At the start of Monster Hunter Now Season 4, hunters now have access to the Switch Axe, the last of the heavier melee weapons to be introduced. For beginners, it could be a difficult one to get used to as it mixes shorter slashes of a sword with big swings of a giant axe, infused with powerful phials of elemental power. In the right hands, though, it’s a lethal weapon.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the best Monster Hunter Now Charge Blade build would be similar to this new weapon. While you can build your hunter to take advantage of the same Partbreaking strategy, there’s actually a more effective element that you can exploit that will be more useful in when hunting with others. Below are all the suggestions for the best Monster Hunter Now Switch Axe build, including skills and Driftstone Ores you should equip.
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Best Monster Hunter Now Switch Axe Build
For the best Monster Hunter Now Switch Axe build, the good news is that it’s a far less premium-rated build. That means no hunting for Elder Dragons or limited-time event monsters in order to get the required Monster Hunter Now material parts. The slight downside is that, unless you were farming materials from Rajang or Odogaron last season, you’re probably going to run into issues when trying to upgrade them right now.
This is because these two monsters have temporarily disappeared from the field at the beginning of the Season 4. However, there is a slim chance that Odogaron and Rajang will appear as part of the Season 4 story. If they do appear in any main quest, they will appear in the wild from that point onward.
Full Monster Hunter Now Switch Axe build
|
Item |
Effect |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Weapon |
Binding Roller |
|
|
Helmet |
Odogaron Helmet |
|
|
|
Volvidon Mail |
|
|
Vambraces |
Odogaron Vambraces |
|
|
Coil |
Rajang Coil |
|
|
Greaves |
Great Girros Greaves |
|
Weapon, Mail, & Greaves
Your main hunting target for this season is Volvidon, one of the new monsters that appears during Season 4. The Binding Roller is a potent Paralysis-based weapon that you can easily upgrade with the help of the Volvidon Mail and Great Girros Greaves, which are fairly common creatures and easy to hunt.
Coil
While Rajang can be quite a tough monster to beat, thankfully we’re only hunting it for one piece of equipment: the Rajang Coil. This grants up to three levels in Focus, which shortens the charging time of charge attacks by 15%, as well as the Switch Axe’s fill rate for the gauge by 15%. This helps you use your Power Element Phials quicker, which can be essential during a tough hunt.
Helmet & Vambraces
While Odogaron is the easier to hunt of the two beasts and is weak to the same Paralysis-based attacks this build focuses on, you will need to track down a lot of them to harvest enough Monster Hunter Now monster materials to upgrade both the Odogaron Helmet and Odogaron Vambraces. However, there’s a good reason for this, and no, it’s not for the two points in Bleeding Resistance. Across both Odogaron equipment, you’ll get three points in Quick Work, which maximizes the speed at which the Switch Axe sheathes or transforms, making it far more efficient.
Best Switch Axe Build Driftsmelt Slots
The Switch Axe build doesn’t have a lot of slots that we can use, so the number of recommended Driftores will be limited to the total available. The main objective is to maximize the Paralysis Attack skill, but this only handles one of the four available slots. You can also try to increase Evade Extender up to Rank 4, or you can introduce other perks such as Divine Blessing for some protection against hits from monsters or Attack Boost for a flat boost to your attack.
- Paralysis Attack – increases the weapon’s paralysis buildup value. Rank 1 increase by 50, while Rank 5 increases by 150. (Amber only)
- Evade Extender – extends evasion distance. Very slightly at Rank 1, but massively at Rank 5. (Pale only)
- Divine Blessing – gives a chance of reducing damage from a monster’s attack. Rank 1 has a 30% chance to reduce it by 50%, while Rank 5 has a 50% chance to reduce it by 80%. (Amber only)
- Attack Boost – increases attack power. Rank 1 by 20 and Rank 5 by 120. (Common)
- Released
- September 14, 2023