Vaal Hazak General Information¶

You’ll be able to undertake the assignment Hellish Field Vaal Hazak after collecting enough Vaal Hazak Research Points in the Rotten Vaal after completing the assignment A Wound and a Thirst. After completing the assignment Hellish Fiend Vaal Hazak you’ll be given the optional quest Stirrings from the Grave, should you desire to hunt Vaal Hazak more. Once you hit Hunter Rank 50, you can start hunting Tempered Vaal Hazak via investigations.

Vaal Hazak Strengths and Weaknesses¶

Vaal Hazak’s head, belly and tail are most vulnerable to damage, albeit not equally so. Blunt damage weapons will harm the head more, Cut damage weapons are stronger against the tail, while Ammo damage fares poorly against the belly. Both the head and belly are breakable along with the front legs, and the tail is severable.

Vaal Hazak is weak to the Fire and Dragon elements and resistant to Water. Elderseal will reduce its effluvia buildup, reducing the damage dealt by its effluvia attacks.

While not particularly weak to any ailments, Blast and Stun fare better than the rest.

The toxin surrounding Vaal Hazak is similar to that permeating the lower reaches of the Rotten Vale, and some of its attacks will discharge this tainted vapor, dealing damage to hunters who remain nearby. This damage is, for the most part, trivial, but it can add up.

Worse is Vaal Hazak’s ability to “taint” hunters who take too much damage from him. This nasty status effect will reduce your maximum health bar down to half of its current maximum… along with dealing whatever damage the last attack which inflicted the blight normal deals. Needless to say, there aren’t many scenarios where you’ll find yourself more than one hit away from death if this status effect takes hold, and while it can be removed with a Nulberry, you’ll still have to heal the missing health, afterwards. Max Potions are incredibly useful here, but you can also make yourself immune to this ailment by cobbling together three ranks of the Effluvia Resistance skill. This will not reduce the damage of any of Vaal Hazak’s attacks, or even protect you from the toxic vapors he emits, but it will defend the integrity of your health bar.

Vaal Hazak Attacks¶

Vaal Hazak has fewer attacks than Teostra, but like Kushala Daora, it’s shameless about spamming some of them. For close-range foes it has a lunging bite, a claw sweep, a spinning bite attack that can hit foes to the flank and rear, and a tail sweep - making it pretty capable of hitting foes that aren’t in front of it. Despite this, its frontal attacks are worse, so you’ll want to endeavor to stay to the side and rear, especially when it gives certain tells.

The movements of this Elder Dragon are somewhat odd, being relatively ponderous at times… at least compared to Nergigante, Kushala Daora and Teostra, but this apparent lethargy is often off-set by the range of its attacks and sudden bursts of speed. Showcasing this are its numerous charge attacks, which include a leaping attacks of various ranges, a multistage charge, and a proper sprint that covers a surprising distance.

Like Teostra, Vaal Hazak accumulates its favored, latent form of attack around - or in this case, within - itself, growing more dangerous the more it accumulates. As the fight drags on, Vaal Hazak will gather effluvia about itself, at the last stages of which will form a mist around the dragon that damages melee attackers. It’s a small amount of damage, but it can add up.

Much more dangerous are the ways that Vaal Hazak actively discharges effluvia. On the positive side, these attacks are all front-focused (albeit with an area of effect) and Vaal Hazak usually makes a point of rearing up and/or inhaling before releasing the attack, giving you plenty of time to react. On the negative sides, Vaal Hazak isn’t shy about using some of these attacks at quite a long range (perhaps preventing you from reaching the dragon’s flank, and hence, safety) these attacks cannot be blocked and must be dodged, and they tend to do massive damage. There’s also a higher chance that these attacks will afflict you with their health-sapping taint on top of all that, as discussed above.

These attacks include a long range stream of effluvia which Vaal Hazak will sweep back and forth - probably its most dangerous attack, due to the damage and frequency which with the dragon will use it, but if you’re safe when it starts the attack Vaal Hazak can’t turn during its lengthy duration, so there’s plenty of time to attack. Vaal Hazak can also expel a cloud of dense effluvia centered on itself, which will constantly drain the health of hunters who are caught inside. This effluvia cloud attack is often preceded by a roar, just to be more obnoxious. Finally, there’s a variant on the effluvia cloud where Vaal Hazak will vomit a gout of effluvia in front of it, affecting a relatively small area, but dealing heavy damage if it hits. This damage seems to scale with how much effluvia Vaal Hazak absorbs, which usually correlates with the duration of the fight (at least since the last time you stunned Vaal Hazak or otherwise interrupted its effluvia build-up), and can be diminished with Elderseal weapons.

Breaking the head and severing the tail will help you earn a Vaal Hazak Gem, as a reward for the former act, or from carving the tail. You also have a small chance of collecting a Vaal Hazak Gem when you carve the body of the vanquished Elder Dragon. Carving the tail is the only way to obtain a Vaal Hazak Tail, while breaking the head will most commonly reward you with a Vaal Hazak Fang+, which is also a rare carve. These Vaal Hazak Fang+ materials are required - often in high numbers - for various weapons, and can be a chore to obtain a number of.