Monster Hunter Wilds
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Monster Hunter is commonly known for its multiple weapon types and amazing gameplay, but did you know that even more weapons haven’t been included in the newer games? Read on to learn about the history of the weapons in Monster Hunter and more.

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History of Weapon Types in Monster Hunter

Monster Hunter has been around for a long time. To be specific, it has been more than two decades since the first game came out in 2004. One thing it's known for is the different weapon types that are available for the player to choose from. Monster Hunter Wilds will have fourteen different weapon types available, each with its strengths, weaknesses, movesets, and mechanics that the player has to learn.

With all the new tools, moves, and different mechanics that the game has introduced, the difference between the Great Sword from its first iteration compared to its latest counterpart is night and day. Not only that, there are even more weapons from the older games in the franchise that never got released in the West. Let’s take a deep dive into the history of Monster Hunter, but this time focusing on the hunter’s most important gear, the weapon.

First Generation

These weapons were the ones introduced in the first Monster Hunter game and its different versions. Touted as the OGs of the series, these weapon types have stood the test of time and have evolved ever since their first versions with different movesets, mechanics, and more.

Great Sword

Arguably the most iconic weapon type in the franchise, the Great Sword has been around since the first game was released in 2004. Mainly known as the powerhouse of the different weapon types, its high damage comes with a cost. It can deal the most damage in a single hit, but attacking and moving with the weapon is as slow as a Gravios trying to charge at a hunter. The hunter can also use the heavy blade as a shield with the cost of stamina and sharpness.

In the first game, the weapon was built around hit-and-run tactics and proper spacing to hit your swings. Although its attacks can be chained and looped infinitely, the slow animations of the swings make it a worse thing to do. It had a unique feature: hitting a monster with the middle of the blade did more damage than hitting it with the tip or closer to the hilt.

In Monster Hunter 2, the weapon received its most iconic move, the Charged Slash. Hunters can charge the weapon by holding the attack button for up to three levels, each level being stronger as it increases, for a devastating swing. Since then, this move has been one of the main reasons people play this weapon.

The games following Monster Hunter 2 build upon the design of charging the weapon by adding more finishers and ways to access the charged attacks. Not only that, but they’ve made the weapon’s combos flow much more efficiently and fluidly, even if it is still relatively slow. An example of this was the new shoulder tackle attack that it received in Monster Hunter World, which allows the hunter to withstand an attack and go into their charged attack much earlier.

All in all, the Great Sword is a weapon that has a low-skill floor but a high-skill ceiling. Getting into the flow of the weapon is simple as you will mostly be employing a hit-and-run on most monsters. The main thing that separates better Great Sword users from the good ones is the ability to maximize their damage by being able to use their True Charged Slash in smaller openings.

Sword and Shield

Taking on the identity of versatility, the Sword and Shield is a weapon that has a fairly balanced setup. It deals relatively low damage in a single strike but is made up for quick combos, the ability to block, good mobility, and utility. It was first known as a weapon for beginners since how to play it was relatively straightforward. However, this has changed over the series as more mechanics and attacks were added to its kit.

In its first iteration, the weapon was mostly built around its quick slashes and combos as well as the great mobility it offers while it is drawn. In Monster Hunter 2, the weapon gained the ability to use items with the weapon out, meaning that you didn’t have to sheathe the sword to use any item.

The following generations added more to the weapon’s moveset, specifically the shield bash combo in Monster Hunter 3, the backstep and jumping attacks in Monster Hunter 4, and finally the Perfect Rush combo and the aerial finishers in Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise.

While the weapon has its clear disadvantages being a short-range weapon and not-so-high damage totals, the Sword and Shield is the jack-of-all-trades type of weapon. It has access to an infinite combo, quick attacks, built-in evasiveness with the backstep, amazing finishers, and a last resort to block if needed. It’s often overlooked when compared to the rest of the weapon types due to its simplicity and appearance. When in reality, it’s an iceberg, as you can only experience its depth once you use the weapon.

Hammer

Hammers are one of two weapons that focus on blunt damage instead of slashing damage, meaning that they cannot cut the tails of monsters. What it can do is break parts instead, most often the monster’s head and other parts that require blunt damage instead of slashing damage. After Monster Hunter 2, the identity of the Hammer is the king of KOs due to being able to stun a monster after hitting it on the head repeatedly.

Its playstyle was similar to the Great Sword, that being hit-and-run. But the main differences between the two were its surprising mobility, which was higher than most weapon types despite its appearance, and its inability to block. Additionally, the weapon’s charge mechanic was unique because the hunter could move while charging.

In terms of its moveset, it has remained mostly intact, with a few changes here and there. Only until its Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise versions did the weapon change significantly. The newer games introduced the Big Bang and the Spinning Bludgeon attacks, which gave the weapon even more devastating offensive moves outside of its trademark golf swing and fully charged Superpound.

It also added more depth to the weapon by giving it two different modes: Strength and Courage. While neither mode overpowered the other in terms of damage output, each mode drastically changed the charge attacks and their effects. To be more effective with the weapon, players should learn how to switch modes depending on the monster matchup and to effectively keep their charge while moving.

Overall, the Hammer is quite simple in its objective: aim for the head and knock the monsters out as quickly as you can. Of course, this isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but it does reward the hunter with an opportunity to use their strongest charged attacks or their long combo finishers to deal the most damage.

Lance

If the statement a good offense is a great defense were a weapon, it would be the Lance. Using its long range to attack from a distance and its large shield to block most, if not all, attacks, the Lance is the king of defense. Its shield can block most attacks, and with the correct skill setup, even those deemed unguardable. Despite making it hard to move around with when it’s drawn and its limited attacks, it has a considerable damage output when compared to the rest.

Its playstyle was more akin to an outboxer, where wielders of the weapon would want to poke at range while in the safety of their guard. Its main attacks were limited to either a forward thrust or an upward thrust that could be chained up to three times. Further reinforcing the outboxer identity, it expanded throughout the different versions of the series by adding a Counter mechanic to its arsenal. Outside of its main attacks, it has a running charge attack and a running shield bash attack, which were primarily used to close the gap between them and the monster.

Often mistaken as a boring weapon because of its not-so-flashy animations, the Lance’s overall design is unique to the other weapon types. It's one of the few weapons that rewards the hunter for standing their ground instead of bobbing and weaving against the monster’s attacks. It’s a weapon that can turn the hunter into a bona fide tank, and while its cousin, the Gunlance, can offer something similar, it’s not to the same extent as the Lance’s defense.

Light Bowgun

The Light Bowgun is one of the many ranged weapons included in the franchise. It’s part of the first generation of weapons introduced and has been a part of every game since. It is a weapon that allows the hunter to shoot from a distance while being able to move around at normal speed while drawn.

Due to its mobility and faster reload speed because of its size, it’s a ranged weapon that’s much easier to handle and theoretically much safer. The weapon was faster in many ways in terms of reload speeds, sheathing, dodging, and more.

However, the cost of this mobility is that it doesn’t offer as much firepower as its larger counterpart since its choice of ammunition is much more limited. Additionally, the Light Bowgun can be customized with different attachments like long barrels, silencers, scopes, and more to fit your desired specifications.

In contrast to the stronger ammunition that can be used by its heavier counterpart, the Light Bowgun has the capability to Rapid Fire certain ammo types depending on the weapon. This specialty allows the Light Bowgun to outshine other ranged weapons despite its ammunition limitation and weaker damage overall because of its ease of use.

In Monster Hunter 4, a new ranged mechanic called Critical Distance was introduced in the game. This mechanic added more depth to the ranged gameplay of Monster Hunter, as ranged shots now have the perfect distance that they need to be to get the most damage. This also depended on the ammunition that they were using, so it wasn’t a one-distance-fits-all type of deal.

Monster Hunter World introduced a new mechanic called Wyvernblast, which allowed the hunter to plant bombs in the ground. These bombs detonate when attacked, whether by hunters or monsters. In addition to its general offensive firepower being buffed, the weapon also included a slide maneuver that the hunter can do after shooting. This added more to the weapon’s already mobile style of run-and-gun and further differentiated the weapon from its heavier counterpart.

While things haven’t changed much for the lighter firearm, it has separated itself from more than just being a weaker version of itself. Its simple design has evolved into a more robust version that’s still easier to play than the rest of the ranged weapons but doesn’t fall behind in terms of mechanics and specialty.

Heavy Bowgun

The Heavy Bowgun is the premier ranged weapon introduced in the first generation. With high damage values and the ability to use most special ammunition in the game, this ranged weapon was the best choice for raining down artillery against monsters. Its offense came with a disadvantage, however, since its size and weight made it hard to move around while it was drawn.

If the Light Bowgun offered mobility in combat, the Heavy Bowgun offered flexibility. It allowed the hunter to bring more types of ammunition compared to its lighter counterpart. The disadvantage was that the weapon was slow, to the point that the hunter could only walk while it was brandished. The weapon can also be customized to improve certain aspects, but it can equip a Shield to block attacks and protect the hunter from harm's way.

Introduced in the first generation, its design stayed primarily the same. It was meant to be a strong artillery or support that could provide damage at a distance. The problem was that its low mobility may induce more downtime if the monster decided to focus on the wielder.

Its biggest change was introduced in Monster Hunter 3, where hunters can enter Siege Mode to release more shells without reloading. This changed in its subsequent releases, where in Monster Hunter World, Heavy Bowguns now had two different special ammo types called the Wyvernheart and the Wyvernsnipe. These special ammo types did not use any of the hunter’s ammunition in their inventory and can only be regained through time.

The Wyvernheart turns the weapon into a minigun, which had a high DPS since the hunter could continuously fire it until it ran out of special ammo. Its counterpart, Wyvernsnipe, was a one-shot special ammo that functioned similarly to Pierce ammo but was way more destructive.
Both bowguns had a more intricate gameplay loop of preparation compared to the rest of the weapon types. In Monster Hunter, you can buy and craft your ammunition. Stronger levels of shells can only be crafted, however, and cannot be bought. This meant that hunters who planned to use either bowgun were to carry items during hunts to craft their ammunition during combat should they need more.

The weapon was always used for its stronger ammunition like Cluster, Crag, and the like. The purpose of this was to make short work of certain monsters because of their sheer firepower. Not much has changed with its design other than receiving a different dodge roll and different attachments over the years, but its core identity remains the same: when you have a big gun, shoot big bullets.

Dual Blades

One of the flashiest weapons in the game, the Dual Blades is the weapon where speed is king. It’s also arguably the strongest of the weapon types to inflict status ailments and elemental damage due to its multi-hitting attacks. Additionally, it’s interesting to note that despite being a first-generation weapon, it was only introduced in the Western release of Monster Hunter and was not part of the game’s first Japan-only release.

With a focus on speed and fluid combos, the Dual Blades outrank the Sword and Shield when it comes to pure offense. While its attacks are weak individually, they flow easily into each other and attack so fast that all the damage adds up when it hits the monster.

Its whole gameplay design and moveset scream: death by a thousand cuts, and truthfully, the series’ subsequent releases have only further reinforced this. Wielders of the Dual Blades can enter Demon Mode willingly, which is a state where the user has increased damage and has access to even more offensive attacks and maneuvers. This is only temporary though, since being in Demon Mode drains stamina continuously until depleted or the hunter cancels out of the state.

This has remained throughout its versions since, with a few key changes. In Monster Hunter Portable 3rd and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, the Demon Gauge was introduced. This was a meter that was filled for every attack the hunter lands while in Demon Mode. When filled, the hunter can enter Archdemon Mode, which is a new powered-up state that allows the hunter access to new attacks and evasive maneuvers without entering into Demon Mode.

Without going into detail about it, the core gameplay of the weapon was changed massively. The reason for this was that having Archdemon Mode meant that you could access the Demon Mode moveset without draining stamina. Instead of the weapon being a cycle of going in and out of Demon Mode, the hunter was incentivized to maintain Archdemon Mode instead.

In addition to having new attacks in the weapons’ powered-up states, the Dual Blades were also known for their Demon Dash. This was a movement tool exclusively used by the Dual Blades which allows the hunter to dash around in combat. In Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, the Adept Hunter Style allowed the hunter to have a perfect dodge tied to the Demon Dash. When successfully performed, this granted them a timed buff that increased their damage and enhanced the Demon Dash to attack while dodging.

While the core of the weapon remained the same, certain nuances and other little things were changed and molded to fit into its more offensive playstyle. The introduction of the Archdemon Mode was one of the biggest changes that the weapon received, as it revamped how hunters would effectively use the weapon’s true potential.

Second Generation

Introduced in the second generation of Monster Hunter games, these weapons can be considered cousins to the originals they’re based on. While functionally they are similar, they have completely different movesets and mechanics that make them special and unique.

Long Sword

The Long Sword is popularly known for its fluid combos, high damage, and amazing mechanics. Cosmetically, the weapons were already in the first game with the Great Swords that resembled katanas. It was introduced as an official weapon type in Monster Hunter 2, having its own moveset. While it functions similarly to the Great Sword as a slashing weapon with high damage, it boasts higher mobility and a much more free-flowing combo structure than its cousin. What it loses, however, is the ability to block attacks.

The main mechanic that the weapon was based around was a meter called the Spirit Gauge. In its first iteration in Monster Hunter 2, the meter was filled by landing enough attacks with the weapon. When filled, the hunter will have access to the Spirit Combo, which is a string of attacks that, when done completely, deals a significant amount of damage.

In addition to its original builder-spender design, Monster Hunter 3 massively changed its design. Introducing new levels to the Spirit Gauge, a new finisher was added to the Spirit Combo called the Spirit Roundslash. This finisher, when landed, increased the level of the Spirit Gauge with a maximum of three different levels: white, yellow, and red. At each level, the hunter receives a progressively stronger attack buff, with Red being the strongest.

In Monster Hunter World, the weapon would be at its most popular state by adding a new finisher and also heavily changing its offensive flow. Aside from a new finisher with the Spirit Thrust Helm Breaker, the weapon received its first parry attack with the Foresight Slash.

This attack can be used with or without a Spirit Gauge, with the former having an additional window of invulnerability when spent. This move completed the weapon’s fluid combos, as it can be used to chain into the Spirit Combo and then into the Spirit Roundslash to increase the level of the Spirit Gauge quickly.

In Iceborne, the Long Sword came into its own by having the new Iai Stance. In this stance, the hunter can execute the Iai Slash and the Iai Spirit Slash. The former gave the weapon a faster alternative to maxing out the Spirit Gauge quickly, while the latter was another parry attack that flowed into the rest of its combo.

In totality, the Long Sword has always been a combo-oriented weapon. However, the weapon’s design has slowly changed into a more counter-based weapon that flows into its combos with the new tools that it received. It’s still all about the Spirit Gauge and how to flow into it seamlessly while dodging and countering the monster effectively in the end, but the newest iterations of the weapon allow it to be a more dynamic playstyle capable of parries and counters to reach the weapon’s peak quicker.

Hunting Horn

Popularly known as the support weapon, the Hunting Horn is the second fiddle to the impact weapons introduced in the series. Introduced in Monster Hunter 2, the weapon has access to a unique mechanic called Recital. Each hunting horn can play three different colored notes, and combining said notes in different ways will result in various beneficial effects. These can range from attack buffs, defense buffs, healing, and more.

Similar to the Hammer, the Hunting Horn only deals impact damage, and hunters that use the weapon should primarily be targeting the head to stun the monster eventually. While they are similar to dealing with impact damage, the Hunting Horn is generally weaker in overall damage than its counterpart due to its access to different beneficial effects.

The changes to the Hunting Horn revolved mostly around its Recital mechanic up until the latest iteration, Monster Hunter Rise, where the weapon would receive a major overhaul. Throughout the series, the Recital mechanic was further improved upon by introducing different additions to make it more efficient in both hitting the enemy and playing a song. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate made the change that notes could be played while attacking, as opposed to its original design where you had to be in Recital to play notes and complete songs.

This change was huge for the Hunting Horn, as the weapon benefitted greatly from switching songs as well as being able to transition from supporting and attacking in one motion. Since then, the trend has been trying to make the weapon transition seamlessly between performing and attacking or making them do both simultaneously.

Monster Hunter World made it so that songs could now be queued. This means that you could queue the available songs that the weapon had and simultaneously activate all the effects in a single recital. This further improved the weapon’s flow and fluidity in offense, with the hunter being able to focus on doing a specific combo, activating their buffs, and then moving on to the fight instead of performing each song.

The expansion introduced Echo Notes, which kind of functioned as the weapon’s finisher or its main tool for dealing the most damage. After performing the initial attack that activates the Echo Note, there will be small areas in combat that provide various buffs when the hunter successfully performs the recital. These areas must be walked on by a hunter for them to gain the effect, with the added benefit that walking through the area twice will double the effect of the buff.

While Monster Hunter World and its expansion built upon its foundational design of making Recitals more fluid in combat, Monster Hunter Rise overhauled the weapon entirely. In a sense, the weapon was made easier to use overall. Instead of doing a specific route of attacks to perform the desired song, it was changed to pressing the same button twice instead. Additionally, the total song list for every weapon was halved, and buffs were cast automatically.

This overhaul completely redesigned the weapon’s core mechanic, as it was now something that you could do during combat as opposed to its original design of having to stop combat to commit to a Recital. Regardless of Capcom’s intention, this was a very divisive change to the weapon. Many complained about the weapon’s intricacy being lost due to the lack of complexity that the new iteration has. In contrast, others praised its simplicity and were happy that the weapon was now on even ground against the other weapon types, as they had to sacrifice a lot of damage just to get the perfect Recital and combo out.

Gunlance

Introduced in the second generation, the Gunlance was a unique weapon that crossed between a Lance and a Bowgun. It functioned similarly to a Lance, where the wielder carries a big shield and piercing lance. But it has the added advantage of being able to fire explosive rounds. While it has ammunition, this is unlimited and is only regained when the hunter reloads the shelling.

Visually, it looks similar to the Lance but it has various differences in gameplay. First off, the Gunlance’s attacks are mainly cutting and slashing, as opposed to the Lance’s piercing attacks. Second, the Gunlance has what can be considered as finishers in its moveset. The Wyvern’s Fire is a chargeable attack where the Gunlance charges all of its available shelling and lets loose an explosive attack at the tip of the lance.

In addition to the comparisons, the Gunlance is considered more to be an aggressive weapon than a defensive one. Its whole gameplay revolves around making use of the shelling provided by the specific weapon. Without going too deep into it, the Gunlance had different available Shelling Abilities depending on the Gunlance owned. This affected the attacks that made use of Shelling, as the explosions would vary depending on the type.

In Monster Hunter 3, the weapon received considerable changes to further reinforce its more aggressive design to differentiate it from its counterpart. It had a new quick reload mechanic that allowed the hunter to reload a shell after firing a shell. This resulted in an easy infinite combo that can be done repetitively. In addition to that, the weapon received a new attack called the Full Burst, which was a downward slam after the third attack. This can then transition into the Wyvern’s Fire finisher if the player desires to do so. Lastly, the weapon can also now charge additional shells for a single attack.

Monster Hunter X introduced the Heat Gauge, which was a resource that fills up whenever the hunter fires a shell or uses an attack that utilizes Shelling. Increasing the meter would increase the damage of its physical attacks and overheating the weapon would lock the gauge out for a few minutes.

This additional mechanic added a new layer to the offense of the weapon, as now you have to balance being able to use the shells that you’ve stored up while dishing out the maximum amount of damage. Monster Hunter World added a new finisher called the Wyrmstake Shot. This was an attack that could be done after a combo and impale the weapon with an exploding stake.

The Gunlance was one of the weapons that was unique from the get-go. Its mechanics of reloading and unloading were different from all the other melee weapons that were available. It’s also one of the weapons where you have to be balanced with how you attack; otherwise, you burn out and lose access to your stronger Shelling.

Bow

The most agile of the ranged weapons, the Bow can be considered the most aggressive ranged weapon in the series. Introduced in Monster Hunter 2, the Bow specializes in close-to-mid-ranged combat where it uses its mobility to its full advantage by darting in and out of combat. It’s also unique in the sense that the weapon functions similarly to a melee weapon, where you’re mostly pulling off combos to deal the most damage. Similar to the Great Sword, the Bow has chargeable attacks that shoot more arrows on a successful charge.

It focuses on a hit-and-run style, where the wielder would focus on landing most of their arrows on weak spots as well as its multi-hitting attacks for huge elemental damage. What makes it a ranged weapon is that it has a certain ammunition as well. The weapon can use various Coatings to increase its damage output or inflict certain elemental and status effects with its attacks.

The weapon’s mobility and fluid combos are its strongest assets. Throughout the series, the weapon’s combos weren’t necessarily removed but were significantly added with newer attacks to add to the weapon’s arsenal. The older games in the series introduced different mechanics like Shot Types, but the newer releases opted to remove them for simplicity. This meant that specific bows had different shot types and did not have access to every attack in their arsenal.

This changed in Monster Hunter World, where the Bow’s moveset is completely universal and is even more combo-heavy in its strings. The different Shot Types were integrated into its base moveset. In addition to attacks, the Close-Range Coating can now be used by every Bow and is now infinite.

In Monster Hunter Rise, however, Shot Types were reintroduced into its core gameplay but are now tied to the charge level of the weapon. This meant that different charge levels would result in different attacks depending on the weapon.

Despite having its unique identity of having specific finishers depending on the weapon, the overhaul introduced in Monster Hunter World proved to be beneficial to the weapon’s overall design. It embraced a more aggressive and combo-heavy ranged playstyle that lets you slide in and out of harm’s way while being different from a Bowgun’s point-and-shoot gameplay.

Third and Fourth Generation

These weapons were introduced in Monster Hunter 3 and Monster Hunter 4, respectively. Other than the Insect Glaive’s unique buff collection mechanic, the other two weapons were morphable weapons that transformed during combos. These made the weapons unique from the other offerings, as they had multiple mechanics tied to their transformed states.

Switch Axe

The Switch Axe is a weapon introduced in Monster Hunter 3 that has two different weapon modes—Axe Mode and Sword Mode. It is interesting to note that the weapon was something the player had to earn before, as players must complete a certain quest to teach the Blacksmith how to craft the Switch Axe in Monster Hunter 3. Aside from its initial release, the weapon has been offered at the start of the game from then on, even in the subsequent versions of Monster Hunter 3.

The whole design of the weapon revolves around balancing the offense between the weapon’s two different modes. The Axe Mode, contrary to its size, is the more mobile and long-reaching mode of the two. In this mode, the weapon has more range, higher mobility, and access to an infinite combo that uses the wielder’s stamina. On the other hand, the Sword Mode is the more damaging of the two modes, where the hunter has access to quicker swings, its assigned Phial, and its iconic Elemental Discharge finisher.

While the core design of the weapon has remained consistent throughout the series, the weapon’s morphing capabilities were heavily improved after every iteration. In Monster Hunter World, in particular, the Switch Axe received a new mechanic called Amped. This mechanic activates after landing enough hits while in Sword Mode. Being in this state empowers the Sword Mode with the phial that’s tied to the specific weapon. Additionally, the weapon also had new attacks that transitioned to and from either form, giving the weapon an easier ebb and flow.

Monster Hunter Rise enhanced the Amped state by giving the empowered state to both forms instead of the Sword form only. This encouraged the hunter to continue morphing in between forms during the Amped state to maximize damage.

The Switch Axe was the first weapon that broadened the design of weapons to be introduced in the series. Although the weapon is not as popular as it should be, the Switch Axe is still a unique addition to the series with its form-swapping gameplay mechanics and explosive flow to combat.

Insect Glaive

One of two weapons introduced in Monster Hunter 4, the Insect Glaive can be considered the weapon for aerial supremacy. Other than being a double-bladed glaive, it is also paired with a special insect called a Kinsect, which is controlled by the hunter to collect essences to grant them buffs when recalled. The Kinsect can be sent out freely or can home in on the monster if tagged with a pheromone bullet. Additionally, the weapon also specializes in mounting monsters, a new mechanic introduced in Monster Hunter 4, due to its unique ability to let the hunter launch themselves into the air at will.

While the base attack moveset of the weapon isn’t anything remarkable, the weapon unleashes its true potential when three specific colored essences are extracted from a large monster. These essences are red, white, and orange, each buffing the attack, mobility, and defense, respectively. When all three essences are collected, the collected buffs are stronger and cannot be reset. The three essences must be recollected after their duration expires.

Since its release in Monster Hunter 4, the weapon hasn’t received many substantial changes to its core gameplay other than additional attacks and finishers. It has, however, had many changes to its upgrade system since the weapon and the Kinsect had to be upgraded differently. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne introduced the Descending Thrust finisher, which gave the weapon a much-needed air-to-ground finisher that it was sorely lacking.

Afterward, the Monster Hunter Rise counterpart made the weapon a lot simpler in both upgrading and using Kinsects. Originally, the stats of the Kinsect were something that you were supposed to be improving over time. This was changed in subsequent releases to make it more approachable to new hunters. In Monster Hunter Rise, the Kinsect was tied to the Kinsect Level which was dependent on the weapon equipped. Additionally, there were more types of Kinsects introduced in the game, namely: Normal, Assist, Powder, and Speed.

The core gameplay of the Insect Glaive has always revolved around the player being able to collect the three different essences quickly. This was often the objective of hunters as soon as the hunt starts so that they could enter into their strongest state quickly as well. It has received more attention regarding its already inefficient gold upgrade system since wielders of the weapon would need to collect even more materials than needed to craft both their weapon and their Kinsect.

Overall, the Insect Glaive was a unique weapon that pushed the series even further with its design and aerial prowess. Built on the buff system and its high coverage attacks, the weapon is easy to use for most hunters while meeting the criteria of being unique enough to not be similar to an already existing weapon.

Charge Blade

Last but not least, the Charge Blade is the second transforming weapon introduced in the series. Introduced in Monster Hunter 4, the weapon is popular in the community for its versatility and over-the-top finishers that tie together the total moveset. Similar to the Switch Axe, the weapon also has a Sword Mode and Axe Mode available. It uses Sword Mode to charge the phials of the weapon without overcharging the weapon. The Axe Mode is used to cash out the charged phials by using the Amped Elemental Discharge. It’s also often known as the most difficult weapon to use due to underlying mechanics.

Similar to the Lance and the new Long Sword, the Charge Blade is built around its multiple guard points to charge phials as quickly as they can. Additionally, the weapon can have different Phials specific to their equipped Charge Blade. While the combo structure is fluid and the weapon itself is versatile, the advantages are weighed down due to the difficulty of the weapon.

Mastering the weapon’s Guard Points will allow the hunter to protect themselves from damage while being able to keep the offense going. In addition to this, the hunter will also have to familiarize themselves with how to transition their attacks from either mode. This means that not only will the hunter need knowledge to fully understand the weapon’s transitions, but they also have to have perfect knowledge of how a monster behaves to maximize their Guard Points.

All in all, the Charge Blade is a difficult weapon to learn but very rewarding to master. Its balanced offense and mechanical depth make it into a truly versatile weapon that can do anything.

Will There Be More?

While Monster Hunter Wilds will feature the fourteen weapons listed earlier, there are more weapons that the series has had ever that haven’t been included in the Western release of some of their games. With a series with as much longevity as Monster Hunter, I wouldn’t be surprised if the newer games will have newer weapons or if they just decide to port over already existing weapon types from their previous release. That being said, I hope that the next iterations of the series will introduce even more weapons that add to the depth of the game’s already addicting gameplay, even if I’ll stick to the Sword and Shield after saying I’ll switch weapons after every new release.

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