Her second is a swoop where she’ll whip out her legs to grapple you (or a comrade) on the floor. If you see someone being grappled, this is actually a good thing for you if you aren’t being munched on. This is one of those rare occasions where a Rathian is completely vulnerable to incoming damage. Do enough and she’ll stop feasting on your friend.
She’ll usually land after dishing out on of this last couplet of abilities, but she can stay airborne after one venom whip to deal another of the three attacks. After the second swooping one she will always land.
A Rathian may be one of the more vicious enemies to face on the fields of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and not entirely due to the abilities listed before. She likes to move around a fair amount. Not a problem initially, but when you remember her size then it becomes terrible. If you are at a distance from the Rathian or a companion is, she will take pleasure in running towards you or them before lashing out with her most basic jaw-centric attack. The attack itself is a pain, just not as much of a pain as the damage or knockback taken when struck by her legs and wings.
Without a doubt though, the Rathian’s most irritating attack is one where she will turn on the spot and do a 180 even Microsoft would be proud of. This whirling dervish of death kicks out damage from both her jaws and her tail. If she does it once and you’re lucky enough to avoid damage, run beneath her (seeing a pattern here yet? or get as far back as possible because that tail is so much longer than you think. 
Like every single other beast in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, a Rathian can go into a furious rage. This is signified by a powerful roar before being followed up with fire rolling around her jaws. When in a frenzied state, the Rathian becomes even more terrifying than normal. She’ll move faster and whip out attacks quicker than you can react. Should you take damage during this phase or be poisoned, try to break line of sight with her before treating your wounds.
Remember how we’ve been saying go for the legs about a hundred times so far in this guide? Well, there’s a damn good reason for that. They aren’t very heavily armored. A Rathian has some of the strongest armor you’ll have come across so far in your journey through Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Unless your weapon is in at least a green state of sharpness, you’ll be doing next to no damage if you attack anywhere besides her squishy underbelly.
Keep to her underbelly where possible and the Rathian will fall quite quickly. Also try to ensure you throw some strong attacks onto her head when she stumbles or is vulnerable to your strikes. This can break several pieces of armor on the head and reduce her ability to render you a bloody smear on her feet. Keep Antidotes available where possible, and if fighting in the A. Steppe region be ready to run between zones 2, 4, 5, and 8 to keep track of the vicious vixen of the skies. 
If you want to really kick out as much damage as possible, come at her with thunder or dragon type damage. To protect yourself, try to wear armor that has some sort of Auto-Guard function if your using a weapon that can guard and some Fire Resistance where possible to lessen the blow her fire can pack onto you.
To really hurt a Rathian, you’ll have to leap onto her back where possible. This is only really viable every third zone of combat and is really quite easy to manage. Keep an eye on her neck. When it coils back, grip tight as a massive roar is coming. If it swings right then left then right, grip also to hold on during the Rathian rodeo.
To defeat a Rathian, simply do all of this and keep everything in mind. That’s not too hard right? On a side note, if you’re playing with ranged weaponry really keep an eye on the Rathian when her neck pulls back, or you could be meeting a very fiery end very quickly.
What monster is causing you trouble in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate? Let us know in the comments down below and we’ll try to get some tips out just for you as soon as we can.
