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There are quite a few build options available for weapons inMonster Hunter Wilds. The Sword and Shield, in particular, has various ways you may build around the offensive and defensive capabilities of the weapon.
But there is one that enables you to be as aggressive as possible while taking full advantage of the wound lifesteal that the game offers. This is the Sword and Shield lifesteal build. It revolves around creating as many monster wounds as possible while in a fight and breaking them when you are low on health.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Great Sword Crit Build
This build will aid you in hitting monsters as hard as possible.
Creating the Optimal Weapon
The weapon isn’t the most important part of this build, but the Artian Weapon will be the best starting point.
Crafting theVerdolotoArtian Weapon with any element of your choice will be the best starting point for the build. Most max rank weapons you choose can and will most likely do the job. The Artian Weapons allow more freedom in what gems you can slot into them and overall specialization into specific builds. Some of the jewels are more for quality of life than they are for maximizing damage output. The example below will use theDragonelement, but any element of your choice will work for the weapon. The jewels just need to be matched to the corresponding elements that you’d like to use for your weapon.
When creating the Artian Weapon, Verdoloto, all three pieces should be under the Attack Affinity if possible.
Decoration
Skill Description
Shield Jewel [3]
Allows you to guard against ordinarily unblockable attacks.
Dragon/Rzr Sharp Jewel [3]
Guardian/Ironwall Jewel [3]
The Shield Jewel will provide more opportunities for you to block heavy-hitting attacks that can also activate your Guardian/Ironwall Jewel. These two work very well together while also allowing you to take full advantage of the Dragon/Rzr Sharp Jewel. If you are using another element type, you’ll want to change the Dragon/Rzr Sharp Jewel to the version of your elements of choice.
Crafting the Lifesteal Build Armor
Lifesteal is going to be all about maximizing the Flayer skill, so you’ll need armor that will help bring the skill to the highest level possible.
The specific set of armor you’ll need to get the build started will consist of mostly Rank 8 armor that is fairly easy to obtain. The mix of skills is tailored to some of the armor decorations you’ll need to attach to them. These armor pieces are the main building blocks on what you need to get started.
Equipment Skills
Guardian Arkveld Helm B
Makes it easier to inflict wounds. Upon inflicting enough damage, also deals non-elemental damage.
Part Breaker
Makes it easier to break large monster parts, and increases damage dealt when destroying a wound with a Focus Strike.
Guardian Arkveld Mail B
Blight Resistance
Grants protection against all elemental blights.
Guardian Arkveld Vambraces B
Weakness Exploit
Increases the affinity of attacks that exploit a monster’s weak points and wounds.
Arkvulvan Coil B
Recovery Speed
Speeds healing of recoverable damage (the red portion of the Health Gauge).
Gore Greaves B
Once infected, makes it easier to overcome the Frenzy and increases affinity if cured.
Flinch Free
Prevents knockbacks and other reactions to small damage.
Exploiter Charm II
Corrupted Mantle
Decreases health, but increases affinity and weapon performance while equipped. Repeated attacks on monsters will further increase your attack power and affinity.
The mix and match of the Arkvulcan and Arkveld gear will give you a good number of the Flayer levels you need and can add to with jewels. The bonus Weakness Exploit levels also make it possible to get the skill to max level for even easier and harder-hitting wound-breaking attacks on monsters. The Exploiter Charm is going to add to this as well, and in combination with the Corrupted Mantle, you can further increase how much damage you’ll do to create even more wounds on a monster.
Equipping Armor Decorations
Now that you have the overall armor and weapon ready, you’ll need to know what decorations to equip on your armor for further utility.
When slotting in armor decorations you will want to prioritize all the major three-slot pieces to go to Flayer for this build. Your overall equipment will maximize Weakness Exploit via their built-in skills, so you’ll want to follow up with these Flayer Jewels to increase how often you can capitalize on wounds being on a monster. The rest of the gems are more about giving the build some quality of life on top of the wound-damage benefits.
Armor Decoration
Flayer Jewel [3]
Protection Jewel [1]
Leap Jewel [1]
Growth Jewel [1]
x2 Brace Jewel [1]
x2 Sane Jewel [1]
The Growth Jewel will passively increase your attack and defense the longer the hunt goes, at a maximum of 30 minutes. Leap Jewel will prevent attacks from knocking you down while you are jumping, which is a very nice benefit to the Sword and Shield jump attack, but it will not negate a monster roar if you are in the air. Brace Jewel will give you the Flinch Free skill, and this will prevent knockbacks to small damage, and at max level it will prevent knockbacks and tripping.
The Sane Jewels are very situational and can be switched out if you desire, and when paired with the Gore Greaves, these will greatly increase your recovery rate after contractive Frenzy and grant +15% affinity when cured. But if you are going against any monsters with Frenzy, these are a solid choice to increase your overall damage. Swapping them out for more Protection Jewels to reduce incoming damage is also something to consider if you are having trouble with some of the High Rank monsters that do hit harder than normal.
With the weapon and armor sorted out and decorations attached, you are ready to take the build into a hunt and take on some monsters. Keep in mind that you’ll only be able to take back some of your health when breaking a monster’s wound, so you may still need to use potions when backed into a corner by some of the monsters you’re going to hunt.
The Sword and Shield are a fantastic defensive weapon, and with the shield gems you can slot, it becomes even more viable with this lifesteal build. Change around some of the rank 1 jewels slotted into the build to fit your playstyle as well. The best part of using this build is that it still allows you the freedom to make it your own once all the groundwork is set up.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Sword and Shield Guide
Balancing offense and defense perfectly, the Sword and Shield weapon is always a solid choice for hunting.
Monster Hunter Wilds
The unbridled force of nature runs wild and relentless, with environments transforming drastically from one moment to the next. This is a story of monsters and humans and their struggles to live in harmony in a world of duality.Fulfill your duty as a Hunter by tracking and defeating powerful monsters and forging strong new weapons and armor from the materials you harvest from your hunt as you uncover the connection between the people of the Forbidden Lands and the locales they inhabit.The ultimate hunting experience awaits you in Monster Hunter Wilds.
