Windproof isn't much help against Alatreon since even while flying he doesn't actually hit you with wind. Attack up Large is always helpful, Elemental can also be useful on the lance when combined with the rush move. When Alatreon falls over you can rush into him and rack up a lot of quick hits to really stack up Ice damage quickly. Evasion can also be useful to avoiding hits after attacks when you can't block just yet. Also a good idea to gem out Short Sprinter.

Should be easy to gem out short sprinter too, since i would only need a few points in my favor there.

Of those, elemental sounds best for my style (especially since i abuse the rush to pounce on fallen foes anyway, though lately i've been moving away from that). Thanks

Well, Elemental required far more shell shockers than i had, so i initially skipped it in favor of negating Short Sprint and adding Attack Up L. My first encounter with Alatreon told me that Guard Up was mandatory, so i rewired it, took Short Sprint back in exchange for adding Guard Up and downgrading to Attack Up S

With Guard Up and Guard Plus 2, i was quite untouchable, so long as i was aiming right. The worst attacks i had to watch out for after that were his tail sideswipes while flying.

Really, Alatreon's attack patterns are pretty simple. My only problem was that every hit is really devestating, and in my first attempt at clearing it as my own urgent, we lost half our crew to disconnects and were defeated.

Subsequent runs were pretty good, but now it's onward to the top tier, and Deviljho.

Attack Up might be for the better, eariler today I read in the Damage formula FAQ that hits from the charge do 75% less elemental damage. =P

Surprised to hear you feel Guard Up is needed for Al. The only attack the lance can't block is his fireballs, and only the fireballs themselves, you can still block the eruption without guard up. I just use the side hop or shield bash to get out of the fire's path.

You're right about Alatreon being easy to predict but heavy on damage. I always bring lifepowder and keep my health at near full. It's not a bad idea to bring herbs, blue mushrooms, and honey for long runs.

Evasion isn't in my instinct, sadly. My instinct is to face my foe square in the face and block (probably something i forced myself to learn from Barroth). But i wanted to have Guard Up back anyway, for Agnaktor, Jhen Mohran, and Lagiacrus (pretty sure it blocks his super discharge, but i haven't tested it)

You were right about Windproof being worthless for him, though.

I do want to build an Evasion-focused armor for Longswording. Something good for Gigginox and Baggi.

That makes sense, I main Switch-Axe and before that Long Sword so I'm more from the school of getting the hell out of the way.

Barioth armor (Low or High) is good for learning aggresive evasion. I only made some Barioth Armor because I had so many left over parts from making the Amber Hoarfrost. Quickly changed from hit and run tatics to dancing around an Angry Deviljho with my Switch-Axe.

The bigger invulnerabilty window makes it easier to find the timing to avoid getting hit while rolling/sidestepping through attacks. You do it long enough and you can get switch to Charm/Gemming in just Evasion 1 on other armors. And now I can actually dodge certain attacks without the evasion skill at all.

Lances can block most everything so Evasion isn't as useful other than side stepping through tails swings and giving you a possible out when you don't have time to get your shield up.

It's a lot more helpful for weapons that can't block since you can use it to roll through roars and tremors which will can set you up for an attack. Rolling through Jho's Dragon breath to get to his stomach is a lot fun. =)

That's my favourite weapon!

I used the weekend to gather 6 more barioth coins. (My new record time for the arena is 34 minutes.) I spent them for the hawkeye earring and the scolar's gloves plus. I now have all the coin related stuff I want. Maybe I will still do some arena fights for stuff like the wyvernking eyepatch or the ranger's espadrilles. Just for completion ...

@EntilZha:

My favourite weapon is the Longsword. It deals a lot of damage fast and I am still mobile using it.

My second favourite weapon is the Sword and Shield. I used it to play the whole offline mode. It gives you great mobility and fast access to items.

My third favourite weapon is the Hammer. It's really fun to hit a monster with a Hammer on the head.

My fourth favourite weapon is the Lance. I started to use it just a while ago. It's very defensive. Until now I use it only in arena fights (if my other weapons of choice are not available.)

I haven't used the other weapons (Switch Axe, Great Sword & Bow Gun) enough.

Most annoying monster moves. Somewhat context sensitive, and assumes you don't have a skill to negate it.

Great Jaggi: Having its Jaggias ram you in the middle of handing it to him.

Qurepeco: Jumps forward a couple times, clapping his flints to do fire damage. I takes too long for him to finish so you get back to kicking his ass.

Royal Ludroth: When he's underwater..well anything there really.

Barroth: When he starts throwing mud all over the place, when you're at a distance. You either wait for it to finish standing around getting bored, or get impatient and try to rush under him while getting mud-ified in the process.

Rathian: That tailspin thing where she poisons you. The one with no warning really.

Rathalos: Jumps back and fireballs you with no warning.

Gobul: Underwater. Charges with his spikes to paralyse you.

Lagiacrus: Underwater. When he charges at you with no warning.

Great Baggi: When he goes on a rampage and consistently rushes you.

Gigginox: When he's on the ceiling. Just time-wasting unless you have some bounce bombs or something,.

Barioth: Jumps behind you and grandcharges immediately. Also the move off the wall can be a pain sometimes.

Diablos: Raged, underground. sometimes I feel like he pops out of nowhere. Assuming you don't have a blocking weapon. His tail swipe (after he charges) can be annoying as well.

Uragaan: Rolls around the place, most times ends up too far for you to rush in and hand it to him.

Agnaktor: That move when he dives in and out of the ground in consecutive fashion.

Ceadeus: When you're behind him, he turns around quickly and no matter how far you feel you swam away from him, some part of him always catches you. Also when he swims around aimlessly before he charges. Time wasting.

Jhen Mohran: Mudballs. Or whatever it's made of. Also the dam Delex, when carrying a cannon.

Deviljho: Raged. Say you're using something like a GS. You're about to hit his head. At that point he decides to step back and do his dragon breath thingie. Not only do you miss, but the recovery time with that weapon ensures that you WILL get dragonblighted. And be in a world of pain.

Alatreon: When he's in the air. Assuming you have no flash bombs.More time wasting.