Rapid Morph is currently unreliable in practice. It speeds up some animations and adds a bonus to base raw, but it does not provide the advertised speed increase. When present, Power Prolonger remains the preferred option for maximizing damage windows.

Focus appears to offer limited benefit and competes with more reliable options like Crit Boost and Power Prolonger. Some rumors suggest limited interaction with innate skills or bugged functionality, but overall it’s not considered a strong choice for endgame builds.

Element scaling changes (phials and base element interactions) have reduced overall element effectiveness. Element-focused sets often underperform compared to raw-focused builds due to phial meta and scaling limits, making Crit Boost and raw-based strategies superior.

Why do I randomly get disconnected from MP? Why am I still in the hunt/group after disconnecting? Why do monsters teleport?

Multiplayer is currently buggy; Capcom is aware. Disconnects can leave you in a group state due to session handling, and teleportation glitches are part of ongoing issues.

Why can I not join SOS players? Why does the SOS say 1/4 but is full?

SOS matching is currently buggy; Capcom has acknowledged this problem. It may appear as 1/4 but refuse joins due to server-side limitations.

Endgame Switch Axe Guide: Artian Weapons & Gore 4P Meta

Q: Why do you recommend Agitator and Wex 2 charms? They don’t exist!

The upgrade system is not clearly disclosed in-game. The guide assumes the best available charms and upgrade paths based on community findings; upgrading requires certain materials that the game only reveals through the upgrade UI after you possess those materials.

Q: What about Flayer, how does it work?

Flayer increases wound application speed. Level 2 provides the fastest wound application, though its exact behavior may not be fully consistent due to ongoing balancing and bugs. The feature is often cited as intended behavior by community discussions.

Q: Why are there no mantles?

Mantles do not reset between quests and sometimes auto-equip, complicating optimization. Frenzied Mantle is usually the strongest, but its uptime is inconsistent, so most optimizations deprioritize mantle-centered strategies.

Q: Why not Partbreaker, it says it increases Focus Strike damage?

Partbreaker does not increase Focus Strike damage; it increases the damage when wounds are broken, according to skill descriptions. This distinction matters for optimizing Focus Strike interactions.

Q: Why do the sets overcap affinity?

Affinity from Frenzy is only 15% when cured, while Antivirus 3 provides 10%. The official English text is inconsistent with in-game behavior; the practical effect is lower than some set descriptions imply.

Q: Why do the decorations in my Set not Save properly?

This feature was bugged but fixed in Ver. 1.000.05.00 (March 10, 2025). If you still see issues, recheck the game version and re-save as needed.

Part 3: Endgame Build Guide

A Preface by the Author
Build Guide Assumptions
Skill Priority
Gear Requirements
Other Considerations
Meta Build Guide
Preamble: Artian Weapons
4P Gore
Agi/Max Might Raw
Meta Matchup Chart
Alternative Builds
Comfy MP set
Meme Builds
Changes throughout Title Updates
OBT -> Release
FAQs
Resources
Acknowledgements

---

1 A Preface by the Author

This guide was written by Sasch,

Feedback is very welcome either via DMs or in the Monster Hunter Gathering Hub’s Switch

Axe Channel.

2 Build Guide Assumptions

All Sets listed in the following Sections generally assume players to have general knowledge

on moveset options and knowing Swaxe's kit and general matchup knowledge, aswell as having

reached endgame and general access to the higher tier decoration quests.

2.1 Skill Priority

Armor Skill Priority

1 Agitator 5

All these Skills share two crucial things in common:

They give affinity and are on Armor.

Every single important move in Swaxes kit can Crit.

1 Weakness Exploit

1 Maximum Might 3

1 2 Piece Gore + Antivirus 3

1 Counter Strike 3 Counter Strike now procs on Hyper Armor and Counter, meaning

essentially a free 25 Raw for 45 Seconds at level 3.

1 Burst 1 +10 Raw for 3 seconds after hitting a monster a few times. Very

efficient 1 point skill, the element does not matter to us.

Fig. 2.1A - Offensive Armor Skill “Priority”

The table is called “Priority”, because there is no actual priority. You will fit all these skills

together, most other skills are either immensely situational or just straight up don’t work. Whether they

are “just” bugged or the intend to nerf a lot of alternatives to heavy crit investment is currently

unknown.

2.2 Gear Requirements

Strictly speaking, the baseline requirement for most sets is HR41.

Due to the Talisman and Weapon upgrades, aswell as the Artian Weapon Meta, most builds

will only fully come online at around HR70-80, depending on grinding strategy and deco/material

RNG.

Every Non-Level 3 Decoration becomes target meldable at HR 100, meaning you’ll never truly

be locked out of a set completely. In situations of extreme strokes of bad luck, you might have to give

up 1 level of crit boost, which hurts, but has no hunt-breaking impact given how short lived monsters

in Base-base Wilds seem to be.

2.3 Other Considerations

Food Skills:

First Slot: Meat as a base for food grants +2 Raw.

Second Slot: Caprice Meal (Hi) (Airy Egg) gives +15 Raw in random intervals during its Duration,

which last for 10 seconds each.

Alternatively, Tumbler Meal (Mud and Turbid Shrimp) grant additional Iframes on dodges.

Lastly, Moxie Meal (Specialty/Slid Garlic) can prevent one cart.

Third Slot depends on Set and Location.

Ultimately, there is no stand-out absolute banger meal that will make a ginormous impact, so eating

whatever is available or cooked by villagers or even just Meat is good enough.

Out of quest-set:

There is ongoing testing whether items consumed while having Mushroomancer and Item prolonger

equipped retain their buffs through changing your Set, how they interact with Wide Range and if they

persist through Quest Start. This might become optimal, and will receive an update in Section 3 if so.

Cat:

The current consensus is to either give it a Para Weapon or to leave it at home. Para is the preferred

status, as it does not interfere with Agitator, which is taking a more central role in this Meta again.

Cat unlocks extra abilities by doing its Side Quests, namely:

● Revive on cart with half health (once/quest)

● Spawn Vigor Wasps

● Steal materials

Cats max out at level 30.

3 Meta Build Guide

The following sets are ordered from weakest to strongest.

They do NOT assume Might Seed, Demon Powder, Mega/Demon Drug or specific food skills due to

how annoying they are to farm. They DO however assume the Power Charm, obtained by doing the

Double Ajarakan Arena quest (“As Gatekeeper”) from Rex’ Questline in Suja.

Additionally, Mantles will not be accounted for unless otherwise specified, as they do not reset

between quests without the use of third party mods.

Overall, the current Meta is strongly reminiscent of Iceborne’s Fatalis Meta.

3.1 -Preamble: Artian Weapons

The Current meta revolves around Artian Weapons.

The Materials to craft the good ones are obtained from HR41+ Tempered Investigations.

Good Investigations look like this:

Fig. 3.1A - Investigation Examples

The Three materials needed to craft a Switch Axe are 2x Blade and 1x Device.

To craft an Artian Switch Axe, talk to Gemma and select the Forge Artian Weapon option.

Next, Select the parts:

Fig. 3.1B - Crafting Menu

Each part has an Element (or a Status), and either Attack or Affinity associated with it. Using

two of the same Element/Status makes the resulting weapon have that Element/Status. For Switch

Axe specifically, this also impacts the Phial Type the resulting Weapon will have.

Using the same Element/Status three times boosts the value a bit. It is preferred to use the

same Element/Status three times for that reason.

The “Infusions” on these parts always resemble 5. Current Highest Tier Artian Weapons have a base of 190 Raw and 5% Affinity, aswell as 20 Units of White Sharpness and a Dragon Phial. They always have 3-3-3 Slots.

The above example uses 2 Attack Infusions and 1 Affinity Infusion, which means the resulting weapon will have 190 + (2x5) Attack and 5+(1x5)% Affinity.

The results thus work like this:

Part, Element, Infusion Part 2, Element, Infusion Part 3, Element, Infusion Result

Blade, Fire, Attack Blade, Water, Affinity Device, Sleep, Attack 200 Attack, 10% Affinity, Dragon Phial (26)

Blade, Dragon, Attack Blade, Dragon, Attack Device, Ice, Attack 205 Attack, 5% Affinity, Element Phial, 26 Dragon Element

Blade, Water, Affinity Blade, Water, Affinity Device, Water, Affinity 190 Attack, 20% Affinity, Element Phial, 28 Water Element

Blade, Paralysis, Attack Blade, Paralysis, Affinity Device, Paralysis, Attack 200 Attack, 10% Affinity, Power Phial, 8 Para

Blade, Sleep, Attack Blade, Poison, Attack Device, Sleep, Affinity 200 Attack, 10% Affinity, Power Phial, 6 Sleep

Fig. 3.1C - Artian Crafting Examples

Note that you cannot mix and match Parts of differing Rarity. Rarity 6 and 7 Artian weapons

are strictly not worth it.

Proceeding with the currently optimal pick of 3x Para, the weapon is crafted with the stats

from the Result tab. After crafting comes Reinforcing. This is done via the “Reinforce/Dismantle

Artian Weapons” Menu option at Gemma.

Pick the Reinforce option and the Weapon you want to gamble on:

Fig. 3.1D - I love gambling! dudududu argh dang it dudududu argh dang it

Reinforcement Materials can be obtained by trading with the secondary forge in Azuz. Trade

your unneeded Monster Materials and Licenses for Oricalcite.

It takes 10 Oricalcite per roll, for a total of 5 rolls = 50 of those ores.

Fig. 3.1E - The gamba part

This is where the weapons are truly made. Each “Reinforcement” adds 1 of 4 possible rolls on

the weapon. These are:

+5% Affinity; +3 Element/Status (bloated to 30); +5 Raw; +30 Units of Sharpness.

Depending on what you are building for, you may want differing rolls. This guide generally

recommends going for a total (this includes the parts used to craft the weapon) of +10-15% Affinity

(2-3 rolls), +60 Sharpness (2 rolls), and the rest into Attack (3-4 rolls), to end at 205-210 Attack, 15-20%

Affinity, 80 Units of White Sharpness, Power Phial and 8(0) Para.

Fig. 3.1F - F stands for Failed Attempt

You will likely not have a great result. While the Sharpness and affinity are good, the Element

Boost rolls on this example don’t do anything for us. It is therefore a failed Attempt.

If this happened to you, go to the Reinforce/Dismantle Menu and select Dismantle.

Fig 3.1G - G stands for Get back Ore

Dismantling an Artian weapon returns the Ore used to Reinforce it back to you. You lose the

Parts (2x Blade, 1x Device) used to craft it, but the Ores are one less worry you need to have.

3.2 - 4P Gore

3.2A - 4P Gore Set

Requirements:

● Artian Weapon total rolls: 3x Affinity (20% Affinity total), 1-2x Sharpness, Rest Raw

● 1x Burst, 2x Agitator, 3x Max Might, 1x Antivirus Decorations

● Counter Strike 3 Charm

● 1x Crit boost 3 + 1x Crit Boost 2 OR 2x Crit Boost 3 Decoration, and 1x Power Prolonger 3 Decoration

Gameplan:

Full Release Slash. Counter Strike procs off of FRS hyper armor and counters, and lasts for 45

Seconds at level 3.

This Set is one of the two current top contenders. It does not achieve 100% Affinity, but the average

damage is similar, and depending on specific uptime circumstances, it might even beat the one

below that does.

This set also comes with a free 2 and 1 slot, which can be used for comfort skills or potentially

Ambush 1. Theoretically it’s really strong with frenzy mantle, if and when that’s up.

Additionally, this is potentially more compatible with other weapons than the version below.

The Contributor of this set wishes to go uncredited. Thanks for the kind set gold stranger!

Recommended Comfort: Shockproof 1 for MP, Weapon Deco: Power Prolonger 3/Handicraft 1

Decoration, Stun/Tremor… Res, Aquatic Mobility 1, Quick Sheathe, Adaptability 1…

Note: There is a Wex4 variation of this.

Agi4 Variation: Link (Ass)*

Wex4 Variation: Link (Ass)*

*Armor set search

3.3 - Agi/Max Might Raw

3.3A - Agi/Max Might Raw?

Requirements:

● Artian Weapon total rolls: 3x Affinity (20% Affinity total), 1-2x Sharpness, rest Raw

● Decorations: 1x Burst, 1x Agitator, 3x Counter Strike, 2x Max Might, 2x Antivirus, 1x Weakness

Exploit

● Agitator 2 Charm

● 1x Crit boost 3 + 1x Crit Boost 2 OR 2x Crit Boost 3 Decoration, and 1x Power Prolonger 3 Decoration

Gameplan:

Full Release Slash. Counter Strike procs off of FRS hyper armor and counters, and lasts for 45

Seconds at level 3.

The added stamina bar from 2 Piece Guardian Fulgur Anjanath bonus makes max might uptime very

high.

If you can afford using whetfish regularly, 1 Sharpness roll is better on paper. Otherwise (and

possibly even then), use 2x Sharpness rolls.

Recommended Comfort: Weapon Deco: Power Prolonger 3/Handicraft 1 Decoration

4P Gore Variation Notes

There is a variant labeled as Wex4 and Agi4, which alters certain skills or links. See notes above.

4. Meta Matchup Chart

Fig. 4.0A - If it breathes, it’s weak to Full Release Slash.

5. Alternative Builds

5.1 Comfy Mp

5.1A - Comfy MP set

Requirements:

● Artian Weapon total rolls: 2x Affinity (15% Affinity total), 2x Sharpness

● 2x Max Might, 1x Antivirus, 2x Tenderizer Decorations

● Counter Strike 3 Charm

● 1x Crit boost 3 + 1x Crit Boost 2 OR 2x Crit Boost 3 Decoration, and 1x Power Prolonger 3 Decoration

Gameplan:

Full Release Slash. Counter Strike procs off of FRS hyper armor and counters, and lasts for 45

Seconds at level 3.

While not the best set swaxe can do, this non-Agitator variation is particularly strong on Guardians

as their special topple ends Rage Mode. Somewhy, Flayer 2 is the strongest level of that skill, at the

time of writing, but it really is just bonus, the comfortable factor is the Decimator I set bonus which

recovers 25 health whenever you pop a wound. The 5 unused 1-Slots can be used for a bunch of

comfy skills, making this variation primarily oriented towards Multiplayer hunts. From full stamina, you

can roll approximately twice before starting Full Release and having Maximum Might be active for it.

Recommended Comfort: Shockproof 1 for MP, Weapon Deco: Power Prolonger 3/Handicraft 1

Decoration, Stun/Tremor… Res, Aquatic Mobility 1, Quick Sheathe, Adaptability 1…

5.1A - Comfy MP set (cont’d)

6. Meme Builds

Due to the extremely limited set building in this game, there is no meme build yet.

7. Changes throughout Title Updates

7.1 OBT -> Release

Switch Axe had really, REALLY pathetic numbers during all three Open Beta Tests. Now, in the

Open Beta Test 3 Release Game, those numbers were cranked up to 11, and then they cranked 11 up

to 50. Full release went from a doinky ~160 MV move for its damage loop to a 506 monster. Rising

Slash combo is 123 MV. Absolutely absurd.

The performance has increased significantly, and the game was largely rid of any annoying

actually functioning systems. Glitches and Bugs to permanently activate certain conditional Skills, like

the 4 Piece Jin Dahaad set bonus, Latent power, Agitator and this games version of Bloodlust are

making any set optimization completely moot. Full Sets come with 5 points to 3-point skills, notably

Ajarakan Alpha. Luckily, the Beta version of that set drops some skills in order to make room for Slots.

Unfortunately, without fail, that skill is never Partbreaker.

Fig. 7.1A & 7.1B - Full competency on display.

There is a crazy attention to Detail in many instances, but it is evident that none of it went into

making half of the new systems work.

On the bright side, they’ve managed to do what many people have desperately hoped for:

Element and Raw have different playstyles. Unfortunately, Element has 0 winning match ups, as every

good element skill, such as Element Attack and Critical Element compete with Critical Boost, which

ultimately means, it doesn’t compete with Critical Boost.

The Crit Meta is finally dead. Long live the crit meta!

8. FAQs

Q: Why no Rapid morph?

A: Because it doesn’t work properly. Source. Addendum: It works, it speeds up animations and

applies its bonus to base raw. It does, however, not increase the speed by the advertised amount.

Even if it did, it just doesn’t do enough to justify using over Power Prolonger, currently.

Q: Why do you recommend Agitator and Wex 2 charms? They don’t exist!

A: The game does not currently tell you what is required to upgrade charms, it will only let you open

the upgrade menu if you happen to have the materials required to upgrade them.

Q: What about Flayer, how does it work?

A: It makes Wounds appear faster. Level 2 makes them appear the fastest, it does not work as

intended currently. Addendum: Allegedly, that is the intended function. Source: Reddit, Official

Capcom FAQ.

Q: Why not Focus?

A: Because it doesn’t really do anything and competes with Crit Boost and Power Prolonger, which

means it doesn't. Potentially bugged. Addendum: Even if it wasn’t/isn’t bugged, Power Prolonger is

just strictly better. There are unconfirmed rumours about Focus only working, partially or at all, if it is

an innate skill. Which weapons exactly are affected by this is currently undergoing tests.

Q: Why no element sets?

A: Because element does not work properly currently. Potentially bugged. Addendum: The big issue is

that phials were a post-modifier and are now a base modifier. So instead of having your full set be

scaled by the 45% element provides, it only scales off of the 20-43 you can get at most. Additionally,

the ele cap is very low (it scales with the base element of the weapon). Due to the resulting small numbers,

some rounding issues come up, which I wasn’t able to replicate in the calculator I built to

determine meta sets. Critical element may or may not function properly as of writing, and elemental

skills like Ele Attack and Crit Ele compete with crit boost, which means that they don’t compete with

crit boost. In its current state, it unfortunately is just bad and potentially doesn’t work as intended.

Q: Why are there no mantles?

A: Because they don’t reset on Quest Start/End. The hands down best Mantle is Frenzied mantle, but

it’s hard to justify optimizing around it when it could be up from anywhere between every 4th to every

other quest.

Q: Why not Partbreaker, it says it increases Focus Strike damage?

A: It does currently not increase Focus Strike damage. It does, however, increase the 30 or so

damage wounds deal when they are broken, by the specified amount in the skills description.

Q: Why do the sets overcap affinity? Frenzy gives 15% and Antivirus 3 gives 15%!

A: Frenzy gives 15% when cured. Antivirus only gives 10%. The description is wrong. Addendum: In

english. Apparently, Japanese text is correctly stating it to be 10%.

Q: Why do the decorations in my Set not Save properly?

A: That feature was previously bugged, according to Capcom this was fixed in Ver. 1.000.05.00

(March 10, 2025).

Q: How long does Amp last? Why is Power Prolonger 3 good?

A: Base Amp duration is 45 seconds. Power Prolonger 3 doubles this to 90 seconds.

Q: What does Power Axe do?

A: Only while in Axe Mode, it grants +10 Raw.

Q: How much does Power Charm add?

A: Power Charm grants +6 Raw.

Q: How to make Artian weapons? What’s the best one?

A: Section 3.1 covers Artian weapons.

Q: How does the Offset work? Why does it topple so inconsistently?

A: As far we know, Offset operates on a threshold. At the start of the hunt, the threshold is really low,

everytime the actual offset happens, the threshold increases. This explains why the offset effect (big

shotgun sound effect) appears on your screen, but the actual topple doesn’t happen. You need to

reach the threshold everytime. Note that even if you don’t get the topple, you can still follow it up with

a Heavy Slam.

Q: Why do I randomly get disconnected from MP? Why am I still in the hunt/group/lobby after

disconnecting? Why do monsters teleport?

A: Multiplayer is currently bugged. Capcom is aware of this issue.

Q: Why can I not join SOS’s? Why does the SOS say 1/4 but when I try to join it says it's full?

A: SOS is currently bugged. Capcom is aware of this issue.

Q: Why do I sometimes just have my mantle active?

A: Mantles don't work properly currently, they sometimes get auto equipped. For some reason, there is

a controller hotkey/input for putting on the non-ghillie mantle, which can easily be triggered on

accident.

Q: Why can’t I talk to certain NPCs?

A: NPC interaction detection currently isn’t working properly. If you’re too close to an NPC, you cannot

talk to them.

Q: Why are there no memes?

A: Memes currently don’t function as intended.

Q: I cut off a monster’s tail, why did it become a different monster’s part?

A: That Feature was previously bugged and is fixed since Ver. 1.000.05.00 (March 10, 2025),

according to Capcom.

Q: How does Scorcher work?

A: Similar to how Status works. It “randomly” procs an extra hit of pure fire damage. That proc does not

scale with Attack and doesn’t care about innate weapon element, but scales with Burst, Coalescence and Fire

Attack. The damage is inconsistent across targets and may not scale predictably with defenses.

Q: What does Frenzy Mantle do?

A: While equipped, it drains health, but procs an additional hit on some combos, depending on

Weapon Type. For Switch Axe, the attacks this procs on are: Axe: Overhead Slash, Side Slash, Spiral Burst Slash,

aswell as Sword: Overhead Slash, Right Rising Slash, Left Rising Slash. Additionally, while attacking with this mantle equipped, an invisible gauge is filled, likely based on how much MV the attacks have. Once cleared, this mantle also grants +30 Affinity aswell as +10% Raw.

Q: How to farm nourishing extract?

A: Double Guardian investigations drop a lot of them. - Pinky

Q: How does Self Improvement work?

A: Every 5 minutes, you gain +5 Raw, until the cap at 30 Raw after 30 Minutes.

Q: What does Gore 4 Piece bonus do?

A: 2P will infect you with frenzy while fighting monsters. 4P will additionally grant 10 Raw while

infected, which becomes 15 Raw (total!) after clearing it.

9. Resources

1. Wilds Ass, found here

2. Somewhat accurate Swaxe Damage Calculator, found here (make a copy, read the first sheet)

3. Collection of datamines, found here

4. Wilds builder, found here

5. Wilds database through Kiranico, found here

6. Rudimentary Focus and Rapid Morph comparison, found here and here, respectively

(youtube)

7. How to play Guide, here

8. Progression Guide, here

10. Acknowledgements

I would like to thank:

● The team behind the Armor Set Search, for the Armor Set Search

● Kat for bouncing ideas, testing and verifying data

● Upgreid for writing and providing the template to this guide

● Krea for testing and finding obscure but important info

● Juzzi and Ragna for early set optimizations

● dtlnor and the other miners, without whom this would’ve taken several weeks

● the Wiggler team for being good sport and company

● MHGH’s Switch Axe chat for testing, verifying and general feedback

---

Fig. 0.0A - Accurate description of the current meta

All headlines are collapsible, in order to read the paragraphs, press

this button to their left side.

Note: Recent Title Update changed things a little; Updating this is a

WIP, currently ongoing testing with certain skills and Matchups. Big

update ETA: ~2nd-3rd Week of April (faster in future TUs)

Current contender: Juzzi’s Video (youtube)

How you can help: Verify Datamined MV (every move; some are off),

figure out (approximate) formula on WF1, full MV on individual hits of both

modes on Focus Strike - All ideally with video evidence

1. A Preface by the Author

This guide was written by Sasch,

Feedback is very welcome either via DMs or in the Monster Hunter Gathering Hub’s Switch

Axe Channel.

2. Build Guide Assumptions

All Sets listed in the following Sections generally assume players to have general knowledge

on moveset options and knowing Swaxe's kit and general matchup knowledge, aswell as having

reached endgame and general access to the higher tier decoration quests.

2.1 Skill Priority

Armor Skill Priority

1 Agitator 5

All these Skills share two crucial things in common:

They give affinity and are on Armor.

Every single important move in Swaxes kit can Crit.

1 Weakness Exploit

1 Maximum Might 3

1 2 Piece Gore + Antivirus 3

1 Counter Strike 3 Counter Strike now procs on Hyper Armor and Counter, meaning

essentially a free 25 Raw for 45 Seconds at level 3.

1 Burst 1 +10 Raw for 3 seconds after hitting a monster a few times. Very

effective 1 point skill, the element does not matter to us.

Fig. 2.1A - Offensive Armor Skill “Priority”

The table is called “Priority”, because there is no actual priority. You will fit all these skills

together, most other skills are either immensely situational or just straight up don’t work. Whether they

are “just” bugged or the intend to nerf a lot of alternatives to heavy crit investment is currently

unknown.

2.2 Gear Requirements

Strictly speaking, the baseline requirement for most sets is HR41.

Due to the Talisman and Weapon upgrades, aswell as the Artian Weapon Meta, most builds

will only fully come online at around HR70-80, depending on grinding strategy and deco/material

RNG.

Every Non-Level 3 Decoration becomes target meldable at HR 100, meaning you’ll never truly

be locked out of a set completely. In situations of extreme strokes of bad luck, you might have to give

up 1 level of crit boost, which hurts, but has no hunt-breaking impact given how short lived monsters

in Base-base Wilds seem to be.

2.3 Other Considerations

Food Skills:

First Slot: Meat as a base for food grants +2 Raw.

Second Slot: Caprice Meal (Hi) (Airy Egg) gives +15 Raw in random intervals during its Duration,

which last for 10 seconds each.

Alternatively, Tumbler Meal (Mud and Turbid Shrimp) grant additional Iframes on dodges.

Lastly, Moxie Meal (Specialty/Slid Garlic) can prevent one cart.

Third Slot depends on Set and Location.

Ultimately, there is no stand-out absolute banger meal that will make a ginormous impact, so eating

whatever is available or cooked by villagers or even just Meat is good enough.

Out of quest-set:

There is ongoing testing whether items consumed while having Mushroomancer and Item prolonger

equipped retain their buffs through changing your Set, how they interact with Wide Range and if they

persist through Quest Start. This might become optimal, and will receive an update in Section 3 if so.

Cat:

The current consensus is to either give it a Para Weapon or to leave it at home. Para is the preferred

status, as it does not interfere with Agitator, which is taking a more central role in this Meta again.

Cat unlocks extra abilities by doing its Side Quests, namely:

• Revive on cart with half health (once/quest)

• Spawn Vigor Wasps

• Steal materials

Cats max out at level 30.

3. Meta Build Guide

The following sets are ordered from weakest to strongest.

They do NOT assume Might Seed, Demon Powder, Mega/Demon Drug or specific food skills due to

how annoying they are to farm. They DO however assume the Power Charm, obtained by doing the

Double Ajarakan Arena quest (“As Gatekeeper”) from Rex’ Questline in Suja.

Additionally, Mantles will not be accounted for unless otherwise specified, as they do not reset

between quests without the use of third party mods.

Overall, the current Meta is strongly reminiscent of Iceborne’s Fatalis Meta.

3.1 -Preamble: Artian Weapons

The Current meta revolves around Artian Weapons.

The Materials to craft the good ones are obtained from HR41+ Tempered Investigations.

Good Investigations look like this:

Fig. 3.1A - Investigation Examples

The Three materials needed to craft a Switch Axe are 2x Blade and 1x Device.

To craft an Artian Switch Axe, talk to Gemma and select the Forge Artian Weapon option.

Next, Select the parts:

Fig. 3.1B - Crafting Menu

Each part has an Element (or a Status), and either Attack or Affinity associated with it. Using

two of the same Element/Status makes the resulting weapon have that Element/Status. For Switch

Axe specifically, this also impacts the Phial Type the resulting Weapon will have.

Using the same Element/Status three times boosts the value a bit. It is preferred to use the

same Element/Status three times for that reason.

The above example uses 2 Attack Infusions and 1 Affinity Infusion, which means the resulting weapon will have 190 + (2x5) Attack and 5+(1x5)% Affinity.

The results thus work like this:

Part, Element, Infusion Part 2, Element, Infusion Part 3, Element, Infusion Result

Blade, Fire, Attack Blade, Water, Affinity Device, Sleep, Attack 200 Attack, 10% Affinity, Dragon Phial (26)

Blade, Dragon, Attack Blade, Dragon, Attack Device, Ice, Attack 205 Attack, 5% Affinity, Element Phial, 26 Dragon Element

Blade, Water, Affinity Blade, Water, Affinity Device, Water, Affinity 190 Attack, 20% Affinity, Element Phial, 28 Water Element

Blade, Paralysis, Attack Blade, Paralysis, Affinity Device, Paralysis, Attack 200 Attack, 10% Affinity, Power Phial, 8 Para

Blade, Sleep, Attack Blade, Poison, Attack Device, Sleep, Affinity 200 Attack, 10% Affinity, Power Phial, 6 Sleep

Fig. 3.1C - Artian Crafting Examples

Note that you cannot mix and match Parts of differing Rarity. Rarity 6 and 7 Artian weapons

are strictly not worth it.

Proceeding with the currently optimal pick of 3x Para, the weapon is crafted with the stats

from the Result tab. After crafting comes Reinforcing. This is done via the “Reinforce/Dismantle

Artian Weapons” Menu option at Gemma.

Pick the Reinforce option and the Weapon you want to gamble on:

Fig. 3.1D - I love gambling! dudududu argh dang it dudududu argh dang it

Reinforcement Materials can be obtained by trading with the secondary forge in Azuz. Trade

your unneeded Monster Materials and Licenses for Oricalcite.

It takes 10 Oricalcite per roll, for a total of 5 rolls = 50 of those ores.

Fig. 3.1E - The gamba part

This is where the weapons are truly made. Each “Reinforcement” adds 1 of 4 possible rolls on

the weapon. These are:

+5% Affinity; +3 Element/Status (bloated to 30); +5 Raw; +30 Units of Sharpness.

Depending on what you are building for, you may want differing rolls. This guide generally

recommends going for a total (this includes the parts used to craft the weapon) of +10-15% Affinity

(2-3 rolls), +60 Sharpness (2 rolls), and the rest into Attack (3-4 rolls), to end at 205-210 Attack, 15-20%

Affinity, 80 Units of White Sharpness, Power Phial and 8(0) Para.

Fig. 3.1F - F stands for Failed Attempt

You will likely not have a great result. While the Sharpness and affinity are good, the Element

Boost rolls on this example don’t do anything for us. It is therefore a failed Attempt.

If this happened to you, go to the Reinforce/Dismantle Menu and select Dismantle.

Fig 3.1G - G stands for Get back Ore

Dismantling an Artian weapon returns the Ore used to Reinforce it back to you. You lose the

Parts (2x Blade, 1x Device) used to craft it, but the Ores are one less worry you need to have.

3.2 - 4P Gore

3.2A - 4P Gore Set

Requirements:

• Artian Weapon total rolls: 3x Affinity (20% Affinity total), 1-2x Sharpness, Rest Raw

• 1x Burst, 2x Agitator, 3x Max Might, 1x Antivirus Decorations

• Counter Strike 3 Charm

• 1x Crit boost 3 + 1x Crit Boost 2 OR 2x Crit Boost 3 Decoration, and 1x Power Prolonger 3 Decoration

Gameplan:

Full Release Slash. Counter Strike procs off of FRS hyper armor and counters, and lasts for 45

Seconds at level 3.

This Set is one of the two current top contenders. It does not achieve 100% Affinity, but the average

damage is similar, and depending on specific uptime circumstances, it might even beat the one

below that does.

This set also comes with a free 2 and 1 slot, which can be used for comfort skills or potentially

Ambush 1. Theoretically it’s really strong with frenzy mantle, if and when that’s up.

Additionally, this is potentially more compatible with other weapons than the version below.

The Contributor of this set wishes to go uncredited. Thanks for the kind set gold stranger!

Recommended Comfort: Shockproof 1 for MP, Weapon Deco: Power Prolonger 3/Handicraft 1

Decoration, Stun/Tremor… Res, Aquatic Mobility 1, Quick Sheathe, Adaptability 1…

Note: There is a Wex4 variation of this.

Agi4 Variation: Link (Ass)*

Wex4 Variation: Link (Ass)*

*Armor set search

3.3 - Agi/Max Might Raw {#agi-max-might-raw-continued}

3.3A - Agi/Max Might Raw (cont.) {#agi-max-might-raw-continued}

Requirements:

• Artian Weapon total rolls: 3x Affinity (20% Affinity total), 1-2x Sharpness, rest Raw

• Decorations: 1x Burst, 1x Agitator, 3x Counter Strike, 2x Max Might, 2x Antivirus, 1x Weakness

Exploit

• Agitator 2 Charm

• 1x Crit boost 3 + 1x Crit Boost 2 OR 2x Crit Boost 3 Decoration, and 1x Power Prolonger 3 Decoration

Gameplan:

Full Release Slash. Counter Strike procs off of FRS hyper armor and counters, and lasts for 45

Seconds at level 3.

The added stamina bar from 2 Piece Guardian Fulgur Anjanath bonus makes max might uptime very

high.

If you can afford using whetfish regularly, 1 Sharpness roll is better on paper. Otherwise (and

possibly even then), use 2x Sharpness rolls.

Recommended Comfort: Weapon Deco: Power Prolonger 3/Handicraft 1 Decoration

4. Meta Matchup Chart {#meta-matchup-chart-appendix}

Fig. 4.0A - If it breathes, it’s weak to Full Release Slash.

5. Alternative Builds - Cont. {#alternative-builds-appendix}

5.1 Comfy MP

5.1A - Comfy MP set {#comfy-mp-set-appendix}

Requirements:

• Artian Weapon total rolls: 2x Affinity (15% Affinity total), 2x Sharpness

• 2x Max Might, 1x Antivirus, 2x Tenderizer Decorations