Thanks to Metal Slimes of Dragon Quest fame, the concept of the flighty, low-HP but durable enemy that awards tremendous EXP if defeated has become a popular staple in JRPGs. Other examples include Shining Poms in the Trails series, Invested Vagabonds in Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Treasure Demons in Persona 5. Obviously a Monster Hunter RPG can’t ignore this trend, and to fill this niche this game has the Barrel Felyne, and this page will cover how to defeat Barrel Felynes in Monster Hunter Stories 3!

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(1 of 3) Most attacks will deal trivial damage to Barrel Felynes,

Defeating Barrel Felynes¶

Once in a while, while exploring, you’ll run afoul of mewschievous Felynes that have somehow gotten themselves stuck in a barrel. While some side quests in Tarkuan will paint this fate as a mix between an unfortunate obsession (or a shameless addiction, depending on which felyne you talk to), the takeaway for us is clear: if these Barrel Felynes can be defeated… err… freed from their barrel confines, we’ll gain a huge boost to EXP!

Unfortunately what Barrel Felynes lack in offense they make up for elusiveness and durability. Most attacks, no matter how powerful the Monstie or rider, how much damage the skill or weapon says it does, how buffed their offense is beforehand, will deal 1-2 damage to the Barrel Felynes. Even critical hits, synchrorushes and Kinship attacks will struggle to break the single digit mark! Multihit attacks fare a little better inasmuch as each hit will deal the standard 1-2 damage, but since most Barrel Felynes have dozens of HP on the low end, it’ll take a lot of luck and concentrated fire to bring one down before said Barrel Felyne eventually flees - something all but guaranteed to happen in 1-3 turns. Mix this with how unpredictable your companions are and the tendency of Barrel Felynes to travel in groups and you’ve got a very low chance of bringing even the weakest Barrel Felynes down.

There is, however, a relatively surefire solution: Barrel Bombs. Barrels are the cause of, and solution to, all of a Felyne’s problems, as they deal set damage. Using a Big Barrel Bomb in combat will guarantee 100 damage to the target enemy, which should suffice to free all but the stoutest Barrel Felynes, and if that doesn’t suffice, use a Mega Barrel Bomb! You can buy Big Barrel Bombs from Merchant Melynx for 500 Bronze TP apiece, which is trivial when pretty much every harvestable spot in the game has a 50/50 chance of yielding 30-300 Bronze TP!

Barrel Felyne Locations¶

Barrel Felynes are fairly elusive foes - sometimes you’ll find a few scurrying about on the field as you explore various areas, and once in a while you’ll find an absolute nest of the kitty creatures in Monster Dens! Since you can’t be guaranteed to find them regularly, your best bet is to just keep a healthy supply of Big Barrel Bombs on hand so when you do find some, you have the tools you need to cash in!