Do you want to get that promotion or start a whole new career as a backend developer? This is your time to take that first step towards it. With businesses around the world going digital more than ever before, and the average salary for a backend software engineer in the United States ranging from $102k – $122k a year, now’s the time to learn these in-demand developer skills. And that’s especially true as right now, you can get The Complete 2021 Superstar Backend Developer Bundle on sale for just $39.99.
This amazing value elearning bundle includes 13 different courses and more than 35 hours of training content on HTML5, CSS3, Ruby, Python, PHP, and more.
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Speed reading is basically the closest thing to having a real-life superpower. It allows you to learn new skills, take in reams of important information and boost your brain in a fraction of the time – and you can learn how to do it yourself with The Become a Super-Learner & Speed Reading Bundle, on sale right now for just $29.99 – that’s a massive 97% discount off the regular price of $1400.
This amazing value elearning bundle includes seven different courses and more than 15 hours of content on speed reading, memory training, brain fitness, and more.
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‘So, what is speed reading?’ you may be wondering. The 4.5/5 star rated course Become a SuperLearner 2: Learn Speed Reading & Boost Memory will teach you just that and more, walking you through hacks and techniques that will get you learning new skills faster and more efficiently than ever before. Then, it will take you beyond speed reading, teaching you advanced memory techniques which you can use to memorize details better, learn new skills, and even quickly learn to speak other languages.
These courses are taught by industry leaders like memory expert Jonathan Levi, an author, keynote speaker, and podcaster with an impressive 4.5/5 instructor rating from his previous students, renowned for his popular Become a SuperLearner™course and top-rated Becoming SuperHuman podcast, and the 4.4/5 rated Eralp Sendan, a memory coach who specializes in continuous improvement and managing a complex project – something you too will be able to boast after his lessons.
Did you know that you can learn to build an awesome game in your own time, from home, with no expensive game design degree – and all for less than $25? The Make a Mega Dude Action Shooter Game in Unity® with Pixel Art eLearning course will do just that – and right now, it’s on sale for just $24.99.
Consider this your step-by-step guide to making the action game you’ve always wanted to. Designed with beginners in mind, this course includes 19 hours of practical content to help you make your game totally from scratch, by using Unity, MagicaVoxel, and Photoshop.
Walking you through exactly how to create the code and art for your game, as you move through the course, you’ll learn how to build a platform shooter game in Unity, the fundamentals of game design, and how to create artwork in MagicaVoxel and Photoshop, as well as how to code in C#.
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Would you love to build your own video game but have always been held back by not having the coding skills? Now, you can finally create the game you’ve always wanted to, even without knowing any coding – and this course will show you how. Even better, right now the course Make Games Without Coding in Construct 3 for Beginners is on sale for just $24.99 – that’s an incredible 87% discount off the regular price of $200.
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This course is taught by the leading game developers and tutors at Mammoth Interactive, which has an impressive 4.2/5 instructor rating from previous students. Mammoth Interactive produces Xbox, iPhone, iPad, Android, HTML 5, ad-games, and more, while its owner, top-rated instructor John Bura, has worked on 40 commercial games, including those that have charted at number 1 in the Apple App Store.
During the Outridersdemo period, developer People Can Fly has so far identified 200 cheaters out of around 2 million total participants. While the number is relatively small, the devs don’t plan to go easy on them, or any future players who think they can get around the game’s anti-cheat system. As reported by PC Gamer, the studio has announced that cheaters will receive a permanent on-screen “brand” for even one infringement.
The prospective punishment is described as a “discreet but visible” watermark that will be overlayed on cheater’s screens, permanently marking them as untrustworthy. The watermark idea is likely aimed at YouTubers and streamers who might be tempted to use hacks to accumulate click-worthy amounts of high-level loot, like one demo player who was called out by the team after they “gave themself 600 Legendary Weapons.”
As well as being branded, cheaters won’t be able to matchmake with law-abiding players, similar to Fall Guys’ approach of letting cheaters play together on their own “Cheater Island.” For those who are worried about accidentally being branded a cheater, these rules only apply to those actively trying to get around Outriders’ anti-cheat software or using third-party tools to tamper with the game. Specifically, cheating in Outriders is defined as:
Intentionally running the game on PC without Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC)
Modifying game files to enhance a character: levels, skills, inventory, etc.
Externally modifying game time to reduce time-dependent features such as vendors and challenges
Using a trainer program or similar to gain advantages within the game
Using gameplay altering programs such as aimbots or wallhacks
Those who already cheated in the demo version will automatically receive the cheater brand going into the game, though People Can Fly is offering a short amnesty to players who regret this choice. “If you cheated during the demo ‘just to try it out’ but wish to go into the main game unbranded, you must DELETE ALL CHARACTERS AND ITEMS ON YOUR ENTIRE ACCOUNT in order to wipe the slate clean,” the developer stated.
On its surface, Bad Trip is a wacky buddy-comedy with a road trip gimmick pretty similar to the Farrelly Brothers’ hit Dumb and Dumber, in which two doofuses trek across America on a dim-witted quest for love. However, with a slew of pranks that range from silly to surreal, comedian Eric André and company create a spoof that’s slyly sophisticated.
Eric André and Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) star as ride-or-die besties, Chris and Bud. Scraping by in West Grove, Florida, both work jobs that offer more embarrassment than satisfaction, resulting in wild pranks involving nudity, robbery, and sprays of fake blood. Chris fears his life is going nowhere, while Bud is bullied by his pugnacious sister Trina (Tiffany Haddish with a mischievous snarl). But could fate have other plans for them? Like the hero of a romantic-comedy, Chris believes so. Clearly, crossing paths with his high school crush Maria Li (Michaela Conlin) is a sign. Forget that their “meet-cute” is more catastrophic than charismatic. Forget that she seems more polite than interested. Forget the eye rolls of bystanders who can’t deal with Chris’s cringe-worthy pick-up lines. Maria walked into that shop in slow-motion as dreamy music played! Romance must happen! That’s just the law of movies.
So, when Maria says she’s headed back to Manhattan to prepare for her art gallery’s next major event, Chris begs Bud to drive with him to the Big Apple on a quest for love. (Very Harry and Lloyd chasing the Mary who got away to Aspen.) Initially reluctant, Bud not only gives in but also agrees to borrow Trina’s beloved car, a hot pink showstopper with “Bad Bitch” painted across its back windshield. Because she’s behind bars, it seemed a safe plan. Naturally, Trina busts out of jail just after they run off with her ride. So, following the Dumb & Dumber model, she becomes the hardened criminal chasing down two dummies as they drive to a dream scenario.
Along the way, André, Howery, and Haddish pull pranks in character on an array of unsuspecting people in gas stations, smoothie shops, bars, and business meetings. Notably, these aren’t the kind of cruel pranks where a mark is damaged or embarrassed; the chaos here lands squarely on the consenting comedians. Some of these stunts might be familiar to fans of The Eric André Show, which Bad Trip’s helmer Kitao Sakurai frequently directed. Still, the pranks are surprising, strange, and childishly exhilarating. Some play on pure shock value, relishing in the stunned faces of those who think they’ve just witnessed a freak accident or a major crime.
A supreme improviser, Haddish switches from aggressive to cuddly depending on the mark, winning some of the movie’s most passionate — and hilarious — reactions. Howrey plays the straight man as André throws himself full-bodied into stunts that leave him a bare-assed buffoon before an unaware audience, who reacts with shock, horror, and — often — compassion. His commitment sells the bonkers bits to these real people, even when the seams of a stunt — or a gorilla costume — might show. Throughout, Good Samaritans step up with advice, aid, and some scorching real talk.
Amid all the mayhem and bewildered reactions, such witnesses bring a touching tenderness and exciting authenticity to Bad Trip. Some even become crucial characters in the plot. A kindly old man, a vaping Army recruiter, and a nosy restaurant patron step out of the background to create plot points, encouraging dream-chasing, reconciliation, and even revenge! The plot points themselves are cliches. However, Bad Trip has subversive fun by exposing how easily real people fall into these expectations, and how they react when a cinematic flourish follows.
For instance, when Chris is encouraged to pursue Maria, he doesn’t just thank the old man on the bench and walks away. He bursts into song and dance like he’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer with a concussion. The outrageousness is exposed through the reactions of a mall full of people whose day just went from ordinary to absolutely confounding. Through this, Sakurai introduces a sly commentary of romantic comedies that pays off in a climax that is funny, smart, and gleefully rebellious.
James Gunn making a Suicide Squad movie has felt right since the beginning thanks to his stellar take on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. We’ve seen set photos and had tons of casting news, but we’ll finally have our first trailer tomorrow.
The director took to Twitter with a simple message: “Tomorrow. Trailer. See you there. #TheSuicideSquad” with a picture of a “red band” trailer card.
Gunn wrote and directed The Suicide Squad. Margot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn, and a few other actors will return as well. Jai Courtney will once again appear as Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. The film also features Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, and James Gunn stalwarts Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn.
Shortly after the Red Band tweet, Gunn dropped a second image of a ’70s war movie-inspired poster for the film.
The film is in a weird space somewhere between a sequel and a reboot. With some of the first film’s biggest stars returning, it certainly has connections to the profitable-but-poorly-received original, but Gunn and Warner Bros. have continually downplayed connections between the two.
Here’s the official synopsis for the film:
“Welcome to hell–a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.”
The latest Inside Infinite blog post for Halo Infinite is out now, and it contains a wealth of information and insight about the next-gen Halo game. This latest installment is focused on the game’s audio, but it also served as the reveal of the game’s newest weapon, the Skewer.
A Banished power weapon, the Skewer looks like something out of Gears of War. 343 says this weapon is “savage and violent,” and its audio design matches that. You can hear some audio clips of the newly revealed weapon in the blog post.
“For Banished weapons, we established some core principles to how they should sound. When thinking of Banished the first thing that comes to mind is Brute, the word ‘brute’ is savage and violent, so it only makes sense that is conveyed in the audio with making it sound powerful, animalistic and visceral,” 343 said. “The Banished weaponry has a more primitive feel than some of the other factions so this calls for having a strong sense of organic matter in the content, this helps give a strong grounding and sell the mechanical nature of them.”
The rest of the blog post is a delight, touching on numerous aspects of Halo Infinite’s audio and sound design, while 343 also released some new assets like the video below in which the team uses a piano in … unique ways to capture sounds for Halo Infinite.
Another video–Sounds of Zeta Halo – Forerunner Interior–showcases the moody music from a Forerunner installation. You can listen to this brand-new audio clip below.
Halo fans who want a deep-dive on Halo Infinite’s audio are in for a treat with this blog post, as it goes very deep on the ins and outs of how 343 went about designing the audio and music. The studio pored over feedback from Halo 5 to come up with some tenets for how Halo Infinite should sound.
“We received a variety of great feedback and suggestions, but the highest-level takeaways for us, and our key goals for Halo Infinite, are ‘re-capturing the legacy essence of Halo’ and ‘strengthening the excitement and impact of Halo’s combat.’ With those primary goals established, our team has been passionately working to deliver on our vision as our partner teams around the studio have been bringing Halo Infinite to life,” 343 said.
343 made a big change to the sound effects direction for Halo Infinite to focus on the smaller details such that the game would key in on specific combat sounds “in a clear and impactful way.”
“There are many gun sounds in our game–multiple enemies, teammates, and players are constantly firing weapons. In our past Halo titles, we handled each gun-fire’s listening-volume purely by distance,” 343 said. “So, all gun sound volumes were exactly the same if they’re originating from the same distance. As a result, we had too many loud gun sounds constantly overwhelming a player which made it very difficult to detect true threat position.”
“The new Halo Infinite audio system detects all gun sounds frame by frame, and prioritizes them in a threat order to decide output sound volume for each gun. With this mechanic, if a gunshot is aimed at player, the sound will be louder and if it’s not aimed at player or if it’s a teammate’s gunfire, the sound is still audible but quieter. then you could hear only threat sounds clear. With the cleaner audio feedback, player can ascertain the appropriate threat to make the right action quicker and more accurately, which results in a more immersive and exciting combat experience in Halo Infinite.”
This is just a small taste of what the full blog post delivers in terms of context and insight on Halo Infinite’s music and sound design. Check out the full post here to learn lots more.
After a delay, Halo Infinite releases in Fall 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It will be included on Xbox Game Pass for no extra charge to subscribers. Additionally, the multiplayer element is free-to-play (supported by microtransactions).
Developer The Moon Pirates has announced its debut game: Don’t Forget Me. Inspired by games like Her Story and The Red Strings Club, Don’t Forget Me is a mixture of puzzle game and old-school adventure game that tests your observation and deductive reasoning. It’s scheduled to launch for PC and Mac on April 20.
In Don’t Forget Me, you play as Fran, who’s lost her memories. Taken in by Bernard, a world-renowned memory manipulation expert, Fran is tasked with helping him with his business of diving into the minds of those with memories to unearth and secrets to discover.
In the same way you solve the mystery of Her Story by scanning through a series of video clips to search for certain key phrases, Don’t Forget Me has you explore the minds of people by typing in words or phrases and piecing together who these people are. Sometimes you’ll need to solely rely on facts you’ve learned, piecing together important clues to discover the truth. Other times, you’ll need to deduce implications based on your real-world experience and observe the emotional connotation of what you see or hear.
As you learn who someone is, you’ll be better able to get at the information you’re after. This ties into Don’t Forget Me’s central story: uncovering secrets that may lead to who you are and why you no longer have a memory to be explored.
Monster Hunter Rise is out now, which means it’s time to hunt and carve up some monsters! Like previous games in the series, there’s a plethora of challenging monsters to fight, each with their own unique attacks and patterns to understand if you hope to successfully best any of them. Below we detail what it takes to defeat every monster in Monster Hunter Rise.
The main section of the game has you fighting a total of 20 monsters, which are categorized as low-level on the scale of monster difficulty. Below we detail the strategies to consider when taking down these low-level versions. If you’re more interested in tactics for the high-level versions of these monsters, then be sure to check back later, as we’ll have all those updated into our comprehensive guide in the coming days.
How to kill Great Izuchi
Great Izuchi
Most vulnerable spots: Head, tail tip
Elemental weaknesses: Lighting (primary), Water (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Poison, Stun, Paralysis, Sleep, Blast, Exhaust, Thunderblight
Great Izuchi is likely to be the first big monster you take on in your hunting endeavors. It’s one of the easier fights, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful! Great Izuchi is a pack hunter and tends to fight with a posse of two smaller Izuchi to annoy you. It can also summon more buddies to join its side, though they go down pretty fast–so taking out Great Izuchi’s minions first is generally a good idea. Izuchi’s weak point is its head, but facing it head-on can be dangerous, especially when it’s enraged If it does get enraged, it uses a damaging ranged spit attack, and its swift triple-tail swipe, which can easily knock you flat on your back. Fortunately, many of its most damaging attacks use its tail and have a lengthy wind-up, making them easy to dodge or block. If you’re a rookie at Monster Hunter, hunting Great Izuchi’s a great way to learn many of the basic skills you’ll need to take on the game’s larger beasts, so use this opportunity to get some practice in.
Elemental weaknesses: Fire (primary), Water/Lightning (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Paralysis, Blast, Exhaust, Fireblight
Did you manage to take down Great Izuchi? Swell! The other “Great” raptor-like large monsters fight in a similar fashion, so many of the skills you’ve picked up from Izuchi will come in handy. Much like Great Izuchi, Great Baggi is a pack hunter and will bring along a posse to its battles. Take out the small fry first (or let your buddies handle them) before focusing your attention on the boss. Great Baggi can also spit out projectile venom that will cause you to get drowsy, making your movements slow and rendering you incapable of doing much of anything. Chugging an Energy Drink item will help you recover from that sluggish state. Use the same combat strategies as Great Izuchi to dodge its physical attacks, and it shouldn’t be long before you’ve felled another “Great” one.
Elemental weaknesses: Water (primary), all others (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Stun, Blast, Waterblight
Kulu-Ya-Ku is smarter than the average birdbrain, despite its goofy appearance. In fact, it’s smart enough to dig in the ground for objects it can use for both defense and offense. Try not to hit the hard objects Kulu-Ya-Ku is holding, as doing so only results in your attacks getting deflected. Also, Kulu-Ya-Ku will eagerly try to smash your head in with jump attacks while holding these implements. If you can stagger or stun Kulu-Ya-Ku, it will drop whatever it’s holding. The objects tend to wear down after a while; attacking a held object that’s already showing signs of wear will cause it to break after a few strikes, stunning the big bird in the process. Beyond its crude tools, Kulu-Ya-Ku’s attacks are pretty simple, using mostly pecks and charges to hurt you. It’s weak to almost all elements, especially water, so bring your element-laced weaponry if you’ve got it to add some extra damage and show Kulu-Ya-Ku, who’s higher in the pecking order.
Elemental weaknesses: Ice (primary), Water (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Paralysis, Sleep, Blast, Iceblight
It’s another “Great” bird wyvern that fights quite similarly to Great Izuchi and Great Baggi: fights in a pack, likes to attack up close. You know the deal by now, right? Where Great Wroggi differs most is in its status affliction of choice: when the purple sac expands, it’s about to spit up some noxious poison mist. Antidotes and Herbal Medicines will cure this, with the latter being slightly faster to take effect. Don’t wait too long to take your meds, though, because Poison’s life drain can really sting! Otherwise, stick to the same strategies as the other “Greats”: take out the small monsters first, watch its movements, dodge when you know it’s going to come at you, and strike while it’s vulnerable.
Elemental weaknesses: Fire (primary), Ice/Lightning (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Poison, Stun, Paralysis, Sleep, Blast, Exhaust, Fireblight
This big ursine might not look too bright, but if you’re not careful, it can cause some serious hurt, especially in areas with less space to maneuver. Arzuros’s most common attack sees it using three claw swipes to slash in front and around its sides. It’s not too hard to dodge, thankfully. While Arzuros’s charging attacks are more choreographed, avoiding them can be a bit tricky at times–especially because an angered Arzuros can turn around very quickly and charge right back at you just as you’re getting up on your feet again. It can also grab you in a literal bear hug, mauling you up close before tossing you aside. If this happens, use a wirebug to get right back on your feet. Even standing behind Arzuros isn’t completely safe: if it knows you’re attacking it from behind, it can fall back on its butt to knock you down and deal damage. Fortunately, because Azuros likes to charge at you, it’s easy to lure into traps–so set up your nets and hit it while it’s immobile.
Elemental weaknesses: Fire (primary), Lightning (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Poison, Stun, Paralysis, Blast, Fireblight
What has long ears, a big belly, and an appetite for destruction? It’s Lagombi, the winter hare from hell! Lagombi has the ability to cover long distances by sliding on its belly, which allows it to very quickly close the distance–and hurt you in the process. It can also do big bouncing butt-bombs, send a massive snowball hurtling your way, and throw chunks of snow up in the air to catch you leaping or climbing. When attacking, take care not to aim for its thick stomach, which can repel strikes easily and hasten the dulling of your blade. Instead, try to aim for its ears–you can break them for an additional item drop. Said ears are also very sensitive to sound, so Lagombi can be stunned easily with loud noises (such as from Sonic Bombs). Be aware, however, that an angered Lagombi won’t have that vulnerability. Also, its habit of sliding towards you makes it fairly easy to lure into ground-based traps. Good footwork and attacking the right spots should let you skin this hare without too many problems.
Most vulnerable spots: Head, upper body, parts of back
Elemental weaknesses: Water (primary), Ice (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Stun, Blast, Waterblight
Given Volvidon’s name, taste for warm habitats, and flame orange skin, you’d think that it’s a fire monster–but actually, Volvidon much prefers fighting dirty. Its mouth is filled with electrified spit that will jolt and paralyze you on contact, and it can let rip some noxious gas in a close radius that will render you unable to use any recovery items. Should you be unceremoniously farted on, use some deodorant to rid you of the stank with speed. Between its spit attacks, blazing-fast rolling spin-dashes, and long anteater tongue, Volvidon excels at attacking from a distance. The armored shell along most of its back can also deflect strikes from behind and above if your weapon isn’t at peak sharpness. As such, you’ll usually want to go for its head, limbs, and squishy belly, but getting in close can be tricky. Blinding it and luring it into traps can help you immobilize it for a short while to get some good damage in. Also, bring your water weaponry–Volvidon is very sensitive to moisture.
Elemental weaknesses: Water (Primary), Lightning (Secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Blast, Waterblight
A giant, fire-breathing kung fu crane? Yes! Aknosom is certainly one of the more unique encounters of Monster Hunter Rise., as this big bird has a lot of personality. Unfortunately, that personality is “an annoying jerk.” Aknosom is very swift, and can hop around the area easily. Generally, the worst place to be in relation to Aknosom is in front of it, as it can hit you with pecks from its sharp beak, headbutt using its big neck frill, perform a long-distance running dash and full-body tackle, or–worst of all– spit a series of fireballs that cover a wide range and distance in front of it. If you get hit by these fireballs, you’ll start taking fire damage that rapidly drains your life. The best way to get rid of these flames is what you learned in school: stop, drop, and roll! After several dodge-rolls, you should be back to normal–though your stamina bar will definitely be feeling it. (You can also use a Nulberry to recover from all of the elemental -blights.) When Aknosom hops up on one leg, be careful: it’s getting ready to do a close-range attack by slashing with its wing. This attack can hit in a semi-circular radius, so get away quickly! If you can manage to get Aknosom to fight you in a lake, it’ll help you out by squelching the flames. Smack it with some water- or lightning-infused strikes to do extra damage and put the bird to bed.
Elemental weaknesses: Fire (primary), Lightning (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Blast, Fireblight
What’s underneath that big,moist ring of golden sponge around Royal Ludroth’s neck? Sadly, it’s not delicious cream filling, but rather a vicious lizard eager to get straight to your juicy center. Royal Ludroth is mostly a physical attacker, using its long body–particularly its tail–to strike. It thrives in wet environments, and can splash you with attacks that inflict Waterblight. Waterblight hampers your natural stamina recovery, so it’s good to get rid of it ASAP by using Nulberries. If you can get Royal Ludroth away from water, it’ll start to dry out, causing its attacks to lose some of their bite. If it gets too dry, it’ll start running away to look for a source of hydration, so keep pursuing it! Royal Ludroth’s back scales and tail have a good chance of deflecting strikes, so for maximum efficiency, aim for that smooshy golden sponge area–or the tail, which doesn’t take optimal damage but can be severed with cutting weapons to further limit the creature’s attack power. (Also: you can get an additional chance to carve for items on the severed tail piece!) Keep up a steady assault on Royal Ludroth’s vulnerable spots to hang it out to dry.
Elemental weaknesses: Fire (primary), Ice (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Poison, Paralysis, Blast, Fireblight
Here comes the pain train! Barroth likes to attack with its massive noggin, using it to lunge and swipe at you. When you see steam coming off of that muffin top, watch out! Barroth’s going to start using some painful attacks, one of which is a very damaging tackle from a distance. Barroth loves to cover itself in mud when water’s nearby, and it can shake the globby piles off, throwing goop projectiles all around its body that severely slow you down if you’re caught in them. They disappear after a short time, but if you get stuck, try to roll out before they vanish–even a few seconds of limited mobility is enough time for Barroth to smack you with a devastating headbutt. Since Barroth’s head is its main weapon, it’s very resistant to your attacks and will deflect strikes regularly. Aim for its sides, limbs, and the base of its tail instead to do the most damage. The mud it rolls around in also doubles as an extra layer of armor, so knock that grime off with a few weapon strikes before really going in and mopping up.
The moment you set eyes on this sightless, pallid freak of nature, you will want it extremely dead–but Khezu will do its best to make that as difficult as possible. Khezu relies heavily on electricity-based attacks, such as releasing an electric charge into the area around it and spitting out orbs of electricity. Bring your best electricity-resistant gear to the fight to help dull the damage–though taking too many shocks can still inflict Thunderblight, so keep Nullberries on hand. If you’re in a cave, Khezu becomes more dangerous, as it can cling to the walls and ceilings to launch lightning and pounce upon you. It’s possible to knock Khezu from its perch with projectile attacks and flying Wirebug-fueled strikes, which will leave it vulnerable for a few precious seconds. Try hitting it with fire- and poison-laced weaponry to make the fight go by faster, though do note that Khezu is fairly resistant to most other status ailments. When you see its pale white skin turn veiny and cracked, you’ve got it on the ropes.
Elemental weaknesses: Lightning (primary), Fire (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Paralysis, Blast, Thunderblight
A portly, seaweed-covered platypus might not seem too threatening at first glance, but Tetranodon is one of the tougher encounters from the early-game period. He seems rather simple at first, cannonball diving, charging at you, and striking out his webbed limbs. Eventually, Tetranodon will start vacuuming things into his gaping bill — and hopefully you’re not among them!
After he ingests his Big Gulp, he will stand on his hind legs. This is when you’ll really need to pay attention! Tetranodon’s sumo stomps send a shockwave of craggy rocks away from his feet, which have a surprisingly long and wide reach — instead of rolling, use Wirebug evading to safely escape. (You can attempt to knock him off-balance when he’s lifting a leg with repeated weapon strikes, which will leave him prone for a brief time, but this can be very risky.) He can also do a close-range hand clap, a long-range water spit, and even chuck a huge boulder in your direction. If Tetranodon gets super steamed, he’ll come barrelling at you with paws flying. Should you evade him successfully, you’re not out of the woods — he’ll make a quick turn and come roaring back at you, so watch out!. The scales on his back are tough and can deflect your weapon if it’s not at peak sharpness, so to inflict maximum damage, aim for his bill, his belly, and his front legs.
Elemental weaknesses: Ice (primary), Fire (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Blast, Iceblight
There’s no need to monkey around with this trickster! Bishaten can be extremely annoying to fight, but there are some things you can do to put a speedy end to its shenanigans. Most of Bishaten’s attacks involve it either whipping its long, prehensile tail around or tossing fruit from you from a distance while balancing on said tail. The fruit it throws can cause status ailments like poison and stun, depending on what you get smacked by, so keep healing items (or a buddy with status-nullifying skills) with you to recover. Sometimes Bishaten will forgo the tossing altogether, opting instead to lunge at you from afar with a fruit held in its tail and releasing a noxious cloud of poison gas in a wide area. However, if you’re able to knock Bishaten off-balance while it’s sitting on its tail, it will drop its stash of fruit snacks, which you can pick up and use to turn the tables! Chow down on some healing fruit, or lob some poison or stun blasts to give Bishaten a taste of its own citrine medicine. You won’t get to keep these fruits after the quest, so you might as well use them now–or even save them for another monster you want to take down in the same area.
Status vulnerabilities: Paralysis, Sleep, Thunderblight
Slimy, slobbery, and poisonous to the touch, Pukei-Pukei is a very gross gecko who will make your life miserable. Pukei-Pukei is somewhat less dangerous when you’re fighting in close, but a big threat at a distance: its hovering dive-bomb attacks and long tongue-whip strikes can catch you even when you think you’re safe. The biggest danger when fighting Pukei-Pukei, however, is its poison. It can spew an intoxicating purple haze from its mouth…and also poop out poison globs from its tail. Ewww. Antidotes and herbal remedies–as well as poison-cleansing buddy skills–are a must if you plan on besting Pukei-Pukei.
Keep your eye on the color of the frill-feathers around its head as well as its face: when they start to turn orange and stand up, Pukei-Pukei is in an enraged state. Sometimes, Pukei-Pukei will dash off to snack on a nearby plant. This odd behavior is far from harmless: depending on what it eats, its poison secretions will gain additional effects, like lingering around for longer or causing stun. If the sac below its mouth is swollen, you’ll know that it’s just eaten something potentially very bad. Fortunately, Pukei-Pukei is weak to both paralysis and sleep, so use tools, weapons, and gathered endemic life to afflict and subdue it. It’s also possible to sever Pukei-Pukei’s tail with repeated slashing strikes–it will not, however, stop the tail poison attacks entirely, so be warned. Keep smacking its face while drinking antidotes, and Pukei-Pukei should give up the ghost.
Elemental weaknesses: Dragon (primary), Water (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Sleep, Waterblight
Craggy and cranky: a dangerous combination. This cantankerous molten monster’s got a lot of armor on its back and head area, but its limbs and underbelly are significantly squishier. If you see Basarios rearing back or its belly glowing extra-bright, that’s your cue to get the hell out of Dodge. Stick around too long, and it’ll try to crush you with a rolling attack, spout several spurts of searing-hot gas around its body, spit out a few flaming fireballs from a distance, or blast you with an ultra-painful, blisteringly hot laser of fire aimed straight from its throat.
With so many fire attacks, bringing fire-resistant gear to the bout with Basarios is a no-brainer. Still, you should also consider hauling along a Palico with status-healing support skills (along with plenty of antidotes), as Basarios is also known to exhume very dangerous poisonous purple gas. Should you see purple mist forming around it, it’s time to move. It can also puff out some wisps of sleeping gas, as well, though this attack is less common. If you’re fighting this blockhead above ground, it can burrow under the dirt and give you chase–fortunately, it’s slow and easy to spot, so keep running, and you’ll stay out of danger. If a weakened Basarios limps off and tries to take a nap somewhere, it can camouflage itself as an unassuming pile of rocks. Fortunately, the R-stick target lock doesn’t lie, so use that to help find it–and maybe try to mine its back while it’s asleep for giggles.
Elemental weaknesses: Lighting (primary), Fire (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Blast, Thunderblight
Somnacanth is a fishy fiend that’s curiously enchanting, but trust us, this is a siren song you don’t want to get snared by! As you may have guessed by the name, Somnacanth’s gimmick is making you drowsy before going in for the kill. She can fire out sleeping gas from her maw like a rotating pulse cannon, but if she’s in the water, she can also exhume the gas in patterns as she swims around. Bring Energy Drinks to keep yourself juiced up and stave off the need to sleep. (Who says games aren’t realistic?)
When Somnacanth’s swimming, she can also dive for shells–and when Somnacanth cracks a shell open, bad things will happen! Keep an eye out for the glowing yellow shells in particular: when broken, a stunning flash will erupt in a wide radius in front of the beast, leaving you stunned and wide open. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to get an advantage. Since
Somnacanth is amphibious, she prefers to fight in watery areas. Finding a way to get Somnacanth on land–whether by trapping her, luring her, or just encountering her in a good location–will help immensely, as her movements and attacks are limited when away from the lakes. Bring your best lightning-element gear to the fight, and soon she’ll be the one taking a snooze.
The majestic queen of the land returns! Rathian has long been a Monster Hunter staple and a daunting challenge to overcome. With a massive wingspan, fiery breath, and a poison-laced tail, you’re in for quite the fight with this big girl! Rathian might not be the most agile of monsters, but her huge wings afford her a great deal of mobility, allowing her to hover out of reach of many grounded attacks and attack you from an advantageous position. Using wirebugs and projectiles can help you attack her in the air. She’s still very much a threat while grounded, though, as her long, venomous tail can sweep you aside and afflict you with a damaging poison effect. And let’s not forget the fire breath, either! Preparing for fire and poison attacks with gear and supplies helps out, but the most important thing is making sure you have ample space–both on the ground and in the air–to deal with whatever she wants to do. Attacking her tail is also a good idea: you can sever it and reduce her ability to hit you with her sweeping venom strikes… though you still have to deal with everything else. Dragon-element weapons will be a big help here, but that may be hard to come by at this point in the game, so use Lightning-element arms as a backup to drain her health faster.
Elemental weaknesses: Fire (primary), Lightning (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Blast, Fireblight
So we’re clear here: Barroth and Barioth are two different monsters. I know, it confuses me too. Just remember: Barioth’s the weird sabretooth bird-cat that can make you faint quickly with amazing agility and lots of spiky bits that hurt a lot.
Barioth is very fast, very large, and very very vicious, using extremely fast attacks from the air and the ground to inflict damage so quickly you might find yourself going from full health to KO’ed within seconds. Making the hunt even more difficult is Barioth’s resistance to many status effects. However, there is a way you can help turn the tide in your favor. Notice the spikes on its front limbs? It uses those to help it move faster. Aiming your attacks for Barioth’s limbs will cause these spikes to break, hampering its movement. Its tail can also be severed to further decrease its mobility and attack power. Try setting traps to hold Barioth in place for a while, then aiming for the parts you want to damage with fire-laced weaponry while it struggles. Once you’ve broken the beast, aim your blows towards its head to seal your victory.
Elemental weaknesses: Water (primary), Fire/Ice (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Poison, Blast, Waterblight
Part reptile, part flying squirrel, part livewire, and 100% trouble, Tobi-Kadachi can overwhelm you with its slippery speed and tricky moves. Tobi-Kadachi is a high-pressure fight, as it will rarely let you out of its sight once it knows you’re around. This makes it hard to slip away for healing or weapon-sharpening. Decoys can help a lot if you need a quick breather while using traps to immobilize it can delay it entering a charged-up state. When it’s angry and amped up, you’ll see the spines on its back and tail raise, and it will begin to take to the skies in an attempt to dive-bomb you to death.
A PO’ed Tobi-Kadachi can also launch electricity-laced spikes at you, which can afflict you with Thunderblight. These projectiles aren’t just dangerous when airborne, either: they remain in the ground for a while, electrifying any poor sap who might accidentally bump into them. In areas with high cliff walls, Tobi-Kadachi can climb them to survey you and launch attacks, so use wirebug-powered flying strikes and projectiles to try and knock the brute off. Despite being powered by electricity–which is usually the bane of water-elemental foes–Tobi-Kadachi’s primary weakness is water, so bring an appropriate weapon if you have one. If you can find a way to afflict it with Waterblight, you’ll short out its conductive capabilities, making the bout much easier.
Elemental weaknesses: Water (primary), Lightning (secondary)
Status vulnerabilities: Waterblight
It’s him–the cover beast in the flesh! And boy, oh boy, are you in for hell of a battle with this behemoth. Magnalamo’s agility is incredible, allowing this hulking monster to perform several attacks in a row with its claws and tail. He’s so brimming with draconic energy that he’s always got a purple glow around his back and tail, and he can fire off said energy around him in mega-damaging explosive bursts that will also afflict you with Hellfireblight, which turns you into a ticking time bomb! Your best bet when you see its purple orbs go flying is to wire yourself out of the area before they explode–and if you’re hit with Hellfireblight, wiring away from the area will make the curse drop–and deal damage to something else that stumbles onto it. (You can also freshen up from the blight with some deodorant.) Magnalamo’s sharp claws, horns, and long tail will also be used against you with blinding speed, so always be ready to block or dodge if necessary. When it leaps high into the air, it’s going to give you a brutal dive-bombing, so move your butt FAST if you don’t want to learn a new definition of pain.
When Magnalamo’s purple energy turns pink, he becomes enraged and extremely dangerous! We’re talking massive bursts of hellfire and giant lasers of pure hate energy from the tip of its tail. If he rears back and howls while gathering glowing energy, get your wirebugs ready, because you’re about to get potentially smashed with a rapid combination of lunges and aerial dives that will drain a healthy life bar in the blink of an eye. He’ll return to his normal state afterward, but it’s a little consolation when his normal mode is almost as brutal as his angered state. Oh, and be careful if other big monsters stumble in–Magnalamo is the king here, and he will promptly grab, and aerial piledrive any other monsters into oblivion. (Also: make sure you avoid a piledriving Magnalamo, because he’ll hurt you even more than the poor creature caught in his grip!)
It’s a struggle to find a good opening, but bringing a good Water-element weapon to the battle can help you tack on some extra damage when you are able to get some hits in. If you have some explosives on hand, you can also aim for the parts of Magnalamo’s body that are glowing: successfully igniting its own hellfire will result in some big-damage booms! You might not be able to best this legendary brute on your first attempt, but that’s okay: you’ll still learn a lot during the fight. Keep honing your armor, weapons, and skills, and eventually, you’ll be able to put to rest the terror of Kamura.
Once you roll the credits in Monster Hunter Rise, don’t stop playing! There are many more new monsters to fight during the endgame portion, which should keep you busy for quite a while. We’re still working on them ourselves, but we should have this guide updated with everything you need to know about fighting those monsters in the coming days.
Monster Hunter Rise is out now on Nintendo Switch, with a PC version coming in 2022. We’ve got a number of other guides to help you out if you’re just setting off on your adventure, which you can find in the list below.
