It was pegged to be one of the toughest and most gruelling fights ever to be introduced into Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. The week the announcement trailer was released, scarred veterans of the series swapped battle stories in the comments section. Their warning to us newcomers was clear. Alatreon is not to be trifled with. It was not like the beasts before it. Be prepared for a world of pain.

它 被认为是《怪物猎人世界：冰原》中引入的最艰难，最艰巨的战斗之一。 公告预告片发布的那一周，该系列的伤痕累累的退伍军人在评论部分交换了战斗故事。 他们对新来者的警告很明确。 Alatreon不容小 .。 它不像之前的野兽。 为痛苦的世界做好准备。

My team and I had easily beat the previous monsters Capcom threw at us, so we were feeling pretty alright. And so were much of the player base. So when Alatreon finally swooped down on the 9th of July, we stepped into the beast’s den feeling confident — cocky even.

我和我的团队轻松击败了Capcom扔给我们的以前的怪物，所以我们感觉还不错。 玩家人数也很多。 因此，当Alatreon终于在7月9日俯冲而下时，我们走进了野兽的巢穴，充满了自信-甚至自大。

It was bad guys. So damn bad. And we weren’t the only ones. Rage levels across the larger fandom spiked overnight. Much of it centred around the mechanics behind the monster’s ultimate attack.

是坏家伙。 真该死。 而且我们不是唯一的。 一夜之间，整个大同盟的愤怒水平飙升 。 其中大部分集中在怪物最终攻击背后的机制上。

After some time, Alatreon will perform an ultimate area-of-effect attack. Fully powered, it will wipe your entire team without fail. To depower that attack, you’ll have to work together to hit damage thresholds by dealing enough elemental damage to Alatreon.

一段时间后，Alatreon将执行最终的区域攻击。 全力以赴，它将彻底抹杀您的整个团队。 为了降低攻击强度，您必须共同努力，通过对阿拉特恩造成足够的元素伤害来达到伤害极限。

And because things weren’t tough enough already, Alatreon will swap its base element at intervals. This is a big deal — if his current element (fire) is the same as your weapon’s (fire), you deal zero elemental damage. Zilch, nada. You can’t depower its ultimate, and for that, you’ll die.

而且由于事情还不够艰难，Alatreon将不定期地交换其基本元素。 这很重要-如果他当前的元素(火)与武器的元素(火)相同，则您的元素伤害为零。 娜达·齐尔奇。 您无法降低其最终性能，为此，您将死亡。

The only way to prevent this element swap is to break Alatreon’s horns, a well-known gimmick in MHW: Iceborn. But that just gives you another problem on your plate, in an already tough fight.

防止这种元素交换的唯一方法是打破Alatreon的号角，这是MHW中著名的头： Iceborn 。 但是，这已经给您带来了另一个难题，这已经是一场艰难的战斗。

The problem was, before Alatreon, not many meta-builds prioritised elemental damage. This fight nullified our strongest equipment. It demanded most of our motor skills. And more frustratingly, it tested our mental resolve.

问题在于，在Alatreon之前，没有多少元建造优先考虑元素损坏。 这场战斗使我们最强大的装备无效。 它需要我们大多数的运动技能。 更令人沮丧的是，它测试了我们的心理决心。

Within a week, most players had thrown in the towel. After multiple hair-pulling attempts, my team decided enough was enough. The frustration wasn’t worth it. We would defeat this beast, eventually, but not today.

一周之内，大多数球员都投了毛巾。 经过多次拔毛尝试，我的团队决定足够了。 挫败是不值得的。 我们最终会击败这只野兽，但今天不会。

But I refused to back down. Alatreon brought out something within me, something I was only mildly aware off. I had to face Alatreon, alone.

但是我拒绝退缩。 阿拉特隆带出了我内心的一些东西，而我只是略微察觉到了一些。 我必须独自面对Alatreon。

All in all, I attempted the Alatreon fight over forty times. Yup, four-zero. Each fight took an average of 15 minutes before I was eventually killed, so that’s a total of (40 x 15) 600 minutes — ten hours — spread across two partial days of brow-furrowing, teeth-grinding fights. I’m ashamed to admit it now, but I slammed my keyboard multiple times and threw my mouse once.

总而言之，我尝试了40次Alatreon战斗。 是的，四零。 每次打架平均要花15分钟才能最终被我杀死，所以总共有(40 x 15)600分钟 (十小时)，分布在两天的眉毛打磨和牙齿打磨的战斗中。 我现在感到羞愧，但我多次猛击键盘，并一次扔了鼠标。

As I said, it was bad.

就像我说的那样，这很糟糕 。

But those 600 minutes weren’t the full story. Because for the first time since playing, I began ‘sciencing’ my equipment. That is, I looked up guides and tried to understand the whole slew of mechanics behind MHW: Iceborn’s complex equipment system.

但是那600分钟还不是全部。 因为这是自演奏以来的第一次，我开始“科学”我的设备。 也就是说，我查找了指南，并试图了解MHW背后的全部机制： Iceborn的复杂设备系统。

Before this, I depended on my reflexes and understanding of my opponent monster’s movements to triumph in the fight. And for the most part, this approach has always worked. Not for Alatreon. This fight made me do stuff I’d never do, just to gain the slightest advantage against that bloody dragon.

在此之前，我依靠自己的React和对对手怪物动作的理解来赢得比赛。 在大多数情况下，这种方法一直有效。 不适合Alatreon。 这场斗争使我做了我从未做过的事情，只是为了与那条血腥的巨龙取得丝毫优势。

But forty attempts later:

但是四十次尝试：

I was legitimately shaking even as my opponent roared, toppled and breathed its last. I was still shaking minutes later — that’s how close the fight had been. But I won. I beat Alatreon. I overcame one of the toughest fights in MHW: Iceborn (for now), not purely with luck and skill, but through sheer grit, perseverance, and utter stubbornness.

甚至当我的对手咆哮，倒下并吐出最后一口气时，我还是在发抖。 几分钟后，我仍在发抖-战斗是如此接近。 但是我赢了。 我打败了阿拉特。 我克服了MHW中最艰难的战斗之一： Iceborn (目前)，不是纯粹靠运气和技巧，而是通过纯粹的毅力，毅力和完全的固执。

那我为什么要这么做呢？ (So why did I do it?)

The question nibbled on my mind later on, once I regained my sanity and senses. What pushed me into performing this Sisyphean task, which rewarded me with nothing more than vapid bragging rights and a momentary sense of self-satisfaction?

一旦我恢复了理智和感官，这个问题就在我的脑海中ni绕了。 是什么促使我执行这项西西弗斯式的任务，而这又使我获得了无用的吹牛的权利和短暂的自我满足感而获得的回报？

I think it had to do with overcoming insurmountable odds.

我认为这与克服不可克服的可能性有关。

When Alatreon was released, much of the world was still reeling in the wake of the pandemic, while swallowing news of social unrest, unemployment and the possible threat of a looming recession. Facing this avalanche, it can be pretty easy to feel overwhelmed — to feel helpless and small in the face of it all; to feel like whatever you did would hardly make a dent in the problems currently hanging over the world.

当Alatreon获释时，大流行仍然困扰着世界的大部分地区，同时吞噬着社会动荡，失业和迫在眉睫的衰退的威胁的消息。 面对雪崩，人们很容易感到不知所措-面对一切感到无助和渺小； 感觉自己所做的一切几乎不会对目前笼罩着世界的问题产生影响。

Perhaps, somewhere deep down in my subconscious, Alatreon represented an insurmountable and significant problem — albeit one that I could beat. It was a quick win that I or anyone with tenacity could obtain. And amusingly, perhaps my head constructed the world’s then problems — the coronavirus, unemployment, racism, protests, political turmoil, deaths — into a deadly but graceful shadow of the monster called Alatreon, and pitted it against a fight to the death with me.

也许，在我的潜意识深处的某个地方，Alatreon代表了一个无法克服且重大的问题-尽管我可以克服。 我或任何坚韧不拔的人都能获得快速的胜利。 有趣的是，也许我的头将世界当时的问题(冠状病毒，失业，种族主义，抗议，政治动荡，死亡)造成了致命但优雅的影子，称为“阿拉特恩”怪物，并将其与我与死亡的斗争打败了。

After all, isn’t that the reason we play video games? To exist as a larger than life version of ourselves, one that’s more powerful, agile, quick-witted and perhaps, more respected than our real selves? To enjoy camaraderie and fight shoulder to shoulder with friends? To enter a world where we don burnished armour and walk out the door and into the flames of an elder dragon, all to save an imaginary princess or kingdom?

毕竟，这不是我们玩电子游戏的原因吗？ 要以比生活本身更大的生命形式存在，比我们真正的自我更强大，更敏捷，机智，也许更受人尊敬的人吗？ 享受友情并与朋友并肩作战？ 进入一个我们不穿盔甲的世界，走出大门，走进一条老龙的火焰中，全部是为了拯救一个虚构的公主或王国？

I’ve since gone on to defeat Alatreon several times — this time without any awe and fear and nervousness coursing through my veins. But none of those victories can match the ecstasy and relief given to me for my first win.

从那以后，我已经多次击败Alatreon-这次没有任何敬畏，恐惧和紧张感在我的血管中流淌。 但是，这些胜利都无法与我获得第一场胜利所带来的狂喜和救济相提并论。

Because those sweet emotions are reserved for a victory that comes after hours upon hours of bitter suffering caused by repeatedly bashing your head against a wall. Bittersweet emotions gained from similar victories — like graduating with honours from university, winning your first pitch or deal, or watching your newborn child open their eyes, for the first time.

因为那些甜蜜的情感是为胜利而保留的，胜利是由于反复地将头撞在墙上而造成的数小时苦难。 从类似的胜利中获得的苦乐参半-第一次获得大学荣誉学位，赢得第一场比赛或交易，或者第一次看着新生的孩子睁开眼睛。

It assures me that all these months of pain, suffering and uncertainty will ultimately culminate into some form of good, much later on. That pursuit for the win fueled my struggle against Alatreon; it will similarly fuel my struggle to the finishing line of 2020. And that’s not a feeling I’d have if I had given up right away.

它向我保证，所有这些月的痛苦，苦难和不确定性最终都将最终转化为某种形式的善，直到更晚的时候。 对胜利的追求推动了我与阿拉特恩的斗争。 同样，这将使我的奋斗达到2020年的终点线。如果我立即放弃，那简直就是一种感觉。