You will encounter some Elder Dragons all the time Monster Hunter Stories 3as well as plenty of other tough enemies, but it won't be until you finish the game that you'll have the confidence to take on the game's toughest enemies.
Calamitous Elder Dragons are the biggest challenge the game has to offer, and the Elder Dragon of Serathis is Velkhana, Lord of Frost. They are manageable, but you need a solid plan to survive.
The best monsters to use against Velkhana
Velkhana has three primary weaknesses – Fire, Electric and Dragon, although they are the weakest against fire. Since Ratha cannot be removed from your party and are guaranteed to be your strongest Monstie, they are an excellent choice.
That said, you will want to give them a gene that protects against ice attacksas it is their only major weakness. Having a back-up for when Ratha needs to be traded for, such as for Head-to-Heads they don't have a match-up for, is a good idea. Tobi-Kadachi is a good fitespecially if you have a dual element one with Fire.
Remember that you negate all damage with a double attack and interrupt the enemyso you can use any Monstie you want that can win Head-to-Head.
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The best gear to use against Velkhana
Velkhana uses Ice attacks exclusivelyso you want a strong resistance to it. The Goss Harag set is good for this. And since it has three decoration slots, you can further customize it for more defense, attack, critical speed and whatever you want.
When it comes to guns, you want them focus on Fire exclusivelybut keep one of each damage type so you can attack all parts of Velkhana. Some of their parts are completely repaired when they change states, so you want to destroy them as quickly as possible.
The best weapons are those from Glavenus and Rathalos for pure damage, although Brachydio's weapon deals good damage and can cause Blast blightto which Velkhana is highly susceptible.
The best companion to use against Velkhana
When it comes to companions, there are only two that really fit here if you want to do good damage and survive, and that's Eleanor and Cora.
Eleanor
Eleanor is all about raw damage, and she dishes out an incredible amount with her fire elemental Great Sword. In addition to this, she also gets Fortified Spirit Skillswhich activates automatically when she gets very low on HP or dies once, ensuring that the entire party can survive a single hit with at least one HP.
For her Monsties, however, both Angie and Dee can work Dee has two elements that can damage Velkhanaand sometimes has enough speed to get an attack in before Velkhana, which is very useful.
Cora
with Kora, Dio's Gunlance is great for attacking and doing good damagebut also offers her a powerful defense. The aggron she draws isn't always helpful since most of Velkhana's attacks hit the entire party, but her defense is still very useful.
For Monstien, Gravy is the best choice here. They are not weak to Ice and have incredible survivability with some of their skills.
How to beat Velkhana
Velkhana's core loop alternates between their three major states, as well as being exposed. These are as follows:
- Normal – Technical
- Ice Mantle – Speed
- Freezing Mist Cloak – Power
- Exposed – Technical
In normal state they will make a mix of single-target and party-wide attacksmany of them with the ability to slow you down. This is the time to destroy damage on their parts, as they are covered by the cloak in other states, but any damage dealt is still retained when the cloak is destroyed.
After they entered the Ice Mantle state, all their parts are covered by a weak ice mantle. Velkhana will also start using more powerful party-wide attacks, such as Icicle Raid. The goal is to destroy the entire mantle on each part, which will cause them to shift and open up for a Synchro Rush.
Destroying any part of the cloak also weakens their attacksso destroy individual parts even if you think you can't get them all broken in time.
If you can't destroy the ice mantle in time, and sometimes even after you destroy it, they will advance into the freezing fog mantle state. This is when Velkhana is at its strongest. Just like before, destroying the cloak will displace them and return them to normal.
If the frozen fog cloak is not destroyed in time, Velkhana will perform an incredibly powerful attack across the entire partyone that is difficult to survive even with the right defenses. If you can see that Velkhana isn't targeting anyone in this state, chances are they're about to perform their final attack. Use an affinity to interrupt the attack in this scenario.
This marks the entire flow of the battle. Velkhana's attacks can also cause you Frostblight, which will knock you down if you're hit by another attack while it's active, though honestly it's not a huge problem especially if you bring Kora as she will take most of the aggro.
After you defeat Velkhana for the first time, their eggs will also begin to appear in hollows in Glacial Capsso that you can raise your own Velkhana.
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