The Official Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Topic

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Here, I fixed it up for you:

 Weapon Pros/Cons, Dos/Donts

Below is each individual weapon type's pros, cons, do's and don'ts based on my experience and opinion. Others may disagree with them, however I've been playing Monster Hunter for quite some time and I feel that my experience as both a user and someone who has played with others using the various weapons helps bring some insight into each weapon type.

For most scenarios, these tips shouldn't be a strict guideline, but more of things to consider and think about when playing, especially in Multiplayer.

Some general guidelines before I begin:
- When using any weapon in multiplayer, always be mindful of your fellow hunters. This is a cooperative game for a reason. You should be trying to avoid making their life miserable, or hitting them in general. No one is perfect, mistakes can be made, but constantly tossing your allies can result in you losing a hunting group. Always try to be aware of where they are and how your attacks and combos will effect them. It's not always about YOU doing the most damage, there's no rankings. There's only winning or losing. To that end, always try to act in the best interest in the entire group. I've seen missions fail in streams and in my own runs because of hunters being stupid, causing ally deaths due to their obliviousness of their surroundings.
- Traps are best used when the enemy is exhausted. They last longer on monsters that are exhausted. You can easily determine that a monster is exhausted if it starts moving slowly, staggering, or just sitting there with drool out of its face and taunting a lot.
- Most items are situational. This very much includes Flash Bombs. Do not spam them. A random acting monster is FAR WORSE than one that is not. With the revamp in Tri, there are very few situations in which Flash Bombs are useful. One situation is when you wish to down Rathalos, because he flies way too much. Flash Bombs can do this. They are less effective the more you use them, so be aware of that. All items have a place, but no item's place is everywhere.
- Try to leave Mining and Gathering to solo Gathering runs. There's nothing more annoying than a hunter that goes out and mines while you're fighting the monster alone. If it's a group concensus to go and gather before fighting the monster, that's fine, but do not do it without an understanding within the group. Gathering Missions exist for a reason, and you can easily do them on your own. There's no reason to NEED to do Gathering when on a regular run online.
- As a rule of thumb, you can usually continue to attack with melee weapons until you reach the low ends of Green Sharpness. Every enemy has areas that are open to Green Sharpness, so it can also help you find where they are weakest. Don't sharpen just because you lose Purple or White Sharpness, you're wasting Whetstones when you do this.
- Know your role with your weapon. If you're Hammer, don't be attacking the tail. If there's a Hammer user in your group, don't attack the head, that's their job.
- You can determine the effectiveness of anywhere you strike without a guide based on the special effect that gets generated when you attack. It is easier to determine in the Japanese versions of the game due to blood effects that are removed for US/EU versions, however the striking animation is still deeper and more red the more damage is done. You can use this to determine the best area to strike any enemy.
- Always pay attention to what the enemy is doing. You can easily determine when to and when not to attack based on how the enemy is acting. As you get better you can tell just what most monsters are going to do based on how they start their attacks. You should use these tells to your advantage.

Individual Weapon Information:

 Sword and Shield

Pros:
- Fast Weapon with quick combos and acceptable KO abilities.
- Shield able to block light attacks.
- Can use items while weapon is unsheathed.
- Great Mobility

Cons:
- Sheild cannot block powerful attacks at all.
- Medium strength attacks can be blocked however you still lose some health.
- The middle of the base combo is a Blunt attack. This sounds good, however it can break the combo if you hit a part of the monster that is strong against blunt. The following section of the attack can also toss allies.
- Shield Bash can toss allies.
- Easily interrupted from other sources including allies.
- Needs to sharpen more frequently than some other weapons.

Dos:
- Use the Jump Slash to close the distance between yourself and your target.
- Focus more on quick in-and-out tactics. SnS has great mobility that allows you to get quick jabs in and rush out before the enemy can react.
- Make use of the ability to use items while your weapon is unsheathed, it's the only weapon that can do this!
- Attack areas that are weak to both slash and blunt. Slash is more important, however bouncing due to the mid-combo blunt can get you killed.

Don'ts:
- Don't complete the base combo if there are allies on top of you. The finishing portion of it will toss them.
- Don't block unless you have to. Dodging often costs less stamina and there's no chance of partial or failed blocks which saves you health.
- Don't sit there! Always be moving, it's what makes mobile weapons so great.

 Dual Swords

Pros:
- Extremely fast combos.
- Can spread status ailments quickly if the weapon has one.
- Unique dash dodge when Demonization Bar or Demonization is active.
- Two movesets, Demonization Mode and Regular.
- Great Mobility

Cons:
- Combos can be long, leaving you open to attack.
- Demonization Bar drains quickly, and when not active the mobility of the weapon suffers.
- Dash Juice duration is shortened for this weapon (Blame X+Y Spammers in earlier games).
- Due to large, quick combos, this weapon eats sharpness for breakfast.
- Having less than full Stamina can hurt your ability to fight with this weapon.

Dos:
- Bring a lot of Whetstones, because as mentioned earlier, Duals eat sharpness for breakfast.
- Mix Demonization and Regular mode. Don't always stay in Demonization or you won't be able to dodge when you need to, and never entering Demonization will harm your mobility.
- Bring Meat, or if necessary Dash Juice. Full Stamina at all times is a great idea.
- Always have the Demonization Bar active, the dash dodge is extremely efficient and a powerful tool, and the power boost doesn't hurt either.

Don'ts:
- Do not Spam X+Y. It's inefficient and will get you killed.
- Try not to use Dash Juice. You end up wasting it because it lasts about half the time as normal with this weapon.
- Don't stay in only Demonization or Regular. Switching between them is the key to success.

 Great Sword

Pros:
- High Damage weapon.
- Can block most attacks.
- Efficient Sharpness-wise, due to low frequency of hitting.

Cons:
- Some attacks can take away health when guarded. Sharpness is always lost when guarding.
- Slow attack speed and low mobility.
- Charge Attack needs to be timed perfectly to do optimal damage.
- Most attacks from this weapon are either wide ranged or can send allies flying.

Dos:
- Use the Charge Attack as much as possible. It does a lot of damage.
- ALWAYS be the one to wake a sleeping monster with a fully charged attack. You will do A LOT of damage, more than any other weapon is capable.
- Try to chain attacks back into a Charge Attack with either the 360 Slash or the Uppercut Slash (see below).
- Sheathe your weapon if the enemy is far away. Don't dodge or crawl towards them.

Don'ts:
- Don't use an Uppercut Slash when allies are infront of you, you will send them flying.
- Don't block unnecessairly, dodging is always the best alternative if you can avoid an attack altogether.
- Don't overcharge, and don't keep charging in hopes of the enemy returning to you. If you see that they are about to get away from you, end a charge early and try to hit them before they get away.
- Don't ever be a sitting duck. You may move slow but you're not immobile.

 Longsword

NOTE: I don't really use LS (Because of Con #1 mostly). I don't really have all that much to say about it, but what I do is listed here.

Pros:
- Mobile and decently fast Weapon.
- Large Range (Also a Con).
- Spirit Bar that increases damage output the more filled it is.
- Cannot KO and has no Blunt attacks, resulting in low Exhausting ability.

Cons:
- Large Range. Why is this both a Pro and a Con? In multiplayer games, it can drive your allies insane because it can constantly interrupt them. In my opinion, this makes LS the worst multiplayer weapon available. I have suffered deaths because of being stun-locked by LS allies not paying attention to their allies' locations.
- Imprecise attacks. You can often get stuck bouncing on the wrong area due to the large attack radius.

Dos:
- Try to keep the Spirit Gauge filled.
- Always pay attention to your allies' locations. This is especially important for this weapon because of how easy it can hit them.

Don'ts:
- Do not Spirit Combo while allies are close to you. You can get them killed.
- Do not use the finisher if there are allies infront of you. The finisher sends you a mile forward and hits everything remotely near you in that distance.

 Switch Axe

NOTE: I don't use Switch Axe. This section will be short. Looking for more information for it.
Pros:
- Two mode weapon that can switch between a slow powerful axe and a elementally charged sword.
- Versatile weapon that can be used in many situations.

Cons:
- Slow movement, and also cannot block.
- Has multiple moves that lock you into position, making you vulnerable.

Dos:
- Try to keep good rotation between Sword and Axe mode to do optimal damage.

Don'ts:
- Don't use the stamina draining infinite swing. It does low damage, wastes stamina, and most of all locks you into position for a long period of time. It is all around bad.

 Hammer

Pros:
- Mobile Weapon due to the ability to charge while moving.
- Main KOing and Exhausting weapon. Can easily KO monsters and Exhaust quickly due to all hits being Blunt.
- Multiple ways to attack due to a three-stage charge and multiple combos that are available off of them.
- Doesn't need to sharpen as often as some weapons.

Cons:
- Cannot cut tails.
- Has low mobility mid-combo. Once you start it you're not going anywhere without some delay.
- Has slow combos.

Dos:
- Try to be charging even when a decent distance away from the enemy, due to the time it takes to charge. Use your best judgement.
- Use the 2nd Stage Charge attack a lot. It covers a lot of distance quickly and also has a large vertical range. A good way to start a combo.
- Be mindful of your Stamina before you begin to charge.
- Prepare for enemy attacks ahead of time, don't continue a combo unless you know you're safe.
- Be mindful of where your allies are, because you can toss them with your attacks.

Don'ts:
- Don't use the 3rd Stage Charge Spin (Moving while releasing the button). It's a waste of time, does low damage, low KO, and will leave you open for far too long. You will likely not finish it and take damage.
- Don't use the 3rd Stage Charge Smash (Not moving while releasing the button) when allies are near you. It has a large range and can toss allies.

NOTE FOR HAMMER: In my personal opinion, people who are attacking the head when you're hammer qualify for you to ignore the second Don't. They should know their role and should not be attacking the head if you are Hammer (unless they are also Hammer or they are HH). If they don't know their role, they are asking for you to toss them, because the roles are pretty simple when it comes to this. If they are on top of the head and you have the perfect opportunity for a 3rd Stage Charge Smash, go right ahead and do it. It's their fault for not doing what they should be doing.

 Hunting Horn

Pros:
- Can dish out a wide variety of buffs for yourself and your party.
- Can KO and Exhaust similarly to a Hammer.
- Can increase its own mobility to be faster than many other weapons.

Cons:
- Can be hard to learn, very combo oriented.
- Cannot cut tails (Apparently in P3rd it had one attack that did VERY low Slash damage. It was not viable for solo cutting, and as a result I still consider it unable to cut tails even if this was not a glitch and is still a slashing attack).
- Must temporarily pause to deliver buffs, which otherwise never take effect. Cannot deliver more than one buff at a time, and notes must be replayed to deliver a new buff.
- Wide variety of note types while every HH only has 3 different notes means that some HHs will be completely useless in some scenarios, due to lack of buffs that are good for the situation. There is a potential for some HHs to be completely useless due to bad note combinations.

Dos:
- Work your buffs into your attacks and combos.
- Keep an eye on your buffs and try to keep them constantly up. An entire group with constant Attack Up Large can do far more damage than you alone if you forget to keep it up. Although not every HH will have that buff, the principle is the same.
- If you have the Health Increase buff, use it when your allies need it. Be mindful if they are using the armor skill Adrenaline though, as they want to keep low HP for that. It might be a good idea to determine what buffs are not good to use in a group due to various armor skills.
- Know your HH. Know what it can play, what it can't play, and how to get each individual buff in case you need it at any time.

Don'ts:
- Do not sit in the background and buff. There's a reason HH was completely revamped to allow fighting and buffing at the same time. Take advantage of this.
- Do not deliver buffs if you are in danger. The notes will not reset or change as long as you do not attack, so take the time to get safe before you play.

 Lance

Pros:
- Complete control over where you attack, very precise.
- Best shield possible. Still cannot block everything without armor skills, but most are blockable.
- Effective and powerful counter ability.
- Able to attack and rush forward at the same time with a charge attack.
- Able to move while guarding, albiet very slowly.

Cons:
- Slow movement while unsheathed.
- Slow attack speed.
- Bad mobilty makes you rely on perfect dodging, countering, or guarding to stay alive when being barraged by the enemy.
- Missing a counter makes you immobile for a long period of time.

Dos:
- Use the Charge Attack to shorten small distances between yourself and your enemy. This is the only attack from Lance that can bother your allies by tossing them, though, so don't rush into them.
- Try to use the counter whenever possible, as it guards many types of attacks while also dishing out large damage to your enemy in response.

Don'ts:
- DO NOT TURTLE. Turtling is when you guard all the time, crawling along the ground and then guard stabbing. Guard stabs do terrible damage, and turtling is actually more harmful than helpful, as you often get yourself hurt by guard stabbing at the worst time, or just by getting hit from behind because you're not moving. Never turtle.
- Don't use the Charge attack to shorten large distances. It's better to sheathe your weapon and run, because you lose your ability to control your direction, and will often get hurt when charging long distances.

 Gunlance

Pros:
- Able to use a special ability, the Wyvern Fire, every few minutes.
- Can shoot shells based on the type of gunlance.
- Precise attacks, like the Lance.
- Shield exactly like the Lance.

Cons:
- Can only dodge consecutively three times, in comparison to the Lance which can dodge as many times as you want so long as you have Stamina to do it.
- Slow movement while unsheathed.
- Slow attack speed.
- Cannot counter.
- Cannot charge attack.

Dos:
- Use the Wyvern Fire when it is ready. It takes nothing to use except some time and does decent damage. Just make sure you have the five or so seconds it takes and that the monster will still be there when it sets off.
- Pay attention to the Gunlance itself. When Wyvern Fire is unable to be used a little tab will pop out of most Gunlances. When this closes you can use it again.
- You can use shells to extend your stabbing combos if appropriate in the situation.
- Dodge wisely, because you can only dodge three times in a row.

Don'ts:
- DO NOT TURTLE. Turtling is when you guard all the time, crawling along the ground and then guard stabbing. Guard stabs do terrible damage, and turtling is actually more harmful than helpful, as you often get yourself hurt by guard stabbing at the worst time, or just by getting hit from behind because you're not moving. Never turtle.
- Don't use Wyvern Fire when allies are within range of it, as it will toss them.

 Light Bowgun

NOTE: I don't really use Bowguns, but I've tried to assemble some useful information for them.

Pros:
- Mid-level mobility for ranged weapons. It is worse than Bows but better than Heavy Bowgun in this department.
- Wide variety of different shot types give the ability to adapt to almost any situation.
- Rapid Fire upgraded bullet types (differs per bowgun) allows for multiple shots from one bullet. Extremely efficient when a status ailment shot type is effected by this.
- Extra inventory page for gunners allows more shots and more materials for extra shots.

Cons:
- Cannot block (Compared to HBG which can).
- When you run out of ammo you are stuck with Normal Lv.1, which does almost no damage.
- Reliant on the ability to make more ammo in the field.
- Rapid Fire immobilizes for a long period of time.

Dos:
- Try to get a bowgun with Rapid Fire on Status Ailments, because they can take effect quicker and more frequently for less shots with this. Unknown how practical this is, though, without seeing all the available weapons.
- Always bring materials to make more shots, you never know when you will need them. It's okay to start with a full inventory as shots used will free up space.
- Try to have a bowgun with some status aliments, even if they are not rapid fire. Ranged weapons are exceptional at dishing out status effects.
- If you get stuck with Normal Lv.1 with the suspicion that the monster still has a lot of HP left, it may be better to quit if you are solo. Normal Lv.1 does pitiful damage and if you could kill it, it would probably take the remainder of the quest time. Better to redo with a different setup.

Don'ts:
- Do not shoot too close, as you will lose damage if you do.
- Do not combine new materials while you are wide open to attack. Get safe first.
- Use your mobility and move around when you can.

 Heavy Bowgun

NOTE: I don't really use Bowguns, but I've tried to assemble some useful information for them.

Pros:
- Low-level mobility for ranged weapons. It is worse than Bows and Light Bowguns.
- Wide variety of different shot types give the ability to adapt to almost any situation.
- Has special barrage mode that lets you shoot without reloading.
- Extra inventory page for gunners allows more shots and more materials for extra shots.
- Has a mediocre shield for defending about two thirds of attack types.

Cons:
- Barrage mode leaves you extremely open and easy to hit.
- Defending may still reduce health, but at a lower cost.
- When you run out of ammo you are stuck with Normal Lv.1, which does almost no damage.
- Reliant on the ability to make more ammo in the field.

Dos:
- Use Barrage mode when you know you are safe. Perhaps on a ledge or when an ally has the monster distracted, or when it is in a trap.
- Always bring materials to make more shots, you never know when you will need them. It's okay to start with a full inventory as shots used will free up space.
- Try to have a bowgun with some status aliments, even if they are not rapid fire. Ranged weapons are exceptional at dishing out status effects.
- If you get stuck with Normal Lv.1 with the suspicion that the monster still has a lot of HP left, it may be better to quit if you are solo. Normal Lv.1 does pitiful damage and if you could kill it, it would probably take the remainder of the quest time. Better to redo with a different setup.

Don'ts:
- Do not shoot too close, as you will lose damage if you do.
- Do not combine new materials while you are wide open to attack. Get safe first.
- If you need to scale smaller distances, it is probably better to dodge over, instead of sheathing and unsheathing again.
- Try to dodge, however if you are unsure of if you can dodge you are probably better off guarding if possible.

 Bow

Pros:
- Extremely mobile weapon. Most mobile out of all ranged weapons.
- Gets the extra gunner page, however has less materials and shot types over the bowguns.
- Has infinite ammo, and instead has Coatings that improve or modify regular shots.
- Has unique rain barrage attack, that can KO.
- Has multiple types of shots based on the Bow itself that allows you to adapt to any situation.
- Coatings provide the ability to dish out all types of status ailments provided the bow allows for them.

Cons:
- Coatings provide the bulk of the flexibility of the Bow. Bows with less available coatings or when you run out of coatings hurts the overall performance of the weapon.
- Stamina plays a huge role, bigger than most other weapons. Having low stamina is the same as having a limited ability to attack.
- Barrage attacks can disable allies.
- Damage is extremely influenced by range of shots. Too close and too far away reduce damage.

Dos:
- Use Barrage when allies are not near the enemy.
- Learn the default aim arch and default barrage range to improve overall performance using the weapon.
- Attempt to obtain optimal damage at all times, which is obtained by hitting the enemy where the aim line peaks in its arch.
- Always carry all available coatings, you never know when you'll need them. Also always carry materials to make more if you can.
- Make use of your status coatings. There's no reason not to give yourself an edge in battle.
- Always use 3rd or 4th Charge shots if able.
- Pay attention to what types of shots each charge is. If Pierce Shot is 2nd charge and the enemy is far away while 3rd charge is Rapid or Scatter, it is better to use 2nd Charge to hit your enemy before they get too far away, even if it means reduced damage.
- As long as you have stamina, you should always be charging a shot. You can move while charging, so there's no excuse to ever be not charging so long as you have Stamina.
- You can dodge at any time as long as you have the Stamina. Do this to cancel charged shots or to dodge the enemy.

Don'ts:
- Never spam 1st Charge shots. They are equivilent to hitting an enemy with a red sharpness sword. 2nd Charge is better but not recommended either except in situations that call for it.
- Never use Wide-Area Barrage Shot. It does low damage, hits allies far too much and in too wide of a range.
- Don't waste Coatings. If your enemy is out of range, dodge to cancel the shot and chase. Don't just let go of the arrow and waste a coating, you're limited on how many you have.

Thoughts and comments are welcome. This is basically my opinion on each weapon and a few general guidelines. People are free to disagree or offer their own thoughts, I don't mind.