Long Sword: Maximize Critical Draw in Monster Hunter Wild

Monster Hunter is not an easy game to master, which makes it obvious for you to find better ways to beat tough monsters.

Right now, everyone’s talking about a new way to use the Long Sword: the Critical Draw build.

This article will explain how it works, what’s good about it, and what might not be so great. So, let’s get started with how critical draw. works.

How Critical Draw Works?

Critical Draw is a skill that provides 100% affinity (critical hit chance) when performing draw attacks. For Long Sword users, this skill becomes particularly potent due to the weapon’s Special Sheath ability.

This mechanic allows players to sheath their weapon mid-combat and execute either a slash or spirit slash, both of which trigger the Critical Draw buff.

The Critical Draw buff lasts for 3 seconds, providing a window of guaranteed critical hits. This creates an interesting dynamic where players must balance maintaining the buff with executing their most damaging combos.

The Build: Gear and Skills

To maximize the potential of the Critical Draw Long Sword, a specific set of gear and skills is recommended:

1. Weapon: A raw damage Art weapon with paralysis status is ideal. The recommended setup includes three attack boost upgrades and four attack boost reinforcements, with the final slot dedicated to sharpness improvement.
2. Armor: The build utilizes Zoo Helm Beta and four pieces of Gore Beta armor.
3. Charm: A Counterattack charm is crucial for achieving the necessary levels of Adrenaline Rush.
4. Key Skills:
   • Critical Draw (Level 3)
   • Critical Boost (Level 3)
   • Punishing Draw (Level 3)
   • Handicraft (Level 1)
   • Adrenaline Rush (Level 5)
   • Constitution (Level 3)
   • Counterstrike (Level 3)
   • Quick Sheath (Level 3)
5. Additional Skills: The build also includes some levels of Evade Window, Agitator, Burst, and Flinch Free.

Playstyle and Mechanics

The Critical Draw Long Sword build requires a specific playstyle to maximize its effectiveness:

1. Maintain Red Gauge: Reach and maintain the red spirit gauge level.
2. Special Sheath Usage: Frequently use Special Sheath followed by either a slash or counter to proc the Critical Draw buff.
3. Combo Interruption: After proccing the buff, execute a few seconds of the Crimson into Spirit Blade max DPS combo, then interrupt with another Special Sheath slash.
4. Counter Focus: This build encourages a more counter-focused playstyle, reminiscent of classic Long Sword gameplay.
5. Buff Uptime: Aim for at least 20% uptime on the Critical Draw buff throughout the fight. This translates to using Special Sheath for a counter or slash approximately 20 times within a 5-minute hunt.

Advantages of the Critical Draw Build

1. High Damage Potential: With perfect gameplay, this build can potentially outperform standard meta builds by about 8 effective raw damage.
2. Flexibility: The build allows for a mix of high-damage combos and counter-focused gameplay.
3. Stun Potential: The Punishing Draw skill adds a stun effect to draw attacks, providing additional crowd control options.
4. Guaranteed Crits: The 100% affinity on draw attacks ensures consistent damage output during those windows.

Challenges and Considerations

1. Mechanical Skill: The build requires more mechanical skill to maintain the buff and land tighter-framed counters consistently.
2. DPS Interruption: The need to frequently sheath and attack to maintain the buff can interrupt optimal DPS rotations.
3. Sharpness Management: With only one level of Handicraft, players need to use whetstones more frequently, which can lead to DPS loss.

Skill Synergies and Utilization

1. Counterstrike: This skill can be triggered through various means, including:
   • Hyper armor frames on certain attacks (e.g., Spirit Release Slash after Helmbreaker)
   • Getting knocked down
   • Using barrel bombs strategically
2. Adrenaline Rush: Activated through perfect evades or i-frames, such as those provided by Foresight Slash. Maintaining this buff is crucial for maximizing damage output.

Mathematical Breakdown

To understand the effectiveness of this build, let’s look at the numbers:

1. Base Effective Raw (without Critical Draw): 444
   • 225 base raw
   • +30 from Adrenaline Rush 5
   • +25 from Counterstrike
   • +8 from Burst Level 1
   • 50% uptime from Agitator and Gore set bonus
   • 32% modifier from white sharpness
   • 30% affinity with Critical Boost 3
2. Theoretical Max with 100% Critical Draw Uptime: 540
   • 305 raw (including all buffs)
   • 32% white sharpness modifier
   • 100% affinity with Critical Boost 3
3. Realistic Scenario (20% Critical Draw Uptime): 472
   • All base raw increases
   • 32% white sharpness modifier
   • 50% effective affinity
   • 17% damage increase from Critical Boost 3

Comparatively, the standard meta set has an effective raw of 464, making the Critical Draw build potentially more powerful, albeit with a more complex playstyle.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• High damage potential
• Unique and engaging playstyle
• Added stun potential
• Flexibility in combat approach

Cons:

• Requires high mechanical skill
• Can interrupt optimal DPS rotations
• More frequent sharpness management needed
• May be less efficient in practice compared to simpler builds

Conclusion

The Critical Draw Long Sword build is a new and possibly strong way to play Monster Hunter World, different from the usual popular builds. It can do a lot of damage, but you need to be good at the game to make it work well.

This build lets you play in a different way, focusing more on countering monster attacks. It’s fun because you can land big hits every time and sometimes even stun the monster. But it’s also harder to use and you need to time your moves just right.

If you’re tired of using the same old Long Sword moves and want to try something more challenging, the Critical Draw build might be for you. If you can master it, you’ll do a lot of damage and have a more exciting hunt.

Remember, the best build is the one that works for you and fits your playstyle. So give it a try and see how it feels!

Monster Hunter players are always finding new ways to play, and this Critical Draw Long Sword build shows how many different ways you can fight in the game. It proves that Monster Hunter keeps improving and that players are allowed come up with clever ideas.

If you’ve been playing for a long time and want something new, or if you just love using the Long Sword and want to try a different way to play, you might want to check out this Critical Draw build.

It could be fun to try!