Arkveld Materials Farming Guide — How to Get Arkveld Parts in MH Wilds

Arkveld Materials Quick Reference

Understanding Arkveld's Hunt Structure

Arkveld is an Elder Dragon encountered in the late High Rank campaign and endgame content. As an Elder Dragon, it cannot be captured — all reward rolls come from carves and post-hunt reward slots. This means investigation farming is essential since investigations can award up to six reward slots (two bronze, two silver, two gold), significantly increasing the chance of rare drops like the Plate and Mantle.

Arkveld's fight is divided across multiple phases. In its enraged state it activates devastating tentacle attacks and area-of-effect void energy bursts. The monster retreats to its lair in the Forbidden Lands after taking sustained damage, so investigators should plan for a multi-zone engagement. Bring Nullberries to counter the Dragonblight it inflicts during phase transitions.

The critical distinction for material farming: Arkveld's head, wings, and tail are all breakable and severable (for the tail), and each broken part contributes part-break rewards on top of your standard carves. A run where you break all parts before the kill yields the most material per hunt.

Optimal Part Break Priority

Wings should be your first break target. Wing breaks yield Arkveld Wing Membrane (the crafting component for most mid-tier Arkveld armor) and also reduce the frequency of Arkveld's most dangerous swoop attacks. Hit both wings with consecutive focused attacks early in the hunt before Arkveld becomes fully enraged.

The head is your second priority. Head breaks contribute to the Plate drop pool — while the Plate is still rare, breaking the head at least once ensures your post-hunt rewards include a head-break roll. Weapons with high elemental damage (Dragon element is most effective against Arkveld) speed up part break timelines significantly.

Tail severing is an optional third priority. The Arkveld Lash obtained from the severed tail carve is a mid-rarity material needed in several Arkveld weapon upgrades. Sever the tail during the fight's calmer phases before Arkveld transitions to its void phase, where its tail becomes harder to target consistently.

Standard Arkveld Farming Route

Steps

1. Accept a High Rank Arkveld investigation with maximum reward slots (2 Bronze, 2 Silver, 2 Gold preferred).
2. Eat a meal at camp for Attack Up (L) + Felyne Carver buff to increase carve yields.
3. Head to Zone 7 where Arkveld patrols — engage immediately to build wound damage.
4. Focus attacks on the left wing for the first 3–5 minutes to break it before enrage.
5. After left wing breaks, rotate to right wing — break it before Arkveld retreats.
6. Chase Arkveld into Zone 11 (its lair). Target the head with charged attacks or Wounds.
7. Sever the tail with downward vertical attacks once Arkveld is at roughly 40% HP.
8. Deliver the killing blow. Carve the body (3 carves), then the severed tail (1 carve).
9. Collect post-hunt investigation rewards and check for Plate or Mantle in Gold slots.

Tips

• Dragon element deals bonus damage to Arkveld — prioritize Dragon weapons for faster part breaks.
• Bring 2 Nullberries minimum to cure Dragonblight during void phase transitions.
• Flinch Shot can interrupt Arkveld's tentacle slam, creating safe windows for part focus.
• Use the Partbreaker skill (Lv 3 from decorations) to significantly reduce the HP threshold for part breaks.
• If you only need Mantles, run Arkveld investigations solo to minimize hunt length variability.

Investigation Farming Setup

Investigations are the single most important tool for maximizing Arkveld material yield. Each investigation has fixed reward slots (bronze, silver, gold) that are rolled independently at hunt completion. A six-slot investigation (max) with two Gold rewards dramatically improves Plate and Mantle probability compared to slaying Arkveld in a standard quest. Prioritize unlocking Arkveld investigations by repeatedly tracking and hunting Arkveld in the Forbidden Lands.

To generate Arkveld investigations, examine Arkveld tracks, droppings, and environmental markers in the Forbidden Lands during expeditions. Each piece of evidence you analyze contributes to investigation generation. The more evidence you gather from a single Arkveld encounter, the better-quality investigations (more reward slots) you tend to unlock. Some veteran players specifically run short expeditions just to farm evidence without completing a hunt.

Filter your investigation board by Arkveld and prioritize investigations that offer multiple Gold reward slots. Bronze slots primarily yield Scale+ and Cortex — common materials you'll have plenty of. Silver and Gold slots are where Plates and Mantles live. Delete low-quality investigations (only Bronze slots) to keep the board clean and focused.

Guaranteed vs. RNG Drop Summary

• Guaranteed per hunt: 3 body carves — always yield at least Arkveld Scale+ or Cortex.
• Guaranteed per part break: wing break rewards, head break rewards, and tail sever rewards each add one dedicated reward roll.
• RNG carves: Arkveld Plate appears at roughly 5% per carve; Arkveld Mantle is approximately 3% from reward slots only.
• Capture bonus: Arkveld is an Elder Dragon and cannot be captured — no capture bonus applies.
• Investigation Gold slots: Plate has roughly 15–20% chance per Gold slot; Mantle has roughly 5–8% per Gold slot.
• Felyne Carver buff: increases carve count by 1 on a proc — run this always for material efficiency.
• Partbreaker Lv 3: reduces part HP thresholds, increasing part break frequency per hunt.

What Arkveld Materials Are Used For

Arkveld Scale+ and Cortex are the primary materials for the Arkveld armor set (both the base variant and the alpha/beta versions). The Arkveld armor set is among the best endgame armor for several weapon archetypes due to its high base defense, natural Dragon resistance, and strong skill compatibility including Weakness Exploit and Critical Eye.

Arkveld Plate is required for mid-tier weapon upgrades in the Arkveld weapon tree, which includes one of the strongest Dragon-element long swords and great swords in the endgame pool. Budget approximately 3–5 Plates for a full weapon upgrade path.

Arkveld Mantle is the rarest material and is used for final-stage weapon upgrades and a few key armor pieces. Expect to spend 10–20 investigations before obtaining two or three Mantles. This is the intended grind for top-tier endgame crafting, so approach it systematically rather than expecting quick results.