Rathian is a series staple of the Monster Hunter series, so it's no surprise to see that she's returned to Monster Hunter Rise. She didn't get the same kind of gameplay facelift that Rathalos did, but for those new to the series or for those who need a refersher, these are the things to keep in mind when fighting Rathian in Monster Hunter Rise.
Prep, Weaknesses, and Hitzones
Rathian can inflict hunters with two different status ailments: fireblight and poison. Both have the same effect, that being slowly draining hunters' health. Fireblight isn't too much of a concern as it can easily be cured by rolling a few times. Nullberries will work too, but that's kind of a waste of resources since fireblight is so easily cured without them.
Poison is a different story. Poison will either have to be waited out or cured with an antidote. Players who don't want to deal with either of these ailments can spec for fire or poison resistance but they'll need 20 fire resistance to nullify fireblight and level 3 poison resistance skill to nullify poison. So it's likely going to be much easier to just bring antidotes and be ready to roll. That being said, players can eat dango for fire resistance or bring a palico with the Vase of Vitality skill.
Dragon element damage is going to be most effective against Rathian, but given that dragon weapons are in relatively short supply, it wouldn't be unreasonable for players to lack access to one by the time they reach Rathian in both low and high rank. Thunder damage will serve as a decent second choice to dragon damage, though. In general, Monster Hunter Rise's fast attacking weapons like the bow and dual blades are the only ones that need to be overly concerned with elemental damage, however.
Hitzones for Rathian are pretty consistent among weapon types in terms of which places are best to hit, though like usual, shot damage hitzones are lower than cutting and blunt damage. That being said, those zones that players will want to aim for are the head, wings, legs, and tail. The neck, torso, and back aren't bad options either. Honestly, Rathian has pretty decent hitzones all around.
However, status ailments don't really have much of an effect on Rathian. She resists poison and blast and only has a two star susceptibility rating to thunderblight. All other ailments are listed at one star effectiveness.
Fighting Rathian
Despite having two different ailments at her disposal, Rathian actually uses a lot of physical attacks. One of the most dangerous is actually one that seems really simple on paper. Rathian will charge towards players a number of times. It is very easy to get hit on the first charge, then during or right after wirefalling or healing, get hit again. Sometimes this can even result in getting stunned. Therefore, if players are hit by this attack, it's generally going to be a good idea to make sure they are far away from Rathian before doing anything else.
While on the ground, she will also attempt to bite hunters or swing her tail at them. When she swings her tail, she'll turn around twice. If she's in the air, she will sometimes attempt to fly towards hunters and land on them. A flash bomb can be used to knock her out of the air if players are fast enough, but she doesn't fly much compared to Rathalos.
While flying, she may also try to hit players with her tail. In this particular instance, getting hit with her tail will poison players. Thankfully, the hunters will call out when she is about to do this so there's plenty of notice to get out of the way. If players are finding this attack to be particularly annoying then aiming for cutting off the tail may help, but that will obviously take time so players will have to get used to dodging this particular attack to some degree.
She will also breathe fire at players. She fires three fireballs at a time in a particular order. She will fire first right in front of her. Then she will fire to the hunter's left (her right) and finally to the hunter's right (her left). It's a bit of an unusual pattern, so it's something players will have to get used to in order to avoid being hit. The fire lingers for a bit on the ground as well, so players will need to avoid that. Sometimes she will just fire a singular blast right in front of her as well. If she's fatigued, both these attacks can fail, giving hunters an opening.
Monster Hunter Rise is now available for the Nintendo Switch. A PC release is slated for 2022.