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Monster Hunter (US)
Version 0.19
Headlock FAQ
FAQ created by Terragen on March 8, 2005
CONTENTS:
I- Disclaimer
II- Updates
III- About Headlocking
IV- Headlocking Rathalos and Rathian
a) Lance: 2-hit
b) Lance: 3-hit
c) Great Sword: Side-swing
d) Dual Swords: Spin
e) Dual Swords: Combo
V- Winglocking
VI- Credits
VII- Authorized Websites
[I- Disclaimer]
I do not own Monster Hunter. Monster Hunter and all names, characters, items,
et al are the sole property of Capcom and any parties associated with the
creation of Monster Hunter.
I did not discover, invent, or perfect the art of headlocking. There have been
many claims as to who truly did this, but there has not been sufficient
evidence or justification for this. I will assume that headlocking belongs to
the Monster Hunter community. Whenever I credit someone for a certain method
to headlocking, note that it does NOT mean they discovered this method. It
simply means they were the one to supply the description for this FAQ.
This is my first FAQ, so bear with me. At the moment, this FAQ is very
incomplete, as I still need to look into headlocking for alternate weapons, as
well as headlocking for other wyverns.
[II- Updates]
v0.19- 3/23/05- Section IV- Lance: 3-hit added.
v0.16- 3/13/05- Updated Rathalos and Rathian stagger info.
Updated Section IV- Dual Swords: Spin timing info.
v0.14- 3/10/05- Section IV- Dual Swords: Combo added.
Section V added.
v0.12- 3/09/05- Section IV- Great Sword: Side-swing added.
v0.10- 3/08/05- Headlock FAQ Created.
[III- About Headlocking]
Headlocking is a form of attacking a monster (at the head, of course) in such
a way that it is staggered every few seconds and is unable to attack the
headlocker (and, usually, any other hunters). It is claimed that any weapon
can execute some form of headlocking, whether it be alone or in groups. The
goal of headlocking is to keep the monster stunned as long as needed while
dealing damage to it. The most commonly used weapon for headlocking is the
lance. It is important to make sure your weapon is at its best sharpness for
headlocking, unless otherwise noted.
You will commonly see the word "stagger" used in this FAQ. "Staggered" refers
to the point when a monster is stopped from doing whatever it is doing
(whether it be standing up straight or doing some other action). A monster is
not counted as staggered if it is knocked over, stunned, blinded, or does
another action in place of the one it was prevented from doing. In the
headlocking sections for each monster, you will see a more detailed
description of what the monster is like when it is staggered.
A very important key to headlocking is entering the area with the monster
first. In many cases this requires you to memorize where the monster will be
at the start of the mission, so you can head to the area immediately. This is
important because it eliminates any lag that you will experience while
headlocking (excluding server and/or player lag, which is unavoidable). When
you do not enter the area first and attempt to headlock, you will notice that
the monster responds late to your attacks. This is referred to as "locking
lag" by some players. It may be a good idea to tell your party members
beforehand that you will be headlocking and that they should let you enter
the area first. You need to enter first for every area if you plan on
headlocking in that area.
The following is a suggestion from somd:
"Also I've noticed a differrence in timing depending on how many people are in
the party. Offline and solo online the timing is very strict, timing gets
loose as more people join the party so naturally its easiest to lock in a
four person party."
You must realize that no one is perfect -- especially not while learning to
headlock. If you somehow lose the headlock, it is best to improvise and get
in extra hits if you feel it will recover the headlock. If not, revert to
evasive or defensive tactics until you can start the headlock again.
[IV- Headlocking Rathalos and Rathian]
Rathalos and Rathian (or Raths, as they are called by many) are the most
common application of headlocking, especially in 4-star quests and up. This is
mainly due to the fact that they are some of the easier wyverns to headlock
and the need for an immobile target whose tail can be easily cut off (for the
elusive Plates).
Both types of Raths look similar when they are staggered. They make a short
groan, their head lowers, and they will shake their head briefly for a while
before returning to their normal standing position by lifting their head while
shaking it again more violently. There are two main types of staggers for
Raths, and the only difference is the rate at which they shake their head.
The usual is the slower shake, and it is the stagger that most headlockers are
accustomed to, and the one that is easiest to learn with. The faster shake is
seen when the Rath is in frenzy mode, and it makes it more difficult to adjust
for the timing in this situation. (Thanks to TheOneReturns for fixing that)
No matter what weapon you use, it is safest to wait close to the Rath until
they make two slow turns (which telegraph a leap, bite, or fireball attack).
What you're hoping for is a fireball, but in case it decides to do another
attack, wait a few seconds before running into the fray. Always make sure the
Rath is not facing directly towards you. After one fireball is fired, run
towards the side of the head and begin the headlock. Rathalos always shoots
one fireball when he fireballs, so you will be safe running at an angle
towards his head. Rathian, however, usually shoots three, so, it is best to
run in directly to the side of her head. Follow the instructions below for the
methods indicated.
a) Lance: 2-hit
This is the suggested headlocking method for lances with attack power above
500. Lances with attack power under 500 may be able to use this method, but I
have only tried it with lances with attack above 500.
Stagger the Rath once by either doing an unsheath attack or a normal
stab/upstab into its head and following up with enough hits to stagger it
(you should need no more than 3 hits). Make sure you stop attacking as soon
as you see the Rath get staggered. When you stop, you have several options
ahead of you. Consider your position. 1) If you are in a good spot to keep
attacking the head, stop and wait for the next step. 2) If you are a little
too close to or even past the head and you feel that an upstab may miss the
head, sidestep once immediately into a more comfortable position and then
move quickly to face the head. 3) If you are more than a little too close to
the head, backstep immediately and take 1-3 steps towards the head.
While you are commiting to one of the three options, you must watch the Rath's
head. It should still be shaking, but it only shakes for less than 2 seconds
(a little more than 2 seconds if it is shaking slowly, as described before),
so timing is crucial. At the end of the shaking animation, the Rath will begin
to raise its head back to its normal position and shake its head more
violently. This is the critical moment. Upstab, making sure you hit the head
as it is shaking violently, and upstab once more (this second upstab should
occur when the head is at normal position). This second upstab should stagger
the Rath. Go back to the three options as listed above to continue the
headlock in an endless cycle.
b) Lance: 3-hit
This is the suggested headlocking method for lances with attack power above
450. The following is a paraphrased version of Sanjuro333's given method for
3-hit headlocking.
This lock is done while standing directly in front of the Rath's head. Use the
unsheath attack or an upstab, followed by more hits to the head, if needed, to
stagger the Rath once. Then, immediately backstep, and do one forward stab,
making sure that it hits the bottom of the Rath's head. Follow this up
immediately with 2 more upstabs, backstep, and repeat the forward, up, up stab
combo. Since this requires 3 hits instead of 2, it will be much more fast-
paced and there is supposedly not much room for timing. Just try to do the
sequence of stabs as quickly as possible, and it should work.
c) Great Sword: Side-swing
This method of headlocking has been proven to work with most great swords with
attack power above 900. The method for Rathalos and Rathian differs slightly,
because Rathian tends to resist strikes to her head more. For Rathian, it is
suggested that you use Eternal Annihilator. The following is a paraphrased
version of enjelsama's guide to headlocking Raths with a great sword.
For this method, references will be made to the area of the great sword that
you should hit the Rath with. Area 1 refers to the third of the blade that is
closest to the hilt. Area 2 refers to the middle third of the blade. Area 3
refers to the third of the blade at the tip.
For Rathalos, your initial position should be in front of the head, slightly
to the left of it. Start the headlock by doing a horizontal slash (left on
the right analog stick) to the head using Area 2. Immediately follow up with
an upswing using Area 1. Immediately repeat these two attacks using the same
areas as needed. If you are using a slower great sword, you may want to try
using Area 1 when attacking with the horizontal slash instead of Area 2.
For Rathian, your initial position should be approximately underneath her
neck. You should be facing towards her head for the headlock; that is, you
should be facing in the same direction that she is. This makes you vulnerable
to her tailflip, so be careful. Begin the headlock by using Area 1 to upswing
the head, and immediately follow up by using Area 1 to do a horizontal swing.
Immediately return to the upswing to repeat the cycle as needed. You will need
to turn your character to make sure you hit the head with Area 1 every time.
d) Dual Swords: Spin
This is the suggested headlocking method for dual swords with attack power
above 250. However, only DDU and Guild Sabers (thanks to fiercelinkaura for
testing the Guild Sabers with this method) have been tested to work with this
method. The following is IamBeeflog's method (typographical errors corrected):
"Alright, since dual swords don't have the best sharpness and sometimes lose
it, very carefully, you'll have to stop and sharpen but don't do that until
you stop headlocking it. Example: miss a bit and it doesn't shake. Anyway,
take mega juice and use it of course. Go into berserk mode and run up to Los
[/Ian]. Stop right beside it's head and to the left or right spin (depends on
what side you're standing on) it should hit him enough to shake his head.
Once he shakes his head it should give you enough time to run back and do the
spin hit again."
To find out when to continue with another spin combo, watch the head of the
Rath at all times. At the very end of the shaking animation, the Rath will
begin to raise its head to the normal position. During the short, crucial
period when it is lifting its head, begin striking again. Repeat as needed.
For Rathian, there will be times when your swords "lag" a lot when cutting
through her head. It will most likely stagger her, but you will not have
enough time to time your strikes as mentioned in the previous paragraph. In
such a case, it is best to just continue doing spin-slashes on her head
without breaks. I have managed to lock Rathian with this method with up to 10
staggers using DDU, but my sharpness quickly ran out.
e) Dual Swords: Combo
This is FFX Tidus 415's method for headlocking Raths using Dual Swords:
"You need mega juice/power juice. Press R1 then do up,up,up,down. This depends
on your attack power. You need the last hit of the down have them stagger or
w/e. So sometimes you might only need 2 up's and 1 down. probably 1 up and 1
down. All depends on your attack.
Oh yea...Stay directly infront of the head. The up motions move you forward a
bit. So if your at the left/ride side of the head...your gonna end up at the
other side of the head."
For timing, refer to "Dual Swords: Spin" and read the second to last
paragraph. This method's timing is very similar.
[V- Winglocking]
In addition to headlocking to stagger and immobilize monsters, some wyverns
can be winglocked. As the term suggests, this is similar to headlocking but
it involves attacking the wings of the wyvern.
EhudBarak has a simple guide for winglocking Yian-Kut Ku and Gypceros using a
lance:
"Just do the 3 up stabs with the lance at the wings, and then do the backstep,
and then repeat. If you keep repeating that, the Yian Kut-Ku or Gypceros isn't
going anywhere. The only problem with doing that on the Gypceros is his stupid
feign death -_- Other than that, I've tested it several times and it works
wonders. I timed a Yian Kut-Ku with a Black Dragon Spear and it wasn't even
more than 30 seconds."
[VI- Credits]
I give thanks to Capcom for making Monster Hunter, GameFAQs and Heavens
Knights for allowing me to host this FAQ, and all of the hunters who helped
me to progress in this game and those who taught me the rudiments of
headlocking.
The following people contributed directly to this FAQ:
-IamBeeflog
-enjelsama
-FFX Tidus 415
-fiercelinkaura
-EhudBarak (BloodiedWraith)
-TheOneReturns (Dream)
-Sanjuro333 (John5000)
[VII- Authorized Websites]
This FAQ may only be hosted on the following sites:
-GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)
-Heavens Knights (www.freewebs.com/hevknights)
-Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com)
-Monster Hunter Forums, unofficial (www.s8.invisionfree.com/MH_Forum)
