Greetings everyone, Blackwater bringing you a guide on the usefulness and potential of the lance.

The lance is one of the lesser used weapons in comparison to the Long Sword or the Great Sword. Many a user will be dissuaded by the lack of power, slow movement, rather paltry evade and accuracy of the lance. Fear not for the lance has many marvellous features to make up for these shortcomings. Why should I use the lance? That is an excellent question, the lance has a powerful block and with the right armour abilities can even stop dead the electric shock of the khezu or the heat beam of a gravios. In the right hands, the DPS of a lance can skyrocket, by chaining together upward stabs, side steps and more stabs you can deal a very large amount of damage in a short amount of time. I'm sure you've heard enough of the benefits of the lance however and we will get directly to the gameplay!

:Lancing for the beginners, first steps

A strong offense

The lance has five main attack moves- the upward stab, straight stab, guard straight stab, the unsheathe and the charge.

The straight stab will be the first move you will commonly use. It has long range and has the benefit of a step forward to extend your lance farther. This move can be chained three times with other straight stabs or the upward stab. The straight stab will be useful for fighting off the smaller critters as it is fast and deadly. In certain cases you stab through one monster and straight into another, just like a skewer.

The upward stab is the main bread and butter move for those fighting those tall and large monsters. The upward stab deals a percentile more damage than the straight stab, followed by a small step forward and is the most useful to the lancer for breaking or cutting certain pieces of the monster off. Accuracy is key in this aspect of the lance and laxity will not be forgiven by you for missing or the monster who eats you. It is important to remember that positioning and knowledge of the striking of distance is key in all aspects of the lance.

The Guard stab maybe the second most useful ability in the lance, second to the upward stab. The guard stab has the added benefit of being able to attack straight out of the guard stance. It is important to note that while you are attacking with the guard stab, that you are not guarding. The guard stab is fast and ruthless and has the ability to cut and damage many a careless wyvern's head. The key to mastery of the guard stab is to know when to strike and when to not strike. Greed will be your downfall as they run roughshod over your porous defence.

The unsheathe strike is another useful attack of the lance. Boasting the same power of the upward stab and in certain higher rank lances can kill a small critter outright in one shot. It grants you the mobility of being able to run unencumbered by an unsheathed weapon and follow up with a powerful and quick strike. Once again accuracy, positioning and knowledge of the distance is essential to the mastery of the unsheathe strike.

The Charge is one of the more underrated moves of the lance, many a player after using the lance many times may tend to question the usefulness of the charge. The charge is both a simple and complicated move to use and master. It requires a deep knowledge of both the monster and the weapon. At its most basic level the charge has two basic attack portions, the running portion and the finisher. The running portion does equivalent damage to the guard and the finisher is the most powerful move of the lance. The charge attack is also blessed with ESP, allowing you to pierce the toughest hides while in charge mode. The charge however leaves you vulnerable during the charge state, you must know when to charge and when not to charge. If the monster moves away, you must change direction or stop completely. Charging nonsensically will get you killed. Positioning and accuracy is important here. The charge when used skilfully can end a limping monster or cut off that tail that you can't penetrate.

A strong defense

The lance of course is not limited to the lance portion but also the shield. The shield will be your fortress, it will defend you from many attacks. Use it correctly and the need to stockpile massive amounts of potions can become a thing of the past. When using the shield facing is extremely important. Simply putting up your shield does not make you invulnerable, it is important to understand that your facing and positioning will play an important factor when guarding. Know where the attacks will come from and raise your shield in defiance. Certain deceptive moves such as the tail swing are particularly important for a lancer to pay attention to, face the direction of the tail swing and you will not be harmed. Roars are able to be blocked by the shield, but once again face the centre of the roar and guard appropriately. You can move forward with the block armed, this is useful and also regains stamina lost from guarding. Guard stab also regains lost stamina, be very mindful of your stamina bar as it will dictate how much you can guard. Power juice and Mega juice can overcome this flaw.

In certain cases guarding will not protect unless you have the Guard Inc skill which will make nearly all moves blockable, except for certain powerful moves. There are certain skills that makes the blocking ability of the lance incredibly powerful but we will cover those later. The block is also a quick way to end a combo chain and protecting you from assault.

All in all blocking is not that complicated, it is a matter of knowing when to and when to not block.

Mobility and Evasion

Moving with the lance is slow but by sheathing your weapon you can have a sudden increase to your mobility. Sometimes the slow plodding steps of the lance however are all you need to get into position, not every move has to be at high speed. An understanding of how fast you need to move and when is extremely useful for the lance, getting yourself into position with a bare minimum of effort will triple your effectiveness as a lancer.

The back hop and side step are powerful evasive abilities when used correctly. A simple back hop can prevent you from being hit by a huge variety of moves and also applies to the side hop. The evasive hop has the added benefit of letting you continue or extend your chain. Mastery of the evasive hop in this aspect allows you to deal a continuous stream of damage, accurate positioning will allow you to deal damage to that same spot the whole time making it faster to break off tails, claws or break heads.

The evasive hop allows you to dodge moves at a hairs breadth. This can be daunting to do at first, but once you practice it will be come second nature to you. Now there are two abilities that assist in your evasive hop- Evade +1/2 and Evade distance up. Evade + when timed correctly allows you to hop through certain attacks. This hop must be timed at the point when the attack hits you, so your frame of invulnerability will render the attack feeble. Evade distance up will increase how far you can move, and prevent those pesky sweeping moves from knocking you down.

For those who prefer using the backhop as a form of travel, evade distance up will increase how far you can back hop and make you faster.

Evasion drains far less stamina than guarding but is much more difficult to master than the simple block.

Putting it all together

There is no single correct strategy for use with the lance. The attack of course is an essential part, but certain players favour guarding and others evasion. It is important for you to develop your own singular playing style with the lance. Some of the points outlined in this guide might also apply for the gunlance.

A combination of both the evade and the guard will make you a fearsome and impregnable fortress. Practice of course will make perfect.


Useful skills

Guard +1/2 will reduce the stamina required to block allowing you to block for longer and better.
Guard Inc will allow you to block nearly all monster moves, making you nigh unmovable in combination with power or mega juice.
Evade +1/2 will allow you to "hop" through certain attacks
Evade Inc will increase the distance of your hop
Sharp + everyone needs a sharpness increase, why not lancers too?
Sword sharpener is very useful to avoid getting blown to shred while sharpening

Parting note

Thus brings an end to the beginners guide to the lance. I may make an advanced strategy guide for the lance later, PM me if you have any questions, queries, advice or criticisms.

Put in the more useful combos of the weapon, and which combos are easiest for cutting tails, etc. Also add which moves are easiest to return to the blocking position with.

And how to deal with those flighty monsters who run around too much or cause too much wind pressure, like the Gypceros.

Lancer's guide: Extra edition

Special thanks to Doc for giving me some extra things to write about, those issues are pretty important for blademasters after all.

Combo guide

Anyway due to my lack of technological aptitude, don't expect any pictures or videos here but I will use the maximum extent of my grammatical ability to make things exponentially clearer to you.

Lance combo's are many and varied depending on the monster you need to fight. Openings for combos of course are important to find in the first place. I'll place a legend here first for what symbols I'm going to use represent moves and save myself the trouble of having to rewrite each specific move.

Legend

Straight Stab- SS
Upward Stab- US
Unsheathe Strike- UnS
Guard Stab- GS
Charge- C
Guard on-GO
Guard off- GX
Evade back- Eb
Evade left/right- EX


So for the basics we have our general SS,SS,SS chain and our US,US,US chain which is all fine and dandy but finding openings for these chains can take some work as usually if you do not stagger the monster by the end of this chain they will hit you with a hip check, tail swing or if you are too close just knock you over with their feet. The key for this chain here is selecting the appropriate timing, distance and position.

The SS x 3 chain is useful for knocking over larger wyverns by targeting their legs, this can be risky if you don't do enough damage to do so in the first time. This chain however is most useful just skewering multiple little critters such as the 'prey species. There is a little bit of a pause at the end of this chain where you are unable to block, just a frame's length so it might not be that much of a flaw but should be kept in mind. It is faster to use Eb or EX to get yourself out of harm's way.

The USx 3 chain would most likely be your tail cutting, head cutting, wing damaging combo. Learn it, Use it, Love it. This chain has a huge damage output and can damage time and again those hard to reach places that people can't normally hit, except maybe for those LS users and GL users, unlike them however we can confidently perform a chain on that same spot. Accuracy and positioning for the Lancer is so important in this case, being half a step off could result missing the head and stabbing the air instead. That's why practising this power chain is important- Positioning, Distance and Timing! The US x 3 chain also suffers from a slight frame pause at the end, so its important to consider how long the monster will take to retaliate, blocking or evading is your best choice, I recommend evading as it will get you out of harm's way faster and drain less stamina.

The SS/US x 2, GO combo would is one of your most useful tools in your arsenals, as soon as the last hit has finished connecting bash that block button. Many a time when you are trying to commit to the 3 hit chain you will be whacked clean and clear by a counter if you do not stagger the monster. This will protect you and allow you to deliver a devastating US x 3 or SS x 3 power chain as they return to the ready stance. For those of you who have trouble with speedy or flighty monsters consider using this chain to avoid getting trampled or blown back. There will be no frame pause during the block phase so do not fear. If the monsters are too fast you might consider only using one strike and then block. Patience is key.

The SS/US x 2, Eb/EX combination is another very useful combination. When striking a the head of a wyvern and they rear their head back to bite you this will not only got you out of trouble but put you in prime position for a strong rebuttal. Extra EX moves will allow you to circle the monster and get in a clean tail hit but be mindful of the monster's movements during the time. There is a slight flaw for beginners as they tend to wiggle the thumbstick in all sorts of directions making them evade in wrong directions or worse, keeping a clear and calm mind is important in this situation.

The GO/ GS, GO, GS loop is strong tool in the defensive arsenal of the lancer. Damage output may not seem high at first but this is a war of attrition you will surely win. After multiple rounds of this loop the damage will begin to tell on the monster. I personally have shredded many a Tigrex and Rathalos skull with this loop and I recommend it highly as you will always be in position to stab those skulls. This loop is espeically powerful with your back against the wall as charging monsters such as the Blos series or the Tigrex will get themselves lodged in the wall, an opening for Us x 3 chain on whatever you part the desire. Be mindful of your stamina however, exploit every opening for a hit to not only damage them but to regain a bit of energy as well.

UnS, SS/US x 2 is a strong opener and with a reasonably powerful lance will certainly stagger or knock a wyvern over. Frame pause at the end of combo could leave you vulnerable, be mindful of this and evade or block accordingly. Using this combination on a sleeping monster will set damage values skyrocketing, but note that the UnS does not have ESP unlike the C. For this combo use your mobility while your lance is sheathed to find a gap in the Wyvern's defences and then pierce them in the heart, or whatever body part you desire. Tail cutting maybe difficult to connect with the first strike but will be rewarding if it does. If you strike down the tail towards the body multiple hits may be registered due to the length of the lance but this is very difficult.

UnS, SS/US, GO is another strong and quick combo, useful for the speedier monsters. Working on the same principle as SS/US x 2, GO master it and use it accordingly. Be mindful of your stamina when sprinting towards the monster as you may not have enough energy to block whatever blow comes towards you.

UnS, SS/US, Eb/EX works on the same principle of the earlier chain of SS/US x 2, Eb/EX but with the added benefit of higher mobility. Position yourself adequately, strike hard and fast, evade and repeat. A combo I prefer to use against the gypceros while targeting its head. This can be useful for the faster monsters who tend to outrun us.

C- is a combo all on its own and is more or less useful for taking down fleeing, limping monsters as well as doing heavy damage to those grounded and asleep as the finishing strike is the most powerful move in a Lancer's arsenal. The added benefit of ESP will allow you to pierce the toughest hide and score many a brutal hit. The finishing hit does not suffer from a frameshift pause and will be allowed to block immediately thereafter. Evasion can also be used immediately.

Here is a sample combo I used in a recent fight against a Tigrex, note he has not spotted me until I started sprinting.

Sprint- target tail- UnS, US x 2- (Tigrex roars)- US x 3, Eb- shift left, GO, (Tigrex charge), (Tigrex Charge and then Tigrex Bite)-now facing head on- GS, GO loop for a few bites resulting in a head break.

Facing off against the fast and the flighty

As a lancer our speed is not what you would call our best trait, in fact it would be our worst trait outright. How can we overcome this lack of speed? Back hopping everywhere seems viable but that is stamina sometimes you would want to conserve otherwise as Mega Juice and Power Juice do not always come in stock.

So what is our main weapon then?

Our Weapon is patience.

Patience? That's rubbish- some people may say but it is our most powerful weapon. As lancer's we have the opportunity and the weapon necessary to play a calm and cool game. When the monster is raging and is all but impossible to catch up to unless you get hit, don't chase after it. Play it smart and play it safe, you won't win any speed records this way, but you also won't score a good hit either if you chase after it. These monsters that are flighty will always have a series of openings that will become clearer to you as you wait patiently and observe. For example the Gypceros may spend a part of its time running and generally being stupid, but during this time it is unwise to assault it. It will have a period of time where it will stop and start attacking with moves such as the bite and tail spin. That is your cue to assault. Let it know that you are its master.

For the windier dragons, the dragon windbreaker ability is a wonderful thing to have. But for those who do not have it, consider the shield you own. It blocks everything from roars to gusts of wind. Once again however be mindful of your stamina as you may need to block attacks later. The answer here is to be observant and be patient. These principles also don't just apply to the Lance but to all other weapons as well.

As Sun Tzu said, "He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious"

Parting note

Thus ends the Lancer's guide extra edition, if you have any advice, questions, comments or criticisms just tell me or PM me. I'll credit you in the next edition of a Lancer's guide for it.

Back in my clan in Tri (my character name is Ulin) my title within the clan was Ulin the Relentless, and this was for two reasons. One, I could use any damZ weapon with remarkable speed and precision, and two, because I never relented in my assault. I S-ranked every single arena quest in both high and low rank with the right partners and weapon classes. But I can't use the lance for beans in MHFU despite it being pretty much the same in Tri.

Thanks a lot for the guide though. I hope it gets more people to realize how useful and versatile the fortress-like weapon can be.

Wow it must be so fun to be in a clan. I only play solo so I don't really have any experience fighting except by myself.

Made a few of those G rank guild quests a little hairy but I survived. Maybe I would be called May the Immovable or May the Lancer. *Laughs* Who knows, maybe if my internet connection becomes a little more robust I will come looking for you Ulin the Relentless.

I don't play online except once in a blue moon. My connection just isn't powerful enough. When I move back into the city I'll get high speed internet again though.

I started the clan myself and always kept it tight-knit. It was small and near entirely made of arena rats. Those were the kind of people you knew knew what they were doing. With the proper equipment and preparation you can bring down anything. Just takes know-how. The arena is PURE skill, and I wear the Guild Bard armor proudly.

The Barioth/Agnaktor dual arena challenge was always my favorite. It's so easy to maneuver between the two to cause infighting and I also get to use an Sns. My partner normally would pick the water longsword and we'd always end up killing the Barioth first. Either because I outclassed my partner and/or the Agnaktor's attacks almost all cause fire damage and the Barioth seems magnetically attracted to his heat beam.

I love infighting in dual monster quests.

Well I used to play online but my internet connection is not what you would call amazing or even normal in any sense of the word.

I've gotten quite used to playing solo so I'm rather interested in hearing more about the various ways multiplayer challenges go. I love clashes of pure skill and it is definite sign of Hunter's worthiness in the sight of others.

I don't mind the infighting that monsters have when together but I do enjoy the bitter struggle when they are united against me. Not exactly a smart idea but it is thrilling at times. What would you consider to be an apt nickname or nom de guerre for my character? You already know I use the lance often.

By the way I'm considering writing an advanced guide later, any ideas on what to include? I'm omitting the individual monster lance guide because that would be too large of a project for myself.

Nothing funnier than when the Rathian flips her tail into the Rathalos' head and poisons him. A second later he fireballs her right out of the air.

Group play is fun casually or seriously, as long as you have the right people. I always get angry when people talk trash and can't even hunt for beans. I'm typically silent in the city unless I'm giving advice, answering a question, or directing a group in a hunt. Sometimes a friend and I would just run out together and take on the highest ranking quests in Tri, and win those conqueror's seals all the time. Surprising how much I fight the Barioth but never made his armor. I'm still saving those bird wyvern stones for my sleep Sns.

Group play is best when everyone has different weapons and knows where to put them. As hilariously easy as the hammer makes the Gobul, I still can't cut his tail with it. Same as the Uragaan. Although my skill with the GS and Sns are such that I can make every possible wound on nearly any monster while running solo. I can't stand seeing someone run in with a hammer against a Rathian or Barroth or something and not have the sense to aim for it's head. People need to know where to aim.

May the Immovable actually sounds nice, to be honest. I gave every clan member the opportunity to name themselves if they wanted to, I'd just give suggestions based on their personalities and more importantly, their hunting style.

The only thing I can think of in an advanced guide would be to put in basic tutorials for some monsters that are hard to solo with a lance, and maybe the best weapon paths for the lance when considering raw damage, affinity, sharpness, or elemental/status effects.

I suppose it would be difficult performing well in group play, when all the players in group play are more or less idiots. I wouldn't mind playing with an experienced team however, something that would thrill me.

I'm sure I can avoid lots of nasty friendly fire incidents with my lance though. In all honesty though, I have never seen much infighting between monsters as their collective attention is more or less focused on myself.

On occasion it could be the taunt ability or in another time just coincidence. Not that I consider taunt to be a negative ability, in fact it makes the fight more exciting. Having everyone clash with you at the same time.

I suppose for the lance guide a tutorial for specific difficult monsters for the lance such as the Blangonga would probably work well. Lance weapon paths guide would require a bit of effort and research. I was thinking of a more in depth armour skills guide and item benefits guide. Perhaps something on getting into the ideal position and tutorials on gauging distances. How does that sound?

Sounds excellent. A set of comprehensive armor skills that help the lance the most would be a great thing to add. I don't think you can give remarkable detail regarding distance and positioning. Some things just flat out take experience.

I have never caused a monster to target another one, but it certainly is easy getting them to hit each other. Heck I use the large monster for crowd control in MHFU more than my own weapon. How many Ioprey I've seen clawed to death by the S. Ceanataur or blown away by the Gravios is hilarious.

Large groups always only seemed fun if everyone was the same HR and taking on bigger things. Although I ALWAYS get a thrill from captaining a group against the Jhen Mohran so long as they do what they're told and leave the auxiliary weaponry alone until necessary. Nothing gets me angrier at other hunters than using the dragonator when they aren't supposed to.

Alrighty then! Looks like the Advanced Lancers guide is set. It will be a tutorial on tougher monsters, well the early ones anyway. I'll just add extra editions as I go along. Comprehensive armour skills and items guide. You're probably right about the distance thing though, some skills only have experience as a teacher.

Ahh my many fights with Black Gravios make me recall how many scorched pigs were left behind. Although I think it would be better if it didn't take more than 3 hits with the heat ray to kill a mosswine.

Fighting the Jhen Mohran alone was a little depressing actually, I really need to work on finding a better internet supplier.

Lances are kinda fun to use if used properly, I'm not that great and I still have to read your entirety of guide Blackwater but im sure it will help, Lancing a Deviljho seems so fun though

lol thats some good info but i dont use strategy i just play the game and use my skills

Thanks guys, I'm just giving a hand out to those who want to better know the lance. Once I have time again, I'll finish off the next edition of a Lancer's guide.

awsome