Rathian is a returning monster from the Monster Hunter series, but if you’ve just started playing Monster Hunter Rise then Rathian can be tricky to deal with since it has more attacks to watch out for.

It is definitely more difficult than when you learned how to beat Bishaten because of the number of threats Rathian poses with its attacks.

This guide will teach you exactly how to beat Rathian in Monster Hunter Rise. I’ll also show you all the drops and rewards you can get by defeating it.

Rathian Resistances and Weaknesses

Rathian Info

Rathian only has its head as its weak point which can be hard to hit because it is dangerous to go in front of Rathian as you are susceptible to all its attacks.

Since it is a dragon, it will be resistant to dragon-type weapons. It is best to use Thunder weapons as it is susceptible to Thunder or Paralysis.

Since other elements can do decent damage, you can use them as well if you want. You might have trouble bringing Fire though but it is definitely possible as I used my main Dual Blades weapon to beat this on High Rank.

How to Fight Rathian

Rathian HR Finish

Rathian has two annoying attacks; the backflip that stings you with its tail and its wide-radius swipes.

For the bicycle kick or backflip attack, you need to watch out for Rathian when it starts flying just a few inches from the ground. When it starts flying, it will do the backflip attack and sting you with its tail that inflicts poison on you.

It does big damage on top of this and you will have to heal and use an Antidote if you get hit by this.

Using two items in quick succession during a fight can be extremely dangerous. It is best to focus on avoid this attack as it is easy to spot anyway.

After doing the backflip attack, it will continue to hover above the ground and you can freely hit the claws above the ground or just do aerial attacks. It will be safe for a couple of seconds since it will drop to the ground first before doing its next attack.

The next attack to look out for is the swipes.

Since Rathian is enormous in size, it will have a huge damage area in a cone shape. If you are at the sides, you still might get hit by it. To learn how to dodge this, roll diagonally away from Rathian and you can double roll if you want to be safe.

Rathian also has two kinds of fireball attacks.

There is the charged fireball where you can see its head charging up and emit smoke through its mouth before firing. The other one is a little bit faster where it will fire three fireballs. Those three fireballs will have a 1-second interval between them and it will shoot one in front of Rathian and one on each side (45 degrees left and right from where Rathian is facing).

Every time Rathian does a fireball, it will be your opening to do as much damage as you can.

If you are able to predict this attack as it starts, you can immediately position yourself to its back or its sides to do maximum damage.

Do not aim for the head as it might hit you.

The charged fireball is almost a one-shot attack if you get hit. It depends on your current armor, health, and resistance.

Rathian Drops and Rewards

Rathian drops the following items and materials:

For Normal Ranks

  • Rathian Scale
  • Rathian Shell
  • Rathian Webbing
  • Rathian Spike
  • Flame Sac
  • Monster Bone L
  • Rathian Plate (2% drop rate)
  • Rath Wingtalon (broken part)
  • Wyvern Tear

For High Ranks

  • Rathian Scale+
  • Rathian Carapace
  • Rathian Webbing
  • Rathian Spike+
  • Rath Wingtalon+
  • Inferno Sac
  • Monster Keenbone
  • Wyvern Tear
  • Large Wyvern Tear
  • Rathian Plate (5% drop rate)
  • Rathian Ruby (1% drop rate)

One thing to note about the rewards is that there are multiple methods of getting these items. All of these methods stack so it is better to do everything before you end the quest. These methods are breaking and carving monster parts, natural drops, target quest rewards, capturing rewards, and Palico gathering.

The Rathian Plate and Rathian Ruby are two of the most wanted materials here and they have an extremely low drop rate. Luckily, almost all of the methods for rewards will be able to drop it, increasing your chances of getting one.

The most efficient way is to break all the parts of the monster and capture the rewards when it is weak. This allows you to obtain more materials by doing each method and you will see the results at the end of the quest or hunt.

Conclusion

Rathian is one of Monster Hunter’s most popular dragons. It has been around since Monster Hunter’s 3rd generation.

Farming Rathian will give you a ton of advantages when progressing High Rank since it is an easy fight once you get used to it and it drops a ton of materials that can give you some temporary gear up until you reach the higher Hunter Ranks.