MH4U: My Mixed Armor Sets! Set #2! Status!

The other day I got a pretty powerful paralysis CB relic (if you want to look it up it's here). I've fooled around with some armor parts and I came up with an armor set that unleashes the full potential of my paralysis CB. This set revolves around Chameleos and Lunastra and has a ton of slots to start with. This set will annoy almost every monster especially those that have a low tolerance against paralysis! The talisman on the other hand can be very hard to obtain but you could also use any handicraft +5 charm but since I was given something better I'll use that instead.

Looks like a blue power ranger to me and add the blue relic I got, I'd be painting the town blue instead of red! This is a fun set to use and if you use this for online multiplayer purposes, you'll be contributing a lot to your fellow hunters due to the fact that this set inflicts status crazy fast! If you do want to use this with other types of status weapons just be sure that the weapon you're using has a considerable amount of natural affinity, may it be just 10% it'll still be a big help!

The armor pieces and talisman are:

Empress Crown X - OOO
Grand Mizuha Guards - O
Grand Mizuha Sleeves - OO
Grand Mizuha Sash - OOO
Empress Greaves X - OOO
Miracle Charm - Handicraft +5, Artillery +11 ---

Since it's made out of rarity 10 armor pieces the total defense it has is high.
Maxed out Defense = 758 (No armor talon/charm)

Elemental Resistance:

Fire -4
Water +5
Thunder +2
Ice +0
Dragon -7

Good thing the resistances are pretty much neutral and the values aren't at an alarming rate either. You can use this to any monster you want and you don't have to suffer high elemental damage from them.

Decorations needed:

Expert +5 Jewel x1
Artisan +3 Jewel x1
Status +3 Jewel x2
Wind Res +1 Jewel x2

Skills activated:

Sharpness +1 (10)
Status Crit (11)
Status Atk +2 (16)
Critical Eye +1 (10)
Artillery Novice(11)
Windproof (lo) (10)

It's got a ton of skills! With the weapons natural 25% affinity and add that up with CE +1 and Status Crit, you'll be piling up so much paralysis damage that you'd be surprised as to how fast this set paralyzes monsters! And since you paralyze them a lot there'll be a lot of openings for you to use the CB finishers! Add that up with the bonus damage it gains from Artillery Novice and your hunting time will surely be a minute or so faster!

Relic Weapon! MH4U! (Charge Blade, CB)

From a 140 Rajang! Comes a weapon of paralysis inducing pain! Finally a relic where I can play with the Status Crit skill because of its innate affinity. I want to test out the new skills available, maybe Sharpness +1, Guard +1, Status Crit, Critical Eye +X, Status Atk +X and other stuff that just makes a new and cool play style that could suit me even better. I'm very well used to evading due to the fact that I was maining the SnS for a while and switching to the Bow later, guess I'll be going out of my comfort zone!

Appearance: Elendskraft with a blue glow
Sharpness: 30 hits of white or 30 hits worth of purple and 60 hits of white with Sharpness +1
Element: 240 Paralyze
Affinity: 10% or 25% when upgraded
Attack: 1044 Impact
True attack value: 290
Defense: +0
Slots/Decorations: Status Res +4
Rarity: 10

I've already made a mixed armor set for this which looks kinda cool, I'll make a separate post about that in the near future. This set specializes on status application to let that paralyze get in instantly and throughout the whole hunt, paralyze vulnerable monsters will just bow down to this! So here are the skills that I'll be using this with:

Sharpness +1
Status Atk +2
Status Crit
Critical Eye +1
Artillery Novice

With it's natural 25% affinity and add 10% more with CE +1 I'll have a CB that can tear through monsters with it's high damage output and also paralyze it for more free phial bursts! I'll be using this  from now on during online play cause I can already visualize this being a great help for other hunters to get them some free hits absolutely doing tons and tons of damage! It's hard to fit in CE +3 to get in 20% more affinity instead of 10% due to the amount of points it demands but who knows, maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a good Expert charm along the way. More hunts! More rewards! Happy Hunting!

Relic Weapon! MH4U! (2nd Charge Blade, CB)

From a level 140 Teostra comes a weapon of water elemental capability! Since it's a bit difficult for me to get the Ceadeus Regalia materials I'll be using this water CB for now. High elemental attack and a good raw with natural affinity makes this a heavy hitter on the front lines. I think I'll use this as way to test how good the elemental Elemental Crit skill is and of course I'll use it against monsters weak to water. This'll be a good addition to my arsenal of CBs that are in such short supply since I focused too much on creating other weapon types.

Appearance: Deceadeus with a purple blade.
Sharpness: 30 hits of white or 30 hits worth of purple and 60 hits of white with Sharpness +1
Element: 450 Water
Affinity: 10% or 25% when upgraded
Attack: 1044 Impact
True attack value: 290
Defense: +0
Slots/Decorations: O one slot
Rarity: 9

Since I use my Honed Blade set too much I think I'll separate from it from time to time and change into some of my experiment mixed sets and maybe I could discover some other great skills to exploit their advantages. I'll also lay low on the whole evasion add-on on almost every armor set that I have so that I can focus more on offensive skills. Here are the skills I'll use this with:

Elemental Crit
Water Atk +3
Sharpness +1
Critical Eye +1

Artillery Novice

I've never been a fan of armor sets that focus on a single element, I'm more of a person that makes a utility armor set that I could use for general purposes. This could be a challenge for me but a fun challenge indeed. Since I've got enough materials to make this mixed armor set and I've already forged the armor pieces that I want, I think it's time for me to try out skills that I don't normally use and if anything piques my interest I'll write about it in some other time. Happy hunting! 

Nostalgic Gaming: Suikoden 2!

Released in 1998 Konami made a game that was a sequel to an original title that was loved by many gamers around the world. Suikoden 2 was about friends being torn apart because of destiny and power, and how everything was changed because of one faithful event.

This game has so much raw emotions because it starts so simple, you want to get stronger so that you could beat the villain but as you go through the story you'll know that it's more than that. You're trying your best to overthrow tyranny and fear that the Highland army invokes, sure they have their own ideals but ideals if not common to many, creates conflict and that conflict is what causes the casualties of war.

(Image from Kinja.com)

The main character Riou was just a young boy trying to earn a living by joining the army with his best friend Jowy not knowing that they were already involved in a mighty stream that they couldn't get out of. Being the bearer of the Bright Shield Rune and the Black Sword Rune both of them had their own goals though they weren't common and was at a complete opposite to each other.

The game was fast paced even if it was a JRPG, so many characters rich with their own reasons to fight the war, runes that envelope the fate of many and a lot of fun side quests that you could do in between all of the chaos the game brings.

First time I played this I enjoyed it because of the awesome runes and battle mechanics it had and when I got older I replayed the game again and I noticed that it was so much more than just that. The story grabbed me and pulled me in the game, I was happy even with all the problems I was suffering back then. Though this was just a video game, it helped me a lot in reality, it gave me hope that in the end, everything'll be alright. I think I'm not the only one whose struck by a game this hard, there are a lot of us that knows this feeling all too well.

The music was so engrossing! Happiness, sadness, deceit and everything else you name it and the game provides you a perfect background music with it. The music enhances your feelings to the game so much that just listening to one of the tracks brings us back to a time where everything was so simple yet true. Every once in a while I reminisce by listening to the music of Suikoden 2 regardless of my age and it will always have a special place in my heart as I grow even older.

My brother used to play this game a lot, I used to just sit back and enjoy watching and learning how to get characters and special runes. Fury + Double-Beat on Riou? Yes please! To everyone who's played this game and knows the value it holds, we're all fortunate to have played it and stick with it till the very end of the credits.

MH4U: My Mixed Armor Sets! Set #1! Artillery CB!

This is my Artillery CB set that focuses on finishers. I've read some blogs and threads that discuss that Artillery Novice grants a 1.3 bonus damage for CB finishers while some wiki says that it's just 1.15 but either way it boosts the finishers nonetheless. I could also use this for evade Gunlancing but I still need to practice the GL. I enjoy the mix of evading and guard pointing because it makes the hunt a lot more easier for me. One of the skills that I started to like was the Challenger +2 skill since it gives you a massive attack bonus as well as added affinity, so monsters who're always enraged (*cough* *cough* Rajang!) are subject to high DPS.

Luckily the armor set looks awesome as if it was made from just one type of monster. I used violet for the pigments so that it resembles a bit of Gore Magala. This armor set is independent by itself and it doesn't need any slotted weapon in any manner but if I had a pretty good three slotted relic I'd gem in a +5 attack decoration or I could use the slots for artillery points if I was to use a Gunlance.

The armor pieces and talisman are:

Gore Helm X - ---
Kushala Cista X - OO
Miralus Grieves - OO
Kushala Cocoon X - OOO
Chaos Greaves - OOO
Miracle Charm - Handicraft +5, Artillery +11 ---

Since it's made out of rarity 9-10 armor pieces the total defense it has is high.
Maxed out Defense = 745 (No armor talon/charm)

Elemental Resistance:

Fire -10
Water +10
Thunder -19
Ice +15
Dragon -24

The only thing that bothers me with the elemental resistance is that -24 to dragon because if by some way a Devil Jho or a Stygian Zinogre hits me with an elemental attack, it'll hurt a lot!

Decorations needed:

Evasion +3 Jewel x1
Spirit +1 Jewel x2
Spirit +3 Jewel x3

Skills activated:

Challenger +2 (15)
Sharpness +1 (11)
Artillery Novice (11)
Attack Up Small (10)
Evasion +1 (10)

Some hunters don't like the evasion skill but I do, I use it defensively and offensively and it opens up more opportunities to attack. I like using the evasion skills when hunting solo and I just choose a more offensive oriented set when playing online. I'll post more mixed sets in the future! Happy hunting!

Nostalgic Gaming: Final Fantasy 9!

Released in 2000, this was one of those Final Fantasy game titles that came back to its roots using the job system and gave a fresh lick of paint to the series. You take control of the main protagonist Zidane Tribal who is a skilled thief and you're involved in a group called Tantalus.

The game has a lot of drama, action and humor which I find very entertaining and kept me going till the end of the game. The game looks amazing during the time of its release pushing the capabilities of the PSX engine to the roof!

Every character has a unique job to one another making the mix and match strategy deep and thorough and each one of them has a large impact on the story. The game may be 15 years old but I'll still play this game multiple times!

Even doing all the tedious side quests all over again, yes I'm talking to you Chocobo hot and cold! Don't get me wrong, I love all the side quests, the frustrations and the sense of achievement I got when I finished everything was all too rewarding!

There are 8 characters in total that'll help you get your questions answered about the game.

The characters are, from left to right, Freya the Dragoon, Eiko the Summoner/White Mage, Vivi the Black Mage (Dual Cast!!), Steiner the Knight, Dagger The White Mage/Summoner (Yeah, just like Eiko but with different spells), Zidane the Thief (Just keep stealing!), Quina the Blue Mage (Though you learn the skill by eating the monster instead of being targeted by it) and Amarant the Monk/Ninja/Samurai (He's got a lot of cool skills).

The stealing mechanics of the game may get ridiculous sometimes but it'll all be rewarding in the end. There are a lot of secrets and mini games (Tetra Masteeeeeeer!!!) to give you a break from the main objective. JRPG's may have a linear path in story but once you add in a little bit of bonuses from secrets, it'll make the game a lot more worthwhile and lovable at the same time.

The music! It gave life to every corner of the place you were in! It always seemed to blend in with every scenario that you would even pause for a moment just to listen to the awesome soundtracks that the game has. Like most Final Fantasy titles, the background music will always give you a nostalgic feeling of the past once you hear the tracks again and even as you grow older you'll miss the sentience of Final Fantasy 9.

The story is gripping! The twists also! So if you haven't played this game, please, could you give it a go? I'm sure you'll love it and appreciate what the game has to offer even if you're from a newer generation compared to us who've played it beforehand.

For us who've already experienced the wonders of this game, and still get a bit teary eyed at some points of it, we'll always treasure this as one of those games that gave us happiness in our times sadness. Video games will always be our escape from reality but games like these will always be in our hearts for years to come.

Nostalgic Gaming: Final Fantasy Tactics!

Released in 1998 on the PSX console, this game had one of the most interesting tactical combat with an immersive skill customization. Most of us who've played it had a rough time dealing with it for the first because this is a hard game if you don't know what you're doing with your units, especially the main character Ramza.

Ramza didn't have any special class but his initial squire job gets better as you progress along the story of the chapters. You could build any character any way you want them to, some of them are really overpowered if you look at it.

Me, the first time I used Ramza, I had issues on what he should be and more on that, I had a lot of builds for him as a squire. Or if you wanted him to be an overpowered beast, you could just give him math skill and let him obliterate every single enemy on the map, but if you wanted more of a challenge, give up on math skill instead.

Back then when I was a kid, I wanted Ramza to be somewhat of a Holy Knight, you know, like the job Agrias, Delita and Wiegraf had or maybe even like Gaffgarion who was a Dark Knight but this couldn't happen, now that I think about it, it would be boring if he had access to special jobs because then you wouldn't be interested on changing jobs and you'd be sticking with being a Holy/Dark Knight until you've finished the game!


Don't worry, Ramza is still unique compared to the generic units you have, his MA or Magic Attack value is naturally high just like that of females that's why you could make him a spell caster via wizard or if you've got a lot of money, you could put the Draw Skill as a secondary ability and wreak havoc on the map with Muramasa or Kikuichimonji and buff your team with Masamune or even heal them with Murasame, he truly is a natural leader if you think about it.

I love the battle quotes they say before doing a spell or skill, it just adds more value to it!

"Pure light! Shine on bloody impurity! Holy!"
"Summon all ghosts of the sword! Attack! Muramasa!"
"Inscript the dark god into a rotting body! Flare!"

The story was gripping! It kept you at the edge until everything unfolded. So many antagonists and plot twists that will keep you grinding for your levels just to beat every challenge the game gave you. Though there are a lot of enemies, there's also a good amount of allies that joins your cause and fight for what you fight for.

The music from every scene or battle scenario was exactly what you wanted, every sing note or score that was used for this game blended perfectly! I really loved the Trisection which was the boss battle theme because it gets you pumped up for the fight by just listening to it.

The game had a lot of jobs to explore and a ton of skills that you would take hours just to mix and match the ones you think were perfect! This game's replay value is so high that even if you've finished it, you'll keep on playing and you'll still learn more things that you previously didn't know you could do from your first run.

Great tactics game that'll make your inner strategist come out! I play this game every now and then and it never gets old, it just ages well even after 17 years since it came out, I won't even be surprised if you feel the same way about this classic game like I do.

Games News: Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster Confirmed!

Coming out early 2016! Another remastering of a main title in the series where it also seems that they're remastering the Gamecube version first before tackling any other system. This game was exclusive back then to the Gamecube, couldn't play it with the PS2 or the Xbox but now is our chance to play this game after being remastered!

Surely if you haven't played this game, it had the same atmosphere as the Gamecube's Resident Evil 1 Remake though the difference is that you play two characters alternately switching between Rebecca Chambers and Billy Coen.

Both of them have their unique trait such as Rebecca is a medic therefore she knows how to mix herbs but she has less tolerance to damage whilst Billy on the other hand has the lighter, the ability to move heavy objects and he takes more of a beating when compared to Rebecca.

The puzzle system here is solved by using both character's capabilities which gives the characters more depth and uniqueness.

Since Resident Evil 0 is a bit blurry to us compared to the other main titles, this is a great opportunity to know what kind of antagonist we're up against this time and if you've already played the game before, this is a good chance to reminisce and get some good old nostalgia from it in the process.

The demo of the game displayed that it has the same feature of using either original movement control which is the tank one, and the alternate movement option just like the on Resident Evil 1 Remastered had so choose one and have a fun time dodging face eating zombies!

The game is still in early process but the demo shows that the graphics are a lot more clearer and crisp compared to the original, what more if the game itself is complete? Nonetheless let's all wait and see how good this game will be and also hope that Resident Evil 2 and 3 have their own remasters or maybe even a remake if they so choose to do but that takes a lot more time developing compared to this game, even so I think this title will still entertain thousands and thousands of people around the world when it gets released. Thanks Capcom!

Relic Weapon! MH4U! (Hammer)

I've got this one from a level 140 double Rajang quest! I like the Hammer but I struggle a bit when using it during online, you know, a lot of people like to go for the head and as a Hammer user, you'll get tripped a lot and also annoyed! The Hammer is a powerful weapon! Though you do need to use the Element Wystone to get the KO status on Apex monsters which is a bit of a shame if you use a non-elemental Hammer. Enough chit chat! Here are the stats of my very first usable Hammer relic:

Appearance: Crystal Nova with blue spikes.
Sharpness: 30 hits of white or 30 hits worth of purple and 60 hits of white with Sharpness +1
Element: 420 Dragon
Affinity: 0%
Attack: 1664
True attack value: 320
Defense: Initial +5 maxing out its level bumps it up to +50
Slots/Decorations: OOO three slots
Rarity: 10

I'd prefer a Sharpness +1 on this Hammer along with either Heavy Hitter or Knockout King to get those KO's quicker and a lot more frequent. It's got high attack and high Dragon value which makes it great for monsters weak to Dragon. The three available slots it has makes it versatile for armor mixing. Yeah, I know, this one's one of those relics that increases defense when you upgrade it, I still don't know why I keep getting defense relics but I'll take it anyway!


The armor skills that I'll use this with are:

Honed Blade
Challenger +2
Elemental Atk Up
Evasion +1

For now I'll just have to use my Challenger set for this one until I get some Miracle charms designed for Hammers, don't worry, this set will somewhat bring out a percentage of the potential this weapon has. This is a powerhouse relic wherever you look at it and it will bring glory to those who wield it wisely and properly!

Games News: Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness Confirmed!

Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness or Star Ocean 5, is set between Star Ocean The 2nd Evolution and Star Ocean 3: Till The End Of Time. The series has been well loved by many and I think a 5th installment would do the fans justice.

I played First Departure, 2nd Story/2nd Evolution and Till The End Of Time, the only thing that escaped my grasp was the 4th installment which is a shame but I still hope to play it in the near future.

I hope the key elements that gave the series its charm are still present with the new installment. What are the things we love about the Star Ocean series? I'll list them down for you to give a hint on how great this game could be if handled well by the developers.

1. Battle System! The battle system for all the Star Ocean games were fast paced and the faster you reacted to your enemy, the better you were, like getting off a quick recovery spell or a speedy resurrection bottle from your inventory, every single decision you make is vital for winning. Sure you can just give AI scripts for battle tactics for every character but sometimes the AI isn't doing the commands that you would give, so in order to fix that, you had to switch characters in the midst of battle sometimes and give them a manual command, like what I said earlier, everything depends on you!

2. Killer Moves/Spells! The best thing about the special moves that this series has is that when you use a Killer Move or a Spell for a specific number of times, the attack becomes more stronger or it has added effects and every single move is unique to the other! Some attacks add more hits whilst some become faster or stronger and the animation also changes with it giving you the feeling of your characters growing obviously stronger than before!

Note: One of my favorite moves the game has is Bowman's Explosive Pills in Star Ocean 2nd Evolution. It starts with 2 seed explosions and after getting enough proficiency (the number of times used), it becomes four and the speed where he does this skill is ridiculously fast so spamming the heck out of this skill just obliterates monsters and bosses alike. The only downfall for the skill is that it's fire element but to me it never bothered me anyways.

3. Lovable Characters! What's important for JRPG's? Characters of course! Each character is unique and interacts with different reactions to other party members. They all have a background that states who they are, why they fight for and why they must fight, they're not generic soldiers that you could just send out to battle but they were characters that were vulnerable to emotions and each one of them always had an impact on what ending you could have (the Star Ocean series always had multiple endings that depended on the party members PA value).

4. Story! As the story unfolds, so does their character development, the deep emotional attachments that the characters give to its players is what JRPG's are made for. Character development is what JRPG's should be! They must give life to the characters as if they were real persons. Sometimes the story goes so deep that even we the players feel the happiness and demise of the characters as if we were them! This is the simple sentimental value that JRPG's give to us gamers, it leaves a good lasting mark on every one of us. We all know that feeling of emptiness when a party member leaves or for worse, dies.

I've only listed four things that the previous games had, and we all wish that these traits are all included in the newest installment. The game is set to be released in 2016, there is still a lot of time for development and if they hit all the right mark on where to focus, then this game will be one of those JRPG games where the wait is worth it all! Thank you Square-Enix and Tri-Ace!

Games News: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Confirmed!

After 18 years since the original game came out, the remake is now finally confirmed. I felt so much nostalgia when I saw the E3 trailer especially after seeing Cloud again but this time with the PS4 graphics.

The trailer didn't show much, just a bit of monologue and a few scenes of Midgard. If this was a Remake, would they still use the Active Time Battle system like the original did? Or would they do something else? To me I'd prefer a smoother ATB but keep it somewhat like the original so that it'll be almost like the same lovable game that everyone adored.

Final Fantasy 7 back then was a gaming revolution that set the standards of games to the next level, it was a masterpiece at its best. Great story, great gameplay, a lot of humor. It seems that I must sound like a fan boy too much but it truly was an awesome game nonetheless! We all became attached to characters that were just video game characters but we felt a great bond and sense of attachment to them that we couldn't feel from real people!

The depth of the game was so deep that we were engrossed in it from the start. The unraveling of the plot, the character developments and the simple mini-games every single thing about the game was addicting.

I hope they still keep the micro managing of materia on weapons and armors. It was the originality of Final Fantasy 7's materia customization and the LIMIT systems that gave it different ways on how you take on the game.

Bonus super bosses that seemed impossible to defeat made our life miserable up until the point we finally beat them, yes I'm talking to you Ruby and Emerald!

The music that Final Fantasy 7 had was so awesome that I hope they don't alter much of the scripts and just tweak it a little bit to suit it for the PS4, a little techno here and there shouldn't be bad I suppose. The music will always give a great nostalgic feeling to gamers who've played the original and to those new to Final Fantasy 7 (If there are any, haha!) it'll leave a good long lasting impression on them and give them a nice warm fuzzy feeling throughout the game.

We all wish that everything about the remake will go smoothly, Square-enix isn't Squaresoft but they must have the ingenuity that Squaresoft had back then to make this one of the best remakes that this generation will and shall ever have.

The internet has exploded since they heard the confirmation because a lot of people already accepted the fact that the remake wouldn't happen but now here it is and we are all still in shock of the news. Wish it doesn't take too long for the development of the game but since they're almost doing this from scratch, I'll respect their decision for them taking their time and hope to see that they'll have make this remake even better than the original. Thank you Square-enix! At last the promise has been made!

Relic Weapon! MH4U! (Greatsword, GS)

From a level 140 dual monster quest involving a Rajang and a Yian Kut-ku comes a Greatsword of debilitating status! I think I'm getting lucky with all these relics these past few days, I hope I'm not disturbing the cosmic balance of Monster Hunter in any way but nonetheless luck is still luck and a bit of RNG on my side isn't a bad thing at all! I think this will be my first GS relic that I think I'll invest into. I've been recently getting relics that increases its defense when you level them up, could be a sign but I don't know, I'll still get what I can take from the rewards of course. Okay! Here are the stats:

Appearance: Jawblade with an orange glow.
Sharpness: 30 hits of white or 60 hits worth of purple and 60 hits of white with Sharpness +1
Element: 400 Paralyze
Affinity: 0%
Attack: 1536
True attack value: 320
Defense: Initial +5 maxing out its level bumps it up to +50
Slots/Decorations: +4 Nimbleness
Rarity: 10

Great weapon for online! The paralyze helps a ton when going in groups and with the new skill Sheathe Control you can also KO monsters as if you were using a hammer! If you think about how slow the GS is and that it's not good for status applications, well 400 paralyze might just change your opinion about that. I'll just use this GS with my hame set and the skills for that are:

• Sheath Control
• Sharpness +1
• Critical Draw
• Focus
• Attack Up Small

It's got a lot of raw, status and if invested for the defense upgrade, I think I'll be having a grand time using this. I was thinking of making a hybrid set for this involving Crit Draw, Status Crit, Focus, Sharpness +1 and if possible a Status Atk +1/2 but for the time being my hame set will do just fine. I'll try to mix things up so that I'll make use of the versatility this GS has! Let's take on some 140 guild quests guys! I'm up for it! Happy hunting!

Relic Weapon! MH4U! (Long Sword, LS)

I've finally got my first LS relic that I would consider to use! Got it from a level 140 Teostra and it's got some awesome stats to start with! This relic I got raises defense when leveled up so I guess I've got to get some points in or I could just use it immediately because defense relics really don't bother me much because I rely on evasion and the like. Okay! Enough talk! Here are the stats:

Appearance: Netherblade with a blue glow.
Sharpness: 30 hits of white or 30 hits worth of purple and 60 hits of white with Sharpness +1
Element: 450 Thunder
Affinity: 10%
Attack: 1043
True attack value: 310
Defense: Initial +5 maxing out its level bumps it up to +50
Slots/Decorations: +4 Nimbleness
Rarity: 10

Insane thunder element makes it great for monsters weak to thunder! I'll just have to use my generic blademaster armor set skills for this LS. Back in MH3U, this was my favorite LS in the game and I'm very happy that I got it with its original element regardless of the randomness of relic gear. I don't use the LS much in MH4U but I'll give this monster of a weapon a go just to spice up and change my hunting style for a while. Oh yeah, if you don't know my generic blademaster armor skills, here they are:

Honed Blade
Razor Sharp
Weakness Exploit
Evasion +1

If I do get a good thunder charm, I'd try to get it bumped up for elemental damage or maybe even a good mix of Challenger +2 and Honed Blade. The potential of skills that this relic's good for is endless, just don't forget to invest the points in Sharpness +1 or Honed Blade and you're good to go!

MH4U: Gathering Caravan Points!

Caravan points! Not only are they used to pay for materials and farm stuff for the Wycoon, but you also need a lot of them when you want to upgrade your relic equipment to the fullest. I'll just list down a few things here that you might have overlooked about farming Caravan points.

1. Sell those extra relics! If you do a lot of Guild Quests then you've got a ton of relic gear that you don't need, invest the materials in polishing them clean then sell them for 1,000-3,000 points each! Be careful when selling/trading relic gear! You don't want to sell your prized overpowered relic now do you? Keep a keen eye and sell those unwanted stuff! Frees up equipment inventory too for more important gear in the near future. Make sure to gather a lot of Meteor Crystals though cause you'll need a lot of them for polishing, abrasives are easier to obtain because they pop up at the rewards screen from guild quests and so do frenzy crystals. (Some even require Zenith Wyvern gems so make sure to check the materials needed to avoid unwanted usage of the said precious gems.)

2. Expeditions! Expeditions are nice because it helps you unwind a bit and get to practice on various random monsters that spawn and as a reward, you'll be awarded caravan points for every monster you beat! You can take on five monsters per expedition and each monster level has its own degree of points it gives. Devil Jho's give the most whilst the Velocidrome gives the least so that'll give you a bearing on how the points are given. Don't forget to get the shinnies! Wyvern tears or any account items also give points! Don't be lazy now on pressing that A button! To top it all up, when you go to the very end of the map and end the quest by pressing A on the wagon there, you'll receive 20% more points! Doing a five monster hunt G-rank expedition quest gives an average of 10,000 points!

3. Farming account items! If you're gathering materials from gathering points, there is a chance that you'll get account items. Account items are cashed in after the quest is finished and Caravan points are rewarded in exchange. This is a tedious process and you shouldn't rely on gathering points this way. Look at this instead as a way of side-farming points during gathering quests.

If there are other ways of farming points I guess I haven't played the game enough and I just have to look for more ways! Nevertheless! Get those points!

Relic Weapon! MH4U! (2nd SnS)

Okay, I thought you could only get beshackled weapons if the quest was level 130 or over, I got a new rarity 10 relic SnS from a level 128 Brachydios and Rajang guild quest. I was only helping a friend level up the guild quest and I was mainly after graven charms and strong armor spheres but it would seem that I got a bonus weapon instead. I've tried to grind a good SnS relic back then but failed to do so, and at such an unexpected level of a quest, I got what could possibly be a good SnS! There are tons and tons more powerful relics out there but this should serve you as a baseline for a good relic SnS.

Appearance: Frost Edge with a purple glow.
Sharpness: 30 hits of white or 30 hits worth of purple and 60 hits of white with Sharpness +1
Element: 310 Fire
Affinity: 0%
Attack: 434
True attack value: 310
Defense: Initial +25 maxing out its level bumps it up to +70
Slots/Decorations: 3 slots
Rarity: 10


The armor skills that I'll be using this with are:

Honed Blade
Razor Sharp
Weakness Exploit
Evasion +1

It's got insane defense once you invest the points in it. Since I like to use Honed Blade sets I'll put this weapon up to add to my arsenal of elemental SnS. I've been lacking a good fire SnS lately and guess what, this will do more than what I expected. I'f you've got a friend that needs help in leveling up a guild quest, go for it if you've got the time, never know when one of these bad will boys pop up.

I'm practicing using the CB at the moment but of course I'll always come back to the SnS. Seems kinda strange that it looks like an ice/water weapon but instead it's fire elemental but nonetheless relics are relics and I guess it'll keep me amused during the hunt with it's fiery attacks. Help other hunters! It pays of quite well sometimes and you're doing them a great deal of favor. Happy hunting guys!

MH4U: Guild Quest Shenanigans! (Level 136-140 Rajang Solo Part 3)

Okay! Part three of my gruesome solo adventures against an Apex Rajang! This time he's level 138. Since I'm new to using the CB, it took quite some time to get used to the attacks and by the time I got used to it, I think I'll stick with the CB for a bit.

It's got a lot of cool attacks and also mastering Guard Point is so rewarding. The quest lasted for 33 minutes before I defeated him but do note that it took me A LOT of tries before taking him down and I mean A LOT. If you could only see my guild card it's all full of "Abandoned Quest Level 138 Rajang" about a hundred of those. I am not kidding when I say a hundred because that is the amount of time I spent trying to find ways outsmarting this overpowered beast!

So here are the armor skills I've used:

Honed Blade
Weakness Exploit
Evasion +1
Elemental Atk Up

I'm a fan of evasion and mix this up with good timings with Guard Point and you'll take this guy out surely!

I used Daora's Thwartoise but due to my low stock of Strong Armor Spheres, I couldn't hone it for attack. You could say that this could have gone quicker if I had that great +20 more attack. I would have also used the Challenger +2 skill but I lacked the appropriate talismans for it.



With the number of times I failed beating him I knew I had to step up my game, I had doubted myself if I could even beat him with the CB. A lot of headaches and hardships later I finally gave his sleeping head a good Ultra Burst to finish the quest.

It was a much better feeling than the first time I beat him because all of the pain of going through a whole new weapon and adapting to this guy's behavior with it, made me more confident with the CB and ultimately use it as a sub-main weapon of choice.

 One of my favorite moments was knocking him out of Apex mode with a Guard Point. Boy was it such a good Guard Point! Don't ever give up guys! A big thanks to Alice-99Th's video of taking down a 140 Apex Rajang with the Akantor Severance CB which gave me a lot of techniques and ideas to handle my own Apex Rajang soloing.

This guy's video is awesome, took down the Rajang in under 13 minutes! Way faster than my time but for me, a victory is a victory. It was tiring but worth every single ounce of frustration. Hold your head up high hunter! Don't ever doubt yourself like I did! Perseverance is the key! Happy hunting!

Games News: Monster Hunter Cross! MHX! (3DS)

The Monster Hunter community exploded when they heard that there was a new Monster Hunter game for Japan set to be released this year. The footage of the game titled Monster Hunter Cross, yes cross not x, seemed that it had four different towns that you could explore including the return to Yukumo, Pokke and previous towns from older Monster Hunter titles.

New areas for hunting have been added where it gives a prehistoric feeling or vibe. Returning maps also seem to be in it such as the Yukumo village misty mountain. No new weapon was added but a lot of variation for weapon customization was included.

The trailer portrayed new flashy moves from the 14 different weapons the game has and from the producers they said that you could customize or personalize your weapon from choosing four different play styles.

I guess they wanted to add more depth to the game by making a lot of weapon modification and the freedom to choose which style would suit you better. I've got mixed feelings from this game as it seems that it's the son of MH4U and MHO and it is a main Monster Hunter Title to begin with.

I loved the Monster Hunter series because of its simplicity to just grab any type of weapon and start a quest with but I'll give this game a go if it does reach the west and gets translated to English. It still retains the vertical mechanics from MH4U so mounting seems to be in it and some attacks that was seen from the footage included aerial assault (like the one the GS did).

I don't know if there's any G-rank but with or without it, this game will still get a lot of attention from fans alike. MH4U was just released this February and we're still in awe on how great the game is and then in less than four months another MH title graces the 3DS, what is this?! An early Christmas gift?! Nonetheless I'll take it! If it doesn't have an English port I'll respect their decision but with the success of MH4U I think it'll have a chance to be localized. Finger crossed and hope to play this game in the future! Happy hunting!