Decoration Prep for Master Rank

[Lukas_Poopus]

Are there any "must have" decorations for Master Rank? I've just gotten past Nargacuga, but most hunts in MR are taking me half an hour minimum. I'm not struggling too much with deaths, so defensively I think I'm in the right place. I basically jumped right into MR as soon as I could without farming decorations at all and I'm finding now that was a terrible idea. If it matters for what type of decorations to use, I play CB. Thanks!

[mewlynx]

Weakness exploit, critical boost, critical eye for general ones.

For CB, magazine, artillery (if you're doing impact CB), and ironwall.

[lexilogo]

The usual crit suspects like Weakness Exploit, Crit Boost, and Crit Eye are the big ones that help a lot.

The current Melding Tickets avaliable at the Steamworks during Events help a lot in getting pre-Iceborne decos, so I advise you snag what Dragonvein Coal you can as well as regularly use the natural fuel you build up from doing quests.

Though I should note that for damage, things like positioning, regular Clutch Claw usage to keep parts tenderised and simple practice matter a lot more than pure buildmaking especially for weapons like Charge Blade. Hunts against new monsters already take a while in general because you're getting used to them, and that's amplified by Master Rank monsters being able to take far more punishment.

[Bong-B Rippins]

20-30 minutes are pretty normal kill times while you are working your way up. A hard lesson many must come to learn in master rank is the value of hit zones. Sometimes it's worth to go for a harder to reach part because it just takes so much more damage.

It also takes a long time to really get used to the clutch claw but it is also important, so make sure you aren't sleeping on it.

When it comes to skills the best ones are pretty straightforward:

Some way, through Protective Polish or Razor Sharp or the infamous Master's touch, you need to handle your weapon sharpness. A handicraft charm is an easy and accessible way to get a nice chunky bar of white/purple sharpness.

The holy trinity of crit skills: Crit eye, Weakness Exploit, and Crit Boost are all very insanely powerful together and you realistically want them all the time.

The Handicraft, Crit eye, and Agitator charms are extremely popular and provide good value.

For charge blade, pretty much everyone seems to run Magazine, which gives you 1 additional phial. I have seen some swear by Focus/Power Prolonger, but it feels too expensive to socket in for my blood.

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by Hymensmasher420:

For charge blade, pretty much everyone seems to run Magazine, which gives you 1 additional phial. I have seen some swear by Focus/Power Prolonger, but it feels too expensive to socket in for my blood.

Focus is insanely useful for CB, all 3 levels are too efficient to pass up. Damascus b+ makes this relatively easy, tho.

[Bong-B Rippins]

Originally posted by maelynx:

Focus is insanely useful for CB, all 3 levels are too efficient to pass up. Damascus b+ makes this relatively easy, tho.

In my experience, which is some but not a ton with charge blade, it made a lot more of a difference when I use a power element phial and am more concerned about keeping the blade charged. Trying to keep everything charged without either Focus or Power Prolonger was genuine misery.

I feel like I don't really notice Focus when I am using the charged axe playstyle instead though.

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by Hymensmasher420:

Originally posted by maelynx:

Focus is insanely useful for CB, all 3 levels are too efficient to pass up. Damascus b+ makes this relatively easy, tho.

In my experience, which is some but not a ton with charge blade, it made a lot more of a difference when I use a power element phial and am more concerned about keeping the blade charged. Trying to keep everything charged without either Focus or Power Prolonger was genuine misery.

I feel like I don't really notice Focus when I am using the charged axe playstyle instead though.

That would make sense if you're doing pizza cutter stuff, my experiences with CB are mostly pre-IB when it was just phial dumping.

[Cregath]

Don't farm decos before MR. MR makes farming almost any Level 1-3 decos really easy to get. Especially during Festivals with the Melding Tickets from the Steamworks.

[CostlyAxis]

Charge Blade is my secondary (~3,000 hunts, ~100 in MR as I'm sticking to GL mostly at the moment) and the skills I normally stick to are:

Capacity Boost (mandatory)
Focus x3
Artillery x3 (if impact)
element x6 (if elemental, the higher the better usually)
Evade Extender x3 (I roll aggressively)
Guard x5 (will vary based on what you're hunting and if you have a charm slot open),
Offensive Guard x3 (when possible)
Mind's Eye (it's my crutch, but totally optional)
Health Boost x3
Guard Up (varies based on what you're fighting)

And the rest is whatever the armor set will give me. I currently run a totally non-optimized set, but it's comfy. I normally finish hunts solo in the <10 minute range on most monsters, but around the ~13-15 minute mark for Elder Dragons (tempered).

I normally stick to ol' SAED spam unless the target is small, or it's downed (and not Teostra or Lunastra). Your mileage may vary if you use savage ax mode more often. You may find Artillery not worth it in that case. Focus is a bit more optional for savage ax too, but your normal charging attacks are faster with it.

Edit: Forgot to mention Geology x1 when in the Guiding Lands. Doesn't help in the fight, but getting double shiny drops is worth the usage.

[L:D]

Originally posted by Cregath:

Don't farm decos before MR. MR makes farming almost any Level 1-3 decos really easy to get. Especially during Festivals with the Melding Tickets from the Steamworks.

Exactly.
There's no point in farming decorations to keep progressing, you eventually will start to do some t2 investigations and later on t3 and will have every single decoration you need in a couple of days.

[Aelin Galathynius]

Originally posted by CostlyAxis:

Evade Extender x3 (I roll aggressively)

Why on earth would you ever use this when playing Charge Blade?

Just guard point everything.

[Aelin Galathynius]

There is a guide to what charge blades to craft and armour to go with them here
https://mhwbuilds.net/charge-blade-pc/#builds-late

This does assume you have base game decorations though so make sure you use the steamworks as much as possible to get those and get started on the tempered investigations as soon as you can.