Rey Dau might not be as daunting as Rathalos, but its personality is electrifying. Literally. As one of the creatures introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds, the aggressive wyvern features dizzying patterns and complex behavior, and is the apex predator of the game’s first biome.
As one of the toughest encounters in the main story, you’ll want to prepare accordingly ahead of time. This guide covers all weakness and resistances for Rey Dau, where to find it, and the best strategy to defeat one of the new foes introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Table of Contents
Rey Dau location
You’ll first encounter Rey Dau in Chapter 2, during “The Eye of the Storm” main mission. As such, all you need to do to unlock the monster is progress through the main questline.
Rey Dau is exclusively found in the Windward Plains biome. In the first, the beast tends to roam around its nest in 17, and usually escapes toward 16, before returning to the starting area for the final phase of the encounter.
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Keep in mind that in Monster Hunter Wilds, tracking monsters isn’t really a prominent feature. Except for a few first-time exceptions, you can use the Environment Overview screen to see if your target is roaming around the map. If not, exploring its corresponding biome(s) for a few minutes usually does the trick — you’ll see a notification on screen announcing its appearance. Worst case scenario, you can speak to Alma and post a hunt for it. For better or worse, the process of finding a monster is much more streamlined now. If you find tracks or other monster residuals on the ground, you can loot them for materials.
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How to prepare for Rey Dau
Rey Dau is part of the main story of Monster Hunter Wilds. As such, its encounter is likely to fit your Hunter Rank at that corresponding moment. If you have a weapon with Water or Ice as its main element, you’ll have the advantage of targeting an elemental weakness. Uth Duna is a good shout for the former. As for armor, it’ll be hard to find a set that specifically targets thunder resistance at this point in the game, so go for the ones that have the least amount of penalty (so, aim for -6 instead of -9, for example.)
Since the encounter occurs during a main mission, you’ll be thrust into the fray after the introductory cutscene. As per usual, whenever you’re asked if you’re ready to depart, make sure that you’re carrying regular and mega potions with you. If you’re short on the latter, take a lap around the biome and loot any honey you come across.
In addition, don’t forget to eat — you can use the portable BBQ to grill a meal. Increasing your health and stamina is essential, as Doshaguma packs a punch. You can use ingredients like Wild Herb as finishing touches to boost your elemental resistance, helpful for lightning strikes.
For later encounters, carrying a few Puddle or Frost Pods will be beneficial — if either you or one of your teammates have a ranged weapon with Water or Freeze Ammo, even better. You should also invest in defense as much as possible. Remember that you can not only craft better armor, but also upgrade your current pieces. Even if you don’t have new monsters left to hunt to unlock more powerful sets, take the time to improve your gear and boost its stats.
Rey Dau weakness
We’d recommend attacking Rey Dau’s with moves featuring the Water and Ice elements. The first encompasses Water Ammo and Puddle Pod, as well as skills like Water Attack, Critical Element, and Charge Master. The second encompasses Freeze Ammo, Frostburst, Frost Pod, Ice Attack, Critical Element, and Charge Master. Both are in addition to your own weapon’s properties.
You can find a breakdown of Rey Dau’s elemental weaknesses and resistances below:
Effective status effects
* Poison: 2 stars
* Sleep: 2 stars
* Paralysis: 1 star
* Blastblight: 2 stars
* Stun: 1 star
* Exhaust: 2 stars
Effective items
* Flash Pod: Effective
* Sonic Bomb: No effect
* Shock Trap: No effect
* Pitfall Trap: Effective
Weak points
Rey Dau’s weak point is its Head, which is also breakable. Both its Wings (x2) can be broken as well, and the Tail can be severed.
Before diving deep into combat strategy, here’s the breakdown of Rey Dau’s weak points:
For details about what to expect in terms of attacks and general behavior, the following section has you covered.
Rey Dau attacks and strategy
Rey Dau is a tricky monster to fight. It seems to be fully aware of its weak spots, as it constantly uses them against you. On paper, this should leave them vulnerable to follow-up attacks, but the breakneck rhythm of its movements means it will persistently try to prevent you from getting anywhere close.
You should see Rey Dau’s head as a railgun that shoots thunder. Whenever it covers its face with its horns, that means it’s going to attack. There’s a mid-air variant to this attack, telegraphed in a similar way. Sometimes, it’s elevated by a previous step, in which the monster scratches the ground and electrifies where it scratched. Upon “shooting” the mark, the area then explodes.
There’s an even more dangerous attack where you’ll literally see the monster charging up a beam with its head, followed by a powerful thunder strike. A key detail to keep in mind: After Rey Dau shoots, the head is usually exposed to a wound attack. If you use focus mode after a bolt of thunder and see a part of the monster glow red, try to get close and go in for an attack, as it won’t take long before recovering.
The wyvern also uses its horns to attack forward, but for the most part, the wings and tail are the ones to look out for in terms of close-quarter moves. For the first, a recurrent attack is one where Rey Dau plunges its wing into the ground, and after a brief pause, proceeds to carve the surface forward until it lifts it up with force. It gives you a few seconds to dodge out of the way if you’re in the same direction, which you should definitely try to do. A variation of this attack sees Rey Dau repeating the pattern with its other wing for a double attack.
A similar move takes place when the creature is in mid-air. If you see it take flight and then look at you for a quick second before turning around, that means it’s about to fly down and impact the ground with one of its wings. Follow the cues to quickly evade before that happens. (A variation of this features a move similar to the one described in the previous paragraph, carving the ground as it flies for a few feet before lifting its wing, leaving a trace of thunder.)
In terms of its tail, if you’re around its rear end, it usually lifts its tail and then slams the ground with it. If you successfully dodge it, that’s a good opportunity to damage the limb, as it can be severed. As a result, subsequent attacks will have less reach. There are a few more variations: one has Rey Dau swinging its tail left and right in two quick consecutive moves, and another one is one big swipe in which the monster also repositions itself by flying slightly out of your way.
There are a few additional attacks to keep in mind. There’s Weak Roar, which can be countered by earplugs, although it doesn’t happen too often. Thunderblight, on the other hand, can be annoying, as it temporarily makes you easier to stun. You can remove the condition by evading repeatedly, but otherwise, a nulberry will do the trick. You can also equip armor with either Thunder or Blight resistance for some additional defense.
Rey Dau drops
If you’re wondering what Rey Dau drops in Monster Hunter Wilds, you can find a handy list below:
Low Rank materials
If you’re looking for other creatures to fight in Monster Hunter Wilds, our monster list provides a full rundown of every encounter, while we have specific guides for Doshaguma, Lala Barina, Nu Udra, Guardian Rathalos, and Ajarakan.
