More of a unicorn than a dragon, Kirin is as majestic as it is deadly. One of the few Thunder based foes in Monster Hunter: World, this Elder Dragon is ruthless and unafraid to put a hunter in their place.
Quite possibly the first Elder Dragon you face, Kirin is a rude awakening for hunters just getting by. Our Monster Hunter: World Kirin guide will help you learn to dodge Kirin’s attacks and take this lightning-fast monster down.
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When Can I Fight Kirin in Monster Hunter: World?
Kirin is the first Elder Dragon you can fight in Monster Hunter: World. It’s also the only Elder Dragon that has a Low Rank version. The first quest you can fight Kirin is the five-star Optional Assignment “Gone in a Flash.” After you complete a string of quests for the Smart Biologist — one that has you capturing monsters — Gone in a Flash will become available. That’s when you can take on the Low Rank Kirin.
Kirin is also available in the eight-star Optional Quest “Lightning Strikes Twice,” which has you fighting the High Rank Elder Dragon. While it is an Optional Assignment, it’s a good idea to give it a try to practice fighting Kirin.
However, you never have to fight Kirin during the main story; the only time the game makes you fight this monster is for the special Hunter Rank 49 quest. “Thunderous Rumble in the Highlands” requires you to take down the Tempered Kirin and you cannot increase in Hunter Rank until you complete the quest.
Trust me though when I say this, though: You definitely want to fight Kirin before this point.
Monster Hunter: World Kirin Moveset
Kirin is a pretty small monster, especially for an Elder Dragon. He’s agile and will gallop around the field, making him hard to hit. His single weak point, the horn, is notoriously difficult to get a lock on. If your weapon doesn’t have good reach it’s best to stay out of the way of those who reliably hit the mark.
This monster’s main form of attack is to summon lightning bolts that damage you at range. They’re pretty well telegraphed by a glow on the ground a couple seconds before they strike. If you’re in the middle of a combo or not paying attention, though, you’re bound to get shocked.
These attacks have a high chance of causing Paralysis, too, which leaves you unable to move. This is extremely dangerous when fighting Kirin. The thunder attacks are powerful. If you’re left unable to dodge or defend when he launches a second attack, there’s a good chance you’ll get KO’d outright. This is especially true when Kirin become enraged…
Additionally, Kirin can cause Thunderblight. Thunderblight greatly increases your chance of getting stunned. Kirin himself has a good chance of stunning you already and Thunderblight is just a recipe for disaster. Knock out the effect quickly by eating a Nulberry or dodging seven times.
Thunderbolts and Lightning
You’ll know Kirin is angry when your attacks start bouncing off the Elder Dragon’s skin. Kirin will envelop itself with lightning, making almost his entire body immune to attacks. Only the horn will take damage during this stage of the fight. And as we previously established, that’s really tricky to hit…
Kirin’s attacks will also become more erratic and deadly. It becomes more important than ever to keep an eye on the field and not get caught with an electric attack. The monster will also gallop around the field more, so make sure not to get trampled or horse kicked. It can be hard to deal with Kirin in this state, but stick it out and he’ll eventually calm down.
Kirin Armor Set
The Kirin Armor set, unsurprisingly, will help a lot against fighting Kirin himself. The set offers good Thunder resistance and decent Dragon resistance, but makes you weaker to other elements. Overall, the Kirin set is pretty tailor-made to deal with Thunder monsters. Given that you only fight Kirin and Tobi-Kodachi in Monster Hunter: World in terms of Thunder beasts, the armor set has limited use. Of course, that might change with Iceborne.
The skills that the Alpha version of the armor provides are:
- Marathon Runner Level 3 – Reduces stamina consumption by 50 percent.
- Divine Blessing Level 3 – This skill activates 25 percent of the time. When it activates, reduces damage taken by 50 percent.
- Blight Resistance Level 1 – Reduces the duration of all elemental blights by 30 percent.
- Thunder Attack Level 3 – Adds 100 to Thunder Attack.
- Thunder Resistance Level 2 – Adds 12 Thunder Resistance.
- Free Elem/Ammo Up Level 3 – If a weapon has a hidden element (an element that’s greyed out), it’ll activate at 100 percent capacity. If you’re using a weapon that consumes ammo, this skill increases the clip size for almost all ammo types.
With Thunder Resistance and Blight Resistance, you’re well on your way to defending yourself against Kirin attacks. Divine Blessing can save you if you fail to dodge an attack, but it’s not a reliable method of reducing damage.
The Beta armor set takes down all of the levels of the skills by one (except Blight Resistance), but allows room for customization with gems. The Alpha has no slots for gems.
Equipping three or more pieces of armor also gives you Kirin Favor. When Kirin Favor is activated, you get a high chance of receiving increased rewards when capturing a monster. Bear in mind that Elder Dragons like Kirin cannot be captured.
Tips for Surviving Kirin in Monter Hunter: World
Get the Thunderproof Mantle. The Thunderproof Mantle is the reward for completing “Gone in a Flash.” This Mantle is invaluable when fighting the tougher versions of Kirin.
You can never have enough Thunder defense. Seriously, elemental defense is majorly important when fighting Kirin. Get armor that gives Thunder defense, get the Thunder Resistance skill up, eat food that’ll give you some extra Elemental defense (vegetables)… anything you can do to lessen the blows of Kirin’s thunderbolts.
Do what you can to prevent Paralysis and stun. Once you got that defense boosted up, you’ll need to take care of the other effects of Kirin’s attacks. Skills, items, and whatever else you can use to stop Thunderblight and Paralysis from killing you are invaluable.
Elderseal can save a life. Elderseal is essentially a status effect that stops Elder Dragon special moves. In the case of Kirin, that knocks out its lightning armor and calms him back down. Bringing a weapon with a high Elderseal chance can make Kirin’s outbursts short-lived. Make sure to also pick up any Dragon Pods that are dropped, too, as they can also cause Elderseal!
Bring a Fire Element weapon. Kirin is weakest to this element. With all the Fire Element beasts in Monster Hunter: World, it shouldn’t be difficult to whip one up. A ranged fire weapon like the Gigacles bow might make it easier to zero in on that horn, too.
If you want to make Kirin’s weapon, make sure to fight both the Low and High Rank versions of the monster. A lot of Kirin’s earlier weapons in the tree need the Azure Horn to create — which is much easier to get when fighting the Low Rank version of the Elder Dragon. I definitely learned this the hard way when I was trying to make some Dual Blade weapons!
