Long Sword

Learn to wield the Long Sword in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate! Discover its pros, cons, unique Spirit Dance ability, and essential usage tips for maximizing your attack power.

The Long Sword in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate offers a fantastic blend of mobility and power, sitting comfortably between faster, lighter weapons and slower, heavier ones like the Great Sword. If you love hitting hard but don't want to sacrifice your ability to move and attack quickly, this is the weapon for you. Its standout feature is the unique Spirit Dance ability, which charges up your Spirit Gauge. Keep that gauge full to get a significant boost to your attack power!

Pros:

• Good raw power combined with a moderately fast attack speed.
• Boasts a long and wide attack range.
• The Fade Slash lets you reposition while attacking, keeping you on the offensive.
• All Spirit Attacks naturally deal true damage (ESP), ignoring monster hitzone values.

Cons:

• Its wide range can be a real pain for your teammates in multiplayer, often tripping them.
• The weapon feels significantly weaker without a consistently full Spirit Gauge. On top of that, if the gauge isn't kept high enough, you'll lose all your progress, unlike in previous games where it would just drop a level.
• Spirit Dance is a lengthy attack animation that can leave you vulnerable if not timed well.

Here's a look at the Long Sword's basic moveset:

Attack	Controls
Forward Slash	X
Roundslash	After performing Spirit Dance, X
Rising Slash	After performing step-in attack, X
Thrust, forward thrust	A, A
Fade Slash	X+A, can toggle left C-stick to move at the same time
Spirit Slash	R, must be used three times
Step-in Attack	After using the Fade Slash, R
Forward Roll	B

Usage Tips:

The absolute key to mastering the Long Sword is keeping that Spirit Gauge as full as possible. The gauge progresses through three colors: White, Yellow, and finally Red. White lasts for 6 minutes and 30 seconds, giving you a 5% attack boost. Yellow lasts for 4 minutes and 30 seconds, offering a 10% boost. Red is the most potent, lasting only 2 minutes but providing a massive 30% attack boost. Here's the kicker: if you drop any level of the Spirit Gauge, you'll lose everything, unlike in previous games where you'd just go down a tier. This means you need to stay on the offensive constantly. If you manage to reach Red, you can actually postpone its depletion for 10 seconds by landing a roundslash, but it's a risky move.

Because of this mechanic, the Long Sword really shines in a hyper-offensive playstyle. Be ready to take big risks for big rewards, or face some serious punishment. Your timing and positioning are super important since you can't block, and you absolutely can't afford to miss any chances to attack.

Recommended Skills:

Given the Long Sword's new playstyle, skills like Evasion+1/+2 are incredibly helpful for dodging monster attacks. However, an even more crucial skill is Focus. Focus speeds up how quickly your weapon charges. For weapons like the Great Sword, it means reaching Level 3 charge faster, and for Hammers, it's similar. For the Long Sword, which relies on charging up a gauge, Focus significantly speeds up how fast that gauge fills. Considering how the Spirit Gauge now works, Focus becomes incredibly important, especially when you're up against fast and dangerous monsters like Brachydios or Seregios.