MHR Sunbreak Malzeno: Best Strategies & Tips

Monster Hunter Rise Malzeno: An Overview

Malzeno is a fierce and deadly dragon in MH Rise Sunbreak who is known as the headlining monster for the Sunbreak expansion. Its appearance is somehow similar to Velkhana from previous game series, but you can distinguish it through unique blood-like spots layered on top of its sturdy skin.

Malzeno is inspired by the likes of Nosferatu and vampires in European folklore, and his traits are a mixture of menacing, aristocracy, cunningness, and nobility. The game describes it as “A dragon covered with elegant silver scales.”

The description of Malzeno states as “It appears almost regal to start with, but after draining enough energy, it can turn a violent, fresh-blood crimson. This form is known as the ‘Bloodening’ and is widely feared.” The following table discusses the basic traits of the Elder Dragon. 

Facing and defeating Malzeno is not an easy task. When the beast drains enough health, it goes into a raged-up state where its endurance is boosted massively, and it becomes fiercely agile. If you do not go for the right strategies while having a one-on-one with this Elder Dragon, it might give you a hard time or even kill you with its raged attacks.

Although Malzeno is a hard counter but does not worry about facing it as we will discuss every detail about this monster and the best way to beat it in order to obtain useful materials and items, make sure you read the MHR Sunbreak Prized Pelt guide if you have the MHR Sunbreak DLC.

Appearance

Malzeno is pretty easy to recognize in MH Rise due to its scale-like body with massive dark-colored wings. Its body shape can be confused with the European Dragon Velkhana. Still, if you get close enough, you can distinguish both of the dragons easily as it has more prominent and darker scales that spread all around their body, which is also covered with swarms of tiny, flying leech-like insects named Qurio. These insects can be spotted on their wings, chest, neck, and front legs.

The wings of Malzeno are attractive and unique. They are dull grey in color with a shade of red on the inner side. The wings spread along its entire back and stomach, which has a giant talon that gives them a massive look when fully spread. It also has a pair of tiny fins at the base of its tail which matches the color of its wings.

Malzeno has two massive and pointy horns, which have a white-golden shade. It also has frills on its upper body that extend from the sides of its neck and resemble a cowl. It has a long tail that is divided into three large sections which have movable prongs. The prongs are used to grab the prey and choke it. Malzeno can spread its wings on its entire body to form a cape and protect itself.

When Malzeno is low on health, it goes into an overpowered mode where its eyes emit sparkle, and its frills and wings start to glow with a pulsating golden light. Its chest, legs, and tail get covered in dark red energy, and the leech-like insects also start glowing. The raged mode of Malzeno is most scary where he is really strong, and the body develops a darker shade.

Behavior and Abilities

Malzeno is one of the most powerful Elder Dragons in MH Rise Sunbreak. It is an Alpha Predator and has the capability to take down sturdy beasts such as Rathalos. The Best has a symbiotic relationship with Qurios that uses its body as Habitat and follows the command of Mazeno to attack its enemies by inflicting Bloodblight.

Malzeno is greatly feared in the Dragon Kingdom due to its aggressive behavior. It is also said that this beast nearly destroyed the entire Kingdom in the past. When Malzeno drains enough life, it has the ability to go into its powered state where it can become overpowered and move so abruptly that it seems extremely fast to human eyes. The attack and damage combos are also buffed.

Malzeno attacks create massive explosions that send glowing debris through the air, which causes enormous damage. However, during the powered state, the sparkling body parts and the tail are its weak points that should be targeted as dealing enough damage to these areas will drag it out of the raging state.

If you fail to bring Malzeno out of its powered state, it will cast a lethal attack where it flies up in the air and throws a spray of firing beam, and launches a Dragon Energy Ball on the ground, which explodes into the surroundings and causes extreme damage. After casting the fireball attack, the beast will automatically revert to its normal state. It can also use Bloodblight to drain the life out of its prey and other monsters.

Habitat

Malzeno prefers to live in the ruins of the Citadel in MH Rise. You can also find this majestic beast roaming in the areas of Shrine Ruins and Lava Caverns of Kamura.

If you have decided to face this mighty beast, then make sure that you are well upgraded with your gear and equipment. Going for a battle without proper preparations will make you lose the fight, so it is recommended to gain enough experience in the game that you have decent weapons and gear with you, which will assist you in facing and fighting an Elder Dragon. If you want the best weapons to counter Malzeno, then check out our MH Rise Weapons Tier List.

How to Beat Malzeno in Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak

It is now time to face the mighty Dragon and beat it to the ground. Facing Malzeno is going to be a tough fight, even if you are good at the game.

The first thing you should keep in mind is that you must have the proper key defenses for the special attacks of Malzeno. Make sure to craft some Dragonblight resistance and Dango Defender from the Dango kitchen. You can consume the Dango Ticket to activate the skills as they will help you a lot while facing the Dragon.

Once you’re equipped with suitable skills and gear, you need to have a perfect Primary and Secondary weapon that is a good match against Malzeno. While choosing your firearm, make sure that it has defensive abilities as well. For this purpose, Sword and Shield combo, Gunlance, and Charge Blade are suitable options as they can absorb the massive attacks of the Dragon and counterattack when needed.

Malzeno Weaknesses

Mazeno is, no doubt, an Alpha Dragon with flawless abilities, but this beast is also vulnerable to some weapons. Following are the weaknesses of Malzeno.

• Blast
• Dragonblight
• Iceblight

So, if you are going to counter Malzeno, make sure to equip some Blast weapons with Blast ammo which will help you knock the Dragon down when it is about to initiate its mid-air attack if you can get the damage to stick to its weaker parts.

Most of Malzeno’s attacks are difficult to dodge as they cover a wide area and spread in all directions. You either need to have quick reflexes to dodge them all or use the shield to cover yourself from the Dragon Energy emission. You can also equip a Petalace which will assist you in bearing more damage and attacking heavily without leaving much impact on your Stamina Bar. 

If you are interested in MH Rise builds, then you must read Bowgun Build and Horn Build in Monster Hunter Rise.

Best Strategies to Counter Malzeno 

Now that you are equipped with the most optimal gear with a lethal weapon combination let’s get into this Alpha vs. Alpha fight. Once you get spawned into the battle arena, grab the permabuffers like always and look for another monster. If you go to the back of the cave at area 1 on the map, you can use the Stinkmink to grab some bombs if you are low on them.

Once Malzeno is spawned, try to batter him as much as possible, and when the time is about to run out, launch the captured monster at Malzeno, as doing so will bring it down, and you will be prompted to hop on the vampire. If you have a vent on the map, use it to cast a blow 1400 damage on Malzeno. The best strategy is to get the upper hand in the beginning and deal as much damage as possible, as this will drop more loot and get you Malzeno’s incredible armor set.

During the proper battle, you will encounter Bloodblight, a special attack of the Elder Dragon. When Malzeno afflicts Bloodblight, you can notice a red droplet symbol at the top of your health bar. Bloodblight will directly impact your attacking and healing abilities and void all the traditional healing methods. You will heal slowly and receive more damage.

To get rid of Bloodblight effects, you have to counterattack and hit Malzeno in its weak points. You can regenerate your health bar by stealing your life back from the beast and using the exsanguination strategy against it. Each attack on the Elder Dragon will give your life back, depending on the amount of damage you are dealing. You should go for quick and light attacks rather than slow and heavy attacks.

The Three-Phase Fight

The fight with Malzeno has three phases, which can be termed as: ‘silver,’ ‘rage,’ and ‘Bloodening.’ The first phase is relatively easy in which Malzeno accumulates Bloodblight more than hitting hard. If you are smart and understand its attacking patterns, then you can counter this phase without strenuous effort.

In the next phase, Malzeno is more buffed and stronger, where its body attains a black and red texture of dark dragon energy. In the raged phase, the beast will cast some tricky combos and will teleport to tackle you.

When Malzeno is about to teleport, it folds its wings and prepares to dash. Whenever the beast does that, get prepared to bear a combo attack which will be done by either a teleport attack by flipping the tail or a wing slam. When enraged, Malzeno will perform these moves more frequently. If you are successful in doing Wirebug dash behind Malzeno before it performs the move, you can get a golden opportunity to attack its wings and tail.

The “empowered” phase of Malzeno is the deadliest. The attack combinations are hard to track, even if you are abrupt in your movements. The most optimal way to deal with the instant teleport and heavy combos is to Shield up and protect yourself from the dragon energy.

Try to soak up the attack damage, and counter in recovery. This will heal the damage and accumulate aggro on the Elder Dragon, which will assist in taking it out of the Bloodblight status.

In the empowered state, you will notice a glow on the tail, the forelegs, and the. These are the weak points of Malzeno, so aim for them and hit them as hard as you can. Knock it out of its Bloodblight stage as soon as you can and keep concentrating on hitting these weak points, and eventually, you will be able to knock the beast down.

Malzeno Loot Items & Drop Rewards

Facing and fighting Malzeno is worth the time and effort as you get plenty of useful items which are useful in crafting crucial items and upgrading your gear. Defeating Malzeno will grant you the following items.

• Cortex
• Shard
• Handfang
• Bloody Parasite
• Hardhorn
• Fellwing
• Bloodstone
• Tail

To get the most out of Malzeno, use the Blast weapons to break Malzeno’s bits and accumulate all the drop items. You can get the Bloody Parasites from the forelegs. The Bloodstones are the most valuable reward which can be farmed from the head, but the drop chance of this item is pretty rare. Getting the Fellwings is tricky as you need to focus on the wings specifically.

Quick Tips To Remember When Countering Malzeno

If you want to get the upper hand on Malzeno and defeat the monster effectively in all its phases, then there are some crucial things to keep in mind. These are:

• Do not stay directly under Malzeno when it is flying, as it casts a devastating explosion right underneath itself to the ground.
• Fight Malzeno in an open area where you have plenty of space to move around and dodge its tricky attacks.
• Malzeno is immune against Water but weak against Dragon Element.
• You cannot capture Malzeno in any kind of trap so try to avoid that.
• Learn how to deal with Dragonblight and make the best out of Bloodblight when it afflicts you.
• Focus more on shielding the attacks to protect yourself rather than dodging them as they are in random patterns.
• Learn the pattern of its teleportation attacks and try to dodge them.
• Focus more on hitting its weak points and hit as hard as you can when the beast is in a vulnerable state

Verdict

Malzeno is an Elder Dragon species in Monster Hunter Rise SunBreak. The MH Rise is a follow-up series Momster Hunter, an open-world survival game based on wildlife and biodiversity, where you can experience true nature and get a virtual experience of living in the Wild.

The game features different creatures and monsters living within the deep forest and woodlands. Some are friendly Herbivores, while others are fierce carnivorous predators; you can spot all kinds of species in the game. While you are at it, read the MHR Bullfango guide.

Malzeno is one of the hard counters in Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak, but if you go for the right strategies and fight with all your focus and attention, you can eventually take the beast down with your fast pace attacks and overpowered weapons. Always try to focus on its weak points.

Slashing its legs is a good option, and so is bonking the head with blunt weapons. Counter its attack with the help of shields and protective gear, and then counterattack with heavy hits when the Dragon is vulnerable. Do not let the beast stay in the Powered state for too long, as it might become a problem for you.

Use these techniques and slowly bring the monster down to the ground to get all the valuable rewards and continue the thrilling journey in the lands of MH Rise Sunbreak.

If you are new to the game, then make sure you go through the Large Beast Gem, Latent Power, and the King Rhino guides to enhance your gaming experience and get better at it. 

Next: Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak Crashing