Apologies for being a day late last week and this week for the Monday Musings. It's actually quite hard to come up with a topic every week on a regular basis. It makes me laugh a bit, since growing up, I thought cartoonists had the best job because they only have to draw a short cartoon daily (which I naively thought would only take an hour tops), and have the rest of the day off. I clearly didn't see the difficulties of coming up with something new and fresh weekly, not to mention daily.
Fortunately with the deep gameplay mechanics of World, I think I'll write future posts about weapons, armor skills and such, especially as I was finally able to beat the very last mission using Lance, which unlocks only when you reach Hunter Rank level 100!
Why the Lance is OP and Essential Skills Needed
So far, I mained the Hammer, Charge Blade, Lance, and I'm getting the hang of the Hunting Horn. Even though I haven't extensively played all 14 weapons, Lance is by far the easiest weapon to use in terms of completing successful missions.
The most important thing in Monster Hunter is to not cart. Medic cats put you in a cart, carting you back and unceremoniously dumping you into your camp when you faint. Sadly in World they don't show you the cats dumping you like they did in past series, which I hope they'll change in future installments.
At any rate, you can only faint twice in most missions, and some investigations you can't faint at all to successfully complete. The Lance is an extremely overpowered weapon because of its shield, the strongest one in the game, that can block all attacks preventing you from fainting.
With the optimal skills of Guard level 5 and Guard Up, you can block every single attack, laughing in monsters' faces, thereby preventing quite a few carts that lead to failure. Further, with the Lance's charging attack, you run like a locomotive towards the monsters, thereby keeping your attack up constantly to wear out the poor things.
Further, it's easy to build for the overpowered Guard 5 and Guard Up skills. You can get them by making a fully upgraded Ironside Charm Level 3. Next is using the Uragaan armor. The set nets you the other two Guard levels for the maximum of 5. Further, you only need 3 pieces of Uragaan for the Guard Up skill that lets you block even un-blockable attacks.
If you wear all the Uragaan pieces, it falls into the category of Fashion Souls, in that you look like a cool Transformer (see Exhibit A above).
I agree with my fellow Monster Hunters that you must wear the entire set for Fashion Souls, because it doesn't go well at all with other armor, with the exception of the Guild Cross helmet.
With the Guild Cross, it fits the trope of heroes who use extremely bulky armor but no or minimal helmet (see Exhibit B). I didn't find out about the Guild Cross until later when trying to craft an almost invincible build.
The Guild Cross is an amazing piece as it has high base defense, Divine Blessing level 2 and a whopping three gem slots, so you can easily slot in an extra Divine Blessing (Protection Jewel) to get to the maximum level 3. At level 3, Divine Blessing reduces damage by 50% randomly. However, it procs quite often, saving you from many 1HKO attacks.
The issue here is that you may get tired of wearing the Uragaan set. Here lies the difficulty of trying to use other armor pieces if you want Fashion Souls, or if you're trying to min/max. You will need two Iron Wall and one Shield gems for the maximum guard skills. There are Lance users who feel you can get away with just equipping the level 3 Charm, but level 5 is so ridiculous because you can block with barely any stamina drainage. If your stamina drains and you get hit even while guarding, you'll take damage. There's no fear if your Guard is level 5.
You can get away without using the Guard Up skill (blocks un-blockable attacks) if you can foresee the rather few unblockable attacks, but more often than not, you might get caught in Teostra's supernova, for example. Of course, most monsters don't have un-blockable attacks, but the Elders who you tend to grind for the best parts do, so the Guard Up skill is very handy.
Through the unfair RNG process and the fact that you have to kill difficult monsters to get these rare gems (and you need 3!), a lot of people can't get them this way. Indeed, I can see someone hunting thousands of these monsters and never getting a single one because of the random drops. However, there is a technique called gem sniping that although tedious, guarantees success. By the 425th meld (I actually used Google spreadsheets), I got the last gem I needed, the elusive Shield Jewel 2.
Even if you don't have these Guard jewels, I must say that the complete Uragaan set can see you through the entire game easily. It took me to late HR ranks (around 90s) before I got the two Iron Wall and Shield gems.
The Uragaan set has strong base defense, high fire defense (surprising amount of monsters have fire attacks), and maximum Part Breaker level 3 skills. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Part Breaker is. The Lance is not at all known for part breaking, as its centerpiece is its shield. Even so, with the Uragaan armor, I was easily breaking parts solo and even in group play. Not only will breaking parts net you more mats and higher rewards, but it weakens the monsters considerably because no more tail swipes (yes please!), and all of their attacks seem to be weaker as well.
When I first started out with the Lance, I felt it harder than the Charge Blade, not because of the mechanics, but with aiming and movement. The Lance is pinpoint so you can easily miss the monster's face. Because you can't roll and dodge with the lance unsheathed like you can do with all the other melee weapons, that also took getting used to.
However, you have other unique moves at your disposal, including the powerful forward charging where you move like a train, and when you hit the monster, you hit it over and over again in rapid succession, though it eats away at your weapon sharpness. I think the unique move set is why the developers rated it the least accessible to beginners, along with the Hunting Horn.
However, after getting used to aiming and the Lance's unique moves, the weapon is overpowered. With the new monster siege/raid, Kulve Taroth, I got all of her parts for the event armors, and I think I only fainted maybe 5 or 6 times out of many many missions (the grind is real!), while using the Lance. Further, the first 3 faints were during the first couple of missions due to learning her attack patterns.
During the course of this long grind for all the Kulve event armors, I see a lot of hunters faint to her lava, whereas I laugh in her face with my shield up by pressing R2/RT. Instead of "spin to win" it's "press R2 to win". Reading the posts about Kulve, a lot of people were also complaining about her rolling with their huge hit boxes which never occurred to me, because again, put shield up.
I definitely recommend trying out the lance and even though it takes getting used to the aiming and its moveset, it will see you through the toughest of missions. For me, the Lance is the best weapon in terms of winning missions. Not only does it help you survive, but you laugh in the monsters' faces. I actually want the monsters to come at me so I can just stay put and poke them, rather than putting in the effort of charging, guard dashing and/or dash stepping to it!
As for the other weapons, I find the Hunting Horn the most fun (maybe because it's new to me?), the Charge Blade the most versatile, and both the Charge Blade and the Hammer the most damaging. But in terms of beating missions, the Lance is King.
If you're interested in giving the Lance a try, the recommended tutorial is, no surprise, Gaijinhunter's:
Conclusion
Lance is easy mode once you familiarize yourself with the weapon. Ideal skills for optimal survivability are Guard Level 5 and Guard Up. You can get this by equipping the Uragaan set and the Ironside Charm III. The Uragaan set additionally has perks of high base defense, high fire defense and maximum Part Breaker skill.
The How of Happiness Review
Fortunately with the deep gameplay mechanics of World, I think I'll write future posts about weapons, armor skills and such, especially as I was finally able to beat the very last mission using Lance, which unlocks only when you reach Hunter Rank level 100!
Why the Lance is OP and Essential Skills Needed
 |
| Exhibit A: Complete Uragaan Set |
The most important thing in Monster Hunter is to not cart. Medic cats put you in a cart, carting you back and unceremoniously dumping you into your camp when you faint. Sadly in World they don't show you the cats dumping you like they did in past series, which I hope they'll change in future installments.
At any rate, you can only faint twice in most missions, and some investigations you can't faint at all to successfully complete. The Lance is an extremely overpowered weapon because of its shield, the strongest one in the game, that can block all attacks preventing you from fainting.
With the optimal skills of Guard level 5 and Guard Up, you can block every single attack, laughing in monsters' faces, thereby preventing quite a few carts that lead to failure. Further, with the Lance's charging attack, you run like a locomotive towards the monsters, thereby keeping your attack up constantly to wear out the poor things.
Further, it's easy to build for the overpowered Guard 5 and Guard Up skills. You can get them by making a fully upgraded Ironside Charm Level 3. Next is using the Uragaan armor. The set nets you the other two Guard levels for the maximum of 5. Further, you only need 3 pieces of Uragaan for the Guard Up skill that lets you block even un-blockable attacks.
If you wear all the Uragaan pieces, it falls into the category of Fashion Souls, in that you look like a cool Transformer (see Exhibit A above).
 |
| Exhibit B: Guild Cross Circlet |
With the Guild Cross, it fits the trope of heroes who use extremely bulky armor but no or minimal helmet (see Exhibit B). I didn't find out about the Guild Cross until later when trying to craft an almost invincible build.
The Guild Cross is an amazing piece as it has high base defense, Divine Blessing level 2 and a whopping three gem slots, so you can easily slot in an extra Divine Blessing (Protection Jewel) to get to the maximum level 3. At level 3, Divine Blessing reduces damage by 50% randomly. However, it procs quite often, saving you from many 1HKO attacks.
The issue here is that you may get tired of wearing the Uragaan set. Here lies the difficulty of trying to use other armor pieces if you want Fashion Souls, or if you're trying to min/max. You will need two Iron Wall and one Shield gems for the maximum guard skills. There are Lance users who feel you can get away with just equipping the level 3 Charm, but level 5 is so ridiculous because you can block with barely any stamina drainage. If your stamina drains and you get hit even while guarding, you'll take damage. There's no fear if your Guard is level 5.
You can get away without using the Guard Up skill (blocks un-blockable attacks) if you can foresee the rather few unblockable attacks, but more often than not, you might get caught in Teostra's supernova, for example. Of course, most monsters don't have un-blockable attacks, but the Elders who you tend to grind for the best parts do, so the Guard Up skill is very handy.
Through the unfair RNG process and the fact that you have to kill difficult monsters to get these rare gems (and you need 3!), a lot of people can't get them this way. Indeed, I can see someone hunting thousands of these monsters and never getting a single one because of the random drops. However, there is a technique called gem sniping that although tedious, guarantees success. By the 425th meld (I actually used Google spreadsheets), I got the last gem I needed, the elusive Shield Jewel 2.
Even if you don't have these Guard jewels, I must say that the complete Uragaan set can see you through the entire game easily. It took me to late HR ranks (around 90s) before I got the two Iron Wall and Shield gems.
The Uragaan set has strong base defense, high fire defense (surprising amount of monsters have fire attacks), and maximum Part Breaker level 3 skills. I was pleasantly surprised at how good Part Breaker is. The Lance is not at all known for part breaking, as its centerpiece is its shield. Even so, with the Uragaan armor, I was easily breaking parts solo and even in group play. Not only will breaking parts net you more mats and higher rewards, but it weakens the monsters considerably because no more tail swipes (yes please!), and all of their attacks seem to be weaker as well.
When I first started out with the Lance, I felt it harder than the Charge Blade, not because of the mechanics, but with aiming and movement. The Lance is pinpoint so you can easily miss the monster's face. Because you can't roll and dodge with the lance unsheathed like you can do with all the other melee weapons, that also took getting used to.
However, you have other unique moves at your disposal, including the powerful forward charging where you move like a train, and when you hit the monster, you hit it over and over again in rapid succession, though it eats away at your weapon sharpness. I think the unique move set is why the developers rated it the least accessible to beginners, along with the Hunting Horn.
However, after getting used to aiming and the Lance's unique moves, the weapon is overpowered. With the new monster siege/raid, Kulve Taroth, I got all of her parts for the event armors, and I think I only fainted maybe 5 or 6 times out of many many missions (the grind is real!), while using the Lance. Further, the first 3 faints were during the first couple of missions due to learning her attack patterns.
During the course of this long grind for all the Kulve event armors, I see a lot of hunters faint to her lava, whereas I laugh in her face with my shield up by pressing R2/RT. Instead of "spin to win" it's "press R2 to win". Reading the posts about Kulve, a lot of people were also complaining about her rolling with their huge hit boxes which never occurred to me, because again, put shield up.
I definitely recommend trying out the lance and even though it takes getting used to the aiming and its moveset, it will see you through the toughest of missions. For me, the Lance is the best weapon in terms of winning missions. Not only does it help you survive, but you laugh in the monsters' faces. I actually want the monsters to come at me so I can just stay put and poke them, rather than putting in the effort of charging, guard dashing and/or dash stepping to it!
As for the other weapons, I find the Hunting Horn the most fun (maybe because it's new to me?), the Charge Blade the most versatile, and both the Charge Blade and the Hammer the most damaging. But in terms of beating missions, the Lance is King.
If you're interested in giving the Lance a try, the recommended tutorial is, no surprise, Gaijinhunter's:
Conclusion
Lance is easy mode once you familiarize yourself with the weapon. Ideal skills for optimal survivability are Guard Level 5 and Guard Up. You can get this by equipping the Uragaan set and the Ironside Charm III. The Uragaan set additionally has perks of high base defense, high fire defense and maximum Part Breaker skill.
The How of Happiness Review
No comments:
Post a Comment