User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Nightshade Paolumu/@comment-24734669-20200126022930

Ah, Nightshade Paolumu. You're easily the worst out of the MR2 subspecies, and although Pink Rathian and Black Diablos manage to be much, much worse than you, you still aren't that great.

I mean, I find it interesting that the team went "hey, Paolumu is a pillow, so let's make a subspecies that puts you to sleep"; as well as this, I like how, when Nightshade Paolumu is inflated, the iridescent markings on its neck turn into eye-like shapes; in a place like the Wildspire Waste, those markings would be nice for warding off predators (with the sleep clouds being used as a last resort).

That's all it has going for it.

Fortunately, in a similar vein to Viper Tobi-Kadachi, wearing a full set of MR Tzitzi-Ya-Ku armor as well as a Sleep Charm renders Nightshade Paolumu's sleep gas ineffective. However, with that problem aside, it still manages to be an irritating fight; as if regular Paolumu and its prolonged aerial phases weren't annoying enough, Nightshade Paolumu will always float in the sky, "encouraging" you to use Flash Pods or the Clutch Claw (both of which become useless after certain parts of the fight). The attack where it zooms around the place like a balloon losing air is funny to watch, but that attack and the move where it soars forward before ascending a small distance and striking you with its tail are the only new attacks you can consider to be cool (there is the "dump all of its sleep gas onto the ground" attack, but again, it becomes worthless if you have Tzitzi armor and a Sleep Charm); otherwise, it's just like regular Paolumu where it just sits in the sky forever and does nothing but be a nuisance.

Next week is where things truly get spicy...