Monster Hunter Wilds beta: How to beat Gypceros

Working out how to defeat Gypceros in the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta will likely be one of your first undertakings this weekend if you’re planning to log in and try the game out. Out of all of the monsters in the Windward Plains region, this bird-brained wyvern is perhaps the most annoying, mainly because it has an attack it can use to blind and stun you.

If you don’t know how to deal with this particular attack, you kind of have to just take it in your stride. Luckily, there’s some gear you can bring to mitigate the attack’s effect, and after getting flashed more times than I can count, I also worked out how to directly counter it, which I’ve detailed and included a clip of below.

What type of monster is Gypceros?

The Gypceros is a returning bird wyvern monster that appeared in the first ever Monster Hunter and more recently in Monster Hunter Stories 2. Similar to Tzitzi-Ya-Ku in World, it has the ability to produce a flash from its head which temporarily stuns you. It can also spit poison and has an extendable tail that it can use to smack you around. Despite these, it isn’t a particularly difficult monster provided you bring antidotes to cope with its poison and learn how to deal with its flash attack.

The Gypceros will sometimes have a mate nearby that will interfere in battles, but it usually disappears when the monster changes area.

How to fight Gypceros

The most important tip for fighting Gypceros, as with any poison monster, is to bring antidotes or herbal medicine to remove poison. Herbal Medicine is definitely the better option of the two since you can use it faster, though you will need to craft some yourself by grabbing some blue mushrooms. If you turn on auto-crafting for herbal medicine, then everytime you pick up a blue mushroom you’ll make some.

Considering how quickly Gypceros can flash and stun you, it’s better not to get stuck slowly drinking antidotes and to have this quick fix instead.

How to deal with the Gypceros’ stun attack

The Gypceros’ flash blind attack is pretty easy to recognise—it bobs its head three times, emitting a crack and a flash of light from its crest with each, and on the fourth bob it creates a flash that stuns you. There are two variants of this attack. In the first it bobs its head in a forward direction; this won’t affect you if you’re behind it.

The second, however, is pretty much impossible to dodge if you’re at close range. Instead, what you need to do is Focus Thrust the Gypceros’ head as it’s charging the attack. As you can see in the clip above, the monster’s head glows red—indicating an opportunity to Focus Strike—when it’s about to perform the flash and shortly after. If you land the strike, you’ll knock it down, giving you an opportunity to deal damage.

While gear is fairly limited in the beta, you could also equip the Hope Mask and Balahara Greaves for 60% reduced stun duration. With these equipped, the Gypceros will struggle to follow up on its stuns.

Other attacks to look out for

• Tail extension: Throughout the fight, Gypceros extends its tail and tries to slam you with it. While this attack has quite a wide range, the tail will get stuck afterwards, so it’s the perfect opportunity to deal slashing damage to it.
• Playing dead: This unusual mechanic sees Gypceros play dead. It’ll even let you carve materials before springing up and damaging you. Look for its telltale twitching and pay attention to whether the hunt has actually concluded to suss this out.
• Poison charge: The Gypceros charges, spitting poison as it does to create a number of AoE pools. Simply stay away from it while it does this and wait for it to stop, plus watch out for any poison it’s dropped nearby. The Gypceros can also spit poison at you directly, so be mindful when facing it head-on.

Gypceros weaknesses

Your best method for fighting Gypceros depends on your weapon. You’ll want to smack its head if you’re using a hammer or hunting horn, since this impact damage will lead to stuns and give you opportunities to deal more damage. For those using a bladed cutting damage weapon like a greatsword or longsword, you should slice its tail whenever you can. Also make sure to break the wounds you’re creating on its head and tail with Focus Thrusts.

Considering how often Gypceros extends its tail for attacks, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to slice at it. In terms of elemental weaknesses, Gypceros used to be vulnerable to fire, but since elemental weapons are few and far between in the beta it’s hard to confirm. I’ll be sure to add more details about this on full release.