Monster Hunter World Lance Beginner’s Guide

Monster Hunter World Lance Beginner’s Guide by darkfry

PREFACE

MHW is my first MH game and I’m absolutely in love with the lance. I really haven’t seen much information out there regarding it so I wanted to help out those who are interested in trying it. I would also like to note that I love this community and everyone’s passion for the series, anything you find offensive is merely in jest <3 . Any and all feedback would be great as this is my first post of this type!

Index

• The Basics
• The Combos
• Mobility
• HOLD THE LINE (Guard mechanics)
• TBA

1. The Basics

The lance is a glorious weapon, the true test of a hunter’s willingness to look death right in the eyes and say, “Not today”. Along with the gunlance, the lance’s redneck cousin, it boasts exceptionally high damage mitigation. With that come the “low” mobility of lugging around a massive shield, and low to moderate damage as we lull the monster into a false sense of security. Lancers require a good deal of patience and observation of monster behavior to be truly effective.

The most basic concept you need to understand as a new lancer is positioning. Knowing where and when you are safe to attack/counter and when you should full guard is crucial to your success with this weapon. Quick tip If the monster is behind you, turn around. With good positioning and enough stamina you are almost always safe thanks to full guard! There are still some OHKO mechanics that won’t kill you, but will stagger and leave you vulnerable to follow-up damage. This allows us unparalleled survivability, and IMO makes the lance incredibly powerful.

“BUT FRY!” The hammer bros are shouting in the streets, “The lance has no raw damage, you can’t flip through the air like a Beyblade, how can you possibly consider the lance powerful?!” To which the only response needed is to full guard an Anjanth OHKO fireball and take virtually no damage while your teammates scramble to safer ground. The Lance is not about raw damage, and it never will be. You simply need to outlast the monster you are hunting, poke it when you can, block the scary stuff, and be patient. With that being said lets move into the fun stuff!

2. Combos

All of the Lance’s combos are fairly straight forward and will be covered to death by youtube guides, so we will do these in brief.

Shorthands (Indicates xbox key)

R2 – R2 (RT)

T – Triangle (Y)

O – Circle (B)

X – X (A)

! – Movement

… – Furthering the combo

(T) – Straight pokey boi (up to 3)

(O) – High pokey boi (Bane of those with faces and wings, also up to 3)

(T+O) – You kindly ask small monsters in front of you to clear the way for the king (that’s you!)

(X) – I was there but now I’m here (Mildly inconvenience Mons up to 3 times in succession)

(R2) – Basic Block

(R2+T) – Quick poke

(R2+!T) – Man I wish I was in range do a pokey boi, oh look now I am and I blocked the whole time!

• (R2+!T…+T) – Slap em with your shield, no longer blocking
• (R2+!T…+T…+!T) – I’m probably out of position now

(R2+!T…+O) – Pokey leap

(R2+O) – Stabey Rock

• (R2+O…+X) – oh crap! I AM THE JUGGERNAUT

(R2+T&O) – Anywhere you can run, I can run faster. AKA. CHAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!!!

(R2+T&O (release after press)…+!X) – You’re gunna be my new pin cushion if I land my…

• (R2+T&O (release after press)…+!X..+T/O) – Rodeo time

Now all joking aside these are your basic maneuvers, test them out and experiment to see what you like using. Remember that you do have the ability to cancel your counter by pressing either of the standard attacks as you enter the counter. This opens up your infinite combo which you can use on a monster who has fallen over with 0 regard for personal safety. It looks something like this (X+X+X, R2+O+X/O, O+O, R2…. onwards to infinity). There are some deeper combos that I might add later, but half the fun of monster hunter is self discovery.

3. Mobility

Now DB and IG elitists will stick up their nose if you ever question their untouchable mobility. I don’t blame them either, their ability to straight up evade attacks is a marvel to behold. But that doesn’t mean us Lancers can’t have mobility too! Our back step is incredibly useful when we need to create a bit of space after a few quick jabs. The added benefit of being able to use it 3 times quite quickly gives access to precious i-frames. It also gives us time to reassess the situation and prepare for the next assault. We also have an incredibly safe mounting mechanic in our R2+!T+X+T/O which can prove very useful once you’ve figured it out.

Also, for those non-lancer’s reading, never get in a foot race with us. Our charging guard stacks movement speed and can outpace almost everything we chase, and then subsequently miss it took a sharp turn.

HOLD THE LINE!! Guard Mechanics

Now, as a Lancer this is one of the first things you need to drill into your head, you are NOT invincible. As much as I’ve touted it above, you can still be gruesomely murdered by the savagery of the land. It’ll take them a damn long while, or a series of unfortunate events but it can be done if you do not use your block properly.

A good lancer knows when his block is going to mitigate most of a hit, he also knows when he will need to counter to ensure an attack is fully negated. The best lancers know when to hit their oh sh*t button and go into their full guard. I will try to touch on each of these in turn.

When you are in the thick of battle, monster blood dripping from the tip of your weapon, it can be hard to determine which of your options is going to be the most effective. So here are a few quick things to keep in mind. Does this next attack look like it is pretty basic? Then throw up your block with R2. Do I have an opportunity to counter attack right after their attack? Counter that fool. Have I been napping and only just realized that my counter won’t negate this attack and I could very well take a lot of damage? Pull out that full guard friend. Am I about to get hit by a narrow AoE elemental attack? Guard it no problem. Is it actually a big AoE elemental attack? Juke it!

Using your guard to its fullest potential requires patience, your counter block only lasts two or three seconds, once you begin the thrust your character is no longer blocking and will mitigate no received damage. If you are hit during the counter you will automatically thrust and can go into a further thrust combo from there. At any point during your counter, up until you begin the thrust animation you can R2+X to go into your full guard, as long as the attack is coming from in front of you (this goes for all guard abilities, because shields don’t work when the attack is behind you or to the sides) you will mitigate 95.32% of all damaging abilities. Full guard is a massive drain on stamina, so use it sparingly.

In Closing

Thanks for reading! I made this for fun because it was a slow day at work. If one or two people try the Lance or even chuckle slightly at how wrong I am then my work will be completed. I may add more to this as I discover it, or if it is requested. Happy Hunting!