User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Behemoth/@comment-15446856-20181221145205

The fourth update monster added to World, and the very first crossover. Behemoth literally descends from the sky in a meteor and terrorises the Elder's Recess, and its the hunters job to defeat it. Undoubtedly, this is the most difficult monster in Monster Hunter: World period. It has all the traits of a true powerhouse, a giant health pool, relentless in attacks, has attacks for all ranges, small weakpoints and of course, massive damage. I have not fought a monster this challenging since the G-rank Alatreon in 3U.

So, is it a great nemesis like Alatreon was?

It would be, if it wasn't for the fact it's a monstrous hybrid of all the worst qualities of the Elder Dragons, the online focus of Kulve Taroth, and the always attacking nature of the Lunastra.

The Behemoth like any other update monster has it's fair share of recycled attacks from other monsters, like it has the Fanged Wyvern tail slap, and several more from Nergigante. This is why people are hyped for Iceborne to add more variety to the list. The minor attacks it has still do significant damage and negates the protection of the Temporal Mantle, beating the hell out of melee attackers. Behemoth also has a body slam, which is of course unblockable and puts you in the pinned knockdown, and quakes you for an eternity if you are near it. You can get hit by this at full health and cart because it followed it up.. or in one case to me, flung into a Charybdis tornado. It also has a 360 spin that is difficult to avoid unless you sever the tail.

But it can't all be recycled attacks of course, as Behemoth has plenty of its own. In the form... of spells. AKA, magic. Doesn't including magic in a Monster Hunter game like, obliterate the realism the series tries to make itself be? Sadly, Behemoth may very well be considered canon to the series so magic officially has existed in the MH universe in one instance. And these spells are the worst part about this monster. It can summon Meteors, which are not much of a problem since that already exists in the form of Crimson Fatalis and Dire Miralis. The Meteors are easy to dodge, unless you're in the 2nd and 4th phases where it can drop two of them at once. Then we have Charybdis. This is the definition of annoyance. It is essentially Kushala Daora's tornado attack, except for three things. One, Behemoth can have five of them summoned at once. Two, Charybdis hurts you when you touch it instead of inflicted wind pressure. Three, Behemoth tracks you with the spell as it prepares to summon it. Charybdis may not do much damage, but once multiple of them are up you suddenly lose much room to move around and can easily run into one accidentally and cart. This is why Flash Pods are an essential item for this battle, so it's spells can be cancelled out and can be a life saver. Thunderbolt is like Kirin's thunder strikes except it has an annoying initial shock before it does it, enough to make you flinch long enough to get hit by the actual bolts. Getting Stunned is a death sentence here. Comet is another variant of the Meteor that is summoned on you, which sticks around until its broken. Then there's the big one, the Ecliptic Meteor. This is an attack that is certain to one shot you no matter what. And unlike Frontier super monsters and classic(MHFU-era) Monster Hunter powerhouses, not even the Guts skill will save you. The only way to survive this attack is by taking cover behind a comet or using a precisely timed Jump gesture. If Behemoth breaks all the comets, either you manage to time that Jump, or you cart.

It also has the enmity mechanic, where if a person hits its head enough, it will become enraged at them. This is a good way to stop it using its spells, but it also means it starts spamming body slams and in phase 3 actually makes the fight harder.

Oh, and if the fight wasn't RNG enough, the Behemoth has two routes it can go after phase 2, the Nergigante route that is easier and has more space, and the fire route, which needs Cool Drinks and is smaller. The path it goes usually depends on how fast you get it to drop the first Ecliptic Meteor, but it might be random sometimes. So it's random what the areas you will fight it in are, how "fun".

And the phases go like this;
 * Phase 1: Behemoth is at its least aggressive and is slow.
 * Phase 2: Behemoth starts showing aggression, the area it is in is terrible to move in for this fight.
 * Phase 3: After first Ecliptic Meteor dropped. Behemoth either goes to the Nergigante areas or the fire areas. If you end up in the fire route you have to deal with environmental hazards. Behemoth stops using Charybdis and Thunderbolt and begins using more advanced melee attacks. The longest phase of the battle.
 * Phase 4: After second Ecliptic Meteor dropped. If you're in the fire route this will be a nightmare. Behemoth now gains its full moveset, which means Charybdis, Thunderbolts, ground burst punches, the whole bunch. After two comets it will finally drop the final Ecliptic Meteor and die immediately afterwards.

Behemoth is one of those bosses that require a perfectionist hunt to defeat it. You cannot do anything wrong. If you don't do everything perfectly, you won't defeat Behemoth. And I don't care what people say, Behemoth is so loaded with bullshit that its extremely difficult to do successfully without a full team who knows exactly what to do. Fuck up on evading an unblockable melee attack, you cart. Fail to do enough damage in time, Behemoth takes the more dangerous fire route after phase 2. You're too far away from a comet when it does Ecliptic Meteor? You cart. Charybdis in the way of a comet, you cart. Behemoth smacks you with its arm while summoning the Ecliptic Meteor next to the comet, you cart. Behemoth flinches you with its chest movement while summoning a meteor, you cart.

What makes Behemoth even worse is that Capcom decided it would be a good idea to implement its MMO mechanics alongside it. Like as we saw with Kulve Taroth, this idea is a fucking disaster in every way. Once again, we have a monster that is designed specifically for multiplayer. It even flat out states in its useful information, "cannot be fought alone", the ultimate insult to solo players! Instead of being like a normal monster, the game demands you get not just multiplayer, but a full four manned team to hunt this thing. And it can't just be a normal team no, you're supposed to bring a tank, a healer, a tactician and a instigator as this battle is so heavily based on it's Final Fantasy origin. But of course you can ignore that, and bring a team of whatever to fight it, or even nullify the information they tell you repeatedly and go solo. Why do they keep on breaking what made Monster Hunter its own thing and slamming in mechanics from other franchises? Could they like, stop trying to add MMO things in a game that isn't one?

You may have noticed how I've only talked about the regular Behemoth. There is an Extreme (Tempered) Behemoth, but I've never attempted it as I cannot get an online subscription and I'm no Monster Hunter god.

Also it kills a Dodogama, fuck anything that kills Dodogama.

The only thing that saves Behemoth from being the worst monster in World is that you don't have to endure a pure shit leveling system to defeat it and the BGM. Actually sad this may likely be the final true update monster included until Iceborne.

And since the power-creep is still ongoing, Behemoth will certainly come back in Iceborne. It's G-rank version will probably have more spells and be plopped into the new ice locale as Behemoth in its original game is fought in an ice area. Can already imagine them creating an Ultimate (Arch-Tempered) Behemoth for G-rank, featuring instant Charybdis, Thunderbolt with Paralysis from the beginning shock, Blastblight ground bursts, always going the dangerous route, 25 minute limit and one comet per phase.

Please, let The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt crossover be good...