Monster Hunter World Iceborne Barioth guide

Perhaps your first real challenge in Monster Hunter World Iceborne is the frosty savage itself - Barioth. On top of just being a really, really fast, it has some rather brutal melee attacks and ice tornado projectiles that can easily overwhelm you. Preparation is key to winning this fight and it is possible to beat it.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne Barioth guide

Our Monster Hunter World Iceborne Barioth guide will explain the strategies for defeating the Barioth, detail all of its weaknesses and resistances, and show the loot table for all the items you can get for defeating this beast.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne Barioth guide contents

• Barioth weaknesses and strengths
• How to hunt Barioth
• How to slow down Barioth
• Barioth materials

Those new to hunting monsters, or if you just need to find a particular monster guide to get up to Hunter Rank 16 - needed to start the Iceborne expansion - should head over to our Monster Hunter World guide hub for a plethora of guides. Once you're ready to begin the expansion, you'll find a few hunters gathered near the gate in Astera.

Barioth weaknesses and resistances

Don't make the same mistake that I did when it comes to the Barioth's weaknesses. I accidentally brought a water-based weapon into the fight which, along with ice, is heavily resisted. Instead, bring either a fire-based weapon or one that inflicts ailments, as you won't cut it as fine as I did (having only four minutes to spare on my successful run).

I'll go into a lot more detail as to why in the strategy section, but the main focuses for you to break are the Barioth's front claws and the tail. While they're designated as weak points, you will find that the tail is resistant to blunt strikes, while the claws resist both ranged and bladed attacks. The head is the only other breakable part and is the weakest point of the Barioth.

How to hunt Barioth

The Barioth is most dangerous at full health, unencumbered by injury and able to perform its most damaging attacks with relative ease. It can easily crush you if you're acting a little rash, so you'll need to play rather defensively. Having some decent evasion skills is paramount to winning, so check out our Monster Hunter World Iceborne armor guide for some good builds to use in this fight.

One thing that should be pointed out is that certain attacks can collapse the ground if you are near its lair, transporting you to a different area of the map, usually underground. This is highly inconvenient as you might expect, as the Barioth will simply fly away to avoid the attack. If the ground collapses underneath it, it should fly to another location to land rather than attack, so it is a window of opportunity.

Since it has a large number of attacks, here's a list of what it can do and what you need to do to avoid them:

• The tail swipe is far longer than you'll probably anticipate it being and it can also flick back which deals just as much damage as the regular swipe. Diving in too soon to get the counter attack on the tail area may result in you getting swatted aside. Delay your timing by a millisecond before rushing in to hack at the Barioth's tail.
• If it ever stands on its hind legs, get as far away from it as possible and make sure to dive at the last moment. It'll proceed to leap in the air and slam its claws and face into the ice. Being hit hurts a lot and puts you in a crawling state, while being too close staggers you for a short time.
• The Barioth does tend to use its ice breath at range, either on the ground or in the air, which can inflict Iceblight if you are caught in the icy winds.
• It'll follow the ice breath attacks with a lunge of sorts that will make it flick around. This attack can be avoided by running to the side after the tornado appears, then dodging at the point where the Barioth leaps. Provided you're not dodging into its tail, you should be okay.
• The attack that's most likely to hit you is whenever it jumps to the side. It'll go for a shoulder barge that does moderate damage if it connects. There's very little time to dodge this, so aim to roll out of the way if you can.
• There is also a biting attack that can come without warning, but it doesn't hit for a lot of health if you have enough defensive stats.

How to slow down Barioth

Your main aim is to try to close the distance, while breaking the front claws and severing the tail. Doing so will slow down the Barioth and even cause it to be unstable in some of its more brutal attacks such as the lunging pounce, leaving it more vulnerable to being attacked in the face. The best attacks to try and close the distance are the lunge attack or tail swipes.

There are a few other things to watch out for in this fight, so here are a few more tips:

• Severing the tail will shorten the range of the tail swipe attack.
• Remember that Iceblight can be cured with Nulberries or Cleanser Boosters, and prevented with Warming decorations. Ice Resistance and Resuscitate are also handy in this fight.
• Barioth's eye colour changes from blue to red when enraged. It'll attack more erratically in this state. Use the mini-map for more reliable information about if it's enraged.
• Barioth will have turf wars with Fulgur Anjanath and Banbaro.

Barioth materials

When you've beaten the Barioth, you'll be able to get a ton of different Barioth materials. These are all the brand new Master Rank items which are used to make tons of Master Rank gear. Below are all the items that you can get for breaking certain parts/defeating the Barioth:

Monster Hunter World Iceborne guides

We have a whole host of other useful Monster Hunter World Iceborne guide pages for your convenience. Why not take a gander? If you want to check out the previous boss guides, head to the Nightshade Paolumu or Coral Pukei-Pukei guide. The game now splits again here as you search for more clues, but this time you're introduced to two new monsters: Nargacuga and Glavenus.

Monster Hunter World guide - Our guide hub for Monster Hunter World, including the basics, weapon and armour trees, and boss guides.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne guide - Our guide hub for the Iceborne expansion to Monster Hunter World, including new features, the new hub area, and more.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne armor - All the armor recipes and the best Monster Hunter World Iceborne builds.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne weapons - All the weapons in Iceborne and the recipes for each one.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne boss guide - A collection of boss guides for Monster Hunter World Iceborne, detailing strategies, weaknesses, and loot tables for each.