When you’re ready to risk flight, return to the Research Base and talk to the Third Fleet Master, who will take you to the Rotten Vale with only a bit of babbling. Watch the scene that follows to get introduced to a new monster - the Great Girros - which will be driven off by some quick-thinking on the part of The Handler. After the scene ends, camp will be set up and you’ll be free to explore the Rotten Vale. You’re tasked with two objectives; Sight a Great Girros (didn’t you already do that?) and Investigate the Rotten Vale. So, one is redundant, and the other is rather vague. Oh well. Best get to it.

Jump off the cliff and head east, then north to reach AREA 1… the wider platform in AREA 1, anyways, not the tunnels that invariable connect the various, larger chambers that make up this area. Here you’ll find yet another new, large monster - the Radobaan, and simply laying eyes on this spiky monstrosity will update objectives. Your camp certainly won’t be safe while one of these things is rolling around!

Hunt - Radobaan¶

The Radobaan kind of looks like… well, a pillbug from hell. Doesn’t it? No? Well, despite that, most of its attacks involve rolling around and using its bulk - and the bone spikes on its back - to damage foes. It has a variety of these rolls, which you may learn to your sorrow just by traveling about the upper reaches of the Rotten Vale, as it spins about as a means of getting around and as an attack, crushing anything in its path, intentionally or not. In addition to this it has a variety of headbutts, rams and the odd tail swipe to defend itself with.

Like with most monsters, the Radobaan’s offense is head-oriented, in that it’ll focus most of its attacks on where it’s facing save for the odd side rush and tail sweep. This includes roll attacks, a charging gore/sweep attack, and a tremendous head-pound which will stagger hunters near the impact site. On top of that it can excrete gas from its belly that’ll put hunters to sleep, and although it’s some deterrence against attacking from under the beast, despite this defense it’s still not a bad position to take.

Be especially mindful of your health in this battle. Even though it doesn’t deal a great amount of damage, it’s capable of knocking you down and rolling over you before you have a chance to respond. If you don’t have at least two attacks worth of health at all times, you’re taking a risk.

All in all, the Radobaan isn’t a terribly agile foe, and its bulk makes it an easy target for just about any weapon type. Characters using high impact, slower weapons will find the Radobaan particularly gratifying to fight, as their hits will often find purchase and knock away a great number of bone spikes on each hit. When it is depleted of such implements, it may return to its lair (AREA 4) and roll around in its bone pit to reapply its coat. Failing that, lacking sufficient bone spikes will hinder its rolls, slowing them down, forcing it to pause mid-roll, and sometimes flopping sideways awkwardly.

The Radobaan’s head and back legs are both particularly receptive to damage (especially the head) and both are breakable, along with the back and tail, the latter of which is also severable. It is weak to Dragon element attacks and the Blast ailment, while being resistant to Sleep.

Defeat and carve Radobaan - provided you didn’t capture it - and… well, that’s one monster down, at least. Next up, it’s the Great Girros! Fortunately, you don’t have to do battle with this beastie yet, you need only locate it. To do this, you’ll need to descend into the bowels of the Rotten Vale and reach AREA 8. Now that the Radobaan has been defeated, you shouldn’t encounter much to trouble you save lesser Girros and Raphinos. Beyond a Girros pack you’ll find a room seething with toxic vapors which, as The Handler promises, will sap your health while you’re within it. The damage isn’t severe if you’re just exploring, and it’s all temporary damage, but it could prove to be a real bother in a fight. Locate the Great Girros, and when your quest updates, return to camp.

Talk to The Handler and leave the expedition, having done enough to justify your first scouting mission. As you go to leave, a strange masked hunter will show up - the one who rescued you earlier when you entered the Coral Highlands - and will reveal herself. The Handler will hand off something for the woman to inspect, after which you’ll find yourself talking to the Third Fleet Master, who goads you into descending further into the Rotten Vale while also warning you there may be a commitment involved if you decide to press on.

Tailraider Safari¶

Before you do, you might as well pick up any new quests that may have popped up, and you don’t have to go far to start your first one. Search the inside of the Research Base to find a the Lynian Expert, who offers you the services of the Grimalkynes at her disposal. This prompts a tutorial for Tailraider Safaris, which allows you to dispatch Palico squads (usually based on the Palicos of other players whose guild cards you have collected) at the cost of Research Points.

Pick a squad, spend the Research Points, then pick the destination. Once that’s all set up, you’ll get to pick a route, which include several cards lined up with various rewards and monsters, with stars on the top of each card rating the difficulty of the task represented by the card. Take the stats of the squad deployed (hunting, gathering and research) into account and compare them to the type of threat and severity of the threat along the route to maximize your odds of success. Once that’s all been decided, all you need to do is wait - the Tailraider Safari squad will attempt to complete the mission you sent them out on while you complete quests, hopefully bringing you back the rewards you desire.

You can also manage Tailraider Safaris by talking to the Housekeeper Palico who resides in your room in Astera.

Rotten Vale Quests in Astera¶

Return to Astera and you’ll find even more quests! Start out by talking to the Chief Botanist, who takes an interest in your expedition to the Rotten Vale. Without bothering you with any pesky details, he’ll ask you to complete the quest Persistent Pests, which tasks you with kill fourteen Hornetaurs.

Lastly, go talk to the Armory clerk in the Workshop, who will tell you about a hunter tool she’s been working on. Unfortunately, she doesn’t quite have all the required materials, and… yeah, you see where this is going, right? She’ll give you the quest On Nightmare’s Wings, requesting you kill five Raphinos in the Rotten Vale.

These new optional quests will be covered below, along with the previously acquired quest A Rotten Thing To Do.