Monster Hunter World: Iceborne recently released a free update that introduced a new monster into the game - but not just any monster. Alatreon, the game's first Black Dragon, arrived in the New World to cause some havoc. For a bit of background context, Black Dragons in the Monster Hunter universe are considered some of the toughest monsters, period. As you might've seen in the last few days, Alatreon more than lives up to his Black Dragon name. Players have been struggling to beat this behemoth of a dragon, and understandably so. Alatreon commands all the elements, so finding a weakness is damn near impossible.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you speak to), Capcom have tweaked the fight to include a DPS check and have Alatreon cycle through a specific order of elements. After dozens of hours trying and failing, I eventually managed to formulate a strategy or two that lead me to beat Alatreon both solo and with a team. Hopefully these handy tips and tricks will come in handy, and lead you to victory as well.

Understanding Alatreon


Alatreon's fights, as they stand now, are broken up into three quests: one Special Assignment (which is mandatory) and two Event Quests. The Special Assignment, "Blazing Black Twilight", can be triggered by speaking to the Third Fleet Commander in Seliana, near the Elder Melder. She'll lead you to the Handler and co., who reveal that an Alatreon had been spotted in the valley where Safi'jiiva spawned. Naturally, your hunter is tasked with taking care of it, though suggests you form a team to do so (though it might actually be easier to tackle solo, but we'll get to that in a bit).

"Blazing Black Twilight" will be your first encounter with Alatreon. Upon entering the secluded battle area, you'll notice a couple of things: 1) you can't use Farcaster, meaning your only means of going back to camp is by cart, and 2) Alatreon hits like a truck, mixing up elemental AoE attacks to keep you on your toes.

First and foremost, Alatreon will perform a DPS check every six minutes or so in the form of an ultimate supernova called Escaton Judgement. There's no way to avoid this attack, but there are ways to mitigate its potential damage.

How the DPS Check Works


Your primary objective in this fight is to inflict as much elemental damage on Alatreon as possible while trying to break his horns. Faster weapons like the Dual Blades, Insect Glaive, and generally any quick weapon that can dish out elemental damage quickly is your most viable option, though heavier weapons like Great Sword and Gunlance are still okay to use, but they just don't deal as much elemental damage and can be quite a hindrance if you're playing solo, though might be more forgiving in a team.

How Alatreon's elemental stages work is quite simple (in the case of the Special Assignment): Alatreon starts in his fire phase, meaning you should be using ice or water weapons. This is a must. Dragon works fine too, but you'll be dishing out a lot more elemental damage using the opposing element. After a couple of minutes, Alatreon will enter its dragon phase. This is the most crucial phase because its the only phase where you'll be able to break his horns. Go for the head, and don't stop attacking even after his horns are broken.

You'll have to wait for one very specific cue from the Handler, who will tell you that you're doing a good job suppressing Alatreon's powers. If you hear this cue, you'll be able to survive the Escaton Judgement because you've dealt enough elemental damage to the point where the ultimate is significantly weaker. If you don't hear this cue from the Handler, break the horns or deal enough elemental damage in time, bad news. The Escaton Judgement will cart you.

Surviving Escaton Judgement


Now that we've differentiated between what is an insta-kill Escaton Judgement and what is a survivable one, there are a few ways to ensure you don't cart with its survivable one. The Escaton Judgement - much like Safi'jiiva's star-bomb Tsar Bomba - begins when the entire area is engulfed in either flames or ice (if its flames and you started Alatreon in his fire phase, good job, but if its ice and you started in his fire phase, bad news again... he's switching elements and you're gonna have a hard time in the next phase if you're fighting ice with ice).

When this very telegraphed ultimate begins, set up a health booster. It's also fine if you didn't pack one. When Alatreon lands his explosion, you'll notice your health begin to chip away. It's important that you have speed eating x3 for this next part. Make sure you bring along some Astera Jerky, as eating them restores you to full health immediately and also nullifies using those vital health items. Eating two Astera Jerky's should help you survive through the survivable Escaton Judgement. If you run out of Astera Jerky, other healing items work fine too.

Another way to survive the weakened ultimate is to equip a Vitality Mantle. The mantle will eat up most of the attack, and you'll be able to survive through it. Unfortunately, if it's a full-powered Escaton Judgement, abandon hope. I've tested many possible ways to try and survive it, and there's simply no way. The full-powered attack seems programmed to insta-kill you.

Beating Alatreon Solo


Now comes the fun part. While the Handler encourages you to fight Alatreon with a team, this is one of those times where we're not going to listen to the Handler. Fighting Alatreon solo might actually be the easier method, but this is also largely dependent on how confident you are in your skills. Make no mistake, it's still a tough-as-nails fight, but it alleviates some of the problems with fighting him as a team. For one, Alatreon doesn't scale his health and damage output, so you're fighting him in a weaker state than a four-person squad. Thus, breaking the horns becomes a far simpler task too. Breaking the horns works better with heavier, slower weapons like the Great Sword and Hammer, but remember, you still need elemental damage to weaken that Escaton Judgement.

Before you go full Leeroy Jenkins into the fight, though, I urge you to use a meal voucher and eat the Open Platter for a Felyne Safeguard. This adds one more faint to the limited 3 faints. The best thing about this is that if you don't survive the Escaton Judgement, you're only one faint down as opposed to an entire team eating dirt and failing immediately, and can safely return to camp where you can stock up on items and even change weapons depending on Alatreon's element.

You'll have two opportunities to drop Alatreon before the DPS check. He should take to the air twice if you're lucky, and this is where you can clutch onto his face and fire off stones to deal a good amount of damage (granted he's not enraged yet). The second time will always exclusively happen in the dragon phase, where he'll take to the sky again. If he's not enraged, simply drop him again. Your objective here is to deal as much damage to his head while he's down, breaking the horns and dealing high elemental damage.

What makes solo a bit of an easier fight is the extra faints (including Safeguard). You can even formulate a strategy around this, by even using the Escaton faints as a way to travel back to camp and restock. Last but not least, remember, elemental damage is king. The fight is only simpler for you if you use a weapon with high opposing elements to Alatreon.

Beating Alatreon in a Team


A lot of what was discussed solo still applies to Alatreon in a team, only his health and damage output will be scaled up to accommodate 2-4 players. It also means you have fewer chances of surviving through the Escaton Judgement. Your whole team will need to be on-point in this fight. More often than not, I found that the team is only as good as its weakest link. If you're thinking about being a healer with a cheap weapon, don't bother (especially since the Escaton Judgement will kill all the same). Your focus should be on dealing as much elemental damage as possible.

Keeping Alatreon down on the ground is very important, as every weapon (not just ranged) needs to be doing constant damage (it's a race against time here). Bring flash pods with you if he flies, or consider dropping him with a clutch attack. To save yourself the trouble of constantly getting blight from any one of Alatreon's elements, make sure to equip blight resistance x3. Team work and a good understanding of the monster's mechanics are a necessity, so make sure you're with a squad that's able to exploit every trick in the book when it comes to beating Alatreon.

Hopefully this handy guide helped you, and always remember, master those elements!