How to beat Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds

As one of the first possible walls in Monster Hunter Wilds, Jin Dahaad is a beast worthy of that position. You only repel it in the Low-Rank story campaign, but knowing how to beat it will help you slay it properly when it reappears in High Rank.

How to slay Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds

Jin Dahaad, like most late-game encounters in Monster Hunter Wilds, has two distinct phases. Unlike most monsters, that second phase has a wipe mechanic you and any co-op partners need to respect. During the Low Rank repel quest, it's possible to survive the wipe mechanic (we'll call it the nova) even without taking cover behind debris. The same is not true of the High Rank slay quest.

Before you even consider facing Jin Dahaad in High Rank, you'll want to know the monster's weaknesses, attack patterns, and some essential tips on beating it. We'll cover all of that today.

All Jin Dahaad weaknesses in Monster Hunter Wilds

As an Ice Leviathan, Jin Dahaad is weakest against Fire damage weapons, though there's not a huge amount of difference anywhere on the body except when you're attacking its head. We've listed every weakness below, rated from zero to four stars.

• Zero stars means it has no additional effect on damage
• One star means it has a small amount of additional effect on damage
• Two stars means it has a moderate amount of additional effect on damage
• Three stars means it has a normal amount of additional effect on damage
• Four stars means it has a large amount of additional effect on damage

In summary, Fire damage is best against Jin Dahaad, provided you can stay on and near its head. Unless you're going for a fast hunt, you'll want to break its other parts as well, so you can technically use any element except for Ice. You should only do so if you have no other options, given Fire's modest advantage, but know you aren't too bound by element choice.

Additionally, I've found that Jin Dahaad has relatively weak legs and is prone to falling down if you focus on damaging them. The same is true of breaking wounds on its legs and the Iceplate ridges on its tail, head, and legs. In my first successful High Rank hunt, I was able to keep Jin Dahaad on the ground for a good quarter of the encounter.

All Jin Dahaad phase one attacks in Monster Hunter Wilds

Jin Dahaad's move list isn't the longest in the game, but everything it does can easily two-shot even the best-equipped hunters. Beyond knowing how the attacks function, you'll also need to be wary of having your feet frozen to the ground by any attack in Jin Dahaad's arsenal that sends out waves of freezing mist.

Watch your status meter above your health bar. When the ice crystal symbol fills completely, you'll be frozen in place for five seconds. It also has enough follow-up attacks that getting stuck once is liable to send you back to camp on a cart.

You'll also need to be more careful of your positioning when fighting Jin Dahaad. It has several AoE attacks centered on itself that can either freeze you or knock you into the air. These attacks cover either most of its front or the area around its tail, meaning you can't always stick close to the monster. Instead, fighting Jin Dahaad asks you to be in constant motion, sticking near its side until it forces you to move.

Belly flop

Surprisingly not the easiest attack to deal with, Jin Dahaad rears up on its haunches, then flops down, creating a massive explosion of ice around its head and midsection. Getting away is a simple matter of running to either side, but the explosive radius extends meters around the monster. That means if you were in the middle of an attack animation when the attack started, you might not have enough time to get out of the way.

Arc of cold breath

After retracting its head and taking a deep breath, Jin Dahaad exhales a line of icy mist in an arc from right to left. If you see this attack coming, you can nestle yourself along the side of the monster's neck and ride its movement while still doing damage. If you're in front of Jin Dahaad, you can also roll through the mist from left to right, especially if you have some Evade Window levels.

Rising breath

Here, Jin Dahaad repositions by curving its body before taking a short breath and breathing icy mist in a vertical line. As an attack that moves up and down, it's easier to dodge to the side than against its arcing breath weapon. This rising breath is faster, so it might catch you off guard.

Stretching bite

If you're to either side of Jin Dahaad's head and it's in between attacks, it can bring its head back and bite to either side, sending you flying backward if it hits. The attack doesn't deal much damage, but look out for it if you're attacking its head or front legs .

Biting charge

Jin Dahaad briefly retracts its head, then charges a brief distance and bites twice along the short path. Being hit by either the bite or the charge will knock you on your behind and deal moderate damage, and the best way to deal with this attack is to block it. The startup animation is quick enough that dodging requires fast reflexes.

Ground swipe

Another side-of-the-head attack, Jin Dahaad plants the claws of one of its front feet into the ground and swipes to the side, hoping to knock you away. The hitbox for its claws is a bit wider than the claw itself and will connect even at the end of the swipe for the same effect. If you see this attack coming, dodge directly away from the monster rather than to either side.

Single or double stomp

Jin Dahaad raises one of its front feet and stomps into the ground, creating a small underground wave exploding the ice in front of the claw. It can do this once with one claw or twice with one claw after the other. To avoid the attack, make your way to either side of the monster's feet, but far enough away that the stomp doesn't clip you.

Large single or double line breath

After raising its head and taking a huge breath, Jin Dahaad sends out a long, large line of icy mist that sends you flying. If the first breath weapon freezes you, there's a good chance the monster will use a second breath weapon to finish the job. If you see this attack coming, run left or right based on Jin Dahaad's head movement.

Close breath explosion

If you spend too much time near Jin Dahaad's head, it might use its breath weapon on the ground directly in front of it, creating a localized explosion. The explosion isn't too large, but you might get clipped if either of its legs blocks your route from the explosive radius.

Horizontal bite into double breath weapon

This three-stage attack sees Jin Dahaad bite across the area in front of it, then send out one breath weapon after another in a smaller arc. Sticking underneath and to the left of the monster's neck is a good way to avoid the whole combo, but any part of it can easily deal half of your health in damage.

Hind leg kick

Stand around either of Jin Dahaad's back legs, and it might kick back one of its hind legs. The attack deals minimal damage but will knock you on your behind.

Tail slam

Another attack to deal with hunters near its hindquarters, Jin Dahaad whips its tail twice before slamming it down, creating a large AoE around the tail itself. Simply moving toward the monster's head is enough to avoid damage.

Front or hind mist cloud

Depending on where you are when Jin Dahaad lifts its belly lightly off the ground, it will create a plume of icy mist from its undercarriage. It does this either underneath its chest or from near its groin. The windup for this attack is quick, but its radius is relatively limited.

Jin Dahaad phase two attacks

You'll always know you're in the second phase of the Jin Dahaad fight because it will move to an area with Giant Ice Chunks you can bring down from above. You can drop these chunks down to damage the monster, but they're also your cover from its nova wipe mechanic. There are only a few per nova use, and Jin Dahaad can destroy them with regular attacks if you pull them down too early.

Wipe nova

Jin Dahaad curls itself into a ball, surrounds its body in a wall of ice, and generates a massive amount of energy around itself. If you don't take cover behind one of the ice chunks you can pull from the upper reaches of the arena, you will cart when the arena-wide explosion occurs.

Top rope breath weapon

Jin Dahaad climbs onto the largest overhand in the arena's upper reaches and starts using its breath weapon in lines that span almost the entire area. The monster sends out four vertical lines of icy mist, using your most recent position as a target. While you can attempt to outrange the attack, you're better off running in loops to confuse Jin Dahaad's targeting.

After the fourth breath weapon, the outer layer of Jin Dahaad's perch will fall away, revealing the Giant Frozen Pillar grapple point. Use it quickly to drop the pillar and the monster alongside it down onto the ground, knocking it out and dealing a ton of damage.

More tips for beating Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds

First and foremost, if you don't manage to defeat Jin Dahaad in the second arena, it will retreat further below to the lowest level of the Iceshard Cliffs. It gains no additional attacks there, but if you cart in those depths, it's a good minute or so to get back to the fight.

There are a few other things to remember if you want to beat Jin Dahaad more efficiently while getting as many rewards as possible.

• Break the ridges on its head, legs, lower back, and tail. The light brown ridges coming off of Jin Dahaad (not the largest, white ones) are breakable. Doing so not only gives part-specific rewards but will likely also topple the monster, giving you a good fifteen seconds of free damage.
• Focus attacks on its tail to cut it off. Breaking off Jin Dahaad's tail topples it and gives a free additional carve when the fight's over.
• Only use the Giant Ice Chunks as you need them to avoid the nova. While dropping these environmental hazards for some extra damage is tempting, it's almost never enough to warrant the potential cart. While the chunks do respawn, they don't do so quickly, meaning wasting one could endanger the entire hunt.
• Stick around Jin Dahaad's front feet and neck, but never too closely. The monster has enough "get off of me" attacks that sticking to it like glue will only see you taking damage. Instead, keep as healthy a distance from it as you can between damage phases to account for any weirdness on Jin Dahaad's part.

That's everything you need to know about beating Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds. Its armor set is in the upper echelons of quality as of release, and its Ice-element weapons are also high-quality. Don't expect hunting it to be a quick process until you've got some late-game gear, but with the proper setup, the fight is manageable and, dare I say, fun.

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