Hunting the Giadrome

Question

I'm a total newbie Monster Hunter player and have just started playing Freedom Unite on PSP.

Having breezed through the tutorial levels (though I haven't played all of the weapon tutorials yet), I'm attempting the quest which, according to the game, is the easiest quest available - the Giadrome. But, in 4-5 attempts so far, I've been unable to defeat it!

I do feel I am getting better at the game - I'm familiar with the Giadrome's movements. I'm dying less. I've been able to isolate the Giadrome in an area by itself (so I don't have to deal with Giaprey at the same time). I've managed to get the Giadrome to flee into a neighbouring area several times. But it seems that no matter how many times I hit it, it never goes down!

What am I doing wrong? How many times do I have to hit this thing?

Answer 1

I've found an interesting YouTube video of a Giadrome hunt here.

In the video, the player is using some HP hack which shows the monster's health. What's interesting is what happens to the Giadrome's health when it runs away into an adjacent area (see 2:59). It's health immediately jumps up from 65 to 119!

Therefore, it seems not possible to simply "finish it off before it can get rest". You obviously have to prevent the giadrome from leaving the area to stop it continually healing.

That's what I've been doing wrong. I've hit the giadrome plenty of times, more than enough to kill it, but have not been able to stop it running off when its HP gets low.

Answer 2

Well, it doesn't sound like you'd be doing anything wrong in the hunt itself. Altough I'm guessing you might want to make a run for it (further away or to another area) every now and then to heal up, eat and sharpen your weapon. If the Giadrome is fleeing to another area, that's a definite sign that it's taking damage and is about to go down. Just finish it off before it can get rest (YellowMegaMan's right. This doesn't quite work.). Next time, either catch it in a trap as it is running, or get in a good combo before it runs away (or something else, I'm sure there are more ways to hinder your prey). Even tough it does get health back by running away, it should be low.

However, the hunt for the Giadrome is not the easiest quest. It is among the easiest Guild Quests, true, but there are easier quests there as well. Slaying and gathering quest might be good to get you started before your first hunt. And that's just the Guild Quests. There are a few, much easier quests available from the Village Elder, the old lady by the fire. The Giadrome hunt is actually the quest that unlocks the level 2 of the Village Quests.

Going through these easier quests not only gets you more accustomed to playing the game, but also get you started on gathering all sorts of materials for better weapons and armor. Especially armor. I recommend gathering materials for the Giaprey-set. It might take some grinding and you'll need a Giadrome Hide for the plate, but rest of the set should prove to have nice defence against attacks from the tougher monsters. Just remember to pack Hot Drinks on the quests once you lose the Cold Resistance from Mafumofu Armor.

Also, I recommend going through at least few of the weapons tutorials to see which you like best and to learn the tricks associated with each one. (My personal favourite being Long Swords that, while lacking blocking ability, have high mobility, reach, damage and also speed, but only after the first swing.)