User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Discussion of the Week: Elder Dragon-Level Monsters/@comment-26202836-20160331142405

1) Dragyuros. Once you hit Supremacy Phantom Dragyuros, you can't afford to get hit even once, which makes him a true challenge. That, and he can adapt to what players bring against him, which makes it fun to fight. For example, he'll blitz Gunners via melee and actively kill Blademasters from range. So planning your fight against him is considered a must. Like, maybe a team consisting of 2 Gunners/Bladers each.

2) Shen Gaoren. Is that even an Elder-level?

One: It's just a giant Hermitaur in a Lao-Shan skull. A. Giant. CRAB. Still can't imagine a legendary beast being a crab. Can anyone imagine a crab being a god? Can ANYONE imagine your god as a giant crab? If you say your god is,say, a living mountain, an omen of calamity or a regal bio-weapons dragon, I'd believe in your god. But a CRAB?

Two: It doesn't even show any attempt to destroy and kill other Elders, but merely goes for non-Elder scraps, and probably Elder corpses. The Lao skull (and Akantor Skull for Crimson Shen in MHO) itself is a good point here. Also, causing chaos because it's been disturbed by industrial activity? REALLY? If you say Savage Jho, that's still believable; Jho can really eat. Eat. A. Lot. And Jho has to eat to support itself, or else it will die. That, or Shagaru Magala, the walking bio-weapon Elder Dragon; as long as it's alive its Frenzy Virus will allow it to wipe out entire areas. Not Shen Gaoren. It doesn't even go after live Elders, but only their corpses. Shame on you Shen.

Three: Unlike some of the Elders, who possess some form of elemental manipulation/elemental attacks or weaponry (say, Kirin's electricity, Gogmazios' "Hyper Inferno Laser", Dire Miralis' shoulder magma cannons, Disufiroa/Disperoar's Frozen Seraphim powers etc)  that they don't hesitate to pull out on you, Shen doesn't even have anything of that sort. Maybe it does, if you consider his Acid Bomb, but he doesn't even use it on you. Boo.

3) Putting monsters into Elder-level category sounds fine to me. After all, you don't just go into a fight with them thinking "oh, another variant of a boss". Besides, if there were no Elder-level you'd end up thinking these fellas are just spoilers of what is to come.

4) Another monster in the group... come to think of it, I don't know who should go in. For real. I kind of support the Espinas Subspecies' inclusion to the group, since anyone who can kill an Elder better not be taken lightly.

And someone should put Chaos Gore Magala into this. Considering how much destruction it can bring during its suicidal Chaos state, it should be in the mix.

5) Elders who should not be in the group... Shen Gaoren. Read the points above.

Also, why are Akantor, Ukanlos and Odibatoras in this? They have the power equal to that of Elders, and should be rightly referred to as such.

6) Phantom Dragyuros. Supremacy especially. You don't just kill him, you need to do it THRICE. One or two kills and he merely revives with an overcharge in power. It's worth the effort however.

7) YES PLEASE.

8) For some, yes. Savage Jho, Sub-Espinas, Dragyuros Supremacy, Deviant 11 can be close enough to actual Elders. Shen Gaoren, Akantor/Ukanlos/Odibatoras, no.

9) Elder vs Elder...

- Darkfire Rathalos vs Teo/Luna/Akantor

- Dreadqueen Rathian vs Chameleos

- Stygian Zinogre vs Kirin (Rajang isn't fair, it eats Kirin for mealtime anyway)

- Whitegale Nargacuga vs Kushala Daora

- Gogmazios against Supremacy Phantom Dragyuros (two living nightmares; one a Godzilla-ish brute toting a Dragonator spike on his back and whose origins remain unknown, the other a nightmare with a "3-lives cheat" to survive anything)

- Anything against Disufiroa (game-breaker boss BTW)

- Disufiroa vs Supreme Phantom Dragyuros (a game breaker vs a game breaker? The world's gonna end now.)