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Fatalis has always been the most powerful creature in the Monster Hunter universe, in-game and lore-wise. In Monster Hunter World, you will be tasked to end The Black Dragon’s reign of terror after finishing all Iceborne‘s Assigned Quests and Special Assignments. As you can guess, beating Fatalis is going to be the hardest challenge that you can face in MHW. But nothing is impossible for the best Hunter of the Fifth Fleet, right?
MHW Iceborne: Strategies and Tips For Beating Fatalis
Phase 1 Fight
If you’re fighting Fatalis in “The Black Dragon” MHW Special Assignment, all you have to do is survive and keep damaging the monster’s health. Eventually, a cutscene will play where you and Ace Hunter avoid Fatalis arena-wide fire breath attack that ends the first phase of the quest.
Once the cutscene ends, people in the Lobby can join you, you can turn on SOS, or go back to Seliana. In case you want to head back to the Gathering Hub, pick the “Return from Quest” option. That way, you will skip the whole cutscene and people can instantly join when running the Special Assignment again.
Now, if you’re replaying the Special Assignment after a quest-ending cart or the “Fade to Black” Event Quest, start it with a different strategy:
- Before dropping down from the Camp, wear the Ghillie Mantle. Take some free EZ Max Potions and Dust of Life from the Supply Box as well if you can.
- Grab some Stones for Slinger Ammo and put some Mega Barrel Bombs in front of Fatalis’s groin.
- Run to the barricade with Cannons on the other end of the arena.
- Fill both of the Cannons up and aim it at Fatalis.
- With the Heavy Artillery Skill, this should deal 4,950 damage from the Cannons and an additional 450 damage from the Mega Barrel Bombs!
Getting hit by the Cannons twice will also guarantee a free knockdown. Use this moment to wound its head and wallbang it to the Cannons’ barricade when it’s awake. Head back to the Camp using a Farcaster if you need to change the Ghillie Mantle and your Loadout.
From this point, focus on Fatalis’s head and chest as much as you can because you need to break them to lower its fire attacks’ damage in the last phase. When Clutch Clawing to the head, take note of whether it’s using a fire breath or fireball attack. Fire breath won’t damage and knock you away, but fireball does. In case you want to do a wallbang, make sure Fatalis is already walking on four limbs. Because if it’s standing up, a Slinger Shot will only make it change its stance.
Get away from Fatalis if it’s doing a body slam because even Rocksteady and Temporal Mantle won’t save you from being pinned. Another extremely dangerous move that most players underestimate is the dragon’s tail slam or swipe. Its tail has a ridiculous amount of reach and can easily eat more than half your health! Try to stay away from Fatalis’s rear to avoid it attacking with its tail.
Don’t forget that the “The Black Dragon” Special Assignment gives you 5 carts. With bonus deaths from Felyne Insurance and Safeguard, you can use this quest to carefully learn everything you need to know to beat Fatalis. From its movesets, what you should do during phase transitions, to Ballista and Binder locations.
Phase 2 Fight
After Fatalis is down to around 75% health, it will fly away and do the first arena-wide flame breath. Run to the rightmost side of the arena and hide behind the rubbles with the red flag on top. Use this time to sharpen your weapons and heal up.
Interestingly, if you put some Smoke Bombs before Fatalis ends its ultimate supernova attack, it will lose sight of you! You can then use this moment to safely aim at the Black Dragon’s head with the Roaming Ballista or do a wallbang.
In the second phase, MHW Fatalis’s movesets will open up so make sure you always carry Dragon Pod Slinger Ammo. Two shots of Dragon Pods will always flinch Fatalis, useful when you’re pinned or in a bad position and can’t avoid attacks.
During this phase, Fatalis also likes to do a cone-shaped, half arena-wide fire breath attack. It does a very fast chip damage that will surely kill you or other Hunters if they notice it too late. Thankfully, you can hide behind the two broken pillars scattered in the arena or a blocking Lance/Gunlance/Greatsword user.
And considering the flame won’t cover the whole area, running away to the other side might save you. When performing this attack, Fatalis’s head is very susceptible to attacks, so take advantage of this window!
MHW Iceborne Fatalis Phase 3 Fight Strategies
Beat Fatalis down to 50% of health, and Fatalis will perform another ultimate attack. This time run all the way to the top of the map where the Dragonator and barrier are. If you’re playing a multiplayer hunt, make sure all your teammates are inside the barrier before hitting the switch. Otherwise, they’ll be trapped outside and have to take on Fatalis’s fiery rage and cart.
As you expect, the last phase is going to be the toughest part of the fight, especially if you haven’t broken its head. Fatalis’s head can be broken twice, doing so will weaken all of its fire attacks and reward you with the rare Evil Eye material whether you failed the quest or not. You’ll notice Fatalis still has full power if it’s breathing blue flames.
You should have broken its head once during Phase 2 or not long after Phase 3 starts. Otherwise, it’s going to be an uphill battle where you have to avoid lots of one-shot attacks.
There are three new attacks that you have to keep your eyes on in this phase. First, Fatalis will walk backward while shooting flames to its right and left sides. Staying in front of its belly is the best way to avoid this attack. The second one is the spinning fire breath. Although it is a fire breath attack, unfortunately, Clutch Clawing its head will still deal a huge amount of damage. Instead, you’ll want to Clutch Claw or simply stand and stick close to its chest. If it’s charging its attack while looking to the right, then stay on its left side and vice versa.
The last one is another type of pin attack. When it’s suddenly doing a quick wiggle and leap, a player that’s caught by this attack will stick to Fatalis’s chest. It’s completely unblockable and will quickly drain the Hunter’s health to around 20%. You can survive this if you have full health with high Fire Resistance, your teammates keep healing, or Fatalis get flinched by a Dragon Pod.
Fortunately, there are two One-Shot Binders that can ensnare the Black Dragon placed in the arena. One is near the Phase 2 hiding spot and the other is just behind the Ballista to the platform on the right from the flame barrier. Once taken, head to one of the two Ballistas and shoot it to trap the monster. Use this moment to deal as much damage to its head!
Phase 3 Supernovas and Dragonator
Fatalis will perform three additional arena-wide supernova at 25%, 15%, and 5% of health. When it flies out of the arena, follow where it’s going and just stay below Fatalis. You can actually tank this flame damage, I’ve seen some Great Sword players do it but not sure how much Fire Resistance and Defense you need. And if you were too late to run and got knocked down, staying put, delaying your wake-up, while teammates heal you can save your life.
Meanwhile, the Dragonator will be ready 10 minutes after you’ve reached Phase 3. Be careful when baiting Fatalis to the front of the Dragonator, though. It still can attack you with a fully charged fireball, 3-round burst fireballs, or an upper platform sweeping flame breath. Once it stands in front of Castle Schrade’s trap, trigger the switch, and each Dragonator spike will deal 3,300 damage to Fatalis, knocking it down.
Even when the 10 or 5 minutes left pop-up has appeared, never give up hope. If you have reached this phase, you only have to keep up your attacks and the Black Dragon can finally be put to rest. Remember, if there is still time and carts left, then the hunt hasn’t ended yet!
The Best Weapon and Skills to Beat Fatalis With in MHW
All weapons are viable for beating Fatalis in MHW Iceborne. Personally, the first time we did it alone, we used a Health Regen Long Gunlance and completely ignored head breaks. Nevertheless, for an easier time, Switch Axe is highly recommended thanks to a relatively cheese-able build.
The Switch Axe game plan is doing Elemental Discharge on Fatalis’s head or chest while running Rocksteady and Temporal Mantles as often as you can. To do so, slot in Tool Specialist 2 in your armor and the other 2 Levels in your Mantles so they regenerate faster. Since Fatalis is weak to Dragon, using Alatreon gear is your best bet. Having both Alatreon Divinity Skills will also bump up your Elemental damage and resistances. Don’t forget Power Prolonger so you don’t have to worry about the Sword Mode upkeep too much.
Bringing along a Palico with Shieldspire Skill is a great way to take the heat off your back. Manually command your Palico to use the Shieldspire Stooge and Bash often through the Item Menu bar to create counterattack opportunities. For the weapon, give it the Paralysis Kitty-of-the-Valley α+ and your partner will 100% proc Para once during the fight.
Getting at least 20 Fire Resistance to further reduce damage and remove Fireblight’s tick damage is a no-brainer choice for this fight. Try to increase your Defense to above 1,000 with Defense Boost and Heroics. Survival is your number one priority, but don’t forget to stay aggressive, because the time limit is only 30 minutes.
For other type of builds or sets, these are some Armor Skills that you should always consider using:
| Armor Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Health Boost 3 | Increases your maximum health to 150 HP. |
| Divine Blessing 5 | Will often reduce damage taken by 60%. |
| Fire Resistance 3 | Removes heat damage from Fatalis’s fires and Fireblight. |
| Stun Resistance 3 | Makes sure you won’t faint from silly mistakes. |
| Partbreak 3 | Makes it easier to break Fatalis’s head. |
| Defense Boost 5 | Makes sure you won’t get one-shotted. |
| Heroics 3 or higher | Can be a safety net when your health is at 50% or lower. |
| Evade Extender 2 | Increases your dodging range. Level 3 is great but most players think it’s overkill. |
| Evade Window 5 | Can be used if you’re confident in your i-frame-exploiting dodging skill. Or if you play Soulslike action games often. |
| Fortify | Defense boost for if you cart often. |
| Resentment | Increases damage depending on how much recoverable red health you have. Synergize well with a Rocksteady build. |
| Weapon Health Augment 1 | Health regen from the Smithy’s Weapon Augment option helps keep up your offense. |
MHW Iceborne: Fatalis Armor Set
The Fatalis MHW set will give you a pretty overpowered Inheritance skill that unlocks all available skill Secrets for just two pieces of armor. Meanwhile, the four pieces will give you Transcendence, which grants True Razor Sharp/Shot and a permanent 100 bonus Health/Stamina even when fainting. Below is the list of armor skills and materials needed for each piece.
Fatalis Alpha Set:
- Dragonhead α+: Fatalis Cortex 3x, Fatalis Hardhorn x1, Fatalis Evil Eye x1, Stygian Zinogre Skymerald x1.
- Skills: Stun Resistance Level 3, Guard Level 3; Deco Level 3 + Level 2 + Level 2.
- Dragonhide α+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Pectus x3, Fatalis Evil Eye x2, Azure Dragonsphire x1.
- Skills: Weakness Exploit Level 1, Evade Window Level 2; Deco Level 4 + Level 4 + Level 3.
- Dragonclaws α+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Shard x3, Fatalis Hardhorn x2, Rajang Heart x1.
- Skills: Weakness Exploit Level 1, Evade Window Level 2; Deco Level 4 + Level 4 + Level 3.
- Dragonbarbs α+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Fellwing x2, Fatalis Pectus x2, Immortal Reactor x1.
- Skills: Critical Eye Level 3, Weakness Exploit Level 1; Deco Level 4 + Level 3 + Level 3.
- Dragonfeet α+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Shard x4, Fatalis Fellwing x2, Large Elder Dragon Gem x1.
- Skills: Evade Window Level 1, Handicraft Level 2; Deco Level 4 + Level 4.
Fatalis Beta Set (all pieces have three Deco Level 4 slots):
- Dragonhead β+: Fatalis Cortex 3x, Fatalis Hardhorn x1, Fatalis Evil Eye x1, Stygian Zinogre Skymerald x1.
- Skills: Stun Resistance Level 3.
- Dragonhide β+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Pectus x3, Fatalis Evil Eye x2, Azure Dragonsphire x1.
- Skills: Weakness Exploit Level 1, Evade Window Level 1.
- Dragonclaws β+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Shard x3, Fatalis Hardhorn x2, Rajang Heart x1.
- Skills: Weakness Exploit Level 1.
- Dragonbarbs β+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Fellwing x2, Fatalis Pectus x2, Immortal Reactor x1.
- Skills: Critical Eye Level 2.
- Dragonfeet β+: Fatalis Cortex x3, Fatalis Shard x4, Fatalis Fellwing x2, Large Elder Dragon Gem x1.
- Skills: Evade Window Level 1.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
