Just like other games in the franchise, Monster Hunter Now features the quick and stylish Dual Blades. In this guide, we’ll be going through some general tips and gear sets to use if you are looking into using these small but deadly blades.
Complete Dual Blades Guide (Builds, Tips, & Tricks)
As with the other entries of the Monster Hunter series, the Dual Blades features a Demon Mode that will vastly improve your damage and mobility while it is active.
Dodging while this special mode is on will also let you deal damage while dashing around, allowing you to maximize your damage output even while playing defensively.
One disadvantage of this weapon is that, due to its size, you will have to stick very close to a monster to deal damage.
This puts you at the riskiest position when compared to all of the other weapons in the game.
Equipment Builds
For builds, you should be prioritizing increasing your Affinity, which is basically your chance to deal critical damage.
As a new player, one of the most accessible sets you can use that will also have Evade Extender, which will come in handy, is the following:
- Kulu Helmet, Vambraces, Greaves, and Coil
- Leather Mail (used instead of Kulu Mail due to Attack Boost being better than Guts)
For the weapons themselves, there are different elemental types as well as non-elemental version of the Dual Blades. They are the following:
- Matched Slicers (non-elemental)
- Rending Beaks (non-elemental, +10% Affinity)
- Diablos Hatchets (non-elemental)
- Thanatos Mauls (non-elemental, -30% Affinity)
- Mammoth Direbones (non-elemental)
- Bone Hatchets (non-elemental)
- Usurper’s Fulgur (thunder)
- Pulsar Hatchets (thunder)
- Madness Pangas (water)
- Blazing Hatchets (fire)
- Freeze Daggers (ice)
- Blizzarioths (ice)
For more specialized builds, check out this guide to see what gear pieces to go for when choosing certain elements.
Basic Tips & Tricks
Although this game is significantly simpler than the other titles in the franchise, combat still involves some skill and timing, especially if you want to maximize your damage before the timer runs out.
For the Dual Blades, the basic attack combo by simply tapping will result in a chain of seven hits. You can also dodge during any part of this seven hit chain.
Dodging left, right, or even forward while tapping will deliver an extra attack before your actual combo begins, giving you even more opportunities to hit the monster while avoiding unnecessary damage.
If you dodge backwards and then tap afterwards, your character will perform a lunging attack that does four ticks of damage and smoothly transitions into your regular combo.
Lastly, if you have gear with Lock-On included, you can turn off the aim mode on the upper right corner of the screen in order to utilize it.
Otherwise, leave it on and move your device around to target different parts of the monster. If the monster goes offscreen, simply tap on Reset Aim to fix your camera position.
Demon Mode
Once your special attack meter is full and you have some stamina remaining, you can activate Demon Mode. This will constantly drain your stamina, which can be found under the health bar.
While this mode is active, your regular combo will extend to over ten hits, and dodging will activate a special attack that deals even more damage.
Attacking immediately after a perfect dodge while Demon Mode is active will also result in another combo, which gives you invincibility frames as well.
Demon Mode also has its own Special Attack wherein the player leaps into the air and comes crashing down with a flurry of slashes that deals a ton of damage.
And that is pretty much everything you need to know when it comes to using the Dual Blades on Monster Hunter Now. These are just the bare basics, so keep on practicing in order to get much better with these high-risk high reward weapons!
