Fast & Convenient Way to Farm or Capture Rathian

If you haven't checked the main guide, please do so by clicking here.

Now I'll be talking about this stupid dragon flying around the Ancient Forest who was always intervening with my fights with Anjanath. Well, not as bad-ass as Rathalos and the other dragons but the materials obtained can be put together for a decent armor early game in the low ranks. In the story mode you'll definitely meet her as you accompany a wagon on the Wildspire Wastes but you have the option to to run away or hunt it down. I suggest you wait for that encounter before farming the materials even though you have access to this monster in the first map. Why? Because there is a fast and convenient way to farm in the second map. You can also do this in the first map but you'll find the second map more accessible and have more space to operate. When I say fast and convenient, it doesn't mean that you can easily defeat her with whatever equipment you have or without knowing how to fight this monster. It means doing all the basics and being able to do so in the least amount of time. Monsters run away during battles and waste a significant amount of time. So, why waste time tracking the monster when you can have it come after you instead? This is mostly for new players since not everyone knows that if you take an egg from the Rathian's nest, it will eventually find out and come after you. In the Wildspire Wastes map, you will find its nest around Section 12 near the Eastern Camp. In my case, I had Anja Armor so I had fire resistance especially against her fire breath attack, but maybe a Pukei Armor would also work. As long as you know how to avoid the big attacks then you should be okay. Just avoid getting tackled head-on, that flying spinning attack that causes poison and consecutive fire breath attacks. Prepare a pitfall/shock trap and at least 2 tranq bombs. Yes, we're going to capture her as capturing a monster will give you more rewards.

I can't pretty much explain all these here, just watch the video below on one of my runs. More importantly follow the steps below:

1. Start and Expedition or Investigation (Wyvern's egg on the nest is not always available though and you can't jump back and forth between maps easily) and go to the Wildspire Wastes, I'm not sure if you need to have researched Rathian to a certain level but it should appear on the world map the list of monsters available in that area at that certain time. If not, you might want to travel to a different area such as Astera or the Ancient Forest and come back to Wildspire Wastes when you see her name on the list. If you are unable to determine this then you might need to check if she's there manually, and then kill or capture her a few times to level-up your research and improve your tracking for your next runs. Go to the Eastern Camp which is near Section 12. Or you may choose to start at the Southwest Camp and farm Sleep herbs along the way.
2. Search for the Rathian Nest or the Wyvern Nest where you can find a Wyvern Egg. You can also mark this on the map so your scoutflies can lead you there. This will always be the nest but the eggs will not always be available. If you cannot see it on the map then the eggs are not available at that instance. This is also where Rathian sleeps when her health is low. Grab a Wyvern Egg and run around in the desert.
3. Rathian then will come after you. Engage combat and start breaking her parts. I usually start with the tail and then the other parts such as the head, back and wings. This is crucial to obtain the materials you need. The Rathian Plate is the rarest one so make sure to break everything you can. Refer to this picture below:
4.  When Rathian flies away to a different section in the map, go back to the nest and get another Wyvern Egg. Run around and lead her back to the nest. If you are able to see her in the mini-map then run around an area nearest to her.
5. She'll get angry and come flying back to you for being a persistent jerk running around with her eggs. Do this until she is weakened and ready to sleep. A skull icon on the monster in the mini-map is usually an indication that it wants to sleep. If you are fighting her around the nest area, she'll only walk towards her nest and fall asleep saving you some time.
6. Once she is sleeping, set a pitfall trap right under her nose. When the trap activates, use your Tranq Bombs. Sometimes one is not enough so bring at least two of these. Actually you don't have to wait for her to reach her nest and sleep, you can place the trap along her path if you are sure enough that this is where she's going to go or that she's weakened enough and ready to be captured. I just want to be sure and not waste time and resources.
7. You may now return to Astera and reap your rewards. Rinse and repeat until you have all the materials you need.

Here's the video. If you want this armor then follow the steps above and you'll be able to farm it in a short time. Yeah, I'm using a female character named after my wife. He he. Anyway, I'm still in the low ranks but I hope this was able to help out especially the new hunters out there. You can also make good poison weapons out of the materials, since I was able to farm a lot of Rathian materials I have a lot of poison weapons such as the Wyvern Blade Leaf long sword and the Dear Lutemis charge blade. The only thing I didn't like about it is it made my Palico girly with the huge skirt. Ha ha. I am not sure if we can still use this method on higher ranks, hopefully so there's a map with a Wyvern Nest to do the same thing. She's an easy monster in the low ranks but might prove to be difficult in the long run. Crossing my fingers as I want to farm for that ruby.

Update!
You can also do this via Investigations to grant more rewards but the Wyvern's Egg on the nest is not always available and you can't jump back and forth between maps easily. I made this early low rank when I didn't have Rathian on my investigations available just yet. Furthermore, you can speed up your runs by using flashpods before she flies away or trapping Rathian even before going to sleep, provided you are sure it's already weakened enough for capture. We've reached high rank and can confirm that you can do this here as well. It might be of help if you are farming for that ruby. Here are a few screenshots, I think we did a pretty good job trolling her. Ha ha.













Thanks for reading! I wish to make useful guides in the future and I hope this was a good start.