How to defeat the Gritdog in Wilds Heart

Wild Heart’s diverse cast of Kemonos can effortlessly charm any newcomer. The Gritdog, a half-otter, half-groundhog-like creature that inhabits the Natsukodachi Isle, is no exception. You’ll come across this Kemono on the Rogue Wave Reef for the first time, and it’ll continue to spawn in that area. Don’t be fooled by its appearance, though. This cute, seemingly defenseless creature packs a punch in battle. Let’s take a look at its weaknesses that you can exploit and some general strategies for taking this behemoth down.

Related: Wild Hearts Monster List – All Kemono in Wild Hearts

What are Gritdog’s weaknesses?

As with every Kemono, Gritdog has specific weaknesses that you can take advantage of. Knowing these before heading into a fight can easily be the difference between victory and defeat. Keep these handy to make the fight much more manageable.

• Weakness: Head
• Soft parts: front legs, body, and hind legs
• Physical weaknesses: Slash and lunge
• Attribute weaknesses: wind and wood
• Ailment weakness: poison
• Best Karakuri: Elemental Lantern and Spring Karakuri

Strategy to defeat Gritdog

In general, you’ll want to stick with what brought you here when fighting Gritdog. The first attack you’ll want to watch out for is when Gritdog creates a magnetic field with its tail and manipulates ironsand to deal damage. Most attacks using this skill will come from the underground, so when you spot a dark spot on the ground, dodge quickly to avoid incoming damage.

The good news is that it’ll have to restock when it runs out of ironsand. This is the perfect time to attack with your strongest weapon. You’ll deal the most damage if you strike its head, as it’s the weakest body part. However, stay quick on your feet to get some distance as soon as it recovers. If you’re going for a long-range strategy like the bow, you can safely deal damage to the head without risking a deadly counterattack. With melee weapons like the katana, though you might want to play it safer and attack the front, body, or hind legs instead.

The Belly Flap move is the next one you should look out for. Gritdog will leap into the air and slam you with its belly. The best way to avoid it is to spam your Spring Karakuri, but if that’s not available, just dodge it as fast as possible.

Finally, when enraged, Gritdog will spawn an Ironsand Bulwark Karakuri, sending ironsand spikes your way. Luckily, you have a Karakuri that can help you in this battle: the Elemental Lantern. This Karakuri will mitigate all elemental damage, so you’ll take less damage from the spikes you can’t avoid.

What does Gritdog drop when killed?

Here’s the sweet loot and materials you can get from killing a Gritdog:

• Chrysanthemum Feather
• Giant Kemono Gem
• Giant Kemono Petal
• Gritdog Claw
• Gritdog Entric Sack
• Gritdog Fur
• Gritdog Incisor
• Gritdog Iron Nugget
• Gritdog Tail
• Small Kemono Skin

Follow these tips and the Gritdog should go down with relative ease, giving you access to its solid item pool.