Lao-Shan Lung

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Lao Shan Lung is an enormous dragon roughly the size of a small mountain. It's said to live for more than even a thousand years. Lao Shan Lung has been with Monster Hunter since the first PS2 release of the series. Lao Shan Lung has one of the greatest amounts of health in the entire game, making him difficult to kill alone without using excessive force. Once only copper and red in color, Lao Shan Lung now has a blue alternate self, with much more health due to being a High to G Rank monster, it has also been dubbed Lao Shan Gran and Ashen Lao. In both forms, Lao Shan walks along a path leading up to a fort built by the townspeople, in order to keep Lao Shan from rampaging through. It is the job of the player to deal enough damage to either drive Lao Shan in another direction or end his life entirely. It is more beneficial to slay him, as he allows the players a total of nine carves once dead.

The player is given ample amount of supply items for this quest, along with fort defences the Ballista and the Cannon. To fire the Ballista, the player need only select it in their active item slot, walk to the Ballista and press Square button to arm it, then the Cross button to fire. It can also be aimed much like a Light/Heavy Bowgun can in the PS2 games, as well as feature First Person aim. The Cannon requires more effort. The player must take a Cannon S from the box next to the Ballista, and carry it to the Cannon atop the fort. They then need to wait for Lao Shan to come into position before using the Cross button to fire. The Cannon is unable to be aimed in any way, so timing is absolutely crucial.

While the fort does provide for an admiral offense, many players bring Barrel Bombs to supplement those already given in the supply box. Players often place these at the start of each new zone, waiting for Lao Shan's head to pass overhead before setting them off and damaging him greatly. The Anti-Dragon Bombs introduced in MHF2 however, must be placed upon his back. The player must climb either a sniper's post or one of the two bridges overhead and then leap onto Lao Shan's back to place them. It is also possible to gain an extra three carves from this area, although nothing amazing is ever gained this way. Players believe that carving Lao Shan Lung's back somehow enables a healing process, although it has never actually been proven to happen. This jumping is done by aiming for the largest gap between the plates, as you can see a flat area. However, you cannot attack, merely set bombs and carve.

[edit] Strengths and Weaknesses

For the longest time, players were only able to guess at what elements would work against their enemies. With the PSP games introducing the information of a weapon's exact element and attribute output, it has become easier to see which weapon fits against what monster. For a while, players only saw the Dragon element as a way to fell the gigantic Lao Shan. However now it is widely known that the Fire element has almost as good an effect. He is however, resistant to the Water and Ice elements, with neutrality to the Thunder element.

Although it is considered common sense, the only weak areas of the Lao Shan Lung are the exposed underside. His tail however, presents no such vulnerability. His head, although covered in plate armor, is also rather weak to weaponry. His greatest weak spot is his stomach. Many players choose to use a Hammer or Greatsword and swing away at this one area on his body. Other prefer lances and impale his face numerous times. His legs are also susceptible to weaponry, with enough damage even causing Lao Shan to crash into the ground. the front legs offer only a momentary pause, while the back legs keep him down for a decent amount of time. When he does in fact fall down, a great amount of force often brushes players away or knocks them over, causing damage.