Mitigating or blocking monster attacks by countering with the correct attack type is one of the keys to success in Monster Hunter Stories 3, and while there will initially be a bit of guesswork involved, the game records this data for you in the Monsterpedia. However, you won’t have all this data with you on your first (and sometimes only) fight with some monsters, nor will you have access to this information in the heat of battle, so we’ve compiled what data we can to remove as much of the guesswork as possible and provide info on every monster’s preferred attack types in Monster Hunter Stories 3!
Page Breakdown¶
| Quick Search |
|---|
| Monster Attack Types |
| List of All Monster Attack Types |
| List of All Feral Monster Attack Types |
| List of All Invasive Monster Attack Types |
(1 of 4) When you see a blue or yellow line, it means the monster is targeting one your allies or your protagonist (respectively) with a counterable attack.
Monster Attack Types¶
Monsters can perform a variety of attacks in Monster Hunter Stories 3, including attacks that strike the entire party (no arrow is present at the start of a turn), an unaligned attack that targets a single character (a red arrow will appear pointing at the target) and a single-target attack with one of three attack types (a yellow or blue line will connect the monster to its target).
It’s this last category that we’re most interested in for this page, as these attacks can be countered by retaliating with a dominant attack type. It’s the classic roshambo game mechanic - if the enemy uses a Power (red) attack, use Speed (blue), if they use a Speed (blue) attack, use Technique (green), and if they use Technique (green) use Power (red). Only problem is, you can’t tell what a monster is using except by either dumb luck or experience, but once you know the information will be added to your Monsterpedia, which, of course, is inaccessible during combat.
To help you counter enemy attacks, we’ll provide the Monsterpedia data we’ve gathered here, starting with all the “normal” monsters in the game - this list will exclude Invasive and Feral variants, which will get their own tables, below. Note that monsters may cycle between one and three phases during combat, and their preferred attack types may switch during these phases:
List of All Monster Attack Types¶
| Monster | Normal Phase | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aenshin | Technique | Power | Power | – |
| Ajarakan | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Aknosom | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Almudron | Power | Technique | Speed | – |
| Anjanath | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Aptonoth | Power | – | – | – |
| Arkveld | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Astalos | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Aurora Somnacanth | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Azure Rathalos | Power | – | – | – |
| Azuros | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Barioth | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Barroth | Speed | Technique | – | – |
| Bishaten | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Black Diablos | Power | Speed | Speed | – |
| Black Gravios | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Blango | Power | – | – | – |
| Blangonga | Power | Speed | – | – |
| Bloodbath Diablos | Speed | – | – | – |
| Blood Orange Bishaten | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Blue Yian Kut-Ku | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Bnahabra | Technique | – | – | – |
| Boltreaver Astalos | Technique | – | – | – |
| Brachydios | Power | Speed | Power | – |
| Brute Tigrex | Power | Speed | – | – |
| Ceanataur | Power | – | – | – |
| Cephalos | Power | – | – | – |
| Chatacabra | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Deadeye Yian Garuga | Speed | – | – | – |
| Deviljho | Power | Speed | Power | – |
| Diablos | Power | Speed | Speed | – |
| Dreadking Rathalos | Power | – | – | – |
| Dreadqueen Rathian | Speed | – | – | – |
| Ebony Odogaron | Speed | Speed | Power | – |
| Espinas | Power | Speed | Power | – |
| Exotic Legiana | Speed | Technique | – | – |
| Exotic Nibelsnarf | Technique | Technique | – | – |
| Exotic Seregios | Speed | Technique | – | – |
| Exotic Velocidrome | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Fulgur Anjanath | Power | Speed | Speed | – |
| Garangolm | Power | Speed | Technique | – |
| Gargwa | Speed | – | – | – |
| Glavenus | Speed | Technique | Power | – |
| Goss Harag | Power | Technique | Speed | – |
| Gravios | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Great Dracophage Bug | Speed | – | – | – |
| Great Izuchi | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Great Thunderbug | Speed | – | – | – |
| Green Nargacuga | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Green Plesioth | Speed | Technique | – | – |
| Grimclaw Tigrex | Power | – | – | – |
| Gypceros | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Hellbalde Glavenus | Speed | – | – | – |
| Honed Glavenus | Speed | Technique | Power | – |
| Jade Barroth | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Khezu | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Kula-Ya-Ku | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Ivory Lagiacrus | Speed | Power | Technique | – |
| Izuchi | Speed | – | – | – |
| Lagiacrus | Power | Speed | Technique | – |
| Legiana | Speed | Power | Technique | – |
| Ludroth | Power | – | – | – |
| Lunagaron | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Magnamalo | Speed | Power | Technique | – |
| Malzeno | Speed | Technique | Speed | – |
| Mizutsune | Technique | Speed | Speed | – |
| Namielle | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Nargacuga | Speed | Technique | – | – |
| Nerscylla | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Nibelsnarf | Technique | Speed | Speed | – |
| Odogaron | Speed | Speed | Power | – |
| Paolumu | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Pink Rathian | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Plesioth | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Pukei-Pukei | Technique | Speed | Power | – |
| Purple Gypceros | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Purple Ludroth | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Rachnoid | Technique | – | – | – |
| Rakna-Kadaki | Technique | Technique | Speed | – |
| Rathalos | Power | Technique | Speed | – |
| Rathian | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Red Khezu | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Remobra | Technique | – | – | – |
| Rey Dau | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Royal Ludroth | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Sand Barioth | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Seregios | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Shogun Ceanataur | Speed | Technique | Power | – |
| Shrouded Nerscylla | Technique | Speed | – | – |
| Silverwind Nargacuga | Speed | – | – | – |
| Slagoth | Power | – | – | – |
| Somnacanth | Technique | Speed | Speed | – |
| Soulseer Mizutsune | Speed | – | – | – |
| Stygian Zinogre | Technique | Speed | Power | – |
| Tetranadon | Power | Technique | – | – |
| Thunderlord Zinogre | Power | – | – | – |
| Thunder Serpent Narwa | Speed | – | – | – |
| Tigrex | Power | Speed | – | – |
| Tobi-Kadachi | Speed | Technique | – | – |
| Velkhana | Technique | Speed | Technique | Power |
| Velocidrome | Speed | Power | – | – |
| Velociprey | Speed | – | – | – |
| Wind Serpent Ibushi | Power | – | – | – |
| Yama Tsukami | Power | Speed | Power | – |
| Yian Garuga | Technique | Power | – | – |
| Yian Kut-Ku | Technique | Speed | – | |
| Zinogre | Speed | Technical | Power | – |
Feral Monsters will also use attack types and should be handled like their normal counterparts.
Feral Monsters are nasty variants of normal monsters with crystalline growths on them that grant them new powers and may change their behavior. You’ll fight some of these during the story and others optionally, opening up new Camps when you defeat them - and since you need to establish Camp to unlock habitat restoration for that region, you’ll definitely want to fight every Feral Monster in the game. You can only fight each Feral Monster once - once it’s defeated, it’s gone for good.
List of All Feral Monster Attack Types¶
| Monster | Normal Phase | Angry Phase |
|---|---|---|
| Feral Ajarakan | Technique | Power |
| Feral Aknosom | Technique | Power |
| Feral Barroth | Speed | Technique |
| Feral Bishaten | Speed | Technique |
| Feral Blangonga | Power | Speed |
| Feral Brachydios | Power | Speed |
| Feral Chatacabra | Power | Technique |
| Feral Espinas | Power | Speed |
| Feral Gerat Izuchi | Speed | Power |
| Feral Glavenus | Speed | Technique |
| Feral Gravios | Power | Technique |
| Feral Gypceros | Power | Technique |
| Feral Legiana | Power | Technique |
| Feral Magnamalo | Speed | Power |
| Feral Nerscylla | Technique | Speed |
| Feral Paolumu | Technique | Speed |
| Feral Rakna-Kadaki | Technique | Technique |
| Feral Somnacanth | Technique | Speed |
| Feral Tetranadon | Power | Technique |
| Feral Tobi-Kadachi | Speed | Technique |
| Feral Velocidrome | Speed | Power |
| Feral Yian Kut-Ku | Technique | Speed |
Invasive Monsters are more puzzles than proper battles, but sometimes solving these combat puzzles involves retaliating with the correct attack type!
Another monster variant, Invasive Monsters can be found in their (usually isolated) dens at night, having driven the native monsters dwelling in the region to the verge of extinction. These fights are more like puzzles than proper battles, but sometimes you will need to know what attack types they use and respond accordingly to win:
List of All Invasive Monster Attack Types¶
| Monster | Normal Phase | Angry Phase |
|---|---|---|
| Invasive Azuros | Power | – |
| Invasive Diablos | Power | – |
| Invasive Nerscylla | Technique | – |
| Invasive Odogaron | Speed | – |
| Invasive Plesioth | Technique | Power |
| Invasive Khezu | Technique | – |
| Invasive Seregios | – | – |
| Invasive Shogun Ceanataur | Power | Speed |
| Invasive Yian Garuga | Technique | – |
Nathan has been working at Gamer Guides since 2014 where he started as a contributor. He came on as an editor in 2020 where he continues to put his excellent knowledge of most things RPG to use. More about Nathan Garvin
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