Forum:Barroth Guide by Zharay

General Guide to Barroth
Guide Made By: Zharay

Guide for: Great Jaggi

Game: MH3

Rank: ★★★☆☆

Weapon Type:
 * In general, any weapon that can deal Water damage.
 * For Great Sword: Ludroth Bone Sword+
 * For Sword and Shield: Royal Claw
 * For Hammer: Ludroth Splashhammer
 * For Lance: Spiral Lance
 * Gunners - bring Water and Flaming Shots.
 * As a last resort, you may use Fire damage weapons if possible (look at Qurupeco series weapons), but know you will have a tough time.

Armor:
 * Rhenoplos Armor Set (Gunner)
 * This negates the mud effects that Barroth does, also provides great defense overall.
 * Gem this for an Attack Up (S)
 * Ludroth Armor Set (Gunner)
 * This is great for the defense! Divine Blessing gives a chance to lower damage done to you. Also has increased health.
 * You are vulnerable to the mud ball effect. You can gem the armor with Weather/Weather+ gems and use a talisman to negate it (need 10 points)

Items:
 * Health Potion (x10)
 * Mega Potion (x10)
 * Whetstone (x20)
 * Herb (x10)
 * Blue Mushroom (x10)
 * Pitfall Trap
 * Shock Trap
 * Flash Bomb (x5)
 * Tranq Bomb (x8)

Preface
Barroth serves mostly as one purpose, to be a literal wall for you to conquer. In previous games this was delegated to Tigrex (in my view at least) and now starting with Tri we have Barroth who is just as powerful and just as pissed off; if not more so. Barroth is a monster where preperation is truly key. For you new folks, this is where you will seriously see the work you put into making your equips shine and the skills you gained be tested.

Preparation - What you need to bring to the fight
So unlike other fights, you could probably get away using very simple equips. For example a Bone Series Switch Axe was great tool to take down many things even though it doesn't have an element attached to it. A Great Jaggi Armor Set could be your bread and butter armor for all monsters up to this point, provided you had been upgrading it with Armor Spheres whenever possible. But for Barroth this is definitely the time when you must take time to actually prepare.

Listed above is a list of equips that are highly recommended. Making these equips is essential to make this fight an easy one rather than a barely passable one. It is essential if you are fighting Barroth offline that you have the Mud/Snow skill active either through Rhenoplos Armor or Weather gems. Barroth has attacks that can fling mud around during battle. If you touch the mud, you gain the "Muddy" status effect, turning you into a ball of mud. You can only run and dodge and when you are freed (either by having someone/something hit you or by using a Cleanser) your character plays a short animation. In a fight with Barroth, this can be devastating quickly, not to mention you can't deal damage for however long you are a ball.

It is recommended you get Water based weapons because Barroth is most weak to the element when he as Mud on him. When the mud is completely destroyed, Water no longer is as effective and now Fire deals him additional damage. The reason why you focus on water is due to the fact that for most of the battle, his is going to be covered by mud. He can also always go back to Area 3 of Sandy Plains to get more mud, halving your Fire weapon's damage potential. But if Fire is all that you have, don't fret. You can still defeat Barroth with a Fire based weapon such as a Qurupeco Hammer, but know that because your damage is halved for most of the battle until you are hitting spots that have no mud, that you are going to take a much longer time to down him. For Gunner's this entire issue is moot. Be sure to bring plenty of ammo!

Before heading out, also take the opportunity to get acquainted with eating before leaving. In both online (at the table) and offline mode (at the Canteen), you can order food to boost you stats. The stats you are looking for are things that can increase either your health and defense. It is random chance, but if you can get fresh ingredients and see the Felyne skill for Defender or Riser, get them. Don't know what I'm talking about? Have a look here. On top of the food you want to pack extra materials to make things like potions, because the first time you fight Barroth will often times be a very messy one.

The Fight - What to look out for and how to avoid them
In a fight Barroth its very common to see people be wary of him, which is fine. The problem is, try not to be overly wary of him. Before getting into any of his attacks, treat Barroth like how some people say to treat real bears: Stand your ground. Often times Barroth likes to get in close and circle a hunter before performing an attack. He only stops moving when he performs an attack, so with that in mind, know that you yourself don't have to move until he stops himself! Hopefully when everyone understands this, having to chase him down will become less of a problem than his attacks are.

Barroth's most basic attack and the one that he performs the most often is that of the charge. It is also the move that deals the most damage, pushes you all over the place, and the most challenging to avoid all at the same time. All hunters are in danger of getting hit buy it, even if you are not the target. He uses his charge whenever he lowers his head to the ground. You know when you are in danger when he is doing this directly at you. First thing's first, don't panic! Dodging too early is bad. Secondly, brace yourself to roll. Stop attacking if you are doing so. If you are moving about with your sword out and want to sheath or want to eat something, don't! After a brief moment he will fully charge at you. At that moment, or depending on the distance between him and you, roll directly to the -left- of him before he reaches you. I must emphasize that you roll to the left for this maneuver due to the fact that after each charge, he will swing his tail to the right after finishing the charge, hitting anything on that side of him. This fact never changes even in rage mode.

His Tail Whip can be difficult to avoid depending on the situation. If you are melee and are in range of his attack, know you have 3 choices in this situation. You can try rolling out of his tail whipping radius, meaning two full rolls directly outwards if you are close to him. You can also try rolling with the tail whip's direction, but be careful as the whip covers a rather large arc (greater than 180°). Lastly you can try staying directly underneath Barroth's legs to continue your attack. Doing the last option is rather dangerous, so for new players its recommended to not try this.

His Bite and Ground Head Bash are rather hard to predict, making evading it difficult as well. You will generally know he will Bite or Bash when he comes close rather than using his distance to do a full charge. Usually when he is fixated on you, you can probably bet that he will perform either move. Both attacks can hurt a lot and, unless you have a shield like with a Sword and Shield or Lancer, it is best to roll at Barroth. Rolling past him gives you room to have a cleaner avoidance rather than being open to a charge immediately after. If he performs a Head Bash and his head has mud in it, this move will also fling blobs of mud around his head. This is again another reason to roll forward, as getting hit by any of these mud balls could make you a mud ball yourself unless you have the negate mud skill activated.

Lastly there is his Mud Shake. It's not a directed attack like the above, but it can still damage you if you are in his immediate area. He does this at what seems to be at random, whether you are near him or not. It's main purpose is to give melee characters a harder time. That is why it is recommended that melee hunters make use of the above recommended gear. With mud negated you are free to make this opportunity one for dealing damage. However keep in mind that the mud still damages you, so if you are going to rush in, be sure to be at top health.

Now before we move on to how you should attack, we must cover his rage mode. Barroth is one of those monsters that goes into rage easily it seems. Keep in mind that rage is an indicator of how well you are doing against him. If it seems he is raging a lot, it means you are at least making some progress on him. But this is a double edged sword as well. In rage Barroth is a force to be reckoned with. He charges much more often and they deal more damage, often chaining the move multiple times. When he does his mud shake he does so faster; becoming shorter move than normal as a result. One thing to note is that his charge will actually curve towards you more in rage as well, thus why you must stand your ground long enough for him to actually get closer before you attempt a roll.