Published , by Bill Lavoy
Published , by Bill Lavoy
Players will find many challenges in the early parts of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, but it’s unlikely they’ll face anything as tough as Barioth during those opening hours. Eventually, though, players will find themselves with the task to Hunt a Barioth and save the Handler. In order to succeed, we’ve put together this guide detailing Barioth’s weaknesses as well as tips and strategies to help with the fight.
Barioth has one major elemental weakness and a few moderate ailments. We’ve included the full list below so you can pick the best weapon in your arsenal for the job.
Ideally, you want to be using a weapon that does Fire damage, as that is what Barioth is weakest against. If that isn’t an option then you should go with Thunder, or any weapon featuring an ailment.
Barioth is a legitimately tough fight due to the monster’s mobility and wide range of attacks. You are never safe, as Barioth can leap across giant spaces in an instant and be on top of you. If you need to heal or buff your Hunter, be sure there is an object between you and the monster, or that it’s focused on another party member, although even this is risky. Barioth can even scale walls, holding onto them before leaping across a large space to attack someone.
Barioth has a lot of attacks to watch out for, and many are triggered by Hunter positioning or where the monster is in the environment. We’ll run through as many as we can here so you’re ready for them.
If a Hunter is close to Barioth, or if Barioth is in a narrow corridor, the hip check is one of its favorite moves. This involves a quick hop, then Barioth will slam its body to one side or the other. If you’re hit by this, it will almost certainly knock you over and cause damage, but you should survive if your health is in a good spot.
Barioth can also lunge forward in an instant. This can cover both short and long distances, and there really isn’t a tell that it is coming. If Barioth is facing you, assume it can and will lunge to attack you.
Barioth will sometimes fly a few feet off the ground, hovering, and then smash down at a target in its path. This is a strong attack that will knock Hunters down and can cause them to cart if their health is love enough.
Barioth, like many monsters with long tails, can whip it from side to side and knockback or even damage anyone in its path. There is a very small tell it’s coming, which is just a minor twitch of the tail just before the attack is initiated. Try to roll out of the way of this one.
One of the worst things to get caught in is Barioth’s ice tornado. This attack begins while the monster is hovering. If Barioth flies up a few feet and hovers just a bit longer than normal, the monster is probably about to spit an ice tornado somewhere on the map. Get caught in this, and your stamina will drain more quickly until you eat a Nulberry.
The ice blast that Barioth has is like the ice tornado in how it damages you, but it can be initiated while Barioth is on the ground. This is almost like a dragon spitting fire, only it’s ice. It comes at you in a straight line and can mess up your day in a big way. It can also cause your stamina to drain more quickly, so Nulberry up to cure that problem.
Barioth is a very tough fight solo, although that is where its health is lowest. The problem with solo is that this monster is so mobile and has attacks that can hurt from almost any position. It is quite difficult to avoid its attacks should it be focused on you, so it’s nice to have at least one other person in your party to hunt Barioth. When Barioth is focused on your party member, head in for some damage dealing.
The main thing is to maintain your health. Barioth isn’t likely to wipe you out in a single attack, but this monster can string so many together so fast that it’s easy to get hit with two or three and cart. If you're at 75 percent health, try and top it off.
In terms of hurting Barioth, traps are great. If you can trap this monster, then deal some massive damage to its tail, you might just sever it and reduce the effectiveness of the tail whip. This will make standing under Barioth manageable, as the only attack to worry about (if you aren’t in front of it) will be the hip check. Hips checks, while not good, are not nearly as awful as some of the other options.
That brings us to when you should be attacking Barioth. Yes, you must attack when you are somewhat vulnerable, but you should also look for openings when Barioth is tired. With all that mobility, this monster will often pause for a few seconds to catch its breath, and that’s when you hit it. You have a very short window, but you’ll need to take advantage of these opportunities to be successful.
Barioth is also vulnerable to the Flash Pod, so be sure to bring some of those and fire them when it is hovering above the ground. Don’t spam this, however, as they seem to lose their effectiveness if used too often.
Finally, when Barioth is tired, try the Clutch Claw and use the Flinch shot to stun the monster and, if it’s close to a wall, knock it to the ground. This is a fantastic opportunity to do massive damage, so read up on our Clutch Claw guide if you’re not sure what we’re talking about.
That should do it for Barioth. For more help with the many mechanics and monsters, visit our Monster Hunter World: Iceborne topic and check out our various guides.