Best Skills For Long Swords In Monster Hunter Wilds, Ranked

Summary

Attack Boost increases Long Sword's base damage, providing a small but significant buff.
Partbreaker skill helps players break monster parts quicker for extra materials and damage.
Evade Window extends vulnerability window, aiding in parrying with the Long Sword.

Monster Hunter Wilds, like its previous games in the franchise, provides players with plenty of ways to build their character to help them better prepare when hunting the various monsters across the different biomes. Each armor and weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds gives players various active boosts that can better their chances in combat.

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By Dominic O'Leary

While it is possible to simply put some things together and hope for the best, those who are looking to make their hunter in Monster Hunter Wilds as strong as possible should be sure to look out for certain skills. When using the Long Sword, which is arguably one of the best weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds, these are by far the best skills for it, ranked.

8 Attack Boost

Extra Base Damage Is Always Nice

Attack Boost skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

While players will likely improve the damage from their Long Sword by crafting higher-level options from the materials they get from hunting monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds, a great skill to look for on both weapons and armor is the Attack Boost. As the name of the skill suggests, when players have this skill, the base damage done by attacks with the Long Sword will have a buff to its damage.

While higher levels in this skill increase the damage further, players may only wish to have a few levels within it due to the buff only being a small amount. Even so, this extra damage is always a plus.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Attack +3
2	Attack +5
3	Attack +7
4	Attack +2% and a bonus of +8
5	Attack +4% and a bonus of +9

7 Partbreaker

Sever Tails And Break Parts Easier

Partbreaker skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

Breaking parts of a monster is one of the easiest ways to get extra materials, as well as being the places that do the most amount of damage. With the Long Sword already being a brilliant option for those that enjoy severing the tail off of the various creatures in Monster Hunter Wilds, skills like Partbreaker help the player deal additional damage to these areas.

By dealing an extra percentage of damage to these areas, a player is far more likely to break a part on a monster with the Long Sword much quicker. With the introduction of wounds in Monster Hunter Wilds, this skill also deals more damage when destroying a wound with a focus strike on these areas.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Increases Part Damage by 10%
2	Increases Part Damage by 20%
3	Increases Part Damage by 30%

6 Evade Window

Gives Players An Easier Chance To Parry

Evade Window skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

Part of the joy of the Long Sword is the various special attacks that can be performed with it. Players who are looking for an easier time performing these various attacks will likely want to look for armor, weapons, or charms that provide them with the Evade Window skill.

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By Blaise Santi

By having this skill available to the player, the vulnerability window is increased to give players an easier time to perform parrying with the Long Sword. Therefore, the usually tight window when using the Long Sword to perform the follow-up special sheathe attacks becomes less of an issue.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Very slightly increases vulnerability window
2	Slightly increases vulnerability window
3	Increases vulnerability window
4	Greatly increases vulnerability window
5	Massively increases vulnerability window

5 Critical Draw

Lai Attacks Hit Even Stronger

Critical Draw skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

When using the Long Sword, there is an assortment of stances the player can take while attacking. Certain moves with the Long Sword can benefit from various skills, such as Critical Draw being one of the best skills for the Long Sword due to it increasing the damage done by the Lai Attack.

By using these deadly skills, players should be sure to exploit these techniques. Since this skill only has three levels to it, a player can significantly increase the damage done with the Critical Draw, especially if a player can learn to time their counter-attacks properly.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Affinity +50%
2	Affinity +75%
3	Affinity +100%

4 Quick Sheathe

Allows Long Sword To Perform Special Attacks Quicker

Quick Sheathe skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

Players hoping to strengthen their attacks with the Long Sword should be sure to combine various skills together. One such great skill a player should be sure to use when fighting with the Long Sword is Quick Sheathe.

Many of the best attacks that can be performed with the Long Sword require the player to attack from a sheathed weapon position, and therefore, being able to pull out or put away the weapon as quickly as possible will greatly benefit the sort of attacks a player can perform. One great way to benefit from this skill is how a player can quickly use a counter-attack, which pairs nicely with Critical Draw.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Slightly increases sheathing speed
2	Increases sheathing speed
3	Greatly increases sheathing speed

3 Critical Boost

Synergizes Well With Other Skills

Critical Boost skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

Players that have high affinity when using the Long Sword should be sure to put on this skill. Not only does it work great with many of the best skills for the Long Sword due to synergizing with the affinity given by it, but also due to the substantial damage it deals when achieving a critical hit.

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By Tristan Jurkovich

Players that don't have high affinity, which means they get fewer critical hits, won't receive the full benefit of this skill, and therefore, it's important for a player to craft their Long Sword build around this boost to finally achieve some significant numbers. With five levels available, players should be sure to aim for the 40% increase.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Increases damage dealt with critical hits by 28%
2	Increases damage dealt with critical hits by 31%
3	Increases damage dealt with critical hits by 34%
4	Increases damage dealt with critical hits by 37%
5	Increases damage dealt with critical hits by 40%

2 Weakness Exploit

Players Should Focus On Wounds

Weakness Exploit skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

Since Monster Hunter Wilds has introduced the wound mechanic to players, Weakness Exploit has become even stronger, especially for those who are using the Long Sword. Besides the increase to affinity when hitting a weak point, there is an even larger boost to attacks on wounds. Players should be sure to increase this skill to higher levels for the most amount of damage to be done to both weak points and wounds.

As mentioned, skills like Critical Boost also benefit from Weakness Exploit due to it improving the affinity of the player's build to push the critical hit damage even higher and leaving monsters with little chance of survival.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Attacks that hit weak points increase affinity by 5%, with an extra 3% on wounds
2	Attacks that hit weak points increase affinity by 10%, with an extra 5% on wounds
3	Attacks that hit weak points increase affinity by 15%, with an extra 10% on wounds
4	Attacks that hit weak points increase affinity by 20%, with an extra 15% on wounds
5	Attacks that hit weak points increase affinity by 30%, with an extra 20% on wounds

1 Agitator

Enraged Monsters Boost The Player's Damage

In Monster Hunter Wilds, one of the best skills for those using the Long Swords that any player should consider is the Agitator skill. While this skill does require the player to enrage the monsters they are fighting, it also greatly benefits the player. When a monster is angry, the player receives both an attack boost and an increase to their affinity to allow them to hit just as hard as the angry monster.

This is another skill that synergizes well with Critical Boost since the affinity boost given by Agitator will also mean critical hits will be far more frequent and have a higher amount of damage. Combining this with Weakness Exploit also means a player is sure to succeed even against the hardest of foes.

Level	Skill Boost
1	Attack +4 and affinity +3% when the monster is enraged
2	Attack +8 and affinity +5% when the monster is enraged
3	Attack +12 and affinity +7% when the monster is enraged
4	Attack +16 and affinity +10% when the monster is enraged
5	Attack +20 and affinity +15% when the monster is enraged