so many lances..

ok so here i am, been away from MH since 09, and currently loving 3U on my DS. not sure if ill get a WiiU yet or not but anways, not the point.

im suck on the 4 star urgent quest to Kill Lagi in the village. every video i see online about killing lagi is not only WAY farther in the game but EVERYONE is using a lance.

i just cant get the hang of the lance. i love the manuverability of the SnS and Duals, i can even LS or Hammer, but i just cannot get the hang of the slower weapons like the Lance/Gunlance/GS.

does anyone have any tips or advice, either weapon based or even boss based.

also this is my first post on here so i dont know if there is a certan way people format on here so i appologise in advance if this is sloppy.

Not sure where you're really struggling so not sure how I should advise you.

Definite tip of longsword is landing a few hits in and then using the retreating slash and then rolling out of the way while the mob is retargeting you

I'd suggest swimming and circling until lagi does his attacks, when he gets ready to do the long range charge you should be sheathed and swimming away from him then change to either side to get ready for a counter attack or a tad closer to the target if he's not aiming for you, alternative you can flashbomb him as he's getting ready for this charge and I think it'll disrupt and make him flip over.

The read for the long range charge is that he swims around and usually away from you and then coils up for this.

But basically most of the time attack him right after he attacks while he is retargeting, maybe get one or two hits in then pullback, waiting for it target the shakalaka might make it easier for you.

I don't really have any polished advice because I'm avoiding using the LS/Hammer for 3U at the moment.

Hammers is usually stun the head which I suggest to use the retargeting pattern as an opportunity to get a level 3 charge and stand release as the mob turns towards you and dodge roll away.

Dual Swords is sort of the same method

I draw slash in, get in a few hits, back away, rinse repeat, although if all you've done are village quests and are only up to Lagi, I'm not sure what the best DS are to use on him, I think the first time I fought him in TriU I resorted to the Pecospander Swax, just for the damage and Fire Element

DaniChi wrote:

Not sure where you're really struggling so not sure how I should advise you.

^ This. Im a seasoned lancer but theres 2 types, evade and block. Im a blocker so heres how i manage. Just aim for his lower chest (level yourself between his arms) poke, poke, poke, sidestep, then block (if necessary). Usually only need to block if he does the bite move in which he turns and snaps at you and the other scenario is the hip-check (which takes forever and has tell-tale signs) so youd easily be able to block that in time. When he swims away from you to charge you can either A. just hold your guard or B. put your lance away and try to evade him. If your aiming to break things (horns,tail,claws ect..) 3 shocks should get you the horns OR the tail, meaning you would have to choose which one youd rather to break in open combat. After maybe 3 runs with a lance, you should have the jist of it. If you care to elaborate on any of your lancing problems, I'd be more than happy to give my input.

I almost exclusively lance, so maybe I can add to what the others have said to help you out, that said:

There is no best weapon type in Monster Hunter, some monsters are a little easier with one type or another, but ultimately, your going to do best with what you know the best. If you've only been using mobile weapons, only use them then. As a beginning player, I would stick to one weapon type until you're more experienced.

A few lance tips in general, as previously stated is to generally focus on either evading or blocking, however, I have a somewhat unusual hybrid style of the two. When combo-ing, use the upstab 3 times and then dodge whichever way brings you into the location to best continue doing so. If the monster backs up and begins an obvious attack you want to counter to get more damage off, or a regular block if it is an attack that moves the monster far forwards(the counter will not land on one of these). Countering in 3 ultimate is less effective for extending a combo than in Tri because you can only upstab twice and then counter, instead of 3 times, which is way you dodge more. Countering is for attacks that you see coming ahead of time to get more damage off.

As for attacks, do not use the regular stab unless you need to move forward a little, which it does, because it does less damage. The upstab should be your main move as it does more. Counter as stated above is for comboing, or blocking and should not be used as a method of directly attacking. Finally only lance charge in a few situations. 1 You have green+ sharpness and a status lance, 2 you have green+ sharpness and the monster is running to another area, 3 the monster is down, but only for a short period of time, and you have green+ sharpness.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask anything specific if anything is unclear.

if you're comfy with SnS just go with that, it's my fav weapon so it's the only one I've used so far, and I just took down Ceadeus last night

had even been farming lagi as I decided to make a lagi armor set, usually able to break horns, chest and slice tail without a hassle, though breaking his back is a little harder.

yea sorry for not being very clear. i just cant get over the lack of mobility with the lance. i play alot of Dark Souls and if you've played it then you know how important mobility is. standing there and blocking seems ineffective sometimes and for some reason i cant aim the sidestep very well on the DS, though its probably just me and my lack of experience.

It's already been said but there are two ways to lance and yes, when first starting out it will feel clunky. Some pointers:

-Don't forget to put the weapon away if the monster is far away and not focused on you.
-If the monster is focused on you don't chase after it (diablos, ian, los, zin, etc) let it come to you.
-Start small, practice for awhile on G. Jaggi and move up the roster with a goal of exploiting attack patterns.
-Shield advance will propel you forward with the shield up and is a great way to close a small gap, like for instance slapping the barrioth in the face after he attempts to spit a snowball. Silly kitty.

Big things include figuring out what kind of lancing you want to do but either way your going to want guard+. Some will say lv1 is enough but that will not allow you to quickly counter all attacks and believe me it is a world of difference being able to counter a charging [insert monster here] to leg stumble or tail cut. Whats more it will reduce the stamina drain and chip damage from blocked attacks. I play block/counter so I say lv2 all day long. After guard+ you may want to consider guard up for specific monsters (agnak, laggi, Ala) with unblockable attacks.

If you are evade lancing your going to have to get evasion+. It is a viable way to stomp monster face but where the block/counter lancers exploit infinite counter chains and attack patterns the evasive lancer gets to frame count. Not my cup of tea but evasion lv1 will add enough invincibility frames so that you can dodge "through" a great deal of monster attacks.

Any other skills are icing on the proverbial cake. Sharpener is ok but I go for razor sharp if I can. Status and raw damage depend on it heavily. Status up is helpful when using a status lance, an extra para or poison is always welcome in my game. But what i really like doing is running around with potential, if you get down to 1/3rd of your health you get a massive boost to attack and defense that stack with many other skills. Keeping your health that low is risky but you are the best shield in the game. That and as a fellow Demon/Dark Souls vet makes me feel a little more at home.

Lastly, and most importantly, read the tri lancing guide. It is a little dated but enough carried over from the last game that it is still helpful for lance introduction. Social Dissonance (Shepard, not Shepherd) is a good starting place as well as he is an average player with oodles of training and how to vids.

dual swords are really good in archdemon mode,because you just side step when evading.i recommend making the bug ds,and going to town on lagis tail,when cut it makes a weakspot

I had similar issues getting into lancing. But once i figured out the hop mechanics it really opened up.

If the monster is all over the place there isn't much you can do. Unsheathe and go after the monster or advance slowly and block attacks or counter attack.

But once you are in close the hops start to shine. On any combo you can finish with a hop to side or backwards. So if you have time for 3 hits + hop do it. if not try 2 hops then dodge.

on monsters like rathalos i will commonly poke once and dodge to the side if he is pointing right at me. Ideally i will poke once before he turns and then again as he faces then hop out of the way but its not always possible.

But for some monsters you can get in the pocket and poke like a madman. Just remember to poke x3 then hop as this will shorten the animation and let you poke x3 again sooner.

Esham wrote:

I had similar issues getting into lancing. But once i figured out the hop mechanics it really opened up.

If the monster is all over the place there isn't much you can do. Unsheathe and go after the monster or advance slowly and block attacks or counter attack.

But once you are in close the hops start to shine. On any combo you can finish with a hop to side or backwards. So if you have time for 3 hits + hop do it. if not try 2 hops then dodge.

on monsters like rathalos i will commonly poke once and dodge to the side if he is pointing right at me. Ideally i will poke once before he turns and then again as he faces then hop out of the way but its not always possible.

But for some monsters you can get in the pocket and poke like a madman. Just remember to poke x3 then hop as this will shorten the animation and let you poke x3 again sooner.

Just a few things I wanted to say in addition to this:

Hopping is good if you want to get into a different position to hit the monster in, but if you want to stay where you are you can do a counter attack instead. Also, if you have a guard skill and you know the monster is about to hit you, you can throw in another hit and then counter instead of sidestepping early and hopefully that will give you another hit or two.

If a monster is fleeing and you have no allies in the way then you can use the lance charge to deal some extra damage as it limps away. Try very had not to do this with people in between you and the monster, as they usually hate getting thrown by lance charges.

And lastly, upward stabs do slightly more damage than regular stabs but have a slightly shorter range, so if you are close enough to the monster use these instead.

I just don't care for the feel of lances either. As a primarily longsword user, I can give you my few pointers for Lagi.
-Stay at his sides when not attacking. Try hitting his chest then evading sideways. This often makes him turn to retarget you, a moment spent not attacking.
-If on land, focus on his tail. It's the best moment to go after it, and as has been stated, creates a weak spot

Akai the White Lightning wrote:

I just don't care for the feel of lances either. As a primarily longsword user, I can give you my few pointers for Lagi.
-Stay at his sides when not attacking. Try hitting his chest then evading sideways. This often makes him turn to retarget you, a moment spent not attacking.
-If on land, focus on his tail. It's the best moment to go after it, and as has been stated, creates a weak spot

I find that if you position yourself between lagi's arms you will usually be missed by its attacks. The electric discharge and tail slap attacks being the exceptions, but you can see those coming a mile away. You can also turn 180 degrees and just upstab its head when you sit in that area, so I usually just stay there and poke lagi to death when I'm fighting it.

For Lagi, I still used my trusty hammer, just go with what you're comfortable with. I know it's cheesy but there will be 1-3 weapons you're much better with than others!

I hate Lagi though...