For us, the Insect Glaive is the weapon that most typifies the Monster Hunter series. Where other weapons take the form of melee or ranged, the Glaive encompasses both, whilst adding it’s own option to the menu: From above. This fantastic weapon manages to feel like multiple others whilst retaining it’s own identity. By turns you’ll feel like a great sword user, somersaulting forward with a giant, damaging slash, before powering the weapon up and turning into a dual blades user, endlessly slicing at your opponents limbs, eager to carve them off. Still, we could wax lyrical about this wonderful weapon for days, but we’re here to talk about some of the best early versions available in Monster Hunter World, so let’s get to it shall we?
Glaive #3: Blooming Glaive

As we’re sure you’re aware, one of the first monsters that you’ll be asked to take down is the Pukei-Pukei. You’ll also no doubt be aware that it’s parts can be used to craft weapons that provide the Poison status, which deals a small amount of damage over time to the target, should you get it to apply. We tend to enjoy recommending this line of weaponry for two reasons; certain weapons that hit frequently, like the Glaive, can apply status effects quite easily, and damage over time components tend to help new players, ensuring that their target continues to suffer whilst they learn.
To the Blooming Glaive then. It’s a great starting weapon for those looking to learn. The raw damage might not be as high as some, however it’s easy to upgrade thanks to the parts required. It comes with the aforementioned Poison status, and it features a good amount of green sharpness, ensuring new players can keep going for longer. This is good enough for a starting point, however this model also upgrades into some fantastic weapons in Iceborne, including the fantastic Glavenus Helldait, a powerful fire Glaive.
Early Features
- Poison damage works well for new players.
- Good chunk of green sharpness.
- Easy to upgrade.
- Keep going with it and you’ll find the Iceborne upgrades are excellent.
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Glaive #2: Pulsar Rod

Our second Glaive is one that regular readers will have seen coming. Yes that’s right, it’s a thunder weapon based on Tobi Kadachi parts. We’ve recommended this combination for quite a few weapons so far, albeit mostly melee, and for good reason. A lot of difficult monsters are weak to thunder, and these particular weapons tend to come with some additional bonuses, mainly int he form of increased critical chance, and this one is no different.
The Pulsar Rod comes with 10% critical chance built in, though unlike some other models this doesn’t increase as you upgrade it. Still, it’s a nice bonus especially early on, and during the upgrade process a slot will be unlocked, and whilst this is a measly single small slot, it’s a useful addition. It’s painfully obvious that this particular Kadachi weapon was ‘throttled’ back a little, but that doesn’t stop it from being very powerful. The thunder element value is high, the raw damage is good and it has some good early sharpness, which is all you need really. The only real negative for us is the unusual upgrade in Iceborne – you can keep the Thunder element, however if you want to upgrade it to the fullest rarity level, it’ll turn into a Paralysis version. We’re not against status Glaives, but we’re kinda fond of our powerful and unassuming thunder stick…
Early Features
- Thunder element is very powerful through Low and High Rank.
- 10% critical chance is a nice addition.
- Good raw damage with it’s green sharpness.
- Iceborne upgrades are questionable.
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Glaive #1: Flame Glaive

We’ve detailed an early Poison Glaive, ideal for your very first steps into the world of Monster Hunter, and we’ve detailed the next step up in the form of the Pulsar Rod, replete with it’s useful element. Both of these are fantastic weapons, but in terms of upgrades and future use, neither compare to our final recommendation: The Flame Glaive, or the Glaive made from Rathalos parts. This one becomes available quite late into the Low Rank portion of Monster Hunter World, and it may take new players quite a while to deal with the target monster, but this is a reward that’s certainly worthwhile.
The weapon itself features everything you might want for your journey into High Rank and beyond. It comes with a good deal of raw damage, great sharpness especially when you upgrade and 10% critical strike, all of which rise as you upgrade the thing. On top of this, being a Rathalos weapon it comes with a big gob of fire damage, something that will come in handy in early Master Rank, should you keep and upgrade it. This is something we certainly recommend that you do, because doing so will not only increase all of those statistics we mentioned, but it’ll also add slots to the weapon, completing it’s feature set.
Early Features
- Good raw damage combined with fire element.
- 10% critical chance that increases to 20% once upgraded.
- Upgraded versions feature a slot that grows upgrades in Master Rank.
- Novel Sever Boost Kinsect is a nice bonus.

Categories: Monster Hunter World, Top 5