Rajang is a notoriously aggressive monster within the Monster Hunter series. Rajang appeared in the last game, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, and most of its behaviors remain the same in Monster Hunter Rise. That being said, for newcomers and veterans alike, Rajang can still be a very hard hitting monsters, so players will want to know how best to take it down in the late game of Monster Hunter Rise.
Prep, Weaknesses, and Hitzones
Rajang has a few attacks with the thunder element attached to them. Therefore, players may find it helpful to spec for thunder resistance either through armor or through dango. Rajang hits fast and hard, so getting thunderblight and subsequently stunned can be a fast ticket back to camp. Speccing for stun resistance is also a viable option. That said, only a few moves in its repertoire can inflict thunderblight, but they come out enough that players should take heed.
Rajang resists every element but water and ice with water being still relatively ineffective. So any players bringing in an elemental weapon will need to bring in an ice weapon. Every weapon type will do the most damage hitting Rajang in the head, with the forelegs and torso being decent secondary options, but Rajang has fairly decent hitzones all over its body.
As for ailments that Rajang is susceptible to, it actually resists every standard status condition besides blast, which it has a two star weakness to. It can however, be affected by the elemental blights with the endemic beetles scattered around the game's maps. Iceblight is most effective predictably, but all work.
Fighting Rajang
Most of Rajang's attacks are physical, so if hunters are at range, it will rather rapidly attempt to close the distance. For Monster Hunter Rise's melee weapon users, it's actually easier sometimes to stay behind Rajang to avoid being hit, and just cling to its tail. That will cost players the most effective of Rajang's hitzones, however. But there is some merit in aiming for Rajang's tail.
Rajang has three different states that it fights in. In its starting state in which its fur is completely brown, it will rely on just its melee attacks. One of those attacks involves grabbing a hunter and throwing them to the ground. If this happens, players should wirefall to avoid being hit by Rajang's follow up attack. Rajang will generally just gun for players by swinging at them and hitting the ground. Narrowly avoiding an attack where Rajang hits the ground can still cause the hunter to lose their footing and be vulnerable.
Not too long into the fight, Rajang's fur will turn golden, and it is at this point that Rajang can start using electric attacks. This is also the time that attacking the tail can be helpful, because players can knock Rajang back into its basic state and score a knockdown if enough damage is done to the tail. One of Rajang's electric moves sees it fire a giant electric laser from its mouth. This attack is much more accurate this time around compared to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. The hunters will tend to call out if Rajang is about to use this attack, but not always, so players standing in front of Rajang will have to be careful because the attack comes out quickly. While easier to read and avoid, Rajang can also jump into the air and fire a a ball of electricity at hunters.
Players can tell when Rajang is in its third state because its arms will start glowing red. It has access to an even more powerful ground pound attack in this state. There is no callout from the hunters for this move despite it being one of Rajang's strongest. But Rajang will roar before it jumps up in the air to initiate this attack. The target of the attack will want to start moving quickly, because Rajang has good aim with this attack, it hits hard, and it blocks players from wirefalling. So if players are hit, they'll want to make sure its safe to get up again before sacrificing the invincibility frames they have on the floor, to get up and heal.
If players want to trap or capture Rajang, they need to be aware that if Rajang is in its electrified state, like Zinogre, it cannot be affected by shock traps. However, when in its most basic form, it can't be affected by pitfall traps. So players planning to trap Rajang for any purpose will want to bring both kinds of traps.
Monster Hunter Rise is now available for the Nintendo Switch. A PC release is slated for 2022.