Nibelsnarf X Armor and Greatsword...Thoughts/Help?

Soo I recently grinded for the Nibelsnarf X armor set because I loved the way it looked. When I saw the skills it gave I decided I just had to learn the GS. Anyone got any tips for me for GS selection and just general things about skills/ strategies with the GS?

Just a little note, for GS.. SNIPE! :P (YT it)
Also if online.. DO NOT USE UPSWING!! Seriously, it's worse than Long Sword Faith Slash combo.
If you can, gem up handicraft or get a talisman for it, really useful with that armor.

Helios ZZZXZ is better.

First of all try to get G rank Jhen full blademaster set. Than mix it with diablos X/uragan X for crit draw/punishing draw sets. Nibelsnarf X armor looks nice but in terms of skills there are better choices.

When it comes to skills you should focus on Sharpness+1 on GS which doesn't have natural purple sharpness, than Crit Draw, Focus and something to protect your ears. I suggest Rock Steady over HGE because it has other benefits like low windproof etc. Also Rock Steady block every monster roar except elder dragons, Gigginox, Diablos and Jhens. In other words it works fine on Gold ian, Silver los, Brachy and even Jho. Focus and Crit Draw are crucial for GS.

Helios ZZZXZ is nice but very generic. You can link it to pretty much all weapons. You need good tali to make it usefull for GS. S+1 is also useless on Altheos Evolutia.

I am totally loving the KO damage potential of the GS with Nibelsnarf Armor, I can draw into a charge attack and the use the slap to deal even more KO damage. As I am playing solo for now...(may buy a Wii U soon) but exhausted monsters are certainly a bonus when it is just me. I know that the Helios set is the go to set...but I don't feel like farming those rare mats and I am not the biggest fan of the armor. Thanks for the skill ideas, but what are gameplay specific things I should do? And what is GS Sniping?

Do you have any good fastcharge tali? What GS are you using most of the time? Give us some info to work on.

KO even with punishing draw occur rarely in 3U unfortunately. 1-3 is max per quest. But i agree it's fun and takes skill to use because you have to aim precisely in head rather than slash like a noob.

I have the Deviljhoe greatsword, Siegmund (trying to upgrade to Auberon), and the Sand Barioth greatsword. An noooo I don't have any particularly good tali's, Nibelsnarf has some innate points in Expert so I just gemmed out Thunder Attack down and then I gemmed in Crit Eye +1. But I am still in the first star of g rank so all those weapons are not G rank level...yet!

Roihu wrote:

Thanks for the skill ideas, but what are gameplay specific things I should do? And what is GS Sniping?

Great Sword sniping is where you wait for an opportunity to attack and run in with either a 3 charge draw slash or just normal draw slash, followed optionally by a spin swing. (When monster is busy mid animation or stuck in place for a moment).
Then you sheathe and run away and repeat.
Tested and proven to work amongst the best GS users.
Sniping ideal is one hit hill.

If the monster stays in one place for a long time let rip with the circle swing and upswing! (Quro sitting about being a silly parrot).

Flash bombs will help with that also as traps, if not capturing just use away on your traps!
Other than that it's all about learning the monster, predicting it and learning where to be against certain maneuvers to never get it.
With GS you are walking a lot if not sniping so need to really be careful.

Here's a video of GS Sniping:
Okay Example

Notice how he runs in and charges a shot, dodges then puts away the sword to repeat it.
Not the best example video but you get the picture.. /nerv/

Aha! Very similar to how i have been playing...man SpeedSheathe is so useful. One questions, i have heard lots of conflicting opinions on whether or not to use any of the infinite combo attacks. A ton of people have told me that it is absolutely worthless and I should only charge. And others have said that instead of getting a two or a one level charge I should combo into sideswing and upswings. Which would speed up my hunting times?

It's really down to your own better judgement man..
I probably could do it just as fast/well using the infinite combo during long paused states than to not and just stay with sniping charge shots.
Merely down the to idea that you may get hit and it shaves a few seconds off your time to recover and heal if needed.

In the end.. IT'S UP TO YOU!! /sly/

Sweeeeeeeet! Thank you guys /yes/ !

OMG. Seriously guys... what are you talkin about... Best Great Sword users use sniping? omg

Great Sword sniping is bs unless you have crit draw. And even with it it's noob technique. Never, i say never use infinite combo on GS! Use only lv3 charges and learn the monster. Look for an opening to draw blade and land lv3 charge. Master it.

On Punishing draw sets after lv3 charge follow by sword slap. Don't hesitate using it even without draw/charge slash. Use kick and follow by sword slap. Side swing/slash is used only to reposition yourself. Here's great example how you should use punishing draw GS set. Look how she dominates pink ian:

Spoiler:

What you're saying is bullshit, but the video you linked is a nice example of how a GS user needs to adapt a lot to whatever monster he or she is fighting. The differences are the biggest when comparing Pink Rathian and Stygian Zinogre.

Pink Rathian is full of openings and doesn't move all that much, so she barely has to sheathe and move. Instead, she uses normal attacks to link her charges together, or get in a quick hit here and there, while dodging Rathian's attacks.

Stygian Zinogre moves a LOT, so she is forced to sheathe a lot to get to him or even avoid getting hit. The few openings Zinogre has are often small, so she rarely even gets off a full L3 Charge. She takes what she can get.

You want to use the Great Sword effectively? Uses charges as often as possible while aiming for the weak points. If you don't have the opportunity to charge up, just hit and run. If you have the time to combo with normal hits, you have the time to charge. That's all there is to it from what I can tell.

I've never used a Great Sword, and all I've said here is from what I saw in the video. Do with it whatever you want.

If you have zero experience with GS than why do you even post in this thread?

Hit and run is very weak strategy on GS. I was reffering to that. Look how she always land lv3 charges. The dmg difference between lv3 charge+element bonus compared to few draw slashes is just huge. Someone smarter than me can bring you numbers. I was under impression that zeek was talking about runing around and using draw slashes+sheathe only. Sorry it's not the way to go.

It's not adviced to use infinite combo as it lovers your sharpness and deal very little compared to lv3 charge. He should focus on using lv3 charges aiming for weak points.

Hovever when we're talking about punishing draw set (the video), you should focus on lv3 charges and sword slap aiming for head. Using draw slashes often is ok here as it increases the chance of KO. Also adviced to hit head even if it's not weak spot. But still intinite combo is not welcome here.

I'm tired of seing ppl with quick sheathe and GS, which hit draw slashed and sheathe their GS every 1-2 seconds. It not only looks funny but also never unleashes GS true potential. It's more like they don't understanding this weapon mechanics.

Also S. Zinogre openings small? K...

Can you now specify what part of my statement is "bullshit"?

Cant agree more with Antari and Roik, I cant stand a GS user who uses infinite combo when they need to be charge slashing. If you want to spam attacks use DS, SnS, LS or the like not a GS. Lvl 3 charge is where it is at my friend.

Roik wrote:

... If you have the time to combo with normal hits, you have the time to charge. ...

I don't concider myself a full expert on GS, but this quoted remark is key. It also shows why it's so important to learn the monsters moveset to open up the GS's true potential.

Even if there are little, or small openings, the charged attacks are always greater than the combos. That doesn't mean you should never combo, however, since some monsters do not fully telegraph what they are going to do. In those cases, where the monster might go from a certain move to a number of others, either you take it safe and quit after the lvl 3 charge, as that video showed her doing often and then waiting for the next opening, or you combo in a few other moves, ready for the inevitable dodge or block.

All in all, the charge attack is always the heavier hitter, and if possible should always be done over the combo, but situationally there will always be a need or want for a combo move depending on the monster... but it should never be your main damage dealer.