You might want to know the MHW Fatalis weakness before battling this endgame boss. Well, the classic creature isn’t all that different from its previous incarnations in Monster Hunter games. Though the fight itself is very much unique. You’ve never done anything like it in the console Capcom title. So it’s best to prepare for the fight of your life with our MHW Fatalis guide. I’ll go over more than weaknesses — with things like tips, tricks, and suggested skills to bring along in your mission.
During the Special Assignment, “The Black Dragon,” Fatalis actually forces you to play solo. You get a helper — an NPC you might recognize — to provide cover fire and healing. So this phase basically functions as a tutorial. Simply battle the beast like you would any other monster until the cutscene triggers. Listen to the dialogue for a few helpful hints at what’s to come, but otherwise don’t sweat it too much.
After the cutscene plays (and on subsequent runs) you can SOS Flare immediately. Fatalis does have multiplayer scaling, so its health increases with two or more players, but taking to co-op has some meaty benefits. Playing with hunters you trust and can coordinate with will also make this much, much easier. Though solo play is still totally doable.
Technically, you can beat Fatalis by dealing damage normally. You just need to avoid its (nearly) instant kill mechanics. To help with that, you probably want to know the best Fatalis weakness in MHW. That would be Dragon damage, with Fire coming in at a close second. It’s a little ironic; Fatalis mostly does these damage types itself. Although you can reduce its fire damage by breaking Fatalis’s head.
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If you can coordinate with a team, it’s good to have one player equip Heavy Artillery and a Ghillie Mantle. They can use the stealth to load cannons around the arena. Meanwhile, the Heavy Artillery skill will make them deal more cannon and ballista damage. It’s not just free DPS, though. Properly landing a full cannon salvo will topple Fatalis. And if you miss one or two shots you can use the ballistae to finish knocking the black dragon down.
Stunning Fatalis is actually a huge part of the encounter. You can “wall bang” him like any other monster when he isn’t enraged. It even does incredible damage! The process is slightly unique, though.
Fatalis can either stand on its hind legs or all fours. Use your Clutch Claw to fire a Flinch Shot (i.e. fire your Slinger ammo into its face) while the creature is standing. That will put it down on all fours. Once that’s done, Fatalis will not instantly enrage, like almost any other enemy in MHW. Instead a second hunter can grapple to its head again and flinch it into a wall face-first. This does huge damage and opens a window for more.
Speaking of windows, you can buy yourself quite a few by flinching Fatalis normally. This is accomplished with Dragon Pods. At any time — including when Fatalis is enraged — you can shoot it with two Dragon Pods to just… make the monster flinch. It’s an honestly incredible way to save allies and buy yourself breathing room. It won’t work during a couple animations. And you actually don’t want to use it during big damage windows (e.g. when Fatalis breathes fire in a forward cone). But it will save your fellow hunters lives.
Speaking of which, don’t stay too close to the monster’s head when it fires its ultra-powerful cone attack. It leaves behind an explosive pool of molten muck that will damage you! And if you can’t get on top of Fatalis in time, use the Superman Dive ability to mitigate the damage, as you might do against Lunastra.
Dragon Pods are easy to come by, too. Fatalis drops them if you tenderize them with a “light” weapon. You can also use the recent Clutch Claw Boost skill to produce ammo on heavy hits.
After you deal enough damage to Fatalis, the fun truly begins. The beast will fly to one side of the arena and prepare a not-quite-instant kill move. It will breathe fire across the whole area. Death occurs after just a few seconds’ exposure. That is, unless, you hide in the right spot.
There’s one safe zone in the castle. It’s a large, curved plate with a red and gold tapestry hanging over it. This “cave” will protect you and your friends from the fire. Though it will melt (along with much of the arena) in the process. That means you need to find a new safe spot the next time Fatalis fires. Because there will be a next time. Several next times.
Until that point, you can continue the fight as normal, using the same tips mentioned above. Eventually Fatalis will prepare another death salvo. This time you need to run to the opposite side of the arena as the monster — up the wooden scaffolding and through the now open metal gate. Make sure the whole team gets through! It’ll take a few seconds for the fire to kill anyone. Support players can buy time with Wide-Range, Dust of Life, or Lifepowder as well. Then once the whole crew is through, pull the lever to raise the gate. It’ll block the attack (and melt just like the hull from before).
Now it’s time to fight Fatalis as normal. Again. Though you’ll have a Dragonator at your disposal after a few minutes. This is good for massive damage, just as it is during Special Arena missions, but this is Fatalis. You might as well eke out every hit you can. One trick is to have a player Farcaster out and switch to a ranged weapon with Sleep (assuming they don’t have one already). Then send Fatalis to bed in front of the Dragonator. One of the two spikes will hit twice as hard, as one does against sleeping targets, and net you more than a whopping 17,000 additional damage. That’s in addition to 8,000 or so from the other, normal poke.
Now Fatalis continues to function more-or-less the same. There are a couple new moves, but nothing you won’t recognize from other hunts. The big difference is the arena-killing fire attack. No, you’re not done with them yet. Yes, you can still avoid them!
Unfortunately, you’re fresh out of convenient barriers at this point. Fatalis will still fly above the battlefield, but now you can stand right under to him to stay safe. The fire will overshoot you and your teammates. Again, Wide-Range, Dust of Life, and Lifepowder can help protect slow allies as they make their way to safety.
Combining all these tactics — the cannons and ballistae, the Dragonator, the Dragon Pods, the wall bangs, and the support items — will make this a much smoother fight than normal. It will also open up Fatalis for tons of hits on his head. That way you can break it to make the fire weaker and net yourself Fatalis Evil Eyes. These are rare crafting materials you need to complete your Fatalis gear. You can break Fatalis’s head twice during a single hunt.
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Suggested Skills – MHW Fatalis Guide
That’s all there is too it! This may seem like a complicated fight, but each step is pretty similar to the last. It’s just a long battle against a monster with massive hit points. You can absolutely beat it with patience and perseverance. To help with your struggle, though, I’ve included some suggested skills to bring along and help you through the true final boss of MHW.
- Wide-Range: Causes items, like Mega Potions, to affect allies as well. Perfect for topping off slowpokes who get caught in the fire breath.
- Slinger Capacity: Increases the amount of Slinger ammo you can hold. This is great for two reasons. Dragon Pods are an essential Fatalis weakness, and this skill comes pre-loaded on Silver Rathalos gear. That gives you access to True Critical Element for bonus damage as well.
- Divine Blessing: It’s just a really good defensive skill!
- Heavy Artillery: For reasons listed above, this is great to equip on one dedicated cannon user, or to bring out at the beginning of your solo hunt for a quick stun.
- Partbreaker: Smashing that head for Fatalis Evil Eyes is a pain. Partbreaker makes things just a bit easier.
- Free Meal: This is a highly underrated skill that’s particularly good in “locked” battlefields like Castle Schrade.
- Clutch Claw Boost: You can use this to generate more Dragon Pods for your team with a heavy weapon equipped. It will also make light weapons tenderize in a single hit, but that’s not quite as useful.
- Whatever you want! Fatalis isn’t nearly as demanding in a build sense as Alatreon before it. Damage is always good, particularly in the form of Critical Eye, but take whatever makes you comfortable and helps you have fun.
I hope this helps! Fatalis might not be the hardest fight you’ve ever had, but it’s a long process, full of time to make mistakes. Try to keep you and your allies alive as best as you can with these tips and steps. Your reward for doing so is some mighty fine (see: overpowered) gear. Happy hunting!
