My weapon of choice (solo)

[Kon-Vara]

I guess, you read this question a lot. I watched a few videos, tried all of the weapons out in the tutorial-room, and hunted a few great jagras with some of them. I also watched one video, where every weapon is showcased and summed up. And I still don't know what to go for.

Can you help me out with your thoughts and experience? Here are those I tried.

Charge Blade: like the jack-of-all-trades aspect and opposed to the switch axe, I can still dodge with the heavy-hitter-part of the weapon.
Switch Axe: Really fun, but I'm locked into combos and that sucks. I wanna be able to puss out and dodge to avoid critical attacks.
Insect Glaive: Thought, I'd have more fun with this. Like the agile jumping part, but it feels clumsier, than charge blade.
Hammer: Love that it's faster, than you might imagine, but it feels a little one sided. Heavy hitting is nice, but I'm willing to sacrifice it for some variety.

Thanks for all answers in advance. :)

[Zplayer96]

seems to me that you like to dodge and use a fast weapon so i'd recommend dual blades or bow, preferably dual blades since they're easier to learn imo

[dyne2alex]

Charge blade is more of a reposition or block kind of weapon. The interesting thing about the weapon is in between the morphs, there are frames where you'll get an auto block if the monster attacks you from that direction at that point in time, which you can transition into the SAED, chargeblade's finisher more or less.

The only real downside to charge blade is that it takes forever to sheath. If you like to use items/environment more, sword and shiield is a lighter more mobile version, kinda.

[Murdo]

Go with two of them and start slowly using the other two later on. That's what I think. That way you'll have enough time to get good with them but also have a new weapon to look forward to.

[twiggy]

spread 3 loyal thunder heavy bowgun tank build with guard up and guard lvl 5. you just face tank everything and do more damage than an entire group combined

[myhr2]

So, here is my opinion on the weapons you tried. Keep in mind that I learnad all the weapons in base World, and have yet to relearn them with the Iceborne changes,, safe for SnS which is my main.

Charge Blade : complex but also versatile, a weapon that is tanky and hits hard, it's a solid choice but is kinda skill-hungry, if I had to point one main weakness it's that certain move chains lack fluidity (charging your vials, charging your sword,...)

Switch Axe : a powerhouse and very fun to play if you like cinematic explosions, but darn is it tricky to manage your charges, and you really lack mobility, imho. It seems to be much better in IB though, and the core gameplay is superfun anyway.

Insect Glaive : deceptively hard to use well, you can defeat enemies by spinning 90% of the time in the air, but you'll only truly master it by understanding all the kinsect mechanics and knowing when you should go aerial and when you should do your most damaging combos on the ground. So yeah, you should spend between 20 to 10% of the time in the air and the rest on the ground, NOT the other way round (can change with some matchups, obviously, it's a "should", not a "must")

Hammer : simple moveset, but require a good understanding of monsters patterns. It lacks a bit of range, imho.

[Cregath]

Insect Glaive is an odd one. There are some nice montages where people are flying for days while twirling their toothpick, but honestly, that doesn't do too much in itself. Most of the times, you do more damage on the ground. I mean it's called Insect Glaive and not Helicopter Rotor.

If you like dodging a lot, then as other said, pick Dual Blade. Longsword is high on the popularity list for a reason.

Longsword is also a good pick. It's high on the popularity list, but that's not necessarily, because it's the strongest or easiest. But because it's very versatile. It's fast enough that you can dodge. You don't have a block, but you can "parry". And the big moves all feel really good.

Light Bowgun also feels really good in IB with Evading Reload added to the mix, but Sticky Ammo kind of rules that area. Of course not using Sticky is an option too.

[Greb]

Deviljho is an excellent solo weapon, you get more mileage out of those 500 damage hits when the monster only has regular HP!

[Sui Generic]

My advice is to use the weapon which best resonates with you and allows you to have the most fun. Just try everything and you'll know within a few hunts whether a weapon can give you what you want out of the game.

I have over 1000 hunts under my belt and I still find the micromanagement demanded by the charge blade's phials an exercise in tedium and frustration. I mained IG through the base game and clicked with it straight away. You're the inverse. There's no accounting for personal preference.

[AfLIcTeD]

Originally posted by winner:

spread 3 loyal thunder heavy bowgun tank build with guard up and guard lvl 5. you just face tank everything and do more damage than an entire group combined

Yes, because he is definitely in MR hunting those Great Jagras unsure of what weapon to choose.

Just ignore this guy.

Use the lance or Hunting horn. They get no love. Just don't pick Longsword, we gots enough of those.

[Sui Generic]

Originally posted by Kon-Vara:

Switch Axe: Really fun, but I'm locked into combos and that sucks. I wanna be able to puss out and dodge to avoid critical attacks.

Forgot to address this bit.

If you're judicious in when you use wild swing or heavenward flurry you shouldn't have too many problems with being combo locked. Switch axe has comparatively high animation commitments in general, so you need to be deliberate with your inputs, but the two moves I mentioned are the only ones I consider egregious.

I'd also second Afflicted in suggesting you try the lance. The in-game tutorial gives it a 1-star rating w/r/t its suitability for beginners. Whoever gave that rating has no idea about the new player experience. It's one of the most beginner-friendly weapons as it has a simple move set and peerless defence.

[djay80]

When I first started playing the game, I fell in love with greatsword and I have been maining it ever since. Like hammer, it's a very lucrative weapon, which means it's high risk/high reward. I recommend trying out longsword as it is a good middle ground between slow hitting weapons like greatsword and hammer and fast weapons like dual blades.

[lunate]

Try lbg or hbg, pretty simple to use although when you just start the type of bullets are pretty duanting

[Warkrunner]

Try - them - all.
You may *think* you want to play X, but then later find Y is a lot more fun.
I found out I liked Sword and Shield because of this.

[Dir Chai]

As a CB main the first 50-100 hunts are pain in the ass I felt that weapon is unnecessary complicated. Then I start to get the feel of it, guard point, AED, SAED, sword charge and in Iceborne we get the Savage Axe. Guard point counter Tigrex's roar is one of the most satisfying thing I've ever done. It took me 371 hunts as a IG main before I tried CB. My advice is, just like every one else, try them all. Hunting a jagras is barely an indicator of how the weapon feel. Every weapon (for me at least) is easy to learn but hard to master.

[demon1103]

Originally posted by AfLIcTeD:

Use the lance or Hunting horn. They get no love. Just don't pick Longsword, we gots enough of those.

I find this hilarious since Lance & Horn are 2 of my top 3 favorite weapons, while I never really felt the "groove" of longsword. XD