Monster Hunter World: Iceborne has finally come full circle with the release of the original apex predator atop the series’ food chain, Fatalis.
With its mix of siege weapons and good, old direct combat, Iceborne’s version of the Fatalis hunt is arguably the best rendition of the encounter to date. At the same time, it can also be quite the challenge and feel nigh impossible. Here are some tips and pointers to help you take down the legendary black dragon.
How do I unlock Fatalis?
In order to access the Fatalis fight, you will need to have finished key parts of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’s endgame content. Here are the steps.
Finish the main campaign for Iceborne to unlock the Guiding Lands. You will also need to have reached at least Master Rank 24 and have the latest Iceborne patch installed.
Go to Seliana and talk to the Seeker when he has a purple exclamation point on top of his head. You will get the Special Assignment, “Across the Lost Path,” to hunt a Stygian Zinogre. Take the assignment and clear it to unlock the Tundra area of the Guiding Lands as well as a new mission.
Talk to the Pub Lass at the Gathering Hub after clearing “Across the Lost Path” and you will receive a special recon assignment, “Point of No Return.” Take the mission to unlock Safi’Jiiva.
After finishing the recon assignment, you will gain access to a new Special Assignment called “Blazing Black Twilight.” Take the mission and view the cutscenes. It’s OK even if you fail or quit the mission as long as you see the cutscenes.
The Special Assignment “The Black Dragon” will now be available.
What skills should I bring?
There’s a reason that mere mortal Batman can beat the nigh-invincible Superman: preparation. On that note here is a list of things to consider bringing with you to help make the fight more manageable. By the way, health regen is a great weapon augment to have against Fatalis. First, let’s start with some useful skills that you might want to consider incorporating into your build.
Health Boost: Seriously, just have it. To the max.
Partbreaker: Breaking Fatalis’ head — preferably twice — is crucial to significantly lowering its power and avoiding one-shot hell for the final stage of the fight. A maxed-out Level 3 Partbreaker skill goes a long way in helping you do that. It also helps in breaking other body parts in order to acquire Fatalis materials, like its wings for a Fatalis Fellwing for example.
Heavy Artillery: Siege weapons play a big role in this hunt and a maxed-out Level 2 Heavy Artillery skill will allow you to double the damage from ballistaand cannons.
Divine Blessing: Fatalis hits like a big, scaly truck so any sort of damage mitigation can help you survive and stay in the fight. Maxing it out to Level 5 increases the damage reduction to 60% and allows it to proc more, for example, but even getting it to just Level 3 reduces damage by half. Equipping the Gold Rathian waist is an easy way to get Divine Blessing Level 3.
Fortify: Carting sucks. Having Fortify, however, means your attack power goes up by 10% and your defense increases by 15% every time you bite the dust. It actually makes carting a big advantage. The extra damage is especially nice given Fatalis’ chunky HP, which starts out at 66,000 HP in solo mode and scales up with more players.
Clutch Claw Boost: This skill allows light weapons to wound in one go and heavy weapons to drop slinger ammo. It’s especially a godsend for light weapons since softening the head and chest area helps with breaking parts and dealing more damage. Easily getting ammo is also great for heavy weapons as Dragon Pods can flinch Fatalis with just two slinger shots, which can help save teammates from carting or if you need to bring the monster down from the air. Pods also help you escape if Fatalis pins you. If you have yet to get decos for it, you can still acquire it by forging the Shaver Charm in the Smithy.
Fire Resistance: Given the range, scope and power of Fatalis’ flame attacks you definitely don’t want to have negative fire resistance when facing the monster. Getting this to +20 also negates fire blight, which is great as long as you don’t sacrifice other key skills in the process.
Slinger Capacity: This isn’t a must-have compared to other skills but it’s also nice if you can get it so you still have slinger ammo left over after a wall slam for flinching Fatalis in an emergency.
What items should I bring?
Monster Hunter boils down to key principles: Hit it till it dies and don’t get hit. These items help you in your pursuit of doing just that.
Max Potion: Fatalis loves to take huge chunks of your health. Make sure to bring not just max potions but also materials for crafting it and its requisite parts, like Mega Nutrients, Mandragora, Nutrients and Honey. Remember to place the crafting recipe for Max Potions and Mega Nutrients in your radial wheel for fast mixing. True confession: this is the first time I’ve ever spammed Max Potion crafting against a monster in World. There’s a reason for that.
Astera Jerky: This instantly heals the red bar on your HP gauge, which is super helpful if you get hit by a highly damaging attack.
Mega Demondrug, Demon Powder, Might Seed: Fatalis has a LOT of health so every bit of damage you can squeeze out helps over time. Don’t forget to refresh the effects of Demon Powder and Might Seed when Fatalis switches phases. Feel free to bring the defensive counterparts of these items such as Mega Armorskin, Hardshell Powder and Adamant Seed as well if you feel that you need them.
Power Charm & Powertalon: As mentioned earlier, every bit of attack helps. You can also bring an Armortalon and even the less effective Armor Charm if you have the space.
Farcaster: Helps you escape in a pinch or return to camp to switch loadouts. Note that it won’t work during Fatalis’ main, face-melting nova-type attacks.
Smoke Bomb: This is useful for getting some extra breathing room from Fatalis’ nonstop and suspiciously super accurate attacks, especially when cheesing Fatalis with siege weapons.
Immunizer: This allows you to regenerate red health faster, which is signified by a yellow recovering health bar.
What mantles should I bring?
Mantles have a lot of utility in tough fights and Fatalis is no exception. Here are some useful ones that you can choose from when deciding what mantle to bring in this particular fight.
Ghillie Mantle: This is great for the beginning of the fight so you can load both siege cannons in peace and get some high damage in the books right from the start. You can then Farcaster back to camp and switch it out for something more useful after that, unless you’re playing in a multiplayer team as the dedicated siege cannon user.
Temporal Mantle: The old, dependable get-out-of-jail-free card for those “oops” moments when you mess up and get hit by dangerous attacks. Note that it does not negate damage from attacks that don’t knock you down so don’t just stand in the middle of ticking flame attacks like a sunbathing nudist at Lake Tahoe. (You think I’m kidding…)
Rockstead Mantle: Unlike the temporal mantle, this prevents you from getting knocked down on your butt without canceling what you’re doing, which is great when loading cannons or firing siege weapons. While it reduces damage, however, you still get damage, which can add up quickly and get you carted just as fast if you’re not paying attention.
Assassin’s Hood: This often pitched as a mantle that lets you hide more quickly. One of it’s biggest benefits, however, is the movement speed increase that it gives you, which is especially great when you’re running to escape Fatalis’ super flame breath attacks.
Glider Mantle: Yup, it makes you glide in the air and even do clutch claw-to-aerial-attack shenanigans. One of its main uses, however, is getting two extra Level 4 deco slots that give your build extra skillsfor the three whole minutes that the mantle is up.
What Palico gadgets should I bring?
As far as Palico gadgets, you can pretty much make a case for almost all of them. Here is a brief rundown of why you would want to use a certain cat tool.
Shieldspire Stooge: This Palico tool is great for distracting Fatalis, giving you some breathing room from its attacks as well as safer openings to attack.
Vigorwasp: If you need extra survivability, the heals and one free resurrect from this Palico gadget can help keep you alive. It helps give you co*ckroach-levels of staying power, especially when used with Felyne Safeguard and Felyne Insurance.
Meowlotov co*cktail: Need to squeeze in that extra bit of damage? Your cat's bombs and Meowcano just might get you past those damage thresholds.
Coral Orchestra: The gadget of choice for confident hunters. This Palico tool’s wide range of buffs is especially perfect for hunters who rely on their own skills to get things done.
Plunderblade: Use this if you’re primarily interested in farming Fatalis’ parts. It lets you salvage a hunt by still being able to nab parts even if it fails.
The flow of the hunt
Just like mega monster encounters such as Behemoth, Safi’Jiiva and Alatreon, the Fatalis hunt has its own unique flow. The fight against Fatalis can be divided into three main phases, with the monster getting progressively dangerous after each one.
To more easily explain it, I will detail a step-by-step example of how a Fatalis hunt would ideally go. Feel free to put your own spin on it though based on your gear and comfort level. Anyway, here’s a quick summary:
- Wear the Ghillie mantle before flying down.
- Load both cannons and fire at Fatalis to topple it.
- Jump down and attack Fatalis’ head while it is down.
- Farcaster back to camp if you need to change loadouts.
- Soften your two main targets — Fatalis’ head and chest.
- After dealing 25% damage, Fatalis will perform a nova. Hide behind the northeast shroud. Welcome to Phase 2.
- Grab the ballista ammo near the wall before leaving the now melted shroud.
- Head toward the roaming machine gun ballista on rails. Pop a smoke bomb and start firing.
- Fatalis will topple if you have Heavy Artillery 2 and all machine gun shots hit. Attack the head again.
- Soften Fatalis head and chest area. Wall slam the monster.
- After reducing Fatalis’ health to 50%, it will do another nova. Run toward the gate on top of the platform and use the switch to close it.Welcome to Phase 3.
- Run to the right from the gate and use the ballista binder to make Fatalis descend. Attack it.
- Once Fatalis breaks free, run back to the ballista and pick the ammo near the wall. Bind it again.
- After inflicting enough damage, Fatalis will fly up in the air and charge up a big fire breath attack. Run underneath the monster to avoid the flames.
- Wall slam Fatalis and continue attacking.
- Fatalis will fly up again and do a second big fire breath attack.
- Attack Fatalis until you get the message that the Dragonator is ready. Make sure you hit the monster with both spikes.
- Jump down and attack the toppled Fatalis.
- Fatalis will fly up again and do a third big fire breath attack.
- Attack Fatalis until the roaming machine gun ballista comes online. Head to the machine gun and shoot down the monster.
- Congratulations, hunter!
Start Phase 1 by wearing a Ghillie Mantle in camp and then hitching a ride down to Castle Schrade. Fatalis will ignore you because a flying shrub is obviously not a threat. This will allow you to easily head left, climb up the cannon platform and load both cannons full without being disturbed by Fatalis — which is especially helpful when playing solo. Once both cannons are full (five cannonballs apiece), aim one of the cannons on Fatalis while aiming the other cannon toward the middle. Fire on Fatalis with the cannon that’s aimed at the monster and immediately head to the second cannon if playing solo. Fatalis will charge the platform after getting hit, placing him in perfect position to get hit by the second cannon.
There’s a chance that it will hit you with its attacks, especially if you’re not fast enough. As an optional move, you can either pop a smoke bomb before firing the first cannon or switch to a Rocksteady Mantle and then fire the first cannon. The smoke bomb buys you time to switch cannons while going the Rocksteady route lets you tank Fatalis’ attacks and still fire off the second cannon. Hitting Fatalis on the head is especially great as it contributes to the damage for breaking his noggin. If all the cannon shots hit, you will deal about 4,500 damage solo and Fatalis will topple down to the ground. Jump down, run toward its head and wail on it like Bob Marley’s backup singers (preferably while telling it that every little thing is gonna be alright). Once it stands up, you can either continue pressing your attack or Farcaster back to camp to change loadouts and mantles.
After both cannons are fired, solo players can forget about them and just attack Fatalis. Otherwise, if you’re playing multiplayer, you can designate a player for cannon duty and continue to pelt Fatalis with cannon fire while other hunters attack him.
Priority number one at this point is to soften the head and the chest (softening one of its front arms will wound both forelegs as well as the chest), which will be your two primary targets for the rest of the hunt. You especially want to break the head at least once to reduce the damage you take in the final phase. Breaking it twice not only further reduces the power ifFatalis’ flames but guarantees that you receive anEvil Eye drop in your post-hunt rewards (Insect Glaive users, for example, can hit its head with a Kinsect shot to make their bug constantly attack it).
If the monster is not enraged at this point, you can also wall slam Fatalis with a clutch claw flinch shot. Note that wall slamming does more damage if you do it when Fatalis is standing on all fours so aim for doing that. Also, while doing it when the monster is standing will inflict less damage, italso forces it to stand on all four legs again. This gives you another chance to wall slam it if you have slinger ammo remaining and Fatalis is not enraged. If you have a teammate who is still using cannons, do not slam Fatalis toward them and make sure to pick a different wall.
Avoid standing right in front of Fatalis since it can unleash several damaging moves that cover a cone-shaped area in front of the monster. The strongest ones typically are telegraphed, which gives you time to avoid them as long as you’re not spamming buttons. The tail also has a ridiculously large — and potentially broken — hitbox so avoid that part as well.
Your best betis to attack from the sides of its head and stomach or right under its armpits, chest and belly, while paying attention to the occasional attacks that can hit those areas. Wearing a Temporal or Rocksteady Mantle can help you more aggressively hit those areas. Attacking its groin and chest area is also good when Fatalis stands up on two legs. Just try not to over-commit when attacking from those side spots so you can dodge when needed.
Fatalis side breath, for example, can hit one side of its head and chest area so you’ll want to move to the other side when you see it coming out, which allows you to continue attacking without getting hit. Fatalis can also occasionally leave a delayed explosion on the ground below its lowered face. This can hit you when attacking from the side of its head so make sure to only hit the head a few times if you see the move coming so you can roll or move away, then return to the side of its head again to continue your attack.
After taking down 25% of its HP, Fatalis will start transitioning to Phase 2 and do its first nova. You know it’s happening because your allies will warn you about it. Run toward the tent-looking structure that’s marked on the northeast corner of the map and hide there. You can heal, restore buffs and sharpen while waiting for the nova to finish. Welcome to Phase 2 of the hunt.
Once the metal shroud melts, grab the ballista binders near the wall but save them for the last phase. Now run toward the roaming machine gun ballista on rails, and pop a smoke bomb once you get near it. Fatalis will lose sight of you and land on the ground. Ride the machine gun and start shooting Fatalis at its chest. It will just stand there puzzled until the smoke clears. If you have Heavy Artillery 2 and are playing solo, Fatalis should topple down to the ground if all the machine gun shots hit. Run toward its head and wail on it again. Once it stands up, you can go and wall slam Fatalis once againif it’s not enraged to inflict more damage on, yep, the head. The goal is to inflict as much damage on it so you can at least get your first horn break.
Watch out for the super fire breath that Fatalis loves to do in this phase. It can cart you if you get caught in its extra-wide, conical spread but also provides an excellent opportunity to attack its lowered head from the side if you telegraph it — the same way you counterattack Rajang’s thunder Kamehameha from the side. This move is also a great opening for softening Fatalis’ head.
The black dragon will start using more attacks that can hit you from underneath the monster so you’ll want to watch out when attacking his chest and belly area, especially when the monster stands on its hindlegs. These include a delayed explosion on the ground that covers a wide area as well as sweeping fire breath that hits from underneath before moving forward. Fatalis will also occasionally do a running tackle, that you’ll want to avoid by moving toward its side.
Once you reduce its HP to 50%, it will start transitioning to Phase 3 and do an even stronger flame nova attack. Run back toward the platform with the Dragonator, climb it, enter the gate and close it with the switch. If you’re badly positioned and too far from the gate, wearing a Rocksteady Mantle could buy you some time to make it inside the gate. Once again, you can heal, restore buffs and sharpen behind cover while waiting for the nova to finish. Welcome to Phase 3.
Once the gate disappears, go outside andrun to the right toward the ballista binder. Now is a great time to use the binder ammo you saved from the previous phase to send Fatalis down from the sky. Charge Fatalis and attack the monster while it is bound. Once it’s free, run back toward the binder and pick up the ammo near the wall. You can shoot Fatalis again to cancel its fire breath attack and bind it a second time. Attack it once more and you will get a warning once you whittle down its health enough that it is gearing up to do a big fire breath from the sky. Run toward Fatalis and stand directly beneath it. Use this chance to heal, sharpen, reapply buffs, etc., if needed.
Soften its head and chest once again and continue attacking the monster while being mindful of its fire moves. If you’ve broken the head once, Fatalis’ fire attacks will also have just a hint of purple from its mouth but have a regular orange color instead of the deadlier blue flame for its fire.
If Fatalis is not enraged, make sure to wall slam it for extra damage. Keep attacking the head and you should hopefully get your second head break. This will reduce his fire breath damage to Phase 1 levels. Eventually, Fatalis will fly up and you will get your second warning that Fatalis is using another big fire breath attack. Run underneath it and heal up, sharpen, buff up, etc. once again if needed.
After attacking Fatalis a few more times, you will get a message that the Dragonator is ready. Head to the switch while being cautious of the monsters’ long-range attacks. You can also Farcaster back to camp to grab a sleep weapon if you want to do more damage. Just sleep Fatalis in front of the Dragonator before triggering it. Also make sure that both spikes hit. Fatalis will topple down to the ground, allowing you to get several free hits in.
Fatalis will fly up again for its third big fire breath. Run toward the monster and stand underneath it again. At this point, it should only have about 5% or so of its health left and you could see the skull icon on the mini-map. Attack Fatalis until you get a message that the machine gun ballista is ready again. Approach it and pop a smoke bomb if you still have one and shoot Fatalis. This should kill the monster if everything hits. Otherwise, just keep attacking Fatalis until it goes down. Congratulations, you have slayed the legendary black dragon.
Now go farm its sexy gear!
Jason Hidalgo covers businessand technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews the latest video games. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content?Support local journalism with anRGJ digital subscription.
