How to beat Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds
Hirabami weak points, strategy, and items.
Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds is a Leviathan monster that has plenty of tricks up its metaphorical sleeves when it comes to fighting you, and if all else fails, it'll be part of a group that can really give you a headache if they're not separated.
Hunting Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds isn't something you need to worry about until Chapter Two of the main story, so you've got a bit of time to prepare yourself and hone your skills before battling this beast. Also, stock up on Dung Pods or Large Dung Pods - trust us, you're going to need them.
Without further ado, here's our Monster Hunter Wilds Hirabami guide, showing you the Hirabami weak points, attacks and items.
And for even more help slaying monsters, check out our Monster Hunter Wilds monster list which includes all of the monsters' weaknesses and habitats.
Spoiler Warning: This page contains potential spoilers for Monster Hunter Wilds.
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If you'd like more assistance in your monster slaying, visit our Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough where all of our guides are listed.
Tips for defeating Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are some handy tips for defeating Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds:
- Special Attacks: Weak Roar, Frostblight.
- Hirabami are weak to Fire elemental attacks - Using any weapons or items made from this element will inflict significant damage on the target.
- Hirabami are weak to Thunder elemental attacks - Again, using any weapons or items made from this element will inflict damage on the target.
- Use Flaming Ammo - If you've got a compatible weapon, using Flaming Ammo will be effective against Hirabami.
- Stock up on Torch Pods - As a fire-based item for your Slinger, these will also inflict damage on Hirabami.
- Use Thunder Ammo - If you've got a compatible weapon, Thunder Ammo will inflict a good amount of damage on Hirabami.
- Stock up on Thunder Pods - As a thunder-based item for your Slinger, these will also inflict decent damage on the target.
- Hirabami are immune to Ice attacks - So don't bother using anything imbued with or made with this element.
- Poison and Sleep status effects are strongest - These two status effects have the most impact on Hirabami. You can use any of the others that are available, but these two are the best if you can use them.
- Flash Pods, Shock Traps and Pitfall Traps all work - We recommend using Flash Pods the most to blind Hirabami and give yourself time to heal or attack safely.
- Stock up on Dung Pods and Large Dung Pods - Hirabami like to be in groups, which makes fighting them a bit of a nightmare. Large Dung Pods and Dung Pods can help break up the groups until there's only one (your target) remaining.
- Use Heavy Slicing Pods - During our High Rank hunts with Hirabami, we grabbed their Tail Claw Shards from the ground when they appeared and this made Heavy Slicing Pods. Using these on Hirabami inflicted a serious amount of damage with very little effort on our part.
- Use the environment around you - Hirabami are tricky to fight, so keep an eye on the environment around you. If there's anything you can use, like loose stones or rubble, then use it. Anything that helps damage the Hirabami is a bonus.
- Stock up on Health Potions - As always, keeping your pockets filled with Health Potions will help you stay in the fight for as long as possible.
- Stock up on Cleanser - Cleanser will counteract the effect of Frostblight, having plenty of this on hand is a good idea.
- Frostblight can be removed by moving, hitting commands or taking a hit - Though using a Cleanser is a better solution, any of these movements, actions or taking an attack (not ideal) can also counter the effects of Frostblight.
- Grill a meal - If it's safe to do so, and if there's time, sit down to grill a meal to give your Hunter a much needed boost when you notice them flagging in battle. Sometimes a good meal will be the deciding factor between you winning or losing this fight.
Monster Hunter Wilds Hirabami Weak Points
Hirabami's weak point is its mouth. Also, its head and tail are breakable. Its tail can actually be broken a total of five times, making it a solid target you can repeatedly hit to inflict a lot of damage on the monster over your battle with it.
Hirabami's tail is weak to all melee attack types and fire-type attacks. It's also weak to other elemental attacks (except ice of course) but fire-type attacks are better for this specific body part.
Also, their head weak to melee attacks and fire-based elemental attacks.
The weak point on their mouth can be hard to get to, but once you've got a clear shot at attacking it you should take it whenever you can because you can inflict a lot of damage to the monster from targeting this single area.
Monster Hunter Wilds Hirabami Attacks
Now, one of the most dangerous parts of hunting a Hirabami isn't a specific attack - it's that they can team up against you with another of its kind. One Hirabami is hard, two is worse. If you end up having to face two of them then we highly recommend using Large Dung Pods or Dung Pods to split them up and drive the second (or third) Hirabami away so you can focus on the one you're hunting.
Hirabami can fire out balls of ice at you which inflict you with Frostbite that immobilises you for a period of time, leaving you extremely vulnerable to follow up attacks if you don't use a Cleanser or clear the effect quickly. There's no clear warning they're about to do this, so the best thing to do is to try to avoid standing still for too long and then dodge reactively when you see the ice being fired from its mouth. Occasionally, the weak point on the mouth is fully exposed after this attack.
Another attack to watch out for comes from its tail, Hirabami will float over to you and then swat its tail at you before doing a sort of backflip motion. If the tail catches you, it will hurt but this attack is also a good opportunity for you to get in a few hits on this area. However, if you feel you can't dodge in time, then make sure you don't let Hirabami get too close.
It's also worth noting that the Hirabami doesn't always do the backflip with the attack we've just mentioned above - sometimes it will just float there and try to whack you repeatedly with its tail.
Hirabami's tail has multiple attacks, the next one to watch out for is for the monster to float over to you and then turn it's back to you (it sort of reverses to you). When it's close enough, it'll lift its tail up and slap it into the ground or swipe it at you in an attempt to flatten you. To avoid getting hit, move out of the way as soon as you see the tail lifting. You can move when you notice the monster reversing to you, but the tail is exposed here and it's a good chance to get your own attacks in if you're careful.
One more attack to watch out for is when Hirabami is still half floating but it moves its head down towards the ground and looks at you. It will then lunge forward multiple times in an attempt to catch you in its jaws. When you notice Hirabami getting low and advancing towards you, dodge out of the way before it reaches you or your Hunter will definitely get hurt.
When it's on the ground, Hirabami will also try to snap at you with its jaws by craning its neck forward (it has a surprisingly long reach). At this point, the safest place to attack from is behind the monster as long as you're being mindful of the tail or it turning around suddenly.
Yet another attack to watch out for is when Hirabami is low to the ground. They can, and will, charge at you with ferocious speed - if they catch you, it will hurt. So, be on guard and get ready to dodge if you notice Hirabami's attention focused on you.
On occasion, especially if you're stuck with Frostblight, Hirabami will float over to you then dive head-first into you into the ground. If this catches you then it's going to take a chunk of your life, but it's also a great opportunity because the Hirabami gets stuck in the ground briefly. Though the head is underground, the tail is flailing around completely exposed - making it an easy target, but be careful as the Hirabami will recover with a violent jerk.
Monster Hunter Wilds Hirabami Harvest Materials and Items
Here are all of the materials you can get from Hirabami.
Low Rank Materials
These are all the low rank Hirabami materials:
- Hirabami Tail Claw
- Hirabami Scale
- Hirabami Hide
- Hirabami Webbing
- Frost Sac
- Hirabami Certificate
High Rank Materials
These are the high rank Hirabami materials:
- Hirabami Tail Claw+
- Hirabami Scale+
- Hirabami Hide+
- Hirabami Webbing+
- Freezer Sac
- Hirabami Certificate S
- Wyvern Gem
Monster Hunter Wilds Hirabami Locations
Hirabami can be found in Iceshard Cliffs and Wyveria. Your first encounter with them will be in Iceshard Cliffs during the Hopes of Home main story quest in Chapter Two. During this quest, you can follow the monster from area to area with your scoutflies who'll automatically track your main target.
After you face them in the main quest, you'll need to wait for Hirabami to respawn once more to hunt them again. We recommend creating a quest when you do so, this way you can use scoutflies to find the target's exact location and follow them as they move from area to area.
From our hunts so far, we noticed that Hirabami moves between area 11, 15, 10 and 8 in Iceshard Cliffs.
Should you capture or kill Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds?
Capturing or killing Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds is entirely up to you and your needs at the time. However, it's worth noting that when you first meet Hirabami you must kill them - you don't get a choice here. Other than this, consider what your needs are when hunting the beast. If you need specific materials that can only be carved from a carcass, then killing it is a good option, but if your needs are different then perhaps capturing it will be best - ultimately the choice is yours.
That's all for now! If you're looking for more Monster Hunter Wilds help, check out our pages showing you the best meals or our pages detailing how to beat Balahara and Uth Duna.