Great Sword High Rank and Endgame Builds for Monster Hunter Wilds

Welcome to our Monster Hunter Wilds build guide for the Great Sword in both High Rank as well as endgame. Listed below you will find the best builds for the Great Sword both for progressing through the earlier stages of High Rank as well as the best builds for Great Sword at endgame.

To skip straight to the endgame builds, click the button below!

This next set lasts from as soon as you hit High Rank all the way until around Hunter Rank 32 and requires you to defeat Guardian Rathalos, Guardian Doshaguma and Ajarakan a few times to gain all the materials.

In addition to this you will also want to hunt the Rathian and Chatacabra to be able to craft the Exploiter Charm I giving you that extra Weakness Exploit Skill granting you more affinity.

At this point in the game, decorations are not worth specifically farming so simply use what you have to either improve your current skills, add new ones or increase your defensiveness if you feel you are struggling with some of the earlier High Rank fights. That being said, if you are struggling that should go away over time, progressing through this part of High Rank unlocks passive resource farms allowing you to more regularly use consumables without having to actively farm them.

This set mainly uses the Guardian Rathlos set as it uses Weakness Exploit enabling a high amount of critical damage to be dealt to weak points and wounds which is a great skill for the Great Sword as it focuses on dealing high amounts of damage in single blows. In addition to this the Partbreaker skill works harmoniously with Weakness Exploit due to both creating high amounts of damage to weak points making it quicker and easier to break parts. The beta set is specifically used because the additional skills provided by the alpha set do not bring much of value so using additional decoration slots can give you more opportunities to boost skills and give extra defense.

• Weakness Exploit - Level 4
• Punishing Draw - Level 2
• Iron Skin - Level 2
• Part Breaker - Level 2
• Intimidator - Level 1
• Heroics - Level 1
• Blast Resistance - Level 1
• Windproof - Level 1
• Rathalos's Flare - Level 2
• Guardians Protection - Level 3

After rank 34 and 40, you will be able to hunt both Gore Magala and Arkveld respectively. These 2 monsters are the main monsters at endgame currently until future updates and their gear is generally some of the best available.

While this set is still a progression set, this set allows you to more than comfortably farm decorations and any materials you may want while you work towards a final endgame set or even just to farm so you can explore different builds and see what works with your playstle and goals.

Stalwart Lamorak is known for being the best non-artian Great Sword currently in the game due to its high raw damage, high sharpness with the Handicraft 1 jewel equipped to the weapon decoration slot. Additionally Stalwart Lamorak uses 3x Focus skill reducing the charge by 15% as well as increasing the gauge refill rate.

This set utilises Gore Magala's group skill that infects you with Frenzy while the Antivirus skill increases recovery rate and grants affinity when cured. Overall this set is great for producing high amounts of damage whilst keeping the hunter always in the fight.

Depending on the decorations you have available, you want to use the following decorations to max out the current set skills:

1. Exploiter Charm II - Grants Weakness Exploit Lv2
2. Handicraft Jewel I - Extends Weapon Sharpness
3. Critical Jewel II - Grants Crit Damage Boost
4. Sheath Jewel I - Increases Sheathing speed
5. Sane Jewel I - Grants Antivirus

Use whichever of these you do not currently have decorations for to help max out your skills.

• Weakness Exploit - Level 3 (5 With Talisman)
• Antivirus - Level 3
• Focus - Level 3
• Critical Boost - Level 2
• Agitator - Level 2
• Evade Window - Level 2
• Handicraft - Level 1
• Adaptability - Level 1
• Recovery Speed - Level 1
• Flinch Free - Level 1
• Quick Sheathe - Level 1
• Jin Dahaad's Revolt - Level 2
• Gore Magala's Tyranny - Level 2

Listed below you will find our currently recommended endgame build options for the Great Sword including their best weapons and best decorations to use on these builds.

The Artian Great Sword is currently the best Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds. This weapon comes with high raw damage as well as 3x Level 3 Slots with the ability to include an elemental status type. For the Great Sword Sleep is the optimal element to use due to it producing twice the amount of damage during Wake Up hits. Picking 3 lots of the same elemental type will grant you Element Infusion increasing the element stat by 30. On the other hand using 2 of the same element results in the weapon to be created with that elemental type.

Currently the best Artian Weapon for Great Sword is the Varianza with there being a few good variations depending on Production and Reinforcement Bonuses. The Production bonus determines the element type as well as any additional stats such as Attack and Affinity. The Reinforcement Bonus is randomised when upgrading the Artian Weapon using reinforcement materials. You can quit to the title screen without saving in order to reroll the reinforcement bonus if you aren't satisfied with your outcome.

When picking Elemental Type you will want to look at either Sleep due to its x2 damage during Wake up hits or Paralysis when battling during co-op to increase the overall amount of damage dealt.

When looking at the Production Bonus for the Varianza the first production bonus will want to include Element Infusion granting +30 to the Element Stat. In addition to this you will want either 2x Attack and 1x Affinity Infusion or the alternative 3x Attack. Lastly for the Element Type you will choose either Sleep or Paralysis depending on gameplay style.

For optimal Reinforcement Bonuses, prioritise Sharpness Boost to increase your sharpness level. Additionally, focus on either 3x Attack with 1x Affinity or go all in with 4x Attack to increase damage output.

For a pure Affinity focused setup, your Production bonus should include 1x Affinity and 2x Attack, while your Reinforcement Bonus should be 3x Attack and 1x Affinity. If you prefer a more balanced approach, consider a Production bonus of 3x Attack, with a Reinforcement Bonus of 1x Affinity and 3x Attack for a well rounded weapon.

This endgame armor set focuses on the skill Maximum Might which increases the amount of affinity when the stamina bar is kept full allowing a higher amount of critical damage. This works by the Fulgur skill granting additional stamina by adding an extension to the stamina bar. This then allows Maximum Might to stay activated due to the additional stamina not counting towards stamina usage.

• Critical Boost - Level 5
• Agitator - Level 5
• Focus - Level 3
• Counterstrike - Level 3
• Maximum Might - Level 3
• Antivirus - Level 3
• Weakness Exploit - Level 2
• Constitution - Level 2
• Flinch Free - Level 1
• Burst - Level 1
• Fulgur Anjanath's Will - Level 2
• Gore Magala's Tyranny - Level 2