Topic: Monster Hunter Rise

@JaxonH That build looks decent! Honestly I think the sacrifice of Earplugs/DefenseBoost is a very reasonable concession in order to run Defiance Lv5. I try to keep minimum of Defiance Lv3 in most builds, but of course there are just so many other QoL skills I'm desperate to fit in!

I think if you can get your pre-buff defense to around ~800 (+/- 10%) then this is the point where DefBoost probably becomes fairly irrelavent - and things like Divine Blessing are what will actually prevent carting (vs the diminished return of a few more defense points)

How are you finding Bow? I must confessed I've never mained anything other than GS, and cannot imagine playing ranged!

I'm currently loving Surge Slash, and branching out a bit to elemental weapons.... which is keeping the AR grind fresher, and giving me an additional focus whilst I push (v slowly!) towards AR200.

Are you running Cats/Dogs? I had 2 x Gun Dogs, but read that Silkbinder got nerfed in the recent patch... so now I'm running 2 x Element Dogs (both using dual chain) which is working awesome! Bit of a pain having to swap their weapons every hunt to match the monster, but the damage output seems to justify the effort.

This game is ridiculous value for money, so many hours poured in

@CJD87
It's incredible.

I mained Switch Axe for base Rise and Great Sword for Sunbreak, but once I get my fill of a weapon I tend to move on and learn something else.

I gotta say, it's way more fun than I ever expected. Like... between HBG, LBG and Bow, I'd say Bow is the most fun. And here's how it's so different.

You'd think gunning doesn't give the same rush and a melee weapon, but it totally does. At least, Bow does, anyways. The weapon is all about Stamina management. The whole loop of the weapon is shoot, dash, shoot, dash, etc. So you constantly are draining stamina. Shots take stamina, dashing takes stamina, and you're chaining them back to back. That's why Constitution 5, Stamina Surge 3 is so important. And even then drinking a dash juice can help.

I love how your Switch skills can opt between two types of dashing- one dashes farther but costs more Stamina, the other is this Boltdash which is shorter but less Stamina. That's why Evade Extender 2 is needed. But it has a trick- if you dash to get out of the way of the monster, you'll auto-counter them with a melee arrow strike if they hit you when you're dashing. It's freaking awesome and super addictive. It happens way more frequently during fights than I expected.

There's also the charge levels which, you can hold a shot to charge similar to GS, but that's a waste. If you just fire repeatedly, each shot gains a charge level. On 4th shot you're on max. Dashing also increases shot level. So the key is dash dancing and maintaining Level 4 charge. That's the name of the game.

As fun as Great Sword is (and it is incredible in Sunbreak), I highly recommend learning a new weapon. Sunbreak weapons have never been better. Switch Axe and Bow in particular.

@JaxonH Thanks man for the thorough response!

I play a lot of online-MP for anomaly hunts, and am astounded by the popularity of Bow... I'd say maybe >65% of online players seem to use this, with other favorites being Long Sword and Dual Blades (its a lonely world for GS-Mains.... I barely see any online!)

The stamina management sounds super interesting, and perhaps not a million miles away from an average FromSoftware title? Most of the Souls games (clones and otherwise) seem to hinge closely on your stamina and management of such, which I've always enjoyed.

The grind to AR200 is pretty brutal right now, think I am around AR136ish. Farming for Element GS items in between is helping maintain sanity, although funnily enough I'm having to go back to some Low/High rank hunts in base Rise to get the origin weapons so I can upgrade to the rarity 10s! At least my MR build can steam-roll those LR/HR hunts pretty quick.

It honestly blows my mind how much time you could plough into Sunbreak if you were inclined. Learning a new weapon, and the associated builds/mechanics/switch skills/playstyles etc, must surely constitute an entirely 'new game'?!

Shame that there isn't a category for "Best DLC/Expansion" at the upcoming Game Awards, I feel that Sunbreak would be a very deserving winner.

I've got FF7 Crisis Core coming next week, but still intend to have Sunbreak as my side-game

@CJD87
Thats par for the course with The Game Awards. The deserving titles are never recognized. Just the mass marketed high budget stuff. Sunbreak deserves so much recognition it'll never receive.

I also have Crisis Core predownloaded on my Switch. Will take a detour for that, and Fire Emblem Engage.

Learning and building for different weapons does make the game feel new again, though. Suddenly the hunts play out entirely differently. If I can sink 800 hrs into Rise + Sunbreak using only Switch Axe and Great Sword before growing tired of them, I imagine I'll be able to get another 200 hours from Bow before mastering it and moving on.

As long as you have Constitution 5 and Stamina 3, and set your Switch Skill to use normal shots rather than the Absolute shots (they do Stun damage but use more stamina), you can pretty much dash dance for several minutes before stamina drains. Which is more than enough in real combat situations.

With MHR coming to PS4/PS5 I wonder if MHW 2 is just that much further away?

I’m pretty happy that this is coming to
gamepass. It will probably give me enough motivation to actually “git good” as the kids say.

@Magician
We had this discussion pages back.

They likely decided to develop the next game for Switch 2, which means it can't release in 2023 due to Sunbreak still getting title updates. Which means it needs to be pushed back to 2024 at the earliest. As such, they needed something to give other platforms in the meantime, otherwise they'd be waiting 7+ years between World and the next game.

The Capcom leak did not include Rise on other platforms. So clearly plans changed. And the next game going to Switch 2, eliminating split releases, would explain the change of plans. Make all releases on all platforms and maximize sales.

Another thing I like about Bow is, you take more physical damage, and because so many crucial skills are required, Defense is about 100 less than it was in my Great Sword build.

This results in hits taking much larger chunks of your healthbar, and makes hunts feel dangerous again. When your defense is 920, nothing feels dangerous anymore. When defense is 820 and you're taking extra damage, there's a genuine fear of being carted

I came very close to carting when fighting Shagaru Magala. This creates tension and suspense, and makes the hunts more exciting. Bow has reinvigorated my love for this game to a level I haven't felt since the initial Rise demo.

...Meanwhile I'm getting back into the Glaive, think I tried getting back into it in this game a while ago, but...eh, I kinda went back to the Gunlance. Think I'll be using it more often for good this time.

Also...I think my explosion attack here got him first. xD

@Joeynator3000
Playing with fire... literally

Yo... I'm getting some sick augment rolls.

One one piece I got Partbreaker, another Pierce Up, another speed eating and item prolonger, another double slots, and I just got Furious Level 1 with another slot.

Furious can only otherwise be attained by Furious Rajang armor. It's just level 1, but even so, every 1 min 50 sec my hunter activates Fury mode where if you swap to the blue scroll you have unlimited stamina. Perfect for bow where stamina is everything, especially since my blue scroll has Absolute Power Shot which can Stun, but takes more stamina. It only lasts 30 seconds on Level 1 but still, the fact it will reactivate over and over every 2 minutes, giving a free 30 seconds of unlimited stamina, that's awesome! And an extra alot which I added another defense gem in, since the augment roll sacrificed a previous +42 defense augment. That added another 15 defense and an extra +2 on all resistances so it was more like a 25 defense loss for Furious 1.

Quick Breath is insanely good! It removes all elemental blights in addition to most status effects. Meaning it's better than Blight Resistance 3 and that's not even accounting for the statuses.

I just rolled a divine augment adding a THREE slot and one slot. The 3-slot let me add Quick Breath and I'm blown away. Blood Orange Bishaten constantly setting me on fire? Having to sheath and roll all the time? Not any more.

Had to give up my Furious skill but eh, it was only 30 seconds anyways and I can drink Dash Juice. With the augment Speed Eating 1 it makes it easier, too.

Quick Breath Removes Everything Below:

• All the elemental blights (Fire, Water, Thunder, Ice, Dragon).
• Hellfireblight (won't leave a flame on the ground but doesn't need a dash).
• Defense Down.
• Resistance Down.
• Bubbleblight (Minor and Major).
• Bleeding (will recover the bleed portion of health and grant increased health regen).
• Poison and Deadly Poison.
• Blastblight.
• Putrid Gas.

...Ugh, fighting Furious Rajang (probably Rajang in general I guess, lol) with the Glaive is just a pain for me, I need my giant shield from the Gunlance. lol

@Joeynator3000
Mmm... nah, you don't.

You want to return to your crutch because that's what you're comfortable with and have used for so long, and its challenging to learn to get good in different ways. But you can learn to dodge and beat Rajang at his own game. Just stay out of the air. Aerial combat just doesn't work on Rajang unless you're like, upper echelon of the skill distribution.

Aerial doesn't work in general in this game...every time I use it I just get hit and knocked down. I just like the Gunlance, simple as that.

Man, I'm having so much fun with Bow and this killer armor set.

Investigations are piling up quick. Up to around Level 80, I think? With A6 quests unlocked? I think I'm gonna build another set for a different weapon.

Already got Great Sword.
Already got Bow.
Need to make endgame Switch Axe set.
Need to make endgame Gunlance set.
Need to make endgame Charge Blade set.

After that... maybe it's time to learn the Hammer properly.

Meanwhile, on Twitter...

Also, let me know what you come up with for Gunlance armor.

@Joeynator3000
It was datamined. We know Amatsu is coming, only question is whether it's TU4 or TU5.

Building endgame sets takes a while, and I'm still enjoying the Bow. But eventually I'll be making a Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Gunlance (and maybe even Insect Glaive) set. Probably a few hundred hours of playtime in the future, but its on the to-do list. Guard and Guard up will definitely be must-haves, as well as Constitition, Stamina Surge, Evade Extender 3, Load Shells, and some QoL skills like Razor Sharp, Handicraft, Wirebug Whisperer, Partbreaker, Good Luck, Stun Res, etc.

@JaxonH Last I heard Velkhana would be in the next update...I gave up on arguing about datamine and crap...but everyone wants to think Amatsu is next, lol

@Joeynator3000
Nobody knows for sure. All we know is Amatsu is coming. And we know an Iceborne flying moster whose ID falls between a certain range is coming, which the most likely candidate is Velkhana or a Velkhana variant. Could also be Namielle.