So, you should play whatever build you wanted to.

[Djeeta]

So after i tried to pick a fight with Meta players in the Forum, i finally got a duel with Antraxos and got approval to post the results.
Almost Meta LS Vs Non-Offensive skills IG (no Wex,Crit,attack)
My IG Build : https://i.imgur.com/a5SaJ7E.jpg
Antraxos LS Build : https://i.imgur.com/bwU7sFE.png
And we have a fun runs with 0 faint and both sub 10mins and some nice discussion after and we also make a new friend.

VS Tempered Odogaron
https://i.imgur.com/69TOy5g.jpg
Antraxos : 17221 (52% dps)
Me : 15677 (47% dps)

Vs Tempered Kushala Daora
https://i.imgur.com/eet2ApP.jpg
Antraxos : 23335 (53% dps)
Me : 20267 (46% dps)
(HBG for sleep wake up)

The damage is not vastly differences by a lot.
But the differences is the timing, when you are a speed runner, like in Antraxos case he mentioned that every seconds count and he prefer the quest to end fast.
For me, i prefer to just do decent and cleared the quest.
As mentioned that our Duo-Duel was sub 10 mins so i will just call it an OK - well done.

What im trying to says is,
Everything is up to each Hunters, there are no bad builds, there are no skills that is a must.
Its up to your preferences and gameplay skills.

"Meta is not the best or a must and Other playstyle is not bad or not recommend either"

Did you die? did you have your own pace? did you have a "FUN"?
If you died then slap in some defensive skills / if you didnt die then its ok to play more offensive.
Dont force other players to do/play what you think and be respectful for every build.

[Antraxos]

the most important thing in this and any other game is to have fun. i personaly never do quests whit frends whitout flinch free and somtimes its fun to just do a support bild.

any other speedrunner will tell u exactly that. if u fail the quest it wasnt faster if u didnt have fun it wasnt worth it.

play how u like and enjoy.

[Lunamorte]

Finally a post that actually makes sense. So many people who play meta tell you that you should play with what you find fun and comfortable. I personally use the Hellish Slasher because I like how it looks over the Gold Rathian LS even though Gold Rathian is pretty much better outside of zorah who I believe is the only poison immune monster in the game.

Jinx and Tuna say the same thing. They even went on record to say that they use non-meta builds most of the time.

[Jarrude]

Agreed! Respect man!

[Pottross]

Nice comparison but hey we always knew how pricey and inefficient it is to build crit eye 7 wex 3 and possibly mm 3 to then build crit boost 3 and have a negative affinity base weapon finally deal 40% more damage per hit... I mean wow that's 7 lvl 1 and 9 lvl 2 skills. Like a 2% increase per slot, dang such deeps.

Then on the other hand, having a build just slightly less optimized for damage then maximizes your damage uptime on the monster which improves dps as well even tho we then don't hit as hard per strike. *Magic*

[Hare+Guu!]

I think you all missed the point of not playing a meta build. The main concern was people carting left and right and ruining limited investigations.

It's very easy to run a meta set solo because you know where the monster is heading. In a party, especially with 4 people, that's not always gonna be the case.

[CourtesyFlush09]

DO WHATEVER THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU YOU WANNA DO!!!!!

[Djeeta]

Originally posted by Hare+Guu!:

I think you all missed the point of not playing a meta build. The main concern was people carting left and right and ruining limited investigations.

It's very easy to run a meta set solo because you know where the monster is heading. In a party, especially with 4 people, that's not always gonna be the case.

Its depends on each players, as said already slap in the set that make you feels comfy and fun.
In my duel, all monster were Tempered, especially that Tempered Kushala Daora that can 1 hit you no matter what build you goes in with.
While i prefer HP boost, Antraxos doesnt really need it and we have 0 faints with only few Dust Of Life.
Both of us didnt take any heavy hit damage that will instantly kill us.

[Antraxos]

Originally posted by Zesshi:

Originally posted by Hare+Guu!:

I think you all missed the point of not playing a meta build. The main concern was people carting left and right and ruining limited investigations.

It's very easy to run a meta set solo because you know where the monster is heading. In a party, especially with 4 people, that's not always gonna be the case.

Its depends on each players, as said already slap in the set that make you feels comfy and fun.
In my duel, all monster were Tempered, especially that Tempered Kushala Daora that can 1 hit you no matter what build you goes in with.
While i prefer HP boost, Antraxos doesnt really need it and we have 0 faints with only few Dust Of Life.
Both of us didnt take any heavy hit damage that will instantly kill us.

positioning and awarness of ur fellow hunters is the butter and bread for multiplayer hunts.
also qualety of life skills like wind resistanc agains lunastra are realy good. what most ppl dont see is. that a speedrunner dosent finish every atempt if somthing goes wrong u retry over and over. i mean if i would count evry tempered kirin atemt that i had i would be well over 500 if not more. u faint or get stunned abadone the quest and here we go again.

[gachi is manly]

I must say in all my time (likely 200+ hours) playing with randoms in SoS I've never seen anybody care what other people are using. Do whatever build you have fun with and don't worry about taking a few extra minutes. Only time it really matters is for speed running.

[Poothoottoot]

Originally posted by Antraxos:

Originally posted by Zesshi:

Its depends on each players, as said already slap in the set that make you feels comfy and fun.
In my duel, all monster were Tempered, especially that Tempered Kushala Daora that can 1 hit you no matter what build you goes in with.
While i prefer HP boost, Antraxos doesnt really need it and we have 0 faints with only few Dust Of Life.
Both of us didnt take any heavy hit damage that will instantly kill us.

positioning and awarness of ur fellow hunters is the butter and bread for multiplayer hunts.
also qualety of life skills like wind resistanc agains lunastra are realy good. what most ppl dont see is. that a speedrunner dosent finish every atempt if somthing goes wrong u retry over and over. i mean if i would count evry tempered kirin atemt that i had i would be well over 500 if not more. u faint or get stunned abadone the quest and here we go again.

100% this, it's also worth noting that when speedrunning they reset many times and the quests rarely involve tempered monsters since investigations are not allowed by Time Attack rules. Running some amount of defensive skills is always great, with a proper setup (and a bit of gem luck) you can get 50% crit from criteye, WE 3 for the last 50, and Crit boost 3 while still having room for some defensive skills of choice.

[[ArItmaja]]

I like this thread more wholesome than another meta vs meta post

[Antraxos]

Originally posted by Lunamorte:

Finally a post that actually makes sense. So many people who play meta tell you that you should play with what you find fun and comfortable. I personally use the Hellish Slasher because I like how it looks over the Gold Rathian LS even though Gold Rathian is pretty much better outside of zorah who I believe is the only poison immune monster in the game.

Jinx and Tuna say the same thing. They even went on record to say that they use non-meta builds most of the time.

well if u go for solo hunts yes gold ian ls is the best. in multiplayer not so much, bc if only 1 person also runs poison it cuts havylie in the dps count of both bc u dont get more poison progs.
i personaly love the element ls bilds its way of meta but some of them are realy strong most ppl dont see that. ls is a strange waepon bc it works whit ailments and elements as well as whit raw.

also the slasher for me looks realy good is easy to bild and augment has a lvl4 slot and brings some nostalgic. its overall a good waepon even jinx apologiesd that he called it hellish trasher or somthing like that.

oh and btw my favourit bild atm is my para stun hammer bild its so mutch fun. dps sucks but hey who cares when i play casual.

[Antraxos]

Originally posted by gachi is manly:

I must say in all my time (likely 200+ hours) playing with randoms in SoS I've never seen anybody care what other people are using. Do whatever build you have fun with and don't worry about taking a few extra minutes. Only time it really matters is for speed running.

i did encounter some of thos ppl in this and older games. at kulv runs as a exampel. but for me i have to say as long as u dont cart im ok whit it.

[Antraxos]

oh i also have to ad fore saver random hunts dont eat for damage up ensted eat the new red drinks that lets ur team catr 1 more time

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by Antraxos:

Originally posted by gachi is manly:

I must say in all my time (likely 200+ hours) playing with randoms in SoS I've never seen anybody care what other people are using. Do whatever build you have fun with and don't worry about taking a few extra minutes. Only time it really matters is for speed running.

i did encounter some of thos ppl in this and older games. at kulv runs as a exampel. but for me i have to say as long as u dont cart im ok whit it.

tbf kulve's kinda special in that people hard farmed her for literally hundreds of hours, so you're probably more likely to see people care about optimization in that sort of environment. for general hunts, people are way more chill