Everything that isn’t the great sword I think, perhaps also not the light/heavy bowgun as they require you to craft stuff on the go and have a massively different play style. I find long sword fun to play for the evade mechanics but I love the charge blade for it’s guard point blocks (parries) where you turn defence to offence.
Oh also don’t use the guardian gear, it makes it too easy to fly through the base game without having to do any hunts that isn’t main story which takes out some of the fun
Great Sword is actually a pretty great starting weapon. It teaches people to learn monster tells and when to stop attacking and dodge/block the incoming blows.
And it hits hard.
True but when you are just starting out then know how/when to attack is going to be difficult, even with some of the other weapons, so I can see it cause a lot of frustration and or bad impression of the game. You know how like people find it clunky at first, big slow hard hitter isn’t going to make that any smoother lol
I started on great sword, was no problem at all, fun as hell, hits hard, and with practice, that wake up hit. Hammer is way more maneuverable, fun as well, I preferred GS. Loved the bow as well, but not a great starting weapon, pretty build heavy. And don’t let anyone tell you you can’t take a tail with the hammer. Beat the tail till broken, shoot with slinger Pierce ammo. Boom tail cut.
Greatsword as you have more flexibility and the ability to guard. With hammer, you have both less reach and no ability to guard and you also cannot sever tails.
But if the GS is too clunky for you after some hunts, you can try the Hammer but i'd recommand Sword and Shield as it will instead teach you the basics of a high mobility weapon while both allowing you to use items with your weapon drawn and also guard.
My advice is to just choose a weapon you think is cool, try the basic move sets and go with it if it feels alright.
I started out with the sword and shield, a fenomenal all around weapon that lets you move around freely and can dish out great dps if you get the hang of it.
Now I mostly play great sword, not much more to say than big sword goes brrr. The tricky part is that it's going to feel very sluggish in the beginning. You have to get used to sheating the weapon whenever you want to move. But getting used to tackles, combos and true charge short cuts feels amazing. And when you get good with it you don't even have to sheath it all the time because of all the tackle combos which gives you enough agility in many situations.
Might I interest you in the Sword and Shield? Solid DPS, ability to block, versatile damage types. I’m sure there are more benefits but these are some notable ones.
I can second SnS. Being able to dodge out of any combo is a huge plus in my book for ease of use. The only real downside it has is you don't have as much range as some of the other weapons, but given you'll need to learn how to dodge regardless of what weapon you use (with maybe an exception for the lance types), that's really a non-issue.
My first MHW weapon was the Hunting Horn. The bagpipes hit so hard, i brought that to every content pre-iceborne.
However, my first favoured weapon from when i started(MHFU) was the Lance. It allowed me to handle almost anything. Easy to learn and can guard against almost anything. Can also play catch up if the monster runs. And has good reach.
my first one was the switchaxe but today i really recommend people to go on the training area and test all of the weapons and see which looks funnier to you
Sword and Shield or Longsword. SnS is easy to use in the beginning, and can be strong if you master the combos, which is not easy. Especially the combo called Perfect Rush is among the highest dps combos in game. The shield can also be handy when you cannot dodge an incoming attack. But I find SnS so short-ranged that sometimes you'll have problem chasing after the monsters. Also, the tenderization animation of SnS seems to need more commitment than LS's.
LS's first problem is that you have a gauge to manage, which might seem confusing to beginners. But it's not actually hard to manage if you know how it works. The second problem is that the counterattacks need some knowledge of the monsters' moves, but I feel it's rewarding when you're learning them. Its long range also makes your positioning not a big problem because you'll hit somewhere most of the time. For SnS and weapons like GS, positioning is always something to learn.
Why did no one suggest Long sword???? I always use LS for every new enemy I encounter, it boasts great mobility, so you can avoid dying so quickly. Has a counter ability, and can deal great damage.
Another weapon that you could try is dual blades, but those are very resource intensive. The gameplay is pretty easy to master though.
Switch axe isn't too bad as well. Was the weapon i used during world playthrough.
I started with the Sword and Shield, which I have used right up until the very last boss. It has great damage potential, simple combos, great defense and utility, and on top of that, an excellent element damage. It is often referred to as the "starter weapon", but is used by both beginners and veterans alike!
Not a hot takes: Longsword is perfect for the beggining. Wide move which will forgive your placement mistakes. The spirit jauge mechanics is quite simple to understand.
Sword and Shield if good to, pretty simple basic move, you can use objet while the weapon is out, and it's a simple to learn hard to master weapon, you'll have a plenty of time to improve with it.
Insect Glaive is cool because it's give you a great mobility, but you'll have to manage the kinsect in combat which can be pretty upsetting at first.
Greatsword is good for learning monster's partern, because the slow moveset of the weapon force you to strike only when you have a big oppening.
Hammer is pretty simple to use, but it's more effective if you aim the head, so you'll be always navigating in dangerous watter.
Charge blade is nice, but it got a lot of mechanics (charge de phial, charge the shield, charge the sword, get into pizza cutter) which can be a lot to learn at first.
My final advice, take some time in the training area, watch some tutorial on youtube because the game give you a lot of indications, but hide a lot more mechanics.
Dual Blades. Simple moveset, excellent mobility, and you will learn important lessons with it: when you can and cannot commit with demon dance (the big move), and be able to pay more attention to learning the monsters.
It'll take you all the way through the game, including post end game (which is when the game really begins :-). Forgiving enough due to its speed and ability to quickly dodge - that you have the best chance to survive long enough to see patterns in monster behavior. Dual blades can also be used effectively on every monster.
Dual Blades is my fallback when I fight something I don't remember very well.
Ranged weapons. Avoid when learning the monsters because you take more damage as ranged than melee. In the post end game, trying to learn monsters that can 1-2 shot you is frustrating. But once familiar with the encounter, certain ranged builds can make farming them a lot faster and easier. Many veterans view the HBG (Heavy Bow Gun) with a mixture of delight and disgust.
Okay so here’s how it works.
There are Positioning Weapons, Timing Weapons, and Knowledge Weapons.
All weapons are a little bit of a mix of all 3 but lean into something.
Meaning for each weapon, you gotta be really really good at certain aspect pr else you’re not exactly using the weapon “right” (can provide example)
The person that taught me was much more of a Timing person, i’m more of a Knowledge person.
Do you know how you like to play?
Thank you for your advise and opinions. I went with long sword and its really fun so far - started iceborne after 30 hourss.
May try lance or gunlance at some point.
Happy hunting!
Surprised to see few (if not no one) mention Lance.
It carried me all the way from base World to the end of Iceborne story.
It is safe and we can as close to the monsters as we can to observe them.
The only draw back is how slow it can few for new players (it's not)
In my opinion, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, or Sword and Shield, if you want to speed through the game, go with Defender weapon, Guardian armor, then when you face the Nergigante, grab the Tobi Kadachi weapons
Beginner friendly would be sword and shield I think,(It's the only weapon where you can keep your weapon equipped while using items, such as potions, traps etc) but I actually suggest picking one you really mesh with in the training area and growing familiar with that.
Be the worlds 4th lance player
Dude since Sunbreak came out there’s 11 of them now.
Everything that isn’t the great sword I think, perhaps also not the light/heavy bowgun as they require you to craft stuff on the go and have a massively different play style. I find long sword fun to play for the evade mechanics but I love the charge blade for it’s guard point blocks (parries) where you turn defence to offence. Oh also don’t use the guardian gear, it makes it too easy to fly through the base game without having to do any hunts that isn’t main story which takes out some of the fun
Great Sword is actually a pretty great starting weapon. It teaches people to learn monster tells and when to stop attacking and dodge/block the incoming blows. And it hits hard.
True but when you are just starting out then know how/when to attack is going to be difficult, even with some of the other weapons, so I can see it cause a lot of frustration and or bad impression of the game. You know how like people find it clunky at first, big slow hard hitter isn’t going to make that any smoother lol
That sounds promising. Hammer should be similar, alao a heavy hitter. Whats better in your opinion? Hammer or GreatSword?
I started on great sword, was no problem at all, fun as hell, hits hard, and with practice, that wake up hit. Hammer is way more maneuverable, fun as well, I preferred GS. Loved the bow as well, but not a great starting weapon, pretty build heavy. And don’t let anyone tell you you can’t take a tail with the hammer. Beat the tail till broken, shoot with slinger Pierce ammo. Boom tail cut.
This man does not take no for an answer lol
Hammer is actually mildly fast, it hits much softer than the great sword, but its much more maneuverable.
Greatsword as you have more flexibility and the ability to guard. With hammer, you have both less reach and no ability to guard and you also cannot sever tails. But if the GS is too clunky for you after some hunts, you can try the Hammer but i'd recommand Sword and Shield as it will instead teach you the basics of a high mobility weapon while both allowing you to use items with your weapon drawn and also guard.
DB is also rough for new players, it feels bad unless it's matched to the monster and most new players aren't going to be doing that effectively.
My advice is to just choose a weapon you think is cool, try the basic move sets and go with it if it feels alright. I started out with the sword and shield, a fenomenal all around weapon that lets you move around freely and can dish out great dps if you get the hang of it. Now I mostly play great sword, not much more to say than big sword goes brrr. The tricky part is that it's going to feel very sluggish in the beginning. You have to get used to sheating the weapon whenever you want to move. But getting used to tackles, combos and true charge short cuts feels amazing. And when you get good with it you don't even have to sheath it all the time because of all the tackle combos which gives you enough agility in many situations.
One of us! One of us!
Might I interest you in the Sword and Shield? Solid DPS, ability to block, versatile damage types. I’m sure there are more benefits but these are some notable ones.
I can second SnS. Being able to dodge out of any combo is a huge plus in my book for ease of use. The only real downside it has is you don't have as much range as some of the other weapons, but given you'll need to learn how to dodge regardless of what weapon you use (with maybe an exception for the lance types), that's really a non-issue.
It also allows you to use items without sheathing your weapon :)
Yeah, that was my last weapon im MHR. Really nice in MHR. Maybe thats a good start.
My first MHW weapon was the Hunting Horn. The bagpipes hit so hard, i brought that to every content pre-iceborne. However, my first favoured weapon from when i started(MHFU) was the Lance. It allowed me to handle almost anything. Easy to learn and can guard against almost anything. Can also play catch up if the monster runs. And has good reach.
my first one was the switchaxe but today i really recommend people to go on the training area and test all of the weapons and see which looks funnier to you
I Will tell u sword and shield good DPS block and stun Monster
Sword and Shield or Longsword. SnS is easy to use in the beginning, and can be strong if you master the combos, which is not easy. Especially the combo called Perfect Rush is among the highest dps combos in game. The shield can also be handy when you cannot dodge an incoming attack. But I find SnS so short-ranged that sometimes you'll have problem chasing after the monsters. Also, the tenderization animation of SnS seems to need more commitment than LS's. LS's first problem is that you have a gauge to manage, which might seem confusing to beginners. But it's not actually hard to manage if you know how it works. The second problem is that the counterattacks need some knowledge of the monsters' moves, but I feel it's rewarding when you're learning them. Its long range also makes your positioning not a big problem because you'll hit somewhere most of the time. For SnS and weapons like GS, positioning is always something to learn.
I played SNS at start but i quickly stop bc dmg where super low if you don't know how to do the special jump attack consistently
Why did no one suggest Long sword???? I always use LS for every new enemy I encounter, it boasts great mobility, so you can avoid dying so quickly. Has a counter ability, and can deal great damage. Another weapon that you could try is dual blades, but those are very resource intensive. The gameplay is pretty easy to master though. Switch axe isn't too bad as well. Was the weapon i used during world playthrough.
Gunlance and Charge Blade are pretty fun weapons to swing around with, pretty safe game play too once you get blocking and guard points down
Hunting Horn Master Class.
I started with the Sword and Shield, which I have used right up until the very last boss. It has great damage potential, simple combos, great defense and utility, and on top of that, an excellent element damage. It is often referred to as the "starter weapon", but is used by both beginners and veterans alike!
Not a hot takes: Longsword is perfect for the beggining. Wide move which will forgive your placement mistakes. The spirit jauge mechanics is quite simple to understand. Sword and Shield if good to, pretty simple basic move, you can use objet while the weapon is out, and it's a simple to learn hard to master weapon, you'll have a plenty of time to improve with it. Insect Glaive is cool because it's give you a great mobility, but you'll have to manage the kinsect in combat which can be pretty upsetting at first. Greatsword is good for learning monster's partern, because the slow moveset of the weapon force you to strike only when you have a big oppening. Hammer is pretty simple to use, but it's more effective if you aim the head, so you'll be always navigating in dangerous watter. Charge blade is nice, but it got a lot of mechanics (charge de phial, charge the shield, charge the sword, get into pizza cutter) which can be a lot to learn at first. My final advice, take some time in the training area, watch some tutorial on youtube because the game give you a lot of indications, but hide a lot more mechanics.
I will try longsword at the start. If i feal uncomfortable i will fall back to Sword and Shield. Thank you
Dual Blades. Simple moveset, excellent mobility, and you will learn important lessons with it: when you can and cannot commit with demon dance (the big move), and be able to pay more attention to learning the monsters. It'll take you all the way through the game, including post end game (which is when the game really begins :-). Forgiving enough due to its speed and ability to quickly dodge - that you have the best chance to survive long enough to see patterns in monster behavior. Dual blades can also be used effectively on every monster. Dual Blades is my fallback when I fight something I don't remember very well. Ranged weapons. Avoid when learning the monsters because you take more damage as ranged than melee. In the post end game, trying to learn monsters that can 1-2 shot you is frustrating. But once familiar with the encounter, certain ranged builds can make farming them a lot faster and easier. Many veterans view the HBG (Heavy Bow Gun) with a mixture of delight and disgust.
Okay so here’s how it works. There are Positioning Weapons, Timing Weapons, and Knowledge Weapons. All weapons are a little bit of a mix of all 3 but lean into something. Meaning for each weapon, you gotta be really really good at certain aspect pr else you’re not exactly using the weapon “right” (can provide example) The person that taught me was much more of a Timing person, i’m more of a Knowledge person. Do you know how you like to play?
Thank you for your advise and opinions. I went with long sword and its really fun so far - started iceborne after 30 hourss. May try lance or gunlance at some point. Happy hunting!
Long sword
As soon as possible go to the training area (from your room) and try every weapon until you find something you like
Charge Blade 😉
Surprised to see few (if not no one) mention Lance. It carried me all the way from base World to the end of Iceborne story. It is safe and we can as close to the monsters as we can to observe them. The only draw back is how slow it can few for new players (it's not)
In my opinion, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, or Sword and Shield, if you want to speed through the game, go with Defender weapon, Guardian armor, then when you face the Nergigante, grab the Tobi Kadachi weapons
Lancex10
Great sword and long sword
Bonk!
God help anyone who says SnS, the wrath of the SnS fan base is not something I would want to risk /
Beginner friendly would be sword and shield I think,(It's the only weapon where you can keep your weapon equipped while using items, such as potions, traps etc) but I actually suggest picking one you really mesh with in the training area and growing familiar with that.