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Final Fantasy 14's The New King on the Block questline was introduced in patch 4.36 and is a collaboration between Final Fantasy 14 and Monster Hunter: World.
Even if you are not into Monster Hunter, this quest unlocks an achievement, a trial, and rewards that range from minions to furniture items. If you decide you like the trial enough, you could even try the extreme version and grind for the Rathalos mount.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The first thing to do is know how to get the quest in the first place. This will first require you to finish the main story quest of the Stormblood expansion and achieve level 70.
Quest Guide
Picking Up The Quest
Once you have beat Stormblood's main story and are level 70, head to Kugane to pick up the quest. You can find an NPC named Hearty Hunter at (X:9.7, Y: 8.9). He will give you the quest and tell you where to go next, which is at Reunion in the Azim Steppe.
What To Do At The Azim Steppe
You will need to gather information from three NPCs at Reunion. They are the Adamant Oroniri Warrior, the Apprehensive Auri Traveler, and the Wayfaring Kha Hunter.
Once you gathered the information from them, you will need to speak to a Concerned Qestir. He is an Au Ra also at the Azim Steppe and can be found at (X:3.1, Y:27.2). He'll have you lie in wait at a certain location and then you'll need to speak to Felyne at (X:11.8, Y:11.1). Once that is done, The Great Hunt trial is unlocked.
The Great Hunt Guide
The minimum item level for the trial is 320. There are some unique mechanics to know about.
- Every player will have their own inventory of 10 Mega Potions that they can use during the fight. That is how players heal can themselves after taking damage.
- Rathalos cannot be tanked.
- When Rathalos is defeated, players must carve the head and tail to get their rewards.
The fight has three phases.
Phase One
For the first of three phases, Rathalos will attack random players with an array of attacks. To avoid damage, keep an eye on where the boss is looking. He often stares at where he will aim each attack. Remember, he cannot be tanked, so a tank cannot keep his attention. He will be selecting players randomly.
Phase Two
You will know phase two has begun once wild animals join the fight. These adds can be tanked, and Rathalos can damage them and vice versa. It is best to kill the Coeurl first, as it can be the most dangerous with its large AoE.
When a big Garula appears and charges into Rathalos, players must kill the Garula as fast as possible. Once it is down, they must hide behind it, having its body between them and Rathalos. This is to avoid Rathalos' strongest attack "King of the Skies." The corpse of the Garula will protect the party — anyone not behind the Garula's dead body will be instantly killed. After surviving this, you get to the last phase.
Phase Three
In this phase, healers cannot heal players, so everyone is completely dependent on the Mega Potions. Healers are not useless though. They can still cast Esuna and barriers, which is useful for this fight. The phase is much like the first, but sometimes Rathalos will be knocked over. When that happens, attack his tail to deal the most damage.
If you plan to Limit Break, do so when Rathalos is on the ground. In the air, he has a defense buff. There will also sometimes be a stack marker to watch out for.
Once defeated, but sure to remember to carve Rathalos' body for scales. Those are not in a chest.
Finishing Up The Quest
Now that you have defeated Rathalos, speak with Felyne. He asks you to introduce him to the man who began your quest. So it is off to Kugane to speak to the hearty hunter once more.
This finishes the quest. You can now trade scales to the smithy in exchange for rewards. This means grinding The Great Hunt. This is worth doing if you want a Poogie minion, Rathalos mount, Monster Hunter: World orchestrion rolls, or Rathalos gear.
You automatically get some rewards for this quest though, including a Palico minion, an Indoor BBQ Spit, and a BBQ Spit.
Note: In the Extreme version, three player deaths will cause the battle to reset in true Monster Hunter style.
