This article is part of a directory: Monster Hunter Rise: Complete Guide for Tips, Tricks, and General Help (Updated for Sunbreak)
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Rakna-Kadaki was one of the few monsters players got a glimpse of in the reveal trailer for Monster Hunter Rise. Details about the new monster wouldn't come out for quite some time and when Monster Hunter Rise finally released, it turned out Rakna-Kadaki was actually quite a late game monster, meaning it's no pushover.

Prep, Hitzones, and Weaknesses

Rakna-Kadaki's elemental attacks are all fire based, therefore players will want to consider coming to the battle with increased fire resistance. That being said, fireblight is probably one of the easiest blights to cure as players can cure it simply by rolling. While this is true of other blights, fireblight is cured significantly faster by rolling than other blights. Fire resistance can still be helpful in decreasing some of the damage from Rakna-Kadaki's fire attacks however.

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Water and ice are the only elements that Rakna-Kadaki is weak to. It resists all other elements. If players have a choice between bringing a water weapon or an ice weapon, then bringing an ice weapon is going to be the better choice. Keep in mind though, that elemental damage is more important to fast attacking weapons so if say, a greatsword user, has a really good sword that deals only raw damage, and also has a much weaker ice greatsword, then the raw damage sword may be a better choice.

hunter's notes on rakna kadaki hitzones

As far as status ailments go, Rakna-Kadaki resists poison and blast. Iceblight is rated at a two star effectiveness and every other ailment is rated as one star, so status ailment inflicting weapons probably aren't really going to come into play much with Rakna-Kadaki.

Rakna-Kadaki has really bad hitzones though. They're really low on pretty much everything but the head. It's certainly worse for shot type weapons than it is for cutting and blunt weapons. Which admittedly is strange given Rakna-Kadaki's armor is very good for bow builds. Regardless, every weapon type is going to want to aim for the head and the threading around the legs. It's claws take good ice damage, but it's standard hitzone values are so low there that it's likely not to help much.

Fighting Rakna-Kadaki

Rakna-Kadaki has a wide variety of attacks. Some deal physical damage, some deal fire damage, and some will entangle players in webbing. In terms of its physical attacks, it will sometimes fling one of its Rachnoid children across the arena and then pull itself towards it which can inflict damage. Similar to Nerscylla from past games like Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, it can also attack with the claws in front of its head, which it will swing twice with. The range on this attack is pretty significant and it's easy to underestimate how much space is needed away from Rakna-Kadaki to be safe. Rakna-Kadaki will also rise up sometimes and try to slam down on hunters.

Another physical attack that players shouldn't underestimate sees Rakna-Kadaki slam its abdomen into the ground. This attack has pretty good tracking much like Rajang's laser and does pretty decent damage, so if the monster raises its abdomen, get out of the way.

Rakna-Kadaki can expel fire from its body from all directions. Sometimes it will expel fire from one side of its body and then walk sideways towards hunts in order to hit them with the fire. If players notice fire coming from one side of Rakna-Kadaki and they're on that side, they need to move quickly or Rakna-Kadaki will close the distance. Rakna-Kadaki can also breathe fire and will often do a sweeping motion with the flame breath it creates. It also will do this twice in succession so if players are hit by Rakna-Kadaki's breath, they need to be careful they don't immediately wirefall and get hit by the second sweep. It can also just expel fire all around it similar to the way Khezu expels lightning around it. When hunters call out that Rakna-Kadaki is about to use a powerful attack, it's going to expel fire all around it and then breathe fire in a wider radius around it, so players need to get pretty far away.

The monster can also make use of the environment. While, rare, if hunters are in a cavern with Rakna-Kadaki, it will sometimes cling to the ceiling with it's webbing and breathe fire around it. It's possible to knock it down from this state from a knockdown, but players will need aerial attacks or ranged weapons.

hunter fighting a rakna kadaki in lava caverns

If the webbing on two Rakna-Kadaki's legs is broken, then it will fall down and hunters can score some free hits on it. After it gets up, it will wrap more web around its abdomen. Its attack where it slams its abdomen down on hunters becomes way deadlier when the monster is like this. After enough damage is dealt to the abdomen, it will fall down again wherein players can score some free hits again. After it gets back up, it will then spin the web back on its legs and the process begins again.

Rakna-Kadaki can also use its webbing and Rachnoid children to debilitate hunters. Sometimes Rakna-Kadaki will spray multiple threads of webbing out of its mouth and if hunters are hit they will be stuck in place for a time unless they use a cleanser or are hit by a teammate or buddy. Rotating the left stick and pressing buttons can also shorten the amount of time players are webbed. They'll usually have enough time to break free and get out of the way of Rakna-Kadaki's next attack, but not always, so be careful. Rakna-Kadaki can also fling balls of webbing from its abdomen that will have the same effect if hunters are hit by them or touch them once they're on the ground. The Rachnoids that Rakna-Kadaki throws out can also web players or sometimes they'll spit fire instead of webbing.

Monster Hunter Rise is now available for the Nintendo Switch. A PC release is slated for 2022.

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Source: Monster Hunter Wiki