Monster Hunter World Iceborne Tigrex guide
Dodge!
If it wasn't for the fact that Tigrex has ridiculously low stamina, it would perhaps be one of the hardest monsters to fight in Monster Hunter World Iceborne. Regardless of how tired it is, the Tigrex can still give hunters a few problems with its unorthodox attack patterns, as well as some weaknesses that are far from obvious.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne Tigrex guide
Our Monster Hunter World Iceborne Tigrex guide will explain the strategies for defeating the Tigrex, detail all of its weaknesses and resistances, and show the loot table for all the items you can get for defeating this beast.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne Tigrex guide contents
- Tigrex weaknesses and resistances
- How to hunt Tigrex
- Tiring out Tigrex
- What happens when Brachydios becomes Tigrex?
- Tigrex materials
Those new to hunting monsters, or if you just need to find a particular monster guide to get up to Hunter Rank 16 - needed to start the Iceborne expansion - should head over to our Monster Hunter World guide hub for a plethora of guides. Once you're ready to begin the expansion, you'll find a few hunters gathered near the gate in Astera.
Tigrex weaknesses and resistances
Tigrex might be fast, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have any protection. In fact, the only real weakness Tigrex has is thunder, which may be a little difficult to come across unless you repeatedly hunt monsters outside of Iceborne at Master Rank. It's worth fighting them anyway, even if they're nowhere near as exotic as the new beasts. Dragon and any of the ailments are decent alternatives to use, but don't even think about going up against Tigrex with fire, water, or ice.
This is yet another monster where using bladed weapons is probably the way to go. It does also have increased defenses against ranged weapons, but taking its attacks into consideration, being far away from the Tigrex is preferential. The head, front claws, and tail are the weak points and all can be broken or severed.
How to hunt Tigrex
Endurance is the aim of the encounter against the Tigrex, which may seem counter-intuitive at first. However, the key exploit for this fight is that Tigrex's stamina is its own worst enemy. While it starts out of the gate with as much ferocity as a tiger or lion, it soon tires itself out, with its attacks becoming considerably slower.
Having some decent evasion skills is paramount to winning, so check out our Monster Hunter World Iceborne armor guide for some good builds to use in this fight. Since it has a large number of ways in which it'll try to hit you, it's easier just to have a list of Tigrex's attacks and how to avoid them, so here you go.
- When Tigrex raises one of its forelegs, it'll scoop up some rocks and hurl them at you. These can inflict either iceblight or waterblight, depending on if the debris is flung from watery or icy terrain. Both are cured with Nulberries or Cleanser Booster, but can be negated with Blight resistance.
- When Tigrex moves its head like a charmed snake, it's going to bite twice. Dodge backwards to avoid both bites.
- If you see the Tigrex crouch down, it's going to spin around, whipping you with its tail. A well-timed dodge or just backing off is enough to avoid being hit by the tail.
- Whenever you're behind it, if the Tigrex looks at you with its tail raised, it will flick it once in the opposite direction. Try to stick to the side the swing is coming from and dodge to avoid the swinging tail.
- Its most dangerous attack is the charge. You'll know it's about to do this when it takes several steps backwards. It'll then run forwards at breakneck speeds, turning around when it gets close to a wall or far enough away from you. It'll either hurtle straight into you or end the charge with a tail spin if enraged or at full stamina.
- Its lunge attack normally comes without a great deal of warning, so always have enough stamina to dodge at a moments notice. If you're at least a little further away, you shouldn't have too much trouble doing this.
Tiring out Tigrex
The first phase of the fight against Tigrex should be focused on dodging, particularly if you are using melee weapons. But mercifully, it can't keep the same level of intensity up for long and it will begin drooling. When this happens, you'll notice that some attacks will be slower and easier to dodge, including both the charging and leaping attacks.
An added bonus is that occasionally it will just fall over while its performed a leaping attack, giving you a window of opportunity to deal as much damage as possible before it gets back up. It'll also periodically just stand there panting, which, if you have slinger ammunition and it's near a wall, you can use the clutch claw to send it hurtling into a wall, knocking it down for a long time.
What happens when Tigrex becomes enraged?
Tigrex is at its most dangerous when it's enraged. It'll usually herald becoming enraged with a huge roar before savagely attacking with its red eyes and red bits on its front claws. Treat the Tigrex in this state as you did at the beginning of the fight, avoiding attacking it unless you're absolutely sure you're not going to be hit yourself. If in doubt, just focus on dodging. After enough dodging though, it'll soon begin to wear itself out, panting on the spot. This is when you should strike.
There are a few other things to watch out for in this fight, so here are a few more tips:
- When you first encounter Tigrex in the Elder's Recess, you can fire a dung pod at it to scare it off. This will allow you to carve into the now-dead Radobaan for some free items. They won't be the same items that you would get for slaying an Radobaan normally, since it was the Tigrex that did the work.
- When Tigrex roars to signal it's enraged, being too close to the roar can damage hunters that are too close to it.
- If you faint, don't leave it too long to get back to Tigrex. When it's fully rested, it'll attack with the same ferocity it did at the start of the fight.
- Since you first fight Tigrex in the Rotten Vale, Odogaron will be an unlikely ally as the two have regular turf wars. Just be sure to keep dung pods to hand when Odogaron begins to ignore Tigrex and go for you instead.
Tigrex materials
When you've beaten the Tigrex, you'll be able to get a ton of different Tigrex materials. These are all the brand new Master Rank items which are used to make tons of Master Rank gear. Below are all the items that you can get for breaking certain parts/defeating the Tigrex:
| Item name | Rarity of materials carved | Carving notes | Rarity of materials gained as rewards | Reward notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigrex Cortex | **** | **** | ||
| Tigrex Shard | ***** | Dropped | **** | |
| Tigrex Hardclaw | **** | Break forelegs | *** | |
| Tigrex Hardfang | *** | Break head | *** | |
| Tigrex Mantle | * | Break Head Carve tail | N/A | |
| Tigrex Lash | N/A | ** | Carve tail |
Monster Hunter World Iceborne guides
We have a whole host of other useful Monster Hunter World Iceborne guide pages for your convenience. Why not take a gander? If you want to check out the previous boss guides, head to the Glavenus or Nargacuga guides. You'll have one more monster to defeat before facing off against the biggest challenge yet, so being the second monster that needs defeating is the Brachydios.
Monster Hunter World guide - Our guide hub for Monster Hunter World, including the basics, weapon and armour trees, and boss guides.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne guide - Our guide hub for the Iceborne expansion to Monster Hunter World, including new features, the new hub area, and more.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne armor - All the armor recipes and the best Monster Hunter World Iceborne builds.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne weapons - All the weapons in Iceborne and the recipes for each one.
Monster Hunter World Iceborne boss guide - A collection of boss guides for Monster Hunter World Iceborne, detailing strategies, weaknesses, and loot tables for each.