The Lance is routinely the least popular weapon in the Monster Hunter series despite being around since the very first game on the PS2. Don't hold that against it: I swear to you on my Palico that the Lance is not a bad weapon. Once you equip the best Lance build in Monster Hunter Wilds you’ll realise it’s satisfying as heck to play well, with a moveset built around a strong defensive core and punishing counterattacks. While the Lance isn’t as flashy as the Insect Glaive, Charge Blade, or its sibling the Gunlance, its defensive-minded moveset is an absolute joy to play with once you get into the groove.
With the Lance and its accompanying massive shield your attacks are mainly limited to two sets of thrusts at differing heights, but the key to this weapon is mixing in defensive maneuvers as you unlock more powerful abilities after performing guards or counters.
How to play Lance in Monster Hunter Wilds
Lance has two main combos, both of which are three consecutive stab attacks: Y for mid (at hunter level), and B for high (above your head), which is used for big and flying monsters. At the end of each of these you have access to two moves:
- Triple Thrust (Y) – A quick-hitting attack where you stab the opponent three times, best used when the enemy is stunned and there’s no risk of being knocked out of the animation.
- Charge Counter (B) – A held input that can eat an enemy attack and does a powerful stab when the input is released. If released as an enemy hits, it becomes the more powerful Double Counter-thrust. This move can also be done without using the combo beforehand by holding RT and B.
Your other main focus is using your shield to block attacks. Once you perform a guard, you’ll have access to three powerful moves: Return Thrust (Y), Retribution Thrust (Y + B), and Payback Thrust (B), all of which deal big damage to your enemies. You can also poke at enemies while your shield is up with the Guard Thrust, which is a quick and low damage attack that is extremely safe to throw out.
You can also access these moves through the Power Guard stance, which is accessed by holding RT and A while you are in the Charge Counter State.
- Power Guard will continuously drain your stamina, but it also blocks enemy attacks automatically.
- In Power Guard, Return Thrust (Y) is upgraded to the more powerful Leaping Thrust.
Lance may seem like a stodgy weapon, but it's not all blocking! The Dash attack (RT + Y + B) has you lift your shield and run with your lance out, skewering anything in your path. This is useful for getting yourself across the arena to a fast monster instead of relying on the Lance's slow dodge. This can be followed up with the powerful Finishing Thrust or the Reverse Attack, whipping you around quickly to slash at the area behind you, useful for when you overshoot.
Best Lance build for Low Rank
This build focuses on defense-oriented skills like Offensive Guard and the Doshaguma’s Might group skill; these both reward you with attack power buffs for using the Lance’s shield effectively.
- First weapon: Balahara Lance I
The first Lance I’d recommend crafting is the Balahara Lance I, which becomes available after the fifth main hunt. This weapon comes with the Water element, handy against monsters like Rompopolo, Rey Dau, and Ajarakan. However, the real reason we want it is the Offensive Guard skill. This skill will give you an attack boost after performing a perfectly timed guard. Nail your defense and you'll basically always be buffed.
This skill is at level 1 at first, which gives you a +5% boost, but as you upgrade the weapon it goes to 10% and 15%. You’ll want to use this until you fight Nu Udra in the Oilwell basin.
- First armor set: Hope Mask, Hope Mail, Hope Braces, Hope Coil, Hope Greaves
Yes, you read that right. The default starting armor in Monster Hunter Wilds is what I'd recommend for Lance users in the early hours. While it doesn’t have any group skills available, the skills that it does have work well with the Lance. Since you’ll be defending a lot, there’s a chance you’ll be knocked on your ass a fair few times as you practice the timing, and that makes Stun Resistance (Hope Mask, Hope Coil), which reduces the duration of the stun status effect, super useful.
The other three parts have Divine Blessing which has a chance to decrease the damage you take from enemy attacks.
- Second weapon: Nu Osminog I
This weapon is a Fire element Lance which will carry you right into the early hours of High Rank. It comes with a decoration slot and the Level 2 version of the Offensive Guard skill at its base form.
- Second armor set: Ingot Helm, Doshaguma Mail, Doshaguma Braces, Doshaguma Coil, Doshaguma Greaves
The Doshaguma set's individual parts don’t have too much bearing on the Lance Build, with Free Meal, Item Extender, and Recovery Speed just being generally useful skills. However, it’s the Set Bonus Doshaguma’s Might that you want. This skill will give you a +10 attack buff after pulling off a successful Power Clash. This buff mixed with the Offensive Guard skill on your weapon will make you an absolute damage dealing machine. This skill activates with two pieces of Doshaguma Armour, but gets amped up with four. It also has the Fortifying Pelt group skill which gives you an attack and defense buff if you faint on a quest.
Once you beat Uth Duna and Rompopolo you’ll have access to the Ingot set. I’d recommend replacing the Doshaguma Helm with the Ingot Helm so that you can once again have Divine Blessing. The next upgrade I’d recommend is after you come face to face with the Guardian Doshaguma.
- Third armor set: Ingot Helm, G.Doshaguma Mail, G. Doshaguma Braces, G. Doshaguma Coil, G. Doshaguma Greaves
This one is a straight upgrade as you’ll once again be focusing on the Doshaguma's Might Set Bonus, which is present in this set too. It also features the Heroics skill, which increases your attack and defense when your health is at 35% or lower, once again adding to that attack buff. Marathon Runner slows down stamina depletion for actions that continuously drain stamina, which will be useful for the Lance’s dash attack and Power Guard.
This set should easily carry you through the rest of Low Rank and the early High Rank quests; just make sure you get your defensive timing down to fully take advantage of those damage buffs.
Best Lance High Rank build
For High Rank, there are a number of weapons that hold the super helpful Offensive Guard skill, and while the Nu Udra line is totally fine to stick with, I’d recommend pivoting to the G. Ebony Tree. You’ll be able to upgrade to a Rarity 6 weapon early on in High Rank while the Nu Udra rematch comes much later in the game. Plus, the Dragon Element gives a highly effective boost against many of the late-game monsters like Arkveld and Gore Magla.
- Guardian Doshaguma α: The High Rank Guardian Doshaguma set works well with the Lance, just like the Low Rank kit. Doshaguma’s Might still allows you to be a powerhouse damage dealer on the defensive, while Constitution and Iron Skin only bolster your defensive capabilities.
- High Metal: The High Metal armor is built all around defense, with maxed-out skills on every part like Iron Skin, Stun Resistance, and Flinch Free that will make you even more of a wall.
These will get you through a good chunk of High Rank, but my favorite build for the Lance arrives with the final armor set available.
Arkveld alpha endgame build
Bequeathed Regret is the Rarity 8 variant of the Guardian Ebony Odogaron tree and my recommended Lance for the endgame.
Since the final monsters you’ll face feature the likes of Gore Magala, Arkveld, Gravios, and the power couple Rathalos and Rathian, a Dragon Element weapon will come in incredibly handy. Plus, it still features the ever-helpful Offensive Guard skill, which gives you attack boosts for performing a Perfect Guard.
For your three jewel slots, you’ll want the Guardian/Stream Jewel [3] in your Level 3 slot as it gives you an attack boost following a perfect guard, and since you’ll be guarding a lot with the Lance, it’s well worth a spot. For Level 2 I’d recommend Crit Element Jewel II [2], which boosts your elemental damage upon a critical hit, which mixes well with the Dragon Jewel [1] that I recommend for the Level 1 slot, which boosts your Dragon element damage.
For your armor, I recommend the Rarity 8 Guild Ace set. While this specific set doesn’t have a defensive skill akin to Doshaguma’s Might, it makes up for it by having five Level 3 decoration slots. The armor itself has five doses of Peak Performance—which offers a +20 attack boost when at full health—and five doses of Constitution, which reduces stamina depletion when blocking and evading.
For your armor slots, I’d recommend stocking up on three sets of Chain Jewel [3], which features the Burst skill. This skill will make up for a lack of Doshaguma’s Might, as it gives you an attack and elemental attack boost for hitting a monster continuously, which is perfect for the Lance’s moveset. In theory, you could get five of these and have a good time as the Burst skill goes up to level 5, but there’s a Talisman that will make up for it. For the final two slots, I’d recommend Refresh Jewel [2], which boosts your stamina recovery, and Grinder/Ironwall Jewel [3], which speeds up weapon sharpening and reduces knockback and stamina depletion when guarding.
For your Talisman, go with Chain Charm II, which will make up the final two levels of the Burst skill to give you the maximum damage buff possible when doing multiple attacks in a row. And that’s pretty much it; you’re all set to take on everything High Rank can throw at you.
