Forum:Gigginox Guide by Bonaparrte (Poison Immunity)

Basic Info
Guide made by: Bonaparrte

Guide for: Gigginox

Game: MH3

Rank: Village ★★★★☆

Gear
This guide is aimed at addressing one of the most annoying issues when fighting the Gigginox, which is its large array of poison-based attacks. In the overall view of things the main requirement is to have a minimum of ten available decoration slots. This can be achieved with a variety of combinations; Below we will list some items that you may use to get to this goal.

Weapon
As a rule of thumb you will need a weapon with at least two decoration slots, if not more. This completely rules out the Long Sword. If you would like to engage the Gigginox before completing the "Fell the Lagiacrus" quest, then the Lance, Sword and Shield, and Switch Axe are ruled out as well, because the only two- and three-slotted weapons of those types are from the Crystal Path tree and require materials from the Volcano area. This leaves you with either the Bone Bludgeon+ for hammers, the Chieftain's Grt Swd for great swords, of a bowgun combination with two or more slots such as a Light Stock + Jaggid Barrel + any frame.

Charm
Depending on which armor and wepons you decide to use you may or may not require a slotted charm. At the time that the Gigginox quest becomes available you will be able to collect Shining Charms as quest rewards, which have a chance of having one or two decoration slots. Depending on the weapon+armor+charm combination that you end up using you may or may not require any slotted charms.

Armor
The low rank armor set with the most deoration slots is Lagiacrus Armor (Gunner version) at nine slots. However, odds are that you will not have the materials necessary to complete it. The next best set is Rathian Armor (Gunner version) at seven slots. The Rathian-hunting quest becomes available at the same time as the Gigginox-hunting quest, so completing this set is not impossible. Jaggi Armor (Gunner version) ranks in third with six slots. Finally, there are a number of five-slot sets of armor.

You may also choose to mix and match armor pieces with two decoration slots each from different sets. You will lose the inerent armor skills, but you will gain poison immunity which should be your top goal. You may for example use the helm from the Alloy set, the Vambraces from the Jaggi, Rhenoplos, or Gobul set, and the mail piece from the Baggi set for six decoration slots. Add faulds and greaves from any set with one decoration slot each, and you have a total of eight decoration slots.

Decorations
You will need to fill ten decoration slots with one Antidote Jewel each. These jewels will give you immunity to poison-based attacks, but make you susceptible to stun attacks. Antidote Jewel+ do not have that issue, but until you slay the Gigginox the materials needed for it are not available. If you have an extra decoration slot available you can counter the stun effect with a single Steadfast Jewel or Steadfast Jewel+. Some armor sets such as the Jaggi and Gobul armors (both blademaster and gunner versions) can also halve the stun duration, which may be sufficient in some cases.

Items
Below are the minimum items that you should have with you when facing the Gigginox. Unless noted otherwise you should bring the maximum amount possible.
 * Supply Items (provided)
 * Well-Cooked Steak
 * Mega Potion
 * Paintball x3: An additional two are provided in the supply box. You should not need more than a total of five.
 * Medicinal Herbs
 * Mega Nutrients
 * Whetstones
 * Dung Bombs

Additional items you may decide to bring along are:
 * Demondrug: Stronger attacks mean that the Gigginox 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.
 * 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.
 * Shock Trap: Very useful for stopping the Gigginox in its tracks when enraged.
 * Trap Tool and Thunderbug: Combine to make more shock traps.
 * Book of Combos 1 and Book of Combos 2
 * Flash Bombs: To dislodge the Gigginox from the ceiling.

Finally, do not forget that completion of secondary quests awards you with extra supplies in the form of 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.

Offense
The Gigginox will offer you very small windows of attack, so quick strikes will be imperative. However, having achieved poison immunity you can give yourself the luxury of being more aggressive in your attacks. As a rule of thumb you will be targetting two sections of the Gigginox: The head and the tail. The tail section is usually safer to attack, but attacking the head will produce faster results. Ultimately it will be up to you to decide which section to attack. Just keep in mind that most Gigginox Attacks target the front and left side of the Gigginox, so attacking from the back and right side is preferred.

Defense
By having decorated your gear for poison immunity you will have addressed the biggest issue you will have when battling the Gigginox. The rest of your defensive strategy will be to avoid the physical aspects of its attacks. As mentioned before, the main target areas of the Gigginox's attacks are its front and left side, so your safest standing locations are the right and rear of the monster. Beyond that, the following rules will maximize your safety:
 * Move clockwise aroud the monster after each attack. As it turns to face your previous position you will stay at its right side.
 * The sideways reach of the Gigginox's wings has a longer reach than you think. When the monster is readying for a smash attack then you should attempt to get as far away from the wings as possible.
 * Do not stand under the monster when it is hanging from the ceiling. Doing so is the quickest way of getting caught in the hangover vice.
 * 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.