Summary
Capcom’s latest entry in the long-runningMonster Hunterfranchise,Monster Hunter Wilds, has been in players' hands for a while now. That means plenty of savvy veterans have worked out the best armor sets and weapons to use in any given situation. The recent first title update shook things up a little with new weapons and gear, providing new options for the endgame.
For the many new players getting intoMonster Hunterfor the first time, what armor and skills go best with their chosen weapons may not be obvious at first. Learning a weapon’s playstyle and the skills that complement it is an essential part of a player’s journey toward the endgame. Insect Glaive users often focus on using the weapon’s mobility to mount monsters, and good wound generation and breaking synergies to get the most out of refreshing theirKinsect extracts.
There are plenty of good sets for Insect Glaive users in the endgame, but new players might also be wondering what the best sets are to get them through the campaign and the mid-game first. With that in mind, these are the best armor sets for Insect Glaive builds throughoutMonster Hunter Wilds' campaign and beyond.
Armor Pieces:
Set Bonus Skills:
The Balahara set is a useful early game set for Insect Glaive users for two reasons. First, the three pieces of the set here will give three ranks in Evade Extender, increasing the effectiveness of dodges and the range of vaults with the glaive. The Balaharaset bonus, Master Mounter, is the second reason. This skill makes it easier to mount monsters and to wound them when mounted.
The mobility and aerial mobility of Insect Glaives make them ideal for mounting monsters, so this is a useful bonus to have. The Vespoid pieces aren’t essential, but they’re easy to obtain early and increase healing from environmental items like Vigorwasps.
Since the Master Mounter set bonus is a group skill, players can retain it by switching to three pieces of the Hirabami set once they get a little further into the early game. This is complemented by the Rey Dau helm and mail, partly for the Thunderous Roar bonus, and partly for the ranks in Latent Power and Constitution.
This set also gets three ranks in Evade Window from the Hirabami armor pieces, which is a greatcomfort skillthat increases the i-frames players get when dodging. This offers a lot of utility for both damage and defense for an early game set.
This mid-game build focuses on the Insect Glaive’s ability to take advantage of creating and breaking wounds, combining ranks in the Flayer skill withthe Decimator set bonus. Flayer makes it easier to inflict wounds and deals more raw damage to them, and Decimator rank two heals players significantly when they break a wound.
This is a great combo for the Insect Glaive, as players can fill all their extracts, heal, and deal bonus damage all in one when breaking multiple wounds. Three ranks in Flayer and the set bonus come from the Arkveld armor, so players can also slot in comfort skills for stamina management or preferred utility skills.
This early high-rank armor set will help players bridge the gapfrom mid-game to high rank, with a focus on using status damage and the Foray armor skill. Players will need a status-based weapon to make use of this build, and the Princess Regalia from the Rathian tree is an achievable option at this stage that will offer good poison damage.
Using this combination of Kut-Ku, Rathian, and Lala Barina gear gets players four ranks in Foray and two ranks in Agitator. Players also get the useful Master Mounter set bonus with this mix, as the group skill is shared by the Rathian and Kut-Ku pieces. It’s a simple build that relies on maximizing status damage.
As Insect Glaive players move further into high rank, they’re going to want a set that complements the weapon’s inherent strengths. This set uses Agitator and Partbreaker to maximize damage to wounds, and leaves plenty of room for utility skills like Evade Extender or Stamina Surge with decoration slots. Players also get the two-piece Blango set bonus, War Cry, which gives an attack boost when the To Victory gesture is used.
Practically, this is awkward to use and a fairly minor boost, but extra attack power is always useful. Players can load up with a weapon that has high affinity and go forcritical strikes on woundsto make the most of this build.
This high-rank build makes use of Burst, Frenzy, Partbreaker, and Resentment to deal massive consecutive damage under the right conditions. Players will need to use a Sanity Charm to get the levels in Antivirus needed to make use of the Black Eclipse set bonus, increasing attack and affinity after recovering from Frenzy. Players get two ranks of Burst from the armor, but it’s best to stack this to max rank with decorations, as this skill can be easily activated with the Insect Glaive’s aerial combos.
Players should also use decorations for ranks in Partbreaker, as this will maximize wound damage along with the second set bonus, Bad Blood. Bad Blood triggers when Resentment is active (when there is red health on the health bar) and gives a decent attack boost that is even higher when attacking wounds. The synergies between all these bonuses working together can lead to very high damage output for Insect Glaives.
The new high rankZoh Shia armorhas prompted many players to revise their endgame builds to include it, as the Super Recovery set bonus is one of the best healing skills in the game. The fact that players also get three ranks in Agitator from the two pieces of the Zoh Shia set here is a nice bonus. Combining this with the G. Arkveld gloves gives players two ranks in Weakness Exploit, but also activates the Group Skill Ward of Wyveria, which reduces elemental and unique (guardian) damage taken.
This set offers great survivability bonuses for the endgame, but doesn’t need to sacrifice damage, as it’s easy to max out Agitator, Weakness Exploit, and Critical Boost with decorations. Along with the Frenzy/Antivirus combo from the Gore Magala pieces, this means players will be hitting critical hits often and dealing big damage with them.
