Monster Hunter World Iceborne Brachydios guide

Look, there are a lot of silly designs in Monster Hunter World Iceborne, but I still think that this hench lad with a rockabilly mohawk takes the biscuit. Brachydios doesn't just wear that protruding thing on his bonce for show though, as secreted within is an explosive slime that it uses to coat its fists, before pummelling the ground like a toddler having a massive tantrum. This monster might give unfamiliar hunters a bit of an issue.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne Brachydios guide

Our Monster Hunter World Iceborne Brachydios guide will explain the strategies for defeating the Brachydios, 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 Brachydios guide contents

• Brachydios weaknesses and resistances
• How to hunt Brachydios
• What happens when Brachydios becomes enraged?
• Brachydios 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.

Brachydios weaknesses and resistances

Brachydios has a surprising amount of resistances, making it a formidable challenge to those using any of the regular elements. It does have a big weakness to ice, so considering just how many ice monsters you've faced now, means that you should have a Master Rank ice weapon to use. Water and any other ailment except for blast are okay alternatives, but don't bother using fire, blast, thunder, or dragon weapons.

Do not take blunt weapons into this fight. Both bladed and ranged weapons have similar effectiveness against the tail and head, which will be the two main parts you'll be targeting, whereas blunt weapons do less damage against the tail. Its head, tail, and fists are all breakable.

How to hunt Brachydios

When fighting the Brachydios, the main thing you must always watch out for are the slime deposits it can leave everywhere. Not only are they very sticky, hampering your movement and setting you up for a potential battering from this hench monster's fists, they also explode after a short time and inflict "blastscourge". This is essentially a more damaging version of blastblight that is harder to get rid of. To cure blastscourge, roll four times in a row or eat a Nulberry. If you are hit again while under blastscourge conditions, you'll instantly be knocked out due to how much damage it deals.

The slime on its fists does degrade for each attack with its fists, eventually drying out. It will occasionally stand on the spot to redistribute the slime onto its fists from its forehead. As for how the Brachydios uses this slime, there are a large number of physical attacks it can perform, so we'll list them below and tell you how to avoid them.

• If you're a little far away and Brachydios begins to shake, it's about to jump and pound the ground near you. Run to the side and dive to avoid this attack. It's the simplest one to avoid and sets up counter-attacking opportunities.
• The most dangerous attack is probably the repeated ground pound. It'll punch the ground several times while walking towards your current direction. Back off when the first punch hits the ground and run to the side to force it to turn.
• If it stands on its hind legs, it's about to headbutt the ground in front of it. It won't turn as it strikes, so just dodge to the side to avoid it. You can counter attack from here.
• Brachydios has a tail swipe that doesn't spin around, but it does attack hunters twice. Only move in for a few hits after the second swing.
• It can also just punch normally, which is a little harder to avoid. It doesn't leave a slime puddle, but it can inflict blastscourge.

What happens when Brachydios becomes enraged?

Brachydios will signal becoming enraged with a huge roar, but the main difference here is the colour of the slime on its limbs. The slime goes from green to a deep yellow. Since the slime it leaves behind goes from green to yellow, before turning red and exploding, this cuts out a significant amount of time from the trap being laid to the point where it explodes. Certain attacks will also explode automatically such as when it pounds the ground repeatedly or leaps forward and slams the ground with its fists and head.

It also gains a brand new attack where it rises up on its hind legs, before slamming them onto the ground. This causes the surrounding area to flood with explosive traps that detonate shortly after they appear. You want to be as far away from this nonsense as possible, so just run in one direction and don't stop. Thankfully, you should find that Brachydios calms down shortly after this attack.

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

• When you first encounter Brachydios in the Elder's Recess, you can fire a dung pod at it to scare it off. This will allow you to carve into the now-dead Uragaan for some free items. They won't be the same items that you would get for slaying an Uragaan normally, since it was the Brachydios that did the work.
• Severing the tail will shorten the range of its double tail swing, so it's worth lopping it off.
• Any of its fist or head attacks inflict blastscourge, which is a stronger version of blastblight.
• When you first fight Brachydios, you'll fight it in the Elder's Recess. Should there also be an Azure Rathalos, they will have a turf war that does a lot of damage to Brachydios, but you may wish to use a dung pod to avoid exploding due to blastscourge.

Brachydios materials

When you've beaten the Brachydios, you'll be able to get a ton of different Brachydios 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 Brachydios:

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 Glavenus or Nargacuga guides. You'll have one more monster to defeat before facing off against the biggest challenge yet, so being the second monster that needs defeating is the Tigrex.

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.