Monster Hunter World Iceborne Rare Endemic Life Capture: Where to Find Rare Endemic Life for Trophies and Achievements

One of the key aspects to Monster Hunter: World's, err, world was how depending on the time of day or the weather each area could house entirely different small creatures, including some Rare Endemic Life that would only appear during very specific circumstances. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne continues this trend, and adds quite a few new Rare Endemic Life to both its new maps as well as already existing ones. If you're aiming to unlock all of the trophies or achievements in Iceborne, you're going to need to catch all of these - so we've taken the time to catalog where each and every one of these creatures can be found, and how to capture them.

Note: Both the Goldspring Macaque and the Sealord's Crest are also Bounties for the Endemic Life Researcher and the Piscine Researcher respectively. It's recommended that players accept those two bounties first before actively searching for these two trophies.

Felyne Zoomaster is Your Friend

First things first, however - gather all of the new Drink canteen ingredients before heading out on the hunt for some of these creatures. The Felyne Zoomaster Food Skill, which can only be activated by eating a meal filled with Trailblazer food items, makes Rare Endemic Life spawn more frequently, and is the key to making your life a whole lot easier. You'll want to forage Butterbur and Frozen Foliage gathering spots in the Hoarfrost Reach for Rare, Super Rare, and Upsurge-only drops - as well as complete all of the Canteen optional quests and deliveries. Do that, and you should have all the Canteen items to you need to eat a meal with the skill. Make sure to spend a voucher to ensure that the skill will activate before heading out! For "Upsurge-only" drops, check that the gathering point that you're targeting is either "Flourishing" or on an "Upsurge" on the World Map before heading out.

Golden Gleam - Goldspring Macaque

By far the easiest Rare Endemic Life to capture in Iceborne - especially if you check during the "Pearl Snatchers" Event Quest! Check Area 2 in the Hoarfrost Reach during the day, and if you're lucky enough to find one, it'll be hanging out on the rock platform in the middle of the hot spring. No Ghillie Mantle required - he's easy enough to just bag, as even when he starts running away, it's very slowly.

Friendly Pointer - Arrowhead Gekko

This one can be found in every map, apparently, but it's also seemingly a guaranteed - or near-guaranteed - spawn in the Event Quest, "The Lord of the Underworld Beckons". Drop down from the Central camp, head into Area 10, and hug the left wall with your Ghillie Mantle on. You'll spot the Gekko before it'll dash up a wall. Follow it, and you'll find it "pointing" at one of the objectives for the quest, an Underground Fruit gathering point. Nab it with your Capture Net. If the Event Quest isn't in rotation while you're searching for it, just repeat these steps a few times and hopefully you'll find it.

Sweet Melody - Blue Diva

This one will occasionally spawn at the very top of the Wildspire Waste, around Area 5, during the day and when the weather is Clear. If it's currently spawned, it'll sit at roost on a perch near a nest just below the hill's peak. Startle it and it'll begin flying around - you'll need to practice some dexterity to capture it in mid-air, but don't worry too much; it just continues to fly around in circles, so you should manage it eventually. If you need help discerning its location, we've made a short video showing the path to its location, embedded above. Apparently, it can also spawn in the Ancient Forest and the Coral Highlands, so if you've managed to find it there - please let us know in the comments!

Submerged Mystery - Sealord's Crest

Despite what the Piscine Researcher might lead you to believe, the best way to catch this fish is in Area 8 of the Hoarfrost Reach, during the night. If it spawns, it'll be in the lake. It should be obvious to spot - its fin will be sticking out of the water, with a very distinct shape. You should probably bring Baitbugs to lure it to you.

Celestial Illusion - Wintermoon Nettle

This one is probably the trickiest to find. Not only will it only spawn at the Hoarfrost Reach's summit - an area that many players are undoubtedly going to miss - but it also only spawns on clear nights when the swarms of Moon Slugs aren't hanging around the caves. Spawn into the Northeast Camp, and immediately look upwards toward's the peak - give it a few seconds, but it should be obvious if it's up there. If it is, make the trek up the mountain and capture it. It'll circle above the highest point of the summit with the three mining outcrops eventually. No Ghillie Mantle required - it doesn't even have eyes. Just throw your Capture Net at it. If you need help making it up to it in the first place, you can check out our guide on how to reach the summit.

Deft Digger & Creatures of the Earth - Moly & Rocky Moly

These two trophies require multiple steps, and quite a bit of work - you'll need to track down Moly in each of the four regions found in The Guiding Lands, and then capture a Rocky Moly. Check out our dedicated Moly guide to figure out where they'll spawn, and how to capture them.

...and that's it! Iceborne somehow managed to add even more Rare Endemic Life trophies than the basegame, and some of them are absolutely brutal to find in the first place. Hopefully this helps with your trophy/achievement collecting, and Happy Hunting!