Monster Hunter World – Ultimate Guide To Iceborne Weapon Changes [Video Included]

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Expansion will be released on September 6th for console players. 

Check out the latest changes here!

Not sure how your belove weapon got upgrade in MHW Iceborne Expansion? I have listed out all the changes for 14 weapons in the latest expansion from Capcom. You can also see how it work with a short video for each weapon.

This post contained more than 6k words at the time it is published, If you just want to see your beloved weapons, simply navigate using the menu below.

MHW Iceborne Slinger


It is easy to notice this new mechanic in these trailers by Capcom. You can now use a special device attached to your Slinger and fire off a grappling hook to close-in and “get personal” with the monsters. This will then enable a sort of mounting movement on the monster, ultimately lead to a powerful attack. But that is not all, let see what has been changed for this little gadget.

MHW Iceborne Slinger Burst

During traversal, if you hold , you still can fire the Slinger Ammo by pressing as usual. The additional option is to switch to a more focus firing stance, allowing the hunter to shoot slinger ammo in a burst type Imagine a shotgun blast in other game. This essentially empowered the Slinger in various ways, which highlight this utility in Monster Hunter World. The Slinger Burst is integrated with the main weapon depend on each attack.

Basically, all weapon can use the Slinger mid-combat by aiming with now. But some weapons will have associated moves with the Slinger to empower this mechanic

You can now aim with Slinger with weapon unsheathed on any weapons

For each weapon, you will have an option to fire out a Burst shot in certain attacks. Below is a quick summary on how to perform the Slinger Burst for the weapon that supports it, you can check the detail version down below. Previously, Slinger was used primarily for flashing and occasionally deal elemental damage (Causing Boulders to drop) With the Slinger Burst ability, Slinger can now be combined to your offensive attack.

WEAPONS ASSOCIATED MOVES
mhw-greatsword Charge Attack >> Slinger Burst

Playstation 4 Triangle(hold)

Slinger Burst Mode Switch

R3

Guard Shot

R3 

Slinger Burst Mode Switch

R3

(Axe) Wild Swing >> Slinger Burst

PlayStation 4 Circle(Tap)

Spirit Slash >> Slinger Burst

 

Slinger Burst Mode Switch

R3

PlayStation 4 Circle(Axe mode)

Slinger Burst is performed by pressing L2 during Wild Swing.

Slinger Burst Mode Switch. Slinger Ammo can empower Kinsect

R3

Normal Attack >> Evade Slinger Burst

Playstation 4 Triangle

Slinger Burst Mode Switch

R3

Aiming with L2 and Switch to Slinger Burst mode by pressing R3

R3

Aiming with L2 and Switch to Slinger Burst mode by pressing R3

R3

R3

Aiming with L2 and Switch to Slinger Burst mode by pressing R3. Can Use Slinger Ammo for powerful skillshot

MHW Iceborne – The Clutch Claw

mhw-iceborne-clutch-claw

The second upgrade to the Slinger is the ability to fire out a grappling hook. This is called Clutch Claw in Iceborne. This allows the hunter to quickly jump on the monster and dealing additional damage.

By aiming the slinger with (LT on Xbox) and pressing Circle (B on Xbox)PlayStation 4 Circle, our hunter will shot our a claw and grapple onto the monster, again, this opens up a new opportunity for attacking various parts of the monster. While sticking to the monster, you can choose between the following follow-ups:

  • You can press Playstation 4 Triangle to perform an attack with the current weapon. This usually finishes off with the hunter jump back to the ground. This also causes the part of the monster to be more susceptible to damage, shortening the time to break that part. After the trigger, any attacks to that part will be wrapped around an icon  Indicating you are hitting the weakened parts.
  • The latter option is to use and you can then use all the ammo from the Slinger to fire out a powerful shot.
  • Finally, you can hit PlayStation 4 Circle to make the monster turn direction, If it later hitting a wall, you can topple that monster!

Similar to mounting the monster, you can freely move around the body part of the monster. However, your stamina will rapidly be drained when in this position, make sure you don’t stay on it for too long!

The most important thing to note with this new ability is the fact that this is not considered as a Mounting Maneuver, meaning you can fall over when the monster attacks. This is in the same vicinity as those “look-like” mounting attack – (Switch Axe Amped Element Discharge)

By Slinger Ammo, this is entirely focused on the Ammo dropped during the hunt. It is both from the environment or dropped from the monsters (Which can be triggered by a Clutch Claw Mounting Attack)

I find that the Clutch Claw is especially useful when the monster transition to the next stage. In the past, we will use this time to sharpen the weapon, and chase the monster to a new area. But this time, you can do something like this…


 

MHW Iceborne Weapons


From what we have seen so far, there are no new weapons for this expansion set. But as promised with the first teaser trailer earlier this year, Our fourteen weapons will have new moves and overhaul that make them even more fun to play.

The Beta on 24 and most recently 28 June allow hunter from consoles to jump in and experience these changes first hand.

You can go straight to the training area, reviewing the weapon guide and all new moves will be listed in details. Kudo to Capcom this time for providing a better explanation with the weapon investigation in the hunter’s note. While there is still more depth to each move, the in-game tutorial this time provide a better experience for both old and new players. Let take a deep dive to each of the weapons below. I will only list out the new changes, as the basic and detail guide has been covered in my weapon guides 

MHW Iceborne Sword and Shield


Sword and Shield is my first weapon when I jumped into this vast world of a 10 years series. And looking at the new trailer for this weapon as well as after the first fight with the new monster Banbaro, I am happy to announce that it is still one of the best weapons to be used in this game.

Initially, MHW Sword and Shield are picked up mostly by players who want to have a safe weapon. But later, turn out that Sword & Shield is the Jack of all Trade. While it does not excel at anything, it can do everything.

You can check my in-depth guide of MHW Sword and Shield for more information on SnS moveset, best combos and builds.

In Iceborne, Our beloved Sword and Shield got an overhaul on the movement part. You can now integrate a Sword and Shield attacks with the Clutch Claw. Below are the new attacks of Iceborne Sword and Shield

  • Claw Uppercut– Allow you to quickly use the Clutch Claw and get on the monster. Useful when you want to get a some Slinger Ammo type while fighting the monster up close.

(Evade)

  • Perfect Rush – A quick combo starting from a leaping attack with the Sword.

R3 (Switch to Slinger Butst)(Slinger Burst)Playstation 4 Triangle(Leaping Slash)Playstation 4 TrianglePlaystation 4 TrianglePlaystation 4 Triangle(Perfect Rush)

My favorite new combo for the Sword and Shield.

The Perfect Rush is mentioned in the hunter guide as a combo associated with the Slinger Burst ability. As MHW Sword and Shield is already a weapon that allows us to use the slinger without unsheathing weapon, this can be a little confusing the first time you jump to Iceborne.

To switch to the Slinger Burst mode during aiming with the Slinger, you will need to press R3 while aiming with the Slinger, the hunter will change the stance. If you turn on the HUD for control, the R2 becomes the “Slinger Burst” option.

Right after using the Slinger Burst, you can press Playstation 4 Triangle and the hunter will jump forward with a flurry of slashes.

 

The second way to perform this is right after your hop (Before trigger your Charged Slash). The trick here is to press Playstation 4 Triangle while still holding PlayStation 4 Circle This is because pressing Playstation 4 Triangle early will result in the Jumping Upward Slash (Advancing Slash)

The combo attacks of the Perform Rush under the effect of timing (Similar to Charge Blade Element Slash) This is indicated by the red flashing of each attack. Instead of mashing Playstation 4 Triangle, if you time Playstation 4 Triangle at the right time, the combo will have more damage.

It will be tempting to simply mashingPlaystation 4 Triangle during the Perfect Rush. But if you slow down the pace, you can see that the hunter will slightly glow at each attack, thus indicating that these attacks benefits from timing. If you pressing Playstation 4 Triangle on point with the glow,  the damage output will be increased.

Another interesting thing to note is the last attack of this combo. Disguised as a simple front stab, this can let the hunter mount the monster and finish off by jumping away from the monster (If you time the hit correctly) This is essentially the same to the Switch Axe Element Discharge (minus the explosion)

By utilizing this at the right time, you can shorten up the time to inflict elemental status or other abnormal ailments thanks to the number of hits.

MHW Iceborne Dual Blades


 

With the lightning fast attacks, it is easy to get past the trailer for Dual Blade and not notice anything new. In Iceborne Expansion, the Dual Blades is incorporated with the Slinger in various style.

Iceborne Dual Blades Evade Shot

With Dual Blades, you can fire off the Slinger Burst at any time during your normal attack. This is combined with an evasion move let the hunter get out of harm ways while still dealing average damage to the monster. If your slinger ammo is capable of dealing stun damage, this definitely a great build up to stun the monster.

https://gfycat.com/identicaltameliger

Iceborne Dual Blades Claw Attack

Next off, you can use the Clutch Claw right at the final attack of the Demon Flurry Rush. This allows the hunter to jump on the monster, from here, you can continue with two options:

  • Spinning Rising Slash – A spinning attack using the dual blade that raises the hunter high up on the sky and finishes off by landing away from the monster. Good enough for your attack and get out tactics
  • Normal Weapon Attack – If you decide to stick on the monster for a while, hitting Playstation 4 Triangle will result in the normal attack using the Dual Blades. Similar to other weapon, this attack end the sticking animation and can net you some slinger ammo in the process.

The Clutch Claw and Dual Blades are integrated seamlessly to highlight the speeds of the infamous weapon, with the new ability Slinger Burst, the Dual Blades can now be more powerful with the endless combo and the ability to quickly shot out slinger ammo Max Payne style. Remember to watch out for the stamina bar though, not like mounting, your stamina bar will be drained as soon as you stuck on that spiky back!

If you want a refresher on Dual Blades, Check out my guide and build here.

MHW Iceborne Charge Blade


My second weapon in the 300+ hours of Monster Hunter World. Combine the Sword and Shield into a big bad giant Axe. This weapon is one of the most favorable weapons in this series. This is due to the power and the unique mechanic of the weapon. Charge Blade also become one of the best options for solo players.

At first, I don’t find any noticeable difference while playing the Charge Blade, until I realized the new combo is started during the Element Amped Discharge.

You can check the full detail of Charge Blade moves here 

In Monster Hunter: World, you can charge up the Sword and imbue it with phial’s power. This also come as the new feature of the Charge Blade, we got the power up Sword and Shield, but what could be next for the Charge Blade?

Power Axe Mode

Yes, it is a surprise that the Axe form finally gets noticed. You can now power up your Axe mode with the “Element Boost Spinning Slash” There is not much change to the moveset, but the most noticeable feature is the spinning shield when you use the Charge Blade in mode. As the animation suggests, every axe attacks in this form will have additional hits. Making the damage for the normal axe swing is even greater

To get to this form, the step is just as similar to how you power up the Sword and the Shield. But before we go into details, let take a review on the basis of Charge Blade

Charge Up the Shield – Utilize the Shield Thrust and Charge Double Slash to quickly fill up the Phials. After that, go straight to the Amped Element Discharge animation and press to power up the Shield. The power-up Shield will have innate Guard Up and capable of stunning monster on Guard Point.

Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle(Shield Thrust) PlayStation 4 Circle(Charge Double Slash) PlayStation 4 Circle (Charge Phials)Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle(Shield Thrust) Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle (Element Discharge) (Round house Slash + Shield Charge)

 

Condensed Element Slash – Introduce since the release of Monster Hunter World, this attack allows the hunter to utilize the power from the phial to enhance the Sword. This only has an effect when your shield is already charged.

(While Shield is powered up and phial is not empty ) PlayStation 4 Circle Playstation 4 Triangle(Released when Sword Glow)


 

 

After this, the remaining job is to constantly land the Amped Element Discharge. While this sound easy, perfect this cycle is the key thing indicating a good Charge Blade user. In Iceborne, this loop is enhanced with an interesting mechanic. You can now charge up the Axe form of the Charge Blade.

Element Boost Spinning Slash (EBS)

 

Similar to Condensed Element Slash, to power up the Axe form, you will need a Charged Shield. To perform this Spinning Slash, you will need to enter the Amped Element Discharge Stance, from this stance, pressing (LT) will trigger the Element Boost Spinning Slash, if your Shield is charged and phials are loaded, this will trigger the Power Axe mode. During this mode, all of your axe attacks will deal multi-hit damage.

The easiest way to get familiar with this move is to remember it is the opposite of charging the Shield (Pressing during Amped Element Discharge instead of

 

  • Power Axe Mode – Empowered axe mode with phials power and …spinning shield

Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle(Shield Thrust) Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle (Amped Element Discharge) (EBS)

 

 

The final form of the Charge Blade has been empowered. Previously, Amped Element Slash and Phial damage have always been the most powerful abilities of the Charge Blade. With this newfound arsenal, the axe form of Charge Blade finally got more opportunity in a hunt.

Iceborne Charge Blade

MHW Iceborne Light Bowgun


With new features for the Slinger, you may wonder how does the control for Ranged Weapon is affected.  Unlike melee weapons, you don’t have the luxury of firing the Slinger Ammo during normal attacks (mostly shot) Instead, you can switch between Slinger and the normal Ranged Weapon control during Aiming with L2. Pressing R3 while Aiming with This will open up the corsair for Slinger.

Can I perform those fancy attack with Clutch Claw?

Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle

Yes. Similar to the melee weapons, firing the Clutch Claw during Slinger Aiming, You can then grapple to the monster and perform an attack that yields Slinger ammo and weaken monster’s part.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at what is offered for our Light Bowgun.

MHW Iceborne Light Bowgun New Mods

You will have two new mods for the Light Bowgun in the Iceborne Expansion. Each modification will focus on an aspect of the Light Bowgun. One is aimed for the speed of attacks, the other greatly enhance the damage output of the Light Bowgun.

  • Evading Reload – This mod will allow the hunter to reload the current ammo type while performing the quick evasion of Light Bowgun. The number of mods will increase the number of ammo reloaded each time.

 

  • Wyvern Blast Type 2  – This mod allows Light Bowgun to fire out the Special Ammo detonation bomb that sticks on the ground. The time for automatic detonation is short, but if the blast is triggered by the monster, it will deal a huge amount of damage.

 

From 82 Damage straight up to 451 Damage in a single shot

The original Special Ammo for MHW Light Bowgun let you plant three bombs on the ground. These bombs will detonate if the monster (or you) attacks the spot. For type 2, instead of planning on the ground, you can now fire the bomb in forwarding motion (same thing as shooting) The trick is to utilize this at the right time. Because the damage is greatly enhanced when the detonation is triggered by the monster (You can see the number in our above experiment with the test subject…)

It is easy to notice each mod has its own category of excel. To me, the Wyvern Blast will be my first pick to jump in Iceborne new maps with the Light Bowgun. Supplement this with some armor skills that focus on Special Ammo and a decent rapid fire Light Bowgun, Destroying the monsters with a well-timed detonation will definitely be satisfying!

Not sure what skills to use with Light Bowgun? Check out my guide for the Light Bowgun

MHW Iceborne Heavy Bowgun


In World, Heavy Bowgun is famous for it’s powerful Wyvern Snipe and Wyvern Heart. In Iceborne this time, it does seem hard to actually think of new changes for this already powerful weapon, but here it is

Special Scope

This time, you can experiment with Special Scope, a special mod allow the hunter with the Heavy Bowgun to enter the “Scoping” position. This basically lets you enter a more focus aiming system, if you are familiar with control in the past Monster Hunter game, this can be right at home.

In previous Monster Hunter on DS Aiming with Heavy Bowgun is harder and will change to the first-person mode. This mechanic now come back to Monster Hunter World as a more focus aiming system.

The unique trait of this mode is the ability to see the Super Critical Range, which is often further than the normal Critical Range. At this position, your shot will deal higher damage compared to the traditional Critical Range

As a quick refresher, Critical Range is basically the distance that your ammo will deal the most damage. This is the same for all ranged weapons (Bow, Light Bowgun & Heavy Bowgun) We can now add-in the Slinger to this list, as you certainly cannot deal the highest Burst damage while aiming the Slinger from afar…

You can check my guide for Heavy Bowgun here 

Iceborne Bow


You will now see that arrow more often…

Similar to Light and Heavy Bowgun, to utilize Slinger while using Bow, you will need to switch by pressing R3. Here is the attack animation of Bow after sticking onto the monster back.

Pretty cool isn’t it? On the way down, you can perform another Powershot (Indicating by the hunter drawing three arrows and flashing on the way down) The control here will need some time to get used to, but quickly deal some damage and land on the ground with style is definitely a blast.

Thousand Dragons

After Piercing Dragon (New move of Bow in Monster Hunter World) The fan favorite ranged weapon has another powerful skill shot. To fire out this powerful shot, you will first need some Slinger Ammo. This can be retrieved by picking from the environment or by attacking the monster up close with your Arrow (After jump on with a Clutch Claw) After that, by bringing up the Slinger and hit Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle you will then loaded all of the Slinger ammo to the bow and fire out a powerful single blast.

Iceborne Insect Glaive


Do we have new Kinsect?

Just as other weapons that focus on continuous damage, Insect Glaive got some fancy new moves. Being famous for aerial attacks, you can now perform a speedy Downward Thrust while on the air, finishing off with a wide swing. This is quite similar to the Dragoon attack of the Final Fantasy series.

Downward Thrust – A quick downward Thrust using the Glaive. This deal more damage than the normal “Helicopter” attack

(Vaulting)

Aerial Claw Attack – A claw attack perform on the air, allow you to be the “rodeo” of the team on the go!

(Vaulting)PlayStation 4 Circle

The Claw Attack can let you get on the monster and perform a subsequent attack to get Slinger ammo and weaken monster part

Of course, the Kinsect is not left out. With the slinger ammo equipped, you can now enhance those flying friends further with the new ability.

Kinsect Charge

You can now trigger the Powerup Kinsect with the Slinger Ammo. This comes with two variants:

  • Spirit – If the slinger ammo is picked from the field. The kinsect stamina is increased and the duration of full buff (with all three colors) will be extended. This is a great addition for the hunter that prefer getting all the buff.

 

  • Power – If the slinger ammo is dropped from monster, kinsect power will be increased
Kinsect Charge – Using Slinger Ammo to buff your own Kinsect!

Playstation 4 TrianglePlayStation 4 Circle

The Insect Glaive got new moves with the focus on extending the flexibility of the weapon. While it does not straight up increase damage output, each move will contribute to the overall gameplay of this unique weapon.

For more detail on Insect Glaive moveset, best combo, and builds. Check out my in-depth guide for Insect Glaive here

MHW Iceborne Switch Axe


The brother of Charge Blade also got attention in the Axe variant, as Sword mode already been the main dish for any Switch Axe hunters.

First off, you can now aim the Slinger at any time by using  while your weapon is unsheathed. For Slinger Burst, you can trigger this by pressing R2 during a Wild Swing (Axe mode endless attack usingPlayStation 4 Circle)

Heavy Slam

The next upgrade comes from the Axe form as well. During Wild Swing, after a brief period of time, you can now perform another attack call Heavy Slam. This will then power up the axe (Indicate by the glowing red on the icon)

Zero Sum Element Discharge

Finally, you can also unleash the most powerful attack of Switch Axe while grappling on the monster with the Clutch Claw. This is called Zero Sum Discharge. At first glance, this does not look so different from the normal Element Discharge, but being able to fire out this move just after a grapple is definitely come in handy. Previously, you will need a full combo to get into the Element Discharge 

There are two variants to this powerful ability, the first is just a simple explosion. The second is when your Sword energy is charged (By performing Sword Attack) At the second form, the attack can be continued by pressing Playstation 4 Triangle repeatly. The ending explosion will send the hunter flying back to the ground and switch back to Axe mode. This is in the same vein as the normal Element Discharge.

MHW Iceborne Hammer


At this point, we probably know that the Slinger Burst is integrated to normal weapon attacks via certain attack of each weapon (Spirit Slash for Long Sword, or after the Jumping Charge Slash of Sword and Shield) For Hammer, you can perform a Slinger Burst right after each Charge attack.

Unlike the Great Sword Charge Attack (HoldingPlaystation 4 Triangle and release at the right time) The Charge Attack of the hammer is triggered by holding (Depend on the time you hold down this, the result is different) 

In Iceborne, this attack is now enhanced by adding the ability to shoot out a Slinger Burst during Charge. The most important factor is that you can still continue with the Charge right after the Slinger Burst. The Hammer is already a Blunt weapon and is known for being the best weapon for KOing the monster. With Slinger Burst, this will be enhanced further as you can integrate a short burst of damage (causing as Blunt Damage) when charging for your most powerful attack. But that’s not all to the hammer

Hammer + Clutch Claw

You can now freely switch to aiming the slinger while unsheathing your weapon using . From that, a claw shot will get you to jump on the monster. Hammer also come with an ability to go straight to this with a charge attack and clutch claw. Right after the second level charge (End with an Up Swing) you can press to go shoot out the claw and jump on the monster directly. 

MHW Iceborne Great Sword


Hunt a big monster? Bring out the big Sword

Being one of the very first weapons since the birth of Monster Hunter, The Great Sword doesn’t have the luxury of a fancy combo or flashy manuever. Instead, it just opts for one sole purpose – Killing the monster with the big number. In Monster Hunter World, you have Charged Slash, a Wide Slash, and True Charge Slash (Trigger when release Playstation 4 Triangle at the right time) With the mission in mind, Iceborne expansion upgrades the MHW Great Sword in the most simple way possible…

True Charge Slash (Power)

In Iceborne, the first enhancement focus on this with a straight forward increase in the number. The Great Sword True Charge Slash got a minor but powerful update on the second slash. The True Charge Slash start out with a rolling swing, if the first hit landed, the second hit will have greater damage. This is indicated by a small sound effect and the aura around the hunter.

Slinger Burst >> True Charge Slash

The second enhancement focus right on the slinger. Previously, the main way to get the most out of the Great Sword is to utilize the “Tackle” (Pressing PlayStation 4 Circle during a Charge Slash) This is to cancel out the animation for the 1st and 2nd Charge Slash and go straight up to the most powerful attack)

In Iceborne, with the addition of the Slinger, you can now pressing during a Charge and fire out a Burst Shot. Right after this, the charge will go straight to the final form – True Charge Slash. This is not just a way to get to this attack, as the burst shot provides good damage and can stun monster if your firing is on point. Making this a great material for gif creation of Highlight move (If everything goes well)

MHW Iceborne Long Sword


One of the most badass update since the release of Monster Hunter World

Before we jump into the new moves of Iceborne Long Sword, let take a quick look at what makes this weapon unique.

Previously in Monster Hunter World, the long sword specialized in reach and the ability to perform the Spirit Slash – A special combo that allows the hunter to use the spirit energy in the sword. At the end of each Spirit Combo, the Sword icon will glow from White to Bright Red. This is called Spirit Level – used to power the Spirit Thrust.

Spirit Thrust – A forward lunging thrust attack. With at least one level Spirit, this can lead to an additional Helm Breaker.

Playstation 4 Triangle

Another aspect of the Long Sword that helps it suitable for Solo Play is the Foresight Slash, a special manuever that enables the hunter to quickly step back and Counter any incoming Attack.

Foresight Slash – Dodge incoming attack and counter with a Slash.

PlayStation 4 Circle


A quick reference on Spirit Level and Damage of Spirit Thrust + Helm Breaker

  • Spirit Thrust: 27
  • Helmbreaker with White gauge: 11 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 10 + 10
  • Helmbreaker with Yellow gauge: 18 + 18 + 18 + 16 + 16 + 16 + 16
  • Helmbreaker with Red gauge: 30 + 30 + 30 + 30 + 28 + 28 + 28

Sources: Fextralife


The typical gameplay of a Long Sword Hunter will involve the following combo:

Normal Attack >> Build Up Energy >> Unleash Spirit Slash >> Counter With Foresight Slash >> Using Spirit Thrust with maximum Spirit Level (or when openings are present)

In Iceborne, this is supplement with a new move…

Long Sword Special Sheath

 

 

Long time user of the Long Sword finally can cheer with the addition of the new move for Long Sword- The Sheathing Stance. As in the above short video. The Sheathing stance is performed after a Spirit Slash

Special Sheath – A special stance after the Spirit Slash, the hunter will put the sword back to the sheath. From this stance, you can follow up with either Iai Slash or Iai Spirit Slash. After a brief time, the hunter will return to normal stances.

From the Special Sheath stance, you can then follow up with either of the following

  • Playstation 4 Triangle Iai Slash – Quickly draw the sword and perform a double slash

After Iai Slash, the Spirit Gauge will fill automatically. While this does not increase the Spirit Level right away. This is a quick way to get to your Spirit Combo.

  • Iai Spirit Slash – A Stronger Slash, if you fill up the Sword energy to a certain level, this can deal additional damage (Similar to Spirit Thrust)

If you decide to follow the Sheathing Stance with , an Iai Spirit Slash is unleashed. With Spirit Level, this is followed by an additional hit (Not to mention how bad-ass you look while performing this…)

This complete the cross Slash for Long Sword I believe (With Helm Breaker for the Vertical and now Iai Spirit Slash for the Horizontal) My next weapon guide will be a Long Sword, just because of this update…

Did you know Capcom also included the Armor Skills that increase the power of the Sheathing in the weapon guide? Yes, they overhauled the in-game guide with more detail than ever! For Sheathing Stance, armor skills like Punishing Draw and Critical Draw are the main focus

Iceborne Hunting Horn

Make the support weapon less support.

Hunting Horn enhancement can be worth a full 3k words post. The first new moves of the Hunting Horn is the Echo ability. Trigger by pressing L2 after an attack. This attack is multiple attacks make by spinning the head part of the Hunting Horn. With Hunting Horn also capable of Blunt Attack. This simple move will add a whole lot power to the stunning capacity of this weapon.

After the spinning attack, it will create an area (Echo Mark) that let the Hunting Horn user trigger with an R2. Later, anyone step into the Echo Mark will receive the corresponding buff. There is echo mark that causing damage as well, so this can be used both in a defensive and offensive situation.

MHW Iceborne Gun Lance


Create new Missile Warhead from a rock?

Iceborne Gun Lance Guide

That’s sum up the new move for Iceborne Gun Lance.

Wyrm Stake Blast

Iceborne Gun Lance

Utilizing Slinger Ammo, load the Gun Lance with a special head that replaces the normal Wyrm Stake Cannon once loaded. This will use up all of the Slinger Ammo. After this, perform the Wyrm Stake combo will release a special device that sticks to the monster for a period of time. Subsequent Shell Attacks (PlayStation 4 Circle after normal attacks) will cause this device to produce a blast. This essentially boosts the damage for any Gun Lance builds. However, you will need to properly manage when to use this special ammo, as it requires Slinger Ammo.

https://gfycat.com/evenfilthybeaver

Haven’t touch Gun Lance yet? Check out my details guide for Gun Lance. Everything you need to know about Shelling Types and best build!

MHW Iceborne Lance


How can the new features of the Slinger benefit the big bad Lance?

For Lance, instead of shooting Slinger Burst mid-attack, the Shield allow the hunter to enter Guard Shot with L2, a special stance that brings up the shield and can fire out Slinger ammo in a safety position. From this stance, you can also transition to either a Leaping Thrust Playstation 4 Triangle

Clutch Claw Counter

As a habit of trying the Clutch Claw, I tried the combination of and PlayStation 4 Circle , But instead of firing the clutch claw right away, our hunter simply holds up the shield while readying the Clutch Claw. The stamina bar is also depleting during this. This is the counter stance similar to the True Power Guard (performed by   during Power Guard)

This will allow the hunter to get on the monster if it performs an attack. From this position, you can then unleash a devastating stab with your Lance and safely get back on the ground. Of course, the part got attacked by this will be weakened, and you will have slinger ammo on the way down…

https://gfycat.com/thriftyvapidbeagle

 

Another additional for Lance or (Gun Lance) is the new armor skill Offensive Guard, which increase damage after a well-timed guard. For seasoned Lance players, this is good news. In Monster Hunter: World, while Lance is already famous for the beefy defense, the Offensive aspect of this weapon leaves a lot to be desired. This time, with the addition of just this skill, the table will surely turn for the hunter maining the Lance.

MHW Iceborne Armor


While all the changes above are pretty unique, the reasons why they appeared is because of the infamous new difficulty – G Rank (or Master Rank) This has been a traditional difficulties tier in the Monster Hunter series for a long long time. If High Rank and Tempered monster are the end game content. The Master Rank in Monster Hunter: World this time is the Uber of end-game content.

All the monster of this difficulty will be overhauled with tremendous powers and physical prowess. Imagine Arch-Tempered Greatest Jagras for an example! This will of course level up the gears set and give us the master rank version of each armor set.

Some of these armors can be seen in the trailers and beta. One of the things I found interesting is how they change certain features of existing armor and make it look better. In the beta, we had a first look at Banbaro armor (Above Screenshot)

Anjanath and Legiana also got an overhaul on the looks (Anjanath helm now become a wig!)

Is that Armor Skills slot on the mantle?

Yes, you can now add Decoration to Mantle. The beta’s mantle is fixed with decoration, but I believe we can change this pretty easily when Iceborne is released. The effect of the armor skills is only enabled when you wear the mantle though. This can be a quick damage boost to get a head start in the hunt.

I personally used the Rock Steady Mantle with double Attack Boosts to get some damage boosts in the Tigrex fight.

Not just mantle though, tools like healing ward also can be upgraded to increase effect radius and power. This leaves a lot of room for customization as previously, armor skill like Specialised Tool does not get the

MHW Iceborne Monsters


Feeling Dejavu? Those are the iconic monster of the past series, return with full new texture and animations of the current gen!

Banbaro

One of the newest face of Iceborne. Some say it is a mix between a moose and a ram, I would add in the T-rex to this mix…

This Ram (Or moose, whatever you feel like) standing on two feet and love to use its gigantic horn and hurl tree and big rock at you. The quest to hunt the Banbaro is categorized as the “Medium”

The fight is essentially not that hard. Most of the fight is to get you to have familiarity with the new environment. With Ice and Snow cover all the area, Iceborne introduce the Hot Drink (Opposite to the Cool Drink for lava area)

Tigrex

The second native of the new map. Tigrex has been on the list of the long-time favorite monster since it’s first appearance in Monster Hunter Freedom 2. Return back to Monster Hunter World, aside from the number of polygons (It make this beast look scarier than before!) Tigrex still keep its own moveset and the powerful ability to deal damage even with it’s roar. The last quest of the beta let you hunt a Tigrex. While the equipment and weapons are good enough. Dealing with this angry Wyvern is definitely a challenge for new players.

And of course, there is no fun fight without the most hunted monster of the series. I had the feeling that this poor species is put into the game as a test subject for the clutch claw! And actually, most of the weapon skills I covered was performed on the poor Jagras

Iceborne Jagras

Conclusion

This was definitely a long post, I hope you all got enough information and tips for the upcoming Iceborne expansion of Monster Hunter World. I crafted this after experience all the weapon during the beta in 24 and 28 June. While I tried to be as detail as possible, there is definitely some focus on the weapons that I am familiar with (Basically the one that got a weapons guide on this site)

If I miss out anything, let me know in the comments section! The upcoming post will focus on new Armor Skills and some changes in Monster Hunter World meta! I am developing a completely new site that focuses more on the gaming world in general. You can see the demo of the site here


MHW Ranged Weapons Guide

Monster Hunter World – Bow Guide

Monster Hunter World – Heavy Bowgun Guide & Best Heavy Bowguns list

Monster Hunter World – Light Bowgun Guide & Best Light Bowguns list

Or Check out my guides on other melee weapons

Monster Hunter World – Dual Blade Guide

Monster Hunter World – Switch Axe Guide

Monster Hunter World – Sword and Shield Guide

Monster Hunter World – Charge Blade Guide & Best Charge Blades list

Monster Hunter World – Gun Lance Guide

Monster Hunter World – Insect Glaive Guide

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