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Everything you need to know about the Great Sword’s Guard Cancel in Monster Hunter Wilds, how to perform, benefits, and more.
The Great Sword is easily one of the most powerful weapon types in Monster Hunter, granted you’re able to use it to its full effect. The same holds true for Monster Hunter Wilds. In fact, the Great Sword in MH Wilds has received some major enhancements that make it even more powerful compared to its past iterations.
One of the most unique aspects of MH Wilds’ Great Sword is its ability to essentially parry attacks. There’s the new Offset skill, which lets you counter a monster’s incoming attack and retaliate immediately. And there’s also the new Power Clash mechanic, which lets you deal massive amounts of damage, granted you’re able to Perfect Guard.
Guarding using the Great Sword has been something that’s mostly been overlooked in Monster Hunter games. However, in MH Wilds, Guard is now an incredibly powerful tool in the Great Sword’s arsenal. In addition to that, you can now also perform Guard Cancel, something that can be used to parry attacks quite efficiently. Here’s everything you need to know about Great Sword’s Guard Cancel in Monster Hunter Wilds.
How To Guard Using the Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds
To Guard using the Great Sword, simply press RT (on Xbox controllers) or R2 (on PlayStation controllers) while the weapon is drawn. You can also quickly go into the Guarding stance by hitting RT with the weapon sheathed. Although it’s just a single button press, the Guard animation is incredibly slow, and cannot be performed while you’re charging True Charged Slash (TCS). In past Monster Hunter games, Guard also ended up massively exhausting Sharpness, and offered very little in the way of Defense, unless you spec into Guard Up and similar skills. This is why in previous Monster Hunter games, Great Sword’s Guard wasn’t used by most players.
The only use Guard offered in past Monster Hunter games was it being a quick way to go into a Kick combo. Additionally, in certain scenarios like against Fatalis, Guard does help in mitigating lethal damage. However, in Monster Hunter Wilds, Great Sword’s Guard no longer depletes Sharpness. Furthermore, Guard can now be used to topple monsters via a Power Clash. This change basically makes Guard one of the strongest combos under Great Sword’s toolset.
In addition to that, Guard Cancel is also a thing in MH Wilds’ Great Sword repertoire. It essentially lets the Great Sword be used like a makeshift Sword and Shield, albeit with way higher single-hit damage. Furthermore, Guard Cancel can be done from almost any stance, as long as the weapon is drawn. You don’t even need to use the Focus Mode to use Guard Cancel.
How To Use Guard Cancel Using the Great Sword
In Monster Hunter Wilds, Guard Cancel can be performed by pressing RT/R2 with the Left Stick. Essentially, if you’re in the recovery animation of a charged attack, you can tap the Left Stick in any direction, and then press RT (Guard) to quickly get into the Guarding stance. Guard Cancel basically reduces the time it takes to get into a Guarding stance. It does so by eliminating the recovery of the previous frame. This allows you to Guard almost immediately after an attack, which can be timed to enter a Power Clash, consistently. We highly recommend practicing Guard Cancel in the Training Arena, before trying it against Monsters.
Benefits of Great Sword’s Guard Cancel
Guard Cancel’s primary benefit is reduced recovery animation. Furthermore, since it doesn’t cost Sharpness, quickly switching to Guard also lets you avoid attacks that might otherwise be lethal. Although Offset Attack still deals more damage compared to Power Clash, the latter is still useful in toppling Monsters. Lastly, Guard Cancel comes in incredibly handy against Monsters with multiple attack strings, such as Nu Udra, Rey Dau, and Arkveld.
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