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The Long Sword is a large but agile weapon inMonster Hunter Wildswith a penchant for counterattacking and dealing big bursts of damage. It’ll work well on its own, but with the right build, it enters an entirely different level.
Likeall weapons inMH Wilds, players can create builds that greatly elevate the performance of their weapons. This guide includes Long Sword build templates that focus on comfort and performance, with one for early and late High Rank stages.
Best Early High Rank Long Sword Build in MH Wilds
If you’re juststarting the High Rank grind inMH Wilds, the weapons and armor you’ll have access to will be limited. For this stage of the game, it’s better to focus on comfort over performance — instead of squeezing out as much damage as possible from your build, take equipment that make hunts easier.
Balahara Greaves Alpha
We recommend getting at least three more points intoEvade Windowfrom your talisman and armor decorations. For players who are yet tofarm any decorations inMonster Hunter Wilds, just use whatever you have on hand. Some good picks include Divine Protection, Speed Eating, Recovery Up, and Free Meal skills.
Evade Window willdrastically increase the amount of i-frames (invincibility frames) you getfrom dodge rolls, Foresight Slash, and Iai Spirit Slash. Meanwhile, Evade Extender will increase the distance you cover while using any of the moves mentioned previously.
The Fulgur Anjanath helmet is an excellent piece thanks to Agitator 2, whichgives players an Attack and Affinity bonus when a monster is enraged. If you want something a little more consistent, get theG Ebony Helm Betafor Burst 2 and Level 2 Deco slot.
For weapons, using one with an element that a monster is weak to will always be a good option. If you’d rather use a general-purpose Long Sword that’s decent against everything, get a pure Raw LS likeIron Katana III.
Endgame Long Sword Build in MH Wilds
Once you’ve farmed enough Decorations and beaten Arkveld enough times, you’re able to building some of the best possible Long Sword setups forMH Wilds. The one we’re sharing herebalances comfort and DPS for fast and relatively relaxed hunts while still providing flexibility for those looking for speedy kills.
Armor
This build offershigh damage via Adrenaline Rush, and Burstalong with an 82%chance to critically strikeagainst weakspots thanks toAntivirus, Maximum Might, Critical Eye, and Weakness Exploit(crit chance reaches 100% when hitting wounded weakspots).
For the sake of this guide,the preferred weapon is Righteous Lancelot, the Rarity 8 Arkveld Long Sword, due to its high base Raw and Dragon Element damage values. You can also swap this for Rarity 8 Gore Magala Long Sword if you prefer to have more base Affinity.
Dragon Element is decent against the majority of monsters(barring those that are immune or resistant to it), making it a good choice for most hunts if you don’t want to bother changing weapons. Still, using a Long Sword with an element that exploits a monster’s weakness is going to be the most ideal.
Raw vs Elemental Long Swords
Long Sword has historically been a weapon that favors Raw damage over Elemental. Having one that purely deals Raw damage will make it useful against all hunts, though a Long Sword that deals someElemental damage is still going to be betterif you’re hunting a monster that’s weak to that specific element.
Maximum Might on a Long Sword?
Maximum Might gives us an extra 30% Affinity just for having our stamina full. While players are expected to lose a lot of stamina when dodging and using Foresight Slash, this is quite negligible. It takes about three seconds for Maximum Might to reactivate once you refill your stamina, and if you play correctly, it’ll always be active for the moments that matter.
Free Meal Over Quick Sheathe?
Quick Sheathe inMH Wildsis faster than inMH World, but slower than inMH Rise.It’s not as essential as in the latter game, though it will still cut the animation for Special Sheathe down by quite a bit. However, since the timing for successfully pulling off an Iai Spirit Slash is so tight, some players might want to swap Quick Sheathe for a different skill like Free Meal or Divine Protection.
Which skill you pick is purely up to taste. Using Quick Sheathe is recommended if you’re trying to get the fastest clear times possible, but it will only ever be useful if you may hit Iai Spirit Slash consistently. If you’d rather stick to using Foresight Slash, then the other Level 1 Decorations are better.
Artian or Set Weapon?
Awell-crafted Artian weapon inMH Wildscanpotentially outperform one made from monster parts. However, regular monster-based weapons will outperform a non-upgraded Artian weapon or one that has the wrong upgrade bonuses. We recommend using a regular crafted weapon until you can get an Artian one with all the right stats.