Some tips for the Longsword

[TormDM]

Hey, total MH noob here. I am trying to get a feel for the longsword, there is a particular thing about leveling up the spirit gauge that bothers me. Some tips would be much appreciated.

You are supposed to build up spirit with Y or B attacks, to be then followed up by RT attacks to spend the spirit and level up the gauge, rinse and repeat until level3.

However, with the RT attacks you need to attack 4 times in a row, while the last hit must connect with the boss. I find it to be extremely annoying espiaclly in highly mobile combat scnerios to get 4 attacks in a row.

If you get hit, or dodge, the combo is off and you do not get the level up. You even need to re-build the spirit.

Is there another way to level up the spirit gauge or is it supposed to be this way? So you should only attempt the RT 4attack combo when there is an opening where you are likely not getting hit?

[( °□°） ︵GAMBALUCK]

You can hold RT charge attack anytime to level up or use counter attack become parry king.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by TormDM:

Some tips for the Longsword
Hey, total MH noob here. I am trying to get a feel for the longsword, there is a particular thing about leveling up the spirit gauge that bothers me. Some tips would be much appreciated.

You are supposed to build up spirit with Y or B attacks, to be then followed up by RT attacks to spend the spirit and level up the gauge, rinse and repeat until level3.

However, with the RT attacks you need to attack 4 times in a row, while the last hit must connect with the boss. I find it to be extremely annoying espiaclly in highly mobile combat scnerios to get 4 attacks in a row.

If you get hit, or dodge, the combo is off and you do not get the level up. You even need to re-build the spirit.

Is there another way to level up the spirit gauge or is it supposed to be this way? So you should only attempt the RT 4attack combo when there is an opening where you are likely not getting hit?

Try this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWjbhilcThM

[Mango]

Focus mode will help you aim the last spirit hit, which have a very large aoe btw.

As for other ways to level up the gauge, there are 4 in total:
1. A full Spirit combo (Rt)
2. A well timed counter, whicb can be hard to master but worth it if you do.
3. Pop up wound
4. Hold Rt, which is nice on multyplayer but hard if the monstar focus on you

The loop i use is to try to get to red with a full spirit combo 3 times, or with a counter (which im still bad at)
When in red spam Y combos, untill theres about 2 wounds, then doing the big damage combo (the Rt+Y followed by Rt)
And after pop the wounds to get back to red quickly

[SpidersInABirthdayCake]

I am on keyboard so I can't tell you what your controllers buttons will be. But here is some advice.

There is actually multiple ways to raise the spirit gauge besides the standard spirit combo.

For instance, after using the fade slash (the one where you swipe and move back a couple steps) you can immediately follow up with spirit slash 3 which then turns into the spirit roundslash (raising your spirit gauge). I believe for you it will be hold Y and B together but I could be wrong on this.

A super simple way that only requires like 3 seconds is the charge attack. Hold the spirit attack button and you hunter will raise up the sword and then lower to the left side, once it's lowered just release RT and it will do a swipe that if connects will raise your gauge by one level.

There is also the godly special sheathe followed by the spirit counter attack which gives you a lot of invincibility frames. You need to attack once, can be any attack, then press your jump button and the spirit attack button at the same time. From this you can do two things: 1. normal attack (2 quick swipes that will auto fill your spirit gauge over time), 2. spirit counter (if you press the spirit attack, RT, just before a monster performs some sort of attack you will do a fast forward slash, not take any damage, pass right through the attack, and raise your spirit gauge by one).

There is probably other ways but these 3 in that order are the ones you should learn.

BONUS TIP: Use the Sheathe tailsman for your longsword build.

[TormDM]

Thanks for the tips guys, I think its working more reliable now with leveling up the spirit gauge.

However, I absolute suck at parrying. Its the foresight slash RT+B.
Am I supposed to hit both buttons at the same time or one after another?

If I hit RT or B alone, character starts attacking.

This button layout is so confusing. Wouldn't it be much easier with a dedicated parry button?

Obviously I am doing something wrong, looking forward getting some pointers, thanks.

[codj]

Lv 3 bar has a new parry that's quicker and easier to pull off that replaces foresight slash like whirl slash or something


Easy high dps combo for lv 3 which changes your base attacks to crimson is Y B Y B or Y R2 Y R2 mixing in rising slash B
R2 + A to go into iai stance also let's you wait to trigger the same parry as well or gain gauge with Y string

[Khao]

Destroying wounds also raises your bar

[BlairiesTTV]

I recommend also learning to sheath parry cancel. This is when you set up for your sheath parry. And if you feel you're out of position or monster decides to focus on palico. Or you need to re- adjust or refresh your timing. You do the parry attack, hold in RT to charge till ur sword is at 3 o clock then u can go right back into sheath parry. This works even better with quick sheath.

[Elazul]

Work on learning how to Foresight Slash and Spirit Slash out of Iai to raise the bar. You can also hold down the RT to charge up a slash which will raise your level. But, usually to start a fight I'll dismount with a Y+B then immediately go into Iai then hit Y to charge the spirit guage then go into spirit slashes if I can. If not will foresight slash or Iai + Spirit slash counter. With fast moving enemies definitely get good at countering though. Once you get wounds you can use RB to hit them and quickly level the guage up to red.

Anyways I'm rambling. Watch some tutorial videos on YT for the longsword tbh. They'll explain it much better and you can actually see someone perform them in action. But just remember you'll suck at first just keep plugging away and you'll pick it up eventually.

[Memento Vivere]

Originally posted by TormDM:

You are supposed to build up spirit with Y or B attacks, to be then followed up by RT attacks to spend the spirit and level up the gauge, rinse and repeat until level3.

However, with the RT attacks you need to attack 4 times in a row, while the last hit must connect with the boss. I find it to be extremely annoying espiaclly in highly mobile combat scnerios to get 4 attacks in a row.

Your main source of spirit gouge is parry (rt + b or rt + a, depending on the situation). It's much easier to get stacks than combo attacks. Use combo attacks only in multiplayer or when you know there's enough time to do a full combo (monster is lying on the ground or during long time attacks).

You can also link lai spirit into another lai spirit (by holding rt after parry and pressing A at the right moment).

[Silyon]

Fade-slash (Y+B) builds up a crazy amount of gauge and helps you reposition. A Draw Slash (RT+A after an attack, then Y) will cause your gauge to continuously fill for a period of time. Both of these let you get away with using your Spirit combo more often, especially if you also have the Focus Skill on your loadout.

Your gauge is instantly upgraded whenever you use the Focus: Unbound Slash (Hold LT, then Y while aiming at a wound) to break wounds, one level per wound broken. You can also follow up any properly-timed counter, both Foresight Slash (RT+B after an attack) and Iai-Slash (RT + A after an attack, then RT) with the final hit of the Spirit Combo if the counter let you dodge a hitbox. This includes non-damaging hitboxes like Monster Roars.

Pretty much the only time you can guarantee getting the full spirit combo off of something is if they're distracted by beating on someone else, if they're caught in a trap, or if they're knocked down or paralyzed. Otherwise even if they don't knock you out of it they can easily reposition somewhere across the arena mid-combo.

[Seth Abercromby]

Not mentioned yet, but there is also a slightly faster way to perform the spirit combo. Pressing RT after any fade slash will perform a unique variant of the spirit slash, which is then immediately followed by the third spirit slash combo, allowing you to go into the roundslash after repositioning pretty quickly. The spirit slash combo is one of the must useful strings LS has access to for its DPS, especially in crimson where you can use it interchangeably with the crimson slash combos. If you have not quite enough juice in the tank after the spirit slash 3 combo, you can also press and hold RT and the hunter will instantly ready the fully charged stance, giving you access to the roundslash anyways.