Long Sword

Unleash your inner samurai with the Long Sword in Monster Hunter Generations! Learn its combos, spirit gauge mechanics, and the best styles to dominate the hunt.

Alright, so you're looking to wield the Long Sword in Monster Hunter Generations? Awesome choice! This weapon is all about that samurai flair, with a great mix of reach and speed. Its biggest trick is the Spirit Gauge – fill it up, and your attacks get a serious power boost. Just a heads-up, though: this sword has a massive hitbox, so be mindful of your teammates online, or you'll be tripping them up more than the monsters!

Pros and Cons of the Long Sword:

• Pros: It's got a good balance of speed and raw power, with a fantastic range that's great both vertically and horizontally. Plus, none of your Spirit attacks will ever bounce off a monster's hide.
• Cons: You really need to keep that Spirit Gauge in the red for maximum damage, which takes some practice. And yeah, that huge range can easily send your fellow hunters flying if you're not careful. Also, those powerful Spirit attacks leave you open for a bit, so timing is key.

Basic Controls and Guild Style:

In Guild Style, you'll be using your Spirit Gauge a lot. You build it up by landing basic attacks and combos. Once it's full, you can unleash Spirit attacks, but be warned: each press of the 'R' button consumes gauge. You've gotta land the final roundslash attack of the Spirit combo to push your gauge up a level. If you miss it, poof! Your gauge is wasted, and you're back to square one.

Controls	Attack (Guild Style)
X	Basic attack. When unsheathing, lunges forward. Combo 3 times
X+A	Fade Slash. You will attack and move in another direction depending on how you hold the circle pad
A	Poke attacks. Combo twice
R	Spirit attack! Press R four times to finish with your roundslash HISSATSU! If the roundslash meets its target you push your spirit gauge up a level!

Your red Spirit Gauge only lasts for 1 minute before it starts to fade to yellow, then white. Yellow and white last longer, and you can use Spirit attacks in these states to push your gauge back up. With good practice, you can keep some level of Spirit Gauge active almost all the time!

Pro Tip: When you're hitting a monster, try to aim for the middle of your Long Sword instead of the tip. If you can land hits with the middle of the blade, you'll get a 12% damage boost! It really adds up over time.

Guild Style is a solid choice, letting you equip two Hunting Arts.

Striker Style:

Striker Style changes up the Fade Slash a bit – you can only do it backwards now, no more side-to-side repositioning. It simplifies things slightly, but most of your other combos are the same. The big upside? You can equip three Hunting Arts, which is a pretty sweet trade-off!

Aerial Style:

This style gives the Long Sword a pretty big shake-up. You can't do Spirit attacks on the ground anymore! Instead, you've gotta vault off a monster, do a double swing, and *then* you can start a Spirit attack, beginning with the second combo hit. If you're at white aura or higher, you can even do a triple swing in the air and combo straight into the roundslash, skipping the whole Spirit attack sequence! It feels a bit slower to start since you need to vault first, but once you get to white aura, you become a powerhouse. Try to vault constantly to keep the pressure on!

Aerial Style lets you equip one Hunting Art.

Adept Style:

Adept Style makes some big changes. You lose your backward Fade Slash, only able to go left or right. You also can't do your regular roundslash. Instead, if you nail a perfect evade, you can press X during the follow-up sprint for a powerful horizontal slash. Hit R right after that, and you'll unleash the 'Spirit Reckoning' – a super strong twin-hit that bumps your Spirit Gauge up a level! This is way faster than the roundslash and great for getting back to red when the monster is really on your case. Just remember it uses a good chunk of gauge, so you can't be empty when you start.

Adept Style isn't the best against slow, lumbering monsters that just walk over you. It can equip one Hunting Art.

Recommended Skills:

If you're struggling to fill your Spirit Gauge, the Focus skill can help a little, but it's often considered a luxury. It's better to focus on skills that boost your evasion and offense, like Critical Hit skills, attack boosts, Evasion +1/+2 (for non-Adept/Aerial styles), and Razor Sharp or Sharpness +1/+2. You get a built-in Mind's Eye effect on Spirit slashes, but not regular attacks, so consider bringing those skills if you have them.

For Aerial Style players, skills that boost your air game like Airborne are nice, but don't let them overshadow your general offensive skills.