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Everything you need to know about the best Great Sword build in Monster Hunter Wilds, including the Decorations, Talismans, and more.
Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds is easily the most powerful weapon type in terms of single-hit damage. In Monster Hunter games, the Great Sword has always been a great choice for high DPS builds. However, with the introduction of the Focus Strikes and Power Clash in MH Wilds, Great Sword now also has some agility, albeit at the cost of its attack power.
Unlike the past MH games, Great Sword’s TCS (True Charged Slash) isn’t the most damaging combo in the weapon’s roster anymore. Instead, TCS is now complimentary to the full Charged Slash combo. This means Tackle canceling into TCS isn’t as viable in MH Wilds as it used to be in previous games.
However, since you can redirect TCS to any direction mid-combo (courtesy of Focus Mode), you can still stack tons of damage in a single strike. However, that’s taking into account that your build is optimized for taking advantage of the Focus Strike mechanic. In this article, we are going to take a look at one of the best Great Sword builds that you can use in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword Overview
Great Sword is an easy weapon to pick, but one that’s quite difficult to master. Unlike other weapon types where you can learn the combos to use them to their full potential, the Great Sword relies on you not only knowing your weapon but also the monster(s) you’re going up against.
Since the weapon lacks mobility, you won’t get too many chances to land your hits using the Great Sword. As such, knowing when and precisely where to attack is crucial. In addition to that, the Great Sword also has fairly robust defensive options with its Guard and Tackle combos. Guard in particular has received substantial buff owing to the new Power Clash mechanic.
Tackle, on the other hand, remains a viable option to combo cancel, or as a way to hyperarmor through certain monster attacks. Although TCS has been nerfed substantially in MH Wilds, the opportunities for the combo have increased drastically. You can basically chain multiple TCS combos in MH Wilds, both after a Power Clash as well as a Focus Strike.
Here’s a look at the pros and cons of the Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very high single-hit damage. | Very low mobility. |
| Access to both Offset and Power Clash. | Long combo strings with lengthy charge animation. |
| Effective with both Elemental and Raw damage types. | Requires a lot of monster knowledge for better positioning. |
Best Great Sword Build in Monster Hunter Wilds
Our Great Sword build will focus primarily on DPS and reducing the downtime of charged attacks (TCS). Furthermore, this build will also include Decorations to enhance the new Focus Strike mechanic. Essentially, the build here is focused on creating ample wounds and then capitalizing on the Focus Strike to triple a topple. In doing so, you’ll get instant access to TCS consistently, while also dishing out a ton of additional damage.
Here’s a breakdown of the best Great Sword build in MH Wilds:
- Weapon: Dusterstolz (Rarity 8, Gore Magala Tree)
- Weapon Decorations:
- Focus/Dragon Jewel [3]
- KO Jewel II [2]
- KO Jewel [1]
- Armor: Full Arkvulkan (Arkveld) β set
- Arkvulkan Helm β
- Decorations:
- Tenderizer Jewel [3]
- Jumping Jewel [2]
- Sheath Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulcan Mail β
- Decorations:
- Tenderizer Jewel [3]
- Destroyer Jewel [2]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulkan Vambraces β
- Decorations:
- Destroyer Jewel [2]
- Destroyer Jewel [2]
- Steadfast Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulkan Coil β
- Decorations:
- Steadfast Jewel [1]
- Steadfast Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulkan Greaves β
- Decorations:
- Flayer Jewel [3]
- Sheath Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Talisman: Defense Charm 4
- Mantle: Rocksteady Mantle
Great Sword Build Skills
Here are the skills that you get access to with the best Great Sword build:
Equipment Skills
- Critical Element: Level 3
- Focus: Level 3
- Slugger: Level 3
- Dragon Attack: Level 1
- Weakness Exploit: Level 5
- Defense Boost: Level 4
- Convert Element: Level 3
- Stun Resistance: Level 3
- Partbreaker: Level 3
- Quick Sheathe: Level 3
- Flayer: Level 1
- Recovery Speed: Level 1
- Evade Extender: Level 1
Set Bonus Skills
- 2-set bonus active: Hasten Recovery I
- 4-set bonus active: Hasten Recovery II
Group Skills
- 3-set bonus active: Diversion
Great Sword Build Stats
Following are the raw stats for the best Great Sword build:
Attack Status
- Attack: 1018
- Affinity: 20%
- Element: 440 (Dragon)
Defense Status
- Defense: 424
- Fire Res: 13
- Water Res: 3
- Thunder Res: -2
- Ice Res: 3
- Dragon Res: -12
Monster Hunter Wilds Great Sword Build Explained
The Great Sword build focuses on these primary factors:
- Increased overall raw damage.
- Faster charging speeds.
- Higher damage on wounds.
- Resistance to stun (for more efficient Tackles)
Let’s understand how all these factors come into play for the aforementioned Great Sword build:
Increased Raw Damage
Although Capcom has made changes to Great Sword’s Elemental properties, Raw is still the king. Much like in the previous Monster Hunter games, Great Sword excels at Raw Damage, primarily. Although you can work Elemental into your build, inflicting said Elemental status won’t be easy, especially with the TCS nerf. As such, we focused on the weapon’s raw damage. Furthermore, Raw Damage is most effective at toppling monsters, which is where the Great Sword shines the most, especially with Slugger Level 3.
Faster Charging Speeds
The Great Sword’s Charged Slash deals a ton of damage, regardless of the charge level or combo. However, charging the weapon is not a quick act. Often charging a Great Sword’s TCS can be a gamble, which only pays off if you position yourself properly. Suffice it to say, positioning is something that isn’t going to be easy unless you have hours of practice and experience with every monster in the game’s roster. To help alleviate the long charging speeds, we have worked Focus Level 3 into the build.
The Focus skill lets you charge attacks much faster. As a result, you will be able to use TCS more efficiently. Furthermore, with Partbreaker and Slugger active, Focus comes in incredibly handy.
Higher Bonus Damage on Wounds
With the Weakness Exploit skill, the Great Sword will deal bonus damage to wounds. Focus Strike is the primary means of dealing Raw and KO damage to monsters using the Great Sword. To facilitate that, we have worked in Slugger and Weakness Exploit both, into the build. Furthermore, there’s also a point of Flayer, which makes it easy to create wounds on monsters. Wounds are also a great way to deal Elemental damage, granted you can hit multiple wounds with a single Focus Strike.
Efficient Tackles
Tackles are a staple of the Great Sword moveset. However, unlike Monster Hunter World, Tackles don’t have stun resistance in MH Wilds. To mitigate this issue, we have worked Stun Resistance Level 3 into the build. This not only makes the Hunter immune to stun (including Gypceros’ flashes) but also increases the potency of Tackles.
How To Use the Best Great Sword Build in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are some tips on how to use the best Great Sword build efficiently:
- Since this build focuses on wound damage, your primary objective while using it would be to tenderize the monster as quickly as possible. The best way to do so right at the start of the fight is to mount the monster. Before you land a single hit on your target, use your Seikret to get close to the monster and perform a Jumping Slash attack while aiming your camera toward said monster. This allows you to mount the monster consistently. While you’re mounted, perform the weapon attacks to create wounds, and deal a ton of damage before the actual confrontation.
- Try to stay close to the monster’s head, and use the Focus Mode to keep its weak points in sight. We aren’t focusing on Offset Attacks using this build simply because the timing for it can be a bit confusing, especially in the case of Tempered Monsters.
- You can, however, use Guard quite extensively. It also works really well as a way to quickly transition into a TCS, courtesy of the Power Clash mechanic.
- Make sure to use the Rocksteady Mantle whenever the monster is enraged. This allows you to negate the roars as well as ground tremors for a short while, letting you continue your Charged Slash combos without any interruptions.
- Remember to carry Demon Power and the Armorskin with you, especially on Tempered Investigations. Since you’re always up close to the monster’s head, having additional Defense helps a lot.
Additional Tips For the Best Great Sword Build
While we used the Dusterstolz (Gore Magala) Great Sword for this build since it offers a good balance between raw damage, Dragon Elemental, and Affinity, you can choose a different weapon in its place, and still get the build working quite well. For weapon alternatives, we recommend Varianza (Dragon Elemental) or Stalwart Lamorak (Arkveld Great Sword). Both these weapons are excellent choices offering high raw damage, with plenty of Decoration slots. Ideally, you would want to use the Artian Weapons as they offer 3 Level-3 Decoration slots. However, using them isn’t a necessity as long as you have access to other Rarity 8 weapons.
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