longsword help

[Bloodyboo12]

im trying to get away from using the bow as it seems kinda weak endgame so im using the longsword. Im having a super hard time building the charge and seem like as soon as i go to combo i get hit by something. I also die often and it seems way too slow to build the combo. anyone know any good video or something that could help?

[Lunamorte]

An important move right now for longsword is the special sheath for the iai slash. The iai slash gives you regenerating spirit like if you had landed a helm breaker. Also remember you can add regular attacks in between spirit slashes if you think you need a little extra gauge to finish your combo. The regenerating gauge can also give you enough gauge to finish a combo.

As for landing the full combo, part of that depends on knowing the monster well enough to get the full combo in as well as being able to land your foresight slashes. Also remember you can fade slash and continue into the second spirit slash. You really need to learn the openings and timings for the monster when using longsword.

[Fregi]

Use non-spirit attacks to charge up the spirit gauge (DO NOT USE THEM FOR ACTUAL DAMAGE, ONLY TO BUILD SPIRIT GAUGE)

Use spirit combo to advance spirit level (yellow, orange, red)

Use foresight slash to evade attacks

If you hit with the foresight slash after evading an attack successfully, you can immediately can use spirit roundslash to advance your spirit level.

Spirit thrust -> Helmbreaker does the most damage

Use thrust to go straight into foresight slash, as thrust has a long, cancelable endlag, and is very quick to come out.

[Bloodyboo12]

i think the hardest thing for me so far is alot of the iceborne monsters are very quick to attack, and I never seem to find an opening

[cua_bien02]

Originally posted by Bloodyboo:

im trying to get away from using the bow as it seems kinda weak endgame so im using the longsword. Im having a super hard time building the charge and seem like as soon as i go to combo i get hit by something. I also die often and it seems way too slow to build the combo. anyone know any good video or something that could help?

Just quick note that bow is considered to be one of the strongest weapons in the game, it's just that archers are kinda squishy so requires more learning I guess. And for some reasons the devs make it so that bows are not good for sieges.

As for LS, you can transition into foreslight slash from almost any combo/move even though the prompt doesn't tell you so. If you successfully dodge with it and your attack connects, you gain full spirit gauge. Failing it and you loose gauge progress.

As for videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e86lHq-03H4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6zs2JMsIS4

Actual combat from TDS, who has a godlike LS player. Note how you can foresight slash roar to get the first gauge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5MgXZwY71g

[Vandals[UK]]

To build up the spirit meter, you really need to know how to perform the Foresight Slash and understand how it works.

Then on top of that, ledge and slopes also helps to build up that meter in a few hits.

Watch the link provided by cua_bien02 and make sure you understand EVERYTHING.

[cua_bien02]

Another note is that to avoid the penalty of failed foreslight slash, you can immediately switch to sheath stand > Iai slash, or immediately switch to Spirit thrush/Helm Breaker to deal damage like in the last linked video.

[Raven]

Originally posted by Lunamorte:

You really need to learn the openings and timings for the monster when using longsword.

Learning those is very important for all blademaster weapons. Some weapons need that knowledge more than others though (GS is the one that needs it the most imo, because the weapon is extremely lackluster if you can't pull off even lv3 normal charges), with ranged weapons needing it the least (As you aren't right in front of a monster when it begins charging or some such. Although the knowledge is still very useful as it helps compensate for the 30% reduced defense gunners have)

[puzzlefox]

>bow
>weak endgame

Bow does absolutely obnoxious damage when you build right and shoot the hurty bits.

Plus, bow is 2nd place in speedrun leaderboards right under the heavy faceroll gun, and has been for awhile

[Vandals[UK]]

Originally posted by puzzlefox:

>bow
>weak endgame

Bow does absolutely obnoxious damage when you build right and shoot the hurty bits.

Plus, bow is 2nd place in speedrun leaderboards right under the heavy faceroll gun, and has been for awhile

For people who doesn't use:

1. Armour skill / Canteen food / Dash Juice to reduce Stamina consumption.
2. Use at least lv 1 Stamina Surge to speed up stamina recovery.
3. Wasting their time on Dragon Piercer
4. Not using Crit element or True Crit Element
5. Shooting the monster from miles away
6. Using the wrong element or targeting the wrong parts.

Then yes, bow is very weak at end game.

[Zelph]

Originally posted by VandalsUK:

Originally posted by puzzlefox:

>bow
>weak endgame

Bow does absolutely obnoxious damage when you build right and shoot the hurty bits.

Plus, bow is 2nd place in speedrun leaderboards right under the heavy faceroll gun, and has been for awhile

For people who doesn't use:

1. Armour skill / Canteen food / Dash Juice to reduce Stamina consumption.
2. Use at least lv 1 Stamina Surge to speed up stamina recovery.
3. Wasting their time on Dragon Piercer
4. Not using Crit element or True Crit Element
5. Shooting the monster from miles away
6. Using the wrong element or targeting the wrong parts.

Then yes, bow is very weak at end game.

If you aren't using any of the good stuff, then you wouldn't be good with any weapon. That is far and away not exclusive to bow.

[Vandals[UK]]

Originally posted by Zelph:

Originally posted by VandalsUK:

For people who doesn't use:

1. Armour skill / Canteen food / Dash Juice to reduce Stamina consumption.
2. Use at least lv 1 Stamina Surge to speed up stamina recovery.
3. Wasting their time on Dragon Piercer
4. Not using Crit element or True Crit Element
5. Shooting the monster from miles away
6. Using the wrong element or targeting the wrong parts.

Then yes, bow is very weak at end game.

If you aren't using any of the good stuff, then you wouldn't be good with any weapon. That is far and away not exclusive to bow.

But there are more to it when it comes to bow.

I mean, for melee, even if you were not using certain key moves, you can still pull out some what average or below average damage.

Bow however, not just moves, but distance also plays a key role.
Often times, I found people trying to hit a monster half a zone away.

Then armour skills:
Melee you will not be far off if you put in all attack related skills.
Bow you need to balance Stamina / Raw and Element. Over focus on attack will yield you much lower damage than a typical melee would.

[Nerevar]

the problem with ls and i guess this is tcs issue aswell is ls is build around ONE SINGLE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ MOVE hitting the target. and that is roundslash. if you cannot land roundslash ls becomes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ until you manage to land it often enough. given how slow the combo is this is pretty bad design given the speed and lack of openings for long combos many iceborne monsters show sadly.

since iceborne LS absolutly relies on FS to get the roundslashes on the targets sadly. alot of monsters simply wont offer you the chance to use openings for anything other than tenderize bs as otherwise it runs out and dmg becomes ♥♥♥♥ aswell.

FS is the only decent way to land roundslashes unless you have someone who can ko/chaincc for you ofc like stickyspammers or hammers.

plus the 2nd counter is kinda garbage by design. its too strict and the punishment for failing it is unreal high compared to other weapons. the reward is worse than landing a splitter on top. it requires learning a monsters attacks IN AND OUT. by that time youre normally long done farming it already sadly.

tc you need to learn foresight slash. its the only way to make ls remotely work in MR with alot of targets as they just move too much for the longass combos of ls.

the weapon is so popular because its weeboo anime style weapon. not because its OP in iceborne. far from it. if you want OP check out HBG. most speedrun times with ls are worse than other weapons by now. the reason for this is the weapon is overly punished by icebornes mechanics currently. the tenderize bs beeing one of the worst for ls.

it needs to do it twice. every 90 seconds. PLUS it needs to land 1 roundslash atleast every 60 seconds to not lose red bar. more if you manage to land a splitter. thats some pretty hefty pressure on the player by default. most weapons dont require this kind of pressure to be effective.

in multiplayer this can either be worse or better depending on if you get a ccer in your team or not. without a ccer its worse. as the monster will attack you less due to more targets to choose and thus less chances to perform FS into the essential roundslash.

the weapons long combos where clearly not keept in mind when mr monster speed and openings got designed by the devs. you can FEEL that when you play it. couple this with tenderize and you got a recipe for frustration sometimes if ai RNG screws you hard.

LS isnt weak. but its certainly also not great currently purely mechanics wise. the playerskill needed to perform well with it is way higher than some people here will believe.

[Vandals[UK]]

^ well said.

I would like to add: A lot of LongSword's damage comes from the Spirit Helm Breaker. However, given how mobile MR monsters are, trying to land it on a mobile target is not that easy. UNLESS:

1. You are very familiar with the monster's move set
2. Used it right after the monster is CC
3. The damage is high enough to make the monster constant stagger.

I mean, I've lost count how many times I jumped into the air with SMB only to find the monster have jumped away...

[Shinshe]

Use hunting horn forget LS

[Varagonax]

Originally posted by Bloodyboo:

im trying to get away from using the bow as it seems kinda weak endgame so im using the longsword. Im having a super hard time building the charge and seem like as soon as i go to combo i get hit by something. I also die often and it seems way too slow to build the combo. anyone know any good video or something that could help?

Learn to special sheath your sword after every combo and helm splitter so you can use iai slash to be generating your red stuff as fast as possible. You can special sheath after the last hit of your spirit combo, helm splitter, and both of your counters (not to mention after literally every move, but you dont need to be that aggressive, just make sure your always passively generating your spirit gauge). I believe the generation stacks between Iai slash and helmsplitter, so you shouldn't ever be just dripping spirit at all times.

Evade window apparently adds some flexibility to your counters, but I never played around with it enough to really get a feel for the extended windows, and it takes at least 2 slots and a charm, so I personally wouldn't go for it if there isn't some in your armour already.

You also dont need a completely full gauge to do your full combo, only 80ish % of it.

Longsword is really a super forgiving weapon to be using, its the only weapon in the game with 4-5 iframe's (including the dodge here, which while a very TINY iframe outside of the dive, it still has one), 2 of which can be used to add a level to your gauge and deal a good chunk of damage with is as well. You aren't slowed down while its out, and it has some VERY strong weapons in its category and overall very good dps.

Once you've mastered your gauge upkeep, your next goal will be to learn when generating your gauge isn't useful. Typically, you wanna be upkepping your gauge as much as possible, but sometimes its more useful to be evading or running instead of trying to land your iai slash, which immobilizes you. You always want to be using it instead of the regular spirit slash combo's sheath, as its faster, and it lets you combo out immediately, but you don't always want to be using it outside of your combo's. You will learn when to judge the timing of it based on your fights.

I cant remember the name of the deco, but there is one that increases how long your gauge lasts. If you are having a hard time with upkeep this can help a lot.

I mean, thats about it. LS is kinda super easy, at least mechanically, as its relatively simple to do stuff with, allowing you to focus on your timing, which is the longswords worst enemy and best friend.

EDIT: longsword isnt mechanically complex, so from that perspective its an easy to pick up and learn weapon, but because timing is absolutely necessary to make full use of a longsword, it can be hard to master. It is still the least complex weapon in the game, barring maybe lance, and mayyybbbbbeeeee dual blades, but overall basically anyone can pick it up and be marginally useful.