Weapons are defined a little differently in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. Whilst the fourteen models that you’re used to exist, they’re accompanied by a variety of hunting styles and arts, through which a hunter might modify and adjust things to suit their preferred way of playing. This leads to a game that has a huge amount of customisation, which is excellent for seasoned hunters, however this does land the newer player in an even tougher position than usual. Not only are they unceremoniously dumped into a world with even less story than usual, but they’re expected to understand these styles and arts at the same time, all the while hoping that the Glavenus they’ve just met gives them an easy time of it. With this in mind, we’ve summarised one particular style for each weapon available in MHGU – these are by no means the only way to play, but rather they’re the styles that we feel best compliment each of the 14 models on offer.
It’s worth noting that this is an opinion piece, so it’s written from the perspective of a few hunters that we consider part of our team. Your hunting team and indeed you are likely to be different, so consider the following choices as guidance for coming to your own conclusion rather than a definitive ranking.
Long Sword
Valor Style
- Critical counter animation in Valor mode.
- Shortened & changed spirit combo following counter.
- Blue sword is awesome.
Aficionados of the longest sword will undoubtedly recognise this choice of style – there was only ever going to be one winner here. As much as we love the dodge and spirit attack nature of Adept Style, Valor absolutely takes the cake, due to its ability to deal tremendous amounts of damage whilst filling the spirit gauge in the quickest time possible. Like all Valor Style weapons, it features a neutered move set outside of Valor mode, but one you get there the R1 attack features a critical block window, which if activated can be followed up with a shortened spirit attack combination. Once mastered, this particular move will allow you to ignore all but the heaviest monster attack – just don’t expect to match those YouTube videos without a fair bit of practice.
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Dual Blades
Adept Style
- Adept dodges, following an initial dodge, do damage.
- Dashes available after an Adept dodge have invincibility.
- Slightly limited by choice of 1 Art, but outweighed by the above benefits.
Those that have tried out Adept style will be aware that it functions similarly for every weapon in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate; timed correctly, the dodge roll will turn into an Adept dodge, and your actions following the dodge are expanded, often with new skills. In the case of the Dual Blades, they feature a set of dashes that can be completed following the dodge itself, each of which render your hunter completely invincible, at least until the attack itself is activated. The results of this are a weapon that starts out as very mobile, but which becomes a constant whirling dervish of destruction.
Great Sword
Valor Style
- Valor mode grants mobility through a huge strafe move.
- Very powerful charged attacks available in Valor mode.
- Outside of Valor mode it’s very limited.
- However, draw attacks increase the gauge significantly, limiting downtime.
From unmatched mobility in the Dual Blades, we move over to one of the most limited in this regard, the Great Sword. Well, it was one of the most limited, that is until Valor Style and the mode contained within made an appearance. This is because, by activating Valor mode and having your Great Sword drawn, your hunter will be able to strafe, in a very similar fashion to the Dual Blades in Demon mode.
Sword & Shield
Striker Style
- 3 Art slots, ideal for the powerful SnS choices.
- Per the above, Chaos Oil, Round Force plus Absolute Readiness is an incredible combination of Arts for the Sword and Board.
- Increased defence when using items outside of sheath.
- Does lose the charged backstep skill.
Your success with the Strike version of Sword and Shield will likely come down to one thing: How much of your own playstyle was defined by the charging back leap attack? We’ve seen people that place a great deal of emphasis on this attack, so those may struggle with this particular style combo, however the availability of it’s incredible hunting arts more than makes up for this. The Round Force art will deal damage whilst providing invincibility, akin to an ‘Absolute’ art but with damage, and having access to this alongside both Chaos Oil and Absolute Evasion or Readiness is truly fantastic. With a high enough level of hunter arts, your time with the SnS will become a heady mix of close combos, arts and dodges constantly being cycled.
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Lance
Striker Style
- Simple but effective thrust combos.
- ‘Feels’ like the Lance should, by removing unwanted fuss of other styles.
- Allows for three arts, two of which can be evasions to increase mobility.
It may be a stereotype, but almost all of the Lance main hunters that we have met are pragmatic sorts. They like their hunts to go in a particular fashion, tend to hate Long Sword users and spend an inordinate amount of time determining the best height at which to thrust, situation depending. For them, and indeed us, Striker Style is by far the best option for the Lance. In essence this is a ‘dumbed down’ version of the Guild Style weapon, but this is no bad thing in reality, because it removes those annoying end-of-combo thrusts, which have a tendency to cause overcommitment. This is a style all about swift, nimble, jab and hop philosophy, ably assisted by three art slots. Enjoy.
Gunlance
Adept Style
- Features an Adept Guard, which is more powerful than usual.
- Locks a quick version of reloading shells behind this guard.
- ‘Flows’ very well, once blocking into reloading is learned.
- Skills available post Adept Guard are powerful, including the Adept Slam.
This is likely to be quite a controversial choice among some players, because it essentially removes the ability to quickly reload shells, locking it behind the Adept Guard. This is going to feel alien at first, especially to the seasoned Gunlance vet, however given enough time this is the style that tends to feel just right. Thematically speaking, having that massive shield should require it be used for more than just simple blocks, and taking advantage of this in Adept style makes the weapon feel remarkably complete.
Switch Axe
Striker Style
- Three Art slots mean you can bring both Energy Charge and Demon Riot, which are tremendously powerful, whilst retaining an emergency dodge art.
- Quicker charge rate means you can stay in Sword mode as much as you want.
- Very slight changes to combos mean you’ll have to rely on vertical slashes more than horizontal.
This was probably the ‘closest’ choice that we had to make in the entire article, mainly because we love the emphasis on mode switching that Adept Style offers the Switch Axe. However, in the end we must admit that Striker Style, and by extension the ability to infinitely sit in Sword mode, is tremendously powerful in practice. Being able to use Energy Charge and Demon Riot, whilst still retaining Absolute Evasion or Readiness, makes this particular style a fantastic option for maintaining uptime on a target whilst in Sword mode. We’d actually argue that any style other than Guild is very good for the Switch Axe, but when pushed we’d choose Striker for the three arts, beating out Alchemy due to simplicity.
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Charge Blade
Valor Style
- In Valor style, the Amped Elemental Discharge does not consume the powered up shield, which is now blue.
- Guard points are active in Valor mode, whenever a step is made with the sword active.
- Shield Thrust and Charged Slash complete very quickly when paired in Valor mode, allowing for quick phial gathering, and the former applies phial damage.
- Trade off as, as ever, a limited move set outside of Valor mode.
The Charge Blade has always been a complicated beast, and upon first inspection you may think that Valor Style makes it more so, however digging a little deeper will reveal a simple and effective method of hunting. Noted above are the Shield Thrust and Charged Slash, which charge your phials very quickly in Valor mode, and along with this comes the guard point available during Valor sword movement, which combined allow for a method not unlike Adept style, whereby skills are strategically blocked and followed up with skills that easily charge phials. Once charged it reverts to form somewhat, however you can retain the powered up shield by using Axe mode discharge skills, which do a great deal of damage. These steps can be rinsed and repeated, for a remarkably streamlined approach to the Charge Blade, and it even provides an excess of sorely missing mobility to the Axe mode.
Insect Glaive
Valor Style
- Loses very little with Valor Style, compared to other weapons.
- Kinsect accompanies your attacks in Valor mode, adding damage and even helping to charge Arts.
- Unable to vault outside of Valor, however other than this the moveset is very similar.
Outside of it’s lack of vault ability, the Insect Glaive is very similar to that of a regular style. You’ll still be able to complete the majority of your moves, albeit with the inclusion of a sheathe animation at the start. The real boons arrive with Valor mode of course, and the main benefit here is that the Kinsect will join you whilst attacking a target, which makes gathering extracts very easy, assuming aggression can be kept up. The results of this are an Insect Glaive that is both defensively sound, thanks to the sheathe mechanism of Valor, and offensively inclined thanks to the automatic extract gathering in Valor mode. It’s such a shame they didn’t opt to keep this in subsequent titles, because it makes playing with the Glaive an absolute joy.
Light Bowgun
Adept Style
- Adept dodge will charge up your subsequent shots for a short period.
- Alternatively, your hunter can sprint following an Adept dodge to allow for major position changes.
- Limited to 1 Art slot, which means missing out on Full House, but the trade off for the above benefits is certainly worth it.
One of our absolute favourite style and model combinations has to be the Adept Light Bowgun, or LBG for short. Realistically, the kit doesn’t change a great deal when compared to Guild, but for the lack of any ‘step’ dodges and a singular Art allowance. The real benefit, as per usual, comes following an Adept dodge. At this point, the LBG user can opt to either stay still, during which the hunter will automatically reload a slightly more powerful ‘blue’ version of ammo, which lasts a short while, or opt to sprint in a given direction to allow repositioning. Whilst this particular style does lose the hops, if anything it gains in mobility and safety thanks to the combination of the improved dodge and sprint. The additional damage is just a great bonus that requires little of the hunter to activate, and who doesn’t love that blue flash?
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Heavy Bowgun
Valor Style
- After a dodge in Valor mode, the HBG hunter can now sprint to reposition.
- Siege mode shots will gradually rise in fire rate, dealing more and more damage due to their pace.
- Probably the highest possible DPS available in MHGU, thanks to the scaling siege mode.
- Additional evasion is provided in Valor mode, akin to gemming for more evasion.
It’s fair to say that this combination is by far the most powerful in the game, slightly beating out Valor Long Sword and Adept Dual Blades. This is due to the sheer amount of damage that it’s possible to inflict, especially in a multiplayer environment, where your hunter isn’t always the focus of a monster’s attention. Not only does this combination offer a siege mode in which the fire rate quickly rises, but it also allows the hunter to literally sprint after having dodged, which allows for tremendously quick repositioning. The result of this is a hunter that quickly springs out of siege, repositions in a flash, then gets that fire rate ramping back up again in super quick time.
Hammer
Guild Style
- Allowance for 2 Arts, which can be used to bring two evasions, which is useful due to the danger zone requirements of using the Hammer. Outside of Spinning Meteor, Hammer Arts are not fantastic.
- No other style feels quite like the trusty ol’ Hammer. There is a lot of muscle memory built up timing those charge levels for headshots, and other styles can ruin this.
- Speaking of charge levels, other styles often completely change the outcome of these.
We’ve really struggled with the Hammer in MHGU, specifically when trying to adapt to new hunting styles, and judging by the feedback we are not alone in this regard. That’s not to say that they aren’t fun, after all who doesn’t love wapping a monster from above twice in a row, but they just don’t seem all that effective. Perhaps it’s just our own failure, which is entirely possible, however when taking on difficult Deviant or G-Rank targets, styles other than Guild seem to suffer. The biggest culprit is the moveset, because the Hammer relies upon key pieces of it’s kit to adapt to situations, and having things like the full swing or charge levels removed can really take the wind out of it’s sails. This being the case, we’d recommend grabbing the trusty old Guild style along with at least one evasion art, and going to work.
Hunting Horn
Valor Style
- Valor mode allows you to play songs quicker.
- The Valor step is available when in Valor mode, allowing for a greater degree of movement and as such, safety.
- Limited to 1 Art choice, which generally speaking will be reserved for Evasion or Readiness.
To be completely honest, we didn’t really get on board with the Hunting Horn in MHGU, but this is not for the want of trying. There were so many different weapon and style combinations, and we’ve always considered the Horn to be much more of a supportive type, so it’s usage tends to come down to how best to apply songs to your team members. In this regard, we tended to prefer either Alchemy or Valor, since the former offers additional supportive elements via the Barrel and the latter offers quicker song recitals. The latter is less restrictive in terms of moves too, so you’ll feel more at home when moving over from another title in the series.
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Bow
Adept Style
- Adept dodge allows instant charging of a shot.
- Unable to cast Arc Shot, which is no great loss.
- Cannot step backwards, though the aim should always be to complete an Adept dodge, so this is less of an issue.
For some reason this is seen as quite an unpopular choice in the community. Perhaps this is due to the lack of back step, or the lack of Arc Shot for some reason, but either way this was by far our favourite choice. We could see an argument for Valor, since it’s technically better in ‘siege’ encounters or such, but for the vast majority we had a much better time with Adept. The ability to instantly charge and ignore correctly dodged attacks completely outweighed other benefits from other styles. The dodge and charge can also allow you to take a non-evasion Art too, though this is slightly less safe and will be influenced by your own risk appetite.
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