How to defeat Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds

Fighting Jin Dahaad in Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the most dramatic encounters in the entire game, as the ice leviathan chases you across the ruins of the Iceshard Cliffs. This battle is a bit of a set piece, as you clash with the big metal monster in a selection of arenas and try your best to kick its ass. Dahaad can be a pretty tough fight, though.

This massive monster has some nasty tricks up its sleeve, including an attack that can potentially one-shot you if you're not careful. Once you're in High Rank and fighting Tempered monsters, you'll also find yourself facing Jin Dahaad again, so here are its weaknesses, my tips for fighting it, and also avoiding that one-shot I mentioned.

What type of monster is Jin Dahaad?

Jin Dahaad is a leviathan monster, which is to say, it's one of the biggest—if not the biggest—in the whole of Monster Hunter Wilds. As an ice-breathing four-legged giant, this monster has a lot of AoE attacks, including a particularly nasty one-shot it'll start using when you get to the second or third arena in the fight. As a kind of set-piece monster, you'll always fight Jin Dahaad in the same few arenas, which helps you learn what elements of the environment you can use to your advantage.

How to fight Jin Dahaad

The most important thing when fighting Jin Dahaad is generally to stay away from its head. While this is a weak spot, it has so many AoE breath attacks and belly flops that it's just far more danger than it's worth, especially when it has another weak spot towards its hind legs—a far safer spot to be in. Jin Dahaad can apply the iceblight status if you get hit by its breath, which will make you consume stamina faster, so bring some Nulberries in case you get hit. Also since this is in a cold area, make sure to chug a Hot Drink.

How to avoid Jin Dahaad's one-shot attack

The trickiest part of the Jin Dahaad fight is when it starts to curl into a spiral and charge its big AoE explosion. If this attack hits you it's often a one-shot, and there's only one way to avoid it in the arena. As shown in the clip above, you need to pull down a floating ice block using your Hook Slinger and hide behind it. There are generally a few of these in each arena and you can even pull them down on top of Dahaad for extra damage.

It's worth noting that you can pull these down in advance to create a safe spot, but it will be harder to see when Jin Dahaad is charging his attack, and if your teammates don't see you do it, they won't know which way to go.

Other Jin Dahaad attacks to watch out for

• Hanging from the ceiling: This only happens in one of the fight's later arenas, but Dahaad will climb a structure in the middle of the ceiling and rain down ice breath on you. I suggest riding around on your Seikret to avoid this. After three breath attacks, you can use your Hook Slinger to pull down the structure Dahaad is entwined around, causing big damage as it drops.
• AoE breath attacks: Though Dahaad has a lot of breath attacks in pretty much all directions, the ones to really watch out for are when it breathes straight down in front of its face, since this creates a massive AoE explosion. Also watch for when it breathes straight ahead while you're standing in front of it at a distance. It's generally better to stay close to Dahaad's hindlegs and rear.
• Freezing you in place: This is a big AoE which can freeze your character in place, meaning you have to break free. This isn't a breath attack but is more like a frost that Dahaad emits from its body. If you spot it starting to build, hop on your Seikret and get away from it.

Jin Dahaad weaknesses

More icons denote more effective damage, with 1 being minimum and 4 being maximum. Elements not listed deal no bonus damage.

Since Jin Dahaad is an ice monster, your best bet is to bring a fire weapon that deals either bludgeoning or slashing damage and then attack the head, neck, or its legs. Since the head area is dangerous, I'd recommend attacking around the hindlegs and tail. If you manage to knock Dahaad down, you'll be able to do a free Focus Strike on its head or the ridges above its hindlegs. Though Dahaad is massive, it's worth noting you can also sever its tail.

As mentioned in the attack section, when Dahaad climbs onto the structure above the arena and starts spewing ice, you can pull the pillar down after it attacks three times for big damage. You can also pull down the floating ice blocks that you use to avoid its big one-shot attack on top of it for more damage, though this is risky since you'll still need to hide behind one when Dahaad does the one-shot attack.

High Rank Jin Dahaad materials

Jin Dahaad only drops Icium when you fight it during the story in Low Rank, but once you fight it again during High Rank you can get its proper materials.

• Jin Dahaad Claw+
  • Target Rewards – 15%
  • Broken forelegs – 100%
  • Broken hindlegs – 100%
  • Carving – 18%
• Jin Dahaad Iceplate
  • Broken Tail Iceplate – 100%
  • Broken Abdominal Iceplate – 100%
  • Broken Leg Iceplate (exposed) – 88%
  • Wound destroyed – 12%
• Jin Dahaad Scale+
  • Target Rewards – 20%
  • Wound destroyed – 50%
  • Carving – 30%
• Jin Dahaad Horn
  • Target Rewards – 8%
  • Broken Cranial Iceplate – 100%
  • Carving – 13%
• Jin Dahaad Tail
  • Target Rewards – 8%
  • Carving (severed tail) – 93%
  • Carving – 11%
• Jin Dahaad Carapace
  • Target Rewards – 20%
  • Wound destroyed – 38%
  • Carving – 23%
• Freezer Sack
  • Target Rewards – 18%
• Jin Dahaad Certificate S
  • Target Rewards – 8%
• Jin Dahaad Icegem
  • Target Rewards – 3%
  • Broken Leg Iceplate (exposed) – 12%
  • Carving (severed tail) - 7%
  • Carving – 5%