David Mickov
The Switch Axe is a fantastic weapon for all users. It does have a learning curve that might seem difficult to new players. But it is really simple and easy to get through. Here we will talk about why the Switch Axe is a player favorite to a lot of people.
Switch Axe Explained & Mini Guide – Monster Hunter World
The Basics
It is a powerful melee weapon that uses momentum to switch between its 2 modes – Axe, and Sword. Axe is for better mobility while the Sword is better for doing higher amounts of Damage. It is a relatively simple weapon that once you pass the learning curve of the 2 mods, becomes very enjoyable to use.
Getting to learn on how to use these 2 modes will make this weapon very effective and powerful. You will dish out tons of damage while in the same time using high mobility to move around swiftly and avoid any incoming damage. It looks and feels very cool to do so as well.
One thing that not a lot of players realize is that more than half of your damage dealt on monsters is while in Sword mode. The Axe has a gauge on the top left corner of the screen. This is very important because the more you have this(acquired with hits) the more you’ll be attacking with your sword. If it becomes empty, you’ll switch to the Axe mode automatically.
Do not do Manual Reloads(trying to switch to Sword without having this meter).
You can get into an Amped State. This is the little sword meter above the axe one. This means that you’ll do more damage as well as get a second file hit. Amped State is something that you should be aiming for in any battle.
Remember to use Phials as it increases your damage drastically.
Axe Moves
Basic Attacks are fairly simple. They are the most used for getting the sword meter up. They have a very good range as well as damage. Combining anything with your Basic attack will result in combos. This can be done with your heavy attack, or even better, use rolling around and hitting after.
You can also do the Wild Swing combo. This attack will make big and continuous AoE slashes all around you. It does use a fair amount of your stamina, so use it with this in mind. You can do the Over head Slash which will do a lot of damage to higher located monsters.
The Fade Slash is a move that will make you move back a little while doing a big hit in front of you. You can use this smartly and keep attacking while backing off.
Side Step is your best friend. This is a move that you’ll use a lot. Make a little jump to the side, dodge the monsters hit, and return back with a big burst of damage.
The ultimate attack is the Morphed Sweep. Make sure to use this as your first hit on monsters as you will deal double damage this way.
Sword Moves
A very good tip for big burst damage is to use the ultimate attack with the Axe(while the monster is asleep) and then connect to a Sword mode to use its maximum potential. Sword mode is very useful as you’ll do full damage to monsters and it won’t bounce back.
Basic Attacks are very good for dealing damage too(don’t forget, everything required the meter filled). Much slower than the Axe, but much higher damage. You can combo with your basic attacks as it will take you closer to the Amped State. This is your goal.
At any point during Sword Combos, you can switch back to Axe mode and maximize your damage output as well as filling up the meter much faster. Never run out of this meter completely(reload animation).
The Downward Face Slash is something that is very useful in case you’re running low on the meter. It is a pull-back high damage deal move that opens room for switching to Axe mode without being in danger.
The Elemental Discarghe has a short build-up, but the damage is crazy good. A fully charged explosion is what you want to do in every battle. If you are in Amped State with this attack, you’ll latch onto the monster and deal a crazy amount of damage while looking extremely cool.
How To Craft The Best Switch Axe
The usual attack bonus and Damage bonus applies here. Anything like:
- Attack Boost – Attack%
- Weakness Exploit – Affinity
- Critical Boost – Critical Damage
- Critical Eye – Affinity
- Agitator – Affinity and Attack
- Power Prolonger – Charged Longer
- Focus – Gauge Rate
- Evade Extender – Evasion Distance
- Handicraft – Sharpness
- Odoragon Mastery – Stun and Sharpness
These are all optional, and in fact, any type of pick that you choose will work with the Switch Axe. It is highly experimental and open to changes. You can decide whether going for that ultimate finish with the Sword is for you, or maybe just spamming fast basic attacks while changing from mode to mode in a second.
A big thank you to Arekkz Gaming from YouTube for going over all of this information and explaining them in detail. Have fun using this weapon!
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