Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword: Weapon Guide

Everything you need to know about the Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds, including its basic combos, Focus Strike, and more.

The Great Sword is easily the most powerful weapon type in Monster Hunter games, and that stands true for Monster Hunter Wilds as well. Not only does the Great Sword deal the highest single-hit damage, but it also lets you negate incoming attacks via its Tackle and Guard combos. Suffice it to say it’s one of the best weapon types in the game. However, much like the past iterations of the weapon, the Great Sword in MH Wilds is not easy to master.

While it doesn’t have the complexity of weapons like the Charge Blade, Switch Axe, or Insect Glaive, it does have its fair share of nuances that you need to be aware of. It’s a weapon that requires proper knowledge of not only its movesets but also about the monster.

Since you’re compromising on agility when using the Great Sword, knowing the proper attack timings is crucial to take full advantage of the weapon. Thankfully, in the latest title, Capcom has made some clever changes to the Great Sword’s moveset, which make it viable even for agility-focused builds. Here’s everything you need to know about the Great Sword, its combos, skills, and more.

How To Use Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds (Image via Capcom)

The Great Sword’s primary moveset includes the regular Slash, a Charged Slash, and the True Charged Slash. The weapon excels at dealing damage, primarily via TCS (True Charged Slash). However, to get to TCS, you first need to get through two levels of Charged Slash attacks. Unlike other melee weapons, i.e., Dual Blades, Charge Blade, etc., there’s no additional gauge that you need to keep an eye on apart from Sharpness.

Furthermore, the Great Sword, much like the Long Sword, benefits a ton from Draw Attacks (Punishing Draw). You can also Guard using the Great Sword. However, guarding comes at the cost of losing Sharpness. Here are the basic combos (movesets) for the Great Sword:

Combos	Button Combinations (PlayStation/Xbox)
Overhead Slash	Triangle/Y
Rising Slash	Triangle+Circle/Y+B
Charged Slash	Hold-Triangle/Hold-Y
Wide Slash	Circle (with weapon drawn)/ B (with weapon drawn)
True Charged Slash	Hold-Triangle > LS > Hold-Triangle > LS (Charge Level-2) > Hold-Triangle/ Hold-Y > LS > Hold-Y > LS (Charge Level-2) > Hold-Y
Guard	R2 (with weapon drawn)/ RT (with weapon drawn)
Tackle	Hold-Triangle > Circle/Hold-Y > B or Hold-R2 > Triangle/ Hold-RT > Y
Jumping Wide Slash	Hold-Triangle (Charge Level-2) > Circle/ Hold-Y (Charge Level-2) > B

Great Sword Offset and Focus Strike in MH Wilds

In addition to the basic attacks, the Great Sword also has a few new moves in Monster Hunter Wilds. The Offset Attack essentially allows you to retaliate against a monster’s incoming attack with a counter and also an immediate TCS follow-up. Furthermore, Offset Attack can also topple (stagger/KO) a monster, granted you have invested in the Slugger skill.

There’s also the Focus Strike, which lets you deal damage to the wounds. Furthermore, Focus Strike deals additional damage based on the amount of wounds inflicted on the monster. Focus Strike also lets you reposition your attacks, something that comes incredibly handy during TCS. Here are the controls for the Great Sword’s Offset and Focus Strikes in MH Wilds:

Combos	Button Combinations (PlayStation/Xbox)
Offset Rising Slash	Hold-Triangle+Circle > LS/ Hold-Y+B > LS
Focus Slash	Hold-L2 > R1/ Hold-LT > RB

The Great Sword is a great option for anyone who is well-versed with Monster Hunter’s combat system. While the weapon doesn’t have too many complexities, it does require a fair bit of knowledge about the monster you’re hunting. Furthermore, the Great Sword primarily relies on raw damage; as such, elemental builds aren’t nearly as viable with this weapon type.

Check out our Monster Hunter Great Sword guide for more information on the weapon’s combos, tips and tricks, and more.