You finally reached High Rank. You’ve taken down a couple of the "big bads," and suddenly your crafting list is flooded with gear that requires Elder Dragon Bone. It’s frustrating. You look at your inventory, see a pile of Monster Hardbones and Quality Bones, but the one thing you actually need for that Kushala Daora or Teostra set is nowhere to be found. Honestly, it’s one of those items that feels rarer than it actually is, mostly because of how the game handles loot tables for the true titans of the New World.
Monster Hunter World doesn’t just hand these over. You can’t go out and poke a bone pile in the Rotten Vale and hope for the best. No, this is a specific drop tied to a specific tier of biological disaster. If you're struggling to find them, you're probably looking in the wrong spots or expecting them to drop from the wrong quests.
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Where Elder Dragon Bone Actually Comes From
Let's get the facts straight. Elder Dragon Bone is a High Rank material. If you are playing through the Iceborne expansion and looking for Master Rank equivalent materials, you’re looking for Elder Dragonvein Bones or Large Elder Dragon Bones. Those are different beasts entirely. For the base game's endgame, you need the standard version.
The source is exactly what it says on the tin: Elder Dragons. Specifically, you’ll find them as rewards for hunting Kirin, Kushala Daora, Teostra, and Vaal Hazak. They also drop from Nergigante and Xeno'jiiva. Basically, if it’s an Elder Dragon and you're fighting it in a High Rank quest, it has a chance to drop this bone. But here is the kicker: it’s almost never a body carve.
You’ll see a lot of players frantically carving the tail or the body hoping for a bone. Don’t hold your breath. In Monster Hunter World, Elder Dragon Bones are primarily quest rewards. You finish the hunt, you go to the rewards screen, and you pray to the RNG gods. Usually, you’re looking at a 15% to 18% chance per reward slot. It’s not a "rare" drop like a Gem or a Plate, but because you only get a handful of reward slots, you can easily go two or three hunts without seeing a single one.
The Nergigante Problem
A lot of hunters hit a wall with Nergigante. He’s the "Eater of Elders," and his fight is a massive spike in difficulty. While he does drop Elder Dragon Bone, he’s often the most stressful way to farm them. If you just need the bones and don't care about the specific monster parts, Kirin or Vaal Hazak are arguably "safer" bets once you have the right elemental resistances.
Vaal Hazak is particularly popular for farming because he's slow. If you bring Effluvia Resistance level 3, he’s basically a giant punching bag. You can clear that quest in ten minutes or less with a decent fire weapon, making the "bones per hour" ratio much better than struggling against Nergigante’s dive bombs.
Misconceptions About Gathering and Investigations
Some guides out there might lead you to believe you can find these in the environment. You can’t.
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I’ve seen people spend thirty minutes running around the Elder’s Recess hitting every bone pile they see. That’s a waste of time. You’ll get Ancient Bones or Boulder Bones. You might even find a Dragonbone Relic if you’re lucky, which is another high-end material, but it’s not the Elder Dragon Bone required for the specific armor sets.
Investigations are your best friend here. If you have an Investigation for an Elder Dragon with silver or gold reward boxes, take it. While the bone itself is a "standard" reward, the higher-tier reward boxes in Investigations increase your overall loot yield. More slots mean more rolls of the dice. If you’re just doing the Optional Quests over and over, you’re playing on hard mode.
Why the Desire Sensor is Real
We’ve all been there. You need three bones for your new Hammer. You hunt Teostra. You get a Gem. A literal 2% drop rate item, and you're annoyed because you didn't get the "common" bone. That’s the "Desire Sensor" in action—a long-standing community joke that the game knows what you want and refuses to give it to you.
Mathematically, the drop rate is high enough that you should see them frequently. However, because they are used in so many different recipes—from weapons to various armor pieces and even some charms—the volume you need often outweighs the drop frequency. You aren't just looking for one; you usually need five or ten for a full set.
High Rank vs Master Rank: Don't Get Confused
If you’ve moved into Iceborne, the terminology gets messy. I’ve seen countless players go back and farm High Rank Teostra because they need "Elder Dragon Bones" for an upgrade, only to realize the Master Rank upgrade actually requires Large Elder Dragon Bone.
- Elder Dragon Bone: High Rank only. Dropped by base game Elders. Used for HR armor and early-tree weapon upgrades.
- Large Elder Dragon Bone: Master Rank only. Dropped by MR Elders like Velkhana or Namielle.
- Elder Dragonvein Bone: Only found in the Guiding Lands from tempered or non-tempered Elders.
Mixing these up is a classic mistake. If you’re sitting at the smithy and the icon is red, you’re in High Rank territory. If it’s a glowing white/blue icon, you’re looking at Master Rank materials. Check your quest rank before you commit to a 15-minute fight.
Maximizing Your Farm Efficiency
If you’re serious about stocking up, stop doing "Assigned" or "Optional" quests. Go to the Resource Center and look at your Investigations. Filter by "Elder Dragon."
Look for quests with a high number of bronze boxes. Why bronze? Because Elder Dragon Bone is considered a mid-tier reward. While Gold and Silver boxes are great for Gems and Horns, the "standard" reward pool (which feeds the bronze and quest completion slots) is where the bones live.
Also, consider the Lucky Voucher. You get these daily. Using a Lucky Voucher doesn't technically increase the "rarity" of the drops, but it does guarantee that you get the maximum number of reward slots possible for that quest. More slots = more bones.
The Plunderblade Strategy
If you're struggling to actually kill the monster consistently, or you just want to double your chances, bring your Palico and equip the Plunderblade.
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The Plunderblade allows your cat to steal items directly from the monster while you fight. While the cat usually grabs scales or shells, they can occasionally snag an Elder Dragon Bone. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s free loot for doing nothing. Over the course of five hunts, that cat might save you an entire extra run.
What You’re Actually Using Them For
Most players need these for the "Alpha" and "Beta" sets of the core Elder Dragons. They are also heavy requirements for the Dragonseal Shard and several branches of the Ore and Bone weapon trees that eventually branch into elemental Elder paths.
Later in the game, you’ll need them for Augmenting. High Rank augmentation (before you hit the Master Rank power creep) requires a steady supply of these to unlock the potential of your weapons. Even if you think you have enough, you probably don't. A single weapon might eat through five or six bones just to get the health regen or affinity boost you’re looking for.
Expert Tip: The Event Quest Shortcut
Keep an eye on the Event Quest schedule. Quests like "The Herald of Destruction" (Arch-Tempered Nergigante) or "The Scorn of the Sun" (Arch-Tempered Teostra) are much harder, but they tend to have "overflowing" reward tables. However, for sheer efficiency, the standard tempered Investigations are better.
If you are just starting out and Nergigante is too tough, look for the event quest "A Simple Task." It won't give you bones (it's for gathering), but it helps you farm the tracks needed to unlock Elder Dragon Investigations in the first place.
How to Check Your Inventory Properly
It sounds silly, but check your box before you farm. Because the icon for Elder Dragon Bone looks very similar to the "Hardbone" or "Heavy Dragonvein Bone," it’s easy to miscount.
Go to the Smithy, select the piece of gear you want, and use the "Wishlist" function. This is an underrated feature. The game will notify you mid-hunt or post-hunt exactly when you’ve gathered enough materials for your specific goal. It saves you from that annoying realization that you’re still one bone short after you’ve already returned to Astera.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check your Investigations: Delete the junk and look for any Elder Dragon quests with 3+ reward boxes.
- Equip the Plunderblade: Make your Palico earn its keep while you’re dodging fireballs.
- Target Vaal Hazak: If you need any Elder bone and don't care about the monster, Vaal is the most "efficient" victim due to his predictable movement and massive hitboxes.
- Use Lucky Vouchers: Don't let them sit at 5/5 in your inventory. Use them on Elder hunts to maximize the reward slots where bones drop.
- Don't Gather: Ignore the bone piles. Focus entirely on the quest completion screen.
Stop wasting time in expeditions. Elder Dragons rarely appear there unless you’re specifically tracking them, and the reward payout for a random expedition kill is significantly worse than a dedicated Investigation. Focus your efforts on the Quest Board, and you'll have your full set of armor in a couple of hours.