It was long in coming, but the mighty Black Dragon is finally here. Thanks to the July update, we can now face Alatreon in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne . We had some extra time to prepare, our armor is fully upgraded, and we have the strongest weapons in the game. It should be a simple hunt, right?
Not at all! Alatreon is not only the most difficult creature that we can fight in Iceborne , it is virtually impossible if we do not meet certain conditions and carry certain equipment. In this article you will discover what you must do to have a successful encounter against this monster.
But before we start …
How to find the Alatreon mission?
You can only face it if you already defeated Shara Ishvalda at the end of the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne campaign and cleared the special missions in which we faced Rajang, Zinogre Stygian and the recon mission of Safi’Jiva . These missions are assigned in Seliana by characters that have a purple admiration symbol on them.
If we meet these requirements, we will find the leader of the Third Fleet near Seliana’s main entrance . If we talk to her, we will see a series of sequences that will leave us in the multiplayer room, ready to activate or join the new special mission.
How to survive the Judgment (Supernova) of Alatreon?
The key to this combat are the Elements. Alatreon is a very special opponent, as he has a Supernova-type attack called Judgment. If we don’t do enough elemental damage to it before it uses it, it will hopelessly eliminate us. We can’t even use a Transporter Ball ( Farcaster ) as they are disabled during the hunt. The only remedy is to deal enough elemental damage to him. When the handler tells us that “we have successfully suppressed the power of Alatreon,” it means that we can survive the Judgment.
Just because we can survive it doesn’t mean we can stay put! It is still a supremely powerful attack that can eliminate us. We recommend eating an Astera Jerky as soon as we start to suffer damage and another one as soon as we can to survive. Using a Health Booster and having a Hunter dedicated to team healing are not bad ideas.
How do we avoid elemental phase change?
When starting the special mission, Alatreon will be in ‘Active Fire’ mode, which means it will be weak against the ice element. We must attack him with these kinds of weapons nonstop to weaken the Judgment attack. We can also use water or thunder weapons, but we will not do the same elemental damage. We should not use fire, it is completely resistant.
A short time later, Alatreon will go into its ‘Active Dragon’ phase, which we can notice in the color change of its horns. When he is in this phase, we have to do everything possible to suppress his powers if we have not succeeded before. But above all, we must try to break one of its horns . We recommend equipping the Temporal Mantle and trying to throw it against the walls so we can focus on its head.
If we break its horn, we will be able to prevent it from going to its ‘Active Ice’ phase. This is important, since – to do the most damage – the hunters will surely be using ice weapons and at that stage these weapons will not do any elemental effect, leaving us at the mercy of their Judgment. We may be able to do enough damage to him in his ‘Active Dragon’ phase before the Supernova, but time is very limited and we don’t recommend relying on that.
As we broke his horn, he will return to the ‘Active Fire’ phase and we must repeat the cycle until he is defeated.
If we don’t break it, it will switch to the other phase and we probably don’t have the right weapon to damage it. Since we cannot use a Transporter Ball, the only way to return to the camp to change weapons is to let ourselves be killed. It is not a very popular solution.
What is the difference between the events in which we face Alatreon?
If we manage to overcome the optional quest, we can face Alatreon again in the Dusk Star and Dawn of the Death Star events , which will alternate daily in our game and will not necessarily be the same for all players. The first one will be virtually identical to the special mission. The second has a big difference that will change the approach we must take towards Alatreon: he will start in his ‘Active Ice’ phase.
When playing Dawn of the Death Star, we must use a firearm to do as much damage as possible and break its horns to prevent it from reaching its ‘Active Fire’ phase, risk with a thunder or water weapon even if we do a lot to it less damage or letting us die when phase changes to equip an ice weapon in the camp.
Can a dragon element weapon be used?
Yes. The advantage of this strategy is that we do not have to worry so much about breaking the horns, since the change of active element will not affect us.
However, the dragon element won’t deal as much damage to him in his fire and ice phases as the opposite element, so we have to hit him a lot more to suppress his power.
If we have a good dragon weapon and we know Alatreon’s movements perfectly – enough to take advantage of absolutely every moment in which we can hit him – this strategy is worth trying.
What is the recommended team to face it?
In addition to the best elemental weapon they have, we recommend wearing armor with good resistance to all elements, as Alatreon can alternate between fire, water, ice, thunder, and dragon moves no matter what phase he’s in. All of these attacks are telegraphed and you can learn to dodge successfully, but better safe than sorry.
We must also bring equipment that enhances our elemental attack as much as possible. A good idea is to wear at least four pieces of Silver Rathalos armor . In addition to having good defense, it activates an ability that greatly increases the elemental damage of critical attacks. Another good tip is to have the Rompepartes (ability Partbreaker ), for breaking the horns of Alatreon is critical.
Is it possible to defeat Alatreon alone?
Yes. In fact, some find it easier to do it this way, as it has lower health and removing the power of Judgment requires less elemental damage. In this case, we recommend equipping our Palico with its healing ability, which gives us one more life, and with an appropriate elemental weapon.
