Whew. The gloves come off for this battle. Kirin has always been a chore, but Tempered Kirin can be a real tough customer. Preparation is key. If you don’t have a minimum Thunder Resistance score of twenty, you might as well not bother, as some of Kirin’s attacks will likely one-shot you. Once you have the ideal minimum Thunder Resistance, eat a meal and search for one which offers Elemental Res Up (L), which will boost your Thunder Resistance by another +15 points. If you killed High Rank Kirin during the quest Gone in a Flash you’ll be even more well-prepared, as you’ll be used to a harder-hitting, more durable Kirin, but you’ll also be able to drag along a Thunderproof Mantle, which will further increase your Thunder Resistance, albeit temporarily. If your Thunder Resistance score is in the 30s and you have at least 150 HP (use an Ancient Potion to give yourself whatever your meal may be lacking), you should be able to tank a big hit, or a few small hits.

Also for your consideration is the ability to boost your health even further, as the technical maximum you can reach is 200 HP. The base is, of course, 100 HP, but a good meal or an Ancient Potion (or lesser HP boosting items, used in enough numbers) could have - and should have been - boosting you to 150 HP for a while now. If you find a way to get three ranks of the Health Boost skill, however, that’ll account for another 50 HP, stacking with food/item bonuses to hit your maximum of 200 HP. If you’re good at not getting hit, it may not be necessary, but combining 200 HP with Thunder Resistance 30+ will make this fight much, much easier. Otherwise, there’s nothing Tempered Kirin can throw at you that High Rank Kirin didn’t, and the same rules apply for fighting both, save you’ll have to be extra careful about taking damage.

Threat Level Three Tempered Monsters¶

When you emerge victorious, you’ll unlock the ability to advance your Hunter Rank much, much further, with the new cap being Hunter Rank 100. Furthermore, after completing the assignment and hitting Hunter Rank 50 you’ll be able to challenge other Tempered Elder Dragons via investigation, and since these all constitute a higher rank of Tempered foes - Threat Level Three - it’s time to finally discuss the end-game grind in more detail.

Tempered Elder Dragons don’t add much to the formula, the only new drop are Hero’s Streamstones, which function exactly like Warrior’s Streamstones, save they can augment Tier 8 weapons. These Streamstones are terribly rare (3% drop chances, 1/6 chance of being for any specific weapon, functionally, 0.5% drop chance), but you only need one per weapon, and can only augment a Tier 8 weapon once. They also have a much higher chance to drop Warrior’s Streamstones (12% chance, compared to 3% from a Threat Level Two Tempered monster), so for end-game weapon upgrading… Tempered Elder Dragons are your best bet. It may take a lot of hunting to get the Streamstones you need (not to mention any jewels you may want), but then again, it’s a long way to Hunter Rank 100, too.