Zorah Magdaros General Information¶

Zorah Magdaros is the objective of the game’s storyline at the outset, maintaining a strong presences throughout much of the narrative… or at least the Low Rank sections of it. The resolution of Zorah Magdaros’s storyline also marks the end of the Low Rank half of the game, making the mountainous monster the gate-keeper of High Rank. It features only in two assignments, One for the History Books and A Colossal Task (the latter of which can be repeated, although it appears randomly), and even then, your battle with the beast will be unlike any other fight in the game, limiting you to attacking Magmacores, driving off Nergigante, and firing various forms of artillery while protecting a barricade and swatting down Barnos monsters.

Zorah Magdaros Strengths and Weaknesses¶

A small section of Zorah Magdaros’s flank is highly vulnerable to damage, followed by its belly, then by its head. Granted, it’s a HUGE target, and you’re burdened with ballistae and cannons, making direct targeting difficult, at best. Ballistae can be aimed more freely, but do a fraction of the damage, so you can safely ignore its weaknesses and just focus on loading up cannons and firing volleys of five cannonballs at a time.

Zorah Magdaros is weak to Water and Dragon, and resistant to Fire. This only really matters when attacking Magmacores, however, and even then, only marginally.

Zorah Magdaros is immune to all ailments.

Normally you’ll only be attacked by Zorah Magdaros via the globs of magma it hurls down, capable of striking you either while defending the artillery-laden wall (or ship), or when you’re on Zorah Magdaros’s back. In the latter case, its Magmacores will also expel fire in response to attacks. Either way, having a Fire Resistance score of twenty or higher will prevent you from being set on fire, and make dealing with Zorah Magdaros’s infrequent attacks less of a hassle.

Zorah Magdaros Attacks¶

Your fights with Zorah Magdaros are both very similar, and are really more akin to interactiive cutscenes than actual fights - narrative-pushing busywork, really. In both quests there’s a “wall defense” section, where you’ll need to load cannons (up to five balls at a time) and fire them at Zorah Magdaros, chipping away its health until you’ve done enough damage. The only threat is the very real risk of falling asleep (you, the gamer, not your character) while completing this chore and having Zorah Magdaros break through your defenses. Other than that, Zorah Magdaros will lob magma at you, and flying Barnos monsters will pester you. Heal up if you get hit by the former, and use ballistae to shoot down the latter.

Another sequence (starting off the quest A Colossal Task, or coming later in the quest One for the History Books has you landing on Zorah Magdaros and attacking Magmacores to weaken the beast. This is a largely mindless task, where you’ll be pelted with magma bursts from the sky, and from the Magmacores themselves as you agitate them. Between these Magmacores, you’ll have to run across the massive monster, climbing as it moves and contorts, and stopping, perhaps, to mine some of the unique ore veins on the beast’s back. In both of these sequences, Nergigante will show up to challenge you, albeit a tone-down form. In the first quest One for the History Books you need merely survive, while in A Colossal Task you can ignore Nergigante entirely.

That’s all there is to it, really. Fire Resistance will mitigate some sources of damage, but otherwise you’re loading cannons and smacking stationary Magmacores.

The rare drop from Zorah Magdaros is the Zorah Magdaros Gem. There’s no way to increase your odds of getting this, no investigations to go on, no parts to break which will increase your odds, and after a few tries, it’s likely the only part you may be lacking. All you can really do is keep hunting Zorah Magdaros and hope for the best.