One of the strongest weapons in Monster Hunter World is the Great Sword, a tool you can use to deal the highest damage possible to the monsters you hunt. However, while this weapon is straightforward to use, the hefty strikes from its attacks are extremely slow. With a nuanced balance between crushing offense and careful defense, this weapon will take some time to master.

The Great Sword is often considered the "default" weapon in Monster Hunter, but that does not mean it is the easiest to learn. Unlike the Longsword in Monster Hunter Wilds, the Great Sword has very little mobility, making it harder to avoid monster attacks through elusive movements. That being said, the Great Sword can also be sheathed quickly, allowing you to move freely more often.

How Does The Great Sword Work?

Charge Attacks For Massive Damage

The primary mechanic of the Great Sword is how you can charge your basic attacks so they deal more damage on every strike. Your Overhead Slash attack input can be held as a red aura builds around your hunter character. Three auras can build around you over time, with each raising the damage dealt by your attack once you release it.

Every attack with the Great Sword is very slow, especially if you choose to charge up certain strikes. Monsters can be quick, hard-hitting creatures that can easily knock you out of a charge-up attack if you aren't careful. The core focus of the Great Sword's gameplay is to pick and choose the right moments to go for charged strikes, such as when a monster is toppled or staggered during a hunt.

One of the biggest weapon changes in Monster Hunter Wilds to the Great Sword is the introduction of Focus Mode. By pressing L2 on your controller and moving your camera, you can aim where the Great Sword's charge attacks land, which has never been possible in past Monster Hunter games.

Despite its limited mobility, the Great Sword also has plenty of defensive techniques at your disposal. The Great Sword can block attacks to reduce incoming damage at the cost of some sharpness, but performing a Perfect Guard against a monster's strike will negate all damage without any sharpness penalty. Having the right timing with this weapon is crucial, as blocking an attack perfectly will help set up charged strikes.

Great Sword Moveset In Wilds

Parry And Guard Incoming Attacks To Time Charged Moves

The Great Sword has one of the smallest move sets in the game, so don't expect the complexity of a weapon like the Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Wilds. Instead, you can find all the moves for this weapon in the table below:

Doing a Perfect Block during a Guard will sometimes trigger a Power Clash, a unique animation where you fend off a monster's attacks before knocking it down. When this happens, take advantage of a monster's staggered state to perform multiple Charged attacks.

The most underrated move in the Great Sword's arsenal is the Perfect Rising Slash, which has new features in this title. Alongside Focus Mode attacks in Monster Hunter Wilds, Perfect Offsets allow you to parry incoming monster attacks, giving new defensive options to weapons. After doing a Perfect Offset using a well-timed Rising Slash, the Great Sword can use a huge follow-up strike that deals tons of damage.

How To Perform A True Charged Slash Fast

Cancel Attack Animations And Land Focus Mode Strikes

The most powerful technique of the Great Sword is the True Charged Slash, a double-hitting strike that launches your hunter into the air to unleash all the momentum you've built up. Normally, this maneuver is only available when you do three Charge attacks in a row. During any Charge slash, it has three levels, including:

• Charged Slash
• Strong Charged Slash
• True Charged Slash

Like any Charged Slash, each of these moves has three auras of charge that are reached by holding the attack button. As you may expect, getting to a True Charged Slash can be incredibly slow if you just cycle through the normal Charged Slashes.

There are two methods for getting to a True Charged Slash fast, either by using your Focus Strike or canceling charge animations using Tackle. When you initiate a Focus Strike, destroying an Open Wound on a monster will immediately allow your next Charge attack to be the True Charged Slash. On the other hand, you can easily cancel the animation of Charged Slashes by using a tackle, which cycles you to the next Charged Slash in order.

How To Master The Great Sword

Find The Right Timing For Every Technique

Mastering the Great Sword requires tons of discipline and study of monster attacks. When using the Great Sword, you have to find the right timing for Perfect Offsets and Perfect Guards to take full advantage of the defensive mechanics of the weapon. At the same time, you can't fall victim to the common mistake in Monster Hunter Wilds of overcharging your Great Sword attacks just for the highest damage possible.

Defense is one of the harder things to master with the Great Sword. Try to that the Tackle attack has super armor you can use to go through monster attacks or even avoid the large roar of some creatures.

Moves like Tackle, Guard, and Rising Slash all exist to set you up for Charged Slashes. Learning ways to avoid attacks and setting up a True Charged Slash will yield the highest damage from the Great Sword, giving you ways to destroy monster weak points easily.

Don't forget to use Focus Mode to help you reposition your charged attacks. Doing this will make sure no True Charged Slash with the Great Sword ever misses, allowing you to use the weapon to deal consistently high damage during a hunt in Monster Hunter Wilds.