I have finally run into a boss that I absolutely can not beat, and need to in order to progress. (This is single player)

The Pink Rathian. This is my first entry in the series, so I'm proud of myself for making it this far without too much trouble, but holy mother of god is this guy difficult.

I already dislike fighting the low-rank Rathian, as it seems to want to roar every four seconds, which does literally nothing but make the fight take longer, as it's not attacking and I'm not attacking and nothing's happening and it's super frustrating. That combined with the time it spends in the air where it is extremely difficult to hit it and it's constantly flapping his wings which pushes you around and keeps you from doing anything for several seconds makes me absolutely hate fighting it. Now that it's even stronger, I honestly just don't know what to do short of grinding for better gear. Which I admittedly need to do.

I'm still using my low rank armor, though it's good low rank armor and has been upgraded with armor spheres to the point where each piece gives me a little over 40 defense. The main reason I've stuck with my current set is because it grants me additional sharpness, which puts my current weapon (the Cyclone dual blades) into white sharpness, which seems pretty awesome. Basically my armor skills are +1 Sharpness, Divine Blessing, and Speed Sharpen, the latter two made possible with a Talisman and Decorations.

But this fight has made me realize that the Low Rank armor probably isn't going to cut it anymore. The thing is, when you get to High Rank, I feel like there are so many more options presented for me, and I'm not quite sure exactly where I should invest my time if I want to make better gear. I really don't know where to go from here.

Basically, I'm asking for advice on which armor set I should use next, knowing that the options available are the ones available relatively early on in High Rank. And also the most efficient way to go about getting it. And maybe some advice for killing this horrible Pink Rathian.

Also, on a side note: it seems that some monster attacks make me sheathe my weapon, and others don't. Is there any particular rhyme or reason to this that I can pick up on so that I can plan my next move after getting hit a little better? The number of times I've intended to run away from the monster but wound up charging my dual blades instead is embarrassing. And they all ended in my death. And the number of times I've intended to sheathe my weapon in order to begin running, but instead used an item is pretty sad, too. And those usually ended in death as well.

I had the same wall myself, after about 3 tries I started to think the armor was the issue. The trick for me was to not engage when it's in rage mode, it moves a lot faster and does different attacks that are harder to avoid. It took awhile but I managed it without using many potions. Patience is key.

There are certain monster attacks that end with your weapons sheathed. Its not just some random thing that happens, so just remember which attacks did it to you and you'll be fine.

@generic_username: Well the only time your weapon should sheathe is if you are stunned with the stars around your head. Maybe also a pounce where you have to mash to get out? Otherwise if your weapon is out, it stays out. Maybe I'm forgetting something but I'm fairly certain that's how it works.

As far as armor goes, well, I haven't gotten to high rank yet but if you're having troubles with roars you can look for a set with Hearing +10 which makes you immune so can get some free damage. +15 Wind Res will make you immune to her gusts, but honestly I don't think it's that important. If you're having problems with her flying, bring Flash Bombs (and mats + combo books to craft additional Flash Bombs). If you knock her out of the sky with one she'll be stuck on the ground wiggling for a few seconds so you can go to town on her.

Tetsucabra S is a good armor set, it has Defense Up (M), Health +20. Also a Fire res of 15

With decorations you can activate the sharpener skill and upgrade defense to (L)

If you need an ear plugs set i think the Najarala S is a good choice too, good fire res and pretty high defense rating.

I haven't really gotten to the Pink Rathian in MH4U but if its just like any Rathian in the other series

- throwing Flash Bombs will get the Rathian to drop down from the Sky

- watch out for its animation where it moves back a little and do it's tail sting

- Cut off its tail whenever you can

Okay, cool. thanks for the advice, between the three of you guys's replies, I might be able to handle it.

If your going against the Pink Rathian (which is pretty much everyone's first real wall in the game) there was a really good armor set that is pretty easy to make with the DLC that just came out. The set looks like a chef's outfit, so it kind of look's stupid, but it's called the Patissier's set. The set has somewhere around 300 base defense which might double the defense of even a good low rank set.

You can get the set by going through the DLC episodic quest that can be downloaded for free. When you walk into the guild hall you will have to talk to the cat/ladies that show up in the guild hall and go through three quests. The quests are event quests at the high HR counter. The last one is called Bonus: A Bigger Boat which has an objective to Slay a Seregios. The Seregios/tickets that are given on that quest give you the Patissier's set.

Along with the high bonuses, there is also resistances to Fire/Water/Thunder/Ice and the only downside is a pretty big negative to Dragon attacks. However, Fire Resist is maxed out. That, matched with eating for fire resistance before going after the Pink Rathian will result in fire balls that hardly do any damage. Each piece of the armor also has 2 slots for slotting gems, so if you still want sharpness or any other skills, they can still pretty easily be obtained by slotting gems for it.

Other bonuses with the armor:

Fire attack +1

Item Use Up

Alloy Stomach

This means fire attacks will get a buff, item use is much faster, and eating well done steaks gives you a bonus time where no stamina is used. After grinding for that set one night, the Pink Rathian wasn't to bad. ALWAYS remember to bring flash bombs against Ratian. Anytime it is in the sky, try throwing a flash bomb by its head and it should come down. Also, bring two traps so you can use them to stun/give yourself a break.

As far as what set to invest time into, I really like this set currently, but that's kind of what's great about monster hunter. As you keep moving forward, there opens up whole new tiers of amazing armor and skills. Honestly, I would just go with your gut and what you think is fun. It's good to grind to have different sets for different kinds of monsters. Going up against a thunder monster? Then throw on your armor that has thunder resist! As far as armor sphere's, I usually just use them if I have a ton of them on hand, but when it gets to the higher level stuff, I would just wait until you absolutely need them.

Lastly, if you do everything, and still can't beat the Rathian, I would recommend jumping online. In online mode, fighting with 3 other people, you can raise your HR fast and get good materials to make better armor/weapons much faster.

Hope it helps!

I also recommend keeping extra materials for combining and a farcaster. I usually keep an extra bunch of potions and honey in case the monsters are too rough and I run low. Also farcaster so you can teleport back to camp and rest. With time you get used to the monster and begin using less potions.

@starvinggamer: Don't strong quakes also cause you to sheath? I could be mis-remembering since not that many monsters have attacks like that, and it's been awhile since I've fought Jho or Uragaan.

As for P. Rathian, easiest solution is grab a hammer. She's got huge openings that let you super/triple pound the head, and she will get KOed very quickly.

@ichthy: You're right, I literally just fought my first Dah'ren in MH4U and got quaked. Totally forgot about that.

Strong Quakes will sheathe you. Also I think maybe getting pinned will sheathe you? Don't quote me on that.

Might be worth getting Fire resistant armour, though her fireballs come at set patterns. The real killer to watch out for is her tail flip. Sometimes when she flies in the air you'll see her do a "shimmy" and manoeuvre around you just a small bit. This is almost ALWAYS followed by a tail flip so get away as quickly as you can.

She is pretty dangerous in the air though, especially for a blademaster as Pink Rathian abuses that tail flip vigorously and the only part of her to dip to the ground IS the tail. I'd suggest either get a weapon that blocks (GUNLANCE PLUG!) or start packing Flash bombs to blind her out of the sky when she takes off. Also remove that tail as quickly as possible. It'll still hurt when she hits you but it cripples the range on her tail flip.