Summary
Monster Hunter Wildshas received a warm reception from fans and critics, and it’s one of the most popular entries in the franchise to date, drawing in a host of new players as well. With the first title update already released, and more on the way, it’s fair to say thatMonster Hunter Wildswill be the go-to game for newMonster Hunterplayers looking to get into the series.
Monster Hunterveterans will be familiar with the gear crafting loop inMonster Hunter Wilds. New players might take a while to get used to all the different options on offer, though. The skills offered by different weapons and armor pieces are varied, and it can take time to get used to what works best for the differentweapon types.
Armor-set bonuses and the inherent skills on armor pieces are one of the keys to unlocking the best synergies for a player’s weapon type and build. For Longsword users, they’ll often be looking for skills that help build and maintain the spirit gauge, as well as add damage to their attacks. Throughout the campaign and into the endgame, these are the bestarmor setsfor Longsword builds.
Armor Pieces:
Set Bonus Skills:
In the early game ofMonster Hunter Wilds, there aren’t many sets that help Longsword users, so this early game build focuses on boosting survivability and comfort. Honey Hunter, the group skill from the Lala Barina set, isn’t much use, but it will help players gather honey for making mega potions, which works well with the set’s inherent ranks in Recovery Up.
This skill increases healing received, so players early in the game can build and make the most of their healing resources. The rest of the set offers two ranks in Quick Sheathe, a usefulquality of life skillfor Longsword users early in the game, as it lets players sheathe or unsheathe the sword faster (even speeding up combo animations that sheathe the sword).
This early game mixed set doesn’t offer any set bonuses, but the combination of skills can help Longsword users dish out damage and avoid attacks. The key skills these pieces offer are Quick Sheathe and Evade Window. This set works best once players can pick up the Quematrice Lima II weapon, as Punishing Draw will synergize well with Quick Sheathe.
Evade Window is a great defensive skill for Longsword users, as it will increase the i-frames that the Iai Slash and Iai Spirit Slash attacks provide, as well as extending invulnerability for regular dodges. This is a well-balanced early game set.
Thismid-game armor setrelies on its Guardian Rathalos parts to provide three ranks of Weakness Exploit. The set skill, Scorcher rank one, is just an added bonus. To make the most of this set, players will want a weapon with Critical Draw as a skill. At this point, it shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve three ranks in this with a weapon and decoration combo.
This build focuses on maximizing damage to wounds and affinity, leading to big critical hits and a lot of wound breaking to build the Longsword’s spirit gauge. If players can fit one or two ranks of Flayer, Quick Sheathe, or both, into this build, it will be even more effective.
This armor combination goes without set bonuses to offer a good mix of attack damage and comfort going into the early stages ofHigh Rank inMonster Hunter Wilds. This set offers multiple ranks in Foray, so players will want a weapon that deals either poison or paralysis damage, with poison being the better option for damage output.
It’s a good idea to add a Foray charm for an extra rank in this skill to make the most of the setup, too. Players could choose to add a third piece of the Rathian set for the extra rank of Foray and the Adrenaline group skill, but it’s only moderately useful. This mixed set goes for extra ranks in Evade Window and Quick Sheathe for comfort instead.
This set is achievable relatively early in High Rank progression, and should serve players well until they reach the highest ranks. It offers two nice set bonuses as well as multiple ranks in Agitator and Weakness Exploit, which are the build’s main damage skills. Agitator becomes a useful skill for boosting damage and affinity as players get to the higher ranks, as monsters will be enraged more often and for longer.
This works well with Weakness Exploit, as the damage bonuses can stack when targeting enemy wounds and weakpoints. Theset bonusesoffer some minor boosts to damage and survivability, and can be easily augmented with decorations to add comfort skills like Evade Window and Quick Sheathe.
This endgame build offers high raw damage and critical hits, in part from the combination of Black Eclipse and Antivirus from the Gore Magala two-piece. Using this specific mix maxes out ranks in Weakness Exploit just from the armor pieces, as well as offering some extra survivability with the Hasten Recovery bonus from the Arkveld two-piece.
If players also add max ranks in Agitator via decorations and the Challenger charm, then this setup can achieve max affinity when striking wounds, guaranteeing critical hits under the right conditions. With plenty ofdecoration slots, this still leaves room for Quick Sheathe, Evade Window, or players' other preferred skills.
This end-game build takes advantage of theZoh Shia armor setfor multiple ranks in Agitator as well as the Super Recovery set bonus. This set also offers two ranks in Weakness Exploit and the skill Adrenaline Rush. Adrenaline Rush can be a useful damage-boosting skill for players who are confident using the Iai Slash moves with the Longsword, as well-timed dodges with these attacks also count for activating the damage bonus.
Another option for boosting the damage output of this build is adding ranks of Burst through decorations and the Chain charm, which Longsword users can trigger with a Crimson Slash combo. The playstyle of this build can be more complex, with players needing to use Crimson Slash and Iai Slash effectively to activate multiple damage bonuses, but there’s plenty of room for utility, too.
