Kirin General Information¶

Kirin is the only Elder Dragon with a Low Rank variant, and also the only Elder Dragon that’s not the object of an assignment… at least until you hit Hunter Rank 50, anyways. There are three quests pertaining to Kirin, one for each “version” of Kirin. The quest to hunt Low Rank Kirin - Gone in a Flash - can be picked up from the Impatient Biologist after the completing both the assignments given to you by the First Wyverian (A Fiery Throne Atop the Forest and Horned Tyrant Below the Sands), and even then, only if you’ve kept up with the quests given to you by the Impatient Biologist. Later on, after defeating Nergigante in the assignment A Wound and a Thirst you can visit the Impatient Biologist again to pick up the quest for High Rank Kirin: Lightning Strikes Twice. Finally, when you hit Hunter Rank 49 you’ll be given the assignment Thunderous Rumble in the Highlands, which is the hurdle you must overcome to hit Hunter Rank 50 and start being able to regularly hunt Tempered Elder Dragons.

Kirin Strengths and Weaknesses¶

Kirin only has one weak spot - its head, which takes full damage from Cut and Blunt sources, and somewhat less Ammo damage. The horn is breakable.

As a monster that spams lightning attacks, it should be no surprise that Kirin is resistant to Thunder damage. Curiously enough, Kirin is weak to Fire, and somewhat susceptible to Water and Ice.

Kirin isn’t terribly vulnerable to any ailments, with Sleep and Blast being the strongest. Kirin is outright immune to Paralysis - an ailment which it’ll happily inflict on you.

THUNDER RESISTANCE. The more you have, the better, but if you go into battle with a Thunder Resistance score of less than twenty, you’re asking for trouble. Kirin’s Thunder attacks can be incredibly strong and rapid. In fact, there’s no shame in loading up as much Thunder Resistance as possible - getting the best elemental resistance buff you can at the Canteen is advisable, even to the exclusion of your normal bonuses. Whatever Health and Stamina buffs you sacrifice can be made up with Max Potions and Well-Done Steaks. A higher Thunder Resistance score will also protect you from Thunderblight, preventing you from getting stunned quite so easily. Against Tempered Kirin, you may also want to try and get some Vitality Boost skills on your gear, as it’ll allow you to hit the cap of 200 HP. Against a foe that can nearly one-shot a character with 150 HP even with decent Thunder Resistance, every little bit helps. Using lighter, faster weapons that require less of a commitment may also help. Bows in particular are flexible in their positioning and actively reward and encourage dodging.

Kirin Attacks¶

The Kirin is the first large monster you’ll fight that isn’t some sort of Wyvern. Instead, it has the lofty rank of Elder Dragon… yes, despite looking like a horse. It attempts to live up to that title (the dragon one… not… not the horse) with potent thunder attacks, which it uses frequently to deal heavy damage, and these thunder attacks come in a variety of forms targeting different areas. Mobility will help you evade these attacks, and your weapon type will drastically effect how easy this fight is. Anything that limits your mobility (hence your ability to dodge) or weapons that require too much of an investment in time or specific positioning to make effective use of their attacks may not be ideal for fighting Kirin. The Bow seems to be more of the more ideal weapons for this fight, but in the proper hands, the Hammer does well, too. Whatever weapon you bring to battle, armor with the Thunder Resistance skill will help you survive such attacks if you happen to slip up. Gear like the Thunder Charm, Ingot Mail and Kadachi Greaves will help keep you alive. Ideally you won’t come into this fight without a Thunder Resistance of twenty or higher.

When you first encounter the Kirin, it may not seem like such a daunting foe. Without proper Thunder Resistance, however, you’ll soon learn to respect its multiple electrical attacks, which it’ll employ constantly. On top of dealing heavy damage, these lightning attacks can stun (like most monster attacks if they land too frequently) as well as inflict paralysis. This double ailment affliction can leave you vulnerable quite often if you take too many hits too close together, and the damage Kirin is capable of putting out means it may not many attacks before you find yourself carted back to camp. A stray lightning bolt followed by a stronger attack that lands before you can recover isn’t an infrequent occurrence.

That said, Kirin only has a few distinct lightning attacks. It can call down several bolts of lightning to strike random areas around it, it can blast a larger, circular area with thunder (sometimes centering this attack upon itself, to ward off melee attackers) and it can conjure a line of thunder… or sometimes several lines at the same time. Watch out for glowing blue spots on the ground to predict where these attacks will land. On top of that, Kirin can kick with its hind legs, slash with its horn, or perform leaps and charge attacks.

This is all well and good early on, and if you watch its attacks carefully you should be keen enough to realize that you can usually get off a faster attack or two at almost any time, so long as you don’t get greedy. The Kirin will normally use its random, multi-strike lightning attack several times before committing to a more potent attack, during which it’ll be vulnerable for longer. Just make sure you’re clear of the stronger lighting attack and use this time to land slower, more powerful attacks.

Eventually, however, the Kirin will grow angry and will - for lack of a better description - charge itself up. While shrouded with lightning it’ll take less damage and many attacks will bounce off. Worse yet, it’ll attack far faster, it’s lightning attacks may gain more strikes, and it’ll move about more. The battle will get quite hectic here, especially as Kirin can be performing two different forms of attack at the same time - charging about while lightning strikes random areas, for example. Even worse, its defense shoots up considerably here, leaving only the head particularly vulnerable to damage - lower damage weapons may find themselves dealing no damage at all with body shots! You’ve little choice but to aim for the head and play much more defensively during this time.

Once heavily damaged, it’ll retreat to AREA 15, but you’ll find no relief in traps and Tranq Bombs, as Kirin, being an Elder Dragon, cannot be captured… that’s not to say you can’t play a few tricks aside from crudely waking the beast up and continuing the fight. Against a sleeping monster that you can not - or don’t care to - capture, you can still deploy Barrel Bombs (or ideally, larger, more upgraded forms like the Large Barrel Bomb or Mega Barrel Bomb). Just place them near the monster’s weak point(s) and when ready, strike them to discharge them, hopefully finishing the beast off, but at the very least the damage these bombs deal will get you closer.

The rarest item Low Rank Kirin drops is a Lightcrystal, but since you can obtain them by mining mineral deposits in most areas (save the Elder’s Recess)… yeah, there are better ways to get these than by farming Kirin. High Rank Kirin replaces Lightcrystals with Novacrystals, which deserve similar scorn. Without too many breakable parts, Kirin isn’t a complicated monster, as far as materials go - break the horn if you can, otherwise just rely on investigations to get whatever parts you need.