This is a one-time quest available after unlocking 6-star Village Quests. Upon completion, you’ll instantly get access to the 4-star Hub Urgent Quest, “The Blue Apex”, which unlocks 4-star Hub Quests and promotes you to HR4, which is the start of High Rank.
Special License Test 3 is offered after unlocking 6-star Village Quests. But before unlocking “The Blue Apex.”
| Reward | Locale | Time Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 8010z | Shrine Ruins | 50 minutes |
This quest is among the hardest Village Quests, requiring you to hunt a Rathalos, Zinogre and Almudron. Individually, they’re all tricky monsters, so fighting all three can be rough. Luckily, their HP is reduced.
You can fight Rathalos and Zinogre in 5-star Village Quests, while you had to defeat Almudron in the 6-star Urgent Village Quest. If you’re feeling rusty with any of these monsters, it might be a good idea to fight them for practice. Or at least read their pages in our guide to get an understanding of their attacks and weaknesses.
Preparing for the Hunt¶
(1 of 2) First, gear up with Fire Resistance.
First, gear up with Fire Resistance. (left), You’ll also want to carry a Shock and Pitfall Trap. (right)
Similar to Special License Test 2, only one of the target monsters will appear to start with. In this case, it’s Rathalos. Once you’re roughly halfway through defeating a monster, the next target monster will arrive: Zinogre, then finally Almudron. No other large monsters are present.
To deal with Rathalos, equip yourself with gear that boosts Fire Resistance. For best results, grab a Dragon or Thunder weapon. Also, bring items for capturing (both Pitfall and Shock Traps and plenty of Tranq Bombs) and stock up on Flash Bombs!
Strategy¶
Rathalos usually starts in Area 11, but it can appear in Area 13 or very rarely Area 8. You can reach these areas relatively quickly by fast-traveling to the Sub-Camp. Compared to the other two monsters, Rathalos can potentially take the longest to fell, since it loves to fly around, wasting your time. But you can use Flash Bombs to down it.
(1 of 2) After Zinogre appears, lure Rathalos and Zinogre together.
After Zinogre appears, lure Rathalos and Zinogre together. (left), Then use Wyvern Riding to make them damage each other.. (right)
When Zinogre spawns, it’s a good idea to take advantage of Wyvern Riding. There are a couple of Stinkminks around, which you can use to lure the monsters together. To maximize the carnage, ride the first monster until you unlock the Mounted Punisher, but don’t use it and launch the monster into the other. Then ride that monster and use their Mounted Punisher.
Even with the monsters’ reduced HP, this quest can still take a long time. To reduce the chance of timing out, we heavily recommend capturing all three monsters. At a guess, we imagine it’ll shave off around 3 minutes per monster or around 10 minutes overall. Your Palico can tell you when a monster can be captured.
(1 of 2) Between fights, fast-travel to your tent at the main or sub-camp.
Between fights, fast-travel to your tent at the main or sub-camp. (left), Then change into a suitable set of armor. (right)
When it’s time to deal with Zinogre properly, fast-travel to your main or sub-camp. Then swap your armor for one with high Thunder Resistance. You could also swap to an Ice weapon now. By this point, hopefully you’ve defeated Rathalos without spending more than 15-20 minutes. Fighting Zinogre will be tough, but at least it’s always on the ground.
After hammering Zinogre for a while, Almudron should show its ugly mug. Now’s your chance to Wyvern Ride again to get some easy damage against both monsters. If Zinogre is fully charged, be extremely careful when luring it, because its dash attack is about as fast as your palamute’s max speed.
(1 of 2) Keep an eye out for your Palico telling you a monster can be captured.
Keep an eye out for your Palico telling you a monster can be captured. (left), Capturing monsters saves time and there’s never been a better moment for that! (right)
Finally, when confronting Almudron for real, return to the tent and swap your armor for one with high Water Resistance. If you hate being slowed down by mud, you can also grab gear with Muck Resistance too; Level 2 will negate the effects of mud. Also, grab a new pair of traps. From here, don’t rush (too much) and keep up the good fight!
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