Invasive Monsters are the so-called guards of rare Endangered Species dens, and you must repel them in order to get that precious, sought-after Endangered Species egg. Here’s a list of every Invasive Species’ location in Monster Hunter Stories 3, plus exactly how to beat them and what Monstie they unlock.
Invasive Monsters Explained
Invasive monsters are very strong, alternate versions of existing monsters. These invasive species are relatively in well-hidden, difficult to reach parts of the map that may require a very specific route to be followed to get there. When you’re close, either day or night, the endemic life will act strange, pointing you in the right direction, and eerie music will play. The Invasive Monster will, however, only appear at night.
When you first encounter an Invasive Monster, you won’t be able to fully hunt it. Instead, you must solve a “puzzle” within the battle to make it retreat. These can be a bit cumbersome to figure out, as you have to do something very specific to trigger their retreat. We recommend picking up every clue in the Invasive Monster’s territory first (and maybe even screenshotting each of them for reference!)
Once an Invasive Monster has retreated, you can try your hand at slaying it inside the newly accessible Endangered Monster den. Be wary–Invasive Monsters are Lv. 75!
We’ve split this guide up between a spoiler-free locations section, and then full guides revealing the Invasive Species and spoiler-tagged puzzle solutions and spoiler-tagged Endangered Monster unlock further down on the page. Use these to jump to what you want to know:
All Invasive Monster Locations
See below for map locations of all invasive monsters in each region with instructions on how to find them.
Azuria Invasive Monster Locations
Invasive Species 1: You’ll encounter this Invasive Monster during the story in the Sunpetal Plains.Invasive Species 2: From the Mirror Lake Catavan Stand, use a Flying Monstie to use the updrafts in Mirror Lake to reach the cliff the blue arrow points at above. At night, the endemic life will make it look like a runway.Invasive Species 3: From the Mirror Lake Catavan Stand, using a Royal Ludroth or Plesioth, swim up the channel that leads north into a cave. Alternatively, approach from the east on land and drop down in front of the entrance in front of the water.
Need help? See How to Beat Azuria Invasive Monsters
Canalta Timberland Invasive Monster Locations
Invasive Species 1: From the Lookout Point: Howlingyowl Forest Catavan Stand, jump down into the ravine just south. Pass under the waterfall into a cave.Invasive Species 2: From the Camp: Blessing Hill, glide over the ravine from the point shown by the arrow in the map above. There is a narrow opening across the way that leads to the Invasive Monster territory. While facing the narrow opening, look to the right for an elevated part of the terrain to make the crossing easier.
Need help? See How to Beat Canalta Timberland Invasive Monsters
Tarkuan Invasive Monster Locations
Invasive Species 1: Bring a Climbing monstie to make this easier. From the Lookout Point: Rococo Rocks Catavan Stand, glide down to the ground floor southeast of it. Look for an opening into a ravine, marked by the arrow above on the map. Follow the path then climb up the wall at the end to reach the Invasive Monster.Invasive Species 2: Bring a Climbing monstie. From the Rococo Rocks Catavan Stand, glide south to another column with a tall updraft. Use that updraft to cross back northwest to an opening into the rockface. Follow the path, climbing up when needed, to the end to find the Invasive Monster. Its territory starts pretty far down the path, so be wary.
Need help? See How to Beat Tarkuan Invasive Monsters
Serathis Invasive Monster Locations
Serathis has only one Invasive Monster. From the Lookout Point, glide over to the tops of the rocks to the northeast. Hop over these rocks to get to the entrance of a path marked by the the curved arrow above.
Need help? See How to Beat Serathis Invasive Monsters
Spoiler Warning! We name the Invasive Monsters below! Puzzle solutions are hidden behind a spoiler tag.
How to Beat All Invasive MonstersHow to Beat Azuria Invasive Monsters1 – How to Beat Invasive Yian Garuga
You’ll encounter the Invasive Yian Garuga during Act 1, Chapter 6 – Endangered Species. To beat Yian Garuga, Tap to Reveal
Defeating Invasive Yian Garuga unlocks Tap to Reveal
2 – How to Beat Invasive Seregios
Invasive Seregios requires a very specific combination to repel it. One essential tip, make sure the battle speed is set to normal, or you’ll miss important cues. Invasive Seregios solution:
Show Spoilers
Equip a Hammer with the skill Perfect Strike – Use Perfect Strike with a Hammer to win a Head-to-Head with Invasive Seregios after it roars to make it run. You may be able to purchase the skill Perfect Strike from the Special Goods Store depending on how far you’ve progressed in the game. Once in battle, reserve your stamina so you can use Perfect Strike when needed. Invasive Seregios will likely one-shot your party, but on the third turn, will start roaring. Watch what color it turns when it roars. Hopefully, it targets you first.
Show Spoilers
If Invasive Seregios is red when it roars, use Perfect Strike with Speed to win a head-to-head.
Show Spoilers
If Invasive Seregios is blue when it roars, use Perfect Strike with Technical to win a head-to-head.
Show Spoilers
If Invasive Seregios is green when it roars, use Perfect Strike with Power to win a head-to-head.
Defeating the Invasive Seregios will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal
3 – How to Beat Invasive Plesioth
Clues: “Is this a scale? Scorched, by the looks of it. Despite how damp it is around. You think it got toasted in battle with a fire-breather?”
“Look at this broken rock… I don’t think claws did this. So what did? Looks like it was split with a ton of water. With enough force to break stone…”
Invasive Plesioth Solution:
Show Spoilers
Break Invasive Plesioth’s head with a Fire-element attack from either Monstie or weapon while it’s in its Invasive state.
Looking for more help? See the full How to Beat Invasive Plesioth guide.
Defeating the Invasive Plesioth will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal
How to Beat Canalta Timberland Invasive Monsters1 – How to Beat Invasive Shogun Ceanataur
The Invasive Shogun Ceanataur is extremely tough, literally. You won’t be able to make it retreat with an attack.
Clue: The Invasive Shogun Ceanataur’s attacks may be tremendously strong but the extreme sharpness of its claws also makes them brittle. Focus on shoring up your defenses and making your team as durable as possible.
Invasive Shogun Ceanataur Solution:
Show Spoilers
Make sure your Monstie has at least Defense Boost (M) when the Invasive Shogun Ceanataur targets it with a red-line attack. You can buff a Monstie’s defense with Mega Armorskin. Or, you can use a Hunting Horn with Defensive Ditty (or Power Paen) and Springy Staccato, which increases the effect of buffs by one rank. Springy Staccato also works on Armorskin to buff that as well if you don’t have a Mega Armorskin. Bring Ogden for additional Hunting Horn support that extends and upgrades buffs as well. Note: We’re not 100% sure the increased defense was the triggering factor. Our Monstie also used Second Wind, which applied Guard, before being attacked, and had the Anti-One Hit KO gene, and a gene that increased its defense. We do know that elemental defense increases don’t do anything!
Defeating the Invasive Ceanataur will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal
2 – How to Beat Invasive Nerscylla
The Invasive Nerscylla has incredibly powerful jaws. How do you counter it? Clues: Seems like the monster has some mighty jaws. A gunlance shield might stop it, though. This bite mark came from a gaping mouth. Maybe if we can pierce through it… Maybe it only shows itself when it bites, that’d be the perfect chance to attack it. We’ll have to deal huge damage with all the firepower we can muster in that moment.
Invasive Nerscylla Solution:
Show Spoilers
When Invasive Nerscylla targets you with a red-line attack while in stealth, use a Gunlance’s Wyvern’s Fire skill. Make sure to equip a Gunlance that has Wyvern’s Fire, or a slot for you to equip it. Then, save your stamina so you can use Wyvern Fire at the right moment. Rudy will say “So this is where the real fight begins!”
Defeating the Invasive Nerscylla will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal.
Guide in progress! More screenshots and details coming soon.
How to Beat Tarkuan Invasive Monsters
1- How to Beat Invasive Diablos
Clues: Good grief! This area’s littered with pits! Looks like something comes and goes frequently!
From the intervals of the holes, I would say it moves throughout quite a sizeable area. Landing an attack would be quite the ordeal.
Can we discern any exploitable patterns? It must surface with a specific timing. Perhaps some whack-a-monster with a hammer is in order!
Invasive Diablos Solution:
Show Spoilers Equip a Hammer with a skill with “Meteor” in its name. After Invasive Diablos has made three separate holes in the ground, hit it with the Meteor skill from the hole it’s going to pop out of. Figuring out what hole it will come out of is kind of a mystery, but Rudy says it doesn’t come out of the same hole twice. Based on that information and process of elimination, we believe it will come out of the hole on the right! You’ll know it’s time to strike when you have three targets to choose from, just make sure to preserve Stamina until then. If by chance hitting the hole on the right with a Hammer’s meteor skill misses, keep aiming for the same one.
Making Invasive Diablos retreat will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal
2- How to Beat Invasive Odogaron
Clues: Could the marks on this wood be from claws? Or perhaps from something worse…? That’s not all. Look here-there are char marks from being burned. You’re right! Hmm, now that I take a good look, signs of scratching are everywhere. I reckon it must’ve run its claws along the ground, igniting sparks as it did so.
Look! More pieces of wood torn to shreds!But there aren’t any burn marks on these…True enough… Ah! It must be because of the ground! Oh, I see! It’s so wet and muddied, the monster can’t create fires! Precisely. With that in mind, we should reconsider which Monsties we bring to battle.
Check out these claw marks. Sign of a turf war? Oh. And they’re coated in something? Is this…mud? Oh, so it must have fought a mud-slinging monster!
Invasive Odogaron Solution:
Show Spoilers
Inflict the Invasive Odogaron with Mudbogged continuously and break its claws with a Piercing weapon, either the Gunlance or Bow. Almudron’s Muddy Hell and Mud Torrent both “set a trap that continuously deals water damage,” aka, Mudbogged! Make sure it’s always Mudbogged, it can actually grow its claws back if you don’t meet both conditions.
Making Invasive Odogaron retreat will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal
How to Beat Serathis Invasive Monsters
There is only one Serathis Invasive Monster!
How to Beat Invasive Khezu
Clues: Something’s set my whiskers tingling… Is it some manner of magnetic field? Looks like it uses electric attacks. Make sure you’re ready to deal with paralysis.
My word! The earth itself has been rent asunder by some terrible If it’s coming at us with sheer power, we should outmaneuver it with speed.
My! Just look at that dried-up bag of bones! One of those hits would be the end of us.We’d better prevent it from attacking. Prevent it from attacking, you say… Ah! Try syncing your breathing with your Monstie!
Invasive Khezu Solution:
Show Spoilers Win two Double Attack Head-to-Heads against the Invasive Khezu and then prevent its next attack indicated by a red line by using a Kinship Skill or something else–like Paralysis! That sounds simple, but it’s a bit tricky. First, make sure your team can handle Paralysis from the Khezu. A Paraheal Powder will Negate Paralysis. A Hunting Horn’s Bolstering Ballad will also Negate Ailments, including Paralysis. Make sure to have one of these available. As for negating its attack, you’ll need passive skills that make your and your Monstie’s Kinship Gauge fill faster, like Soul Kinship, and the A-rank Environment Skill from Tarkuan, Egg Power: Best Buds+. Alternatively, use Paralysis Knives to Paralyze it. In one of our tests, our ally Ogden used Special Paralysis Knives, which Paralyzed Khezu and made it skip its turn, but this is a little more RNG-based than the guarantee of executing a Kinship Skill. Not a bad backup if your Kinship gauge isn’t full yet when it needs to be!
When in battle, on the first turn, Invasive Khezu will use a Technical Attack. Use a regular Power attack (it cannot be a skill!) with your Monstie to win a Double Attack. Use the Negate Paralysis Item or Skill on the second turn, when Invasive Khezu isn’t targeting anyone. The next time Invasive Khezu targets with an attack type, (indicated by a yellow line), it will be Power. Use a Speed attack with your Monstie to win another Double Attack. Rudy will say “Try something else to stop its movement” after some other dialogue. The next time Khezu targets with an attack indicated by a red line, that’s your cue to cancel it with your Kinship Skill or Paralysis Knives.
Making Invasive Khezu retreat will unlock the Endangered Species Tap to Reveal.
More detailed guides coming soon!