Forum:Gigginox Guide by Bonaparrte (Longsword)

Basic Info
Guide made by: Bonaparrte

Guide for: Gigginox

Game: MH3

Rank: Village ★★★★☆

Weapon Type
Long Sword

This weapon has a combination of features that make it a good fit for this monster:


 * Good mobility: Many of the harder-hitting weapons have you trade movement speed for damage output.  Unfortunately, that is not a luxury you can afford when battling the Gigginox.  The long sword is ideal because it does not restrict your movement speed while it is drawn.
 * Attack/Dodge Combination: One of the signature moves of the long sword is the fading/moving slash.  This attack perform a single slash at the same time as your player dodges backwards or to the sides.  We will see that this move is crucial in battling the Gigginox.
 * Spirit Gauge: This feature of the long sword is both a boon and a curse.  Since you have very few chances to safely hit the Gigginox you will find that  having a charged spirit gaige will help inmensely in ending this battle within reasonable time.  On the downside you will have to first activate the spirit gauge.  We will get back to this later.

The first time you have a chance to engage the Gigginox you will have only one long sword available, the Ananta Boneblade. However, fighting the Gigginox is not required to advance the village quests, so it is possible to delay the battle until after the quest "Fell the Lagiacrus!". At that point you should have enough materials to build the Thunderclap.

Armor
In battling the Gigginox with the long sword the most useful skills to you will be poison resistance and evasive skills. Unfortunately the most useful one, poison resistance, will not be available when fighting the Gigginox, so you will have to focus on evasive skills. Elemental resistance is not required.

The best matching armor is Qurupeco Armor. Evasion +1 will give you a larger window of immunity when dodging, and Recovery Up will help you recover faster from poison damage.

Additional Items
Below are the minimum items that you should have with you when facing the Barroth. Unless noted otherwise you should bring the maximum amount possible.
 * Supply Items (provided)
 * Well-Cooked Steak
 * Mega Potion
 * Paintball x2: An additional two are provided in the supply box. You should not need more than a total of four.
 * Antidote x8: Two antidotes are provided to you in the supply box, but you will likely require more than that.  You can carry a maximum of ten.
 * Mega Nutrients
 * Whetstones

Additional items you may decide to bring along are:
 * Demondrug: Stronger attacks mean that the Rathian will die faster.
 * Armorskin and Adamant Pill: These help further boost your physical defense.
 * Psychoserum: For those "I forgot to paintball the monster and it left the area" moments.

Finally, do not forget that completion of secondary quests awards you with extra supplies, specially rations, first aid kits, mini-whetstones, and hot drinks.

Preparation
You should make the following two steps a habit:
 * Max out your stamina and health before engaging the monster.
 * Whenever the monster changes areas, take the time to top up your health, stamina, and sharpen your weapon if necessary.
 * I suggest sharpening your weapon every two area changes, regardless of its current sharpness. You do not want your sword to lose its sharpness in the middle of combat, else you will lose precious time running away and re-sharpening it.
 * Learn to distinguish the front side of the monster from the tail. They are very similar, and you will it difficult at first.

Defense
The biggest issue you will have when battling the Gigginox is going to be not getting poisoned. The best way to avoid this is by maintaining a reasonable distance from the monster. This usually means standing at wingspan length. Other than that the following general tips will help you keep out of harm's way:
 * Try to stand at the right side of the Gigginox.
 * Move clockwise aroud the monster.
 * Do not stand under the monster when it is hanging from the ceiling.
 * When the Gigginox is hanging from the ceiling, adjust your camera angle to watch it as you are moving. You need to be able to observe it so that you can evade its attacks.
 * Always dodge away from the monster after attacking.

Offense
The Gigginox will offer you very small windows of attack, so quick strikes will be imperative.
 * Your primary form of attack is going to be the fade slash and the moving slashes. These combine weapon swings and a back/side step.
 * Aim to charge your spirit gauge to yellow level as quickly as possible. The best way to do this is not by attacking the Gigginox, but the giggi eggs it lays.  The are stationary and can take a few hits, usually enough to advance your spirit gauge to the next level.
 * Once your spirit gauge is charged you can focus on the Gigginox. You will be fighing a reactive battle, waiting for the Gigginox's moves before attacking.  Below are the best strategies for each attack:
 * Charge: This attack is quite slow, and you will find that moving to the side is usually enough to clear you.  The good news is that the slowness of the charge means that you can slash at the monster as it runs by you.
 * Neck Stretch Swipe: This is the primary reason why you want to be at the right side of the Gigginox.  This attack has extremely far reach, and unless you are very far from the monster you will get hit if you're standing in front or to the left of the monster.
 * Terrifying Roar: You will be very annoyed by this move because not even the Earplugs skill will protect you from it.  Being far away does, but this attack is unpredictable so you will not find many opportunities to be far enough.
 * Smash and Poison Smash: The Gigginox will rear, extend its wings, and let itself fall, smashing anything it falls on. The poison smash is a variant of the regular smash attack: the Gigginox releases poisonous gases for about three seconds in addition to the smash.  Since you cannot distinguish the two smash attacks when they begin I suggest evading as soon as possible once the monster begins these attacks.
 * Poison Spit: This is similar to the Royal Ludroth's water bomb attack, but with a poison status effect instead of water blight.  It targets a very small area and is quite easy to evade with a dodge roll.
 * Giggi Egg and Poison Blob: The Gigginox rears and places its tail on the ground to extrude either a giggi egg or a poison egg.  Stay away from the tail as this happens, but know that the Gigginox is immobile otherwise, so you have carte blanche to attack its neck and head as much as possible while it is rearing.
 * Mighty Leap: As long as you stay mobile this attack will miss you.  My preferred strategy is to move towards the Gigginox's previous position, then turn around.  This will place the monster's head within your attack area.
 * Neck Swipe: This is a very dangerous attack that the Gigginox performs against targets that are under it when it is hanging from the ceiling.  It will pull you in and follow up with a hangover vice.  The best strategy to avoid getting caught in the swipe is by getting as much distance as possible between you and the monster when it is hanging.
 * Hangover Vice: If caught by the neck swipe, the Gigginox will drain your life in an attack similar to the Rathian's stomp maul.  Unlike the maul, however, you will not be able to use a dung bomb to escape.