I've had this since release but haven't dove in because it seems a little intimidating. Finally started giving it a go last week and am almost done with the training missions. Can't wait to start hunting for real.
Congrats on doing the training missions. It'll pay off when you get into the game more. Visit the MH tavern thread if you ever are looking for some hunters to hunt with.
Since you said it, I love to be a Blademaster. The LS is still the best weapon for me. Quick, elegant, reliable. At first, I used lots of shock traps, sonic and flash bombs, but meanwhile I'm enjoying to go on a hunt with just a few health pots and paint balls. It's thrilling, just me, my sword and the monster. You know what you did if you ever spent 20 minutes jogging around a Tigrex, with nothing but some mega pots and an Eager Cleaver. And I can absolutely confirm that skill comes with practice. I died a thousand times at first, but there's a point where it clicks and you always know where to stand or to go. It's like dancing. I am trying this with Teostra now, but he is quite a difference, compared to a Tigrex.
I decided to start a new game and try out the great sword (my second favorite - based on looks). And going from longsword to gs is pretty crazy. The speed difference is substantial and I can't get used to blocking since LS is always "roll away" lol.
Im really glad the thread is picking up again. w00t! Huntah for life! Even if i dont have access to the more recent iterations of MH, i'd still be playing whatever i have access to.
GS is mostly rolling too when it comes to your defense, but it has a panic button in the form of a block. It's an inferior block compared to Lances and GLs, and even inferior compared to the SnS blocking. Strength-wise, the GS block is the same as SnS block. You'll flinch as much with either weapon when blocking. GS is inferior because when you block you lose sharpness. GS block's most useful moments are when blocking roars. GS is still about making use of the GS charges, the flinch thresholds, and the safe sniping. Good luck rocking with a GS! It's always been my favorite weapon class since MHF1, all through MHF2, MHFU and MHP3.
Since the most efficient move with GS is - afaik - the "unsheating strike", you should have pocketed it most time anyway? Well, I guess the weapon I also like besides the LS is still the hunting horn. It's fun and creative. And the hunting horn designs are just awesome. The GS is one hell of a weapon (imho, especially when you're out to break body parts), but it is a tiny bit too slow for me to get comfortable with it. But the GS drove me mad while trying to farm quick monsters (like Giaprey, Velociprey and all that other lizard stuff). When I was charging and trying to hit them, they mostly jumped out of the way, easily. I think I did something wrong. But it was fun to take on a slow Basarios and hammer a GS constantly at his weak breastplate. Was a quick fight once the breastplate broke.
Wow looks like I gotta try more of those melee weapons (bow user). Dual blades look bad ass to me. But I'll earn my barrage piercing first before diving into melee. Only the Gravios and Kirin to go wuhuu!
I'm a GS noob.. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm like a kid that got a giant sword as a gift and his Dad kicked him out of the house and said "SURVIVE." Then proceeded to lock the doors. GS I think looks the coolest out of all the weapons imo. I'm not used to the low mobility since I notice you need to sheathe a lot to survive and the swings are all about timing - they're not as forgiving as the LS since they have a long attack sequence. The LS gives you some movement even while the weapon is out and I just sheathe to get a better position. Or I can just roll into position But.. but.. Longsword!!
Yes, GS is the only weapon you sheathe 90% of the time. For the raptors, dont use charged attacks, or you'll most likely just whiff. GS is at its best when you learn flinch thresholds. For example, with certain weapons, Teostra will flinch with 4 unsheathed strikes to the face. He also flinches with 1 lv3 charge plus one unsheathed strike. Combine those and you make quick work of teo. Learning when monsters flinch with GS charges is key to mastering the slow but powerful class.
I admit, I rarely used the GS. My favourite weapons are still the LS (obviously) or any good bow. I love the decent damage output of a LS while still having the ability to run and roll around as you like. But looking at MH as well as Dark Souls (1 / 2) and various other games, I guess I always prefer speed over the highest damage rating. But thanks for your tips, I might give Teostra a try with a GS one day. Btw., have you ever tried hunting Chameleos with a bow?
Yup... Rapid shots to the head works best, but you can do the leg trick (the usual melee class strategy) with spread shots as well.
Does anyone know how many skill points of a particular skill I need to activate it? Is it 10 or 20, or different depending on the skill? Also is it possible to increase the # of skill points in a skill other than equipping decorations? Say an armor gives +2 to skill A, and none of the other armor pieces gives points to this skill. I need to increase it to at least 10 or something to activate it right? But each decoration only increases this skill by 2, so it means I need to equip 4 of the same decoration to activate it? Or can that base +2 be upgraded?
Yeah, I wanna go with a bow at that beast (Chamaeleos is easy with a LS once you broke the tail), but I assume there will be problems with his visibility. Do I just fire where he is supposed to be, with spread ammo, or do I need to wait for his attacks? Or the flash bomb trick? What I am wondering about is that the gunlance is so widely ignored. I mean, I have built one or two of these, too, but I only used it once vs a Khetzu. I was impressed not only by the shelling ability, when you constantly change between stabs and shots (making the fight very flexible), but the unbelievable damage output when you use your Wyvery Fire. That's a very powerful finisher before a creature is able to limp away. The Dual Blades are also very cool, but just until mid-game, as I think. Then all of your combos need to be quick, clean and successful to build up enough damage to take a monster down. What I am also interested in is to get more SnS weapons soon and try those.
OK, this is a bit tricky one. Basically you are right with your assumptions. Skills are activated by having the right amount of skill points and a skill is (normally) activated at 10 points. For example: you have an armor, so let's pretend that you have the first ever armor, the Mafomofu. This armor has pretty good skills, but is very low in defense. When you have this armor, it already has skills that you don't have to activate. Its skills are: Cold Resistance[Hi] - You don't need anymore Hot Drink in cold areas Divine Protection - autoprotects you Heat Inc[Lo] - Negative skill, faster decrease of health in hot areas. You can figure them out by looking at the status then scroll to the right. You should see a "Skill Tree". You should see 3 activated skills, written in green font. You see the Cold Resistance, it must me written in green font, and after the = sign, it says 15(or maybe 20), that makes it [Hi] instead of [Lo], so this skill is activated. The next one is Protection, after the = is 10, meaning this skill is activated (written in green font). Some skills can get to 15 and 20 to max them out. 20 is max for some, but other skills are only up to 10, meaning that skill can't be upgraded to a better skill. OK, the Heat Inc[Lo]. It says -10. This one is bad skill, because its activated by negative points. If you see the section [Activate Skills] in the status, it means it's already activated, but you can further upgrade some of those skills by attaching jewels with the same effect of the skill, but some of the skills can only be 10. Your armor must have space (up to three spaces, spaces are illustrated by O--, OO-, OOO). You can always upgrade low skills with decorations, but you can't upgrade the base skill value of the armor itself, afaik. You should read the "Info Magazine" (bookcase in your house next to your bed). It holds valuable tips and explanations for skills, weapons and armor. Later in game, it is a lot of fun to create your own "custom" armor sets to get all the skills you like the best with various armor parts and jewels. I hope I was correct here; if not, Exact-Psience will correct the things I got wrong.
Actually dual blades are the best weapons to deal with Chameleos. Fire dual Blades to be exact, which you can get from gold and silver raths. In G-Rank, these fire duals kill chameleos the fastest. The tactic is pretty cheap though. Drink a juice, stay in-between chameleos's right forearm and hind legs (circling him towards your left into position). When attacking, face the hind leg, and demonize once. Then, all you have to do is roll forward if he turns right away, or just wait for your demonize animation to finish, then just walk/run, still positioning yourself between the forearm and hind leg always. After a few of these legs hits, he will fall over giving you more time to demonize. If you want the easiest way to kill, during this time, position yourself in between the forearm and hind leg still, but this time, facing the spot between the hind leg and the body to get all attacks of the demonize move to hit since he's struggling to get up. When he stands up, keep repeating the proces.. Since you've dealt much damage to the hind legs while he was down, it only takes a few hits this time to trip him and make him fall to the ground again. Rinse, repeat. Dont forget to sharpen your weapons too. If you have a white shapness weapon, it's ok to sharpen only when your weapon's at green sharpness. The only attack you need to recognize when running with his turning, while in between his forearm and hind leg, is the leap poison drop attack. You'll have to quickly change direction of your run away from his body and do just one roll. After a few times of getting hit, you should be able to recognize it and consistently avoid it. Cheers!
Thanks for the tips, I'm going to try them soon. But I will take my chance with a bow first, with some fire and spread ammo.
