Hey guys! Are you ready to become a master of the Long Sword in Monster Hunter World (MHW) before taking on the mighty Fatalis? You've come to the right place! This guide dives deep into the best Long Sword builds you can craft and use to dominate monsters before you reach the Fatalis endgame. We'll cover everything from armor sets and decorations to essential skills and weapon choices, ensuring you're well-equipped to tackle any challenge.

Why the Long Sword?

Before we jump into the builds, let's quickly talk about why the Long Sword is such a fantastic weapon. It's known for its fluid, stylish combat, offering a great balance of damage, mobility, and reach. The Long Sword's Spirit Gauge mechanic, which powers up your attacks, adds an extra layer of depth and engagement to the gameplay. Plus, the foresight slash is literally the best counter in the game!

Key Skills for Long Sword Builds

To truly maximize your Long Sword's potential, you need to focus on specific skills. These skills will boost your damage output, survivability, and overall effectiveness in hunts. Here are some essential skills to prioritize:

• Critical Eye: This skill increases your affinity (critical hit chance), which is crucial for dealing consistent damage. Aim for at least Level 4 or higher.
• Weakness Exploit: One of the most important skills in the game, Weakness Exploit grants you a significant affinity boost when hitting a monster's weak points (usually the head). Maxing this out is a must.
• Critical Boost: Critical Boost increases the damage multiplier of your critical hits. This skill synergizes perfectly with Critical Eye and Weakness Exploit, allowing you to deal massive damage.
• Attack Boost: A straightforward damage-increasing skill. While not as crucial as the critical hit skills, Attack Boost still provides a solid damage boost.
• Health Boost: This skill increases your maximum health, making you much more resistant to one-shot kills and overall more survivable. A must-have for difficult hunts.
• Agitator: Agitator provides attack and affinity buffs when the monster is enraged, which is often the case in the endgame. It's a great skill for increasing your damage output during critical moments.
• Handicraft: If your Long Sword has low sharpness, Handicraft can increase its sharpness level, allowing you to maintain higher sharpness for longer periods. Higher sharpness levels translate to increased damage.
• Focus: Focus speeds up the charging of your Spirit Gauge, allowing you to perform your Spirit Blade combos more frequently. This can significantly increase your damage output.
• Quick Sheath: This skill speeds up the sheathing animation, which is essential for using items, dodging attacks, and repositioning yourself. It's especially useful for Long Sword users due to the weapon's reliance on sheathing for specific attacks.
• Evade Window: Evade Window increases the invulnerability window during your dodges, making it easier to evade attacks. This skill can significantly improve your survivability, especially against fast-moving monsters.

Pre-Fatalis Long Sword Builds

Now, let's get into the fun part: the builds! These builds are designed to be effective against a wide range of monsters before you take on Fatalis. I've included a variety of options to suit different playstyles and preferences.

Build 1: The Damage Dealer

This build focuses on maximizing your damage output through critical hits and raw attack power. It's perfect for players who want to deal massive damage and quickly take down monsters.

• Weapon: Lightbreak Edge (Raging Brachydios Long Sword)

• Armor:

  • Head: Teostra's Crown Beta
  • Chest: Raging Brachydios Mail Beta
  • Arms: Teostra's Vambraces Beta
  • Waist: Raging Brachydios Coil Beta
  • Legs: Garuga Greaves Beta

• Charm: Attack Charm IV

• Decorations:

  • Critical Jewel 2 x 3
  • Attack Jewel 1 x 4
  • Handicraft Jewel 2 x 1
  • Expert Jewel 1 x 1
  • Tenderizer Jewel 2 x 1

• Skills:

  • Attack Boost 7
  • Critical Eye 7
  • Weakness Exploit 3
  • Critical Boost 3
  • Handicraft 3
  • Agitator 2
  • Blast Attack 2
  • Evade Window 2
  • Flinch Free 1

This build provides a fantastic balance of critical hit chance, critical damage, and raw attack power. The Lightbreak Edge is an excellent Long Sword with high raw damage and Blast element, while the armor pieces provide crucial skills like Critical Eye, Weakness Exploit, and Critical Boost. The Garuga Greaves Beta are included for their excellent skills and decoration slots.

Build 2: The Survivability Specialist

If you're looking for a build that prioritizes survivability without sacrificing too much damage, this is the one for you. It incorporates Health Boost and other defensive skills to keep you alive during challenging hunts.

• Weapon: Lightbreak Edge (Raging Brachydios Long Sword)

• Armor:

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  • Head: Teostra's Crown Beta
  • Chest: Raging Brachydios Mail Beta
  • Arms: Teostra's Vambraces Beta
  • Waist: Raging Brachydios Coil Beta
  • Legs: Golden Hakama Beta

• Charm: Handicraft Charm IV

• Decorations:

  • Critical Jewel 2 x 3
  • Expert Jewel 1 x 2
  • Tenderizer Jewel 2 x 1
  • Health Jewel 1 x 3
  • Attack Jewel 1 x 2

• Skills:

  • Health Boost 3
  • Critical Eye 7
  • Weakness Exploit 3
  • Critical Boost 3
  • Handicraft 5
  • Attack Boost 4
  • Agitator 2
  • Blast Attack 2
  • Flinch Free 1

This build trades some raw attack power for increased survivability. Health Boost 3 provides a significant boost to your maximum health, making you much more resistant to one-shot kills. The Golden Hakama Beta legs offer excellent skill points and decoration slots, allowing you to fit in the necessary Health Boost jewels.

Build 3: The Focus & Foresight Slash Master

This build emphasizes the Long Sword's Spirit Gauge mechanics and Foresight Slash counter. It's designed for players who enjoy an aggressive playstyle and want to maximize their Spirit Gauge uptime.

• Weapon: Lightbreak Edge (Raging Brachydios Long Sword)

• Armor:

  • Head: Kaiser Crown Beta
  • Chest: Raging Brachydios Mail Beta
  • Arms: Kaiser Vambraces Beta
  • Waist: Raging Brachydios Coil Beta
  • Legs: Garuga Greaves Beta

• Charm: Focus Charm III

• Decorations:

  • Critical Jewel 2 x 3
  • Attack Jewel 1 x 4
  • Handicraft Jewel 2 x 1
  • Expert Jewel 1 x 1
  • Tenderizer Jewel 2 x 1
  • Focus Jewel 1 x 2

• Skills:

  • Attack Boost 7
  • Critical Eye 7
  • Weakness Exploit 3
  • Critical Boost 3
  • Handicraft 3
  • Agitator 2
  • Focus 3
  • Blast Attack 2
  • Flinch Free 1

The Focus skill in this build speeds up the charging of your Spirit Gauge, allowing you to perform your Spirit Blade combos more frequently. This results in a significant damage increase over time. The Kaiser (Teostra) armor pieces provide excellent skill points and decoration slots, making it easier to fit in the necessary skills.

Essential Tips for Long Sword Users

Before you head out on your hunts, here are a few essential tips to keep in mind when using the Long Sword:

1. Master the Spirit Gauge: The Spirit Gauge is the core of the Long Sword's gameplay. Keep it charged by landing Spirit Blade combos, and use the Spirit Roundslash to level up your gauge for increased damage.
2. Use Foresight Slash Effectively: Foresight Slash is a powerful counter that can evade attacks and maintain your Spirit Gauge level. Practice the timing to become a master of this move.
3. Positioning is Key: The Long Sword has excellent reach, so use it to your advantage. Position yourself strategically to avoid attacks and maximize your damage output.
4. Sheath Your Weapon: The Long Sword's Special Sheath stance is crucial for both offense and defense. Use it to reposition yourself, evade attacks, and unleash powerful attacks like the Iai Spirit Slash and Iai Double Slash.
5. Practice Makes Perfect: The Long Sword is a technical weapon that requires practice to master. Spend time in the training area to get comfortable with the moveset and timing.

Final Thoughts

These pre-Fatalis Long Sword builds will set you up for success in Monster Hunter World. Remember to tailor your build to your playstyle and the specific monster you're hunting. With the right gear and skills, you'll be slicing through monsters like a true master! Happy hunting, guys!