Yama Tsukami Guides

=Introduction=

The Yama Tsukami is a elder dragon that resembles a flying octopus in some way. He's extremely big, has 4 tentacles, 2 giant whiskers and a very special mouth which he uses to literally suck in monsters and hunters. It always results in a instant death without the guts skill.

Because of his size his moves are very slow but devastating. Even with the strongest armor in the game he can kill you in 2 hits if you don't have max health.

He is the urgent quest for Hunter Rank 9.

=Behaviour=

During battle the Yama Tsukami is relatively passive when you compare him to other monsters. You'll be fighting him at the top of the tower from a platform. His attack pattern mostly consists of tentacles swings. Sometimes he also does a double tentacle swing or he slams both tentacles and whiskers down.

He can also unleash a explosive gas which resemble's that of a Gravios.

He has 2 unique moves as well, the tornado (he floats up, stretches all tentacles and spins a few rounds), and the wind tunnel. He uses these 2 far less frequently than his other moves though, most of the times he uses regular tentacle swings.

But by far his most unique ability is the ability to summon Great Thunderbug. These thunderbugs are the same as normal Great Thunderbugs but they have 1 more ability. They can explode.

The Yama's sign of rage is when his eyes turn from red to yellow.

He does not have any weakness signs, though it can be said that there's a point at which it takes far longer for him to reach the rage made than in earlier parts of the fights. Which would mean he is considerably weakened. The Silver Rathalos shares the same weakness sign next to limping.

=Preparations=

Items

 * Potions/Mega Potions/Herbs
 * Steaks
 * Tranq Bombs (more on this below)
 * Lifepowder (optional)

Weapons
Any weapon that has either high raw or has the ice or dragon element. Some weapon recommendations for first-timers are:


 * Great Swords: Darkness Darkblade
 * Long Swords: Ancient Dragonsword, Smolder Dragonsword or Blango Destructor
 * Sword and Shield: Ice Fang
 * Dual Swords: Icicle Daggers
 * Hammers: Juggernaut

For people who have already reached HR9 the weapon suggestions look more like this:


 * Great Swords: Eternal Destroyer
 * Long Swords: Ukanlos Slicer
 * Sword and Shield: Ice Fang
 * Dual Swords: Silhouette Sabers G
 * Hammers: Magnitude, Diablos Chaos Order, Claw of Doom or Ukanlos Trampler.

Armors
For the Yama Tsukami it is most recommended to use an armor that has the evade +2 skill. Best example is the Narga X armor, which has both evade +2 and evade distance up. His moves are slow so it's really easy to roll through. You'll definitely need a armor like this if you're using a weapon that can't block.

Another suggestion is an armor with the Guts (anti ohko) skill. Easiest armor to get with this skill is Hermitaur Z, but Lava X is also an option.

If you cannot get any of these armors then stick with a armor with very high defence.

=Elemental Information=

The Yama Tsukami himself does not attack with any element. His elemental weaknesses are both Dragon and Ice. You don't have to bother with ailments, he negates all.

=Attack Points=

=Breakable Parts=

It is unknown what effect breaking the whiskers has towards your rewards.

=Yama Tsukami's Attack=

=Battle Strategy(ies)=

General Strategy (basics)

 * All weapon specific strategies can be based off of the information written in this particular section.
 * His sign of rage is that his eyes turn from red to yellow.
 * He does not have any weakness signs.

As soon as you enter the final area of the tower, you will see the Yama Tsukami slowly floating from outside the tower towards the arena, and then he'll slowly ascent. Unless you're gunning him it's no use trying to attack him. You'll have to wait for him to make the first move and then counter by quickly attacking either his whiskers or his tentacles while he is pulling the back.

The Yama Tsukami's moveset mostly consists of regular tentacle slams. He uses this most of the time and they can be easily blocked/evaded and countered.

He has 3 types of tentacles slams, a single slam which is his slowest move, a double slam which is considerably faster then the single slam, and a quadruple slam which is his slowest but most devastating slam. It also covers the widest area but can easily be blocked and evaded by diving.

In case of the single slam, run to the sides, and then attack that tentacle 2 or 3 times (depending on your weapon).

Would he do a double slam the same strategy for evasion applies, though you should keep running to 1 side, you can attack either his tentacle or his whisker after evading this move.

When he does his quadruple tentacles slam you only have to run to either sides and dive, he'll have his tentacles kind of stuck on the platform for a reasonable amount of time. This grants you the oppurtunity to go all out on him. He remains like this for about 10 seconds. Use this time wisely and deal as much damage as you can.

To evade his explosive gas which he uses rarely, you must run away from him until you hit the wall. He will never hit you from there. Don't try to block it, without Guard Inc you can't block it. And this move deals a lot of damage so don't make that mistake. After the gas run back at him and you should get 1 hit on the tentacles or his whiskers.

If he slams only his whiskers on the platform you should prepare for the worst, as he might do his wind tunnel after this. It's a large tornado like tunnel which instantly kills anything without the guts armor. He will also turn while performing this so you must run away from it, if you reach the end of the platform and it's still going on then jump down the platform and re-enter the arena.


 * Throwing 2 tranq bombs will either make the Yama Tsukami flinch or fall down. If the last happen he will either fall downs till the bottom of the area and remain there trying to get up, you can use this to get in a lot of attacks as it takes him quite a while to get up again. But he can also fall down halfway and pin his tentacles into the wall. He will form some kind of platform which can be jumped on, this allows you to carve, as many times as you like! But you can also plant the anti-dragon bombs on him now.

His other signature move is the tornado swing, where he (as described in the attack section) spreads his tentacles and slowly descends while spinning several rounds. People will most likely dive like a madman or block, but the solution to this attack is something so simple that you would likely laugh about it. Unsheathe your weapon and press X to crouch. Do this as close to Yama as possible (not in the middle of the platform between the wall and the edge, his tentacles have the best reach there) and don't move. Just wait out the attack and then you can counter him.

His final ability is not really a treat but it can get you into trouble if you get caught by surprise. He can summon thunderbug which are like the regular Great Thunderbug but with a new move. They can explode and deal minor damage to you. But that's not what makes them dangerous, they can stun you and then you're a sitting duck. Try to kill them while Yama is spawning them, or if you fail to do that either decide to evade Yama's attacks and focus on them, then going for Yama again, or just keep fighting Yama and evade the Thunderbugs.

Great Sword Guide

 * Since all the information about how to fight has already been given in the general strategy section, this and the soon to be written sections won't cover combat as elaborately as the section above, and instead will focus on how you should attack, this will be your guide counterattacks only for every move of his moves.

When he does his single tentacle slam, evade it and do a unsheathe attack on that tentacles and roll, then withdraw your weapon and wait for the next move.

When he does a double slam, simply evade it again and either attack the tentacle he last slammed with or attack his whisker. Start with an overhead strike and follow up with a spinning cut.

When he does his quadruple slam, evade and charge up your Great Sword. During the time given while he is recovering from this attack you can easily get in 2 fully charged overhead strikes on him, and likely follow it up with 1 spinning cut before he pulls his tentacles back.

When he does his explosive gas, run back to the wall, then just after the attack ended run back at him and do a unsheathe attack on either his tentacles or his whiskers. Then withdraw your weapon and await his next move.

When he slams only his whiskers on the platform you can get in 1 fully charged GS strike if you're quick, it's risky though. Withdraw your weapon after and wait for him to do the wind tunnel. If he doesn't do it (after some rounds you will know if he's going to do it or not by looking at the time he has been doing nothing while having his whiskers on the platform) you can get in 1 or 2 move attacks.

You can't actually counter his tentacle tornado, just crouch and wait the attack out. When he has ascended a little and is spinning slower you could try and land a fully charged strike on him, but don't count on it that you'll hit him. You'll need some luck for that.

At last when he is summoning the Great Thunderbug close in on his mouth and deliver a fully charged strike there to deal maximum damage.

If you during the fight manage to make him fall down to the bottom of the area, simply jump down and spam some fully charged strikes.