Getting flinches with the Switch Axe

[Sui Generic]

I've taken on the switch axe as my next weapon to master, and I'm slowly coming to grips with the intricacies of its move set, but something I don't understand is why I'm not flinching monsters more often. Power axe mode does not appear to make any appreciable difference to normal axe mode. Is this because I'm often doing a weak forward stab followed by a fade slash because I'm wary of committing to longer moves? I'm tenderising and focusing on the legs as often as possible, so I don't think the location of my damage is the issue. Given an opening to wild morph, that will often draw out a flinch, but what about when I don't have an opening? What should I do to start churning those flinches out?

[JPM岩]

You should be getting about 2 to 3 attacks per dodge on any monster, really. But with Switch Axe, you need to really learn on proper switch timing between forms, not just focus on one form. Axe Form is your mobility, you have faster attacks, more movement for dodges, Power Axe will allow you tire monsters more easily and break parts more easily. Sword Form is your powerhouse, dealing a ton of damage. What mix are you using?

[Sui Generic]

I'm doing my best to mix it up between both forms as the circumstances of the hunt demand. Though if I misread a monster's move and morph at the wrong time, that's punished way more harshly than a misread with the lance or IG. As a result, I'm getting decent clear times, but my hunts don't feel anywhere near as clean as I'd like. I think if I were to get more flinches that would give me some confidence that I'm using the axe form to its full potential.

[Sui Generic]

If when you asked me what mix I'm using you wanted me to specify a ratio, I'd say it's 50/50. When the monster is hyperactive I'll be in axe form; when its stamina is more depleted I'll be in sword form; and when it provides a brief opening before going back to hyperactive, I'll try to capitalise on that with a quick morph to sword and back out. I know how easily SA can be cheesed with mantles, but I'm avoiding them because I want to actually learn how to use the weapon.

[cruste]

zsd is the monster flincher ....
charge sword> rdy up rocksteady> zsd spam > poor monster nonstop flinching or getting knocked out

[astranabeat]

What you should do when you has 1 or 2 sec for attack is upswing or O and then triagle. This way you get lock in animation only 1 sec. If you has time around 5 sec then power axe or wild morph. When monster down, change to sword. Amp it with O, O step, O then ZSD to the head. If your sword already Amp then combo and time your ZSD when monster get up. You will finish SZD when monster about to roar.

You shouldn't use fade slash often because normal roll has i frame and not launch you far away. You should slot EW 5. It's game changer for SA.

The most brain dead and effective way to play SA is ZSD spam. Slot medicine 3, power prolonger 3, maintent 3 and 2 on both temporal and rocksteady mantle if you have secret skill. Tenderize the head or other part if the head is not a weakness ( Luna)​ then ZSD untill both mantle run out. After that fight normaly untill mantle recharge then ZSD spam again.

[Sui Generic]

Originally posted by astranabeat:

What you should do when you has 1 or 2 sec for attack is upswing or O and then triagle. This way you get lock in animation only 1 sec. If you has time around 5 sec then power axe or wild morph. When monster down, change to sword. Amp it with O, O step, O then ZSD to the head. If your sword already Amp then combo and time your ZSD when monster get up. You will finish SZD when monster about to roar.

You shouldn't use fade slash often because normal roll has i frame and not launch you far away. You should slot EW 5. It's game changer for SA.

The most brain dead and effective way to play SA is ZSD spam. Slot medicine 3, power prolonger 3, maintent 3 and 2 on both temporal and rocksteady mantle if you have secret skill. Tenderize the head or other part if the head is not a weakness ( Luna)​ then ZSD untill both mantle run out. After that fight normaly untill mantle recharge then ZSD spam again.

Cheers, mate. That's helpful. I'll try out the upswing/stab/roll combo and see how I go. I basically know how the weapon should be used as far as when to change modes and amping the sword, but I've just been struggling to get as many flinches as I'd have thought I should. I thought flinching was meant to be power axe's speciality.

Also, I've been using EE3, but you think EW5 is better?

I'm well familiar with ZSD spam. It's effective, but it's also dead boring and I feel cheap using it. I want to get to know the intricacies of the weapon, even if it's not optimal for damage.

[Sui Generic]

For context about where I am with it: My best time hunting tempered Savage Deviljho with the Fatalis axe is about 6:10. I know the weapon's fundamentals. I'm really just wanting to know how to clean up my play by getting reliable flinches.

Edit: That 6:10 was definitely an anomaly though. I'm usually closer to 9 minutes. I've been using Savage Jho as my benchmark for improvement.

[Aelin Galathynius]

Flinches work the same with every weapon.

Think of a monster part as having its own hp bar. When you depelete this bar it causes a trip/flinch/ko then refills.

All parts cause a flinch the first time you deplete the bar. The head then causes a ko while the legs cause a trip. Left and right legs have separate hp bars.

This is how speedrunners get chain knockdowns. They lower both left and right legs to low hp. Reduce one of them to 0 to cause a trip, damage until it gets up then reduce the other one to get the next trip right away.


If you're not getting the flinches you're likely not doing enough damage to a specific part.

Also I think, but not 100% sure, that if you get a trip while the monster is ko'd that trip will be skipped. The part hp will refill without causing the trip because it's already ko'd. If i remember correctly you can get a trip or ko by depleting a different body part than the one that caused the current knockdown but can't keep depleting the same one over and over.


Tldr if you want more flinches focus on the head or legs.

[neogeno]

If you want to get super technical with it, pick a monster (preferably one in the arena that you can fight without tracking down) and start counting. How many shots to the head does it take before this specific monster flinches? How many shots to the head with Power Axe mode? What about with the feet? Play like this enough times and you will start to get a feel for when you are approaching a stagger or flinch threshold and you'll be able to predict it regardless if you are in normal Axe or Power Axe.

Then do the same with a new monster.

Its a method that takes time but feels great when you successfully manipulate the monster. It will allow you to commit to attacks that would otherwise get you mauled.

[Sui Generic]

Awesome. Thanks to both of you for those comprehensive replies. I do stick to the legs, but I must be too cautious with my choice of attacks. I'll have to get more confident with committing to the higher damage moves. SA's animation commitments are quite an adjustment from the weapons I perform best with.

[Velkhana's Summer]

You need to focus one part at a time and use the overhead swings which do the most flinch. If you switch from head to forearm you'll get a double flinch later on but its best to go from one part, flinch, wound the next part and rinse repeat. You can even stay on parts until broken not just the flinch as they increased the wound time drastically compared to when you could only hit a flinch in one wound cycle.

Also with the evasion built into axe you shouldn't need to even use too many dodges as there are fade slashes built into the kit that help keep the flinch threshold building rather than just rolling and walking around waiting for your next opening. The only time you should be off the monster as a SA main is when ZSD pushes you off or you're sharpening to keep protective polish up, although I'm guilty of getting into green sharpness against AT Velkhana.

Edit: how could i forget, if you really want to master the axe part of SA, you NEED AT Velkhana's armor. With a HH user in my party i dropped a 1k bomb on Fatalis's head with Axe mode power slam's last hit, nothing ever felt better.