Hey! Yeah, you! Wanna learn about Switch Axe?

[JPM岩]

Hey! From clicking this, you were probably curious about what this thread was about? Well, it's about Switch Axe, an amazing weapon that's fun to use and not brain dead like Charge Blade or Long Sword.
Maybe you just got the game for Christmas and were looking to see what weapon you should use? Maybe you're playing through World again on a new character, and want to pick a new weapon? Maybe you've seen all the juicy buff Switch Axe got in Iceborne, and wanna see what the hub bub is all about? Well, I wrote a little handy guide for that:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1591169533
Now this isn't a guide that tells you how to do Heavenly Upward Slash or Overhead Chop or anything like that. It explains how Switch Axe works, breaking down the complexity of phials, and what Switch Axes are worth using and why. The guide is also up to date with Iceborne information, so info seen is using the 1.10 Patch numbers, and includes the best Switch Axes for Iceborne, including the DLC updates! So check it out, and try out a Switch Axe today!

[the8anarchist88]

speaking as a chrage blade main, Guard points are high risk high reward type deals. R2 + triangle might be the easiest one to execute but mistime it and you still end up eating a pretty bad hit, especially if you're trying to point through a heavier attack (I.E. Divebomb ) mistiming can lead to carting. CB'd difficulty lies in learning the timings of your guardpoints AND the timings of monsters attacks to pretty much have a non-stop offense with minimal loss of hp.

also saying CB got nerfed in IB is like saying bow got nerfed in IB, yes, but actually no.

[kuaikukia]

From my experience after about 300 times use SA, I think SA is easy to learn but hard to master. Yea, you can easily do attack and deal big damage but the problem usually lies when to use its mount attack, keeping eyes on the bar to avoid reloading and how you make use of its dodge attack especially when in sword mode. The key playing SA is knowing to utiliize switching back and forth between sword and axe mode while mauling. Some moves can help you back off far enough to avoid attack while in sword mode like pressing dodge then press R1 to switch Axe mode. That really gives you good distance to avoid many attack like monster tail swept

Publicado originalmente por Rathex:

Charge blade literaly hardest weapon in game...

I found CB hard to learn at first but easy to master actually. As long you don't try to guard point every monster attack

[Freaky Lil Floorboard Creature]

I'd say the Charge Blade is still the most technical weapon in the game, with the most to learn up front. Calling it brain dead seems pretty far off the mark to me, especially because it allows you to think ahead with your phial expenditure to a certain degree. It is probably one of the biggest brain weapon in the game. (Which may not be saying so much in this game, this game is very rarely about big brain time) It is powerful but it still demands you understand it's mechanics. The charge blade with effectively utilizing guard points and actually hitting your SAEDs consistently on the right spots has quite a high skill ceiling as well. Just cause it heavily rewards you for playing well doesn't make it a lobotomy on a stick.

My biggest problem with SA is the lack of any kind of defensive mechanism is pretty annoying, and the weapon isn't satisfying/powerful enough to use to compensate so I just never feel like picking it. It feels like playing with a decent handicap for very little actual gain. It's damage isn't particularly absurd or anything, so it just feels weird that it would be so poor defensively. There aren't any situations where it excels to the point that I actually think to pick it, where as every other weapon I play with has a niche that I might actually use from time to time.

That considered its still one of the weapons that is most palatable to me, since I don't like the smaller spammy weapons so much it kinda nukes a chunk of the roster to me. The SA is still much more satisfying to me than DBs or IG even if it can feel like it is underwhelming. GS for life.

[the8anarchist88]

you pretty much summed up what i was thinking in regards to CB my good dood.

[wateverzh]

I might check the guide later if its updated for iceborne movesets, still trying to 100hunts all weapon before IB hits.
Super excited how they give the switchaxe justice in IB tho

[JPM岩]

Publicado originalmente por Corrupt:

SA and CB r EZ and tasty to fight with especially after all the sexy new moves they got

They finally made the morpher weapons worth morphing

Publicado originalmente por Mhblis:

Doot Flute and SA.

Would be the 2 hardest to get the best performance out of.

SA because the sheer lack of a defensive mechanism. Which means you need to manage the transitions and combo commitments more than most weapons.

I'd say HH is much harder than SA

Publicado originalmente por the8anarchist88:

speaking as a chrage blade main, Guard points are high risk high reward type deals. R2 + triangle might be the easiest one to execute but mistime it and you still end up eating a pretty bad hit, especially if you're trying to point through a heavier attack (I.E. Divebomb ) mistiming can lead to carting. CB'd difficulty lies in learning the timings of your guardpoints AND the timings of monsters attacks to pretty much have a non-stop offense with minimal loss of hp.

also saying CB got nerfed in IB is like saying bow got nerfed in IB, yes, but actually no.

Eh, true enough

Publicado originalmente por Pippu:

I'd say the Charge Blade is still the most technical weapon in the game, with the most to learn up front. Calling it brain dead seems pretty far off the mark to me, especially because it allows you to think ahead with your phial expenditure to a certain degree. It is probably one of the biggest brain weapon in the game. (Which may not be saying so much in this game, this game is very rarely about big brain time) It is powerful but it still demands you understand it's mechanics. The charge blade with effectively utilizing guard points and actually hitting your SAEDs consistently on the right spots has quite a high skill ceiling as well. Just cause it heavily rewards you for playing well doesn't make it a lobotomy on a stick.

My biggest problem with SA is the lack of any kind of defensive mechanism is pretty annoying, and the weapon isn't satisfying/powerful enough to use to compensate so I just never feel like picking it. It feels like playing with a decent handicap for very little actual gain. It's damage isn't particularly absurd or anything, so it just feels weird that it would be so poor defensively. There aren't any situations where it excels to the point that I actually think to pick it, where as every other weapon I play with has a niche that I might actually use from time to time.

That considered its still one of the weapons that is most palatable to me, since I don't like the smaller spammy weapons so much it kinda nukes a chunk of the roster to me. The SA is still much more satisfying to me than DBs or IG even if it can feel like it is underwhelming. GS for life.

Nah, HH is by miles the biggest brain weapon

Publicado originalmente por wateverzh:

I might check the guide later if its updated for iceborne movesets, still trying to 100hunts all weapon before IB hits.
Super excited how they give the switchaxe justice in IB tho

I dont list out move sets, as you really cant easily show those off, seeing as theres numerous different control setups depending on the controller, but I do talk a bit about the new Power Axe mode

[Freaky Lil Floorboard Creature]

Publicado originalmente por JPM岩:

Nah, HH is by miles the biggest brain weapon

While the Hunting Horn indeed requires a fair amount of grey matter to play gracefully, the brain power if more focused on dealing with the Hunting Horn's shortcomings rather than the Hunting Horns unique mechanics. When I call something big brain I am more talking about the complexity the weapon's mechanics offer, not the difficulty of using it since that would make the most under-powered weapons big brain by default. You can mostly handle all of HH's mechanics passively if you wish without really losing out on much. I don't know if my opinion on this will change in Iceborne or not.

[JPM岩]

Publicado originalmente por Pippu:

Publicado originalmente por JPM岩:

Nah, HH is by miles the biggest brain weapon

While the Hunting Horn indeed requires a fair amount of grey matter to play gracefully, the brain power if more focused on dealing with the Hunting Horn's shortcomings rather than the Hunting Horns unique mechanics. When I call something big brain I am more talking about the complexity the weapon's mechanics offer, not the difficulty of using it since that would make the most under-powered weapons big brain by default. You can mostly handle all of HH's mechanics passively if you wish without really losing out on much. I don't know if my opinion on this will change in Iceborne or not.

No, hunting horn has always been the most complicated weapon in MH, people argue "oh it does so little damage in World", but in past games where its one of the strongest, it rarely gets used, because it is a very complex weapon; charge blade, is it complex? yeah, to be good with it do you need to learn these complex things? Definitely not; you simply have to time a block to charge up the Phials, which isnt "learning all the different monsters", which, btw, you are doing already playing the game; mechanically it is designed to complex, but the result is that it is very simple, as it just rewards you for doing something you should already be doing, which is learning to block or dodge

[pcdeltalink]

Been a switch axe main ever since I picked it up back in Monster Hunter Tri. Saw comments mentioning charge blade difficulty and I have to agree. I love it and want to learn the weapon but holy crap the controls are complicated, and I'm not even talking about guard points. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to learn how to charge the shield up and I still can't replicate it all the time.

[Freaky Lil Floorboard Creature]

Publicado originalmente por JPM岩:

No, hunting horn has always been the most complicated weapon in MH, people argue "oh it does so little damage in World", but in past games where its one of the strongest, it rarely gets used, because it is a very complex weapon; charge blade, is it complex? yeah, to be good with it do you need to learn these complex things? Definitely not; you simply have to time a block to charge up the Phials, which isnt "learning all the different monsters", which, btw, you are doing already playing the game; mechanically it is designed to complex, but the result is that it is very simple, as it just rewards you for doing something you should already be doing, which is learning to block or dodge

I always felt like all of the hunting horn's mechanics were very easy and simple to pick up and use, but I guess this kind of thing is subjective.

[Remi]

Publicado originalmente por Pippu:

Publicado originalmente por JPM岩:

No, hunting horn has always been the most complicated weapon in MH, people argue "oh it does so little damage in World", but in past games where its one of the strongest, it rarely gets used, because it is a very complex weapon; charge blade, is it complex? yeah, to be good with it do you need to learn these complex things? Definitely not; you simply have to time a block to charge up the Phials, which isnt "learning all the different monsters", which, btw, you are doing already playing the game; mechanically it is designed to complex, but the result is that it is very simple, as it just rewards you for doing something you should already be doing, which is learning to block or dodge

I always felt like all of the hunting horn's mechanics were very easy and simple to pick up and use, but I guess this kind of thing is subjective.

It's mostly a HH users circlejerk thing, and them assuming superiority because they're the least used weapon (Lance was lower at some point, so they're grasping at straws). The weapon is not difficult and the average user is a corner horner that says "doot doot" unironically at any possible moment. Another one: "HH main here,.." but that's interchangeable with all 14 weapons, people uttering that phrase are usually on the spectrum.
Of course exceptions to this exist, but the HH userbase is on the level of Hammer when it comes to being entitled and annoying.

[JPM岩]

Publicado originalmente por Remi:

Publicado originalmente por Pippu:

I always felt like all of the hunting horn's mechanics were very easy and simple to pick up and use, but I guess this kind of thing is subjective.

It's mostly a HH users circlejerk thing, and them assuming superiority because they're the least used weapon (Lance was lower at some point, so they're grasping at straws). The weapon is not difficult and the average user is a corner horner that says "doot doot" unironically at any possible moment. Another one: "HH main here,.." but that's interchangeable with all 14 weapons, people uttering that phrase are usually on the spectrum.
Of course exceptions to this exist, but the HH userbase is on the level of Hammer when it comes to being entitled and annoying.

Except historically, it has ALWAYS been that HH was the least used weapon; like, no exceptions, until World it was the #1 hardest weapon to figure out and use; maybe thats changed since the note sheet is always on screen, but, by fact, HH has been the hardest weapon to use in MH

[CourtesyFlush09]

Publicado originalmente por Pippu:

Publicado originalmente por JPM岩:

No, hunting horn has always been the most complicated weapon in MH, people argue "oh it does so little damage in World", but in past games where its one of the strongest, it rarely gets used, because it is a very complex weapon; charge blade, is it complex? yeah, to be good with it do you need to learn these complex things? Definitely not; you simply have to time a block to charge up the Phials, which isnt "learning all the different monsters", which, btw, you are doing already playing the game; mechanically it is designed to complex, but the result is that it is very simple, as it just rewards you for doing something you should already be doing, which is learning to block or dodge

I always felt like all of the hunting horn's mechanics were very easy and simple to pick up and use, but I guess this kind of thing is subjective.

IMO HH is the hardest weapon to use and master.

Sure, playing songs and using the encore mechanic effectively isn't hard at all, but many HH players do so quietly in the corner. The best HH users know how to play songs AND attack at the same time; very rarely do you see this.

[Heehee]

Bow has the highest skill cap in the game. Switch axe is just ♥♥♥♥♥ which is why it is so difficult to use properly, although I heard it is going to get a major buff in the expansion.

[JPM岩]

Publicado originalmente por ShadowHawk:

Bow has the highest skill cap in the game. Switch axe is just ♥♥♥♥♥ which is why it is so difficult to use properly, although I heard it is going to get a major buff in the expansion.

It's as ♥♥♥♥ as people make it