The final weapon in our early recommendation lists is the Sword and Shield. This most supportive of Monster Hunter weapons is also by far the most unassuming, with hunters often avoiding it for fear of dealing too little damage. Nothing could be further from the truth however, because the little sword and board is capable of doing everything the big boys do and more, so much so in fact that we rated it as our best multiplayer weapon. So, for new players looking to pick up this most adaptable of weapons, we’ve put together a short list of our favourite early game models.
Sword and Shield #3: Spiked Edge
As noted in our linked article, the Sword and Shield is a fantastic weapon to use when attempting to apply both status and element damage, mainly thanks to it’s quick hits applying them swiftly. This, combined with the developers leaning into the stereotype and making both types easy to get your hands on, means that our recommendations also comply. As such, our first chosen model is the Spiked Edge, a Sword and Shield made from Radobaan parts. You’ll meet the spiky roller fairly early on in Monster Hunter World, so you wont have to wait long until you can get your hands on it.
The main benefit of the Spiked Edge is it’s status effect: Sleep. This is a tremendously powerful status effect in any Monster Hunter game, and this is amplified by the Sword and Shield’s ability to apply it quickly. As you may or may not be aware, a sleeping monster will take double damage from any attack that wakes it up, which is why hunters will lay down exploding barrels near it’s most squishy area to take advantage. For this reason it’s a very popular status to use in multiplayer hunts, but works just as well in solo thanks to the monster health scaling. The Spiked Edge also features a reasonable amount of raw damage and a good amount of green sharpness for it’s level, so it’s not too bad at actually being a weapon outside of it’s status. It even comes with a bonus chunk of defence!
Early Features
- The Sleep status is very useful, allowing for powerful wake up barrels and attacks, especially in Multiplayer.
- Raw damage is reasonable.
- Good green level of green sharpness as it upgrades.
- Small bonus to defence is a nice addition.
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Sword and Shield #2: Girros Knife
Well, we’ve extolled the virtues of the sleep status ailment, so why not move onto one that allows you and your team to keep doing damage whilst your target is frozen in place? Yes we’re talking about the Paralysis status effect, which is featured on our next choice of Sword and Shield, the Girros Knife. Anyone familiar with the monster that this weapon takes it’s name from will be well aware of it’s effects, but it bears repeating that inflicting a monster with the Paralysis status featured here will freeze your target in place for a few moments, allowing you and your team to get some sorely needed free hits in.
Outside of this status, the weapon itself is quite respectable too. The raw damage is reasonable – not incredible but certainly good enough – and the sharpness reaches a respectable amount of green. Unusually, for a weapon with such a status affixed, the Girros Knife also comes with 10% affinity, helping to boost your damage further. Overall this may not be the most ‘flashy’ of weapons – you’re not going to break any personal damage records for sure – but it’s one that you’d do well to keep in your arsenal, if only for some easier multiplayer hunts with friends.
Early Features
- Paralysis is an incredible status that allows teams a huge window of free damage to the target.
- 10% Affinity is a great bonus for the weapon.
- Very good amount of green sharpness.
- Reasonable raw damage.
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Sword and Shield #1: Flame Knife
So far we have recommended models of the Sword and Shield that benefit both you and your team, mainly due to their ability to impair the target for short periods of time. So what about some ‘me’ time, what if you just want a great Sword and Shield for your own play, to empower your own ability to slay monsters. For us, there’s only one choice for this in the low rank portion of World: The Flame Knife. You’ll have to wait a little while before you get to take on it’s required target, Rathalos, but once you do so you can craft our absolute favourite early SnS.
To start with, it’s raw damage is good. This is actually quite unusual for most early Sword n Boards, since they often have their raw numbers neutered somewhat to balance against the status or element. Speaking of which, a rather obvious addition to the weapon is it’s fire element, which is a very useful addition, especially if you keep upgrading it into High Rank and beyond. The benefits continue with the addition of 10% affinity and a very good level of sharpness, both of which gain as it upgrades. Resultant from all of this is a super powerful and highly useful Sword and Shield that scales into the end game, what more could you want?
Early Features
- Fire element is tremendously useful, especially if kept and upgraded into High and Master rank.
- 10% affinity is fantastic.
- Long green sharpness that quickly upgrades.
- Raw damage is good.
- As noted, scales very well as it upgrades (and the new model kicks ass).
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Categories: Monster Hunter World, Top 5