Monster Hunter World Behemoth strategy, Behemoth weakness explained
How to take down Final Fantasy's Behemoth in Monster Hunter World.
Behemoth is one of many creatures added to Monster Hunter World after its initial release.
The beast comes as part of a special collaboration event with Final Fantasy XIV. Even if you haven't played XIV, or Final Fantasy at all, there's a lot of unique things going on in this questline that's well worth a look.
Elsewhere, our Monster Hunter World tips can help you decide when to get, what to forage and what to do between hunts, and our Monster Hunter World walkthrough and guide can help with main quest and story progress.
How to unlock the Behemoth encounter in Monster Hunter World
Before you unlock the Behemoth encounter, you have to undergo its questline. Visit the Serious Handler in the Astera hub to start the 'A Visitor from Another World' quest.
This mission takes you to Wildspire Wastes, and has you follow Cactuar, before taking down a possessed Kulu-Ya-Ku. Though it's essentially the same battle you've faced several times before, this one packs a punch, so bring allies if you can.
After that, you'll get your first glimpse of Behemoth as part of quest 'The Legendary Beast'. You don't need to take it down, but even still, it requires knowing how the boss works to survive long enough for this to happen - including surviving its Ecliptic Meteor attack.
After that, you get the chance to take to defeat as part of 'He Taketh It With His Eyes'.
Behemoth weakness and strategy
Behemoth weaknesses:
- Fire - Low
- Water - Medium
- Thunder - Low
- Ice - Medium
- Dragon - High
- Poison - Medium
- Sleep - Medium
- Paralysis - Medium
- Blast - Medium
- Stun - Medium
Behemoth is one of the more unique boss battles in the game, taking cues from massively-multiplayer online game Final Fantasy XIV for its moves and strategies, with plenty of magic casting and attacks that target individual players.
In that spirit, moves are listed on the right side of the screen to help you react to what's coming.
First of all, Behemoth has a fair few ailment weaknesses as noted above - to poison, paralysis, blast, poison and stun - which is further explained in this tips video from Gamer Network's own Arekkz:
You should use these if you have a build suited to them, but if you haven't, then not to worry. Perhaps the most important aspect of the fight is understanding something named enmity. If a player has 'gained' it, it means it has its attention, and will focus on that player for a short duration.
You'll know you have it as a red 'laser' will appear between you and the Behemoth, like so:
You can gain it by attacking Behemoth - ideally in the head or tail - and doing so is useful so other players can attack or heal themselves, or to draw Behemoth away from Comets or towards the breakable stalactites above the arena.
If you have a player with a build that can effectively dodge or take damage, try and have them gain enmity as much as possible.
However, any of its attacks can target anyone, so it's worth learning how these work regardless of your role.
First there's Charybdis, which targets one player and drops a tornado at their location, creating a gust of wind that knock you back if you step inside it. During the casting phase, you can use a flash bomb at Behemoth to stop it from appearing.
Otherwise, if you are targeted (you'll know by being buffeted by wind during the casting phase) it's recommend you flee outside of the main combat area so the tornado isn't where you'll be fighting.
Another attack is Thunderbolt, a lightning attack you can avoid by dodging the blue crackles along the ground. It tends to appear of Behemoth, though has a short cast time, so keep an eye out at all times.
Like any other huge monster, you should try and get round the side or back of Behemoth whenever you can, since it has a range of physical attacks - such as a pounce and a stomp - that can cause some serious damage.
Then there's Meteor and Comet, which on paper are similar attacks with huge flaming rocks dropping from above causing huge damage, but have different purposes in practice.
Meteor is signposted by glowing red embers on the ground, which you can roll away from if you're quick enough. Comet is similar, but follows you whenever you go, so if you see a faint glow, sprint until it drops.
The Comet will then remain on the battlefield, which is important for surviving Behemoth's main attack, the Ecliptic Meteor, which is a huge attack that will wipe any players standing in its shockwave.
The strategy is to have a Comet between you and the blast radius, guarding you against it. So as you are fighting, be sure to remember where Comets are located and be prepared to dash behind it at a moment's notice.
If you have nowhere to go, or the Comets have been destroyed by Behemoth, it's said you can use the 'Jump' emote you learn from the last quest to avoid it, as you'll be high in the air and well out of the way.
Final thing - Behemoth cannot be caught with traps, so you'll have to kill it in order to finish the battle.
If you're struggling, it's worth watching this full hunt video from Arekkz, explaining the mechanics along the way. It's a certainly a unique fight, and the more you prepare the better:
Getting Behemoth parts unlocks the Drachen armour set, styled after the Dragoon class in Final Fantasy XIV (and looks similar to Dragoon knights in other Final Fantasy games), which can also be unlocked as Layered Armour when the right events roll around.
You can also use parts to unlock the Gae Bolg Insect Glaive, and between this and various skills from the armour set (including Elemental Airborne), it's a particularly useful boss to farm from for Insect Glaive users.