As you progress through Dauntless, you’ll need tougher armor to survive attacks from stronger Behemoths, but to craft it, you’ll have to hunt some beasts that may be a little above your pay grade. When you want to wear pure defensive armor, the Skarn set is a good choice that can keep you safe into the high levels of the game. The perks of this set will buff your health, grant you a shield, and even let you share your shield with party members. But to make some pieces, and Skarn weapons, you’ll need to gather a rare material called Adamantine Scales.
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to gathering Adamantine Scales. The good news is that you won’t need to target any specific Behemoth part to break. The bad news is that you need to actually defeat a tough enemy to make it drop, so you’ll never be able to get one without actually finishing the fight.
To get an Adamantine Scale, you’ll have to take down a Rockfall Skarn. This is a tougher version of one of the first Behemoths you fight in the game, with stronger attacks, tougher armor, and new abilities to take you down. The Rockfall Skarn has a threat level of eight, and it’s recommended that you bring armor and weapons with a power rating of 300 to fight it.
The fight against the Rockfall Skarn isn’t different from the standard fight. In both versions, the Skarn has rocky plates that you can break with a hammer and attacks mostly by stomping the ground and rolling over Slayers. The biggest advantage the Rockfall version has is the ability to shoot rocky spikes out of the ground when it attacks, so even if you’re not in melee range, it’s a good idea to dodge every time it hits the ground until you learn which attacks trigger these extra spikes. Most of the Skarn’s attacks hit hard but are easy to see coming, so focus on getting a few quick hits in when you can then dodging away before the Behemoth can retaliate.
When it comes to equipment, there’s no beating a hammer for this fight. It will both allow you to stagger the Behemoth, making the fight much easier, and break its rocky armor to let your teammates do more damage to the rest of its body. Since you don’t need to worry about breaking parts or withstanding elemental attacks, just wear the hardiest armor, you can and bring cells that increase your defensive capabilities. The Skarn armor itself is actually great for this, since it provides +25 armor against Terra enemies, like the Rockfall Skarn. Bulwark Tonics are also a good bet, as they’ll reduce the damage you take if you get caught in one of the Skarn’s attacks.
