With Monster Hunter World reaching the ending of its lifespan and Monster Hunter Rise on the way, it's safe to say that there shouldn't be too many meta-changing discoveries left in the game. With that said, greatswords have come a long way in Monster Hunter World.
Greatswords are difficult weapons to master in Monster Hunter, even though they seem sluggish and simple. Their long attack start-up and strange build requirements make them difficult to use effectively while in the heat of battle. That difficulty comes with the reward of being able to dish out massive damage so the investment is worth it.
Play Style
The best way to describe the greatsword style is hit-and-run. The weapon is heavy and weighs the character down, making their movement slow and a bit clunky. This on top of slow attack speed means that the player has to pick and choose their moments to attack wisely, or else the enemy will counter or dodge.
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Players must also keep their minds on defense since slow movement means it's harder to dodge attacks as well. Luckily, greatswords allow their users to block, at the cost of sharpness. Use block wisely, since sharpness determines how effective attacks from the greatsword are.
Movement Is Key
Being able to control what little movement options the great sword provides is what separates the masters from the students. Greatswords have an ability called "tackle" which lunges them forward a decent distance. While this is an attack on paper, it's also a means to counter attacks. Tackle can stop oncoming attacks from enemies and even knock them out, opening them up for big damage. Timing a good tackle when there isn't enough time to sheathe the sword can be the deciding factor in life or death situations.
Ledge hopping is another technique that's integral to the style of greatsword users. The greatsword has an exceptional ledge hop that propels the character very far, and has a big, lingering hitbox so it can catch enemies other attacks might miss.
Players can even ledge hop back onto a ledge they were standing on by back-dodging off of the ledge, and drop attacking towards it. When this technique is done properly, it's extremely easy to catch monsters in a mount. As a greatsword user that deals massive damage to enemy weak points, being able to mount consistently is a valuable skill.
Learn To Control The Greatsword
It's fun and flashy to do giant charge swings at enemies while they're knocked out, and it definitely works in the early game. The issue with this strategy is that there's probably a lot of damage left on the table if the moves aren't used properly. This is why greatswords can be classified as difficult: they require a lot of knowledge from the player.
Players must know when monsters will recover, where the weak points are, and how big the monster's hurt boxes actually are to optimize the greatsword. This may sound intimidating but it comes with time and doesn't need to be perfect to be effective.
True Charge Slash
The signature move of the greatsword requires players to charge up an attack for a few seconds before unleashing it for high damage. The thing about this attack is that it has a few intricacies that make it difficult to use.
For starters, it's possible to overcharge the attack so it has to be timed well to maximize the attack damage. Players should look out for the moment the character jerks forward after fully charging to release. If released too early or too late, the damage will be reduced.
Another intricacy of the True Charge Slash is that if the second part of the attack hits, damage is boosted. To hit that second part, players have to space themselves at a distance where the move can connect. This is easier said than done since monsters tend to thrash about, run around, and pounce at any chance they get so it isn't easy to hit this move often, let alone well spaced.
Stats And Skills
As one could probably guess, greatswords rely on raw attack power to generate damage. To make use of this, players should invest in skills like Attack Boost and Weakness Exploit. The greatsword is all about staggering monsters and destroying their weak points quickly to increase damage even further. The fundamental skill for greatswords is Focus, which reduces the amount of time it takes to perform charge attacks.
A great style that exploits this archetype is the draw attack style. By focusing on skills like critical draw and punishing draw, players can move quickly with their weapon sheathed while they look for a chance to attack. When that chance presents itself, they can draw their weapon and attack at the same time, dealing more damage than normal.
Another common style is one centered around the True Charge Slash. Skills like Marathon Runner and Stamina Surge are great compliments to this style. With these skills, players can sprint more and be more mobile to position themselves better for large openings when they can charge an attack.
Low Rank Equipment
As far as equipment in the early game goes, greatsword users have it fairly easy. Since raw damage is their biggest concern, it isn't necessary to worry about too much in regard to which weapon to use. The recommended choice is the Defender set of weapons since it's easy to create and do blast damage, which improves the explosiveness of the greatsword. For armor, the Defender alpha set is a great pick because players can buy it early on after the first few required quests, and it has solid defensive skills.
High Rank Equipment
In high rank, there's more of a variety for weapon and armor choice as it makes sense to develop either the Defender set or the Guardian set. Both have more than enough potential to get a player through high rank as long as they continue to develop it with armor spheres. These armor sets also have decoration slots to improve stats even further. Players should use attack bonus decorations in these slots to increase their raw damage.
Other armor sets of note are the Odogaron set which has Punishing Draw, and the Diablos set which has Critical Draw. The full sets are not needed, just two pieces of each set can grant those skills.
Master Rank Equipment
Early master rank boasts lots of options to upgrade a weapon but none are actually any better than the Defender sword from the early game. The first worthwhile weapon comes from the Pukei-Pukei and it offers two decoration slots, allowing for more customization and potential damage. Players can also gain poison damage from the Pukei-Pukei sword which is more appropriate for certain monsters than blast damage.
A bit further into master rank, the player will encounter Barioth. Barioth is a landmark monster because its armor set grants punishing draw. Barioth also makes monster slog bones available, which are essential for upgrading weapons further.