Best Sword and Shield Build Guide for Monster Hunter Wilds

This guide explores the best Sword and Shield build that you can use in Monster Hunter Wilds to absolutely shred any and every monster.

Sword and Shield is one of the most versatile weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds. It is easily the most “all rounder” pick. It is one of the faster weapons that you can choose and offers amazing mobility. At the same time, it provides a shield and access to some amazing combos. With a good Sword and Shield build, you can become an unstoppable force in this game.

If you are a beginner, Sword and Shield is a good pick that can very quickly grow on you. Do note that this weapon has a high skill ceiling because of its hybrid playstyle between blocks and fast attacks, and its many combos. In this guide, we will explore the best Sword and Shield build that you can use in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter Wilds Sword And Shield Overview

Sword and Shield is a versatile weapon that suits beginners and veterans alike. The neutral playstyle provides both aggressive and defensive options. Sword and Shield (SnS) focuses on both raw and elemental damage, though the former takes precedence. The only major downside is that its damage output is lower than other weapons.

Here are the main pros and cons of Sword and Shield:

Pros	Cons
High mobility Versatile option Easy for beginners to pick up Can both guard and play aggressive combos	Loses sharpness easily Damage output is lower than other weapons

Our best Sword and Shield build guide for Monster Hunter Wilds focuses on maximizing the damage output that you can get. With this build, you should be able to tackle the toughest hunts easily in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Best Sword and Shield Build in Monster Hunter Wilds

Here are the details for the best Sword and Shield build in Monster Hunter Wilds:

• Element: Ice
• Weapon: Verdoloto (Artian Weapon, Rarity: 8)
  • Crafting Materials:
    • Cracked Disc: Ice Attack Infusion x2
    • Rusted Device: Ice Affinity Infusion x1
• Weapon Decorations:
  • Attack Jewel III [3]
  • KO Jewel III [3]
  • Expert Jewel III [3]
• Armor: Guardian Arkveld β (4-piece set) + Arkvulcan Mail β (1 piece)
  • Guardian Arkveld Helm β
    • Decorations:
      • Tenderizer Jewel [3]
      • Protection Jewel [1]
  •  Arkvulcan Mail β
    • Decorations:
      • Flayer Jewel [3]
      • Refresh Jewel [2]
  • Guardian Arkveld Vambraces β
    • Decorations:
      • Adapt Jewel [1]
      • Steadfast Jewel [1]
      • Medicine Jewel [1]
  • Guardian Arkveld Coil β
    • Decorations:
      • Refresh Jewel [2]
      • Protection Jewel [1]
  • Guardian Arkveld Greaves β
    • Decorations:
      • Refresh Jewel [2]
      • Medicine Jewel [1]
• Talisman: Chain Charm III
• Mantle: Rocksteady Mantle

Best Monster Hunter Wilds Sword And Shield Build: Statistics

If you equip all of the above items, you should have the following stats:

Attack Status

• Attack: 297
• Affinity: 22%
• Element: 270 (Ice)

Note: These stats are not reinforced for the Artian weapon. Reinforcing them to their maximum level (5) is suggested, which will further boost some random statistics for this weapon.

Defense Status

• Defense: 361
• Fire Res: 10
• Water Res: 0
• Thunder Res: -5
• Ice Res: 0
• Dragon Res: -19

Note: These stats are for armor parts that are at base level. Upgrading them to their maximum level (7) will further increase your defense.

Best Monster Hunter Wilds Sword and Shield Build: Active Skills

This best Dual Blades build in Monster Hunter Wilds will give you the following skills (and levels):

Equipment Skills

• Slugger: Level 3
• Attack Boost: Level 3
• Critical Attack: Level 5
• Weakness Exploit: Level 5
• Flayer: Level 5
• Stamina Surge: Level 3
• Divine Blessing: Level 2
• Stun Resistance: Level 2
• Partbreaker: Level 1
• Elemental Absorption: Level 1
• Adaptability: Level 1

Set Bonus Skills: Guardian Arkveld’s Vitality

• 2-set bonus active: Decimator I
• 4-set bonus active: Decimator II

Group Skills: Guardian’s Protection

• 3-set bonus active: Ward of Wyveria

Monster Hunter Wilds Best Sword And Shield Build Explained

Here are the aspects that our best Sword and Shield build in Monster Hunter Wilds focuses on:

• Maximizing the stun potential with the Shield.
• Increasing Affinity to the maximum.
• Creating wounds and dealing maximum damage to them.

Here are explanations for the above points.

1) Maximize Stun Potential

Sword and Shield has access to the shield, which means it can guard and also engage in Power Clashes. However, this shield also has amazing stun potential. With Slugger skill at level 3, you get a 40% increased chance of stunning your enemy. 

Moreover, using the Monster-Stunning Combo will easily let you stun monsters in any hunt. Finally, the Focus Strike of SnS also has stun potential, which is also boosted. Stuns will easily let you dish out massive combos, which will deal a significant amount of damage.

2) Increasing Affinity

Affinity essentially increases your chances of landing critical hits, which deal 125% of your base damage. With more affinity, you will be able to deal more critical hits, which will in turn deal more damage.

Given that the Sword and Shield has multi hit combos that hit more than 5 times, the Chain Charm further compliments this by boosting all your stats, including your affinity.

3) Creating Wounds and Destroying Them

Finally, the Flayer Skill at level 4 makes it easier to create wounds on monsters. The nail in the coffin is put by the Weakness Exploit charm, which further increases your affinity by up to 50% when you are hitting the wounds. This deals a massive amount of damage that greatly helps in shortening the fight.

Since Sword and Shield is a weapon that relies on multi hits, you will most likely create more than one wound at a given time. Thus, the combination of these skills will amplify your damage multiple times.

How To Use This Best Sword and Shield Build in Monster Hunter Wilds

Although Sword and Shield is easy to pick up, mastering the combos can be a bit tricky. There are several combos to keep in mind, including those that have stun potential and those that rely on purely damage.

All things considered, here is the gameplay loop that you should try to achieve with this best Sword and Shield build in Monster Hunter Wilds:

• Initiate the fight with a Sneak Attack to get some free damage.
• Rely less on blocking attacks and more on dodging to use the Stun combo.
• In case of attacks that you are not in a situation to dodge, guard them or try to initiate a Power Clash.
• Use the simple combo: Lateral Slash > Return Stroke > Spinning Slash > Spinning Reaper to deal approximately 420 damage per combo.
• Always try to end the Perfect Rush with a Scaling Slash and Falling Bash to try and stun the monster.
• Use the stun combo and aim for the Perfect Rush whenever the monster is stunned or toppled.
• When you use the Focus Strike (Vital Stab), follow it up with a Upswing Bash and Falling Bash. These are shield attacks that have stun potential. 

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We provide the latest news and create guides for Monster Hunter Wilds or MH Wilds. Meanwhile, you can check out the following Monster Hunter articles or catch us playing games on Twitch and YouTube:

• Monster Hunter Wilds Review
• All Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Types
• Monster Hunter Wilds NPCs: All Characters Guide
• Monster Hunter Wilds Focus Mode Guide