Switch Axe High Rank and Endgame Builds for Monster Hunter Wilds

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

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

The first set to aim for as you begin High Rank still leans very heavily on some Low Rank sets, as they have far superior offensive skill options available. The best place to start is a mix of comfort and damage to adjust to the new monsters you'll be facing so you can find your footing. As you progress through the ranks these will be slowly swapped out for more tailored pieces to go with the Switch Axe playstyle.

Decorations are still something you'll be building a collection of at this stage, and while you will start to see slots appear on more gear, it's not really worth the time to go out and farm them this early. Simply use the ones you pick up that look like they'll add some comfort and keep progressing.

This set provides you with a solid starting point to get stuck into High Rank hunts and begin raising your Hunter Rank freely. It immediately starts with a craft of the Barina Hache III to unlock a solid blue sharpness weapon with Paralysis - a running theme for the Switch Axe as you move through the ranks. That means prioritizing a Lala Barina kill as early as possible is a good idea.

For the set to match with it, generally Low Rank pieces are much more useful this early, so use these with some Armor Sphere upgrades. Sticking to the Arkveld 2-piece to grant some points in Flayer and, more importantly, the set bonus to heal from wounds provides excellent early comfort. Pairing this with Guardian Rathalos for some points in Weakness Exploit and a single Guardian Ebony Odogaron piece to get a point in Burst provides a rounded overall setup. The Leaping Charm II also keeps some points in Evade Extender as a great complimenting Switch Axe skill.

• Flayer - Level 2
• Weakness Exploit - Level 2
• Evade Extender - Level 2
• Critical Draw - Level 1
• Critical Status - Level 1
• Burst - Level 1
• Blight Resistance - Level 1
• Bleeding Resistance - Level 1
• Guardian's Pulse - 3-piece
• Rathalos's Flare - 2-piece
• Guardian Arkveld's Vitality - 2-piece

As you unlock more monsters within High Rank it's time to start looking at ways to raise your Affinity and pick up some more offensive skills. As you start farming monsters in this range you'll also pick up some higher value decoration slots as well that will be an important part of opening up your options when it comes to set building.

This set makes use of the Guardian Fulgur Anjanath set to grant an additional stamina pair to make maintaining Maximum Might much easier, which the set also provides. It also starts to pick up points in Agitator for additional raw and Affinity to support it. The Congalala Legs are used to still maintain the efficient single point in Burst. You can optionally look at pieces from the Blangonga set to max out Agitator as well if you are willing to drop down to the 2-piece Fulgur set.

The base recommendation is Leaping Charm III when starting out due to the extreme comfort provided by Evade Extender, but as you start to gain more decorations to fulfill some skills you can look toward removing this. In particular, you can use this slot to grab two points in Counterstrike and complete it with a single decoration once you manage to obtain one.

Your priority hunts is obviously Guardian Fulgur Anjanath to complete the armor set as early as possible, and otherwise Lala Barina if you didn't already for the parts to craft Barina Hache IV, which should cover you until you can upgrade it in the endgame.

• Maximum Might - Level 3
• Evade Extender - Level 3
• Critical Draw - Level 2
• Agitator - Level 2
• Critical Status - Level 1
• Stamina Surge - Level 1
• Burst - Level 1
• Guardian's Protection - 3-piece
• Fulgur Anjanath's Will - 4-piece

Once you unlock Gore Magala and High Rank Arkveld the entire crafting tree opens up with the acquisition of Hunter Symbol III. This allows you to start building a collection of the strongest equipment, and making offense your main focus. You should also have a nice collection of decorations available to round out an optimized set like the one below.

Switch Axe has a lot of room to optimize its pieces around certain skills to reach a high level of Affinity. The recommended option here makes use of the Gore Magala 2-piece plus Sane decorations to give a boost when overcoming Frenzy, and pairs that with Maximum Might to finish it off. The Guardian Fulgur Anjanath 2-piece granting an extra stamina bar to maintain it while dodging makes the set come together well.

Counterstrike is maxed out through decorations as it can easily be maintained during the armor frames of Full Release Slash, and a single point in Burst is incredibly efficient for one decoration. You can optionally switch out Exploiter Charm and some Weakness Exploit decorations to max out Agitator with the Challenger Charm II, or even the Leaping Charm III if you miss the comfort of Evade Extender.

The Lala Barina Switch Axe coming with an extremely large amount of white sharpness, some free Affinity and high Paralysis is the go to craft until Artian weapons so is your priority craft. Decorations used are two Critical slots to max out Critical Boost and a single point in Power Prolonger to extend your Amped state.

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

A well rolled Artian Weapon is the strongest option available for the Switch Axe in all situations, and is the end goal of endgame farming. With raw being more potent in general for the Switch Axe (though Element builds are an option too), universal crafts of either Paralysis or Blast are the go to, with our recommendation being a Paralysis Mundus Atlus for the additional CC.

You should always aim to craft weapons with all 3 of the same status or element on your two Blades and one Device selections to maximize their infusion values. Also aim to use 3 Attack infusions to maximize the raw throughput. Ideally, you want the following reinforcements:

• Attack Boost +5
• Attack Boost +5
• Affinity Boost +5
• Affinity Boost +5
• Sharpness Boost +30

A perfect roll isn't necessary to make this a valuable craft. Ideally you're aiming to max out (or as close to) your Affinity with all other armor set buffs considered, have a small amount of Sharpness for comfort and then all the rest on raw attack. For the 3 decoration slots, you have a few options:

• Critical III recommended - a boost to your Affinity damage any way you cut it, always worth slotting in.
• Enhancer/Handicraft recommended - increases the amount of time you spend in Amped state while adding a bit of sharpness as a combination decoration. Very high value.
• Critical II/III - maxes out your Critical Boost skill for maximum offense. This is optional with the below two other choices.
• Razor Sharp/Handicraft - provides a lot of sharpness comfort in a single decoration, but is a bit overkill if you're already managing it properly.
• Rapid Morph/Handicraft - not as strong as the others as Rapid Morph has limited impact on the animation speeds, but the bonus damage to morph attacks and the extra comfort can be nice to use. Pairing with Handicraft as a combination decoration if using it is recommended.