For those who’re in search of the most effective Change Axe construct for Monster Hunter Wilds, you have little doubt been seduced by the one factor cooler than swinging round an enormous axe: swinging round an enormous axe that can be an enormous sword.
Change Axe is someplace within the center floor of Monster Hunter weapon complexity. Axe mode provides excessive mobility and chunky hits, whereas Sword Mode slows your motion pace in trade for prime harm combos that construct to explosive finishers. Juggling the playstyles and managing your meters takes some getting used to, however mastering the Change Axe makes for among the flashiest assaults in Monster Hunter.
Under, I am going to offer you a primer on enjoying Change Axe in Wilds so you may get snug with your individual morphing monster macerator. Then I am going to lay out some weapon and armor construct ideas so you possibly can carve via the Forbidden Lands with ease, whether or not you are chopping or slicing.
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The way to play Change Axe in Monster Hunter Wilds
Change Axe is basically a weapon about storing up power after which unleashing it for prime harm. Within the extra nimble Axe Mode, your assaults will fill your Change Gauge. In Sword Mode, you progress extra slowly, however you spend that Change Gauge power on excessive harm assault combos. As you land Sword Mode assaults, you will construct up your Amp Gauge. As soon as that is crammed, you possibly can carry out your highest-damage finisher assaults.
Which may sound like plenty of meters, nevertheless it’s extra easy than it appears at first brush: You turn into Sword Mode if you’ve acquired meter to spend, and you turn again to Axe Mode to refill.
Here is a rundown of how every mode features, together with some ideas for its primary assaults.
Axe Mode ideas
- Touchdown assaults in axe mode will refill your Change Gauge. On the little Change Axe meter displayed if you’re wielding the weapon, the Change Gauge is the yellow bar. It’s going to additionally refill over time in case your weapon’s sheathed.
- Press Y in your primary assault combo. It is a three-attack sequence, starting with an Overhead Slash ending with a prolonged however highly effective Spiral Burst Slash. The opening Overhead Slash is nice for hitting flying monsters and tails, however if you happen to’re transferring whereas urgent Y, the primary assault will change right into a quicker, weaker Ahead Slash.
- Urgent B will enter the Wild Swing, a repeatable assault the place you spend stamina to repeatedly hack into the monster so long as you mash the B button. Importantly, after swinging no less than twice, urgent Y throughout Wild Swing will carry out a Heavy Slam and activate Energy Axe Mode. Whereas in Energy Axe mode, your Axe Mode assaults do extra harm and fill extra of your Change Gauge.
- Press Y+B for an Offset Rising Slash, which might knock monsters out of their assaults in case your hit connects proper as their assault would land. After a profitable knockback, you possibly can observe up with a heavy assault with Y, or carry out a robust morphing assault with RT.
- Transferring ahead whereas urgent B will carry out a Ahead Overhead Slash, which does a superb chunk of injury and closes plenty of distance; it is usually a greater opener than your first Y assault if you happen to’ve acquired the opening.
- Holding again and urgent B will carry out a Fade Slash, which can make you tumble backwards as you slash upwards. It does not have invincibility frames like a correct dodge roll, nevertheless it’s nice for making house whereas getting extra harm in.
- Urgent RT will morph into Sword Mode so long as you’ve no less than 30% of your Change Gauge. In any other case, it will carry out a reloading animation to manually refill a piece of your gauge; attempt to keep away from this, as a result of the animation will root you in place.
Morphing mid-combo will instantly carry out an assault as you turn into Sword Mode, so you possibly can seamlessly proceed your assault sequence.
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Sword Mode ideas
- Sword mode assaults will spend your Change Gauge. Attempting to assault in Sword Mode with an empty Change Gauge will mechanically return you to Axe Mode.
- Touchdown assaults in Sword Mode will fill your Amp Gauge. That is the pink, blade-shaped meter beneath your Change Gauge Bar. As soon as it is full, you will enter Amped State, including damaging explosions to your Sword Mode assaults and offering entry to your highest-damage assaults.
- Press Y in your primary Sword Mode assaults. It is a easy three assault sequence for main into heavier Sword Mode assaults.
- Press B to carry out a Double Slash, a quick two-hit assault. For those who press B after three Y button assaults, you will as a substitute carry out a Triple Slash, including an additional hit for much more harm. After both a Double Slash or Triple Slash, urgent B once more will carry out the Heavenward Flurry, a lengthier assault that fills plenty of Amp Gauge.
- Alternating between Y and B assaults by repeating Y > Y> B provides an infinitely looping, excessive harm assault combo.
- Press R+Y to carry out a Counter Rising Slash, which can shrug off and retaliate in opposition to an incoming monster assault if you happen to time it accurately. When you get snug with the timing, it will allow you to proceed your combos uninterrupted without having to dodge incoming blows.
- Press B+Y to carry out an Factor Discharge, which can jab your weapon ahead and detonate your gathered power as you mash the Y button.
For those who’re in Amped State, holding B+Y will as a substitute carry out a Zero Sum Discharge, the place you drive your weapon into the monster and latch onto it because it detonates, ultimately launching your self off the monster with a finisher explosion. You can take harm throughout a Zero Sum Discharge, although, so the excessive harm comes with an quantity of threat if the monster is not already toppled.
- Press RT+B+Y to carry out an Unbridled Slash, which costs your weapon for a whirling slash that detonates for additional harm. For those who’re in Amped State, you possibly can maintain RT to cost the weapon additional for a Full Launch Slash, including an additional slash and extra explosions.
You may also maintain RT to carry out an Unbridled Slash or Full Releash Slash in the course of the restoration animation after an Factor Discharge.
- Press RT to morph again into Axe Mode. Morphing mid-combo will do a double slash as you reenter Axe Mode, which you’ll be able to weave into following assaults.
Change Axe Phial Varieties
Like Cost Blade, each Change Axe has a Phial Kind, which offers further results in Sword Mode. Energy Phials enhance the weapon’s bodily harm in Sword Mode, whereas Factor Phials improve the weapon’s elemental harm. Poison, Paralysis, and Dragon Phials all add what they are saying on the tin, whereas an Exhaust Phial lets Sword Mode stun or exhaust the monster, relying on the place you are hitting.
Along with including additional harm and standing varieties, Phials varieties fill the Amp Gauge at totally different charges whereas attacking in Sword Mode. Energy Phial fills the slowest, whereas Factor and Standing Phials fill quickest.
Finest Change Axe construct in Low Rank
Weapon |
Helmet |
Chest |
Arms |
Waist |
Legs |
Talisman |
Barina Hache I |
Alloy Helm |
Balahara Mail |
Balahara Vambraces |
Balahara Coil |
Balahara Greaves |
– |
Barina Hache II |
Ajarakan Helm |
Ajarakan Mail |
Ingot Vambraces |
Balahara Coil |
Ajarakan Greaves |
Leaping Attraction I |
Barina Hache II |
G. Rathalos Helm |
Ajarakan Mail |
G. Rathalos Vambraces |
G. Ebony Coil |
G. Rathalos Greaves |
Leaping Attraction I |
Low Rank is a bit mild on armor units with expertise which are significantly helpful for Change Axe mechanics, so most of those suggestions are primarily based round offering normal consolation, utility, and survivability throughout hunts.
- First weapon: Barina Hache I
Your purpose within the first hours of Wilds must be to get your fingers on the Lala Barina Change Axe, the Barina Hache I. It’s going to get you a wholesome quantity of inexperienced sharpness and sufficient affinity for a ten% crit price. Whereas its Energy Phial means attending to Amped State will take longer than different Change Axes, its built-in Paralysis standing build-up offers you additional home windows to get there.
- First armor set: Alloy Helm, Balahara Mail, Balahara Vambraces, Balahara Coil, Balahara Greaves
Selecting up a lot of the Balahara set in the course of the early sport offers us maxed Evade Extender. It is a beautiful ability for any weapon, however the additional dodge roll distance is especially helpful for Change Axe: rolling is a greater possibility for closing distance than trudging together with the sluggish Sword Mode motion pace, and the additional roll distance offers us some glorious alternatives for utilizing Axe Mode’s opening lunge slashes.
The Alloy Helm and Balahara chestpiece, in the meantime, give us a pair factors in Fast Sheathe. Even with Evade Extender, there will probably be occasions whereas in Sword Mode the place the best choice for survival is simply sheathing your weapon and sprinting out of hurt’s means, and Fast Sheathe makes that, properly, faster.
- Second weapon: Barina Hache II
After coming into the Oilwell Basin, combating a Nerscylla throughout a short detour into the Iceshard Cliffs will give us entry to supplies for upgrading our Lala Barina axe. Extra assault harm and extra Paralysis by no means damage anybody.
The upgraded Barina Hache will carry us comfortably into Excessive Rank. However if you wish to dabble with an elemental harm axe, you possibly can choose up the respectable Windsunder Axe I after a Hirabami hunt or two. It is acquired a fast-charging Factor Phial, and packs a superb chunk of ice harm alongside its bodily assault. Solely a pair monsters negate ice harm in Wilds, so it is not a foul selection.
- Second armor set: Ajarakan Helm, Ajarakan Mail, Ingot Vambraces, Balahara Coil, Ajarakan Greaves, Leaping Attraction I
Our second armor set is price pursuing as soon as we will craft our first talisman, Leaping Attraction I, which lets us drop a couple of Balahara items by offering an alternate supply of Evade Extender. With a couple of Ajarakan gadgets, we will max out the Partbreaker ability, making it simpler to interrupt monster bits and—extra importantly—deal additional harm when destroying wounds with Focus Strikes.
If you wish to maintain Evade Extender maxed out, you possibly can maintain onto your Balahara arms. In any other case, you possibly can swap in Ingot Vambraces after some mining to choose up a degree in Divine Blessing, which can often weaken some incoming assaults.
- Third armor set: G. Rathalos Helm, Ajarakan Mail, G. Rathalos Vambraces, G. Ebony Coil, G. Rathalos Greaves, Leaping Attraction I
Our ultimate set of upgrades earlier than closing our Low Rank provides a layer of offensive oomph. With a couple of G. Rathalos items, we get three factors in Weak point Exploit, offering an additional 15% crit likelihood when hitting a monster’s weak factors (which you must at all times be attempting to do). We drop our Balahara piece for a G. Ebony Coil, which can give us a single level within the Burst ability, including a couple of additional harm factors each time we’re touchdown consecutive assaults—for instance, in the course of the Factor Discharge’s fast explosions. It is not an enormous improve, although, so if you happen to’re nonetheless most snug with additional factors in Evade Extender, hanging onto that Balahara Coil is a tremendous possibility.
Finest Change Axe construct in Excessive Rank
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Weapon |
Helmet |
Chest |
Arms |
Waist |
Legs |
Talisman |
Barina Hache III |
Kut-Ku Helm β |
Rathian Mail α |
Kut-Ku Vambraces β |
Rathian Coil β |
Kut-Ku Greaves β |
Leaping Attraction II |
G. Veldian Securis II |
G. Ebony Helm β |
Blango Mail β |
G. Ebony Braces β |
G. Ebony Coil β |
Ajarakan Greaves β |
Leaping Attraction III |
Indomitable Perceval |
G. Ebony Helm β |
G. Arkveld Mail β |
G. Ebony Braces β |
G. Arkveld Coil β |
Udra Miregreaves β |
Chainblade Attraction II |
- Fourth weapon: Barina Hache III
As we march triumphantly into Excessive Rank, we’ll get an early improve for our Barina Hache as we put together to say farewell to our lengthy journey with paralysis. We’re smarter, stronger, extra succesful—we’re turning our eyes in direction of pumping out harm. However for now, we’ll profit from paralysis home windows earlier than we transfer into our subsequent part.
- Fourth armor set: Kut-Ku Helm β, Rathian Mail α, Kut-Ku Vambraces β, Rathain Coil β, Kut-Ku Greaves β, Leaping Attraction II
We’ll choose up some Kut-Ku items right here to get a wholesome stage of Structure ability factors to make our dodge rolling sustainable as we get snug with Excessive Rank. From our Rathian items, we’ll seize the Foray ability, rising the harm we deal to monsters stricken with poison or—in our case—paralysis. Our free harm turns into free buffed harm: the most effective of all worlds.
- Fifth weapon: G. Veldian Securis II
Say goodnight to our Barina Hache; we’re transferring on to dragon harm. We’d have to backtrack for some Low Rank guardian supplies to construct an earlier stage of this G. Arkveld change axe, nevertheless it’ll be price it once we improve it into our endgame axe. As a advantage of the change, the G. Veldian Securis comes with inherent Focus factors, so we’ll be reaching our Amped state a lot quicker.
If paralysis is simply too good so that you can go away solely behind, slap a Lala Barina weapon in your Palico. It’s going to be sufficient to safe no less than one paralyze throughout your hunts, so you will nonetheless have a window to get some free harm in.
- Fifth armor set: G. Ebony Helm β, Blango Mail β, G. Ebony Braces β, G. Ebony Coil β, Ajarakan Greaves β, Leaping Attraction III
Our armor construct is taking a markedly extra aggressive flip right here. With the G. Ebony items, we choose up the Burst ability as we did in Low Rank, besides now now we have sufficient of the set to realize the related set bonus, rising the Burst stat enhance and making the buff last more. All good issues.
From the Blango chestpiece, we seize some factors in Agitator, rising our harm output when the monster enrages, which everyone knows it would. And the Ajarakan legs give us a little bit of Partbreaker, making our Focus Strikes on wounds hit more durable.
With the ornament slots out there, go forward and drop some factors in Structure to make our frequent Sword mode rolls extra sustainable.
- Endgame weapon: Indomitable Perceval
The shift from the G. Veldian change axe to the all-natural, natural Arkveld tree means we ditch the detrimental affinity and see our axe outfitted with an Factor Phial. It’s going to cost to our Amped state even quicker, and it will pump out heavy dragon harm as soon as we have performed so.
- Endgame armor set: G. Ebony Helm β, G. Arkveld Mail β, G. Ebony Braces β, G. Arkveld Coil β, Udra Miregreaves β, Chainblade Attraction II
The endgame set we’re setting our eyes on works on related Burst-based ideas because the Excessive Rank set above, besides now we have sufficient ornament slots and attraction upgrades to max each Burst and Flayer.
Flayer does two issues for us. It makes wounds simpler to create, and it additionally provides a hidden meter that we fill by dealing harm. As soon as we attain its cap, our subsequent assault can even deal a heavy chunk of heavy, elementless harm. It is virtually like setting off a Blast proc with out the necessity to fear about standing buildup.
I am certain my recommendation for the remaining ornament slots will not shock you. I am going to at all times advocate a mixture of Evade Extender and Structure, however I am going to go away the precise distribution at your discretion. A number of factors of Partbreaker will go a great distance right here, too.
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