Blade – Game Voyagers

Monster Hunter: World would not be the same if their weapon system was awful. The thing that makes Monster Hunter live up to its name is all the different weapon types added to the game. There are also a total of 14 weapon types currently in-game. When you think about the name of the game, how would you hunt monsters without a weapon? Each of the weapons in Monster Hunter: World all has individual traits and special abilities that you need to master by just playing with that specific weapon. The only way to learn a weapon is to go into the training room with it and memorize special combos that allow for the max amount of damage to the monster. Each monster requires for you to adapt to it and the only way to do that is to use a weapon that can take down the monster the easiest way. It could be an electric monster, so the best weapon to use would not be an electric weapon. It would probably be a fire or poison weapon. Each of the weapons also has its own style depending on the items used to make it. Here is a great guide to Monster Hunter: World I found on Amazon, check it out here. Also, the release of the Iceborne DLC in the past few weeks have made a lot of changes when it comes to the weapons because the developers wanted to give the players a different experience. As far as I can tell, everyone who has played the DLC all loves it because of all the new content added to the game. Related: What to do after beating the story in MHW Here are all the weapons from Monster Hunter World: Table Of ContentsGreat SwordLong SwordSword and ShieldDual BladesHammerHunting HornLance/GunlanceSwitch AxeCharge BladeInsect GlaiveLight/Heavy BowgunBowExplainer VideoConclusion Great Sword The Great Sword is a weapon that was introduced in the very first Monster Hunter game and has been a fan favorite for many years. It has the ability to block oncoming attacks from the monsters, but keep in mind that when you block, the sharpness of your weapon goes down. The Great Sword's weapon tree has 2 branches that you can choose to go down. The branches are Buster Sword and Bone Blade. The Buster Sword sacrifices sharpness but makes up for it in its elemental damage given out. The Bone Blade has much more sharpness than the Buster Sword but it does not have the elemental effects. This is helpful because sometimes you might not know what element the monster you are fighting is. Traits - This weapon takes a little bit of time to fully master its combos, but when you do, it is worth it in the end. As I have said before, this weapon lets you shield against enemy attacks. The Vertical Slash is going to be your fastest and most used attack because you can directly use the attack as you quickdraw the weapon. The upward slash is a good attack and can throw other hunters out of the way of monsters if need be. Special - Its charge attack has 3 tiers that it can be charged to. As you hold the charge button, you will get indicators to how far you have charged it, and if let go at the right time, will deal the most damage to the monster being fought. If you hit certain monsters in the head with a tier 3 special attack, you have a chance at stunning them. Pros and Cons - It has the highest damage per hit than any other weapon in the game, but it also has extremely slow attack speed. It has the ability to hit any enemy from a longer range but requires a lot of skill to know how to use it. It can block oncoming attacks but sacrifices stamina and sharpness. Any charge attack you do makes the monster flinch more than any other weapon in the game. Iceborne Changes - In Iceborne, they added a powerful slinger burst shot that softens the hide of any monster. It also added a new special attack called the improved true charged slash which does extra damage to the monster. Both items can be used to combo attacks and deal even more damage. Long Sword The Long Sword was not a weapon that was implemented early on in the game development. Originally, they were Great Sword that looked like a katana. They were later made an independent class because people liked it soo much. The damage output for the Long Sword is in the middle, but the attacks are very quick. Personally, this is the weapon I used when I played Monster Hunter: World. The Long Sword has 2 main branches in its weapon tree: Bone and Iron Katanas. As the Great Sword has, Bone Katanas favor more elemental attack but lose sharpness. Iron Katanas favor sharpness and raw damage over the elemental effects. Each branch has its own purpose. Traits - These weapons have a very quick attack and can land their hits much faster than a Great Sword. Although it is quick, the attacks do much less damage to the enemy. When you loop any attacks together and make a chain, it helps fill your Spirit Gauge much faster for your special attack. Special - The Spirit Gauge is unique to the Long Sword and is very helpful when used to the max. As you get successful hits on the monsters, your Spirit Gauge will fill up. When your bar is filled up all the way, you can do a special attack where you jump up in the air and do a down-slash. This can easily hit the places you normally can't hit. Pros and Cons - The best part of this weapon type is the speed and agility that it has when you fight, but the huge downside is that you can't block at all. You can do some damage from afar enough space that you can easily dodge out of the way if necessary. It also grants super armor on certain attacks. It runs out of sharpness a lot quicker than other weapons though. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added the ability to shoot fire slinger bursts in-between spirit slashes to deal extra damage. It also received some new attacks called lai slashes and they deal higher damage and counter just about anything the monster throws at you. If you time the lai slash perfectly, it has a chance not to use up any of your Spirit Gauge. Sword and Shield The Sword and Shield is the first weapon type that any hunter uses in-game and is probably one of the easiest to use. It uses a wide variety of elements to do the damage for you and has quick, successive attacks. Even though it is the fastest weapon type in the game, it has very weak raw damage, so unless you don't have an element on the weapon, it does not do much damage at all. The Sword and Shield have 2 main trees: the ore tree and bone tree. Ore tree focuses more on raw damage rather than other elements while the bone tree focuses more on the elemental side of things and can be helpful with defeating certain monster types. Traits -The Sword and Shield are generally sharper than a lot of other weapons so it does not bounce off the hide of certain monsters as much. It has incredibly fast attacks that can easily be used to combo and knock a creature down, and it can also block pretty well because of the shield. The heavier attacks can't be blocked as well just because of the size of the shield. Special - Wih it you can do a special charge attack which boosts the damage for a certain period of time and can be used to easily combo the monster. There is also an attack called an advancing slash which can do some massive damage. Pros and Cons - It does have very quick attacks, but the base damage is very low and balances the weapon. Blocking is not as great as other weapons and sharpness decay very rapidly which makes you constantly sharpen your weapon. It does have very high elemental damage so that it uses status effects to slowly defeat the monster over time. Iceborne Changes - In Iceborne, they made it easier to switch between slinger and clutch claw and allows for you to grab flying monsters. With perfect timing, learning to switch between the two can be helpful in doing continuous damage to the beast. Dual Blades The Dual Blades are often called Dual Swords and can easily be mistaken as the Sword and Shield. It is very similar to it only instead of a shield, there is another sword instead. This is the only weapon type that can have two different elemental types at one time. They are most known for their chain-attack in which a bunch of attacks is hit in quick succession. It has 2 main trees: bone and ore trees. The ore tree does more raw damage while the bone tree focuses more on elemental damage. Though usually, it is best to stick with the elemental damage because of the long term effects put on the monster. Traits - Even though it does not provide any shielding capabilities, you can easily roll out of the way of any attack because your agility with the weapon is very high. You can easily do a combo because of how fast the weapon generally is and it hits pretty hard after a few combos. These weapons lose sharpness faster than any other weapon type in the game. Special - Can be used to hold 2 different element types at one time and can be used however the player wants. If you land an affinity hit on the first try, all the rest of your attacks will be affinity hits so make sure you get your timing right. You also get Demonization mode which lets you hit faster, stronger, and have more armor. Pros and Cons - It can stack a lot of damage in a short amount of time and has a very agile movement. It can be upgraded to do more damage and to improve the person using it. The downside to the weapon is that the sharpness drops very quickly and it is impossible to guard. Iceborne Changes - In Iceborne, they added the ability to evade an attack and then counter with a slinger burst. It also has a new rotating slash attack when the new clutch claw attaches itself onto the monster. Doing this has the chance for the monster to drop slinger ammo. Hammer The Hammer is one of the slowest in the game but makes up for its slowness with pure damage directly to the monster. It is very short-range when it comes to its attacks, but when you get a good hit in, will have the chance to majorly stun the beast. There is a learning curve when it comes to perfect timing with the weapon, so be prepared to train with it for a while. There are 2 main trees: ore and bone trees. The ore trees focus on the raw, unadulterated damage while the bone tree focuses on the element side of things. With the Hammer, it does not really matter what tree you go down because they are basically the same thing. Traits - The best attack that you can do with the Hammer is the basic swing attack because it is faster than all the other attacks and it does more damage to the vital points of the monster. When you use the Hammer for the first time you might think that is annoying and slow, but when upgraded and practiced with, can be a very valuable tool. Special - Its special is the superpound attack where you start charging the hammer. When you see the prompt of having it fully charged, go up to the monster and do a massive slam onto it. Comboed with the spinning attack can be your best bet to knocking it over and doing bonus damage. Pros and Cons - It has the highest raw damage of any weapon in the game, but is slow so it is very balanced. It requires very good timing to master and its elemental damage is very weak. It can KO a monster very easily and drain its stamina very quickly. Though you can't block using the weapon. Iceborne Changes - In Iceborne, they added the ability to shoot a slinger burst while doing a charge attack. They also added a clutch claw to grab onto the monsters while they are flying in the air. Use both attacks to make a very good combo. Hunting Horn The Hunting Horn is probably the weirdest weapon type in the game. It uses a series of notes to give buffs to hunters and does damage to the monsters. There are 2 different weapon trees in-game: ore and bone trees. Ore trees add more raw buffs and damage while bone trees add more elemental buffs and damage. Both are used in their own ways. Traits - The attacks of the Hunting Horn are a bunch of notes turned into a melody that when played, it gives buffs and damages monsters. It can also be used as a blunt weapon to deal extra damage with the buffs. Not much can be said about it other than it is very hard to master because of the wide variety of notes needed to be learned. Special - Its special is recital mode which you always start with a certain note. As your character raises the horn up to play it, it will deal bonus damage if the notes are played correctly. Though extremely unused, it is possible to attack during the recital mode. Pros and Cons - It has a longer reach than the Hammer, but it does not have any charged attacks. It is much weaker than the Hammer but makes up for it with the extra buffs given by it. The Hunting Horn has cutting damage if used correctly and iit has the power to heal and negate certain effects on you. Iceborne Changes - In Iceborne, they added a new attack called the echo wave attack in which the player can now turn music into a force field to guard against attacks. You can also add into a force field specific buffs like healing or extra damage for the maximum efficiency. Lance/Gunlance Even though the Lance and the Gunlance are 2 different weapons, I decided to put them in the same category because the Gunlance is basically the Lance with a gun built into it. There are a few more attacks, but it is not much different from the original. Both of the weapon types have 2 trees: Ore and bone trees. The ore tree focuses on raw damage, while the bone tree gives the weapon elemental damage. Traits - Both weapons have the strongest blocking ability than any other weapon in the game. Their sharpness bar is actually pretty high compared to other weapons and seems like it barely goes down. It has a bunch of attacks like the jab, slash, frontal and upper slash, and even a strike. Every attack is good in its own unique way to help defeat the monster. Special - The special attack has you charge the lance and hits multiple times. The Gunlance allows you to do a multi-shot attack while jabbing into the creature with the sharp end. It also has very useful backsteps to aid in dodging enemy attacks. Pros and Cons - It allows for a player to block very quickly, but it very slow and heavy when attacking. Dodging is also very difficult to do. This weapon requires some precise hits on enemies so much practice is needed with the Lance. Also, if you get precise strikes, then you will minimize the risk of bouncing off the armor of the monster. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added a new slinger attack for both Lances and for the Gunlance, a special attack called the Wyrmstake blast. It basically embeds an explosive item into the monster and when you hit them in that specific spot, it explodes doing massive damage. Switch Axe The Switch Axe is probably one of the oddest weapons ever made in a video game just because of all the things it can do. Basically, it is a giant ax that can turn into a sword. Each of the things it can be has its own purpose though. There are 2 different weapon trees: ore and bone trees: Ore trees deal massive raw damage while bone trees deal massive elemental damage to the monster. Traits - The main attack you will use is probably in the sword mode. When in sword mode, you can complete successive attacks and fill up your Switch Gauge. As your Switch Guage fills up, you will be able to use better attacks. In ax mode, obviously the attacks are a lot slower but do more damage in the long-run. Special - Once you get the Spirit Guage filled up all the way, you will be able to do a special attack that explodes multiple times dealing damage to the creature. When in amped state, your attack power will increase and will help you land more attacks on the monster you are fighting. Pros and Cons -It has a lot of long combos that can easily be chained together to do heavy damage. It has very good reach once you learn distance with it and Phials can be added to it to increase effects. The downsides to it are there is no guarding at all. It also makes your mobility very slow because the weapon is a little bit big. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added a lot to the Switch Axe like a slinger module that can be fired between attacks, and a clutch claw to grab onto flying creatures. It also added Zero-Sum discharge to make an elemental attack even more powerful. Charge Blade The Charge Blade is very similar to the Switch Axe in the way that it can change its weapon. It is counted as the most complicated melee weapon in the entire game because of all the combos and attacks that can be done with it. It can turn from a giant blade to an ax with a shield. There are 2 weapon trees: Ore and bone trees. Ore tree focuses on the raw damage while the bone tree focuses on elemental damage. Traits - It has Sword mode and Axe mode. The Sword mode is used mainly to build up energy for the other mode and will automatically block after the end of an attack. In Axe mode, you can charge your Axe with the Phials and then let out some devastating blows with the Axe. Special - Its special is when the Phials are all charged up and your bar is glowing red. Once it is, activate it and it will make a huge explosion called the Super Burst. It also gives you a buff after that increases your damage and sharpness for a short while. Don't use the Axe too much because the special ability will go down fast. Pros and Cons - The Sword and Shield mode is very quick and deadly and has excellent guarding while the Axe mode is slow but deals massive damage. The Phials can be accessed in both modes and can add buffs like extra damage and health. The downside to it is that if you mess up in a combo, it could be devastating for you so practice with this weapon a lot. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added a slinger burst while you are guarding, that means you can basically use it whenever you want to. It also added a stronger Axe mode that has even more powerful attacks than the original Charge Blade types, making it an even better choice to use in the long-run. Insect Glaive The Insect Glaive, also known as the Insect Taming Rod, is a fairly new weapon to the series. The rod is capable of summoning a kinsect to help you fight in battle and each kinsect gives a different buff. There are 3 weapon trees in-game: Ore, bone, and independent. Ore is for pure raw damage, bone is for elemental, and independent is for different kinsect buffs. Traits - If you shoot a certain spot on the monster with aiming mode, your kinsect will home in on that specific body part you shot at and do damage. You also use a lot of pole vaulting when using the actual rod because you mostly stay high in the air with combos on the creature. It is actually much easier to ride the monster with the Glaive than any weapon in the game. Special - The Insect Glaive's special is all of the kinsects that it can use. there are different kinsects for power, stamina, speed, fire, water, thunder, ice, and dragon. All of the kinsects work better against certain creatures and you have to read up on the specific thing you are fighting to find the best compatible kinsect. Pros and Cons - The weapon is very easy to get around with because of all the jumping a vaulting you can do with it. It is very good for mounting monsters and it has very strong finishers. The kinsects are also a very good touch. The downsides to this are that it has a low attack power and you must rely on dodging to get away from monster attacks. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added a buff to kinsects that allow for more extractions of items. When you have a kinsect, you can send it out to harvest materials. This allows you to get more materials from harvesting. Light/Heavy Bowgun The Bowguns are a great addition to the game because it makes the gameplay a little different because you can kill the monster from a longer range. The Light version allows you to run around at normal speed, but the Heavy version makes you much slower than normal. There are 3 trees that they have: Ore, bone, and independent. As before, these trees are self-explanatory. Traits - There is a rapid-fire variant and the auto-loading skill is very helpful. Depending on what ammo you are using, it can do even more damage if the ammo is explosive or corrosive. You can also aim down the sights in the first person if you want to because the developers gave the option to. Special - There is no special for these weapons. It only depends on the ammo you use. Pros and Cons - There is a huge variety of ammo for you to choose from and every one of them does damage. They both have a very good rate of fire and sometimes inflicts elemental damage onto the monsters. The only downsides are you have to supply your own ammo which can get annoying and you are unable to block oncoming attacks. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added a new explosive shot to shoot for both of the Bowguns and does Dragon damage. It also allows you to shoot your slinger inbetween shots. There is also a new mod called Evade-Reload in which allows you to reload while evading enemy attacks. Bow The Bow is a little bit harder to use than the Bowguns because you have to have knowledge of the different weak spots on the monsters because that is how you get the most damage out of the Bow. You also have to have the right arrows as well. Another trait that is good to know is knowing what element to use against the monster. Bows are very fast, but it is very hard to master. Traits - Bows actually have unlimited ammo so you don't have to worry about running out of arrows at a bad time. Bow Hunters do have a melee ability that can be used when needed, but you won't use it much. You have to keep your stamina up because it does take stamina to shoot the Bow. Special - All bows have a special attack called Arrow Rain that rains a bunch of arrows out of the sky and hit the monster you are fighting. You can also get arow bombs that explode when it hits the enemy. Pros and Cons - It does have unlimited ammo so you will never run out, and ranged attacks give you a lot of safety from attacks from the monsters. They are generally high mobility and allows you to easily dodge attacks. The downsides are poor melee defenses, you can't block at all, and it drains your stamina. Iceborne Changes - Iceborne added the ability to switch the slinger to aiming the weapon. It also adds a special attack called the Thousand Dragons Attack that literally shoots all of your slinger ammo at once which does major damage the more you have in your inventory. Explainer Video In case you need more explanation than the article, here is a great video I found talking about the same topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JycMIKonIZ4 Conclusion All the weapons in Monster Hunter: World are very unique because of the entire franchise they come from. From the Bow to the Long Sword, every weapon has a purpose and a person to try and learn the weapon. Some weapons are used for teamplay, while others are good for solo and team play. If you ever get into the game, and I would highly recommend for anyone to play this, find out which weapon is best for you.