How to beat Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds

Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds is the apex predator of Iceshard Cliffs, and this colossal monster has plenty of freezing cold attacks that will test your skills, including a deadly AOE (area of effect) attack.

Your first encounter with Jin Dahaad won't be until you reach the second mission in Chapter Three of Monster Hunter Wilds, so you've got plenty of time to prepare for facing this gigantic ice-loving monster. We highly recommend taking your time to prepare for this beast, it throws a lot at you.

On that note, here's our Monster Hunter Wilds Jin Dahaad guide, including how to avoid its area of effect attack, Jin Dahaad's weak points and which items you can harvest from them.

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.

On this page:

• Tips for defeating Jin Dahaad
• Jin Dahaad Weak Points
• Jin Dahaad Attacks
• Jin Dahaad Locations
• Should you capture or kill Jin Dahaad?

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 Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds

Here are some useful tips for defeating Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds:

• Special Attacks: Strong Roar, Iceblight, Frostblight.
• Stock up on Nulberry - Nulberry can counteract the effects of Iceblight as well as dodging repeatedly. Iceblight consumes your stamina, so we recommend using Nulberry as it's faster.
• Stock up on Cleanser - Cleanser can counteract the effect of Frostblight if button mashing doesn't suit you. We recommend using this item for this affliction, it works faster.
• Use fire-based weapons - As an icy beast, it makes sense that Jin Dahaad is weak to any fire-based elemental attacks. Having a weapon that has this type of elemental effect will increase the damage you can do.
• Carry Torch Pods - As they're a fire-based item, Torch Pods thrown at the monster via your Slinger does a decent amount of damage with very little effort.
• Use Flaming Ammo - If you carry a weapon that uses ammunition, then equipping Flaming Ammo will be extremely useful.
• Blastblight and Exhaust status effects are both effective - We recommend sticking to these two status effects, the rest don't really seem to do anything to Jin Dahaad and in a fight with something this big, you need to make sure your inventory is packed out with useful things.
• Flash Pods and Shock Traps are effective - We highly recommend using both of these when possible, both can slow down Jin Dahaad briefly to give you time to heal or reposition to create a new attack strategy.
• Be aware of your surroundings - Your defense against one of this monster's most brutal attacks comes from the area around you, so knowing where you can pull something down to create cover for yourself is crucial as you'll only have a few seconds to hide before the attack hits.
• Use your Seikret - Jin Dahaad is a big monster that likes small areas, dodging it's attacks can be hard so using your Seikret mount will help you quickly avoid hits.

• Give yourself defense against Ice - Jin Dahaad's mostly uses ice-based elemental attacks, and the environment in inhabits is very cold. Having armor equipped that gives you a defense against ice is a good idea.
• Stock up on Hot Drinks - Again, Ice is your biggest problem while fighting Jin Dahaad so consuming Hot Drinks to make sure your Hunter doesn't become a human icicle is something you should consider.
• Grab Heatmantle Bugs - If you're out of Hot Drinks, then grabbing Heatmantle Bugs as you pass them will have the same effect and your Hunter will consume them instantly on collection.
• Be patient and dodge incoming attacks - Jin Dahaad is a big monster with multiple attacks, going in weapon blazing is a recipe for disaster. Target their weak points and dodge incoming attacks to chip away at its health (but always be mindful of the countdown timer.)
• Lure Jin Dahaad to other monsters - The only other monsters in the region are Hirabami, but because they like to hang out in groups they can be useful. While Jin Dahaad is fighting the Hirabami, you can heal, set up traps, or get a few precise attacks in.
• Have meals - When Jin Dahaad moves to another area, or before you hunt them, feel free to sit down and have a meal. Any meal that gives you an elemental defense or ice defense boost is recommended.
• Stock up on Health Potions - Jin Dahaad hits hard, so having plenty of Health Potions on hand will help you stay in the fight for longer.

Monster Hunter Wilds Jin Dahaad Weak Points

Jin Dahaad's weak points are its mouth and its chest.

However, its Cranial Iceplate, Tail Iceplate, Abdominal Iceplate, Hind Legs, Forelegs, and when it's exposed the Large Iceplate on its back are all breakable on Jin Dahaad. The amount of breakable parts on this colossal monster gives you numerous areas to target.

Only specific parts of Jin Dahaad will become weak after you down the beast for a short period of time, the Large Iceplate on its back, then on its tail will be exposed. This is when we highly recommend targeting one of them with a Focus Mode charged attack. Attacking either one in this way will cause significant damage to the beast.

Also, Jin Dahaad's mouth weak point will only be exposed for a few second after it fires out icy breath in a long stream so you need to be quick to target it. Be careful though, this monster usually follows up one icy breath attack with another, so get ready to dodge out of the way.

The weak point on its chest is trickier to hit because it puts you right in the path of Jin Dahaad's mouth and feet, leaving you in danger of getting hit with any of its most deadly attacks. However, if you can attack it safely, doing so will inflict a lot of damage on the beast. We had a Bow and found it easiest to target this weak point when Jin Dahaad stood up on its rear legs.

Monster Hunter Wilds Jin Dahaad Attacks

Jin Dahaad fires out long streams of icy breath and this can either go in a straight line, or they'll move their head side to side to cover a large area with it. Either way, it's best to dodge out of the way of this or your Hunter will be severely hurt. However, the mouth weak point becomes exposed briefly after this attack, so if you can reach it in time then that's a good point to attack it.

Now, onto its AOE attack which is brutal and can kill you in a single hit. This attack is devastating, do not try to attack Jin Dahaad while it's using this.

Jin Dahaad will curl up and start to suck in its surroundings, creating an ice wall around itself. As soon as this attack starts and you notice Jin Dahaad curling up, you need to find cover. Usually, look up an you'll see loose ice shards/rubble that can be pulled down. Pull this down with your slinger and then dive behind the small cover it creates as it hits the ground, this will shelter you from the worst of the attack. While behind cover, we recommend consuming a Health Potion to recover anything you've lost as an additional barrier to this attack.

Jin Dahaad will periodically rear up on its hind legs and then slam its forearms down into the ground. As soon as you see the monster stand up, you really want to be anywhere that isn't near its forelegs. At this point, you can focus on attacking the rear portion of the monster.

Also, on the topic of slamming the ground, on all fours Jin Dahaad can smack one of its forearms into the ground sending a shockwave of ice directly out in front of it. This attack has quite a long reach, so once you see the arm raise it's best to dodge out of its pathway to be safe.

Another attack to watch out for is for Jin Dahaad to stand still on all fours and then the ground around them starts to freeze. After a few seconds of this, an icy explosion will fire out along the ground surrounding the monster. If you're caught in it, it will take a large chunk of your health away. To avoid being hit, get as far away from Jin Dahaad as you can once you see the ground around its feet starting to freeze.

This monster will also use its tail to swipe at you and try to crush you, it also freezes the ground when it makes impact so there are plenty of reasons to dodge it when you see it coming towards you. That being said, the very tip of the tail is a good place to attack if you can do so safely.

To add to this, sometimes Jin Dahaad will just stand there and freeze the ground surrounding it which makes it hard to get close to them. To avoid getting hit, make sure you're a safe distance from the monster when you notice the ground around it beginning to freeze.

If that wasn't enough, the monster will also spit out ice projectiles at you that explode with yet more ice when they hit the ground. These are easy enough to dodge when you see them exiting the monster's mouth, so that's merciful at least.

That's not everything though, Jin Dahaad will also charge at you and try to crush you with its body. It'll also snap at you with its jaws if you're too close. The trick to staying alive is just to keep moving.

Monster Hunter Wilds Jin Dahaad Locations

Jin Dahaad is the apex predator of Iceshard Cliffs, meaning this is the only place you'll be able to find them. You'll first encounter this monstrous icy beast during the 'Nothing Frozen, Nothing Gained' main story quest in Chapter Three. During this quest you can follow the monster from location to location by following your scoutflies, they'll guide you exactly where you need to go.

However, after this first encounter you won't be able to harvest any materials from their carcass (frustrating, we know.)

Once you've beaten them during this quest you'll need to wait for them to respawn if you want to hunt them again and collect materials. You'll know they've returned as, when you're in the region, a pop up will appear on the side of your screen that says 'Jin Dahaad has appeared!'.

If you're going after Jin Dahaad we recommend creating a quest to hunt them. This way, you can use scoutflies to track it down and follow it from location to location.

Should you capture or kill Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Capturing or killing Jin Dahaad depends entirely on your current needs for your Hunter. If you need specific materials that can only be harvested from Jin Dahaad's carcass then you'll need to kill it, but if you've got a different agenda then capturing it might be a good idea.

That's all for now! If you're looking for more Monster Hunter Wilds help, check out our pages showing you how to upgrade weapons, how to craft armor, or our Rey Dau guide if you want to test your skills against another apex predator.