Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Monsters | Where to find and how to force retreat
Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Monsters offer a hefty challenge and a chance to get high-level armor and weapons much earlier in the game.
Royal Monsters are powerful foes, such as Tigrex, that normally live in regions you travel to later in the story. If you play your cards right, you can even get a powerful monster egg out of the battle, but you’ll need to prepare ahead of time.
What are Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Monsters
As mentioned, Royal Monsters are early opportunities to get high-ranking materials and monsters. They’re always located near a Catavan stand in their region, and you can challenge them at any point — assuming you’re ready. Navirou pipes up and mentions his whiskers are tingling when you approach one. You'll also know it's a Royal Monster since, unlike regular monsters, they don't chase you.
The first time you find a Royal Monster, it’ll probably destroy your team in one hit. The best point to challenge one of these is as you’re nearing the end of your time in a given region when you have better equipment and stronger Monsties.
Do Royal Monsters respawn in Monster Hunter Stories 2
Yes, Royal Monsters respawn when you either leave the area and return or when you visit a Catavan stand and adjust the time of day. You can farm Royal Monsters for materials and for repeat chances of getting their eggs.
Do Royal Monsters retreat in Monster Hunter Stories 2
This one’s a bit more complicated. In theory, they do retreat and have the same retreat conditions as their normal counterparts. Some players are reporting issues with some retreat tactics, particularly using traps. It’s not clear whether this is a bug or if the game doesn’t let you trap Royal Monsters for some reason.
However, you can still use the paintball strategy to force a retreat. Chuck a paintball at the monster and defeat it within three turns of using the item to boost your chances of it retreating. This strategy will be easier after you’ve fought a Royal Monster once and reveal its health bar.
All Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Monsters
These are all six Royal Monsters, where to find them, and how to make them retreat.
Royal Tigrex
| Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Tigrex | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Weakness | Retreat | Drops |
| Alcala Valley | Electric, Slashing (head) | Use a shock trap, the break its head part using a sword | Tigrex Scale, Wyvern Stone, Tigrex Claw, Monster Bone (L) |
Royal Monoblos
| Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Monoblos | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Weakness | Retreat | Drops |
| Harzgai Hill - Inner | Electric, Piercing (horn, stomach, tail), Slashing (stomach), | Paralyze, then defeat it wielding the sword and shield | Monoblos Shell, Monoblos Ridge, Blood Red Horn, Wyvern Stone, Monster Bone (L) |
Royal Gammoth
| Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Gammoth | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Weakness | Retreat | Drops |
| Loloska (near the Woodland Catavan stand) | Fire, Blunt (legs, body, head), Slashing (tail, nose) | Use a Glavenus Kinship Skill | Gammoth Hide, Gammoth Shell, Gammoth Tusk, Fortune Fang |
Royal Zinogre
| Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Zinogre | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Weakness | Retreat | Drops |
| Lavina Glacial Peaks | Ice, Piercing (body, head), and Slashing (tail) | Inflict Blastblight, then defeat with ice skill | Zinogre Shell, Zinogre Shockfur, Zinogre Plate, Electro Sac |
Brute Tigrex
This is both a reskin and a much tougher version of the regular Tigrex. The drops make for better armor and weapons if you manage to take it down.
| Monster Hunter Stories 2 Royal Brute Tigrex | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Weakness | Retreat | Drops |
| Lamure - Sadona Barrens | Electric, Blunt (head) | Use a shock trap, then break the head with a hammer | Brute Tigrex Scale, Brute Tigrex Claw, Brute Tigrex Tail, Wyvern Stone |
White Monoblos
The same goes for White Monoblos as with Brute Tigrex.
| Monster Hunter Stories 2 White Monoblos | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Weakness | Retreat | Drops |
| Lamure - Jalma Highlands | Electric, Piercing (horn, tail, legs) | Paralyze, then defeat with a bow | W. Monoblos Shell, W. Monoblos Ridge, W. Monoblos Horn, Wyvern Gem |
You'll need to expand your stables for all these new eggs, which means finding Bottle Caps. Our Bottle Cap guide has the best way to do that, and if you're struggling with the Monster Hunter Stories 2's combat, make sure to check out our battle overview guide.