What's the intended way we're supposed to use the clutch claw?

[Ouen]

I'm a bit confused when it comes to some things.

Obviously, there's a tell when you should clutch them. However, in my experience you might get about four drooling stances per hunt.

If you have a weapon like Sword and Shield or Light Bowgun, it takes two openings to even get one soften, and some parts regenerate so fast the monster doesn't even give you an opening to hit it before it heals if you're melee (Lunastra's head, for instance, or tails on tall monsters). If you have a light weapon, you might only get one or two softens if you only do it during the drool stance. It almost doesn't seem worth it for those weapons unless you know you're going to have a massive opening. I often feel like it's better to get an extra five full attacks in than spend time wounding a part that'll last for thirty seconds that I'll only be able to hit a couple times for like 30% bonus damage.

Some monsters, like Odogaron and the metal Raths, are relentless and even when they're exhausted, it's still very hard to find a single opening where you won't get knocked off if you don't wait exclusively for the clutch stance.

And beyond those concerns, is it better to soften parts than to attack while the monster's knocked down (if there aren't any vulnerable parts to focus) since openings to claw are few and far between for many monsters?

I know the temporal mantle alleviates some of the problems but I'm not wild about being forced to bring it every single hunt, and burn through it in 20 seconds so I can get a soften.

[Waffles]

Wallbanging, mostly.

Heavy Weapons: Wound whatever your team needs.

Light Weapons: Clutch Claw once in a blue moon for slinger ammo, otherwise don't bother.

[Washing Machine]

Small weapons get buffed soon-ish so they soften in one hit, so that problem will be solved.
It lets you make your own weak points though, so monsters like Kirin that are a massive pain for some weapons are less ridiculous to fight against. Also, wallbang em for extra knockdowns.

[Remi]

Slap thrice and claw attack for instant soften with light weapons. If you wallbang then slap thrice, bang and then claw attack once. You will start the fight with a tenderized face. Although I admit, using CB, Hammer, Lance and HH is much more relaxed because I can wound anytime I want.

[SHOKK♥]

Rocksteady is another alternative obviously. First encounter when they roar it's one easy Clutch Claw right off the bat to soften a part or throw them into a wall.
It's all judgment calls on when to do them. Learning what spots are safe during what moves is helpful.

[Ouen]

Originally posted by Washing Machine:

Small weapons get buffed soon-ish so they soften in one hit, so that problem will be solved.
It lets you make your own weak points though, so monsters like Kirin that are a massive pain for some weapons are less ridiculous to fight against. Also, wallbang em for extra knockdowns.

That's huge! I'll be looking forward to that. Good to know

[Djeeta]

To be a bit technically, each monsters have a small opening for a safe clutch claw.
Like Silver Rathalos you mentioned, you can wound his body first for more damage then once he stagger you can then go for the head/tail.
Gold Rathian is very relentless, but her body part is almost always safe to do clutch claw, for example.
Funny but fact is Odogaron and Nargacuga head are more safe to claw than their body part.

Its come down to how you are used to each monsters and as mentioned already, wall banging first and fast will give you a huge opening.
Normally you can wall bang twice at the start which should be enough to wound the part you wanted to damaging.

[Sekani]

If you can take some damage, rocksteady mantle will let you stay on the monster and use the clutch claw without being knocked off. With light weapons I believe if you use the claw attack 3 times then use the weapon attack it'll weaken the part.

Also if the monster is sleeping, it can be woken up with a clutch claw and put into a wall even if it is in rage state.

[Greb]

Use it when the monster is staggered or has left themselves open, and are not enraged, to shoot them in the face with slinger ammo and send them rushing forwards into an object or off of a ledge, to do some damage and knock them down for a short while. Synergises well with Agitator because you'll be notified when a monster is no longer enraged (thus letting you know you can flinch it down again) and due to monsters enraging very quickly when flinch shotted, can easily trigger the skill again almost immediately.

Also use it to perform attacks that either soften a monster immediately, or drop some slinger ammo for your weapon / flinch attacks, and then soften when repeatedly applied. Softening is useful for a whole mess of reasons.

It is also excellently used with certain / most weapons as follow ups to your combo attacks. For example, the Hammer is an excellent weapon to combo with the clutch claw, because any charge attack at level 2 or 3 will add an extra follow up hit that is great for applying pressure, quick softens, applying additional KO damage or simply following quick monsters around.

It should also be used for keeping the assault ongoing on flying monsters, such as Rathalos and Legiana, you can often do many safe attacks on their tails while aerial instead of standing around like a lemon while they fly around wrecking your aught.

There's also the potential to avoid monster attacks with it if timed right - I.E you can clutch to Glavenus' head when he's preparing his big tail swipe, and jump off at just the right moment to completely jump up and over his entire attack. There's also a lesser known "pro-strat" with the Glider Mantle which lets you clutch tall monsters, release yourself and trigger the glide, then follow up with an aerial attack, making the Insect Glaive even more irrelevant as a mounting weapon

Not every monster has great openings, some have only one or two. In these cases you either need to use a Temporal or Rocksteady mantle, soften them when they're immobilised, or simply wait until they've been flinched or are tired instead. A lot of complaints I've seen of clutch claw use is when people just try to soften monsters like Tigrex relentlessly and just end up eating his fast and aggressive attacks constantly. One of Tigrex's major openings is when he throws rocks at you, etc.

Depending on your weapon, it can be more valuable softening when a monster is downed, sure. The Hammer again, with its follow up combo, can be pretty good - fully charged big bang, into a clutch claw grab, which will perform a spinning multi-hit attack, followed by an immediate soften attack - it's fast enough to perform in almost all situations. Even so, spamming this attack isn't super with a Hammer because your basic Big Bang combo will do more damage in the window of opportunity anyway, etc.

You'll figure out the best time to use it with time.

[Xedhadeaus]

I usually just cycle between using it and flash pods for knockdowns. The claw is very useful, but in solo hunts it really only irritates me.

[Washing Machine]

Main irritation is when it hooks onto body parts you didn't aim for, like you had locked onto head, but the mons moves and you end up on the torso or wing or whatever. Then to add frustration, when you try to hit left to move to the head, the camera is spinning and decided "left? you meant right, right?" and you moved to the tail.

[The Chubby Cat]

I usually use rocksteady, start the fight with soften part or if i know it is sale to CC in certain move

[Saturn]

Turf wars often have massive openings because the monsters are busy with each other (obviously be familiar with how they fight each other or you will get obliterated)

[Haggis]

Originally posted by Washing Machine:

Main irritation is when it hooks onto body parts you didn't aim for, like you had locked onto head, but the mons moves and you end up on the torso or wing or whatever. Then to add frustration, when you try to hit left to move to the head, the camera is spinning and decided "left? you meant right, right?" and you moved to the tail.

They should make it so that LEFT is always towards the tail, and RIGHT is always towards the head.

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by Pard:

Originally posted by Washing Machine:

Small weapons get buffed soon-ish so they soften in one hit, so that problem will be solved.
It lets you make your own weak points though, so monsters like Kirin that are a massive pain for some weapons are less ridiculous to fight against. Also, wallbang em for extra knockdowns.

That's huge! I'll be looking forward to that. Good to know

FYI that buff is only effecting SnS and DBs, unless I've missed something.

[Greb]

Originally posted by Washing Machine:

Main irritation is when it hooks onto body parts you didn't aim for, like you had locked onto head, but the mons moves and you end up on the torso or wing or whatever. Then to add frustration, when you try to hit left to move to the head, the camera is spinning and decided "left? you meant right, right?" and you moved to the tail.

It's very annoying when you're trying to break a monsters wing, it's grounded and you think you could soften it for a bit more damage, so you clutch the very tip of the left wing, and you go flying to the other side of the monster, passing through its entire body along the way, to clutch on its other wing which is both currently already softened and also broken, etc.

Brachydios is also a nightmare to get a clutch on his head, most of the time I end up grabbing his arm and having to shimmy over, wasting any openings or time I had to soften / flinch.