Monster Hunter Wilds introduces a number of new mechanics and attacks to every single weapon, with the goal of creating deeper fights and more interesting weapon movesets. One of those new attacks is Offset Attacks, which are powerful counters that can stun enemies out of slams and grabs. You can then follow-up the counter with a powerful riposte.
However, learning when and where to use these attacks and mastering the timing isn’t easy. Here are some tips for performing Offset Attacks consistently.
To perform and pull off an Offset Attack, you want to take into account the wind-up time of your attack and the time it takes for the monster to slam or grab you. The moment where the monster lunges forward is when you want your attack to hit in front of you. For most weapons, Offset Attacks take a second or two to charge until they actually swing, so you want to learn how long monsters charge their attacks for before they lunge forwards and the windup time of your Offset Attack - meeting in the middle so both attacks hit each other at the same moment.
There are two ways to practice this. The first is by fighting actual monsters. The Doshaguma is by far the easiest monster to practice this on, as its lunges and grabs are very easy to spot. It’s also easy to find in the Windward Plains.
The second place to practice Offset Attacks is in the back of the camp at the training area. Here you talk to the Training Area Palico and change the training dummy’s attack pattern to a slam. Once changed, you can practice your Offset Attacks to get an initial idea of how to properly time them. Fighting real monsters is the better way of practicing, however.
Once you pull off an Offset Attack, the monster will almost always be stunned and fall over for a while. You can then follow up with a riposte swing or slam depending on your weapon, which does extra damage and has a charged run-up.
That covers an initial breakdown of how Offset Attacks work and when to precisely time them. This should give you an upper hand when taking on some of the higher-tier monsters, as Offset Attacks become more important.
