User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Teostra (5th Gen)/@comment-15446856-20180810225555

Here we have it, the returning monster that got revamped in a fantastic way!

Before talking about World's Teostra, I must talk about its old world version. Teostra, in previous games, was simply an ok level monster for me. It still had the abilities and features that 5th Gen Teostra has, but there was one big problem that ruined the fight for me. Instant attacks. Like many other monsters in that time, attacks from Teostra were either telegraphed well, or have none at all. When Old Gen Teostra got the instant attacks, they were really bad. It was so bad that the second or even ultimate attack of this feline dragon monster was not its fire and explosions, it was its infuriating as fuck charge attack that always came out of nowhere, had a full body hitbox, and for the worst kicker, did huge damage. This one attack alone tarnished the enjoyably of the monster, as it was common and the main way it did damage instead of the things that were supposed to do that. The other things were just, fine in my opinion.

Now lets move onto the World Teostra.

This Teostra, fixes everything that was wrong with the old Teostra and goes beyond that! Gone is the infernal instant attacks, what was once his charge is now its way of getting to you and going into a melee attack! In fact, it has ZERO instant attacks anymore, everything it does has a buildup animation, even if some are very short, they make the fight fair!

Now lets talk about the new stuff. Teostra in this game makes the old one feel incomplete. Going back to the drawing board and thinking how a lion/dragon hybrid would fight, Teostra now has many more close range attacks. After all these years Teostra finally decided to actually use its fangs to attack the hunter, making quick ones, sweeping ones, or make a hard bite then swerve to the side. Even with these, it is a massive improvements to the claws swipes and the god awful jog charge of old days. It's not all just biting, it has even more. Teostra's fire is no longer restricted to flamethrowers, it can breath it in short streams across its front in various ways to catch unaware hunters. What the point of these attacks is bringing an aged, limited moveset into full potential.

To further improve the Teostra, the fire and blast modes are no longer; fire(calm) and blast(rage). They are now different modes the Teostra can enter at will. Now the experience can be different every time you hunt it as it is random what mode it has when you begin the quest. And they really went out to make you tell the difference, and it's not just the effects it now gets to tell the modes apart. Fire mode has it wield the fire element with new mastery, making many of its bite attacks emit fire and even having its aura leave the ground on fire! And blast mode has been made more dangerous than ever before! Now it will leave blast clouds with almost every attack, including its new charge attack that this time is a dash instead of pacing. And lets talk about its dust attacks. The way it spreads the dust is the same, but the appearance and functionality is completely different. Instead of it just creating dust in the wind and then biting to create explosions that go in circle, it actually releases several clouds of powder around it and then detonates it like usual. And the range and where the clouds go depend of which mode it is in. No longer does the attack act in just two ways, it is random and far more dangerous to attack it during the attack. It also gains the 4th Gen G-rank Teostra's attack of creating a large explosion at a range, which it can now turn! And of course, it keeps the now signature ultimate attack known as the supernova. The supernova has been made truly dramatic now, it will almost float in the air as powder engulfs the Teostra as the camera zooms out on it, then emits its massive explosion. It may not be as powerful now, as there is no more certain Stun (thank White Fatalis), and the attack can now be interrupted by flinches or a Flash Pod, it still feels epic!

The battle has been greatly improved, fixed and fleshed out to make Teostra into one of World's best monsters!

The revamped theme is the only returning one so far that I like. The extended beats aren't out of place or feel like filler, instead it feels like an actual revamp of the theme we all love!

The appearance has been made so much better with one simply change; his goatee has been transformed into a fully grown mane! Now it truly looks like a prideful lion!

It has been revamped so well, the only complaints I have about it is that its enraged and mode change roars are kind of cheap and several of its sounds are barely audible, mainly the enraged roars and the dust clouds exploding.

The World Teostra is the best incarnation of Teostra without a doubt! If only its returned partner, Lunastra, was the same case.....