How to complete the Serpent Goddess of Thunder quest in Monster Hunter Rise

The Serpent Goddess of Thunder quest is available at the start of Hunter Rank 7 missions in Monster Hunter Rise. The quest pits you against the Thunder Serpent Narwa in a fight to the death. It’s also the minimum quest you need to complete to access the Sunbreak expansion.

Narwa has two kinds of attacks — lasers and slams — and she uses lasers far more. With only mid-tier High-Rank gear, it takes two or three hits to send you carting back to camp, so you’ll need to be extremely careful.

Related: How to play all the Monster Hunter games in order

How to beat Thunder Serpent Narwa in Monster Hunter Rise

Beating Narwa takes patience, skill, and plenty of aggression. Follow the essential tips for successful hunts, and come with your best gear and Dango. Buff up, gather the one mega Spiritbird, and head into the arena, where Narwa will immediately attack. She relies on lasers and has four core laser attacks:

• Vertical beam: Narwa inhales and shoots a large laser at the ground, then brings it upward, cutting across the arena
• Laser rings: Narwa summons four vertical or horizontal rings of yellow energy outward. They can all appear at the same height or move up with each successive ring if they’re horizontal. Narwa will move across the arena if they’re vertical, sending them out periodically.
• Multi-lasers: Narwa aims her head at the ground and sends out ten or so smaller lasers in a close-knit pattern that rotates and expands outward slightly.
• Energy ball: Narwa inhales briefly, then spits out a giant ball of yellow energy that explodes on contact with a hunter or the ground, whichever comes first. A ring of energy also expands behind the ball.

After you deal enough damage, Narwa will come to the center, and the whole arena will turn purple, signaling she’s using her nova attack. This attack causes a massive explosion that covers the entire arena and can only be avoided by being on one of the raised platforms that appear throughout the fight.

Narwa also has a few melee attacks with long windups, specifically a charge and a slam — both have huge hitboxes, so get out of the way as quickly as possible.

Best damage strategies against Thunder Serpent Narwa

Narwa’s primary weak points are her front arms and head and, when stunned, the large yellow sac on her belly. Your best bet, however, is the hunting equipment that appears on floating platforms during the fight. You’ll recognize it from Rampage huts and have access to Ballistae, Cannons, and Machine Cannons. The Dragonator and Splitting Wyvernshot become available once during the fight as well. Use all these tools whenever they appear, especially when Narwa moves to the center and starts spamming lasers.

When you do enough damage to stun Narwa, she’ll fall to the ground, and a platform will appear near her large yellow sac. This is the only time the sac is weak to damage and takes the most damage out of all her parts, even compared to her head. At other times, you’ll want to be underneath her and deal damage to her head and arms as you can.