MH4U: Lance Overview!

(Image from MHwikia)

The Lance! A chivalrous weapon that endows the bearer great fortitude! The Lance is a weapon that revolves around counters, guarding and evades. The simplicity of its attacks cover more ground than that of what you think! Just know when to squeeze in the Counter Guard and you'll be fine, but if not, you'll pay the price.

The Lance always combos by three's making the the third attack the strongest of the three but among the attacks it has, the fully charged Counter Guard (R+A) has the strongest damage and it can also be used to counter monster roars. The attacks the Lance has are quick and easy to use and dishes out a lot of damage in the process. Whether you're using element, status or just plain raw, you'll still be doing high damage. Be wary of online play as the Lance does not have any super armor (except for the Counter Guard). This means you'll be tripped when a fellow hunter "accidentally" hits you.

Though you can only walk when unsheathed, you can evade consecutively for three times making good use of the Evade+ skill which is great if you're play style revolves around Evade Lancing. Of course you could always rely on the guard it has since the Lance has one of the most sturdiest shields in the game (Along with the Gunlance and the Overcharged Charge Blade's shield.) so the Guard+ skill is recommended for those that like to counter with the Counter Guard. You can even pave a way forward while guarding which is called Guard Advancing (Forward+R+X) and turtle your way towards the monster. The Guard Up skill is good for certain conditions because it allows you to block attacks that couldn't be blocked before like the Gravios's Heat Ray.

*You can chain the Guard Advancing with evading as long as you have enough stamina to do so. (New in MH4G/MH4U)

The trick to lancing is knowing when to unsheathe/sheathe because your mobility solely depends on your stamina due to that the Lance can only walk while unsheathed, so always unsheathe to close in to monsters quicker. You can also close in to a monster with your Lance Charge (R+X+A) to do a finisher (X or back+X to do a turn around finisher) or a jump attack (Forward+B and X after the jump) to mount the monster.

That covers most of what the Lance can do, I hope I've helped you in the way of lancing and don't forget to know when to counter! Hold those Lances up high and let's hunt! Happy hunting!

If you've enjoyed reading this, please leave a like/share/comment because it really helps me out. Thanks!