User blog comment:The rake is real/elder dragons/@comment-5020152-20130523180131

Swing a weapon at them until they die.

Just kidding, that wasn't very helpful. For Kushala Daora I waited until I fought Rathian to get the Princess Rapier Sword and Shield.. I waited a long time for Chameleos, but finally fought him with Lao-Shan Lung's Dual Swords. Kirin wasn't bad, I just used my Wyvern Blade "Blood" Longsword. Lunastra and Teostra are tricky, I generally use Lao-Shan's Longsword.

I wouldn't recommend fighting Lao-Shan Lung until you can make a weapon with those Dark Metals. So my advice is, just fight Kushala Daora with the Princess Rapier and the best armor you can get. You need Rathian parts for the Rapier, but it's worth it. Keep attacking the head and his horns will eventually break, preventing him from using his wind aura. Additionally, he can't use the aura while Poisoned, which is why I use the Princess Rapier.

Keep fighting Kushala Daora until you get a lot of Dark Metal, then forge one of those weapons and fight Lao-Shan Lung. Use armor with good defense and try to raise your attack or affinity before you fight him. Keep repelling him (if you can't kill him) and gather up some materials, then forge some weapons from those Scales and Shells. Lao-Shan weapons have awesome Dragon Element, so they're very well worth using, especially when they're upgraded.

Hope this helps.