Pukei-Pukei General Information¶

First spotted after completing Bird-Brained Bandit in a state of agitation due to the passage of Zorah Magdaros, the Pukei-Pukei is twice the gatekeeper for what ranked missions you’re allowed to take on. The aforementioned post-Kulu-Ya-Ku quest, the bluntly named Urgent: Pukei-Pukei Hunt, will allow you to accept three-star missions, while the first High Rank assignment Invader in the Waste must be completed before you can embark on six-star missions. The latter quest, naturally, forces you to fight a High Rank Pukei-Pukei (your first High Rank foe) during an expedition to the Wildspire Waste, after which a variety of optional quests to hunt High Rank, Threat Level One monsters will be unlocked.

Other than those auspicious benchmarks, you can fight a Pukei-Pukei in the quest Scatternut Shortage (unlocks after completing Urgent: Pukei-Pukei Hunt) and two High Rank variants in Googly-Eyed Green Monster (Ancient Forest) and Pukei-Pukei Ambush (Wildspire Waste), both of which become available after completing Invader in the Waste.

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Pukei-Pukei Strengths and Weaknesses¶

Despite having your standard Flying Wyvern body-type, the Pukei-Pukei is a Bird Wyvern. Still, its anatomy is more similar to the former than the latter, as far as weaknesses go, as its head, wings and tail are all more vulnerable to damage than other parts, with the head being most receptive to damage. Its head, wings and body are all breakable, and the tail is severable.

Pukei-Pukei is resistant to Water, and weak to Thunder.

Given how fond of venom the Pukei-Pukei is, it should be no surprise it’s resilient against Poison. To off-set this, it’s vulnerable to Sleep and Paralysis, and none too strong against Blast and Stun, either.

Most of the Pukei-Pukei’s attacks involve envenomating you in some fashion, usually with globs of poison spat from its mouth, and more rarely with mist expelled from its tail. Gross. Naturally, Poison Resistance will come in very handy here - three ranks of it will make you immune to poison outright, making the fight with Pukei-Pukei much more trivial. It takes to the air rather rarely, so your weapon choice shouldn’t be of much concern, although a properly-timed Flash Pod can keep it from flying to a new area mid-fight.

Pukei-Pukei Attacks¶

The Pukei-Pukei is a Bird Wyvern monster that can spew venom in many ways. Antidotes are very strongly recommended, if not mandatory for this fight, unless you managed to craft yourself some armor with the Poison Resistance skill on it… not very likely if this if your first fight with a Pukei-Pukei. The Pukei-Pukei can spit poison, either as a single gob, as a three-spit combo, or it can spew a venomous mist… and that’s just its front end! Its tail can also dispense poison, making only its flanks somewhat safe against envenomation. Even then, it’s fast and agile enough that you can’t rely on an exposed flank remaining safe for long, so you’re better off just trying not to attack too frequently - hence leave yourself exposed - so you can dodge or block its venomous attacks.

In addition to its venomous attacks, it will perform lunges, charges, tail swipes, and leaping claw attacks. Like the Kulu-Ya-Ku, it’s somewhat flighty, but unlike its more terrestrial counterpart, it still retains the ability to fly, so be sure to get your Scoutfly Level up before you engage it so you can keep track of it when it flees.

Much like the Kulu-Ya-Ku, none of Pukei-Pukei’s Low Rank drops are rare enough to be worth mentioning, but its High Rank drops include the Bird Wyvern Gem. It’s a very rare (one-star) carve or reward, and can also be dropped by the Kulu-Ya-Ku, and Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, so hunt whichever one troubles you the least.