N1njaSquirrel

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

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Just in case people here aren't using it: This site is kind of amazing. It will be incredibly useful for tracking down obtuse high rank drops.

 

Is there a particular trick to cutting off monster parts? I've been trying to cut off the Jaggi Crown (different name but I can't remember) but I have a real hard time targeting only the head. The bastard moves around so much and I end up hitting the body or legs instead, which results in it dying before I get the part to break off. I've been using the twin blades, longsword, and switch axe.

 

So here's a very important thing to understand about Monster Hunter: For melee weapons, there are two damage types. (Only broadly speaking, it's actually way more complicated and those details will follow.)

 

There is cutting damage, that's your swords and stuff, and there's impact damage. (The two hammers and a few shield bashes in other movesets.) Impact damage is generally more useful, since impact hits exhaust stamina, grows an invisible counter for a knock-out status when striking heads, and is also just generally more effective for breaking parts. Cutting weapons, on the other hand, are useful for cutting off tails... And... Yeah, and that's kind of it. (Again, i'm speaking fairly generally. This isn't absolute, as cutting weapons can sometimes inflict other wounds just as easily as impact weapons, but it depends on the monster.)

 

Every enemy is carved up into usually around a dozen hit zones with different resistances to each damage type. (On top of which is the sharpness stat that will determine whether or not your attacks will be deflected.)


Then you get into lances, which are a weird third damage type that hits for either cutting or impact damage according to whichever damage type presents a softer target wherever the lance strikes. (Unfortunately, the lance loses all the peripheral benefits, and also generally sucks for breaking parts.) Then you get into phials on the charge blades and switch axes, as well the gunlance ammo. (That ammo is impact damage, minus the KO chance, as all explosions are.) Theen you get into status effects and elements. (There's also blast, which builds like a status effect but is treated by the game as its own thing with some unique rules. It's also another source of explosive impact damage.)

 

All of this is why i keep saying that it's important to have a diverse array of weapons. You don't have to learn all the different classes if you don't want to, you don't even necessarily need to go to hammers/hunting horns for your impact damage needs, but you do need a range of elements to go to. Being able to contribute to a status effect in a multiplayer game, or bringing the right element to fight a monster, only becomes more and more essential the further into the game you go. I use primarily lances and long swords, but i have four of each of those in my active rotation, and a handful of hammers and heavy bowguns on top of it.

 

Edit: It's also worth pointing out that ranged weapons are another damage type with another set of resistances on top of all of this, nevermind all their variable ammo effects, i don't even want to get into all of that.

 

I've hit this strange point in this game where I get it, and enjoy it, but only when I'm playing it. Once I've started it I have fun but getting up the motivation to just boot up the game and get into a mission is strangely difficult. I'm having fun with the charge blade and I like getting new armor sets but it feels like late game Diablo where even though I'm having fun I feel like I already know everything the game has to show me. I'm sure that's not true, I'm still at the 3 star quests so there's no way I've even seen the basics of what the game has to show me, but I'm not really super excited about any of it. But for whatever reason I don't really feel any need to keep playing this over anything else

 

I'm pretty deep into high ranks right now, with "g rank" quests to look forward to beyond that, and there's still probably a couple dozen major monsters left in the game that i haven't even seen. It's a massively deep dive, and one that kind of lulls you into a false sense of security early on. You can feel like you have a grasp on things, but when you hit high ranks quests, suddenly the game stops handling you with kiddy gloves and starts trying to kick your ass. It's the difference between being given a lot of systems to play around with, and really needing to utilize them to survive. If you feel like you appreciate what the game offers, i'd say it's worth playing at least until the high ranks start, but keep in mind that Monster Hunter games are always such behemoths that it's perfectly reasonable to decide for yourself when you need to stop. (I'm two hundred hours into this game, which will probably make my comment at the start of this paragraph seem kind of ludicrous.)

 

I have pretty much the same feeling. The thing that pushes me to actually play is that I have a couple of friends who do and we end up playing multiplayer quests. That's definitely great fun and I recommend it wholeheartedly, but once I've played with them I don't feel a particular drive to do the solo quests.

 

If you ignore the solo game completely, you will find the multiplayer side of the game to become an increasingly untenable grind, since many of the things that let you keep up, like item farms, are unlocked via the solo progression.

 

I will say that, while the solo game starts slow, the missions become more interesting as it introduces more areas and shifts its focus towards more complex fights. Still, if you simply cannot feel engaged with the game as a solo experience, there's nothing else really to say for it, the game will kind of break down.

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Kings Frill, that's the one! I should use items more. So far I'm only using potions, whetstones and paintballs during combat. Still haven't really figured out how to use traps. I bought the trap kit and assumed I just had to combine it with some bait like raw meat, or a component like a poison mushroom. But the option doesn't seem to be there. I should read up on it. I've been a bit stubborn about figuring shit out on my own.

Although I feel in general that I have a hard time aiming my hits. Especially when I used the longsword. I liked the charge mechanic a lot, but since all of its openers are vertical slices I kept missing enemies by facing at the slightly wrong angle. It could be because I'm on a regular 3DS XL. I'm considering trading it in for a New3DS because I feel the clumsy camera controls are limiting me.

By the way. Any advice for using the Switch Axe? I'm taking a liking to it now that I figured out the combo timing.

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Kings Frill, that's the one! I should use items more. So far I'm only using potions, whetstones and paintballs during combat. Still haven't really figured out how to use traps. I bought the trap kit and assumed I just had to combine it with some bait like raw meat, or a component like a poison mushroom. But the option doesn't seem to be there. I should read up on it. I've been a bit stubborn about figuring shit out on my own.

Although I feel in general that I have a hard time aiming my hits. Especially when I used the longsword. I liked the charge mechanic a lot, but since all of its openers are vertical slices I kept missing enemies by facing at the slightly wrong angle. It could be because I'm on a regular 3DS XL. I'm considering trading it in for a New3DS because I feel the clumsy camera controls are limiting me.

By the way. Any advice for using the Switch Axe? I'm taking a liking to it now that I figured out the combo timing.

 

There's two types of traps in the game, pitfalls and shock traps. There's some minor differences and special conditions between the two, but they both immobilize the monster for a brief few seconds and open up the possibility of a capture. (When a monster is limping, trap them and hit them with tranq bombs. Sometimes it's required, otherwise it's usually just better loot.) You can carry one of each, you should always carry both, even in a hunt. If you're not aiming for a capture, they're also incredibly useful for giving yourself an opening against an enraged monster. To build them, look at your item combo list, every recipe in the game is in there, look for the ones that use trap tools.

 

Poisoned meat is... To be perfectly honest, i'm not entirely sure what you do with it. I believe you need to be in a stealth state, unnoticed by the monster, and can then use it to lure the creature over to a trap. At least, i think that's how it's supposed to work. In practice, it's easier to just stand behind your trap and use yourself as bait. Also, there's a few very rare conditions in which monsters might be immune to traps. It's not something you normally need to worry about, but you need to recognize it when it happens.

 

If you want to try to figure out as much of the game on your own as possible, definitely at least use what is offered in the game itself. (Purchase the monster guides from the item shops, and play the weapon tutorials offered by the guildmarm, and also look through the move lists under hunter info.) The game does offer basic explanation for most of its mechanics, so it's not completely inadvisable, but you will run into trouble figuring out the conditions for rare drops once you're a ways further into the game. For that, at the very least, you will likely have to turn to wikis and guides.

 

Regarding the long sword, here's an incredibly important thing to know: The fadeslash, which is your X&A attack, if you use it immediatelly after either an A or X attack and combine it with a left or right input, your character will do a sidestep attack that gradually circles around your target. You can then combo out of that fadeslash with another A attack, then do either one or two X attacks back into an A attack or another fadeslash sidestep. (Or just combo fadeslash sidesteps using a single A attack as a link.) Using the fadeslash like this gives you repeatable horizontal attacks and lets you remain in a posture that is both aggressive and evasive. (Which is essential, given that you're constantly racing against the timers on your spirit meter.)

The normal backstep fadeslash, btw, doesn't combo back into normal attacks, but it makes your R-button spirit combo one move shorter, and therefore lets it come out faster. (Since landing that last hit is so essential to building your meter, this is crucial.)

 

As for the switch axe, it's not a weapon i or anybody i play with use with any great frequency. It's an extremely high DPS weapon though, with some tremendous range and a broad range of variable effects. (It's also notorious for causing misery amongst teammates when used by a poor player, given its tremendous range and the friendly knockback it inflicts, so take care with that shit.) Anyways, perhaps Look up Gaijin Hunter's channel on youtube though, there are very comprehensive video tutorials there for all the weapon types.

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If you haven't yet, I'd strongly recommend updating your MonHun, then talking to your palico in your tent, going to DLC > gifts and downloading the starter pack. It has stuff like Rare steaks, Traps, and some special mushrooms which you can forge to make Luigi/Mario costume for your Palico. (and it's super good armour)

 

It's also a timed exclusive thing, so get on it!

 

As for traps, there are 2: Pit Traps and Shock Traps. You create pit traps by combining  nets (Which I believe you get by combining ivy + spider webbing) with the trap kit, and shock traps by combining thunder bugs with trap kit.

 

Traps are ace because you can capture a monster instead of killing it, which usually gives you better drops. You can't carve it after the fight, but I don't mind. Basically, when the monster starts limping, that means he's on his last legs, which is when you can trap it. Make him run into the trap, and when caught in it, use 2 tranq bombs to set it to sleep, and you've won! Another good tell is when he's asleep. then just run right into him, lay the trap and tranq!

 

Honestly, the 3DS is fine, just gratuitously use the lock-on feature. That's how I did it through 3. If it's really bothering you, get a CPP before splashing out on a New3DS (unless you just really want that console, which is understandable, to be fair.)

 

I used the switch axe as my main in 3! The best advice I can give you is to nail the mid-combo switch between axe and sword. It's something like after the third A in the combo, press R+A, and it flicks mid combo to sword. Super useful, and it looks cool.

 

Huh, merus sno (sorry about that!) seems to have written most of what I've just said!

 

Regarding Body damage, I was under the impression that if your weapon bounces off a body part, it still inflicts damage onto that part. Is that true?

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If your weapon is deflected because of physical resistance/sharpness values adding up in an unfavorable way, the weapon does 30% reduced damage - on top of already reduced damage from its perhaps degraded sharpness - and takes more durability damage from the deflected hit as well.

 

Some attacks/skills allow you to ignore deflection, like the spirit combo on the longsword, but will still suffer the above penalties even if it's not visibly deflected. (You will still see "sparks" instead of blood to indicate this.)

 

So, technically, you can brute force through a monster's armor, but your damage will be nerfed so drastically that you're better off just trying to find the weak points.

 

Also, i'm pretty sure the starter pack would have just expired. I think it was only up until the 15th. Some other stuff went up recently though, you can even craft the Master Sword as an SnS. This stuff will apparently remain up for as long as the game's servers are running. (With further free weapons/quests/palicoes appearing monthly.)

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Ok now that I've given it a try Lance is definitely my jam. I discovered the Block+X+Y charge attack by accident and landed a killing blow on a Seltas at the same time. I actually stood up and screamed in excitement when it happened.

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Be careful, the charge exposes you in a pretty huge way. You also have an advancing guard move that lets you approach with your shield raised. That's forward & X while in a guard state, and quickly hitting X again at the end of that does a shield bash which can combo into your A or X attacks, among other things. Once you're there, you have considerable freedom to chain three moves together and then link that to another chain with a side-step dodge. Get a feel for it and you'll find the Lance to be a very impressive damage dealer that works well with every element type or status effect.

 

Also, regarding the lance charge, it has three separate finishers. Simply pressing X will do the most powerful single attack in the Lance's arsenal, holding back and hitting X will do a reverse sweep attack, and holding forward and pressing B will launch you into the air where you can then do an airborne X attack. (This makes the lance one of two weapons that is able to mount a monster without the aid of environment features to launch off of.) You can also just stop the lance charge dead by hitting B with a neutral stick input.

 

Also be very careful about managing your stamina, because if your guard breaks and you start taking a bunch of damage, the lance's awkward dodges, plentiful recovery frames, and generally restricted movement can make it very difficult to extricate yourself from a fight to go heal.

 

That's a very, very basic rundown. The lance is one of the more complex movesets in the game.

 

I'm surprised to see so many people here picking up the lance, because it is not a popular weapon. (That doesn't mean it's not awesome, it's definitely awesome.)

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I read several places that the majority of people seem to use Dual Blades or Longsword, and while I liked those weapons I prefer to go against the grain. It's more pathos rather than any strategic choice I admit. Also I just liked the moveset, and the ability to block is a huge boon since I'm not particularly good at dodging which messed me up pretty bad on some tougher monsters. 

I did not realize it had such deep combo potential, I didn't even realize you could do combos with it. From just testing the moveset I wasn't able to string together anything noticeable, but now that you told me I will need to research and try out some timing. I especially want to try out that leaping attack, that sounds sweet!

 

By the way, I just unlocked skill gems. So far I've been pumping points into Health and Stability, but is there anything that is worth focusing on as a beginner? 

 

Also, my Friend Code is 4227-2156-0643

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Switchaxes and Greatswords are also extremely popular, but in MH4U, it seems like just a ton of people are using the Bug Staff and the Charge Blade. Which makes sense, of course, since they're the new weapons. (I have some gripes with Bug Staff users though, and i'm not convinced many people have a firm grasp of the Charge Blade's extremely complex moveset.) I've never really felt like there's one single weapon type that is being used at the expense of all others though, and in my experience it mostly just comes down to the SNS and the Lances that aren't seen very frequently. Neither of which are bad though. With the SNS, it tends to just be that it's not a very "sexy" weapon, while the reasons the lances often go unused are a little more diverse and complicated... In a good group though, if the Lancer is given the room he needs, it's an incredible weapon.

 

So gems... It's a unique system, so i'm going to run through something i've seen people get wrong, and it's something i myself got wrong with previous Monster Hunter games: So if you go to your status screen, you can look at your skills, right? Skills from your armor and your slotted gems will appear there. The cumulative values of all the points you have in different skills.

The thing is, skills do not grow by increments, they have to hit thresholds to become active. (You can see the thresholds for a given skill by selecting it and... hitting Y? I think you hit Y.)

 

This ends up being why carefully choosing your armor is so important. Those pieces end up being the core of your skill set, with talismans and slotted gems attempting to push you the rest of the way to higher thresholds or a handful of additional skills. (Or say you have a -10 skill for attack or something, throw one attack gem into your build to push it up to -9, so it's not at the negative threshold and becomes inert.)

 

Usually the thresholds will look like "+20, +15, +10, -10, -15" or some variation there. (The short gaps between higher levels of positive thresholds means it's easier to double down on skills your armor gives you a foundation for, rather than try to build additional skills alongside it.)

 

SO ALL OF THAT SAID.

Defensive armor, and gems to support that, is usually a good place to start. Later on, you'll want to do things like having a set with guard skills for your lances, or a set with status up to improve your status effect weapons. (You'll absolutely want to start creating equipment sets, which will automatically shuffle around gems to different weapons and armor, neatly avoiding both tediously micromanaging your gems or trying to fully slot every piece simultaneously.)

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I'm enjoying charge blade exactly because of it's complex moveset. I feel like it'll take me another 20 hours of hunting just to get to a point where I'm somewhat used to which attacks flow into what and being able to switch from sword to axe and back fluidly, and that's kind of exciting. My most used weapon in Tri was the trusty hammer, but going back to that now it feels really basic. Maybe I've forgotten how to use it effectively but 80% of my use is just prepping the charge attack after the monster makes a move, then releasing it as they turn to face me so I can land it on their stupid head. Even then, I can KO monsters way more consistently with the charge blade thanks to the special attack's massive KO damage, so... what is even the point of the hammer any more, really. Except for breaking stuff I guess?

 

Gonna jam my friend code here if anyone wants to hit me up for some casual hunts. Do you still have to add the other person back before they'll show up? If so, post your code here or PM if you add me I guess.

 

3453-9810-3448

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With the charge blade, are you aware of the fact that, after loading the phials from your sword's charge, you can infuse them back into your shield during a super? (For a temporary buff of something like 20% extra damage in axe mode, or extra properties on the mid-combo X&A shieldbash in sword mode.) Then you can also charge up your sword again and fill more phials, and spend everything, the shield buff and the phials, for an even more powerful super? (Which is apparently the strongest single attack in the game.)


Just throwing that out there, because it's a convoluted path to setting up for it, and it's easy to miss because the in-game guides for the Charge Blade are terribly translated and extremely vague. Really though, all of those mechanics on top of some seriously elaborate combo chains for both modes, but especially for the sword, and you get definitely the most complex weapon in the game. It's pretty bonkers.

 

Also, i'm sure it's self-evident, but only the impact CB's do impact any impact damage off of their phial attacks, and i've generally seen it said that the element CB's vastly outpace those in DPS.

 

As for the hammer, I always had the impression that the hammer was an extremely basic weapon, but playing around with it more in 4U, it's become clear that there's some fairly elaborate combo potential using the level 1 charge attack as a link. A well-excuted combo generally seems like it ends up doing greater DPS than just constantly trying to bait for the level 3 super ground pound. There's also a lot of fun to be had in using the level 2 charge attack to launch friendly players towards the monster so they can attempt to mount it.

 

Definitely a very simple weapon overall, but there's some fun tech happening there.

 

Regarding multiplayer, it's probably not going to happen unless there's an effort to organize a time. I mean, and If it's people in low rank that want to play, it's easy to throw on some low rank gear and not upset the balance, so there's no reason for anybody to feel like they can't participate. Also, getting a voice chat thing going would be valuable, the game benefits from communication a great deal, and the in-game options for that are somewhat lacking.

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Be careful, the charge exposes you in a pretty huge way. You also have an advancing guard move that lets you approach with your shield raised. That's forward & X while in a guard state, and quickly hitting X again at the end of that does a shield bash which can combo into your A or X attacks, among other things. Once you're there, you have considerable freedom to chain three moves together and then link that to another chain with a side-step dodge. Get a feel for it and you'll find the Lance to be a very impressive damage dealer that works well with every element type or status effect.

 

Also, regarding the lance charge, it has three separate finishers. Simply pressing X will do the most powerful single attack in the Lance's arsenal, holding back and hitting X will do a reverse sweep attack, and holding forward and pressing B will launch you into the air where you can then do an airborne X attack. (This makes the lance one of two weapons that is able to mount a monster without the aid of environment features to launch off of.) You can also just stop the lance charge dead by hitting B with a neutral stick input.

 

Also be very careful about managing your stamina, because if your guard breaks and you start taking a bunch of damage, the lance's awkward dodges, plentiful recovery frames, and generally restricted movement can make it very difficult to extricate yourself from a fight to go heal.

 

That's a very, very basic rundown. The lance is one of the more complex movesets in the game.

 

I'm surprised to see so many people here picking up the lance, because it is not a popular weapon. (That doesn't mean it's not awesome, it's definitely awesome.)

 

I was a big fan of the Lance and Gunlance in MHFU, since it had a stab attack that reached up and could hit certain monsters in the head very easily.

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I've been meaning to get into some multiplayer games. I'm gonna grab all the friend codes I can find I the thread, and hopefully something productive can happen!

Mine's 2122 - 7129 - 9002.

PM me with yours if you add mine.

I've just gotten into the high rank village quests and I'm kind of losing my urge to hunt, but I'm afraid if I put it down for too long I'll never pick it up again, which is what happened to me with Freedom Unite and 3U around this deep in. With any luck a bit of multilayer is just what I need to reinvigourate me.

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Went back and added some people's codes. If enough people are interested in trying to organise something, it could be worth making a thread in the multiplayer forums? Even moreso if we could somehow wrangle a teamspeak server.

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If enough people are interested in trying to organise something, it could be worth making a thread in the multiplayer forums?

 

Done.

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Any advice on the Basarios? I keep trying to hit his legs and belly but even then my lance bounces off him most of the time and loses sharpness very quickly. I tried using the leaping attack to mount him but I can't really figure out the timing. I'm thinking of just upgrading my hammer and going to town on him. Maybe bring some bombs.

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Every weapon you have is probably going to bounce on the Basarios because of its armor, though the super pound on the hammer at least ignores deflection, but will still do reduced damage if attacking through armor. (I know what you're thinking, but because of the armor, the hammer isn't going to be especially effective for part breaking.)

 

Personally, i find the fight fairly easy to do with a lance, you don't have to contend with huge attack arcs bouncing off of armor before finding the weakspot. (It's the upper part of either leg that you're looking to attack.)

 

^ Precise, direct attacks are a big advantage the lance has, because you will run into lots of monsters where you have to contend with things like... A monster's back might be armored, so overhead swings on other weapons will be deflected, forcing players modify their combos, while the lance player can just keep doing what he's been doing all along.

 

Bombs will definitely speed the fight along though, especially if you can set them off as wake-up damage on a sleep status, since the Basarios actually has a relatively tiny amount of health to contend with beneath all of its armor.

 

As for mounting, there's no real timing to mounting, it's more an issue with the status of the monster. I might be incorrect, i haven't actually gone and dug up the specific mechanics, but i think it can only trigger when the monster is below a certain stamina threshold, since it usually happens most reliably after the monster has done a string of aggressive attacks or is explicitly exhausted. (Although... Does the air attack get deflected by the armor? I'm assuming it ignores deflection and goes through to a mount as expected, i've seen people mount heavily armored monsters likes the Gravios with relative ease, but I don't think i actually ever tried mounting the Basarios, to be completely honest.)

 

Edit: I've been told that it's apparently a purely chance-based proc off of an air attack, variable from monster to monster, and a chance that decreases incrementally for each successful mount. (Somewhat similar to status/blast/knockout effects, which instead take longer and longer to build with each successful proc.)

 

Pro-tip: When you get the Basarios into a topple state, either from damage or a mounting attack, you can actually mine its back with a pickaxe for rare drops. (A similar thing can be done with the Zinogre and bug nets.)

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Another tip for if you are bouncing a lot is that the sword mode on switch axe, and I believe the powered up R attack on long swords ignore armor.

Also once you break the basarios' chest it doesn't deflect and he takes a lot more damage there, but it's a dangerous place to hang out.

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The first Monster Hunter game i ever played was Freedom, which i believe was the second game? I dug out my PSP and loaded that game up, remembering absolutely despising the game and being curious to see if i would "get it" now.

 

Long story short, i still think it's a bad game. In many ways, the series has barely changed, but stripping out the refinements that have been made over the years leaves that game feeling hollow and i completely understand why i would have hated it at the time. It's probably similar to how it would feel to go back to the original release version of Street Fighter 2 after playing Super Turbo or something like that. (To clarify on that statement, much of what works about Street Fighter 2 was kind of accidental, and isn't really codified or consciously exploited in the original game.)

 

One of the things i'm finding just tremendously engaging about MH4U is the sprawling, surprising complexity of the weapon movesets, which are still gradually revealing themselves to me. The longsword is a good example of this, because it initially appears to be an incredibly basic triumvirate of a vertical chain, a horizontal chain, and a backstep attack, all of which have no obvious overlap with eachother. Then you realize you can use the fadeslash as a sidestep after another attack, and that you can combo out of the sidestep fadeslash in more ways than the backstep fadeslash, and suddenly things start growing from there. By exploiting the various move cancels available, you could theoretically move between every single move available to the longsword without ever dropping a combo. With careful use of those sidestep fadeslashes to simultaneously position yourself out of harm's way while continuing your combo, you can put up such an incredibly aggressive and unrelenting front. Instead of the game feeling stilted, it becomes so fluid and so fast that it's almost difficult to keep up with. (The spirit combo doesn't even have to end a combo, it often shouldn't end a combo. Counter-intuitively spending meter to exploit those attacks in the middle of a chain of normal attacks without going for the all-important finisher can be incredibly powerful and useful.)

 

I love this goddamned game, it kind of bums me to see so many people flaming out in the low ranks.

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I listened to the Daft Souls podcast and it totally sold me on MH4. I want to wait a month or so until I buy it, but I'm probably in.

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Welp, I bought it last night after playing the demo to death.

Can anyone recommend me a weapon? I liked the dual blades the most in the demo, but I only tried those and the long sword which felt unwieldy.

Am I cheating if I use a ranged weapon?

Also, I'll generally be playing in the evenings 7-10 GMT so if anyone wants to team up to hunt, my NNID is griddlelol

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I'd suggest to use the Insect Glaive if you liked the dual blades. It's got the same speed and fluidity of the dual blades, yet it has added layer of stratedgy with the Kinsect, as well as the ability to pole jump with R + B, letting you mount monsters, which is a big thing in the new one.

 

You're not cheating at all if you use a ranged weapon! It all depends on what you like to play as!

 

Also I think the NNID won't work, you need to post your friend code, right?

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Wow, I forgot about friend codes lol. That's Nintendo! 

 

I played a few tutorial missions, and I'm seriously hoping that I don't have to constantly farm the ingredients for potions etc every time I go out on a mission. The combat is just so good though, the demo really dug its hooks into me. 

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Once you've made some decent progress through the caravan quests, you'll progressively open up more and more options with the trader and that will be the avenue by which you gather the large majority of your general item supplies. (I haven't had to go actively gather honey, for example, in probably a hundred hours.) Up until that point, make sure to hit some valuable resource nodes while out on hunts, gather just a bit each mission and it'll usually keep you going with only the occasional gathering mission on top of that. (Also, don't waste crafting resources on things available in the shops.)

 

Recommending a weapon is hard to do since it ends up being an odd combination of preference and situation. Do the weapon tutorials with the guildmarm and see what clicks with you, but keep going through them so you can have one or two more on top of that. (I eventually settled on the Long Sword as my main, with some occasional Lance/Hammer/HBG play, all making up a rotation of about a dozen weapons with different elements and statuses.)

 

My impressions of the weapons, though:

 

- The Insect Glaive has a very appealing and powerful moveset, but it's built up on some fiddly and odd mechanics, and so it requires some setup to unlock its potential. If you find that bothersome, you shouldn't use that weapon.

 

- The Dual Blades are generally thought of as one of the more powerful weapons in the game and have pretty incredible evasion when the meter is filled, but the short range will be very limiting and you'll get heavy into building many different dual blades to represent each element and status to get the most out of them.

 

- The latter is also true of the Sword and Shield, though as a weapon it serves a very different and less direct role in fights, and comes with a shield and the ability to use items from a guarded state. (SNS users tend to get pigeonholed into a support role.)

 

- The Long Sword feels awkward at first, but has a fast and flowing moveset with tons of mobility and range. Defensive, cautious play will tend to limit what you can achieve with it though. You're always racing against the clock with its damage buff mechanic.

 

- The Great Sword is probably the best weapon in the game for pure physical damage, and you can use its broad-side to block too. It's an exceedingly simple moveset with a lot of emphasis on predicting moves to set up for powerful charge attacks. Though powerful by way of normal attacks as well, it's still mostly played for decisive single-hit damage.

 

- The Hammer is really only limited by its unexpectedly short range, but it's one of the best sources of KO damage in the game, so you're often pushed to be striking for the head at a dangerously close range. It can attack with surprising quickness if you get a handle on its combos, and it also has a handful of extremely powerful charge attacks that, unlike the GS, do not require that you stay planted in place.

 

- The Hunting Horn is a hammer that is a horn. Your different attacks make different notes, and when you create certain combinations, you cast buffs on yourself and your team. Everybody loves having the hunting horn on the team, almost nobody plays the hunting horn.

 

- The Lance provides the tankiest moveset in the game by way of a powerful shield and a very effective counter. It's also a moveset that works well with every element and status, and is a source of consistent, considerable DPS. It's surprisingly mobile through a variety of sidesteps and dash attacks, but it doesn't provide much in the way of useful evasion. It's a hard moveset to learn, but one of the most dependable for consistent damage.

 

- The Gun Lance is, despite initial impressions, a very different moveset from the lance. In general, it doesn't have as much DPS, flexibility, or mobility, but provides very impressive damage in bursts and has pretty tremendous striking range. It's also uniquely adept at hitting particularly tall or otherwise airborne monsters. Compared to the Lance, it's generally a little easier to use and provides a lot of explosive aoe impact damage, but... Eh... It's alright.

 

- The Charge Blade is easily the most complex moveset in the game and i don't even really know where to begin with it, there's so much going on there, and it can fill almost any role in my experience. If you enjoy juggling multiple complex stances and dumb meter gimmicks, even multiple meter gimmicks with further weird interactions, and then want that all in one weapon, here you go.

 

- The Switch Axe tends to fill a similar role to the longsword, with a little less emphasis on the mobility and evasion and more on the dps. Like the LS, you'll sort of be the guy in the front drawing all the aggro, but you're doing it with an awesome transforming axe, so who cares.

 

- Heavy Bowgun is the DPS gun, Light Bowgun is the support and status gun, and the Bow is for weirdos who like weird bullshit... And no, you're not cheating by using ranged weapons, it's no picnic running a ranged weapon in Monster Hunter.

 

Regarding MP: I made a match-making thread in the multiplayer forum, but it doesn't seem like it's been getting much love. Also, If you join a game via the in-game browser or a randomly generated room code, you can also add people to your friend's list once in a lobby with them.

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Wow, useful post. My play style favours dodging rather than tanking - I don't like that you can't move while putting up a shield, and I'd rather stay mobile.

 

I guess getting to know the gimmicks of each weapon is important, as I really liked the dual blade's damage buff as a cooldown you can pop when there's a chance to dish out some serious damage. I did tend to hack my way into a monster with them though, which was kinda annoying.

I think long sword, insect glaive and dual blades are my best options. I'll have to play around with them to see which I like the most.

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