How To Use The Lance In Monster Hunter Wilds

Weapons have a fairly wide variety in Monster Hunter Wilds, though they don’t always fit neatly into categories. Some weapons are extremely complex, some are simple, some are offensive-oriented, some are defensive-oriented, and some are perfect for support.

One weapon that does fit fairly easy into a couple of categories is the Lance: it’s a more defensive-style weapon, as well as a simple weapon to grasp the basics of. There are some intricacies to it, and you can’t just pick it up and find immediate, roaring success; but once you’re accustomed to its unique pace, you can do great things with the Lance.

You can see the specific Lance controls for your platform by going into Settings > Info > Play Guide > Weapon Controls > Lance.

Lance Overview

The Lance is one of the rare weapons that includes a shield along with it. Because of this, many of its strengths and mechanics rely on making use of that shield to deal with incoming monster attacks in a different way than most other weapons are capable of.

Guard

You can Guard with your shield at any time, even in the middle of a combo; this is going to block much incoming damage, and open up possibilities for you to counter those attacks with moves we’ll get into below.

The most important aspect of Guard is counter-attacks: these are attacks that automatically happen immediately after you Guard against an attack. If you time your block perfectly, meaning you Guard the moment before an attack hits you, you’ll trigger Perfect Guard, which gives you a more powerful counter-attack.

There are two counter-attacks you can choose to manually perform after a Guard, as well. Return Thrust is quick and deals mild damage, while Payback Thrust is not quite as quick, but is more punishing.

Lance Movement Changes

The Lance changes a few things about how you Hunter moves, just by having the weapon equipped and drawn.

• The Lance reduces your movement speed drastically. This is doubly so while guarding with your shield, but even when your shield is relaxed, you are not going to have the movement speed you would otherwise.
• Your dodge is going to be different. This new dodge is quick, but does not take you nearly the distance the default dodge does. In general, this dodge is less effective, but that fact is offset by the ability to block with your shield.
• While guarding, you can use a Guard Dash. This dash is very similar to the normal dash that you’ll have with the Lance equipped, but it takes you a little further than that. On top of that, you’ll have a couple of different attack options coming out of a Guard Dash that we’ll get into below.

Not All About Defense

While the Lance has some defensive capabilities that other weapons don’t, that doesn’t mean it’s incapable of meaningful offense. Used well, the Lance can deal some very significant damage in a short amount of time.

This is especially true when using the defensive capabilities of the weapon well; the defensive and offensive options with the Lance go hand-in-hand, and succeeding in defense is going to propel your offense much further.

Lance Combos And Tips

The Lance’s attacks come in a couple of different types: primarily, your options are different when purely attacking, compared to attacking after a successful guard. While other weapons are specifically useful when avoiding enemy attacks, or in-between enemy attacks, the Lance is one of the few that can punish enemy attacks.

Basic Attack Combos

The Basic Attack combos for the Lance are both pretty similar.

• The first is a jab-combo straight ahead; it’s got fairly good reach, and the damage is more than acceptable, particularly if you make it to the end of the combo, which is Triple Thrust.
• The second is another jab-combo, but instead of straight ahead, it takes a slightly upward angle. This is great for positioning shots at a certain part of a monster that you’d like to break, often the head, and ends in a different way: a Charge Counter that deals high damage in one big hit.

You can hold the attack button to hold Charge Counter; if you time it with a monster’s attack, you’ll deal significantly extra damage.

You’ll usually be employing the first combo, ending in Triple Thrust; the damage of this combo is better, and doesn’t require the timing of the second to get the maximum damage. But, timed well and against the right telegraphed monster attack, the second combo can be extremely effective.

Leaping Thrust

If you need to close a gap quicker than walking at your enemy, you’ve got a couple of options, the first of which is Leaping Thrust. This attack launches you forward a few feet, giving you quite a bit more reach than the default thrust.

This attack comes out at a medium speed, but does pretty solid damage. In terms of overall damage, this is like getting to use the final attack in a combo without having to use attacks leading up to it.

Dash Attack

The second way to close a gap is with Dash Attack. This is performed out of a Guard, resulting in your Hunter sprinting forward with their Lance in front of them. This is, by far, the quickest way to move with the Lance.

It can be difficult to turn while using Dash Attack, but if your target is lined up in front of you, the damage can be extremely good, with damage hitting repeatedly while you’re running, and allowing you to thrust your Lance forward for a finisher.

Wide Sweep

Wide Sweep can only be performed in the middle of a combo, and acts as a big burst of damage where a smaller-damage move might otherwise be.

Wide Sweep has a couple of strengths:

• As it sounds like it should, it has a wide area of attack. If a monster has moved to the side of you, you can hit them with this as you turn around to face them, ensuring you don’t have any wasted time in your combo.
• Importantly, you can continue the Basic Combo combo you’d started before you used Wide Sweep. It’s a good way to increase the damage of a combo overall; just be careful that it doesn’t get you too far out of position.

Guard Dash Shield Attack | Leaping Thrust

Immediately after a Guard Dash, you’ll have access to two attacks: Shield Attack and Leaping Thrust. Leaping Thrust works great as a follow-up immediately after a monster attack, especially if the monster attacked from a small distance that you need to close right away.

Shield Attack is fairly low-damage attack, but it does come out quickly, allowing you to get right into another combo afterward.

Charge Counter | Power Guard

Charge Counter is, essentially, a style of Guarding that will allow you to unleash a counter-attack when you would like to. If timed right, you’ll unleash a more powerful counter-attack, similar to a Perfect Guard.

Power Guard can only be activated when holding a Charge Counter. Power Guard will allow you to block significantly more damage than you otherwise would, but drains your stamina as you hold it.

The major benefit of Power Guard is that you can block multiple attacks, and unleash a counter-attack that’s stronger based on those attacks that you absorbed. If a monster is unleashing something particularly powerful, this is not only a great way to mitigate it, but also to punish them for it.

Focus Strike: Victory Strike

The Focus Strike for the Lance is called Victory Strike. With a Focus Strike, the intent is to hit a wound you’ve inflicted on a monster, which in Focus Mode, will glow red.

In the case of Victory Strike, when you attack a wound, you’ll charge at the enemy with your shield, dealing damage multiple times, and then thrust your Lance forward, again dealing damage multiple times.