The Pink Rathian in Monster Hunter World may not be the toughest monster in the game, but it’s more than capable of carting you if you charge in unprepared. Besides, Pink Rathians drop plenty of valuable loot that’s useful for high-level crafting, so chances are you’ll want to hunt down quite a few of them.
In this guide, we’ll help you make sure you’re fully prepared to take on the beast. We’ll walk you through unlocking and completing the relevant quests, choosing the right gear, and the best tactics to employ during the fight. Stick with us and you’re sure to come out on top! If you need help with Deviljho, Bazelgeuse or Anjanath, we’ve got guides for those monsters too—be sure to check them out!
Unlocking the Quest
The ornery Pink Rathian doesn’t become available to hunt until you’ve progressed most of the way through the main story and achieved a hunter rank of at least 12. Once both conditions are met, a high-rank Pukei-Pukei hunt—your first high-rank quest—will unlock. The high-rank version of this guy is barely any stronger than the low-rank version, so if you’ve made it this far into the game, he shouldn’t be much of a challenge.
During that mission, don’t make a beeline straight for the target. Take your time to look around; you’ll notice strange pink scales scattered here and there. Picking them up unlocks a tracking entry for a mysterious “???” monster. The ecology meter fills very slowly, so you’ll need to keep looking for pink scales throughout another dozen (or more) quests and expeditions after this one. (Any high-rank activity qualifies, except Arena quests.)
Once you’ve finally filled the ecology meter by collecting pink scales, the Handler will reveal that she knows what the monster is and where to find it. The quest “Old World Monster in the New World” will become available.
Preparation
The first time you take on a Pink Rathian, you won’t have the luxury of a maxed-out hunter’s guide entry to refer to, so here’s ours. You’re welcome. Accept the “Old World Monster in the New World” quest. Your first Pink Rathian must be fought in the Coral Highlands. They’ll start showing up in the Wildspire Wastes after you defeat the first one.
They’re immune to fire, so don’t bring any of that. Dragon is an excellent choice for elemental weapons, followed by thunder. Water and ice are only marginally effective. If you’re more into status ailments, the Pink Rathian is highly susceptible to stun and moderately vulnerable to sleep and paralysis. Poison and blast are just okay against her.
In terms of what armor you should bring, be ready for lots of fire and poison attacks. Packing a full stack of Herbal Medicine would be a good idea. Stun resistance is also a high priority if you’ve got any armors or charms that increase it. Finally, be sure to bring along some Flash Pods, and some Thunderbugs to make more of them in the field.
Don’t forget to stop by the canteen before you head out. Which meal to eat is largely up to you, though I’d probably recommend buffing your defense and elemental resistance as much as possible for your first Pink Rathian hunt.
Viable Builds
Personally, I think it’s best to prioritize either speed or armor for this fight. If you aim for a bit of both, you likely won’t be fast enough to avoid the monster’s attacks or beefy enough to withstand them. At relatively low hunter levels, the Pink Rathian’s poison attacks are particularly brutal, so it’s best not to get hit by them at all if possible. Barring that, blocking them with a heavy shield will reduce your odds of succumbing to the status effect.
The Pink Rathian is fast and strong. She’s capable of stringing together combo attacks much more quickly than you’d expect, given her size, and she likes to jump around a lot, so consider bringing a relatively fast weapon if you’re not bringing a shield. An insect glaive would be an excellent choice, provided you’ve mastered the art of staying airborne for long periods.
Daggers and bows would also be good choices for agility-based characters, whereas tankier builds may want to consider a charge blade, lance, or gunlance—something that will let you take several hard hits in a row and stay on your feet.
Finding the Monster
The Pink Rathian usually hangs out in zone 8 of the Coral Highlands, so starting at the northeast camp in zone 14 will put you closest to it. Look around for claw marks or scales to pick up its trail. If you can’t find any, use your Pyreflies. If you check all the non-Rathian tracks and pick up all the collectibles in the area, eventually your Pyreflies will find the right trail.
Alternatively, you could just head directly to the clearing at the bottom of the cliff in zone 8. There’s a 90% chance that your quarry will be there, but if she’s not, you’ll have to track her down.
Bringing the Beast Down
Once you find the Pink Rathian, take note of whether it’s on the ground or in the air. If it’s on the ground, stay well clear of its head and tail—attacking it from the front or back is just asking to get wrecked. Its wings are dangerous too, though, so the best spot for melee fighters is near one of its hind legs, between the wing and tail. Staying between the wing and head can work, too.
The Pink Rathian’s three favorite ground attacks are a fire breath attack, a tail slam, and a charge. The fire attack comes in two flavors: a single powerful fireball launched straight ahead, and a quick series of three smaller fireballs that go left, right, and straight. Both variants deal medium damage and high knockback, and can set you on fire. If that happens, roll around several times to extinguish yourself.
The tail slam deals medium damage, but is well-telegraphed and easy to avoid as long as you’re not directly behind the monster. You’ll know the charge is coming when the beast rears up and spreads its wings, so dive to one side or the other if necessary. If the charge connects, you’ll take high damage and might be stunned, so avoid this attack at all costs.
If you have a really good shield and lots of stamina, you can block the charge—just be sure you’re ready for it. When the monster starts to get low on health, it can charge several times in succession, so take extra care when the fight is almost over.
When the Pink Rathian takes to the air, it has two nasty attacks to watch out for. Never stand in front of it, because its swooping claw attack can deal medium damage and inflict a painful poison status. If you get poisoned, take some Herbal Medicine or an Antidote (the former is better, because it takes much less time to use and heals a small amount of health in addition to purging the poison).
The beast can also launch fireballs from the air, so watch out for those too. Finally, it has a diving charge attack, but it’s less damaging and less likely to stun than the ground charge, so it’s not too bad.
When you’ve whittled the Pink Rathian down to about 30% HP, prepare for all of its attacks to become more frequent and more chaotic. If it tries to run, you can quickly hit it with a flash pod to knock it out of the air and briefly stun it, which will let you wail on it freely for about ten seconds. Whether you manage to cut off its escape or have to track it back to its nest, keep up the pressure and you’ll soon take it down.
Congratulations! The Pink Rathian is a big step up in difficulty from most of the monsters that precede it, so take a minute to savor your hard-won victory. Now that you know how to defeat Pink Rathian, maybe you’d like to play some of the best strategy games, or maybe even top simulation games!