Out of all the weapons in Monster Hunter, the Great Sword is the most iconic. The game was niche in Western markets until World. Whenever the game was mentioned pre-World, it drew mostly blank stares in gaming circles. When there was slight realization of the game it's always: "Oh, is that the game with Cloud's [from Final Fantasy VII] sword?", referencing the Buster Great Sword, which is the starter weapon you're given.
Because of the iconic nature of the Great Sword, I've always wanted to main it when I first started out my Monster Hunter career, but it was always so difficult. You have to know the exact positioning and timing to land a charged draw attack--you need to press the attack button for what seems like days to charge the GS up, and hopefully landing on the monster before you're interrupted, or it moves away.
However, since I wanted to main these difficult weapons that I've never used before, I gave the GS a try. World's GS has more offensive and defensive capabilities than prior Monster Hunters, as there's now the Tackle, True Charged Slash, and Jumping Wide Slash.
The Tackle is essentially a shield bash, where you can bash through monster attacks, and while incurring damage and having stun values, it also serves as an almost invincible guard. One of my friends was able to tackle a monster's head for 150 damage unscathed!
As for the True Charged Slash (TCS), the ideal way to use the GS is to aim for it as much as possible, as it's the highest attack of all weapons in the game. You want to Draw Attack very quickly (R1/RB), and use Tackle to position yourself near the monster so you can land a TCS. This is easier said than done, of course.
When I started out with the GS, I started a new game file so I can practice using the starter weapons and not be overpowered. During this initiation period, I rarely was successful in landing TCS. Here's a link regarding the TCS.
But, successful TCS's are easier said than done, which comes to the genius of the Jumping Wide Slash. The role of this wide slash cannot be overstated, as there are relatively few opportunities when you can land the ideal TCS given how long it takes to pull it off. The combo into the Jumping Wide Slash is relatively fast to land, so there are TONS of opportunities when you can easily execute this combo.
Here's a great video that explains charging your draw attack, into tackle, that goes into the Jumping Wide Slash. He calculated out the damage numbers, and it's almost equal in damage to TCS. Therefore, if the window of opportunity is too short to land your ideal TCS, you can perform the Jumping Wide Slash Combo instead:
When starting out with the GS, I obviously had no idea what I was doing since still getting used to the button controls. Even so, after only attacking the monster 5 or 6 times, he limps away! My thoughts when seeing the monster near death was always, "but I only hit him a couple of times!". Further, with the guard and tackle as defensive maneuvers, I didn't faint as much as when I started with the other weapons.
The GS really fits my play style. It's low risk, given you can use the R2 (RT in Xbox) to guard. You also have the Tackle maneuver to reposition/defend yourself as described above. If you miss the almighty TCS, it's not upsetting even if you lose on its huge damage. Because all of the other GS attacks are so powerful, you're allowed a lot of mistakes. This is opposed to the Charge Blade, where you really must land it's ultimate attack (the Super Amped Elemental Discharge, SAED) to really put up large damage numbers to kill monsters fast.
As a result of the GS's great power, I fell in love with the weapon! The ability to kill a monster so quickly, despite being a complete hack, encouraged me to practice more. I almost gave up, though, because I was frustrated with not being able to land TCS's. But fortunately, I persisted and found my own play style.
I rely mostly on running up to the monster and landing a quick hit which is clearly not ideal. If the monster's far away, I then attempt the TCS, since you can tackle and position yourself closer to the monster. But if you use this quick draw build in the video below, it still kills monsters faster than any other weapon that I use. (Except Hunting Horn, which is fabulous against Nergigante, and the Lance against Kulve and Vaal Hazak).
Indeed, the GS draw attack build is perfect for those monsters that have large AOE, where you can only get in one hit at best, such as Kirin and Lunastra:
Thankfully I persisted and completed over 150 missions with the GS, and I'm sort of okay at landing TCS. In fact, I'm more successful with the GS's TCS than the CB's SAED, and I had way more practice with the CB--I played a complete game with the CB, which I didn't do with the GS.
I think the reason for the TCS being easier to land than the SAED, is precisely because you can tackle to block the monster as much as your stamina bar allows, so you're not going to be interrupted if you time your tackles correctly, and then land the whammy. I often just let the TCS go, instead of charging the TCS for more damage, since the monster tends to dodge the TCS if you don't let go fast enough. Of course if the monster is KO'd, I charge the TCS to full capacity.
The only two really spectacular moves I've had over my time with the GS is when I tackled Azure Rathalos's fire attack and Nergigante's shoulder bash, which was really awesome to experience!
Aside from those two brilliant tackles, despite my not using the GS in an ideal manner, I've solely relied on it for Crown farming. It just kills so quickly no matter how many whiffs. There were quite a few times during the Crown events that I would get the highest damage numbers in the "Hunter Highlights"when in coop (that is if I'm the only GS user).
So, try out the GS, and even though you feel that you are "bad" at it and frustrated with not landing TCS in an ideal manner, I'd stick with it. Eventually, like with all the weapons, you'll find your rhythm from enough experience. Further, due to the power of the GS, you can use it anyway you want, and you'll still kill even the hardest monsters very quickly and safely.
Conclusion: With the Great Sword's incredible power, you can use it sub-optimally and still put up huge damage numbers. Do not give up on this iconic weapon if you have difficulties landing TCS's--just fake it until you make it!
The How of Happiness Review
Because of the iconic nature of the Great Sword, I've always wanted to main it when I first started out my Monster Hunter career, but it was always so difficult. You have to know the exact positioning and timing to land a charged draw attack--you need to press the attack button for what seems like days to charge the GS up, and hopefully landing on the monster before you're interrupted, or it moves away.
However, since I wanted to main these difficult weapons that I've never used before, I gave the GS a try. World's GS has more offensive and defensive capabilities than prior Monster Hunters, as there's now the Tackle, True Charged Slash, and Jumping Wide Slash.
The Tackle is essentially a shield bash, where you can bash through monster attacks, and while incurring damage and having stun values, it also serves as an almost invincible guard. One of my friends was able to tackle a monster's head for 150 damage unscathed!
As for the True Charged Slash (TCS), the ideal way to use the GS is to aim for it as much as possible, as it's the highest attack of all weapons in the game. You want to Draw Attack very quickly (R1/RB), and use Tackle to position yourself near the monster so you can land a TCS. This is easier said than done, of course.
When I started out with the GS, I started a new game file so I can practice using the starter weapons and not be overpowered. During this initiation period, I rarely was successful in landing TCS. Here's a link regarding the TCS.
But, successful TCS's are easier said than done, which comes to the genius of the Jumping Wide Slash. The role of this wide slash cannot be overstated, as there are relatively few opportunities when you can land the ideal TCS given how long it takes to pull it off. The combo into the Jumping Wide Slash is relatively fast to land, so there are TONS of opportunities when you can easily execute this combo.
Here's a great video that explains charging your draw attack, into tackle, that goes into the Jumping Wide Slash. He calculated out the damage numbers, and it's almost equal in damage to TCS. Therefore, if the window of opportunity is too short to land your ideal TCS, you can perform the Jumping Wide Slash Combo instead:
When starting out with the GS, I obviously had no idea what I was doing since still getting used to the button controls. Even so, after only attacking the monster 5 or 6 times, he limps away! My thoughts when seeing the monster near death was always, "but I only hit him a couple of times!". Further, with the guard and tackle as defensive maneuvers, I didn't faint as much as when I started with the other weapons.
The GS really fits my play style. It's low risk, given you can use the R2 (RT in Xbox) to guard. You also have the Tackle maneuver to reposition/defend yourself as described above. If you miss the almighty TCS, it's not upsetting even if you lose on its huge damage. Because all of the other GS attacks are so powerful, you're allowed a lot of mistakes. This is opposed to the Charge Blade, where you really must land it's ultimate attack (the Super Amped Elemental Discharge, SAED) to really put up large damage numbers to kill monsters fast.
As a result of the GS's great power, I fell in love with the weapon! The ability to kill a monster so quickly, despite being a complete hack, encouraged me to practice more. I almost gave up, though, because I was frustrated with not being able to land TCS's. But fortunately, I persisted and found my own play style.
I rely mostly on running up to the monster and landing a quick hit which is clearly not ideal. If the monster's far away, I then attempt the TCS, since you can tackle and position yourself closer to the monster. But if you use this quick draw build in the video below, it still kills monsters faster than any other weapon that I use. (Except Hunting Horn, which is fabulous against Nergigante, and the Lance against Kulve and Vaal Hazak).
Indeed, the GS draw attack build is perfect for those monsters that have large AOE, where you can only get in one hit at best, such as Kirin and Lunastra:
Thankfully I persisted and completed over 150 missions with the GS, and I'm sort of okay at landing TCS. In fact, I'm more successful with the GS's TCS than the CB's SAED, and I had way more practice with the CB--I played a complete game with the CB, which I didn't do with the GS.
I think the reason for the TCS being easier to land than the SAED, is precisely because you can tackle to block the monster as much as your stamina bar allows, so you're not going to be interrupted if you time your tackles correctly, and then land the whammy. I often just let the TCS go, instead of charging the TCS for more damage, since the monster tends to dodge the TCS if you don't let go fast enough. Of course if the monster is KO'd, I charge the TCS to full capacity.
The only two really spectacular moves I've had over my time with the GS is when I tackled Azure Rathalos's fire attack and Nergigante's shoulder bash, which was really awesome to experience!
Aside from those two brilliant tackles, despite my not using the GS in an ideal manner, I've solely relied on it for Crown farming. It just kills so quickly no matter how many whiffs. There were quite a few times during the Crown events that I would get the highest damage numbers in the "Hunter Highlights"when in coop (that is if I'm the only GS user).
So, try out the GS, and even though you feel that you are "bad" at it and frustrated with not landing TCS in an ideal manner, I'd stick with it. Eventually, like with all the weapons, you'll find your rhythm from enough experience. Further, due to the power of the GS, you can use it anyway you want, and you'll still kill even the hardest monsters very quickly and safely.
Conclusion: With the Great Sword's incredible power, you can use it sub-optimally and still put up huge damage numbers. Do not give up on this iconic weapon if you have difficulties landing TCS's--just fake it until you make it!
The How of Happiness Review
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