How to Beat Astalos in Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak introduces plenty of monsters for players to hunt. While some of these monsters are brand-new, others make their return from previous games in the series. Astalos is one such monster, and it can even be fought in Sunbreak’s demo. This flying wyvern is able to charge itself with electricity, using its crest, wings, and tail to shock hunters into submission. To beat Astalos, players will need to be wary of its speed while attacking each part of its body.

Astalos’s Attacks and Attributes

As one might expect, many of Astalos’s attacks can induce Thunderblight, which will make the likelihood of getting stunned by Astalos much higher. Without any skills to resist getting stunned, players should carry a good amount of Nulberries to use when necessary. Some attacks used by Astalos can be blocked, but only weapons with powerful guarding capabilities – such as the Lance – should bother with doing so. Weapons with weaker guards, like the Sword & Shield, will be easily knocked back by the recoil of Astalos’s consecutive moves. When enraged, Astalos will be a lot more relentless in terms of both speed and aggression, and its electric moves will be even tougher to dodge.

Astalos’s main methods of attack involve whichever parts of its body are infused with lightning. The most common way you’ll see Astalos attack is by slamming its wings on the ground. These attacks are usually pretty well-telegraphed, but it can be tough to get away from them without diving thanks to their massive hitbox. It can also attack using its crest. Fans of Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate might recognize an attack or two from Boltreaver Astalos, in which its crest will create a sword of lightning to slam down on the player. This attack is one of its most powerful, so care should be taken to avoid it. Astalos also commonly attacks with its tail, sometimes creating a beam of electricity from it and other times just sweeping it along the ground. Players should try to keep to Astalos’s front in case they sense that the tail is about to be used for an attack, as the strange and wide angles it covers can knock some hunters off-balance.

Astalos doesn’t have many attacks when flying in the air, usually flying back down before too long. Some of its attacks in the air include slamming its tail into the ground to create a sphere of electricity and diving from the air to rapidly slam its arms against the floor. Its deadliest attack involves flying up into the air while charged with electricity, then slamming back down and creating an electric explosion around its body. This attack will uncharge all parts of its body, but it’ll also deal massive damage to any hunter caught in the blast. When it’s in the air, players should simply avoid Astalos until it comes back down. Outside of these moves, it can also shoot electricity from its mouth. This will usually create sparks that move diagonally across the floor, and sometimes it will pair this attack with a simple forward-moving ball of energy. Its damage is pretty low compared to its other moves, but players should still do their best to avoid it.

How to Beat Astalos

While Astalos might seem like a tough foe at first, it has many weaknesses that players can exploit. During the fight, Astalos will charge its body parts, causing them to glow and spark with green lightning. Attacking these parts will do more damage; breaking them while they’re charged will also weaken Astalos’s moves. Getting Astalos caught in a Shock Trap will instantly charge these parts of its body. Purposefully charging Astalos in order to deal more damage can be helpful if you’ve figured out how to effectively dodge its attacks. If previous games are any indication, weapons with the Ice and Water elements will be useful in dealing even more damage to the flying wyvern.

Many of its attacks will also leave Astalos wide open to the player’s own moves, including some of the powerful new Switch Skills introduced in Sunbreak. This is especially during the case with moves that involve slamming its wings or tail down, as it’ll take a moment before moving on to the next attack. Astalos is also susceptible to Flash Bombs; using one while it’s in the air will leave it reeling on the ground. Wait for it to complete its attack, then move in to use some of your own powerful moves. With enough time and effort, you’ll beat Astalos without any trouble!

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will release on June 30, 2022. You can also check out whether Sunbreak’s Deluxe Edition is worth purchasing.