Monster Hunter World: How to Slay Pukei-Pukei – Tips and Tricks

While wandering the bottom layers of the ancient forest, hunters will find the curious-looking Pukei-Pukei. This poisonous bird wyvern looks somewhat reminiscent of a chameleon with wings, camouflaging itself in its native environment. While not having a significant range of attacks, Pukei-Pukei is highly toxic, and uses poison to wear down its target any chance it has. So let’s take a look at some tips and tricks on how to take it down.

1 – Poison Ailment

Pukei-Pukei has several deadly poison attacks with different mechanics and areas of effect. Not only does the monster use them often, it can also chain certain ones together, causing blunt damage as well as damage over time and quickly draining a hunter’s health bar. Go into this fight prepared by stacking poison resistant armor and charms to decrease its effect.

During the fight, watch for Pukei-Pukei to stand still for a moment and briefly pull its head back. It will then begin to spit out a volley of poison balls to its left, right and front. If struck by one of these it can cause knockback, as well as immediate poison. If they hit the ground, poison residue will be left behind for a few seconds that can inflict the hunter with the ailment if they stand in it for to long. To avoid this attack, dodge toward the monster to get behind it, out of the way of the projectiles and a safe distance from the puddles left behind.

Second, watch for Pukei-Pukei to raise up on its hind legs and look up momentarily. It will then come down, exhaling a huge cloud of poison smoke while moving its head to the left and right. The cloud will envelop an area of a few yards around the front of the monster and almost immediately poison the hunter caught inside of it. Once again, get behind Pukei-Pukei as soon as possible to avoid the ailment, the cloud will linger in front of the monster for a few seconds before dissipating.

Last, watch for Pukei-Pukei’s tail to swell up like a balloon. This is easy to see due to the tail increasing in size by at least three times forming a barrel shape. Like the poison breath, this indicates that the monster is about to shoot out a cloud of smoke from its tail with the same properties. When the tail expands, it is best to avoid being behind the monster until it releases its poison cloud.

2 – Basic Attacks and Patterns

Pukei-Pukei is not only toxic, but also has a few basic attacks that can catch a hunter off guard if not prepared. The monster has a tail whip like most monsters that it usually uses when being attacked from behind. But its tail has a unique mechanic. When the monster spins around to attack with its tail, the elastic properties of the tail will cause it to stretch out and hit a distance much farther away from the monster than expected.

Pukei-Pukei will also attack with its long and surprisingly stretchy tongue. Before using this attack, the monster will begin to hang its tongue out of its mouth, giving the hunter a pretty good idea that this attack is coming. The monster will pull its head back momentarily before stretching its tongue out far in front of it, swiping it back and forth. This attack causes blunt damage as well as knockback to anything in its way. While this attack has a large reach, it does not have a very wide ark. Dodging to the left or right of the front of the monster, or getting behind the monster’s head, will move the hunter out of the damage area.

Pukei-Pukei also has a basic charge attack. It will pull back slightly and almost headbutt at its target for a few feet in front of it. Dodging out of the way to the left or right will normally clear enough distance to avoid this attack. Last, watch for Pukei-Pukei to fly off the ground just a few inches. The monster will then fly toward its target, kicking its legs and attacking with the talons on its back feet. The monster will fly forward while attacking its target, then change directions toward its target with a follow-up attack in the same animation before landing back on the ground. If hit by this attack, it can cause some pretty serious knockback. When the monster lifts up into the air, dodge toward its tail and stay behind it to avoid the forward momentum of the attack.

3 – Weaknesses

Pukei-Pukei has three major weak areas on its body. Its head, wings, and tail are all high damage areas on its body and can all be broken. The tail of the monster can also be severed for a bit of extra damage, and an extra monster carve. While not a major weak point, the monster’s chest can also be broken with enough direct damage.

The monster is very weak to the thunder element and will take decent damage from both ice and fire, but is completely immune to water elemental damage. The sleep and paralysis ailments are also highly effective against Pukei-Pukei. Surprisingly, the monster can be poisoned, but it takes very little damage from it.

Pukei-Pukei is a very unique addition to Monster Hunter World. Its design is colorful and slightly creepy, and its strange elastic properties can throw hunters, new and old, for a bit of a loop. This is a pretty challenging fight early in the game, teaching hunters how to take the correct items into hunts and deal with ailments on the fly. Farming this monster’s armor set early in the game will give hunters an upper hand in future battles.

Hopefully these tips and tricks help hunters all over take down this toxic wyvern.