Great Sword Guide
Great Sword begins with a wager: where will the monster be when the blade lands? That answer sets how much charge the opening can actually hold and turns a correct read into one enormous hit. The goal is not to finish the longest combo every time. Release a shorter charge when that is all the opening allows, preserve the sequence with Tackle when you can take the hit, or sheathe and reposition when the target will no longer be there.
The largest reward is the powered version of True Charged Slash. Its small first hit must connect with a weak part so that the much stronger second hit receives the power bonus. This makes aim part of the commitment: predicting enough time for the swing is not enough if either hit will land in the wrong place.
The weapon can guard, but a block consumes sharpness and ends any charge in progress. During a charge, Tackle instead reduces the damage and prevents the usual knockback while advancing the charge sequence. You still take damage and spend stamina, so a tackle is a deliberate trade, not invulnerability.
This guide covers Iceborne's final balance. Detailed weapon controls are in the in-game Hunter's Notes, while the official manual covers the general controls. Combat Mechanics explains why the same attack can deal different damage. The complete move list is in Motion Values.
If this weapon is new to you, try it in the Training Area first. Use the in-game Hunter's Notes to practice its basic attacks; this guide explains how to connect them into a hunt.
Charge
Charged Slash, Strong Charged Slash, and True Charged Slash each have three charge levels. Release at Lv 3 when the opening is long enough. Holding beyond Lv 3 overcharges the slash and reduces it to Lv 2 strength; there is no stronger fourth level. Lv 3 reduces charge time by 15%, which can turn an opening that only allowed an early release into one that reaches Lv 3.
True Charged Slash has a small first hit followed by its main hit. The main hit receives its power bonus only when the first hit connects with a part whose sever hitzone is at least 45, including a part that reaches that threshold after being wounded. At Lv 3, the powered main hit has a motion value of 264. Without the qualifying first hit, the main hit still occurs but has a motion value of 211.
The full ground sequence is Charged Slash -> Strong Charged Slash -> True Charged Slash. Each step asks the same question: will the target remain in reach through this release and the next transition? Release the current slash if the answer is no. After the final hit, roll to shorten the recovery, then reposition and use a draw attack to begin a new charge.
If an incoming hit would interrupt Strong Charged Slash, cancel the charge into Tackle. The tackle advances directly to True Charged Slash, avoiding the released slash and its recovery. Take that route only when the reduced incoming damage will not put you in danger.
Two other routes reach True Charged Slash sooner:
- Roll -> Tackle -> Strong Charged Slash -> True Charged Slash. This skips the opening Charged Slash, trading that attack's damage for a faster route through the sequence.
- Many Great Sword attacks can lead into Slinger Burst -> True Charged Slash. Directional input during the burst lets you turn before the final slash. A Slinger Burst cannot follow Tackle directly.
Tackle
Tackle deals blunt damage, reduces damage from an incoming hit, and prevents its normal knockback so the charge sequence can continue. It does not apply the weapon's element, and it does not prevent the damage itself. Check your health before choosing to trade.
The tackle's damage depends on the charge level reached before you cancel the slash: its Lv 1, Lv 2, and Lv 3 motion values are 26, 35, and 48. Separately, the tackle advances the attack sequence. A tackle during Charged Slash leads to Strong Charged Slash, while one during Strong Charged Slash leads to True Charged Slash. Do not confuse the amount of charge stored with the slash's place in that sequence.
After Tackle, use Jumping Wide Slash when you need forward movement and True Charged Slash would miss. The Jumping Wide Slash also inherits the tackle's charge level for its damage value. It returns you to the start of the charge sequence, or it can lead into Slinger Burst -> True Charged Slash.
True Charged Slash does not lead directly into another attack. Roll after the hit to shorten its recovery.
A Health Regen augment restores health when your attack deals damage. The large damage of a landed True Charged Slash can therefore recover some of the health spent trading through an earlier tackle, but only after you land the attack.
From idle, guard an emergency hit when there is not enough time to evade and no charge or roll from which to tackle. The block costs sharpness, so it is an exit from a failed position rather than the normal charge plan.
Fight loop
Begin with a draw Charged Slash and watch the monster throughout the charge. Release at the highest level the current opening allows. Continue to Strong Charged Slash and then True Charged Slash only while the monster's position and recovery still support the next commitment. Roll after the last attack you choose, then reposition.
When a predictable hit crosses your charge, decide whether your health can pay for a Tackle. If it can, tackle and continue from the next sequence stage. If the monster has moved but the opening remains, turn with Slinger Burst before True Charged Slash. If neither route will land cleanly, sheathe and create a new approach instead of releasing into empty space.
Near the start of a hunt, a successful Flinch Shot into a wall creates a knockdown. Wound the part you plan to keep attacking; Great Sword applies enough softening buildup in one complete clutch weapon attack. Against Great Jagras, the head is an easy weak target, while the inflated stomach becomes an even softer sever hitzone after it swallows an Aptonoth.
During a knockdown, start the full charge sequence only if the remaining topple will hold the monster through the final hit. Aim the first hit of True Charged Slash at a sever hitzone of at least 45 so its main hit receives the power bonus. If the monster begins to rise too soon, release the charge you can land or use a shorter route; do not assume the next attack is safe to tackle.
Skills
Build for the attacks you can land, the weapon you actually equipped, and the monster in front of you. Getting Started explains meals, , and Armor Sphere upgrades. Combat Mechanics explains Defense, elemental resistance, affinity, and hitzones.
Reliable damage
These choices support the charged-slash plan, but their order depends on the weapon and armor available.
| Skill or target | Why |
|---|---|
| Lv 3 | Reduces charge time by 15%, allowing later charge levels in the same opening. |
| Lv 3 | Adds 30% affinity on a raw hitzone of at least 45 and another 20% after that part is wounded. It rewards the same weak-part aim needed for a powered True Charged Slash. |
| Affinity and | Combine , weapon affinity, and conditional affinity to approach 100% on the part you plan to hit. Affinity above 100% has no effect; increases the damage when a hit does crit. |
| White or purple sharpness | A lower sharpness multiplier reduces physical damage. Guarding also spends sharpness, so choose a maintenance option below when the weapon cannot hold its best usable color through the hunt. |
| Lv 1 | Multiplies raw attack by 1.05 only when the weapon has no active element. It does nothing for an active elemental or status weapon. |
| Adds attack and affinity only while the monster is enraged. Include it according to how often that condition is active, not as unconditional affinity. | |
| Lv 4+ | Adds raw attack; Lv 4 and above also add 5% affinity. Use it after accounting for charge timing, sharpness, and the affinity conditions your set can maintain. |
In a group, Lv 1 can prevent small allied attacks from interrupting your charge. It has no such purpose when hunting alone.
Other conditional damage choices:
| Skill | Condition and tradeoff |
|---|---|
| Lv 1 | Makes the heavy clutch weapon attack also drop slinger ammo. Great Sword already wounds in one complete clutch attack, so the value is ammunition for later bursts, not faster wounding. |
| Adds raw attack only while health is full, so tackle damage can turn it off. | |
| Adds attack while recoverable red health remains. or can create that condition, but health recovery can remove it. | |
| Shortens sheathing before a new approach or draw attack. It does not shorten the charge. | |
| Increases part damage, helping reach a break sooner. It does not increase damage dealt to the monster's health. | |
| Adds Attack, element, and status buildup only after you recover from a blight or abnormal status. | |
| Adds affinity and reduces stamina use only while active. Because you cannot choose its activation as freely as a hitzone condition, do not count it as permanent affinity. | |
| Adds affinity after stamina is full. Charging does not spend stamina, but rolls and Tackle do, so check whether your normal route restores the condition before the hit. | |
| Raises carried ammo according to ammo type. A Slinger Burst spends one round, while a Flinch Shot spends the ammo type's normal base capacity and leaves eligible bonus ammo after the final update. Extra ammunition creates more uses; it does not make either shot stronger. | |
| Adds attack and defense after a faint, up to two activations. Treat it as recovery after a mistake, not a reason to plan one. |
Maintain sharpness
Choose according to the weapon's gauge and the armor available.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extends the sharpness gauge when it is not already full; each level adds 10 points. Check which color the extension actually reveals. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss for a fixed time after sharpening. It rewards sharpening immediately before an attack window. | |
| Gives each melee hit a chance not to consume sharpness. | |
| The stronger set-bonus version of that chance. | |
| Removes sharpening animation cycles, reducing the opening needed to restore the gauge. |
Survival and consistency
Use these when their condition is the reason a charge fails or a hunt ends. They are not merely training wheels: a defensive skill earns its slot when it lets you survive a tackle, hold position, or return to attacking sooner.
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Lv 3 | Adds 50 maximum health, giving tackle trades more margin. |
| Armor Sphere | Raises armor Defense at the smithy without occupying a skill slot. Upgrade armor you expect to keep before spending slots to compensate for low Defense. |
| 20 matching resistance | Twenty resistance to an element prevents its blight. Use , , , , or when the target's element warrants it. |
| Has a chance to reduce damage when hit, including during a committed charge. Do not assume it will trigger on a particular tackle. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun, which otherwise removes control and ends the attack plan. |
| Increases healing received, including from a Health Regen augment after the follow-up attack lands. | |
| Shortens the use animation for consumables, reducing the opening needed to heal. | |
| Restores the recoverable red portion of health faster; it does not restore damage beyond that portion. | |
| Adds Defense and, at higher levels, elemental resistance. Compare it with armor upgrades and skills that answer the hunt's specific failure. | |
| Lv 3 prevents elemental blights; lower levels shorten them. Use it when several blights matter or matching resistance cannot reach 20. | |
| Once per activation, survives an otherwise fatal hit when health is above its threshold. It leaves you vulnerable to the next hit. | |
| Shortens mantle cooldowns. It is useful only when the mantle is part of the plan you repeat. | |
| Lengthens rolls. That can help a roll-to-Tackle reach the monster, but can also carry the following charge past the intended part. | |
| Prevents the roar levels covered by the skill from interrupting a charge. Match the invested level to the roar instead of assuming a partial level is enough. | |
| Reduces the impact and stamina cost of actual blocks. It does not improve Tackle. | |
| Reduces fixed stamina costs such as rolls. It does not reduce continuous sprint or clutch-hang drain. | |
| Reduces continuous stamina drain such as sprinting and clutch hanging. It does not reduce a roll's fixed cost. | |
| Gives consumable use a chance not to spend the item. It changes item economy, not the safety of the use animation. |
Styles
Physical damage fits the standard charge plan because the weapon attacks infrequently and its strongest slashes have large motion values. Two alternatives change what you prioritize:
| Style | Skills and plan |
|---|---|
| Draw | from Velkhana Divinity builds its gauge while the weapon is sheathed. At the full Great Sword stage it multiplies damage by 1.30, and hits drain the gauge. Add for draw-attack affinity or for stun buildup on draw attacks, then sheathe between attacks instead of forcing True Charged Slash into every opening. |
| Element | Match the target with , , , , or . and let elemental damage benefit from critical hits. Charged slashes have increasing elemental multipliers, but the weapon's low hit frequency still makes this a matchup-specific plan rather than the default. |
This hunt
These skills answer specific conditions. Equip them when that condition is present and disrupting the charge plan.
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
| Makes Dung Pod more effective at driving away an unwanted large monster. | |
| Prevents the tremor levels covered by the skill from taking control away before or during a charge. | |
| Prevents strong wind pressure. covers only the levels listed for the level you equip. | |
| While a blight or abnormal status is active, improves evasion invulnerability and reduces stamina depletion. It does not add Attack. | |
| Lv 3 prevents Defense Down; lower levels shorten it. Equip it only against a source of Defense Down. | |
| or | While a mantle is active, grants listed levels of , , , and . Only the True version grants the maximum listed protection. |
| Increases Flash Pod range. It matters only when Flash Pods are part of the hunt plan. | |
| Increases barrel-bomb damage. For a sleep wake-up, space the setup so the large second hit of True Charged Slash hits the sleeping monster before an explosion does; the first sword hit must miss, so this wake-up uses the unpowered main hit. | |
| Raises elderseal by one level on a dragon weapon that already has elderseal. | |
| Increases the chance that a large monster targets you. In a group, use it only when you want the monster's attacks and endpoints directed toward your position. | |
| Prevents environmental effluvia damage and reduces acid damage in the Vale, keeping that environmental drain from consuming health during a charge. | |
| Increases health restored by applicable environmental interactables. Equip it only when the route provides healing you intend to use. |
Skills that look better than they are
- boosts jumping attacks, not a ground True Charged Slash.
- can reward a precisely timed guard, but Tackle is not a guard and does not activate it.
- prevents deflection. It does not improve a poor hitzone, such as Rathalos's back.
- activates at yellow sharpness or lower. Its bonus does not remove the physical-damage multiplier lost by dropping from white or purple sharpness.
- requires low health for its attack bonus. That condition leaves little margin for damage taken through a tackle.
- adds affinity only after a slide. Count it in a build only when the route supplies useful slopes before the attacks that matter.
- improves mounting; it does not strengthen ordinary aerial attacks or ground charged slashes.
Settings
Set Automatic Sheathe to Manual so you choose when to put the weapon away and begin a draw approach. Directional input during Slinger Burst determines the aim of the following True Charged Slash.
If the head drifts while you hold a charge, raise or pan the camera before you release. A low view that clips into the body makes it harder to keep True Charged Slash on the stun zone instead of the neck or chest.