_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż
MONSTER HUNTER FREEDOM 2
FULL FAQ / WALKTHROUGH
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż Ż
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 - Full FAQ / Walkthrough
Author: noilleberreven (chocori.icy.eyes@gmail.com)
This FAQ is Version 0.1A - it was last updated on April 19th, 2008.
Contact information can be found at the bottom of this FAQ.
======================================================================
[1] Introduction [1]
======================================================================
Monster Hunter Freedom 2
Platform: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Number of Players: 1-4 Cooperative Play
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 1
Publisher: Capcom
US Release: Aug 29, 2007
EU Release: Sep 07, 2007
AU Release: Sep 12, 2007
JP Release: Feb 22, 2007 (as "Monster Hunter Portable 2")
This walkthrough is based on and intended for use with Monster Hunter
Freedom 2 for the PSP. It was written using the North American version
of the game. Some of the information found in this walkthrough is
translated from the JP Official Guide Book for the game. The
information contained here can also be applied to the EU, AU, and JP
versions of this game (all information should be the same in the EU
and AU Monster Hunter, and the only information different in the JP
Monster Hunter are download quests), and some of the tactics and
information provided may still apply to the previous and future games
in the series.
This is a walkthrough, meaning that it is intended to walk you through
the game and provide help on every obstacle that comes your way. It
will not hold your hand and make you a master of the game just by
reading it, nor is it intended to be the ultimate guide to the world
of Monster Hunter or the last piece of writing you will ever need to
read. This walkthrough is merely an additional resource for you to use
to learn more and more about Monster Hunter.
It's worth noting that when talking about how to fight most monsters,
I will normally just refer to a monster's openings - opportunities
when it is safe to attack. It is up to you and your mastery of the
weapon you're using to know what attacks you can get in during those
openings. Only when a monster has very specific strategies for
fighting it will I go into further detail than that. In the future, I
might write weapon specifics for each monster fight, but right now it
doesn't seem necessary.
This walkthrough is typed 70 characters wide on Lucida Console, and
should be read with a similar monospaced font on a resolution that can
display 70 characters wide.
Version 0.1A (04/19/2008)
- First version uploaded to GameFAQs, as it meets the minimum
requirements to be approved for submission. This walkthrough
currently covers all quests up to Ruler of the Snow.
This is probably actually the third time I've written this thing,
I've scrapped it and rewritten it several times until I felt it
was written right.
I'm going to make a lot of references to clockwise/counter clockwise,
and left/right, so let's make sure we all know which is which:
<--- THIS IS LEFT THIS IS RIGHT --->
Have trouble remembering that? Just remember that L comes before R in
the alphabet, or that you normally read English from left to right...
Clockwise refers to the direction that hands move on a clock. If you
aren't sure which direction that is... just look at a clock.
Counter clockwise is the opposite direction.
And by the way, if you find this on any website OTHER than GameFAQs,
it's been stolen without my permission. Avast, pirates!
======================================================================
[2] Table of Contents [2]
======================================================================
To quickly find what you need, press CTRL+F (APPLE+F for Macs) and use
the search engine on your internet browser to hop to the section you
want. For example, if you wanted to get to the table of contents, you
would search for "[2]". Remember to have the brackets on the ends of
the section number.
I've taken out all the parts I haven't finished writing from this
Table of Contents, because I know it's frustrating to scroll down to
a section you want and read "Under Construction". :p
[1] Introduction
[2] Table of Contents
[3] Playing the Game
[3.1] What is Monster Hunter?
[3.2] Changes from MHF
[3.3] Controls
[3.4] The Menu
[3.5] The Village of Pokke
[3.6] Your Home
[3.7] Crafting
[3.8] Pokke Farm
[3.9] The Eleven Weapons
[3.9.a] Sword and Shield
[3.9.b] Dual Swords
[3.9.c] Great Sword
[3.9.d] Long Sword
[3.9.e] Hammer
[3.9.f] Hunting Horn
[3.9.g] Lance
[3.9.h] Gunlance
[3.9.i] Heavy Bowgun
[3.9.j] Light Bowgun
[3.9.k] Bow
[3.10] Armor, Decorations, and Armor Skills
[3.11] Progressing through the Game
[3.11.a] Quests
[3.11.b] Gathering
[3.11.c] Hunting
[3.11.d] Slaying
[4] Pokke Elder Quests - Offline
[4.1] * One Star Elder Quests
[4.1.a] Mountain Herb Picking
[4.1.b] An Anteka in the Snow
[4.1.c] Hunt the Carnivore!
[4.1.d] Sinking Feeling
[4.1.e] Slay the Blangos
[4.1.f] Urgent Quest - The Carnivorous Leader
[4.2] ** Two Star Elder Quests
[4.2.a] Gathering - Snowy Mountains
[4.2.b] Gathering - Jungle Zone
[4.2.c] Gathering - Desert Zone
[4.2.d] The Carnivorous Leader
[4.2.e] Reckless Bulldrome Hunter
[4.2.f] Slay the Giaprey!
[4.2.g] The Pack of Blangos
[4.2.h] The Taboo of Negligence!
[4.2.i] Hunt Down the Velocidrome!
[4.2.j] Jungle Menace
[4.2.k] Rarest of the Rare Beasts
[4.2.l] Hunt the Rare Forest Congas!
[4.2.m] Attack of the Giant Bugs!
[4.2.n] Collect to Combine
[4.2.o] Hunt the Gendrome
[4.2.p] The Land Shark
[4.2.q] Liver of Legend!
[4.2.r] Gone Fishin'
[4.2.s] Urgent Quest - Shadow in the Snow
[4.3] *** Three Star Elder Quests
[4.3.a] Gathering - Swamp Zone
[4.3.b] Gathering - Forest and Hills
[4.3.c] Shadow in the Snow
[4.3.d] The Subterranean Glutton
[4.3.e] Blango Slaying Tactics
[4.3.f] Aim for the Jungle Crab
[4.3.g] Master of the Giant Lake
[4.3.h] A Swarm of Hermitaurs
[4.3.i] The Purple Poison Menace
[4.3.j] The Lurking Desert Giant
[4.3.k] Water Wyvern in the Desert
[4.3.l] Slay the Genprey!
[4.3.m] Gypceros: Venomous Terror
[4.3.n] Attack of the Blue Kut-Ku
[4.3.o] The Mischief-maker
[4.3.p] Fang of the Iodrome!
[4.3.q] Slay the Great Kut-Ku!
[4.3.r] A Killing from Mushrooms
[4.3.s] Urgent Quest - The Ruler of the Snow
[12] Item List
[15] Afterword
======================================================================
[3] Playing the Game [3]
======================================================================
Not everyone reading this walkthrough has played the game, or has any
idea what Monster Hunter is or how it's played, or owns the game
manual for Monster Hunter Freedom 2. And that's ok, because here I'll
go over all that wonderful and explanative goodness you can probably
find by playing the game and reading the manual.
======================================================================
[3.1] What is Monster Hunter? [3]
======================================================================
It's hard to describe. The answer to that question is usually "Look up
videos on YouTube", but I'll try.
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is the second game in the Monster Hunter
Freedom series. The Freedom games are ports of the original Monster
Hunter games for the PS2, with a few modifications to make the game
playable on the PSP (which lacks dual analog and the hardware power of
the PS2).
In Monster Hunter, you do just what the name implies - you hunt
monsters. It sounds like a simple concept that's already been done in
video games, but what sets Monster Hunter apart from other games is
depth - this isn't like any other game where you just target a monster
and attack it until it dies.
You have full control over your hunter. The analog stick controls
movement, and the other buttons control actions like attacking,
drawing and sheathing your weapon, rolling, guarding. You don't evade
attacks simply by pressing the evade button, you have to actually
avoid the attack yourself. These monsters aren't cakewalks either.
Monsters are anywhere from two to twenty times your size. Even the
weakest attacks will shave off 20-30% of your health. Two hit kills
are commonplace and 100% combos can happen in an instant. Fights can
take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, on average.
For that reason, you need skill to pick up and get better at Monster
Hunter. Decent reflexes. Time management. Quick learning. Common
sense. The ability to be in the right place at the right time. Simply
having the best weapons and armor isn't going to let you blaze through
the game (though it certainly will help if you're good).
Will you like this game? That's up to you. The only game I can think
of that is remotely like Monster Hunter is Diablo II - if you liked
that, you will probably like Monster Hunter Freedom 2. In fact, the
more I think about it, the more Diablo II and Monster Hunter seem
similar.
======================================================================
[3.2] Changes from MHF [3.2]
======================================================================
As the name implies, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is the second game in
the Freedom series, introducing many changes from the first game.
Here's a list of them in somewhat random order:
- New town (Pokke) instead of Kotoko
It's all the same to me, honestly.
- Farm Point system has been revised
You no longer get points for selling or buying items. Instead,
you get a certain number of points for every "Account Item" you
bring in... Powderstone is worth 3000, Special Mushrooms are
50, and so forth... This also introduces new items like Goldstone
Piece and Silverfish. You also get points for doing quests at the
Training School and for doing Treasure Hunting quests.
- Farm renovations changed
Mushroom Tree and Beehive will give you items similarly to Bomb
Mining did. Instead of having to gather items one at a time,
you will see a list of all items you got from it and can pick
which items to take and which to sell for z. You can also send
items obtained this way directly to your storage box.
There is a new renovation, Trenya's Boat, that will bring you
items in exchange for points.
- Reward system changed
Any items left in your post-quest rewards will be sold for z
instead.
- Miniature storage boxes added
These boxes give you access to your item storage, but not your
equipment storage. There's one at the Pokke Farm, and one at the
Guild Hall.
- Storage holds six pages of items
To cater to the increased number of different items, obviously.
It's still not enough.
- Inventory holds 24 items instead of 20
Now there's no excuse for forgetting your Combo Books.
- New boss monsters
Tigrex, a wyvern whose wings have adapted into legs.
Daimyo Hermitaur, a hermit crab living in a Monoblos Skull.
Shogun Ceanataur, a hermit crab living in a Gravios Skull.
Shen Gao Ren, a large crab living in a Lao-Shan Lung Skull.
Bulldrome, the drome version of Bullfango.
Giadrome, the drome version of the new Giaprey.
Congalala, a primate that attacks mainly with contact damage.
Blangonga, a primate that uses ice.
Rajang, a ferocious horned gorilla that uses lightning.
Kushala Daora, the Elder Dragon of wind (wind shield).
Chameleos, the Elder Dragon of Mist (invisibility).
Teostra, the Elder Dragon of Fire (burning aura).
Lunastra, the female version of Teostra.
Akantor, the new final wyvern.
White Fatalis, now with less health and more instakills!
- New minions
Giaprey, white Velociprey that can spit ice at you.
Congas, the minion version of Congalala.
Blango, the minion version of Blangonga.
Hermitaur, the minion version of Daimyo Hermitaur.
Ceanataur, the minion version of Shogun Ceanataur.
Great Thunderbug, a floating insect that goes for contact damage.
Remobra, annoying little wyverns that try to poison you.
- Basarios now takes extra damage when stomach is broken
Before he didn't. Now he does. He's still too easy.
- Camera revamped
It no longer sucks to fight in FnH 9!
- New armorsets (mostly for new monsters)
- New armor skills
Most are there to complement the new weapon types or new status
ailments, but there are a few other notable ones you can use with
any weapon. (Evade+2, Runner...)
- New items
Obviously... most are to deal with the new status ailments, but
there are some new ones. Cooked Fish both heals the red HP gauge
and acts as an Immunizer, Shock Traps are like Pitfall Traps that
hold monsters in place but have a much shorter duration...
- Armors can be previewed before crafting
If the armor shows up on your crafting list, you can preview it
even if you don't have the materials to make it. You can't
rotate the preview though, which sucks.
- Armor can now be upgraded
At the cost of z and Armor Spheres, you can upgrade your armor,
giving it 2 more defence per upgrade. As you upgrade more,
the cost increases and type of Armor Sphere needed changes.
Each armor has a preset maximum level of upgrade - for some it's
14, for others it might only be 7.
- New effect, Quake
It's essentially Faint/KO (you even mash out of it), but it
happens when you get hit by the quaking effect of a monster's
attack.
- New status ailments
Frozen, during which you will run at egg-carrying speed. You can
still roll, but you cannot use any items except Thawing Agents.
Fatigued, during which your max stamina becomes 25 and you cannot
use any items to raise it without curing the Fatigue first.
Odor, during which you cannot use any items on yourself other
than Deodorant. There are no armor skills that prevent Odor.
Defence down, during which your defence is cut in half.
- Wyvern Wind fixed
Instead of making you fall backwards, Wyvern Wind now properly
pushes you away from the point of origin.
- Decoration system added
Armors and weapons now have slots, which can be filled with
decorations to modify the armor skills given by that piece of
equipment.
- Color changing armor system added
S-series armor will have parts whose color can be changed. Colors
are changed at your equipment box.
- Maximum armor/item rarity is now 9
They're Red!
- +Rank removed, only Normal and Hard Rank now
Dragonite Ore, MB+, and other old +Rank items can be obtained in
the higher starred Normal quests.
- Maximum HR is now 6
But since Hard Rank now starts at HR4 instead of HR3, it's
essentially the same thing as it was before (especially
considering the fact that going from HR1 to HR3 is now a joke).
- A few new monster properties
Hard Ranked Gravios and Black Gravios can do a sweeping beam that
has less range but covers a wide area in front of him.
Hard Ranked Gypceros can be carved once when it is playing dead.
Plesioth can do a body splash like Cephadrome does.
Yian Kut-Ku can do a swoop like Rathalos does.
All Rathian variations can do a second backflip after the first.
- New affinity system added
Affinity controls critical hits and negative critical hits.
Critical hits do 125% raw damage, negative critical hits do 75%
raw damage. 0% affinity means no critical hits at all.
- New area, SnowyMountains
If you like getting tons of Ice Crystals and one or two Machalite,
you might like SnowyMountains. I don't.
- Desert, Volcano, Jungle, and Swamp have been changed
The changes are mainly to open up more of the areas to monsters
who previously only stayed in one or two areas (like Diablos).
They're also a nice change.
- Most areas now come in Night and Day variations
Night and day will control some environmental changes. Some paths
become blocked off or become open. Desert(night) becomes cold
instead of hot. The lava level is higher in Volcano(night).
Jungle(night) and Swamp(day) have rain. Swamp(night) has poisonous
swampy areas. Forest and Hills does not have a night variation.
- Bombs cannot be used in the rain
A new item, LightningRod, can only be used in the rain.
- New weapon types
Bows have unlimited ammo at the cost of damage. They are simpler
to use than Bowguns and offer a new range alternative to those who
couldn't manage ammo with Bowguns.
Gunlances are slightly weaker Lances that can only do cutting
damage, but have shelling, which enables them to perform longer
combos and deal some explosion-type damage in their combos.
Hunting Horns are significantly weaker than Hammers, but can
inflict KO and can perform Recital music, which can give out
temporary buffs like increased movement speed, +30% damage,
infinite stamina, healing...
Long Swords are like Great Swords, but are much faster in
exchange for also being much weaker. They cannot block, but can
accumulate Spirit Gauge, which increases attack when filled and
can be consumed to use a strong Spirit Attack. (Also, all Great
Swords that were previously katana-like in appearance are now
Long Swords)
- Hammers have been improved
Hammers (as well as Hunting Horns) can inflict KO. KO acts like
other status ailments, but the amount of KO inflicted varies by
attack (Hammers are better at it), and KO will only accumulate
when the attack hits the monster's head (except for the smaller
Dromes, in which case any attack that hits will inflict KO)
A monster that is KO'd will fall on the floor (like a leg stagger
knockdown), but will stay down long enough for two triple pounds.
- Sword and Shield have been severely weakened
They now have a VAR of 1.12 on their raw damage instead of 1.5,
so they do approximately 74.6% of the raw damage they did before.
In exchange, most of SnS' attacks have High Wind Res, and you can
use items with the weapon out. Yippee.
- Lances have been weakened
They now do 72% damage when they do Impact damage except for the
charging (81% instead) and blocking (100%) attacks. On the other
hand, they can now do three backstep/sidesteps in a row.
- Dual Swords have been improved... sorta
They do more raw damage on each attack, but do only 70% elemental.
It's a bit of a toss-up, really.
- Great Swords have been improved
They now have a charge attack which has High Wind Res while
charging and is the most powerful single attack in the game.
- Heavy Bowguns have been improved
They can now get a Power Barrel mod which further increases their
raw power. Or a Shield which auto-guards as long as you aren't
reloading or recoiling. You're better off with the damage, but
at least now you have something better to pick than a Scope, Long
Barrel, or a Silencer.
- Sleep has been improved
Sleeping monsters now take triple damage on the attack that wakes
it up. This has improved Sleep Bombing and is of great benefit
to Hammers and Great Swords, which can make the best use of this
triple damage.
- Stun has been improved
Stunned monsters now take 10% extra damage from everything.
- New element, Ice
Personally, I don't like the element. Things notably weak to Ice:
Cephadrome, Velocidrome, Rathalos, Monoblos, Diablos, Rajang.
Notice how a lot of the things on that list you wouldn't use an
elemental weapon on anyway.
- Monsters now have less HP and all weapons are slightly weaker
It all kinda evens out, but it's pretty obvious these changes
were made to help prevent soft headlocking. HL is still possible,
though.
- Monsters hit harder
It's true. Oh, it's true.
- Defence values on armor is roughly doubled
150 defence in this game is about the same as 75 defence in MHF.
Elemental resistance system remains the same.
- Some carves have been simplified
For example, instead of Rathalos and Rathian Claws, there are
just Fire Wyvern Claws dropped by both monsters. All rubies from
all Rathalos variations are now Rathalos Rubies, same applies to
Rathian Rubies...
- Almost all hunting quests are now "slay or capture"
As a result, all capture quests have been removed. The only quests
that aren't slay or capture are the ones for monsters that can't
be captured anyway.
- Powderstone/Herbivore Egg/Wyvern Egg quests removed
Well, there's still an Egg delivery download quest, but for the
most part, they're gone. The items are still in the game as
Account Items though.
- Early Bird Piercing removed
On the bright side, High Speed Gathering is one of the easier
skills to get via Decorations.
- Sword Saint Piercing cannot be crafted
It is now the reward for completing every single solo training
mission with every weapon. That's 10 x 5 Battle Training and
5 x 5 Special Training.
- Training School now offers Group Training quests
Mandatory to unlock Fatalis. There's only three of them :(
- Treasure Hunting quests can now be done solo
It's not like you're going to score very high by yourself anyway.
- Downloadable content
Oh yeah, downloadable content. An alternative to people who can't
unlock the Fatalis brothers the normal way, or want access to
items before they can get them (HR4+s can fight HR6 monsters via
download quests). There's other bonuses in the downloadable
content too, but not much of it really matters.
I think that's it, aside from the numerous small weapon changes (i.e.
Shining Wyvern Blade has slightly less raw). That was a long list.
======================================================================
[3.3] Controls [3.3]
======================================================================
Controls are probably the most intimidating part about this video
game, but give it some time and they'll grow onto you.
Here's some ASCII to remind you what buttons you've got on your PSP:
_________________________________________
/ L / \ R \
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻ |ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ| ŻŻŻŻŻŻ\
/ | | sony \
| _ | | |
| _| |_ | | T |
|| | | | [] O |
| Ż| |Ż | | X |
| Ż | | |
\ O | | /
\_____ |___________________________| ______/
\ home - vol + PSP select start/
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--- In Menus:
Simple menu controls.
D-Pad: Scroll up/down/left/right
X: Confirm
Circle: Cancel
--- In Town:
More simple controls.
Analog Stick: Movement
X: Talk
Square: Use exit
Triangle: Quick travel
You actually can't use this in town, but when using any exit that
goes TO Town, you can press Triangle instead to quickly go to one
of the other areas that you would have to go through Town to get to.
It's just a convenient thing to have.
Start: Open Menu
More information on the Menu in the section about the Menu.
(Section 3.4)
--- In the Field:
Field controls can be complicated!
Weapon specific controls will be covered in the section about
weapons. (Section 3.9)
Analog Stick: Movement
Movement is based on your camera angle. If you press down on the
analog stick, your character will move towards the camera no
matter which way your character was facing before.
D-Pad Left: Turn camera left
D-Pad Right: Turn camera right
D-Pad Up: Turn camera up
D-Pad Down: Turn camera down
You don't have full 360 degree camera turning when turning up/down,
it simply switches between three preset camera angles and positions.
You should operate the analog stick with the tip of your thumb, and
hit the D-Pad buttons with the side of your index finger. This lets
you move in one direction while turning the camera in another,
which makes running circles around your enemies a breeze.
X while moving: Roll or dive
Rolling is your basic evasive maneuver. Learn it, love it. Rolling
uses some stamina (25, to be exact), but it can get you out of a
tight spot in a hurry. Rolling also has a few invincibility frames.
You can only dive if your weapon is sheathed, if a monster sees you,
and if you are currently running in a direction away from that
monster. Diving has far more invincibility frames than rolling, but
the weapon sheathed requirement makes it less useful than rolling.
X+Analog Left or Right: Side roll
You can only do a side roll with your weapon out in order to end
a combo, otherwise you will do a regular roll instead. There is
nothing special about a side roll, other than the fact it can be
done to cancel or end combos.
Unlike moving, if you side roll to the left, your character will
roll to his or her left, regardless of which direction your camera
is facing. You also have to remember that you must hold the Analog
Stick left/right and not simply the direction which is your
character's left/right (otherwise you might do the wrong roll,
which can make the difference between life and death).
X, standing still: Crouch
Moving while crouching is slower, but increases your carving speed
and reduces the chances of a monster detecting you. If you roll
while crouching, it takes longer to roll and you will not be
crouching when the roll ends.
X, while fishing: Pull line
X, while cooking: Pull food
Fishing and cooking! Not things you'll do very often, but when you
do, remember that X is the button you need to press, not Square or
Circle. More on fishing and cooking in the section about Hunting.
(Section 3.11)
X, near a Supply Box: Open Supply Box
Blue Supply Boxes will provide you with basic items on every quest.
Just press X to open the Supply Box menu and use the menu controls
to take the items you want.
X, climb: Climb ledges and vines
R, while climbing: Climb faster
This is pretty self explanatory. If you see a ledge you can reach,
press X to climb it. Same goes for vines. Holding R makes you climb
vines faster, but you use Stamina as long as you keep it held down.
Run out of stamina and you'll fall off!
Square, weapon sheathed: Use items
Square, weapon drawn: Sheathe weapon
Only the Sword and Shield weapon type can use items with the weapon
drawn. All other weapon types must sheathe their weapons before
using items.
Triangle, weapon drawn: Weapon attack #1
The functions for Triangle vary from weapon to weapon, but it is
the universal main attack button for all weapons.
Circle, weapon drawn: Weapon attack #2
Again, the function for Circle varies from weapon to weapon. It is
a secondary attack for all weapons. For some weapons, it's stronger
than Triangle, for others it's weaker...
Circle, carving position: Carve monster
You have to have your weapon sheathed and be standing close enough
to a dead monster to carve it. Carving items from monsters is how
you will get most of your items in this game, so learn it well.
Tap L: Moves camera behind you
Does exactly what it says. Useful for running from place to
place, but using the D-Pad is best during fights.
Hold L: Open Inventory
Square, inventory open: Scroll left through items
Circle, inventory open: Scroll right through items
Triangle, inventory open: Scroll through ammo types
Inventory controls. Inventory stays open as long as you keep L held
down. Release it and it closes! Unlike most games, opening your
inventory does NOT pause the game. The action just keeps going!
R, weapon sheathed: Run
It's how you get from place to place. You usually won't run while
fighting, unless you're using one of the slow weapon types or
want to get out of whatever mess you've gotten yourself into.
R, weapon drawn: Block / R action
The functions for R vary from weapon to weapon. For most weapons,
R is block.
R+Triangle+Circle, weapon sheathed: Block / R action
This is what you press when you need to block in a hurry but don't
have the time to pull your weapon out and then block. It saves time.
It's pretty useful. For some weapons, R+Tri+Cir does something other
than the R action.
======================================================================
[3.4] The Menu [3.4]
======================================================================
There are two menus in Monster Hunter Freedom 2, the main menu that
shows up when you start the game, and the in-game one that you can
pull up by pressing Start.
The Main Menu's options are pretty self explanatory...
New Game - Starts a new game. Pick a character slot, create your
character, and begin a new game!
Continue - Loads a previously saved game.
Gallery - Watch movies that you've already seen in-game as well as a
few that you can't see in-game.
Options - Change the game options such as sound, background loading,
etc.
Download - Connect to Capcom's download service, where you can
download various things...
The in-game menu is far more important, since it's where you'll manage
your items, check your status and armor skills, pause the game...
You'll use it a lot. I'm sure of it. ;)
Items - Lets you go through your items. You can discard items,
rearrange their order... when you're in Multiplayer, this
is also how you give items to another hunter.
Combine - Combining items! If you have two compatible items, you
can combine them to make another more useful item. Check
the Combination List on GameFAQs for a list of items you
can make through combining.
Quest Info - This shows information on the current quest you have
taken. Most people just look at this to check how
much time they have left on their quest.
Gestures - This lets your character perform gestures. It's grayed
out when you aren't out on the field in a quest.
Player Info - This lets you check a quick summary of the other
players in the Gathering Hall. It'll show their
equipment, their Hunter Rank, their name... It's
grayed out outside of the Gathering Hall, since you
obviously can't use it on yourself. :p
Guild Card - This lets you edit and view your Guild Card, give your
Guild Card to other players in the Gathering Hall,
and view the Guild Cards you've received from others.
Status - This... shows you pretty much everything you need to know
about your character's current state, including how much
attack and defence you have, how much money you've got,
what armor skills you have...
Equipment Detail - This lets you check your equipped armor and
weapons in close detail.
Reference - Reference gives you access to two lists. Combo List
shows all the item combinations you've completed and
can give you help on figuring out the item combinations
you haven't completed. Monster List shows you a list of
all the monsters you've bought reference books for,
how many you've killed, and the maximum/minimum length
for each monster type.
Options - There's only one option here, and it controls if you
choose which channel of the Gathering Hall you join or
if the game does it automatically. Only change this if
you're having trouble playing Ad-Hoc with others.
Player Log - This shows the log of characters who've joined or left
the Gathering Hall. Grayed out when you aren't in the
Gathering Hall, and the log is reset when you leave
the Gathering Hall (not that it's important anyway).
Pause - This only appears while you're on the field, and only if
you're playing by yourself. It pauses the game!
======================================================================
[3.5] The Village of Pokke [3.5]
======================================================================
Pokke Village! Where you'll be doing most of your pre-quest
preparations. It's also where you start off in the game, so it might
be a good idea to know what's around!
Exit
Training School / /
\ \ Gathering Hall / /
\ \______/ \____/ ŻŻŻŻŻŻ\
\ Red Pokke |
\ Cat Elder |
\ /
\ NPC1 /
\ /
\ /
\ NPC2 /
\ Item
| Seller
| NPC3 |
| NPC5 |
| \
| Crafter
| NPC4 \
| Felyne
| Seller
| |
/ ______/
/ /\ / |
Home / \ / Wandering
/ / | / Cat
/ / | |
_____/ ŻŻŻŻŻ |
Blue |
Nothing Cat Farm \
Aid \
______________________________________ \
\ Pokke
\ Farm
Yum yum, delicious maps. Here's what everything on the map is:
Home - It's your home. You can change weapons and armor here, save,
and get food from your chefs.
Training School - This is where you do Training Quests. Some items
can only be obtained at the Training School. More
about the Training School in the section about
Training School Quests. (Sections 8, 9, and 10)
Gathering Hall - This is where you go to do multiplayer and Guild
Hall quests.
Pokke Elder - The Pokke Elder gives you the solo Elder quests.
Exit - After taking a quest from the Pokke Elder, go here to leave
Pokke Village and go out to the field.
Item Seller - She sells essential items for quests. As you progress
through the Elder Quests, she'll start to sell higher
end items.
Crafter - You'll be talking to him a lot. The Crafter will craft all
weapons, armor, and decorations in the game. He's also in
charge of removing and attaching decorations to your armor,
and upgrading your armor.
Felyne Seller - The Felyne Seller sells armor and weapons rather than
crafts them, but only sells lower end equipment. As
you progress through the game, you can buy better
armor (but not better weapons).
Nothing - Just that, nothing. It's a path that looks like it would
go somewhere but it doesn't go anywhere.
Farm Aid - This guy will let you purchase renovations for the Pokke
Farm, and lets you exchange Pokke Points for some harder
to obtain items (It's usually not worth the points though).
Red Cat - This NPC doesn't always appear here, but when she does,
she sells from one of several item lists. Keep checking to
see if she's selling an item you want!
Blue Cat - This cat will sell Felyne Chefs. As you progress through
the game, you'll be able to have more and more chefs (who
can then cook better food for you)
Wandering Cat - If you've downloaded a Wandering Cat, it'll appear
here to be hired.
NPC1 - This guy has semi-useful random information on the more
legendary monsters you'll face.
NPC2 - This NPC talks with NPC3 on a variety of subjects. Sometimes
they disagree.
NPC3 - This NPC talks with NPC2 on a variety of subjects. Sometimes
they disagree.
NPC4 - This guy is the hunter you replaced. He usually has information
on upcoming urgent quests or urgent quests you've already done.
NPC5 - This felyne NPC tells you about some armor skills.
======================================================================
[3.6] Your Home [3.6]
======================================================================
Home! Home is definately one of the more important places in Pokke
Village, since it houses a variety of things...
Felyne
Kitchen__
\ \
\ Bed\
Storage \
Box___ \
Exit
At the Felyne Kitchen, you can get the Felynes you've hired as chefs
from the Blue Cat to cook food for you. By cooking the correct
combination of ingredients, you can get temporary effects like Max
Health+50, Damage+5%, Stamina+30... Although the effects only last
for one quest or one life (whichever comes first), being able to
increase your maximum health by 50% is nothing to shrug at. Get used
to getting food from your Felyne Chefs before every quest.
You can read more about the Felyne Kitchen from the Felyne Kitchen and
Felyne Whim Skills on GameFAQs. I won't go into any more detail on the
subject when you can just read those FAQs instead.
The Bed is where you save. Even though you're given the option to save
after every quest, if there's some reason you want to save while
you're in Pokke Village, the bed is where you do it.
Storage Box! Another thing you'll be spending quite a bit of time
with. The storage box stores your items and extra equipment. Your
inventory will fill up fast if you just leave your Brute Bones and
Sharp Claws in there, so just deposit them into your storage box. It's
also the only place where you can change your equipment, so if you
ever need to change armor or weapons, go to your storage box to change
them.
Your Storage Box can register up to 10 sets of armor and weapons,
which lets you quickly change from one set to the other without
changing each part one at a time. It's very useful once you own lots
of different sets of armor or weapons that you use for certain
situations, or when you want to remember that combination of armor
that gives you a certain armor skill...
And there's the exit, for when you want to head back to Pokke Village.
Don't hit yourself on the way out. :)
======================================================================
[3.7] Crafting [3.7]
======================================================================
Crafting is simple and almost completely automatic in Monster Hunter.
In fact, I almost feel bad writing an entire section about it!
To craft, talk to the Crafter in town and pick the type of crafting
you want to do - Weaponcraft, Armorcraft, or Decorations.
--- Weaponcraft
If you pick Weaponcraft, there'll be two choices - Create Weapon or
Improve Weapon.
If you pick Create Weapon, they'll ask you what weapon type you want
to create. Pick whichever one you want, and then a list of all the
weapons you can craft from scratch will appear.
Picking Improve Weapon will bring up your equipment list, and you pick
the weapon you want to upgrade. Once you've picked a weapon, a list of
all the possible upgrades will appear.
Pressing Square will show the new weapon and how it compares to the
old weapon (if upgrading) or the weapon you have equipped now (if
creating). You can press Select to see a preview of what the weapon
will look like.
If the name of the new weapon is white, you have all the materials
and money you need to create it! Press X to upgrade, and then again
when they ask you if you're sure.
If the name of the new weapon is gray, you either don't have enough
money or you don't have all the materials you need. You can check
what materials you need by pressing R. It'll look something like
this:
Barrel Lid : 0 ( 0) / 3
ShakalakaTreasre : 0 ( 15) / 3
FlynMealPassReg : 0 ( 2) / 5
The first number shows how many items you have in your inventory. In
my case, I don't have any Barrel Lids, ShakalakaTreasres, or
FlynMealPassRegs in my current inventory. The second shows how many
you have in your storage. The third number shows how many items you
actually need. It doesn't matter if the items are in your storage or
if they're in your inventory, as long as you have the number of
items you need.
Now that you know what you need, go out and get it!
Upgrading Bowguns is a little different. You don't upgrade Bowguns
into new Bowguns, but you mod the one you have to make it better. In
addition, upgrading Bowguns doesn't require any materials - only
money.
A Light Bowgun can get a Level Up, a Long Barrel, a Scope, or a
Silencer. The Level Up will increase the Bowgun's raw power by 12. The
Long Barrel will ensure all bullets will be accurate. The Scope lets
you zoom in (it's useless), and the Silencer will make it so monsters
attack you less often in Multiplayer.
A Heavy Bowgun can get a Level Up, a Power Barrel, a Shield, or a
Scope. The Level Up and Scope do the same thing they do for Light
Bowguns. The Power Barrel adds another 24 raw power onto the Bowgun.
The Shield makes it so that your Bowgun will automatically guard
attacks as long as you aren't reloading or recoiling from a shot.
Light or Heavy, either way your Bowgun can only have one of these mods
and only four Level Ups.
--- Armorcraft
If you pick Armorcraft, there will again be two choices - Create Armor
and Upgrade Armor.
If you pick Create Armor, they'll ask you what armor part you want
to create. Pick whichever one you want, and then a list of all the
armors you can craft from scratch will appear.
Picking Upgrade Armor will bring up your equipment list, and you pick
the armor you want to upgrade.
Armor can only have one type of upgrade - a Level Up. Level Ups
require Armor Spheres and money. Just like with upgrading weapons, if
the upgrade is possible, it'll be white. If the upgrade isn't
possible, it'll be gray.
Creating armor is the exact same process as creating a weapon. White
means it's doable, gray means it isn't. By pressing Square, you can
see the armor and how it compares to your current armor, and even what
armor skills you would have if you equipped it.
--- Decorations
If you pick Decorations, there'll be three choices. The last two are
for removing or attaching decorations to your armor. The first is
for creating decorations.
Creating decorations is just like creating armor, except that there is
less info to see when you press Square. Removing and attaching
decorations will take you to your equipment list - pick a piece of
equipment that has slots and it'll show you a list of all the
decorations you can put in or take out of it.
======================================================================
[3.8] Pokke Farm [3.8]
======================================================================
Boldrin's FAQ about the Pokke Farm covers everything you need to know
about the Pokke Farm. But for sake of completion, I'll go over the
basic concept of what the Pokke Farm's all about.
The Pokke Farm allows you to gather materials in-between quests. When
you are first introduced to the farm, there isn't much you can gather
from it. In order to gather more materials and more higher-end
materials, you need to perform renovations (and progress through the
game to unlock these renovations).
To pay for renovations though, you need Pokke Points. The Farm Aid in
town outside the Pokke Farm can explain them, but the basic idea is
that you get Pokke Points for finding and bringing in Account Items.
You can also get points from doing Training Quests and Treasure
Hunting quests, but it's more efficient to just bring in Account
Items.
Once the Farm is out of things to gather, you need to do a quest. Once
you come back from your quest, there should be more things for you to
gather again.
Be sure to get things from the Pokke Farm in-between each quest to
make things easier on yourself. If you won't do it for you, then at
least do it for all the people on the original Monster Hunter who
had to suffer without a farm to gather Machalite Ore and Dragonite
Ores from. :p
======================================================================
[3.9] The Eleven Weapons [3.9]
======================================================================
Before you can play Monster Hunter, you have to know what weapon type
you want to use! Otherwise you'll need to experiment, which can lead
to terrible situations like having to fight Plesioth with a Hunting
Horn...
While it's very much possible to beat the game using one weapon type,
you'll have a much easier time using several weapon type, since no
weapon type works equally well against all monsters. Great Swords
might be great against Rathalos, but terrible against Rajang. Instead
of trying to use a Great Sword against Rajang, you'd have an easier
time if you used a Hammer or Sword and Shield instead.
You don't need to be a master of all weapons, but you should at least
try to learn at least three different weapon types. You can start with
one - but if you find that there is a huge glaring weakness in that
weapon type (like the inability to block, or lack of reach), go ahead
and pick up another weapon type that covers that weakness.
You can go ahead and read the following sections and decide for
yourself which type you want to use, but if you want my viewpoint on
the weapon tiers:
End Game (HR6+):
Top: Hammers, Great Swords, Lances
Mid-High: Hunting Horns, Dual Swords, and Gunlances
Mid: Heavy Bowguns
Mid-Low: Long Swords and Light Bowguns
Bottom: Sword and Shield and Bows
Late Game (HR4+):
Top: Hammers and Great Swords
Mid-High: Hunting Horns, Gunlances, and Lances
Mid: Dual Swords, Heavy Bowguns
Mid-Low: Long Swords, and Bows
Bottom: Light Bowguns and Sword and Shield
Mid Game: (4* Elder+/HR2-3)
Top: Hammers and Great Swords
Mid-High: Hunting Horns, Gunlances, and Heavy Bowguns
Mid: Long Swords, Lances, and Sword and Shield
Mid-Low: Light Bowguns and Dual Swords
Bottom: Bows
Early Game: (1*-3* Elder)
Top: Hammers
Mid-High: Hunting Horns, Great Swords, Long Swords and Gunlances
Mid: Lances, and Sword and Shield
Mid-Low: Heavy Bowguns, Light Bowguns, and Bows
Bottom: Dual Swords
These are mostly based on damage output. There are other things to
consider when picking a weapon besides just this tier list. For
example, I put Bows near the bottom tier at almost every phase in
the game because they have the worst damage output - but they are also
the safest weapon to use because you are constantly standing where
it is difficult for monsters to hurt you.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where Hunting Horns belong on the
tier list. They aren't played very often in solo, and people generally
accept them as being great in multiplayer - yet, nobody has really
delved any deeper into it than that. Where does HH stand in terms of
damage output? How much does Recital Mode cut into precious
attacking time? We simply accept that it's good, when in reality it
may actually be terrible.
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.a] Sword and Shield [3.9.a]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Cutting
Sword and Shield (SnS) used to be one of the most powerful weapon
types in MHF. Although now they've been weakened, they still find use
in dealing high elemental damage.
SnS are fast and agile weapons. Mobility and speed are the strong
points for SnS - you can jump in towards a monster, hit it three or
four times, then quickly roll away from it before it can punish you.
Though they aren't the strongest weapons you'll ever use, they're
often suggested to new players because they are a simple weapon to
learn and use, and many of the things you learn with a SnS will apply
to all the other weapons.
Early game (1* - 3* Elder): 7/10
A few good early game SnS like Viper Bite and Velocidrome Bite
make SnS a good candidate for early game. Not the best, but still
good.
Mid game: (4* - HR3): 7/10
Some of the Elemental SnS finally start to get good at mid-game,
and SnS like Djinn, Eternal Strife, and Kirin Bolt Ultimus work
fine when Deathprize doesn't get the job done.
Late game: (HR4+): 5/10
SnS really suffers late game, since late game SnS are only barely
stronger than their mid game forms. Odyssey Blade and Azure Ogre
Sword are still good.
Pros:
++ High hit count = higher elemental damage.
++ Hits fast, and almost every attack can be cancelled into a roll
+ Simple to use
+ Can use items with weapon out
+ Can block
Cons:
-- Just doesn't compare to hard hitting weapons like the GS or Hammer
- Low raw damage requires you to make many different elemental SnS
- Mobility is useless against monsters who wouldn't hit you anyway
- Hard to consistantly hit a weakpoint for very long since SnS combo
causes you to move forward
- Low reach makes hitting some weakpoints difficult
Tree:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Early Game:
Hunter's Dagger -> Snake Bite -> Viper Bite
Hunter's Dagger -> HD+ -> Assassin's Dagger -> Velocidrome Bite -> VB+
Mid Game:
Viper Bite -> Deathprize
Bone Kris -> BK+ -> Chief Kris -> Red Saber -> Djinn
Kirin Bolt -> KB+ -> Kirin Bolt Ultimus
Rusted Sword -> Tarnished Sword -> Eternal Strife
If you don't really need a fire weapon (i.e. you use Gunlances too),
then don't make Djinn. Make Corona instead.
Late Game:
Bone Kris -> BK+ -> Chief Kris -> RedSaber -> Corona -> GoldenFalchion
Kirin Bolt Ultimus -> Thor's Dagger
Velocidrome Bite+ -> Odyssey -> Odyssey Blade
Blue Ogre Sword -> Azure Ogre Sword
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Unsheathe attack
Action: Triangle + Circle with weapon out
Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle after bouncing
Damage: 18%
Roll after: Yes
A jumping slash that covers a lot of ground. This is a good and
balanced attack, and should be your main combo starter. Get used to
the distance this covers, since you'll be using it a lot and won't
want to miss - since missing with this often results in missing with
the entire combo.
--Combo Slash 1
Action: Triangle
Triangle after Unsheathe Attack
Triangle after Upslice
Damage: 14%
Roll after: Yes
A single diagonal slash from top right to bottom left. This is a very
quick attack. It feels weird to me to use this attack and not
immediately use Combo Slash 2 right after it, since they are both very
fast and reasonably powerful attacks.
--Combo Slash 2
Action: Triangle after Combo Slash 1
Damage: 12%
Roll after: Yes
A single diagonal slash from bottom left to right mid. The next attack
in the SnS combo, and a fast one to boot. You can almost always find
time to get this one in before having to roll out.
--Combo Slash 3
Action: Triangle after Combo Slash 2
Damage: 8%, 12%
Roll after: Yes
A knee, followed by another diagonal slash. Since this attack is
actually two attacks, it's pretty slow, and if you don't think you can
get it in without getting punished, then don't do it. Roll instead...
It's pretty weak raw damage wise, but is still effective with an
elemental weapon. Notice that you move forward a bit with this attack,
which can cause you to miss the target's weakpoint.
--Revolution Slice
Action: Circle
Circle after Unsheathe Attack
Circle after Combo Slash 1
Circle after Combo Slash 2
Circle after Combo Slash 3
Damage: 24%
Roll after: Yes
A spinning slice that does heavy damage. The damage is great, it can
be used to end your combo with a bang, but remember that sometimes
it's safer to just roll to end your combo instead... You move forward
a bit with this attack, though it's not as bad as Combo Slash 3
(especially since a Revolution Slice will end your combo anyway,
giving you a chance to reposition for your next attack)
--Upslice
Action: Triangle after rolling
Triangle while guarding
Damage: 15%
Roll after: Yes
A vertical slash upward that does good damage. 15% damage. This attack
is actually pretty strong! Not as strong as the unsheathe attack, but
it can be done immediately after a roll, something with the unsheathe
attack can't do. This lets you remain constantly on the attack, if the
situation calls for it.
--Guard
Action: R Button
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Damage: Not an attack
Roll after: No
Guard. SnS Guard is the weakest guard and receives pushback/chip
damage on most attacks, but it's better than taking the hit.
For those of you who are savvy on how Guarding works,
0 Power or less: No pushback and no chip damage
14 Power or less: Small pushback and some chip damage
15 Power or more: Heavy pushback and full chip damage
--Use Item with weapon drawn
Action: Square while guarding
Damage: Not an attack
Roll after: No
Uses an item without having to sheathe your weapon. Not all items
can be used. If you use a Whetstone, your weapon will be sheathed when
you are finished.
--Guarding Attack
Action: Circle while guarding
Damage: 14%
Roll after: No
A horizontal slash that quickly returns to guard stance. Pretty slow,
but it immediately goes back to guarding after the attack ends. This
isn't anywhere near as useful as the Lance and Gunlance's guard
attack, since the SnS also has the weakest guard stance in the game.
I hardly ever use it, since guarding with the SnS isn't something you
can rely on and abuse throughout a fight.
--Chain Diagram:
Rev Slice Rev Slice Rev Slice
OR OR OR
Unsheathe Attack > Combo Slash 1 > Combo Sl 2 > Combo Sl 3 > Rev Slice
OR OR OR OR
Roll Roll Roll Roll
v v v v
v-------------v-------------v------------v------------v
v
v Rev Slice Rev Slice Rev Slice
v OR OR OR
Roll > Upslice > Combo Slash 1 > Combo Sl 2 > Combo Sl 3 > Rev Slice
^ OR OR OR OR
^ Roll Roll Roll Roll
^ v v v v
^----------v--------------v------------v------------v
Guard > Guarding Attack > Guard
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.b] Dual Swords [3.9.b]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Cutting
Dual Swords (DS) have been improved since MHF, now doing more raw
damage in exchange for doing less elemental damage. This has knocked
out the old popular Eternal Schism and put the spotlight on other
dual swords which utilize both strong raw and strong elemental power.
Dual Swords are also fast and agile weapons, though it takes a little
bit longer for DS to finish a combo compared to the faster SnS. Though
they can't block, DS are all about offence, and they really shine in
situations where defence isn't necessary, such as when a monster is
stunned by another hunter, caught in a trap, or taunting you.
Dual Swords also have the best of both worlds - they can put out a
lot of damage when mobility isn't needed, but they can also hit and
run when mobility is needed. However, this requires that the Dual
Swords do good damage even with hit and run, which can be a problem
when early game DS are weak...
Early game (1* - 3* Elder): 3/10
Ugh. Almost all DS available at this point in the game suffer from
bad sharpness, bad damage, or both.
Mid game (4* - HR3): 6/10
Bladed Edge+ becomes available, and is the best raw DS for a long
time. New elemental DS become available, but sharpness remains
a problem for these DS until they reach their late game forms.
Late game (HR4+): 9/10
Ultimus Heaven & Earth? Corpse Blades? Guild Knight Sabers? They do
it all. If it moves, one of those three dual swords will likely
tear it to bits.
Pros:
++ Above average damage output, excellent in multiplayer
+ Almost all attacks can be cancelled into a roll
+ Best melee weapon for many end-game monsters
Cons:
- Need to be attacking constantly to compare to full raw weapon types
- Burns through sharpness quickly
- Weak early game
- Difficult time hitting some weakpoints
Tree:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Early Game:
Bone Scythe -> BS+ -> Chief Scythe
Mid Game:
Chief Scythe -> Bladed Edge -> BE+
Bone Kris -> BK+ -> Chief Kris -> Red Saber -> Twin Flames
Twin Flames -> Hi Twin Flames
Twin Dagger -> TD+ -> Dual Tomahawk -> Order Rapier -> Holy Saber
Black Sword -> Double Dragon
Late Game:
Hi Twin Flames -> Gradios Ultimus -> Corpse Blades
Holy Saber -> Guild Knight Sabers
Double Dragon -> Dual Dragon Ultimus -> Ultimus Heaven & Earth
Worn Blades -> Weathered Blades -> Hi Twin Daggers -> Silhouette Saber
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Step Cross Slash
Action: Triangle + Circle
Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle after bouncing
Damage: 12%, 11%
Roll after: Yes
You dash forward and slash ahead with both swords. This is the Dual
Swords version of the SnS Unsheathe Attack - the attacks serve almost
exactly the same purpose, so I'm gonna just copy and paste what I
said about the SnS Unsheathe Attack:
This is a good and balanced attack, and should be your main combo
starter. Get used to the distance this covers, since you'll be using
it a lot and won't want to miss - since missing with this often
results in missing with the entire combo.
--Combo Slash 1
Action: Triangle
Triangle after Step Cross Slash
Damage: 18%
Roll after: Yes
A single diagonal slash from top right to bottom left. 18% damage.
It's a quick, balanced, and strong attack. It's part of your combo.
What else is there to say?
--Combo Slash 1 (mirrored)
Action: Triangle after rolling
Damage: 19%
Roll after: Yes
Same attack as the Combo Slash 1, but it's mirrored so the attack is
bottom right to top left, not that it really matters. The damage is
higher and it's the only attack that can be done immediately after
a roll, just like the SnS Upslash.
--Combo Slash 2
Action: Triangle after Combo Slash 1
Triangle after Combo Slash 1 (mirrored)
Damage: 10%, 8%
Roll after: Yes
A turning slash with both swords. A pretty fast attack, though the
damage isn't much to write about.
--Combo Slash 3
Action: Triangle after Combo Slash 2
Damage: 6%, 12%, 18%
Roll after: Yes
A low poke, followed by a turning slash with both swords. The damage
is good, but the attack itself is so slow that I usually prefer to
do the much faster Spinning Slashes after Combo Slash 2 instead of
this. Of course, if you're just mashing Triangle with your Dual
Swords, you probably won't have much choice in the matter :p
--Spinning Slashes
Action: Circle
Circle after Combo Slash 1
Circle after Combo Slash 2
Circle after Combo Slash 3
Damage: 15%, 10%, 6%
Roll after: Yes
A jumping spin with three diagonal slashes. This acts as a combo ender
much like the SnS' Revolution Slice, only it can't be done immediately
after Step Cross Slash. The damage is decent and the hit count is
good.
--Spinning Slashes (mirrored)
Action: Circle + Analog Stick Left
Circle + Analog Stick Left after Combo Slash 1
Circle + Analog Stick Left after Combo Slash 2
Circle + Analog Stick Left after Combo Slash 3
Damage: 15%, 10%, 6%
Roll after: Yes
Same attack, but mirrored. This one doesn't do extra damage, so the
only reason to use it is if you know regular Spinning Slashes will
miss if you don't. Note that it is very difficult to do this by itself
without accidentally turning left.
--Demonize
Action: R Button
R Button after Step Cross Slash
R Button after Combo Slash 1
R Button after Combo Slash 2
R Button after Combo Slash 3
R Button after Spinning Slashes
R Button after Rolling
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Damage: Not an attack
Roll after: Yes
During Demonize, you constantly drain stamina and your attacks do more
damage. Demonize will end when you use it again or when you run out of
stamina.
While under Demonization, your attacks do more damage:
Step Cross Slash: 16%, 14%
Combo Slash 1: 24%
Combo Slash 1 (mirrored): 25%
Combo Slash 2: 13%, 10%
Combo Slash 3: 8%, 16%, 24%
Spinning Slashes: 20%, 13%, 8%
You also have access to a few new attacks...
--Fury Combo
Action: Triangle + Circle while Demonized
Damage: 33%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 40%
Roll After: Yes
Ah, the fury combo. It does a ton of damage, and a ton of hits, so
it'll put out a hefty amount of elemental damage. It does have its
flaws though. For one, it's a long attack. The only way you can land
all ten hits on a monster's weakpoint is if it's standing perfectly
still or if you've trapped it. Also note that the strongest hits are
at the beginning and end of the entire attack - if you're only hitting
with half of the combo, you might as well not use it at all.
The fury combo has built in ESP, so it will not be interrupted if it
bounces off a monster's hide.
Newer hunters are often criticized for staying in Demonization all
the time and spamming this and only this attack. If you devote
yourself to using only the Fury Combo, you will miss out on plenty of
opportunities to get in small combos, and the damage you lose that
way will add up.
Not to mention you're chugging through sharpness (people tend to
ignore that they've lost a sharpness level and keep Fury Comboing
through it even though they're doing way less damage) and denying
yourself the Step Cross Slash by staying in Demonization mode. Still,
different situations call for different tactics. If you find the
chance to land a Fury Combo, go for it.
It is possible to roll and end your Fury Combo, but I don't know how
to do it. :P
--Double Spinning Slashes
Action: Circle while Demonized
Damage: 20%, 13%, 8%, 20%, 13%, 8%
Roll After: Yes
Two spinning slashes! More damage from Demonization, and you're doing
one right after the other! What more could you want?
--Spinning Slashes Fury Combo
Action: Circle, Circle while Demonized
Damage: 20%, 13%, 8%, 33%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 40%
One spinning slash with a fury combo tacked onto the end. A nice way
to end the Demonization if you know you're about to run out of
Stamina.
--Chain Diagram:
Spinning Sl Spinning Sl
OR OR
Step Cross Sl > Combo Sl 1 > Combo Sl 2 > Combo Sl 3 > Spinning Sl
OR OR OR OR
Roll Roll Roll Roll
v v v v
v--------v------------v------------v-------------v
v
v Spinning Sl Spinning Sl
v OR OR
Roll > Combo Sl 1 Mir > Combo Sl 2 > Combo Sl 3 > Spinning Sl
^ OR OR OR
^ Roll Roll Roll
^ v v v
^----------------v--------------v------------v
Everything >> Demonize >> Roll
Double Spinning Slashes >> Roll
Spinning Slashes Fury Combo >> Roll
Fury Combo >> Roll
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.c] Great Swords [3.9.c]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Cutting
Great Swords (GS) used to be that big hulking sword that people would
use to cut tails that they couldn't otherwise reach... now that Long
Swords have been introduced as a brand new tail reaching and cutting
weapon, GS needs a new task to do incredibly well...
And now they've got it. The GS has a charge attack, which when fully
charged, does the most damage out of any other attack in the entire
game. Being able to do the most damage in a single hit makes the GS
very effective against monsters whose weakpoints are only vulnerable
for a short time - while other weapons may only get one or two weak
attacks in, the GS gets one attack that does insane amounts of damage.
One fully charged GS swing does the same amount of raw damage as 3
regular GS swings. That might not seem like much, but remember that
the GS is a slow weapon that does already high damage on each swing.
Early Game (1* - 3* Elder): 6/10
Early game GS are a little weak, but once you develop them as far
as they can go, they'll still put a hurting on everything. Ravager
Blade and Golem Blade+ are equally good. Khezu Shock Blade is even
better than Ravager/Golem, but becomes obsolete after 4* Elder.
Mid Game (4* - HR3): 9/10
Great Swords get a huge boost, since now you should be able to make
Tactical Blade, which will be the strongest GS available for a long
time.
Late Game (HR4+): 10/10
Siegmund plows through almost everything. It's just too good.
Elemental GS also become available now, though only a few of them
are worth not using Siegmund.
Pros:
+++ The charge attack does the most damage in the game
+ Elemental GS still do good raw damage and have high elemental power
to boot
+ The GS charge means you can use just one strong raw GS for almost
everything
+ It can block, though every attack blocked lowers your sharpness
+ Sharpness doesn't deplete very quickly
+ Most attacks have High Wind Res
Cons:
- It's a slow weapon
- Less useful in multiplayer, since it's more difficult to bait your
monster into getting hit by a GS charge
- The GS is weak if you can't utilize the GS charge
- It's hard to learn to GS charge everything, though the ability to
release your charge at any time makes it easier
Tree:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Early Game:
Bone Blade -> BB+ -> Bone Slasher -> Golem Blade -> Golem Blade+
Buster Sword -> BS+ -> Buster Blade -> Ravager Blade
Note: You can go Ravager Blade -> Khezu Shock Sword, but then you
need to make a new Ravager Blade for Ravager Blade -> RB+.
If you don't have a problem with that, then go ahead. KSB is not
very good, since you can't upgrade it any further until late
game.
Mid Game:
Golem Blade+ -> Valkyrie Blade -> Spartacus Blade
Ravager Blade -> RB+ -> Tactical Blade
Black Blade
Note: You cannot get Rathalos Tails or Webbing from the 2* Guild
Rathalos. Wait until 6* Elder or HR3 Troublesome Pair.
Late Game:
Spartacus Blade -> Siegmund
Black Blade -> Fatalis Ancestor
Finblade -> Plesioth Wsword -> Plesioth Csword -> Plesioth Azureblade
Worn GS -> Weathered GS -> Teostra Blade -> King Teostra Blade
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Overhead Swing
Action: Triangle
Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle after bouncing
Damage: 48%
Roll after: Yes
An overhead swing with good forward range. Learn this attack well, as
you'll be relying on it often for monsters you can't Charge Slash.
It's the strongest unsheathe attack in the game, and you can roll
afterwards. I've fought many monsters using just this attack, rolling,
sheathing, and repeating.
This attack comes out slower if you don't use it as an unsheathe
attack.
--Side Swing
Action: Circle
Damage: 36%
Roll after: Yes
A weaker wide swing that hits all around you. Useful for clearing out
weaker monsters, but not much else, since its ability to hit a
weakpoint is pretty unreliable.
--Upswing
Action: Triangle + Circle
Damage: 46%
Roll after: Yes?
A reverse overhead swing. 46% damage.
This attack hits both in front and behind you. This attack will launch
other hunters you hit with it into the air, so it's highly encouraged
that you never ever use this attack in multiplayer. Solo, it has its
uses...
--Guard
Action: R Button
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Damage: Not an attack
Roll after: No
Guard. GS Guard is a medium strength guard, but you lose some
sharpness every time you block an attack with a GS.
For our guard savvy hunters...
14 Power or less: No pushback and no chip
15 to 39 Power: Small pushback and some chip damage
40 Power or higher: Large pushback and full chip damage
--Charge Slash
Action: Press and Hold Triangle
Press and Hold Triangle with weapon sheathed
Damage: 71.5% (Level 1), 96% (Level 2), or 143% (Level 3)
Roll after: Yes
(Note: For our damage formula savvy, the damage values given here
already factor in the bonus VAR for using the Charge Slash. The VAR
is factored in to better compare the Charge Slash to the other
attacks.)
Begins charging an overhead swing that does insane damage. You'll hear
three noises as the swing charges, each noise indicates that you've
charged it to the next level. The Charge Slash can be released at any
time, even before it has reached Lv1 (it'll act as an Overhead Slash
instead)
As absurd as the damage values for these attacks are, note that the
attack is very difficult to land, and that if you cannot land the Lv3,
you are usually better using regular unsheathe Overhead Swings
instead. Landing the Lv3 on the weakpoint is very important, as it
will almost always guarantee a head stagger, allowing you to safely
roll out without any fear of being punished for the attack.
Note that like the Overhead Swing, this attack comes out slower if you
don't use it as an unsheathe attack.
For help on landing this fearsome attack, look for naijiao's videos on
GS Charging on YouTube.
--Chain Diagram:
o>>>>> Side Swing <<<<o
v ^ v
Overhead Swing o Charge Slash
^ v ^
o>>>>>> Upswing <<<<<<o
Everything > Roll
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.d] Long Swords [3.9.d]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Cutting
Ah, one of the new weapon types. Long Swords were originally known as
Tachis in the Japanese game, and so the initial impression hunters got
of the LS was that it was a purely offensive weapon that focused on
power and speed.
As time passed, we realized that the LS was not a purely offensive
weapon, but rather a balanced weapon that has good amounts of speed,
raw power, elemental power, and mobility. Due to this, the Long Sword
is usually beaten out by another weapon that specializes in one area
rather than trying to balance many areas.
Of course, if you don't care about that and just want a good, balanced
weapon that can take on almost anything, then the Long Sword is for
you. The only real weakness of a LS is that it can't block - but
instead it has a Spirit Gauge that fills up as you land attacks,
which boosts your power when filled to the max and can be used to
use stronger attacks.
Early Game (1* - 3* Elder): 8/10
Early game Long Swords are very powerful, but require quite a bit
of effort to craft and upgrade. Eager Cleaver boasts a good amount
of raw and sharpness with some Thunder element to boot, and is
probably the only LS you'll need for a while.
Mid Game (4* - HR3): 6/10
New elemental Long Swords become available, but aside from that,
LS doesn't get much stronger than it was in Early Game. Wyvern
Blade "Blood" and Red Dragonsword will help your Devil Slicer cover
more elemental ground though.
Late Game (HR4+): 4/10
All the LS get new upgrades and boosts, but they just don't compare
to how strong other weapons have gotten at this point in the game.
Still, they remain balanced weapons and have a few good matchups.
Pros:
+ Most elemental LS have a ton of element to compensate for their
shortfalls in raw power
+ Moderately high hit count allows it to utilize elemental power
well
+ Tri+Cir attacks and dodges attacks at the same time
+ Good reach makes tail cutting easier
+ Can roll out of most attacks
Cons:
- It can't block
- Spirit Gauge can be difficult to accumulate against faster moving
monsters
- Weak in doing raw damage without the Spirit Gauge boost
Tree:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Early Game:
Iron Katana -> "Grace" -> "Gospel" -> Eager Cleaver
Bone -> Large Bone -> Bone Katana "Wolf" -> "Shark" -> "Dragon"
Mid Game:
Eager Cleaver -> Devil Slicer
Bone Katana "Dragon" -> Supremacy Blade
Bone -> Large Bone -> Bone Katana "Wolf" -> "Shark"
Bone Katana "Shark" -> Wyvern Blade "Fall" -> "Blood"
Fire Dragonsword -> Red Dragonsword
Note: You cannot get Rathalos Tails or Webbing from the 2* Guild
Rathalos. Wait until 6* Elder Troublesome Pair.
Late Game:
Devil Slicer -> True Devil Slicer
Supremacy Blade -> Divine Slasher
Wyvern Blade "Blood" -> Wyvern Blood "Maple"
Red Dragonsword -> Smoulder Dragonsword
Akantor Katana
Note: Use the Akantor Katana only with the armor skill Sharpness+1.
Otherwise, it is weaker than using Divine Slasher.
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Vertical Slash 1
Action: Triangle
Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle after bouncing
Damage: 33%
Roll after: Yes
A vertical slash that has a lot of reach. Like its brother, the GS,
this is a powerful unsheathe attack that can be rolled after and used
as hit and run. It is also a combo starter for...
--Vertical Slash 2
Action: Triangle after Vertical Slash 1
Triangle after Upslash
Damage: 28%
Roll after: Yes
Looks exactly like Vertical Slash 1, but does less damage. It can be
used after the Upslash, or tacked onto the end of the Vertical Slash
1 before rolling away to safety.
--Stab
Action: Circle
Circle after Vertical Slash 2
Circle inbetween parts of the Spirit Combo
Damage: 20%
Roll after: Yes
Not much of an attack, but it's part of the Long Sword combo. A hit's
a hit when you're using an Elemental LS anyway.
--Upslash
Action: Triangle after Stab
Damage: 23%
Roll after: Yes
Better than the stab, but still not much of an attack. Note that it
creates a loop with Vertical Slash 2 and Stab.
--Backsweep
Action: Triangle + Circle
Triangle + Circle after any other attack
Damage: 30%
Roll after: Yes
A wide diagonal slash from left to right, followed by a long backstep.
This attack comes with a few invincibility frames, and the backstep
makes it an incredibly safe attack (use it to leap out of an attack's
range and attack at the same time).
--Spirit Combo Part 1
Action: R Button
Damage: 35% (16% when Spirit Gauge is too low)
Roll after: Yes
A wide diagonal swing that hits a wide area. Starts the Spirit Combo.
Unlike the other parts of the Spirit Combo, this can be done even
without enough Spirit Gauge, but it will do less damage.
--Spirit Combo Part 2
Action: R Button after Spirit Combo Part 1
Damage: 36%
Roll after: Yes
Another wide diagonal swing, this time in the opposite direction.
You cannot do the Spirit Combo Part 2 if you do not have enough
Spirit Gauge. I don't really use this if I know I can't do the third
part, but some people might find it useful as a quick substitute for
the Vertical Slash.
--Spirit Combo Finisher
Action: R Button after Spirit Combo Part 2
Damage: 18%, 18%, 40%
Roll after: Yes
Two quick sweeps followed by a strong vertical slash. You cannot do
the Spirit Combo Finisher if you do not have enough Spirit Gauge.
--Chain Diagram:
Vertical Sl 1 > Vertical Sl 2 > Stab > Upslash
^ v
^<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Spirit Combo 1 >>> Spirit Combo 2 >>> Spirit Combo 3
v ^ v ^
v>>>> Stab >>>>>>^ v>>>> Stab >>>>>>^
Roll << Everything >> Backsweep
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.e] Hammer [3.9.e]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Impact
It's a hammer. This end's the one you hold. This other end is the big
end that you swing around.
Hammers are big. And as most of us know, all big things in video games
are slow. Hammers are no exception - the Hammer's combos are
relatively slow, nor do they cover as much distance as the SnS or Dual
Swords can.
On the other hand, they're big. Huge. They dole out the most raw
damage of any other weapon type - it'd be a shame if they didn't,
given how slow they are. Of course, just like the Great Sword with the
GS charge, players have figured out how to use the power of the hammer
at it's greatest potential, while making the lack of speed as small
of a handicap as possible.
It's not enough that Hammers do tons of damage - they deliver so much
force that they can actually knock out monsters, causing them to
helplessly fall over and be vulnerable for a good 7-8 seconds. Each
KO sets a monster up to receive even more pain from a Hammer, and it's
not unusual for a monster to get KO'd three or four times in a
single fight. Any Hammer attack that hits a monster's head will work
towards causing the KO - which also works out great for hammers,
because the Impact weakpoint of a monster usually is the head.
KO is honestly, just way too good of a status effect. The only time
when Hammers aren't that great are when the weakpoint isn't the
head or is hard to reach, or when blocking is essential. Aside from
that, Hammers can fight any monster in the game with little trouble.
It's a hammer. It's slow, it's powerful, it knocks out monsters, and
if you learn how to use one well, you'll probably never have trouble
with this game again.
Early Game (1* - 3* Elder): 9/10
I want to say that early Hammers are crippled by a lack of green
sharpness. I really do. But then I factor in KO, and KO is just so
good that it makes the Hammer worth using over every other weapon
type. The power of KO is something that can't really be described
in text. You have to witness it yourself.
Mid Game (4* - HR3): 9/10
Anvil Hammer. Enough green sharpness and raw power to go around.
And let's not forget, KO.
Late Game (HR4+): 10/10
Onslaught Hammer is easy to make and is powerful enough to rival
Siegmund. Fatalis Buster is both powerful and has Dragon element
to boot. Diablos Chaos Broker takes effort to make, but it is so
overwhelmingly powerful that you may not need another raw weapon
ever again.
Pros:
+++ KO. Getting a KO means you get two free triple pounds, more than
enough to maim anything that moves.
+ Hammers have one of the best (if not the best) damage outputs in
the game, thanks to the massive power of the triple pound and the
KO status.
+ Hammers are versatile - use the triple pound for slower monsters
that require brute power, and use the superpound for faster monsters
that require speed, mobility, and range.
Cons:
-- Hammers can be problematic in multiplayer, since all of the
hammer's good attacks will knock away allies
- Hammers are terrible at utilizing elemental damage
- Hammers can't Block
- Being an impact weapon, it can't cut tails
- Hammers can be difficult to learn if you're used to fast weapons
Tree:
Early Game:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
War Hammer -> WH+ -> War Mace -> Iron Striker
Bone Club -> Atlas Hammer -> Kut-Ku Jaw
Mid Game:
Iron Striker -> Iron Striker+ -> Anvil Hammer
Kut-Ku Jaw -> Kut-Ku Pick
Black Hammer
Late Game:
Anvil Hammer -> Onslaught Hammer
Black Hammer -> Fatalis Buster
Kut-Ku Pick -> Hard Bone Hammer -> Hard Bone Hammer+
Hard Bone Hammer+ -> Diablos Hammer -> Diablos Chaos Broker
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Unsheathe attack
Action: Triangle with weapon sheathed
Damage: 20%
KO Inflicted: 15
Roll after: Yes
A weak upward swing. Keyword is weak. Even for a Hammer, this attack
is weak. Weeeeak. Fortunately it's only the unsheathe attack, and you
can always just use R + Triangle + Circle to unsheathe and immediately
charge instead.
--Triple Pound Part 1
Action: Triangle
Triangle after Side Swing
Damage: 52%
KO Inflicted: 10
Roll after: Yes
A vertical pound with the hammer. The damage is good, but you need to
connect with the entire triple pound to get good damage out of it.
--Triple Pound Part 2
Action: Triangle after Triple Pound Part 1
Damage: 20%
KO Inflicted: 15
Roll after: Yes
Another pound, not nearly as strong, but better KO. It's all just
sizing you up for...
--Triple Pound Finisher
Action: Triangle after Triple Pound Part 2
Damage: 100%
KO Inflicted: 45
Roll after: Yes
Bam! A golfswing that does insane damage and KO, and the reason the
Hammer puts out such disgustingly high raw damage. Landing this on the
weakpoint almost guarantees a stagger.
--Side Swing
Action: Circle
Damage: 15%
KO Inflicted: 15
Roll after: Yes
It's fast and inflicts good KO. That's about all this attack has going
for it.
--Charge
Action: Press and Hold R Button
Damage: Not an attack
Roll after: Yes
You step back a bit and begin to charge the hammer up for a powerful
swing. While charging, you have High Wind Resistance.
--Lv1 Charge Swing
Action: Press and release R Button before reaching Lv2 charge
Triangle after bouncing
Damage: 45%
KO Inflicted: 10
Roll after: Yes
A quick side swing that moves you a good distance forward. Plenty
stronger than the Side Swing but just as fast since it can be used
quickly (just don't charge at all).
--Lv2 Charge Swing
Action: Press and release R Button between Lv2 and Lv3 charge
Damage: 45%, 35%
KO Inflicted: 10, 15
Roll after: Yes
A quick side swing, followed by an upward swing. Like the Lv1 Charge
Swing, but with the extra hit tacked on the end. Good KO.
--Super Pound
Action: Press and release R Button once fully charged while not moving
Damage: 20%, 76%
KO Inflicted: 5, 30
Roll after: Yes
Your other good attack. It has a wide area of effect, so it hardly
ever misses. Does great damage and great KO. You can't use it very
quickly since it has to be charged, but being a charge move means you
have all the mobility of charging while charging it.
The Super Pound also has built in ESP, so it won't be interrupted if
it bounces off a monster's hide.
--Hammer Spin
Action: Press and release R Button once fully charged while moving
Damage: 20%, 10% per revolution
KO Inflicted: Unknown (possibly none?)
Roll after: No
You begin to spin with the hammer, around and around... the damage is
terrible, but it's the only effective way to utilize elemental or
status effects with a hammer, not that you should really be doing
those things with a hammer anyway...
The Hammer Spin has built in ESP, so it won't be interrupted if it
bounces off a monster's hide.
--Hammer Spin Finisher #1
Action: Press Triangle during Hammer Spin after first revolution
Damage: 45%
KO Inflicted: 10
Roll after: Yes
It's the Lv1 Charge Swing. Listed it again anyway to avoid confusion
about the Hammer Spin. If you do a Hammer Spin by accident, do this
finisher then roll to quickly get out of it before you get yourself
hurt.
--Hammer Spin Finisher #2
Action: Press Triangle during Hammer Spin after second or third revo
Damage: 45%, 35%
KO Inflicted: 10, 15
Roll after: Yes
It's the Lv2 Charge Swing! Nothing.. really special here.
--Hammer Spin Finisher #3
Action: Press Triangle during Hammer Spin after fourth revo
Damage: 100%
KO Inflicted: 45
Roll after: Yes
The Triple Pound Finisher! It's the Hammer Spin's best finisher too!
The Hammer Spin is almost not worth using if you don't use this.
--Hammer Spin Finisher #4
Action: Do nothing until the Hammer Spin finishes
Damage: 40%
KO Inflicted: Unknown (possibly none?)
Roll after: No
This is what happens when you mess up the #3 Finisher. This attack can
barely even be considered an attack because it is so hard to hit with,
so slow, can't be rolled after... it pretty much is terrible in every
possible way.
--Chain Diagram:
Side Swing >> Tri Pound 1 >> Tri Pound 2 >> Tri Pound Finisher >> Roll
OR OR OR
Roll Roll Roll
Lv1 Charge Swing >> Roll
OR
Lv2 Charge Swing >> Roll
Charge >> OR Finisher #1 >> Roll
Super Pound >> Roll OR
OR Finisher #2 >> Roll
Hammer Spin >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> OR
Finisher #3 >> Roll
OR
Finisher #4
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.f] Hunting Horn [3.9.f]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Impact
Hunting Horns are one of the more unique weapons in Monster Hunter.
Unlike other weapons whose sole purpose is to bash something's face
in, Hunting Horns are more of a support weapon, being the only weapon
that can provide buffs to allies.
By pressing R, you can go into Recital Mode and play music, which then
adds effects to all hunters in the area. While early on, some of these
effects seem useless (Fire Res, Heat Negated, stuff like that that you
could get from just using an item), the effects that you can play
later on (Heal 60, Attack Up 30%, Infinite Stamina, etc.) make Hunting
Horns extremely valuable on the field.
Solo-wise, Hunting Horns are a notch below the other Impact weapon,
the Hammer in terms of damage output. They are a bit faster and able
to put out more hits, but they do less raw damage per hit. (Though
that also makes them better at utilizing elemental power). All Hunting
Horns are capable of playing W-W or P-P, which gives the user of the
Hunting Horn increased movement speed while the weapon is unsheathed,
giving the Hunting Horn a significant mobility advantage over other
weapons.
Hunting Horns are also able to inflict the KO status - though not
nearly as well as Hammers, which inflict KO roughly three times faster
than a Hunting Horn.
Pros:
+++ Excellent team support weapon
+ Can inflict KO, though it's not as good as the Hammer for
inflicting KOs
+ Decent at utilizing elemental damage
+ Never run out of healing items with a Hunting Horn that can heal!
Cons:
- Recital Mode takes time to use and it is near impossible to play
an entire song solo with a boss monster in the area
_ In a team, if the HH user does not fight, the team would've been
better off if he had helped fight with another weapon (Three people
with Attack Up 30% do less damage than four people with no Attack
Up 30% at all)
- Needs Attack Up 30% just to do decent damage
- Hunting Horns are pretty weak early game
- Flute Expert is almost mandatory to cut down on time spent rebuffing
Tree:
Early Game:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Ivory Horn -> War Drum -> War Drum+
Bone Club -> Cyclo Hammer -> Khezu Horn -> Khezu Horn+
Mid Game:
Sakura Recorder
Khezu Horn+ -> Blood Horn
Dragonwood Horn
Late Game:
War Drum+ -> War Bongo -> War Conga
Blood Horn -> Blood Flute
Sakura Recorder -> Sakura Recorder+ -> Gold Recorder
Dragonwood Horn -> Spirit Dragonwood Horn
Akantor Horn
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Right Swing
Action: Triangle
Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle after Poke (second Poke only)
Triangle after Left Swing (limit of three consecutive swings)
Damage: 31%
KO Inflicted: 18
Roll after: Yes
A wide diagonal swing from right to left. Not much for damage, but
it's good at inflicting KO.
--Left Swing
Action: Triangle after Right Swing (limit of three consecutive swings)
Triangle + Analog Stick Left
Triangle + Analog Stick Left after Poke (second Poke only)
Damage: 31%
KO Inflicted: 18
Roll after: Yes
Same attack, but mirrored. Guess Capcom threw this in so we wouldn't
think our hunters get tired of doing Right Swing over and over.
--Poke
Action: Circle
Circle after Poke (limit of three consecutive Pokes)
Damage: 12%
KO Inflicted: 0
Roll after: Yes
A pretty pathetic attack, it's only really useful for utilizing status
and elemental damage, and for going straight to Recital Mode Stance 2.
--Super Pound
Action: Triangle + Circle
Triangle + Circle after any non-Recital Attack
Damage: 15%, 48%
KO Inflicted: 5, 10
Roll after: Yes
Just like the Hammer's. Same area of effect effect, but nowhere near
as much damage or KO. It doesn't need to be charged though, which
makes it of use.
I personally prefer to just stick with Left and Right Swings. The
Super Pound's only good quality to me is the area of effect's added
range.
The Super Pound also has built in ESP, so it won't be interrupted if
it bounces off a monster's hide.
--Enter Recital Mode
Action: R Button
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Damage: 22%
KO Inflicted: 20
Roll after: Yes
Enters Recital Mode Stance 1. While in Recital Mode Stance 1, you will
play Note #1, which for all Hunting Horns is either Purple or White.
The damage and KO, while good, aren't really worth rising trying to
land the attack. Outside of Multiplayer, it is considered unsafe to
enter Recital Mode with monsters in the area.
--Exit Recital Mode
Action: R Button while in any Recital Mode Stance
Damage: 26%
KO Inflicted: 20
Roll after: Yes
Good KO, but again, risky to use outside of Multiplayer. Usually
better off just rolling to exit Recital Mode.
--Transition to Stance 1
Action: Square while in any Recital Mode Stance
Circle while in any Recital Mode Stance
Damage: 38%
KO Inflicted: 20
Roll after: Yes
Better damage, but pretty tricky to hit with. Square causes you to
move left, Circle causes you to move right.
Enters Recital Mode Stance 1. While in Recital Mode Stance 1, you will
play Note #1, which for all Hunting Horns is either Purple or White.
--Transition to Stance 2
Action: Triangle while in any Recital Mode Stance
Damage: 41%
KO Inflicted: 25
Good KO, good damage, but like all Recital Mode attacks, tricky to use
and use safely. Causes you to move forward.
Enters Recital Mode Stance 2. While in Recital Mode Stance 2, you will
play Note #2.
--Transition to Stance 3
Action: Triangle + Circle while in any Recital Mode Stance
R Button after Poke
Damage: 43%
KO Inflicted: 20
Roll after: Yes
Ah, finally, damage on a Recital Mode attack worth using! If you
transition from another stance, your hunter will move back, which
can make landing the attack difficult. There is no attack when
transitioning from a Poke.
Enters Recital Mode Stance 3. While in Recital Mode Stance 3, you will
play Note #3.
--Chain Diagram:
Stance 2 <----> Any Stance will chain to and from
OR any other stance and Exit/Enter
Roll Recital
OR
Poke >> Poke >> Poke >> Roll
OR OR Left Swing Left Swing
Roll Left Swing OR OR
OR >>>>>> Right Swing >> Right Swing >> Roll
Right Swing OR OR
Roll Roll
Anything non-Recital >> Super Pound >> Roll
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.g] Lance [3.9.g]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Both Impact and Cut
The Lance is a defensive weapon - Lances and Gunlances are the only
defensive weapons in the game, and handle differently from their
offensive brethren. It's a complicated weapon that's only really
effective when in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing
with it. If after reading that, you're still interested in the
Lance...
They have the strongest guard in the game. Not only that, you can
attack, turn around, and walk while guarding (you'll walk slower than
usual, but it's still better than nothing). They hit hard and fast -
not as hard as a hammer, and not as fast as the Sword and Shield, but
there's a strong amount of both to make the Lance a powerful weapon.
Strong enough to have excellent damage output, and fast enough to
utilize elemental power. The ability to do both Impact and Cut damage
gives the Lance access to both Impact and Cut weakpoints on a monster.
Lances are slow though, and this is what usually keeps someone from
getting real good with a Lance. While the Lance is unsheathed, you
walk slower - about as slow as a Great Sword user with his weapon
out. Factor in the defensive nature of the Lance, and you've got a
weapon that makes most people feel like a sitting duck.
Course, if you can work around the slow nature of the Lance, you've
got yourself one of the best weapons in the game. (So good that Capcom
has spent the last two games nerfing it to put it on the same level
as other weapons.)
From Monster Hunter Freedom, Capcom reduced the amount of Impact
damage Lances do, and gave them the ability to do chain together three
sidesteps or backsteps (A long backstep immediately ends the chain).
Pros:
++ Can attack, move, and turn while blocking
+ Has the strongest guard in the game
+ Moderately high hit count allows it to utilize elemental power
well
+ Deals both Impact and Cut damage
Cons:
-- Movement speed is crippled and can't roll with a Lance unsheathed
- Difficult to learn and use properly due to lack of speed
- Less useful in multiplayer, since a monster is less likely to target
you, forcing you to spend more time running around.
- Lances are weak until late game
Tree:
Early Game:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Iron Lance -> Iron Lance+ -> Steel Lance -> Paladin Lance -> Rampart
Long Horn -> LH+ -> Long Tusk
Mid Game:
Rampart -> Growling Wyvern
Long Tusk -> Crimson Lance -> Diablo Horn -> Diablo Spear
Black Lance
Late Game:
Growling Wyvern -> Knight Lance -> Knight Spear -> Babel Spear
Diablo Spear -> Black Tempest
Knight Lance -> Aqua Spear -> AS+ -> Emerald Spear
Black Lance -> Black Ruiner Lance
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Stab
Action: Triangle
Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle after Stab or Upstab (limit of three consecutive)
Damage: 23% (30% if it's the third stab)
A forward stab with good range. You won't be using this all that much,
because...
--Upstab
Action: Circle
Circle after Stab or Upstab (limit of three consecutive)
Damage: 28% (30% if it's the third stab)
An upward stab that has less range but hits higher and does more
damage. Plenty better than the Stab simply because of the extra
damage. You'll barely notice the loss in range, because the upward
stab is better for hitting weakpoints anyway.
--Backstep
Action: X
X after Stab or Upstab
X after Backstep or Sidestep (limit of three consecutive)
Damage: Not an attack
Costs 25 Stamina. You jump back a short distance. It's not much, but
it's as close to rolling as you're going to get with the Lance family.
--Sidestep
Action: X + Analog Stick Left or Right
X + Analog Stick Left or Right after Stab or Upstab
X + Analog Stick Left or Right after Backstep or Sidestep
(limit of three consecutive)
Damage: Not an attack
Costs 25 Stamina. Like the backstep, but to the side. Again, closest
thing you'll have to rolling. You can chain together any combination
of three sidesteps or backsteps (remember each one costs 25 Stamina)
or end the chain with...
--Long Backstep
Action: X + Analog Stick Down
X + Analog Stick Down after Stab or Upstab
X + Analog Stick Down after Backstep or Sidestep
Costs 25 Stamina. Like the backstep, but it covers more distance.
This will immediately end your chain of sidestep/backsteps though.
--Guard
Action: R Button
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Damage: Not an attack
Guard. Lance Guard is the strongest guard in the game. You can also
move and turn while Guarding, though at a reduced speed.
For our guard savvy hunters...
39 Power or less: No pushback and no chip
40 Power or higher: Large pushback and full chip damage
--Guarding Attack
Action: R Button + Triangle or Circle
Damage: 20%
A forward stab that's quick and has decent range. Not the strongest
attack, but you'll immediately go back into Guarding after the attack,
which makes it pretty safe given that the Lance has the best Guard
in the game.
--Charge
Action: Triangle + Circle
Damage: 20% per hit
A charge with the Lance that can hit multiple times. As great as this
sounds, it's pretty hard to get more than three hits out of it, let
alone 3 hits on the enemy's weakpoint. It's only really useful because
it has High Wind Resistance. It also drains your stamina.
--Charge Finisher
Action: Triangle during Charge
Damage: 40%
A long thrust with the Lance that ends the Charge and does high
damage. This is better, but it has a long recovery time since you
can't sidestep or backstep after it.
--Charge Cancel
Action: Circle during Charge
Damage: Not an attack
Stops your Charge. Also has a bit of recovery. Can't really see a
reason to use this - if you've done a charge, might as well commit to
it with a Finisher than this.
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.h] Gunlance [3.9.h]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Cutting
The Gunlance is a new weapon in MHF2 and closely related to the
Lance... in fact, they're almost exactly the same weapon. Capcom was
lazy with this one, I think.
As such, Gunlances share many of the strengths and weaknesses of the
Lance. Like Lances, Gunlances have the strongest guard in the game,
they hit hard and fast, and they also cripple your moving speed.
Gunlances are a bit weaker though - they do less raw damage than a
Lance does, and elemental Gunlances tend to have less element than
their Lance brothers. In exchange, Gunlances have the ability to shoot
short-range bullets at their enemies inbetween attacks (this is known
as "shelling").
Shelling uses up the weapon's sharpness, and Gunlances have to be
reloaded when they are out of shelling ammo (you have infinite ammo,
you don't need to bring your own). They do explosion type damage
though, which does the same amount of damage whether it hits a
weakpoint or not.
In addition to this, Gunlances also have Wyvern's Fire - a powerful
shell usable by all Gunlances every two minutes. Wyvern's Fire does
a ton of explosion type damage early on, but becomes weaker later game
since it doesn't get much stronger...
Pros:
++ Can attack, move, and turn while blocking
++ Has a combo that can be done while blocking, making it excellent
for "turtling"
+ Moderately high hit count allows it to utilize elemental power
well
+ Shelling and Wyvern's Fire are very powerful early game
Cons:
-- Movement speed is crippled and can't roll with a Lance unsheathed
- Difficult to learn and use properly
- Shelling is both time consuming and sharpness consuming
- Weaker than Lances in many cases, and also harder to use than Lances
Tree:
Early Game:
(Note that it is usually possible to obtain some of these weapons
earlier than stated here via Download Quests.)
Iron Gunlance -> IG+ -> Steel Gunlance
Iron Lance -> Snow Gunlance -> SG Mk. II -> Marine Fisher
Mid Game:
Steel Gunlance -> Special Ops Gunlance -> Imperial Gunlance
Steel Gunlance -> Luna's Howl -> Luna's Roar
Marine Fisher -> Deep Fisher
Late Game:
Imperial Gunlance -> Silver Rook -> Gun Chariot
Luna's Roar -> Luna's Flare
Deep Fisher -> Deep Ocean -> Sea King Gunlance
Akantor Gunlance
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Melee |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Rushing Stab
Action: Triangle with weapon sheathed
Triangle + Analog Stick Up
Damage: 34%
A running vertical swing with the Gunlance. Good damage, but the
running can make it difficult to aim.
--Stab
Action: Triangle
Triangle after Rushing Stab, Stab, or Swing (limit of three)
Triangle after Shelling (Shelling resets the combo)
Damage: 21% (28% if it's the third stab)
Basic stab. Fast, but the damage isn't that great.
--Swing
Action: Triangle + Circle
Damage: 30%
A wide vertical swing with the Gunlance. Good damage, but slower than
the usual stab.
--Shell
Action: Circle
Circle after any attack
Damage: Depends
A shell fired from the gun of the Gunlance. The damage depends on the
Shelling type and partially on the Fire resistance of the monster. The
direction the shell is fired depends on where the Gunlance was
pointing when fired.
Shelling resets the combo, allowing you to exceed the normal limit of
three stabs in a single combo by linking them with Shelling.
Shelling DOES consume sharpness, and deals explosion damage (the same
as Barrel Bombs and Crag/Clust S) and some fire damage.
--Reload
Action: R + Circle
Damage: Not an attack
Reloads the Gunlance. Obvious enough.
--Backstep
Action: X after Rushing Stab, Stab, Swing, or Shell
Damage: Not an attack
A small back step. Unlike the Lance's, these can't be chained
together.
--Sidestep
Action: X + Analog Stick Left/Right after Rushing Stab, Stab,
Swing, or Shell
Damage: Not an attack
A small side step. Unlike the Lance's, these can't be chained
together.
--Long Backstep
Action: X + Analog Stick Down after Rushing Stab, Stab,
Swing, or Shell
Damage: Not an attack
A long back step that covers a good distance. Not sure why you'd use
the regular back step when this one is available.
--Guard
Action: R Button
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Damage: Not an attack
Guard. Gunlance Guard is the strongest guard in the game. You can also
move and turn while Guarding, though at a reduced speed.
For our guard savvy hunters...
39 Power or less: No pushback and no chip
40 Power or higher: Large pushback and full chip damage
--Guarding Attack
Action: R + Triangle
R + Triangle after a Guarding Attack (limit of three)
Damage: 24%
An upward stab. You return to Guarding after this attack, and it can
be done three times. The damage is good, it's relatively safe... if
you don't mind not being able to Swing or Rushing Stab, this is pretty
much the only attack you need.
--Wyvern Fire
Action: R + Triangle + Circle
Damage: Depends
Wyvern Fire! It hits four times and does explosion and fire damage,
just like shelling. It's significantly more powerful and doesn't use
ammo, but still uses the Gunlance's sharpness. There's also a bit of
a startup time on it, so you can't just throw it out whenever. It can
be done roughly every two minutes (you'll hear a clicking reloading
noise when it's ready, and the steam vent will close).
It's powerful early game, but it doesn't get much better throughout
the game, so it's pretty weak by end game.
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.i] Heavy Bowgun [3.9.i]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Gun
Heavy Bowguns are... heavy bowguns. It's a gun that launches bullets
propelled both by a bow and by an explosive charge. Weird, I know.
Like your typical video game, the heavy weapons are slow but powerful
- in this case, you walk at half the speed with a Heavy Bowgun out. In
exchange, you have the best damage output of all the ranged weapons in
the game.
Despite this, Heavy Bowguns are still pretty mobile (more mobile than
Lances and Gunlances, at least), since you can still roll. They only
really have trouble with monsters that are too fast for rolling alone
to avoid.
Both Heavy and Light Bowguns aren't limited to just dealing out
damage - they also have access to ammunition that serves other
purposes. Status Shots are hands down the fastest way to inflict
status ailments on monsters, and support shots can aid allies with
long ranged healing and buffs. Crag and Clust Shots also double as
Sonic Bombs, and are great for armored enemies, as they completely
ignore a monster's defence.
Heavy Bowguns can get three attachments - a Shield, which will
automatically block attacks, a Power Barrel that further increases the
Heavy Bowgun's power, and a Scope, which allows the user to zoom in
while aiming (useless, by the way).
Heavy Bowguns are big, slow, powerful, versatile, and ranged. If you
don't need speed and want more damage, it's the perfect ranged weapon.
If you do need speed, then consider one of the other ranged weapons
instead.
Pros:
++ It's ranged. Being ranged gives you the advantage of being able
to attack from a distance, and the advantage of always being able
to attack a monster's weakpoint.
+ Strongest of all the ranged weapons
Cons:
- Heavy Bowguns are extremely costly to use and maintain
- Ammo restrictions make them terrible against some end-game monsters
- All elemental bowgun ammo is weak (except Dragon S), so heavily
reliant on raw damage
- Requires ammo management on the field which can be distracting or
difficult to some
- Movement speed is lowered while Heavy Bowgun is unsheathed
Tree:
1* Elder: Bone Shooter
2* Elder: Rapidcaster
3* Elder: Rapidcaster
4* Elder / HR2 : Monodevilcaster
5* Elder / HR3 : Duelcaster
6* Elder / HR3 : Duelcaster
HR4: Seven Stars or Monodevilcaster+
HR5: Seven Stars or Monodevilcaster+
HR6: Empr Lao-Shan Cannon and Destiny's Hand
Controls:
--Draw
Action: Triangle
Unlike other weapons, the Heavy Bowgun does not have an unsheathe
attack.
--Reload
Action: Triangle
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Kinda self explanatory.
--Shoot
Action: Circle
Shoots the Bowgun. Damage depends on the ammo being used and the
distance from the target, and of course, where the bullet hits.
--Aim (first person)
Action: R Button
This changes the view to first person and gives you a crosshair to
aim the Bowgun. You can aim with the analog stick.
--Aim (third person)
Action: Hold L and press D-Pad
This creates a red crosshair that shows you where the Bowgun will hit.
You can change your angle with D-Pad Up and Down. (I personally don't
bother using this ever)
--Change Ammo
Action: Hold L and press Triangle
Changes the ammo type being used. Remember to reload!
--Melee Attack
Action: Triangle + Circle
An attack with the butt of the bowgun. Does 2 damage.
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.j] Light Bowgun [3.9.j]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Gun
Light Bowguns are lighter versions of the Heavy Bowgun. As you can
imagine, they have more of a focus on speed rather than brute power,
which makes them better at utilizing Status Shots at the cost of some
damage.
This speed only comes in the form of increased movement speed - with
a Light Bowgun out, you move at regular speed.
How much damage are you sacrificing for this speed? Light Bowguns
average out to be around 25-30% weaker than Heavy Bowguns in the
damage dealing department, which doesn't make them very good in
straight forward damage dealing.
On the other hand, the boost in speed makes it easier for the Light
Bowgun to use Status Shots and other ammunition that doesn't depend
on raw power, like Crag S and Clust S. If that's the only ammo you
plan on using, then a Light Bowgun might work better than a Heavy.
New to Light Bowguns in MHF2 is the Rapid Fire feature - a Light
Bowgun that can Rapid Fire a particular type of ammo will shoot salvos
of two to five half-power bullets (the number depends on the Bowgun),
all at the cost of just one bullet. The half-power and the extra time
spent shooting a salvo doesn't make it all that great of a new
function, though.
Pros:
++ It's ranged. Being ranged gives you the advantage of being able
to attack from a distance, and the advantage of always being able
to attack a monster's weakpoint.
+ Excels at using Clust and Status ammunition
Cons:
- Light Bowguns are extremely costly to use and maintain - even more
expensive than Heavy Bowguns if you plan on using Clusts often
- Ammo restrictions make them terrible against some end-game monsters
- Status Ammo and Clusts get weaker as you progress through the game
- Requires ammo management on the field which can be distracting or
difficult to some
- Weakest of all ranged weapons
Tree:
...I honestly can't write this section, due to the different needs of
Light Bowgun users for different tasks. You'll really just have to
look at what's available and decide for yourself what's best for you
based on your needs as a Light Bowgun user.
Controls:
Yes, I did copy and paste the controls from the Heavy Bowgun section.
--Draw
Action: Triangle
Unlike other weapons, the Light Bowgun does not have an unsheathe
attack.
--Reload
Action: Triangle
R + Triangle + Circle with weapon sheathed
Kinda self explanatory.
--Shoot
Action: Circle
Shoots the Bowgun. Damage depends on the ammo being used and the
distance from the target, and of course, where the bullet hits.
--Aim (first person)
Action: R Button
This changes the view to first person and gives you a crosshair to
aim the Bowgun. You can aim with the analog stick.
--Aim (third person)
Action: Hold L and press D-Pad
This creates a red crosshair that shows you where the Bowgun will hit.
You can change your angle with D-Pad Up and Down. (I personally don't
bother using this ever)
--Change Ammo
Action: Hold L and press Triangle
Changes the ammo type being used. Remember to reload!
--Melee Attack
Action: Triangle + Circle
An attack with the butt of the bowgun. Does 2 damage.
______________________________________________________________________
[3.9.k] Bows [3.9.k]
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Weapon Type: Gun
Bows, the new ranged weapon type. The main thing about Bows that
distinguishes it from its Bowgun bretheren is that Bows have infinite
ammo, and thus no ammo management, making it more of a user friendly
weapon and easy to use even if you were terrible with the Bowgun. Bows
are also significantly more mobile than Light Bowguns, again making
the weapon easy to use.
Of course, all this easiness comes at a cost. Bows are pretty weak all
the way from the beginning until the end of the game. They are also
very weak in the wrong hands, usually taking four or five times longer
to do a quest than any other weapon. Just because they're easy to use
doesn't mean they can't be used incorrectly. :)
Pros:
++ It's ranged. Being ranged gives you the advantage of being able
to attack from a distance, and the advantage of always being able
to attack a monster's weakpoint.
+ Best mobility of all the ranged weapons
+ Easy to use due to no ammo management
+ Infinite ammo makes it possible to use against certain monsters that
Bowguns can't be used on
Cons:
-- Extremely weak until end of the game
- Coatings can be costly to make for every quest
- Heavily reliant on elemental damage until end game
Tree:
You pretty much need to make every single bow that you possibly can,
because Bows rely so very much on elemental damage.
Controls:
________________________________________________________________
| All numbers related to damage are obtained from DS31x's Bow |
| Damage Formula FAQ. If you aren't intimidated by numbers and |
| equations and want to better understand how much damage you're |
| doing, I'd suggest reading it. |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
--Draw
Action: Triangle with weapon sheathed
Unlike other weapons, the Light Bowgun does not have an unsheathe
attack.
--Pull
Action: Press and hold Triangle
As you keep pulling the arrow, you'll hear noises and see flashes
indicating that you've charged the arrow to Lv2, Lv3, and Lv4. These
levels will determine which of your Bow's three (four with Load Up)
shots will be fired when you release the arrow.
The damage done depends on the distance, the shot type, the level of
the charge, and of course, on where you hit.
--Melee Attack (Horizontal)
Action: Circle
R + Triangle + Circle
Damage: 10%
A melee attack with an arrow. Though this attack isn't very strong...
--Melee Attack (Vertical)
Action: Circle after Melee Attack (Horizontal)
Damage: 24%
This one is! It'll do more damage than your shots, but it's pretty
hard to hit some weakpoints with it. You're usually better off just
sticking with shooting.
--Aim
Action: R Button + D-pad
This moves the camera and gives you an over the shoulder view of your
hunter. A red line appears that will show you the path your arrow
would take, and it can be adjusted with the D-Pad.
--Load Coatings
Action: Triangle + Circle
Loads the currently selected arrow coating.
--Change Ammo
Action: Hold L and press Triangle
Changes the arrow coating being used. Remember to reload it if you've
changed the arrow coating you're using.
======================================================================
[3.10] Armor, Decorations, and Armor Skills [3.10]
======================================================================
Had a whole section on weapons. Gotta have one for armor too, right?
Armor, in Monster Hunter, plays a bit of a different role than it does
in other games that have armor and weapons. In those games, armor is
your primary source of defence - how much you get hurt and whether
you die or not depends mostly on the armor you're wearing.
In Monster Hunter, your primary source of defence is your brain. Who
needs armor when you can dodge and block attacks and avoid getting
hurt at all, right?
Of course, that doesn't make armor completely worthless. Pieces of
armor, when assembled correctly, can give you armor skills - passive
skills that directly affect your hunter and their capabilities to
hunt. They're pretty important, and most hunters will tell you later
game that "Armor Skills > Defence". This is true, for the most part.
You still need some defence, just don't get an armor set solely for
the purpose of increasing your defence. Just get enough defence so
that you can survive 3 or 4 hits without needing to heal. If you're
getting killed in one or two hits, upgrade. Otherwise, don't.
Putting together armor for Armor Skills takes a bit of thought, and
the ability to count to 20. Let's take a look at the details on each
piece of armor first though...
Example:
Shinobi Suit (Sky)
Defence : 28 Level : 1
Fire Res : 2 Water Res : -6
Thundr Res : 4 Ice Res : -3
Dragon Res : 2
A suit that can only be worn
by those pure of heart, like
a crystal cloudless sky.
Hunter Type: Blademaster/Gunner
Rarity: 8
Slots: OO-
[Skill Tree:Skill Points]
Spc Attack : +2
Cold Res : -1
Evade : +2
--- Defence
Defence is defence. The more you have, the less damage you take from
attacks. The Defence formula is reverse exponential... in other
words, the more Defence you have, the less useful each additional
point of defence is.
If you have, say, 1 Defence, and you get 20 more Defence, that'll
reduce the damage you were taking to about 80%. Now, if you have 300
Defence, and get 20 more Defence added onto that, it'll only reduce
damage to 95% of what you were taking before. Got it?
Don't focus too much on raising Defence. Rely on it too much early
game and you'll get trounced late game when Defence doesn't help you
anymore.
--- Level
The Level of the armor is... well, the level of it. You can increase
an armor's level by upgrading it with Armor Spheres - each level up
will increase the defence of that piece of armor by 2. No other
benefits to it besides that.
--- Resistance (or, simply 'Res')
Fire Res, Water Res, Thunder Res, Ice Res, and Dragon Res, will reduce
damage taken from those elements by 1% for each point of Res (or
increase it by 1%, if you have a negative amount of Res). That's not
really a lot - plus, you have to factor in the fact that few attacks
are actually elemental. Yian Kut-Ku might spit fireballs, but that
doesn't mean all of his attacks are Fire elemental - only his
fireballs are (And how often do you get hit by those? Almost never.).
Dragon Res is the only Res that really matters, since the few
monsters that have Dragon element attacks have it on almost all of
their attacks.
--- Hunter Type
Hunter Type indicates what weapons can be used (or rather, MUST be
used) while wearing that armor. Blademaster/Gunner means you can use
any weapon type, while Blademaster means you can only use the melee
weapons, and Gunner means you can only use the ranged weapons.
Gunner armor tends to have weaker defence but stronger elemental
resistance. Blademaster armor has more defence, but less elemental
resistance. Blademaster/Gunner armor tends to be the same as Gunner
armor in terms of defence and resistance, with the exception of
helmets. All helmets are Blademaster/Gunner.
--- Rarity
Rarity just indicates what point in the game you can get that armor,
really. It has nothing to do with how rare the armor actually is.
(Just look at Akantor armor and Cephalos armor. Ceph armor is Rare 1,
and almost nobody uses it. Akantor armor, on the other hand, is Rare
8 and worn by everyone and their mother.)
--- Slots
Slots refers to the number of decorations you can put into that armor.
This armor happens to have OO-, which means it has two slots. That
means you can put in two one-slot decorations, or one two-slot
decoration.
--- Skill Points and Armor Skills
And finally, Skill Points. This part lists all the skills given by
this armor, and how many points it gives towards that skill. In order
to activate an armor skill, you need to get 10 or more points in that
skill.
Getting 10 points in a skill is always good, even if the skill
sounds bad. Hunger for example, sounds bad, but actually reduces the
rate at which your max stamina decreases if you can get it to 10.
Some skills can go beyond 10, and have higher levels of that skill
activate when you reach 15, or 20 points. Let's look again at Hunger:
At 10, Hunger simply halves the rate at which you lose max stamina.
At 15, Hunger causes your max stamina to never decrease.
It's also possible to get a skill to -10, at which point you get an
armor skill that's bad for you. It's very rare that you will ever
have to use armor with a bad armor skill though, thanks to
decorations.
Here are some common armor skills hunters use:
AutoTracker - AutoTracker will automatically show you where on the
map the target monster is. No need to use Paintballs
or Psychoserums... it requires 15 PsychicVis.
Sharpness+1 - Sharpness+1 adds sharpness to your sharpness bar - this
can make weapons that are otherwise terrible due to a