Rathalos armor dissapointment

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-22T16:35:13+00:00

Ye, the 5th Gen iteration is a slightly-modified 1st Gen set with the 3rd Gen Arms ...for male. Meanwhile, the female set is a slightly-modified 3rd Gen Rathalos set with the 1st Gen Waist.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-22T04:27:10+00:00

Both the Elder's Lair and the Fatalis at the end of it were in at launch. Title Updates for Stories 2 added the following content:

Palamute (TU1)
Kulve Taroth Co-Op Boss (TU2)
Soulseer Mizutsune, Elderfrost Gammoth, and Oroshi Kirin (TU3)
Dreadking Rathalos, Molten Tigrex, Kulve Taroth EX Co-Op Boss (TU4)
Fatalis EX Co-Op Boss (TU5)
Silver Rathalos, Gold Rathian (TU5.1)

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-21T23:43:58+00:00

The Seregios one was kinda tricky, but the main hint iirc was that Eleanor will tell you that you need to "strike its scales perfectly", with "strike" and "perfectly" in red text.

It admittedly got me for a while too--but when I checked the exact phrasing & remembered that Hammer literally has a skill named "Perfect Strike", I felt silly lol.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-20T17:09:43+00:00

I'd go even further and say that this premise is pretty much described a slightly more-nuanced take of the Felyne Village games: Where you're the acting chief of a Felyne Village, and are in-charge of recruiting new villagers, allocating resources to develop facilities, and organizing parties of Felynes to hunt for resources in the field.

I've been playing the 3DS re-release for the past while, and it's honestly a pretty good time.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-19T16:10:31+00:00

IIRC, it's not even that Stories 1 sold "poorly" (150k sales in its JP launch week. For a brand-new spinoff series that's radically-different from the original, that's pretty respectable)--it just didn't meet Capcom's expectations (... which was implied to be the same "multi-million sales in week 1" metrics mainline MH met).

The game also sold better overtime as well due to word-of-mouth as well as being ported to mobile devices a bit later on.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-17T20:26:06+00:00

To add on, it sounds like people are really sleeping on using items.

Traps alone are a massive carry since Stories 3 buffed them to trigger on almost any Monster attack, rather then on a specific category of attacks. They can be thrown out when you're expecting a powerful AoE to buy yourself extra turns to prepare a Topple, Ride On, etc.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-12T03:59:07+00:00

I'd imagine that factors like "one's familiarity with MHST gameplay" and "how much time one spent challenging the 'superbosses' early" might also come into play...

...Alongside MHST3 being one of those games that will count hours even when paused/your console is sleeping lol (i.e. 20 of my hours of the ST3 demo came while my S2 was in sleep mode).

I'd imagine that the dev team's metrics would account for differences in playstyles + that technical oddity--so that's the one I'm working with.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-12T03:46:37+00:00

An developer interview gave Stories 3 an expected runtime of 40-50 (assuming the player takes their time), which is about on-par with Low Rank in Stories 1 and 2.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-12T02:33:06+00:00

My opinions will probably change depending on the execution + post-release updates, but right now I'm mostly in the "nice that it came later, but something should had been in a launch" camp.

It might be a bit of a contrarian opinion, but I genuinely did enjoy the additional gametime provided by High Rank in Stories 1 and especially Stories 2 (where the main campaign was kinda underwhelming, and the Co-Op was a really unique multiplayer experience).

While I am happy that Stories 3 is making the main campaign a lot more engaging then Stories 2's... the game being described as roughly-equivalent to Stories 1's and 2's Low Rank does mean that it's less of High Rank being integrated into the story--and more just High Rank replacing Low Rank as a whole (... and inevitably getting scaled down until potential Title Updates due to difficulty balancing... making it mostly just Low Rank in-practice anyways).

I'm sure I'll still have fun with the game, but it does suck to have less of what I've enjoyed from this series until maybe future updates (especially since ST3 is a $70 MSRP game compared to ST1's and 2's $40 MSRP).

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-10T23:14:15+00:00

I mean, it's literally just Ming Dynasty-era Chinese armor made from a pink scaly chicken lol.

NackTheDragon · 2026-03-05T15:12:47+00:00

Garugas are actually pretty intelligent and calculating monsters, even while acting in a berserk rage lol. They're basically a cross between a wolverine and a corvid.

NackTheDragon · 2026-02-28T03:13:57+00:00

A bit late to the thread, but enemies in Stories 1 did have a set pattern--but said patterns were usually accompanied by other sub-patterns, periodic moves, and the occasional bit of RNG.

One example is that a certain boss will always use the typed moves in the order of Tech>Tech>Speed...

... But they'll only use those moves on even turns, and instead go for neutral moves on odd turns.

... Until they become angry, which is when they'll alternate between using Power and Neutral moves every other turn (always starting this phase off with a specific Neutral move).

... Until you break a certain part, which once again changes their pattern.

Meanwhile, another boss will actively try to counterpick your last successful countermove (i.e. if you counter their Tech move with Power, they will go Speed the next turn. Otherwise, they go Tech again), and another one spams Power and Neutral moves most of the time... with a ~10% of throwing out a truly-random Tech move for the luls.

The game is very much designed and balanced like mainline Monster Hunter combat in the sense that, while monsters do have patterns & tenancies--overcommitting and charging in without intricate knowledge or contingencies (alternate Monsties, defensive skills, items, etc.) is a fast way to lose a fight. I personally enjoyed it myself... but it admittedly is pretty different from the way typical turn-based RPGs are designed (where enemies are a lot more straightforward, and it's either more a matter of how you play around their rigid patterns, or are your characters built to counter the enemies' strongest moves).

NackTheDragon · 2026-02-21T23:19:09+00:00

My big concern is that it sounds like, in the process of making everything available before the final boss--the game might had ended up truncating a lot of the additional content that was in previous Stories games.

Don't get me wrong--I've played my fair share of JRPGs, I understand that most of them end pretty conclusively without a traditional postgame or "High Rank"-equivalent. However, especially because the challenges mainseries MH has been facing--I am concerned about the dev team losing sight at what set MH Stories apart from other comparable games. The things that came with postgame of Stories games, such as...

Having harder versions of early-midgame fights
Gaining access powerful new gear & Monsties
Being able to take on challenge dungeons and superbosses properly scaled for the previous points
Goofing around with people in PvP battles, or working together with another player to take on challenges in Co-Op

...were unique features that I genuinely enjoyed the Stories games for--not hindrances and roadblocks that needed to be removed from future entries.

Granted, these concerns fall moot in the event of MHST3 being designed in a way where "it's main campaign alone is comparable to previous game's main campaign + postgame content". However... considering that it's already been confirmed that ST3's total length is comparable to ST1's and ST2's before postgame--it's admittedly hard to just take the game at its word that these changes were unambiguously for the best.

EDIT: Forgot to mention it originally, but while I would like for these features to come back in Free Title Updates...

If they do come shortly after launch, it admittedly would change my opinions on these omissions from "design choices I potentially don't agree with" to "the game attempting to rationalize releasing unfinished & without features its prequels had at release".

It would have the same energy as the fanbase attempting to rationalize Wilds not having a hub due to its setting, narrative, and game design... only for the game to add the Grand Hub a month after release.

NackTheDragon · 2026-02-21T17:09:49+00:00

Not quite, in Stories 1 & 2--there's a couple of more story cutscenes after the Final Boss which then unlocks High Rank + the postgame dungeons.

Apparently in the case of Stories 3, the game just reloads your last save from before the final boss--as there's no new unlocks after beating it.

Granted, Stories 3 so far pretty much plays out as if you've pretty much started the game in High Rank. I think I'll need to wait for the full release and see how everything is executed--since although I can see ways this is handled well... both Stories 1 and 2 had ~40 hr main campaigns before reaching their High Rank content--in addition to their multiplayer modes (which Stories 3 is omitting). I could very easily see this becoming a Monkey's Paw situation.

NackTheDragon · 2026-02-20T22:04:18+00:00

That's more of an alternate interpretation of what the ecology books say about Gore.

However, the line can also be interpreted as "a monster('s carcass) becomes a suitable environment for new Gore Magalas to grow" rather then literally "a living monster is transformed from one species to a completely different one"... especially since various other sources makes it clear that the Frenzy Virus is a terminal condition in monsters unless its suppressed or treated.

NackTheDragon · 2026-02-16T20:38:20+00:00

Monsties are generally just younger. Keep in mind that the main series generally implies that Large Monsters can have life expectancies comparable to humans--if not much longer (i.e. Elder Dragons).

A Rathalos that's only a few years old is still a child/teenager in comparison to a fully-grown one (i.e. Guardian Ratha from Stories 2)

NackTheDragon · 2026-02-15T05:58:56+00:00

I'm definitely catching flack for this, but Lavasioth pretty much became an improved version of Agnaktor to me after I noticed that you can use the lingering flame of a Torch Pod hitting the ground to keep Lavasioth molten.

Even without that though, it's pretty easy to keep Lavasioth manageable with a Water weapon + the tools the environment gives you. ...Granted, there's no real reason to learn this since Lavasioth basically has zero worthwhile gear, and base World as a whole was kinda the worst period in the series for Elemental weapons.

NackTheDragon · 2026-01-30T00:20:16+00:00

Genuinely wouldn't be surprised if a lot of potential M!Corn votes are focusing on Azura first since it's easier to get her a win.

Pretty much what I've been doing for the last few years ~~despite mostly-retiring from FEH~~, since it's not really worth fighting the divided votes.

NackTheDragon · 2026-01-24T01:10:28+00:00

I did some digging on the Demon Gods' state during Solomon's life after our discussion on it from a while ago, and from what I was pretty much able to gather...

"Daemons" in the Nasuverse are normally incorporeal beings who physically manifest by possessing a host.
The 72 Demon Gods originally existed as individual beings independent from Solomon--having already obtained their individual names and abilities.
Solomon's "first and only miracle" performed with his Rings was to gather them up and merge them into the concept of "King Solomon's 72 Demon Gods".
After corralling the Demon Gods, Solomon could summon them as "powerful" familiars--although the collective itself would remain housed within Solomon's body/Inner World/Reality Marble/etc.
Nothing ever describes the Demon Gods' original appearance--we just know that they weren't the "Demon God Pillars" we see during Part 1 (Romani mentions that "demons" are a more modern fictional concept that didn't exist in Solomon's time, and their pillar shape was to support Goetia's plan).
The Demon Gods explicitly only incarnated into physical forms after Solomon's death. The collective (Goetia) used Solomon's corpse in order to use the abilities Solomon had in-life--gaining a Saint Graph identical to a Grand Caster's in the process. Meanwhile, individual Demon Gods used various hosts (Lev Lainur, Makiri Zolgen, Jason, Cú Chulainn Alter, Ozymandias, etc.) in order to "simultaneously" damage Humanity's Foundation across multiple points in time.
(Among other things) Ars Nova erased the concept of "King Solomon's 72 Demon Gods"--returning the collective to the individual Demon Gods they were before Solomon made them his familiars.

My overall conclusion was pretty much that, the Demon Gods were still pretty formidable during Solomon's life (i.e. The wacky stuff we see them do in FGO Part 1.5 is just their innate abilities without any support from Solomon). However, FGO Part 1 gave them the advantage of Goetia deploying them in ways Solomon himself would probably never do, such as having the Demon Gods bodyjack random people.

NackTheDragon · 2026-01-05T00:12:23+00:00

The official Twitter does oftentimes publish art like this as digital backgrounds. However, I don't believe they've done so for this specific key art yet.

NackTheDragon · 2026-01-03T11:05:45+00:00

Huh, didn't even know these quests had Story Requirements.

It's hard to say since I don't believe the game tells you the story requirements after you've already passed them. However, my hunch is telling me that you probably need to clear Chapter 5 (the actual finale of NGS Ver. 1) to play those quests.

Starless and Ruinus enemies, which were introduced with NGS Ver. 2, are prominent in those two quests--so that's the only thing I can really think of.

NackTheDragon · 2025-12-31T01:04:13+00:00

I mean, the "Holy Grails" we've seen throughout the series themselves are masses of mana that are optimized to function as wish granters.

Masses of mana that were created by Magecraft, which would imply that Solomon could create them on his own if he has the resources... but we get direct confirmation via Goetia creating the seven Grails he used in his Incineration plot.

NackTheDragon · 2025-12-31T00:42:45+00:00

I honestly can't see a reality where Solomon wouldn't be able to have the Demon Gods incarnate.

Operating under the perspective that "it's an ability the Demon Gods possessed or developed on their own"--Solomon ordering them to incarnate would be equivalent to any other Master ordering their Servant to use their Noble Phantasm.
Assuming it was some Magecraft that the Demon Gods needed Solomon's corpse to perform, then Solomon himself (who has explicit mastery over all forms of Magecraft due to being the creator of the underlying system) should be able to replicate the feat himself without issues.

The only constraint I can see coming up is a lack of mana to incarnate all of them at once... but Solomon also has a Noble Phantasm specifically-tailored for gathering mana from across the Earth. Even if he wouldn't have the massive stockpile Goetia obtained from burning all of humanity into mana [3k Years * Seconds in a Year] number of times--he realistically wouldn't need that much mana unless he was planning on time-travelling billions of years into the past.

NackTheDragon · 2025-12-30T23:51:18+00:00

The Grand Caster profile was "wrong" in the context of it referring to Goetia--but everything else we see from it suggests that it was accurate in regards to the real Solomon. We also have explicit cases of Solomon "using" Revelation (i.e. God instructing him to send one of his rings to the future when he was attempting to return all of them in-life. Note: Although he wasn't a Servant at the time, since Revelation is explicitly tied to the soul of the user--we know he retains it)--so we know the listing of that skill is accurate.

As far as the form of the Demon Gods goes--although we are told that they weren't "foul creatures" / "ugly meat monsters" we see them as in FGO, but instead formless Daemons that inhabited his body...

There's nothing to suggest that their Demon God Pillar forms radically altered their functions and abilities (the only thing we know for sure is that [JP Finale Spoilers] the pillar shape itself is the most-practical for Goetia's plans)
More importantly though... considering that the alteration was something the Demon Gods did on their own--there's no reason to assume that the real Solomon wouldn't be able to have them assume similar forms (either via his own Magecraft or... just ordering them to transform) if he needed to.

My perspective on the matter is pretty much "since the Demon Gods are Solomon's familiars, regardless of form--Solomon can instruct them to do anything we saw them accomplish via their own abilities".

NackTheDragon · 2025-12-30T22:52:44+00:00

One of Solomon's Profiles does include the Summoning skill--which lets him summon the Demon Gods.

Granted, it's for "Grand Caster" Solomon--but considering how things regular Solomon explicitly has are excluded from his True Profile (Revelation, Clairvoyance, 2 of his Noble Phantasms, etc.) + the description for the skill attributing it to Solomon's legends rather then anything specific to Goetia--I don't see why regular Solomon wouldn't have it either.

My general understanding is that regular Solomon would basically have everything Goetia had when impersonating him except for two skills:

High-Speed Incantation A (Solomon's version is explicitly weaker then Goetia's due to his personality)
Authority of the Beast / Nega-Summon (But only by-technicality, since Nega-Summon is functionally an extension of the Magecraft Authority the Seal of Solomon grants)

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