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!

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MH4U: Gunlance (GL) Overview!

(Image from MHwikia)

The Gunlance also known as GL, is a weapon that combines lancing and explosions! The GL is a very fun weapon once you get the hang of. It may feel slow and cumbersome but once you get past that, you'll love the GL even more.

Like the Lance, the GL has an awesome shield that you can use to turtle yourself towards the monster. The GL and Lance shields are the strongest shields in the game. They can withstand almost any devastating attack that the game has to offer, add the Guard+/up skill and you're a walking tank!

The Gl is heavier compared to the Lance so you won't be doing any triple evasion by any chance but the GL's evades cover more distance. Being heavier means that the GL's motion values/attacks are stronger but do note that some of the attacks it makes leave you open like the Slam, it does high damage but the delay is just too much to make it economical so use this for big monster openings.

The unique thing about Gunlances are it's shelling type and level. Higher level means more damage and the level ranges from 1~5. Shelling does fixed damage, never think of shelling as a means for extending combos only but also another way to deal good damage as well. There are three (3) types of shelling and these are:

• Normal - Good for Full Burst (+10% more damage) and has 5 rounds
• Long - Good for Wyvern's Fire (+20% more damage) and has 3 rounds
• Spread/Wide - Good for Charged Shelling (+45% more damage) and has 2 rounds. Has a wide coverage but eats a lot of sharpness. (Yes, shelling does consume sharpness regardless if you hit the monster or not.

*Full Burst - Press A after a Slam and you'll unload all your shells instantly! Damage depends on shelling type and level.

*Wyvern's Fire - R+X+A when you've unsheathed your GL or after a Slam press X+A, and you'll perform a huge explosion that does multiple hits. Damage depends on shelling and weapon type.

Note: Wyvern's Fire Damage for Normal and Spread/Wide

• Level 1 - 120
• Level 2 - 135
• Level 3 - 160
• Level 4 - 180
• Level 5 - 200

*Charged Shelling - R+A charges your shots and deals more damage. Spread/Wide gets a ridiculous +45% more damage when charged while the Normal and Long gets +20% only.

The X+A attack or the Upswing (Don't worry, you wont be sending your teammates flying with this), is your best fried when ending combos or quick-hitting while the forward+X is a good way of closing in distance and both these attacks do good damage in the same process.

The GL lacks the super armor ability, so watch out for other players attacks as they will trip you and cause you to break your attacks and leave you open for monster attacks.

The Gunlance may seem to be a difficult weapon to wield but put in some heart and dedication and you'll have fun demolishing monsters with ease! Guard's up Gunlancer! And let's do a bit of hunting shall we? Happy hunting!!

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