Capcom
Thanks to a collaboration between Capcom and Square Enix, Monster Hunter World players can fight Behemoth from Final Fantasy 14. Behemoth was added to the game with the fourth free update (full patch notes here). Behemoth already looks to be one of the strongest monsters in the game thanks to its massive size and one hit kill attacks. It even incorporates mechanics from Final Fantasy 14 to further trip up players.
If you’re struggling to defeat Behemoth, then look no further. Here’s how to beat Behemoth in Monster Hunter World.
Note: This article will continue to be updated as we find new information about fighting Behemoth.
How to Find Behemoth
To fight Behemoth, you need to have a Hunter Rank of 16, according to a livestream by Capcom (via Arekkz Gaming).
To unlock the quest, download the Version 5.0 update and then talk to the Serious Handler outside of the Resource Center. Then accept the quest “A Visitor from Another World.” Follow the Cactuars and then slay the Kulu-Ya-Ku. This Kulu-Ya-Ku is much bigger and stronger than other Kulu-Ya-Kus and only grows bigger as the fight progresses, so be sure to use your SOS Flare if you need a hand. Be sure to take advantage of the Cactuars that now spawn. Hitting them with Slinger ammo makes them spray spines that do hundreds of damage to a monster.
Once you complete that quest, another quest known as “The Legendary Beast” will appear. However in this quest you only need to repel Behemoth, which will happen once it completes its Ecliptic Meteor attack. Once you complete that quest, you then talk to the Serious Handler one more time to unlock “He Taketh It With His Eyes” where you can actually slay the beast. Keep in mind that you have only 35 minutes to slay Behemoth, which is down from the usual 50 minutes.
How to Beat Behemoth
The developers in the livestream recommend fighting the monster with four players on a team. This is because the developers worked in a mechanic from Final Fantasy 14 called Enmity, or how much a monster focuses attacks on a certain player. The mechanic is commonly referred to as “aggro” in other games.
While Monster Hunter World has a similar mechanic, a monster’s aggro usually rotates pretty evenly among the players. However when fighting the Behemoth, you build Enmity while attacking the Behemoth’s head. Then a red line comes from the monster and onto the player indicating that it’s focusing its attention onto that player and that player alone. That way while Behemoth is attacking one player, others can attack it or heal themselves and others. Other fighters Behemoth isn’t focused on can attack its feet as those are weak points.
But Enmity is also important for dealing with another big mechanic the Behemoth employs. Throughout the fight, Behemoth will rain down comets from the sky to deal damage. The comets remain on the ground as boulders that Behemoth can destroy with attacks. As the player with aggro, you need to draw the Behemoth away from the boulders because you need them to block its strongest attack, Ecliptic Meteor.
During Ecliptic Meteor, Behemoth glows red along with the area in front of it. It then summons a massive meteor that makes you faint in one hit even if you have the Guts armor skill. You can’t outrun it or even use a Farcaster to escape. So what do you do? You hide behind the boulders. When Behemoth starts glowing, immediately run behind the boulder so that it protects you from the blast.
So to recap, one player needs to aggro Behemoth so that the other players can inflict damage and heal other players. The player also needs to keep the boulders safe so that everyone can live through the meteor attack.
From our own gameplay, we discovered that the Behemoth’s strongest attacks will be listed to the right of the game screen. That includes the devastating Ecliptic Meteor.
The impact site of meteors glow red right before they hit, so be sure to move right out of the way when you see your feet turn red. However the meteors are explosive so their range are a bit larger than the red area, so be sure to dodge accordingly. Meteors inflict fire damage and can also cause burning, so be prepared to roll three times to prevent your health from going down.
Also, not all the meteors that Behemoth rains down turn into boulders on the ground. The only meteor that turns into a boulder is Behemoth’s Comet attack. You’ll know when Behemoth casted it when you see a series of red flashes below your feet. The subsequent meteor can be easily evaded simply by sprinting or dodging.
Behemoth is massive for a monster in Monster Hunter World, with only Xeno’jiiva eclipsing it. That means while it’s easier for players to hit Behemoth especially if it isn’t targeting them, Behemoth has wide reaching attacks that can make short work of you if you’re not careful. However it tends to focus most of its attacks directly in front of it. So try dodging to the side if you see an attack incoming. That being said Behemoth also rarely does a tail sweep attack that covers a massive area around it, so watch out for that and be sure to sever its tail.
One important thing to note is that Behemoth can inflict bleed. It’s recommended to add three Suture decorations to your armor to gain immunity to bleeding. You can also catch Sushifish to gain scales that can be used to instantly cure bleeding. The Astera Jerky bought from the shop in the Tradeyard of Astera also cures bleeding.
Behemoth can also send out a tornado attack called Charybdis that does a lot of damage if you’re caught in it. However the attack is pretty telegraphed and you can stop Behemoth from using it if you hit it with a crystalburst, dragon pod, or flash pod, according to CastielClean on the Monster Hunter World subreddit. If you see wind whipping around your feet, then a tornado will form where you stand. If you can’t hit Behemoth with Slinger ammo, run out of the way and dodge right before Behemoth casts the attack.
Behemoth has another attack known as Thunderbolt that rains down a six or eight thunderbolts from the sky around it. It’s actually pretty similar to Kirin’s thunderbolt attacks. Similar to meteors, thunderbolts create a blue area where they’re going to strike right before they do so. So pay attention and dodge when your feet turn blue.
Since Behemoth is an Elder Dragon, it is immune to traps. However it can still be inflicted with status effects.
You can sever Behemoth’s tail and break its horns for its tail and horn parts respectively. Once you defeat it, you get six carves and with that six different parts from the monster along with whatever you get from the Quest Rewards, according to the livestream.
What tips do you have for fighting Behemoth? Let us know in the comment section below.
Best Build
According to the livestream, Behemoth is weak to the water element. But according to the in-game Hunter’s Notes, Behemoth is only moderately weak to water as well as ice. Behemoth is weakest to the dragon element. Behemoth is also moderately susceptible to all status aliments.
Behemoth causes both fire and thunder damage, though you’ll encounter the fire damage more often. It wouldn’t hurt to add some decorations that raise fire resistance.
If you’re looking to aggro Behemoth, then using a lance would be perfect. You can not only easily hit Behemoth’s head with the high thrust attack but also block the majority of its attacks while it’s focused on you. Having a healer with Wide-Range is also very important.
While most moves can be successfully guarded if you have the level three Guard skill and above for Lance users, there are two moves that can only be guarded if you have the Guard Up skill according to Arekkz. Those moves are the body slam and the huge explosion in front of Behemoth. The Guard Up skill can be acquired from the set bonus for Uragaan armor or the Shield Jewel.
Arekkz Gaming has a great video on a build you can use for Behemoth. Here’s one of his builds for those looking to be a tank and draw aggro from Behemoth:
Head: Dragonking Eyepatch α
Chest: Vaal Hazak Mail γ
Arms: Empress Vambraces β
Belt: Vaal Hazak Coil γ
Legs: Vaal Hazak Greaves γ
Weapon: Empress Lance “Styx”
Charm: Ironside Charm III
Tools: Challenger Mantle, Health Booster
Decorations: 3 Critical Jewels, 3 Footing Jewels, 1 Flawless Jewel, 1 Tenderizer Jewel, and 3 Vitality Jewels
This set gives you the Vaal Hazak Vitality set bonus along with Health Boost and Recovery Speed, giving you not only high health but also speeding up health recovery and letting you recover past the red portion of health gauges. This lets you heal up as you’re blocking Behemoth’s attacks. You also get Weakness Exploit and Critical Boost to boost critical hit rate and damage while attacking the head, which you’ll be doing anyway to build up aggro. It’s believed that Behemoth causes ground tremors so Tremor Resistance is there to prevent stumbling. You also have Guard level three from the charm to strengthen your ability to guard. Peak Performance is there to give extra damage while at full health. The Empress Lance is fully upgraded with Xeno’jiiva parts to grant the Razor Sharp ability which halves sharpness loss which is very important when using a weapon that hits as often as lances. The Challenger Mantle can further draw aggro while the Health Booster keeps everyone topped off.
Arekkz has a different set for those looking for a more support-oriented role as well as those looking for a build that’s relatively easy to make.
Head: Nergigante Helm β
Chest: Kulve Taroth’s Ire β
Arms: Empress Vambraces β
Belt: Nergigante Coil β
Legs: Empress Greaves α
Weapon: Deep Vero
Charm: Attack Charm III
Tools: Fireproof Mantle, Temporal Mantle
Decorations: 2 Dragon Jewels, 2 Critical Jewels, 3 Tenderizer Jewels, 1 Friendship Jewel, and 1 Sonorous Jewel
The Deep Vero is the core of this support build as it grants the Attack Up (L), Health Boost (L), and Defense Up (L) buffs which are all important for this fight. A fully leveled up Wide-Range skill gives you full support when using items and potions to buff and heal allies. The Lunastra set bonus increases your stamina cap which is invaluable for moving around to avoid attacks and get into position for your own attacks. Attack Boost increases your attack and critical hit rate. Critical Boost and Weakness Exploit are there to raise the damage and rate of critical hits. Maximum Might is there to further increase critical hit rate when stamina is full. Health Boost is nice for a bit of survivability. Dragon Attack is there to boost the power of your weapon. And finally Horn Maestro is there to increase the duration of buffs granted by Hunting Horns. The Temporal Mantle is great for dodging attacks. Arekkz also suggests the Fireproof Mantle but we have to test if Behemoth actually uses fire attacks. So for now you can use the Health Booster instead if you want.
What Rewards Do You Get from Beating Behemoth?
According to the Monster Hunter World official website, fighting Behemoth will grant you parts you can use to craft armor, an Insect Glaive, and a Kinsect for use with the Insect Glaive. The armor and weapons are based off of the Dragoons from Final Fantasy 14.
The Insect Glaive, True Gae Bolg, has a base attack of 589, can have white sharpness with the Handicraft armor skill, has 20 percent affinity, 300 dragon element, high Elderseal, one level two decoration slot, the Kinsect Bonus of Element Boost, and one augmentation slot. All in all it’s an impressive weapon. It’s basically a direct upgrade from the Xeno Shmaena. While it doesn’t have as much base attack as the Hazak Entoma II or the Catastrophe’s Light, it makes up for it with both high dragon element and affinity rate. Plus you don’t have to grind for a monster gem like for other high rarity weapons.
The Drachen armor set has set bonuses of Elemental Airborne and Master’s Touch, the latter of which is the set bonus for Teostra’s armor set. Elemental Airborne increases elemental damage for jumping attacks and is gained by equipping two Drachen armor pieces. Master’s Touch prevents sharpness loss when inflicting critical hits. This synergizes well with the armor skills of each piece of armor combined.
Wearing the entire armor set grants you level three Critical Boost which increases critical hit damage from 25 percent to 40. It also grants you level six Critical Eye which grants 25 percent extra affinity rate. If you combine this with the True Gae Bolg which has 20 percent affinity, an Expert Jewel for bringing Critical Eye to the maximum of level seven and granting 30 percent affinity, and either three Tenderizer Jewels or an Exploiter Charm II and one Tenderizer Jewel for the level three Weakness Exploit skill that grants 50 percent affinity when hitting weak points, then you can bring the affinity rate to 100 percent when hitting weak spots. That not only means that you get a critical hit guaranteed with each hit but you’ll also never lose sharpness thanks to Master’s Touch. Having white sharpness raises attack by 32 percent according to Game Rant, so if you slap on Handicraft Jewels and the Handicraft charm then you can have 32 percent more damage forever. However you need a minimum of Handicraft level four to get white sharpness, according to Arekkz. In addition, you have 10 percent more damage with aerial attacks with the Airborne skill from the helmet and more elemental damage from aerial attacks with the set bonus.
With the update, you can also craft a new Palico armor set to make your Palico look like a Moogle of Final Fantasy fame.
See also: