I play for 45 minutes, fail in a spectacular fashion, and still have a smile?  It seems like every single action taken, no matter how small or large, provides some movement forward.  I learn a new skill nuance, I learn new timing, I get a new ingredient for a buff, I find a new gem, I get the last piece to craft that piece of gear.  And there’s a lot of joy heading back and smacking some heads that took me to town not too long ago!