If you’ve been playing Monster Hunter Wilds lately, especially if you love using the Great Sword, you’re always on the lookout for the best way to set up your character.
In this complete guide, we’ll break down how to make the strongest Great Sword build in Monster Hunter Wilds. Let’s get started –
Selecting the Best Great Sword
The foundation of any great build starts with choosing the right weapon. In Monster Hunter Wilds, the best Great Sword is not found among the standard options but rather in the Artian weapons.
The ideal Artian Great Sword boasts the following specifications:
- 225 true raw attack
- White sharpness
- 5% base affinity
- Dragon element (for versatility)
- Three level 3 decoration slots
To achieve this perfect Artian Great Sword, players need to craft it with three base parts that all have attack infusion.
For reinforcements, the goal is to obtain four attack boosts and one sharpness boost. This combination results in seven attack boosts and one sharpness boost, creating the ultimate Great Sword.
It’s worth noting that while having a perfect Artian Great Sword for each element (fire, ice, thunder, dragon, and water) would be ideal, it’s not practical for most players.
Instead, you should set your focus on getting the best dragon element Artian Great Sword, as dragon is effective against most high-level monsters.
Understanding Weapon Mechanics
To appreciate why this Artian Great Sword is superior, it’s crucial to understand the mechanics behind weapon evaluation in Monster Hunter Wilds. The five main factors that determine a weapon’s effectiveness are:
- Attack (true raw)
- Affinity
- Element
- Sharpness
- Decoration slots
Additionally, inherent offensive skills on weapons play a role. For Great Swords, having level 3 Focus is beneficial.
When comparing weapons, multiply the true raw by the sharpness modifier (1.32 for white sharpness) and factor in affinity.
For example, a 225 raw weapon with white sharpness and 5% affinity would have an effective raw of approximately 301, outperforming non-Artian alternatives.
Armor and Skills
With the weapon selected, the next step is choosing the right armor and skills to complement the Great Sword. The build focuses on maximizing affinity and raw attack power while leveraging unique mechanics in Monster Hunter Wilds.
The recommended armor set consists of:
- Four pieces of Gore Magala armor (chest, arms, waist, legs)
- Udra helmet
This combination provides several benefits:
- Gore Magala’s Tyranny set bonus (4 pieces):
- Grants the frenzy virus when attacking large monsters
- Provides 15% affinity when overcoming frenzy
- Offers additional raw attack power (10-15 on average)
- Udra helmet:
- Provides one rank of Counter Strike
- Offers two level 2 decoration slots
Key Skills and Decorations:
- Weakness Exploit (level 5)
- Maximum Might (level 3)
- Critical Boost (level 3)
- Focus (level 3)
- Antivirus (level 3)
- Counter Strike (level 3)
The build aims to achieve 100% affinity through a combination of Weakness Exploit (50%), Maximum Might (30%), Antivirus (25%), and the base 5% from the Artian weapon.
Unique Mechanics and Synergies
This build takes advantage of several unique mechanics in Monster Hunter Wilds:
- Antivirus: This new skill enhances the frenzy virus mechanic, making it easier to overcome and increasing the affinity bonus to 30%.
- Counter Strike: In Wilds, this skill activates not only when hit but also when successfully using shoulder tackle or offset through attacks. This provides a near-permanent 25 raw attack boost.
- Constitution: The build includes some Constitution to enhance Maximum Might’s uptime, as Great Sword doesn’t consume much stamina in normal play.
Calculated Effectiveness
To highlight the power of this build, let’s break down the numbers:
- Base raw: 225 (Artian Great Sword)
- Counter Strike: +25 raw
- Gore set bonus: +15 raw (average)
- Total raw: 265
- White sharpness multiplier: 1.32
- Effective raw before crit: 350
- 100% affinity with max Critical Boost: 1.4 multiplier
- Final effective raw: 490
This impressive number showcases the build’s ability for dealing massive damage consistently.
Alternative Comfy Build
For those seeking a more comfortable playstyle, an alternative build is proposed:
- Replace two pieces of Gore Magala with Arvel armor
- Add full Flare skill (level 5)
- Include Recovery Up
This variation sacrifices some raw attack power but gains increased healing when creating wounds and more frequent damage bursts from Flare. It’s an excellent option for part farming and provides a different playstyle while maintaining high damage output.
Additional Considerations
- Mantles: The Corrupted Mantle is recommended for its damage boost.
- Meals: Opt for meat as the main ingredient, with Aery egg, yeast, and honey as additional ingredients for attack buffs and healing.
- Future-proofing: As the game evolves with updates and new discoveries, the build may be adjusted. Other playstyles, like Crit Draw, may also become viable alternatives.
Wrapping Up
This Great Sword setup for Monster Hunter Wilds is the result of carefully studying how the game works.
By putting together a strong Artian Great Sword with the right armor and skills, hunters can do more damage than ever before.
What makes this setup so good isn’t just the high numbers, but how it cleverly uses new features like the improved frenzy virus and a new take on Counter Strike.
It lets you play aggressively but smartly, using the Great Sword’s defensive moves while also landing powerful attacks.
Whether you choose the highest damage setup or the more comfortable option, Great Sword users in Monster Hunter Wilds now have a good starting point. As the game changes and players keep trying new things, this setup will be something to measure future ideas against.
Just remember, while this setup is the best on paper, the most important thing in Monster Hunter is having fun.
Use this as a starting point, but feel free to change things up to fit how you like to play.
