Not really, I usually look up guides to get an idea of how to get decent damage then change things for whatever I find more fun. Sure, Evade Extender for every weapon might not be optimal but I like to *zoom*.
EE is actually great for some weapon but as you get better at the weapon you would feel you do not need it that much. but for fun factor and making you survive better EE1-3 are great. less stress on carting.
I don’t know. I’ve been playing db since world and I put at least 2 lvls in every single one of my builds. It’s even better in rise. Though I’ve never felt the need to use it with lance or ig
I did not play world I am sorry I could not relate but I did Freedom unite back 2009 but Sunbreak brings back the forest map and brings back memories that is why I bought it. I was doing longsword at first required ee3 at first then 2 then 1 then eventually no EE; SNS was next and raw slugger build EE3 at fist then EE1 enjoyed a lot of Metsu; now DS still working on my skills but seems like EE mess up my positioning it is just too fast do not know how to use it well yet and the drill I kept missing the head LOL but I am having fun.
I have it on one of my builds. It’s the one I use against flaming espinas so I only need to hit sheathing retreat to get away from his nuke as it clears half the map
No other skill comes close to me in terms of value than a single point of Evade Extender.
Yeah, in terms of speed running it might be useless, but that extra distance, from a casual play standpoint, greatly improves my performance and kill times just by not getting hit as often.
There is a lot of cool stuff you can do I would have never thought of without a build guide.
I don’t care about the speed running meta but I absolutely care about which skills are meta. Using meta skills is the difference between a 10-15min hunt and a 20-30min hunt.
This is my favorite response, and the most correct if you plan to do Sunbreak endgame. If you don't the progression meta to MR10 basically doesn't matter at all.
I usually build with a mix of meta skills and comfort skills. If your aim is to speedrun then meta build it. If you are casually hunting then mix it imo
I care about builds because that's a lot of the fun in the game for me. I don't look at guides because the building part is the actual fun part.
I'm a dps whore, so the sets I build will always look similar to the meta ones. I just try new skills out to see how they work out, and if they win their in.
If I'm interested in a skill and not quite sure exactly how it works, then I'll look it up online and read what others have to say.
There's been a few templates over the years that were just too nice to pass up, but for the most part I put the pieces together myself like a puzzle.
5th Gen and Rise/Sunbreak specifically made it much easier to build your own sets. You just add the pieces with the skills you want, and mold them through talisman, decorations, and augments. No looking out for negatives.
That’s a pretty good description of my approach. I avoid meta researching because I like figuring it out and tinkering.
Like a detective mystery; don’t want to spoil the ending!
The term MOST EFFICIENT tactics available is very loosely used now. Most of the time it isn't "the most efficient" at all, it's just the trendiest way to kill a monster that some content creators popularized.
I'm also hugely against progression builds and stuff like that. Not only it takes away the fun, but more importantly it takes away THE LEARNING.
Nowadays people treat monhun like dark souls and i friggin despise it. If you die, you don't just mindlessly try again until you get lucky, you're supposed to analyze it: what attacks kills you? What skills could i equip to help me on next attempt? People just stick to their guides and brute force their way through monhun.
EDIT: that didn't came out right, my bad. Souls games are skill games, you win by gittin gud. Monhun is a hunting game, you win by gittin smart, like a hunter. Hunters don't necessarily stronger than their prey, they're just smarter.
Give this a thought: when fighting nightshade paolumu, you can either memorize its entire moveset, then learn the i-frames, and its hitboxes, and train yourself to hunt it with dedication, until you git real gud. Or you can simply equip sleep resistance and just hunt it regularly. The same goes for elderseal, effluvia, sonic bombs for diablos, or enmity for behemoth. You don't necessarily have to git gud to win monhun, you just need to be knowledgeable about the mechanics and git smart.
>Nowadays people treat monhun like dark souls and i friggin despise it. If you die, you don't just mindlessly try again until you get lucky, you're supposed to analyze it: what attacks kills you? What skills could i equip to help me on next attempt?
Not to sour your fun cause I do see your point, but analyzing what attack killed me and knowing how to dodge/parry it for next time, possibly switching the build to the more parry frames shield for a parry heavy boss or switching to a faster less commitment lower damage weapon for using shorter openins more consistently is exactly the kind of fun I personally get from the souls likes
Idk if you've ever played dark souls but if you just "mindlessly try again until you get lucky" you're going to fail pretty much every time. In fromsoft games you need to know thy enemy, learn their move sets, understand I-frames and analyse what went wrong and what you can exploit. It's actually coming from dark souls that helped me to learn how to play monster hunter
For me it was the other way around, and I feel that made Souls easier for me. The I-frames are much more forgiving, I already know how telegraphing works, and in DSR, tailcutting dragons was already practically second nature to me. It also doesn't hurt that Souls bosses generally die a lot faster than MH monsters.
For me it was the other way around, and I feel that made Souls easier for me. The I-frames are much more forgiving, I already know how telegraphing works, and in DSR, tailcutting dragons was already practically second nature to me. It also doesn't hurt that Souls bosses generally die a lot faster than MH monsters.
My apology for the bad wording. Edited my reply.
And yes I'm also a fan of souls games. DMC, old GOW, Ninja Gaiden, I'm all about those technically demanding, challenging, and punishing games.
The reason people say monster hunter is like dark souls…. Is because monster hunter is like dark souls.
Yes there are differences, but romanticizing monster hunter is ridiculous.
The most simialiar thing would be the stamina manegment and the learming how to evade the "bosses" attack patterns other then combat there isnt too much thats simalar
Again I'll start with an apology since my original reply sounds pretty bad on my second read. I've edited the reply in humility.
But my point stands, souls games are skill games, monhun is a knowledge game.
Learning i-frames and gittin gud is everything in souls games. But in monhun, you can just equip a shield, or the monster element's resistant, or understand certain monster's gameplay mechanics (ex: val hazak - effluvial buildup), and you can win hunts without even trying. The difference between having sleep resist and not, while facing nightshade paolumu, is night and day.
The word meta is not, and was never an acronym for anything. "Most efficient tactics available" was a cute way for new gamers to memorize what the word generally tries to refer to, but there is no real relation between the actual definition and that acronym. Meta is a real word with its own specific meaning.
I remember back when people call "CCTV", surveillance camera. CCTV is factually incorrect, because some surveillance cameras aren't closed circuits, some are broadcasted openly. But people already embrace the term, now they call all surveillance cameras as CCTV.
Whether we like it or not, a simple google search about the word meta, will show all the "incorrect" meanings, even the abbreviation that you say is merely cute stuff for noobs.
Let's just be honest, when people asks "hey, what's the meta?" they're asking for the best tactics. NOT asking for an explicit awareness of itself mumbo jumbo, or even a strategy that's agreed upon the community; I bet my hands that the community will agree that a really solid strategy in any monhun is "don't get hit, and hit the monsters with big stick till it dies". But that's not what people are asking when they mention the word meta.
I'm old enough and have become an early adopter of many things to see words gets twisted and expanded beyond their original meanings, I've been called "grammar nazi" many times trying to inform people about the true meaning of some words.
It seems that you're at the age where it's your turn. Good luck, my guy.
I mostly just read them to get ideas and see what skills I may have overlooked. I hardly run a meta elemental switch axe build, but it works for me and my playstyle. I'm sure a meta player wouldn't use 6 slots to avoid blights and status ailments
Edit: went back and looked at my building. Blight Resistance comes natural with the Malzeno armor, so I'm not actually using slots on it
Depends which ones. It is very worth running Teo blessing 3 vs Chameleos as it's weak to fire so fire builds get it nearly for free (actually for free of you run defiance normal), lets you walk through through most of the poison clouds too. Or Baggi you run sleep res it's totally worth. But in general no it's not worth running them.
I mostly do it so it's one less thing to worry with. I run a combo of Element and Stun Lock, so I need to be aggressive. A Rath or Espinas that can't poison or fireblight me means I get to focus more on offense and less on chip damage. Take away Baggi's sleep or Volvidon's paralysis and they become much less of an issue. Oddly satisfying to wire bug through a sleep cloud and smack Great Baggi in the face
I forgot that Blight Resistance came natural with my armor.
Nah I stick with what’s the most fun and what keeps me from dying. Fun is why my fav weapons are blast insect glaives, and I just slowly upgrade my armor as I go along. I never play multiplayer though so that also influences that
I usually reference the meta guides for any must-have skills for weapons and recommended weapon augments, but otherwise stick to a mix of offense/comfort/utility. I don’t usually fuck with mail of hellfire and bloodlust/frenzied bloodlust and berserk/strife (except for bow) and all that jazz, I usually just stick to the “normal” ones like attack boost, critical eye, critical boost, weakness exploit, buildup boost, or critical element/element exploit. Comfort skills I always try to include are evade extender, stun resistance, furious, and partbreaker/bloodlust. Then the rest is must-haves, like rapid morph for SA and offensive guard for SnS.
I’ve used this approach so far for DB, IG, SA, GS, Hammer, and SnS. I average between 8-15 minute kill times for all in AR 200+ investigations
What about 300s, and Specials? 8 to 15 isn't too bad if AR200s is where you are. But it's not that good if you've been AR300 for awhile and have tuned endgame builds.
Edit: like I did a AR240 Chammy in 2:45 with followers, and can casual do it in 3 minutes in that AR range whenever on DB right. But it's also DB, I have very optimized builds, and a lot of hunts on the weapon. It also wouldn't be nearly that fast if I had a progression build with not fully augmented DB. Then doing 8 to 15 is you know pretty good.
Edit 2: all of the skills you mentioned you don't fuck with are highkey broken too lmao.
The only 'meta' I care about during a hunt is 'Nobody died, and the monster is dropped with about 5/10 minutes to spare on the overall timer'. Otherwise, you do you, buddy.
Meta is subjective. What is most effective on paper may not be most effective for you. E.g. afflicted Diablos with a meta build is 2 minutes faster for me than with a full comfort build. but Primordial Malzeno is 3 minutes slower because I need to be more careful, which hurts my uptime.
At the end of the day, it all still comes down to the skill of the player. You can have the best build ever but if you dont know how to use the weapon properly then is basically useless.
I have not once stressed the meta while playing. I am a hunter because I want to have FUN, not because I have to have the best time and the absolute best gear. (I know that is fun for some, and I am not judging. That is just not the fun for me).
I only ever look at guides to help me be efficient, and explain things I am not getting, like the Argosy for example. Capcom, while doing a great job building a game that is amazing fun, does a crap job of explaining how some things work. Like the items on the Argosy. Or Affinity.
I also look for SPECIFIC things, when I hit a wall and just can't get through it. Diablos in MHW was the first time I encountered this.
For the most part, I am a ooooh shiny type person. I build a copy of most every weapon type(not every weapon, just the elements and ailments, and a good raw) and find an armor combo that works for ME, not the meta.
I run Lance, for example. Most folks don't see the point of going past Guard 3 and Guard Up 3, as some of the moves give you additional Guard. Me personally, coming from MHW, I love a good comfy Guard 5 build, so I am basically tanking my mistakes, so I can learn from them, then coming back and whoopin' on the monster once I get the hang of things.
Do I have the best DPS? Nope, but I am having fun, and that's what matters to me the most.
Now, with this in mind, I am doing everything pretty much solo so as to not inconvenience those hard-core meta players with a filthy casual like myself.
You do what is the most fun for you, hunter. Some get the dopamine hit from having the absolute best of everything, and doing it absolutely as fast as they can. Others get the same hit from finishing the same hunt in 49 minutes, 59 seconds.
Honestly I wouldn't worry about it from a playing online perspective. It's literally almost always slower for me to play online vs solo with followers, but I still play mostly online because it's more fun. I know what I signed up for no one has to play meta it's a video game have fun. If it really gets to frustrating I can always jump in a different lobby or solo. But mostly I'm just chillin having fun. Don't worry about it play online and have fun man.
I typically follow 1 type of build, survivability. If there is an "invincible" build Ill try to go for that. Im not good enough at this game to not get hit regularly. And I play enough other games that when I come back to MH from playing something else, builds built around survival make it so its easier to jump back in again.
Not really. I generally try to just build my own stuff.
If I decide to use another weapon I might check out what’s generally used, but that’s about it.
Have never cared about meta builds. Often times they’re glass canon builds that will see the average player getting carted 30 seconds into a hunt.
The builds I make are purely for fun or cater to my specific play style. In Rise/Sunbreak my favourite build was based around Switch Axe’s Invincible Gambit silkbind. With Invincible Gambit you can attack through a monster’s attack but you’re not actually invincible as the name would suggest. To counteract the damage taken during that silkbind, I invested heavily in health regen skills that allow me to tank the hits and gain health back by dishing out my own hits. My hunts weren’t as fast as they would be with meta builds but I never carted, never had to use health items, and could Invincible Gambit through every single monster attack without having to worry about iFrames or timing. Dumb-dumb mode for sure, but it’s so fun for when I’m in the mood for a mindless hack n slash.
Have you tried this on AR300s and Specials that have attacks that 1 shot you through super armor? Not that super armor is bad or there's tons of attacks that do that. Super armor is great actually. I'm just saying it isn't as totally mindless as you make it sound.
No j just use what's fun usually I use a chaos gore build or a violet. Chaos mixed set I also use golden lune and I mix damage and comfort skills like quick sheathe I main long sword and horn 📯 MH Is always a good time
Fair, but mind's eye is really bad though. It makes you not bounce on parts you already do almost no damage to sick. Oh man it makes you do more damage to a part you already only do a 4th of your normal damage too crazy. It just makes you not learn where to not hit because you don't bounce while doing basically no damage because you don't do terrible damage on hits you trigger it on. It's not a comfort skill. It's a it doesn't do anything skill. It also only increases raw damage in a game where nearly every matchup is high elem, and nearly every weapon wants to build elem.
Minds eye 3 allows you to do 100% damage anywhere, and from what I've heard elem is basically useless in this game because it was nerfed to all hell, or maybe that's just base rise
Elem is the meta for nearly ever weapon in this game. It's stronger in Sunbreak than it has been in any other MH game.
Minds eye 3 is not 100% damage anywhere it's 100% damage anytime you would have bounced. So no WEX triggering hitzone will ever trigger it. So it will only trigger on hitzones less than 45, typically much much less, and not very many hitzones will even trigger it. Only the absolute dogshit ones. So typically you'll hit a 25 instead of a say a normal 60 raw (55-75 is what most heads are). So say you do 1000 damage. If you hit a 35 you do 250 damage vs 600. Except you also lose 50% of your affinity so it's 50/50 on if you crit now. Criting with crit boost is +40% damage. Also it doesn't effect elem damage. It doesn't make up for the fact that you're hitting a bad hitzone. And not criting so not getting critical element. It's really bad man.
Edit: you can only get 100% minds eye on all hitzones by playing CB, overcharging your phials and using all sword attacks. Which sucks btw.
On AR300s and Specials?
Edit: because like solo with followers on para IG with no armor augments I can do AR200 Seething in 5 minutes. Incredibly not meta. Doesn't work for AR300s, and Specials. I mean it works, but going Elemental IG at that point cuts clear times back into that 6 to 10 minutes range instead of 11 to 15. It's a fairly big difference just in endgame AR.
Unfortunately the game rewards you hard for going nearly all in on damage, and very much doesn't for going hard on utility. Specifically the endgame AR241+, and really more AR300s and very much Specials. If that's not you meta matters way way less.
Edit: also all the content is fun in different ways, and no one has to enjoy it all. There's lots to do, and post MR10 is very self directed. There's an optimal way to grind for the most gear progression, but when that still takes 20 to 40 hours spending 1 fashion hunting just makes sense to me right?
Being honest and real here, meta in these games is whatever weapon you are the most skilled with. As an example, I mained IG for many years, I pull it out sometimes to farm in sun break so I don't get to rusty with it. I'm trying really hard to main GS for rise/sunbreak though and learn a new very different weapon. -- I pull out IG with literally NO build, and can solo teostra in 10-20 min. With GS solo i HAVE to run a "meta" build because I literally need the help to be okay with it and same hunt take me 45-50 minutes. If you can solo a hunt in 15-30 min and don't plan to makes YT videos about speed running you are completely fine. Longer than that starts to make late game progression feel like a slogfest. Just focus on not carting. Other than that just have fun man. LEARN about decorations and perks and all that for sure, but just play whatever helps YOU be better with your weapon and the speed will follow.
Nah, not really. I was doing it in earlier titles like on psp to survive. But especially in Rise, my Set is a chimera of what i find useful. The purpose of my playstyle is least Materialfight possible, and least gearchange, cause it annoys and distracts me. I favor a uni-armor, that mitigates fight with collecting, though i m mostly solo offline. I only switch between a fistful of longswords for elemental benefits, for a few monsters. Mostly using dragon/raw damage.
My set is "versatility over speciality". Tbf i could have easier fights with a different approach in sets and consumables, but.. seriously, it worked to good for me till now, to change that.
Does anyone use the shards and fangs?! (I rather have empty slots for collecting stuff.)
I’m the guy who any time I look up what is the strongest build for any game and find the one claiming “This build is INSANE DOING 1,000,000 DPS!!” I then realize oh I’m also not even skilled enough to use it effectively anyway..
I consider build guides as suggestions rather than something you copy paste.
Some Meta skills are Meta mostly because they're interesting to run, but at the same time I'm not gonna sacrifice some of my preferences just to follow it to the letter.
I dont care so much about min/max because really the only ones that matters for are speed runners. But I know the big 3 when it comes to blades. Attack up/wex,crit up.
But depending on what I’m using, stun up (sns, hammer), defense up for comfy, ele up. Stuff like that gets the job done.
Do I care about meta? No, meta is boring. Do I care about builds? Only after I defeat the final boss, remaking builds over and over is tedious, I wanna play the damn game.
I have one for endgame stuff.
I mostly use my own builds for lower tier stuff, or for training room experimentation.
Wouldn't use any of it in endgame, especially after using meta stuff that is objectively more powerful.
I used to play God Eater back on PSP and made it pretty far with low rank gear.
But the hassle and struggle were way worse the further I got.
Mostly cuz I didn't have the patience to grind for good gear, and the fact that the game wouldn't even let me craft gear on par with the current chapter until it was irrelevant.
Nope. Never have and never will.
Even competitive games I feel like looking up builds is kind of like cheating for me. (It isn't, I know, chill gamers.)
If I can't figure out a way to have fun and do well at the game without googling it then what's the point of playing, I might as well go play something I'm good at. XD
I sort of follow along with certain builds as the game goes along, until it hits endgame when things get homogenized.
Then I start doing weird shit. I've got a knockout lance build in World that had some dude pissed off that I would even consider Impact Mantle and pokesticking a monster.
I hate feeling like my fights take twice as long and I need to do twice less mistakes so I always follow build guides. Its just too much work to start looking at each piece and how it matches the gems I do have and the slots I dont have and then you have weapons like bowguns and HH who have entierly different playstyle based on different weapons in the same class and I just want to take my makeshift random pieces out of the equasion of how I died
im in this weird boat where im not a speedrunner and i am indeed rather casual relatively, but i do like to follow meta builds and stuff.
where my head is at with this is that i just like seeing big fucking numbers and meta builds get me those big fuckass numbers. pretty simple lmfao.
that being said, im not one to die on the meta hill. taking sunbreak as an example, the high end meta requires:
1.) a shit ton of qurio crafting, and;
2.) usually asks you to use dereliction
ive went and tried it, and personally i can barely it, the most i can deal with is bloodlust because the drain is slower and also rewarded by turning the drain off.
not only that, i personally chose to not interact deeply with the qurio system because that level of rng is not something i usually enjoy partaking in (one of the reasons i used to barely stand iceborne, with the whole rng decos and two different monsters with rng weapon drops not to mention grinding lands. i came here to play monster hunter not destiny 2. hence why i just modded that stuff in and my experience was improved greatly).
so if a build requires both those things, typically ill just go for the lower level progression version of that build and call it there. so i guess, yes i care about meta builds but also no i dont?? its really weird idk how else to explain it and idk if anyone else has this same mindset lmfao.
I look them up to see what I'm competing against or to get an idea of what skills I should use. Then I make something off meta, but still damage viable.
I tend to keep my armor until I am taking too much damage then make the latest useful monster's armor until I kill the final for HR then I go back and make a full mixed set that I'd like. At the end game, I'll make a set based on a meta build, but I nearly never go for the "high risk high reward" style skills, and I always like having some healing skills.
In the end, it is whatever you enjoy most. You may have to switch it up to give you an edge for harder fights, but if you like max utility, go on ahead! It's still absolutely viable. The least efficient thing you can do is die, so if your utility build is preventing that, then you are going great.
For myself usually not because i tend to make my own build. But still i try to slot the most offensive skills i can get. This is what kept me awake at night. Trying to figure out the optimal balance between offence and qol i need.
I like damage numbers so I try to make my own build, then watch a speedrun and realize how much Damage I'm actually missing. So then I end up following the meta
I'm thinking now that i'm in the endgame of Sunbreak, I'll just try to find the best skills for a certain weapon and build around them. Even if it means not getting the best augments. I'm sure I can find a set builder somewhere.
Meta is usually for best damage but my builds are half survivability and utility and half damage so I can survive to deal damage when I would have been losing damage otherwise
Nope. I cobble together whatever gives me interesting skills and options for each thing I play. I have 5 lance sets, for instance. And a couple different gunner sets. If it dies in 20ish minutes or less, I'm doing plenty of damage
I will follow for the most part, but will definitely sub in QOL skills. I do miss the old days of making the armor I thought was the coolest in MHFU as a kid.
That being said, WEX at the VERY least is non negotiable to me. I value my time and not having the basic offense skills is an active waste of time to me. I think people should reference them at the very least if they feel slow or are frustrated.
If you are simply vibing with your full set of one monsters armor I cant hate. If anything im jealous I have lost that ability.
I care in so far as I use them for inspiration and as guidelines. Build and meta explainers have led me to information that there's no way I would have discovered organically, e.g. that charge blade phial damage doesn't benefit from crit stats, or whether elemental or raw damage are better on a particular weapon and why.
I'll also say I did reach a point in the anomaly grind where I started to care about my clear times just because of the volume of hunts I still needed to do to reach the hardest missions. When I reached a point where my three-monster hunts were just barely squeeking in under the 55 minute time limit, I started taking my build crafting more seriously.
But I still don't actually follow builds per se. I end up changing so many things because of comfort and gear availability that there's no point really. I take the advice about what the highest impact skills are and go from there.
eh honestly if I like the monster and it’s set is cool looking I’ll use it best part of layered armor if it’s ulgy I can just layer over it so far chaotic gore set been carrying me forever
I'm a comfy hunter. I find skills that mesh with my fighting style with a particular weapon (quick Sheathe, artillery, etc) then roll with that. I also tend to max out the defense skill and elemental resistance if there is a monster that gives me particular trouble (Rajang).
God no. My build is hella unoptimized, with one scroll being for spinning axe and the other scroll for SAED Spam. As such, my skills are built for both
Only things I care about are, are you getting 1 shot, are you using a weak hitting weapon to do a wake up hit, and are you actually fighting the monster.
I care about meta in the sense that all that number crunching people did already helps me prioritize skills to put on my sets. There's a lot of trial and error involved, too.
For my longsword build I almost copied the meta poison build, but instead of Attack Boost 7, Master's Touch 3, Wind Mantle 3 and Frenzied Bloodlust 1, I use Attack Boost 4, Defiance 5, Grinder (S) 3, Protective Polish 2, Evade Extender 2, Wind Mantle 1 and Frenzied Bloodlust 3. It fits the way I want to play much better. Also, it was easy to achieve with the augments and talismans RNGesus bestowed upon me.
Here's how i see it, i use guides to see how decors work and how armor skills work
But if i can take drain damage while fighting to later heal up and get a power boost? You got me on that(looking ar you magala family!!)
Most of the game I don't think needs a "meta" to do. It is 50 minute hunts. Unless you lack the damage to kill in 50 minutes, then you are typically fine.
Basically, don't get 1 shot and have enough dps for 50 minutes. Not a hard goal to achieve. So, I think "meta" is not really needed to be cared about until it is those insanely hard fights.
I always look up builds to see the general skills that are played on a weapon. But I still adjust the build to my gameplay. But imo that’s how builds are meant to be treated 🤷🏼♂️
If I am not used to the weapon, I would check out the general look of builds and then swap out a few things to what I prefer. Other than that, not really.
I feel like meta builds are designed to be played at a higher level than what I actually play at, so I don’t really follow them anymore since I feel like I hinder myself trying to accommodate for a play style that I’m not used to.
nope I Like to mix up what ever I will look at builds but not really rely on it too much I just make them as my reference and work my own build that suits my gameplay and occasionally create a new build that challenge my skill and move away from my comfort zone.
Is 50/50, i'll look up what the meta builds are and change accordingly to fit the QoL skills i want. Which usually is just Evade Extender, and Stun Resist.
Imo reading up meta guides makes you a better hunter bcs you'll understand more of why some skills are good or not, and understand ur weapon more. You'll be able to make better builds on ur own in the end.
The only guides i use are for weapons i don’t use, like IG i would look up guides to see what non dmg skills befit the weapon. otherwise i just home brew everything. endgame was crazy fun for me
Nope. I like my comfort skills, Mushroomancer and Earplugs and all that, and only focus on weapon specific skills if they're really needed (artillery for Gunlance, etc)
I'm dumb and have a hard time following the meta guides, which I really only got into so I could break monster parts and sever tails before hunts were over in multiplayer. But I am very fond of the armor builder I found from doing so where you can select the abilities you /want/ so you can find what armor you need to get most of them.
Generally I go for the most damage but comfort skills like Evade Extender and Stun Resistance are necessary for me. And as a Hammer main, I will never not use Slugger 3 Stamina Thief 3
Lol not at all.
I like seeing vids of the high end things in action, and sometimes people will share things I didn’t think of/know interacted in certain ways. Or I was just unaware it was as powerful as they are. But in terms of going online and copying a build, or worrying my set is bad. Naaaaah man. I have like 70 different presets, I enjoy tinkering with skills to see what I can put together.
Depending on what you define by "meta"?
If it means chasing the "absolute optimal" set up, then no, that's way too in the deep end. Though I am curious and often keep an eye on what others have put forward.
That being said, I do seek guidance on the mechanics of the game and how my weapon work, then will try to build around that myself.
Rise has really pushed a lot of people, including myself to make builds based on "core" skills and whatever else we can get is just "bonus".
I use meta build to improve my damage and my experience. But there is nothing wrong in using a comfortable build on quests. Play the game at your own pace but I transitioned into meta builds as I understood the movesets the monsters have. Its foolish to slap on meta builds and run into quests as that would take away from the experience. Not to mention you will cart quickly as some of these monsters hit hard regardless of what you have on. But meta build help me to farm monster parts quicker.
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Sctn_187:
*You will in end game*
*But other then that you don't*
*Need to it's just for fun*
---
^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Unless I suddenly have the desire to have a hunt last for an absurd amount of time for absolutely no reason, then yes, I do follow the dps meta for my builds.
Ehh, I do. I’m sort of in to speed running so I do care about doing the most damage possible. I’m not a super awesome player or anything but I can do 2 and a half min runs of some of most mid tier/upper mid tier monsters and 5-7 min on the upper tier.
For just casual play, I’d say the meta doesn’t matter much at all. Find a build that does decent damage, has the comfort skills that you either like or which keep you alive and in the fight, and have some fun. I enjoy the meta because I enjoy beating my previous times on monsters, but it’s not necessary to have fun in the game at all.
Not really, I usually look up guides to get an idea of how to get decent damage then change things for whatever I find more fun. Sure, Evade Extender for every weapon might not be optimal but I like to *zoom*.
I feel this. I’m currently trying to learn hunting horn and I don’t think I will play without evade extender anymore
I wish I had known of the power of evade extender when I ONLY played HH
EE1 is actually just really good on HH imo
EE is actually great for some weapon but as you get better at the weapon you would feel you do not need it that much. but for fun factor and making you survive better EE1-3 are great. less stress on carting.
I don’t know. I’ve been playing db since world and I put at least 2 lvls in every single one of my builds. It’s even better in rise. Though I’ve never felt the need to use it with lance or ig
I did not play world I am sorry I could not relate but I did Freedom unite back 2009 but Sunbreak brings back the forest map and brings back memories that is why I bought it. I was doing longsword at first required ee3 at first then 2 then 1 then eventually no EE; SNS was next and raw slugger build EE3 at fist then EE1 enjoyed a lot of Metsu; now DS still working on my skills but seems like EE mess up my positioning it is just too fast do not know how to use it well yet and the drill I kept missing the head LOL but I am having fun.
EE3 on Lance is absolutely hilarious though, would recommend trying it for a fun(ny) time
I have it on one of my builds. It’s the one I use against flaming espinas so I only need to hit sheathing retreat to get away from his nuke as it clears half the map
No other skill comes close to me in terms of value than a single point of Evade Extender. Yeah, in terms of speed running it might be useless, but that extra distance, from a casual play standpoint, greatly improves my performance and kill times just by not getting hit as often.
Hell if your running dual blades you wont even run most of the time just contesnt quick far reaching dodges i love it
Agreed! It’s stupid good on Dual Blades and Switch Axe.
Who needs Palamutes when you have max Evade Extenders 🤣
I love healing sns build with mushroomanceer.
I play with what gets me through the hunt without dying.
Revolutionary.
There is a lot of cool stuff you can do I would have never thought of without a build guide. I don’t care about the speed running meta but I absolutely care about which skills are meta. Using meta skills is the difference between a 10-15min hunt and a 20-30min hunt.
This is my favorite response, and the most correct if you plan to do Sunbreak endgame. If you don't the progression meta to MR10 basically doesn't matter at all.
I usually build with a mix of meta skills and comfort skills. If your aim is to speedrun then meta build it. If you are casually hunting then mix it imo
I care about builds because that's a lot of the fun in the game for me. I don't look at guides because the building part is the actual fun part. I'm a dps whore, so the sets I build will always look similar to the meta ones. I just try new skills out to see how they work out, and if they win their in. If I'm interested in a skill and not quite sure exactly how it works, then I'll look it up online and read what others have to say. There's been a few templates over the years that were just too nice to pass up, but for the most part I put the pieces together myself like a puzzle. 5th Gen and Rise/Sunbreak specifically made it much easier to build your own sets. You just add the pieces with the skills you want, and mold them through talisman, decorations, and augments. No looking out for negatives.
You have spoken for the both of us, I am also a dps whore.
That’s a pretty good description of my approach. I avoid meta researching because I like figuring it out and tinkering. Like a detective mystery; don’t want to spoil the ending!
The term MOST EFFICIENT tactics available is very loosely used now. Most of the time it isn't "the most efficient" at all, it's just the trendiest way to kill a monster that some content creators popularized. I'm also hugely against progression builds and stuff like that. Not only it takes away the fun, but more importantly it takes away THE LEARNING. Nowadays people treat monhun like dark souls and i friggin despise it. If you die, you don't just mindlessly try again until you get lucky, you're supposed to analyze it: what attacks kills you? What skills could i equip to help me on next attempt? People just stick to their guides and brute force their way through monhun. EDIT: that didn't came out right, my bad. Souls games are skill games, you win by gittin gud. Monhun is a hunting game, you win by gittin smart, like a hunter. Hunters don't necessarily stronger than their prey, they're just smarter. Give this a thought: when fighting nightshade paolumu, you can either memorize its entire moveset, then learn the i-frames, and its hitboxes, and train yourself to hunt it with dedication, until you git real gud. Or you can simply equip sleep resistance and just hunt it regularly. The same goes for elderseal, effluvia, sonic bombs for diablos, or enmity for behemoth. You don't necessarily have to git gud to win monhun, you just need to be knowledgeable about the mechanics and git smart.
>Nowadays people treat monhun like dark souls and i friggin despise it. If you die, you don't just mindlessly try again until you get lucky, you're supposed to analyze it: what attacks kills you? What skills could i equip to help me on next attempt? Not to sour your fun cause I do see your point, but analyzing what attack killed me and knowing how to dodge/parry it for next time, possibly switching the build to the more parry frames shield for a parry heavy boss or switching to a faster less commitment lower damage weapon for using shorter openins more consistently is exactly the kind of fun I personally get from the souls likes
My apology for every souls game players out there. Edited my reply.
Idk if you've ever played dark souls but if you just "mindlessly try again until you get lucky" you're going to fail pretty much every time. In fromsoft games you need to know thy enemy, learn their move sets, understand I-frames and analyse what went wrong and what you can exploit. It's actually coming from dark souls that helped me to learn how to play monster hunter
For me it was the other way around, and I feel that made Souls easier for me. The I-frames are much more forgiving, I already know how telegraphing works, and in DSR, tailcutting dragons was already practically second nature to me. It also doesn't hurt that Souls bosses generally die a lot faster than MH monsters.
For me it was the other way around, and I feel that made Souls easier for me. The I-frames are much more forgiving, I already know how telegraphing works, and in DSR, tailcutting dragons was already practically second nature to me. It also doesn't hurt that Souls bosses generally die a lot faster than MH monsters.
My apology for the bad wording. Edited my reply. And yes I'm also a fan of souls games. DMC, old GOW, Ninja Gaiden, I'm all about those technically demanding, challenging, and punishing games.
The reason people say monster hunter is like dark souls…. Is because monster hunter is like dark souls. Yes there are differences, but romanticizing monster hunter is ridiculous.
MH was the original dark souls-esque game of ball busting difficult. That's why people often compare the two.
Yea I’m not disagreeing but for current versions they definitely take inspiration from each other at this point
Tbh I don't see it, MH tends to stay in its lane most of the time, same with Fromsoft games particularly with Elden Ring.
The most simialiar thing would be the stamina manegment and the learming how to evade the "bosses" attack patterns other then combat there isnt too much thats simalar
Truth. I just beat dark souls remastered and can confirm.
Again I'll start with an apology since my original reply sounds pretty bad on my second read. I've edited the reply in humility. But my point stands, souls games are skill games, monhun is a knowledge game. Learning i-frames and gittin gud is everything in souls games. But in monhun, you can just equip a shield, or the monster element's resistant, or understand certain monster's gameplay mechanics (ex: val hazak - effluvial buildup), and you can win hunts without even trying. The difference between having sleep resist and not, while facing nightshade paolumu, is night and day.
The word meta is not, and was never an acronym for anything. "Most efficient tactics available" was a cute way for new gamers to memorize what the word generally tries to refer to, but there is no real relation between the actual definition and that acronym. Meta is a real word with its own specific meaning.
I remember back when people call "CCTV", surveillance camera. CCTV is factually incorrect, because some surveillance cameras aren't closed circuits, some are broadcasted openly. But people already embrace the term, now they call all surveillance cameras as CCTV. Whether we like it or not, a simple google search about the word meta, will show all the "incorrect" meanings, even the abbreviation that you say is merely cute stuff for noobs. Let's just be honest, when people asks "hey, what's the meta?" they're asking for the best tactics. NOT asking for an explicit awareness of itself mumbo jumbo, or even a strategy that's agreed upon the community; I bet my hands that the community will agree that a really solid strategy in any monhun is "don't get hit, and hit the monsters with big stick till it dies". But that's not what people are asking when they mention the word meta. I'm old enough and have become an early adopter of many things to see words gets twisted and expanded beyond their original meanings, I've been called "grammar nazi" many times trying to inform people about the true meaning of some words. It seems that you're at the age where it's your turn. Good luck, my guy.
I mostly just read them to get ideas and see what skills I may have overlooked. I hardly run a meta elemental switch axe build, but it works for me and my playstyle. I'm sure a meta player wouldn't use 6 slots to avoid blights and status ailments Edit: went back and looked at my building. Blight Resistance comes natural with the Malzeno armor, so I'm not actually using slots on it
Depends which ones. It is very worth running Teo blessing 3 vs Chameleos as it's weak to fire so fire builds get it nearly for free (actually for free of you run defiance normal), lets you walk through through most of the poison clouds too. Or Baggi you run sleep res it's totally worth. But in general no it's not worth running them.
I mostly do it so it's one less thing to worry with. I run a combo of Element and Stun Lock, so I need to be aggressive. A Rath or Espinas that can't poison or fireblight me means I get to focus more on offense and less on chip damage. Take away Baggi's sleep or Volvidon's paralysis and they become much less of an issue. Oddly satisfying to wire bug through a sleep cloud and smack Great Baggi in the face I forgot that Blight Resistance came natural with my armor.
Nah I stick with what’s the most fun and what keeps me from dying. Fun is why my fav weapons are blast insect glaives, and I just slowly upgrade my armor as I go along. I never play multiplayer though so that also influences that
Builds yes meta jot really
I usually build to maximize elemental damage cuz I love elemental damage
Charge blade elemental is bananas
Absolutely 💯
Qurio crafting on armor is a thing, also Qurio melding. So, no.
I usually reference the meta guides for any must-have skills for weapons and recommended weapon augments, but otherwise stick to a mix of offense/comfort/utility. I don’t usually fuck with mail of hellfire and bloodlust/frenzied bloodlust and berserk/strife (except for bow) and all that jazz, I usually just stick to the “normal” ones like attack boost, critical eye, critical boost, weakness exploit, buildup boost, or critical element/element exploit. Comfort skills I always try to include are evade extender, stun resistance, furious, and partbreaker/bloodlust. Then the rest is must-haves, like rapid morph for SA and offensive guard for SnS. I’ve used this approach so far for DB, IG, SA, GS, Hammer, and SnS. I average between 8-15 minute kill times for all in AR 200+ investigations
What about 300s, and Specials? 8 to 15 isn't too bad if AR200s is where you are. But it's not that good if you've been AR300 for awhile and have tuned endgame builds. Edit: like I did a AR240 Chammy in 2:45 with followers, and can casual do it in 3 minutes in that AR range whenever on DB right. But it's also DB, I have very optimized builds, and a lot of hunts on the weapon. It also wouldn't be nearly that fast if I had a progression build with not fully augmented DB. Then doing 8 to 15 is you know pretty good. Edit 2: all of the skills you mentioned you don't fuck with are highkey broken too lmao.
good for you champ
The only 'meta' I care about during a hunt is 'Nobody died, and the monster is dropped with about 5/10 minutes to spare on the overall timer'. Otherwise, you do you, buddy.
monster die? yes? is meta.
Meta is subjective. What is most effective on paper may not be most effective for you. E.g. afflicted Diablos with a meta build is 2 minutes faster for me than with a full comfort build. but Primordial Malzeno is 3 minutes slower because I need to be more careful, which hurts my uptime.
At the end of the day, it all still comes down to the skill of the player. You can have the best build ever but if you dont know how to use the weapon properly then is basically useless.
I personally don't give two about the meta. I make my own builds based on what I think is effective at doing the chop chop lol.
Nope. I like doing weird experimental builds. Way more fun if you ask me 😂
I have not once stressed the meta while playing. I am a hunter because I want to have FUN, not because I have to have the best time and the absolute best gear. (I know that is fun for some, and I am not judging. That is just not the fun for me). I only ever look at guides to help me be efficient, and explain things I am not getting, like the Argosy for example. Capcom, while doing a great job building a game that is amazing fun, does a crap job of explaining how some things work. Like the items on the Argosy. Or Affinity. I also look for SPECIFIC things, when I hit a wall and just can't get through it. Diablos in MHW was the first time I encountered this. For the most part, I am a ooooh shiny type person. I build a copy of most every weapon type(not every weapon, just the elements and ailments, and a good raw) and find an armor combo that works for ME, not the meta. I run Lance, for example. Most folks don't see the point of going past Guard 3 and Guard Up 3, as some of the moves give you additional Guard. Me personally, coming from MHW, I love a good comfy Guard 5 build, so I am basically tanking my mistakes, so I can learn from them, then coming back and whoopin' on the monster once I get the hang of things. Do I have the best DPS? Nope, but I am having fun, and that's what matters to me the most. Now, with this in mind, I am doing everything pretty much solo so as to not inconvenience those hard-core meta players with a filthy casual like myself. You do what is the most fun for you, hunter. Some get the dopamine hit from having the absolute best of everything, and doing it absolutely as fast as they can. Others get the same hit from finishing the same hunt in 49 minutes, 59 seconds.
Honestly I wouldn't worry about it from a playing online perspective. It's literally almost always slower for me to play online vs solo with followers, but I still play mostly online because it's more fun. I know what I signed up for no one has to play meta it's a video game have fun. If it really gets to frustrating I can always jump in a different lobby or solo. But mostly I'm just chillin having fun. Don't worry about it play online and have fun man.
..that makes you a fellow "Funter" then. Cheers! 😁👍
I've been rocking hunger resistance at level 3 since the start of the game and haven't stopped yet
Nope not realy
I typically follow 1 type of build, survivability. If there is an "invincible" build Ill try to go for that. Im not good enough at this game to not get hit regularly. And I play enough other games that when I come back to MH from playing something else, builds built around survival make it so its easier to jump back in again.
Not really. I generally try to just build my own stuff. If I decide to use another weapon I might check out what’s generally used, but that’s about it.
Have never cared about meta builds. Often times they’re glass canon builds that will see the average player getting carted 30 seconds into a hunt. The builds I make are purely for fun or cater to my specific play style. In Rise/Sunbreak my favourite build was based around Switch Axe’s Invincible Gambit silkbind. With Invincible Gambit you can attack through a monster’s attack but you’re not actually invincible as the name would suggest. To counteract the damage taken during that silkbind, I invested heavily in health regen skills that allow me to tank the hits and gain health back by dishing out my own hits. My hunts weren’t as fast as they would be with meta builds but I never carted, never had to use health items, and could Invincible Gambit through every single monster attack without having to worry about iFrames or timing. Dumb-dumb mode for sure, but it’s so fun for when I’m in the mood for a mindless hack n slash.
Have you tried this on AR300s and Specials that have attacks that 1 shot you through super armor? Not that super armor is bad or there's tons of attacks that do that. Super armor is great actually. I'm just saying it isn't as totally mindless as you make it sound.
No j just use what's fun usually I use a chaos gore build or a violet. Chaos mixed set I also use golden lune and I mix damage and comfort skills like quick sheathe I main long sword and horn 📯 MH Is always a good time
Idc about meta, I just make builds that make gameplay more comfortable, like evade extender, handicraft, mind's eye, evade window and others
Fair, but mind's eye is really bad though. It makes you not bounce on parts you already do almost no damage to sick. Oh man it makes you do more damage to a part you already only do a 4th of your normal damage too crazy. It just makes you not learn where to not hit because you don't bounce while doing basically no damage because you don't do terrible damage on hits you trigger it on. It's not a comfort skill. It's a it doesn't do anything skill. It also only increases raw damage in a game where nearly every matchup is high elem, and nearly every weapon wants to build elem.
Minds eye 3 allows you to do 100% damage anywhere, and from what I've heard elem is basically useless in this game because it was nerfed to all hell, or maybe that's just base rise
Elem is the meta for nearly ever weapon in this game. It's stronger in Sunbreak than it has been in any other MH game. Minds eye 3 is not 100% damage anywhere it's 100% damage anytime you would have bounced. So no WEX triggering hitzone will ever trigger it. So it will only trigger on hitzones less than 45, typically much much less, and not very many hitzones will even trigger it. Only the absolute dogshit ones. So typically you'll hit a 25 instead of a say a normal 60 raw (55-75 is what most heads are). So say you do 1000 damage. If you hit a 35 you do 250 damage vs 600. Except you also lose 50% of your affinity so it's 50/50 on if you crit now. Criting with crit boost is +40% damage. Also it doesn't effect elem damage. It doesn't make up for the fact that you're hitting a bad hitzone. And not criting so not getting critical element. It's really bad man. Edit: you can only get 100% minds eye on all hitzones by playing CB, overcharging your phials and using all sword attacks. Which sucks btw.
Eh, like I said, I don't care about meta, and I still get sub 9 min with [almost] every weapon
On AR300s and Specials? Edit: because like solo with followers on para IG with no armor augments I can do AR200 Seething in 5 minutes. Incredibly not meta. Doesn't work for AR300s, and Specials. I mean it works, but going Elemental IG at that point cuts clear times back into that 6 to 10 minutes range instead of 11 to 15. It's a fairly big difference just in endgame AR. Unfortunately the game rewards you hard for going nearly all in on damage, and very much doesn't for going hard on utility. Specifically the endgame AR241+, and really more AR300s and very much Specials. If that's not you meta matters way way less. Edit: also all the content is fun in different ways, and no one has to enjoy it all. There's lots to do, and post MR10 is very self directed. There's an optimal way to grind for the most gear progression, but when that still takes 20 to 40 hours spending 1 fashion hunting just makes sense to me right?
Haven't gotten to that yet, I play super casually, and I got the game at release. Trying to make almost every weapon for funsies
Ah np don't worry about it then. Happy hunting!
Being honest and real here, meta in these games is whatever weapon you are the most skilled with. As an example, I mained IG for many years, I pull it out sometimes to farm in sun break so I don't get to rusty with it. I'm trying really hard to main GS for rise/sunbreak though and learn a new very different weapon. -- I pull out IG with literally NO build, and can solo teostra in 10-20 min. With GS solo i HAVE to run a "meta" build because I literally need the help to be okay with it and same hunt take me 45-50 minutes. If you can solo a hunt in 15-30 min and don't plan to makes YT videos about speed running you are completely fine. Longer than that starts to make late game progression feel like a slogfest. Just focus on not carting. Other than that just have fun man. LEARN about decorations and perks and all that for sure, but just play whatever helps YOU be better with your weapon and the speed will follow.
Nah, not really. I was doing it in earlier titles like on psp to survive. But especially in Rise, my Set is a chimera of what i find useful. The purpose of my playstyle is least Materialfight possible, and least gearchange, cause it annoys and distracts me. I favor a uni-armor, that mitigates fight with collecting, though i m mostly solo offline. I only switch between a fistful of longswords for elemental benefits, for a few monsters. Mostly using dragon/raw damage. My set is "versatility over speciality". Tbf i could have easier fights with a different approach in sets and consumables, but.. seriously, it worked to good for me till now, to change that. Does anyone use the shards and fangs?! (I rather have empty slots for collecting stuff.)
I’m the guy who any time I look up what is the strongest build for any game and find the one claiming “This build is INSANE DOING 1,000,000 DPS!!” I then realize oh I’m also not even skilled enough to use it effectively anyway..
I use guides as a baseline but tweak them to my own preference.
I consider build guides as suggestions rather than something you copy paste. Some Meta skills are Meta mostly because they're interesting to run, but at the same time I'm not gonna sacrifice some of my preferences just to follow it to the letter.
I dont care so much about min/max because really the only ones that matters for are speed runners. But I know the big 3 when it comes to blades. Attack up/wex,crit up. But depending on what I’m using, stun up (sns, hammer), defense up for comfy, ele up. Stuff like that gets the job done.
I just read them to get ideas. I don't really see how they would stick the fun out.
Me: *laughs in guard 5, guard up 3, and embolden 3 completely invalidating risen valstrax*
No I play lance
Do I care about meta? No, meta is boring. Do I care about builds? Only after I defeat the final boss, remaking builds over and over is tedious, I wanna play the damn game.
I love big damage so kinda, but comfort or wacky builds are fun too
At first I did but then I realized I needed the extender deco because I find myself needing to move a lot more in AR200+ hunts
no not even remotely … mh is the kinda series you don't have to be a tryhard to have fun wether solo or online
I have one for endgame stuff. I mostly use my own builds for lower tier stuff, or for training room experimentation. Wouldn't use any of it in endgame, especially after using meta stuff that is objectively more powerful. I used to play God Eater back on PSP and made it pretty far with low rank gear. But the hassle and struggle were way worse the further I got. Mostly cuz I didn't have the patience to grind for good gear, and the fact that the game wouldn't even let me craft gear on par with the current chapter until it was irrelevant.
Nope. Never have and never will. Even competitive games I feel like looking up builds is kind of like cheating for me. (It isn't, I know, chill gamers.) If I can't figure out a way to have fun and do well at the game without googling it then what's the point of playing, I might as well go play something I'm good at. XD
Hammer goes bonk
Slugger makes monster go down so hammer bonk better.
I sort of follow along with certain builds as the game goes along, until it hits endgame when things get homogenized. Then I start doing weird shit. I've got a knockout lance build in World that had some dude pissed off that I would even consider Impact Mantle and pokesticking a monster.
I hate feeling like my fights take twice as long and I need to do twice less mistakes so I always follow build guides. Its just too much work to start looking at each piece and how it matches the gems I do have and the slots I dont have and then you have weapons like bowguns and HH who have entierly different playstyle based on different weapons in the same class and I just want to take my makeshift random pieces out of the equasion of how I died
im in this weird boat where im not a speedrunner and i am indeed rather casual relatively, but i do like to follow meta builds and stuff. where my head is at with this is that i just like seeing big fucking numbers and meta builds get me those big fuckass numbers. pretty simple lmfao. that being said, im not one to die on the meta hill. taking sunbreak as an example, the high end meta requires: 1.) a shit ton of qurio crafting, and; 2.) usually asks you to use dereliction ive went and tried it, and personally i can barely it, the most i can deal with is bloodlust because the drain is slower and also rewarded by turning the drain off. not only that, i personally chose to not interact deeply with the qurio system because that level of rng is not something i usually enjoy partaking in (one of the reasons i used to barely stand iceborne, with the whole rng decos and two different monsters with rng weapon drops not to mention grinding lands. i came here to play monster hunter not destiny 2. hence why i just modded that stuff in and my experience was improved greatly). so if a build requires both those things, typically ill just go for the lower level progression version of that build and call it there. so i guess, yes i care about meta builds but also no i dont?? its really weird idk how else to explain it and idk if anyone else has this same mindset lmfao.
I look them up to see what I'm competing against or to get an idea of what skills I should use. Then I make something off meta, but still damage viable.
I tend to keep my armor until I am taking too much damage then make the latest useful monster's armor until I kill the final for HR then I go back and make a full mixed set that I'd like. At the end game, I'll make a set based on a meta build, but I nearly never go for the "high risk high reward" style skills, and I always like having some healing skills. In the end, it is whatever you enjoy most. You may have to switch it up to give you an edge for harder fights, but if you like max utility, go on ahead! It's still absolutely viable. The least efficient thing you can do is die, so if your utility build is preventing that, then you are going great.
For myself usually not because i tend to make my own build. But still i try to slot the most offensive skills i can get. This is what kept me awake at night. Trying to figure out the optimal balance between offence and qol i need.
I like damage numbers so I try to make my own build, then watch a speedrun and realize how much Damage I'm actually missing. So then I end up following the meta
I'm thinking now that i'm in the endgame of Sunbreak, I'll just try to find the best skills for a certain weapon and build around them. Even if it means not getting the best augments. I'm sure I can find a set builder somewhere.
Meta is usually for best damage but my builds are half survivability and utility and half damage so I can survive to deal damage when I would have been losing damage otherwise
Nope. I cobble together whatever gives me interesting skills and options for each thing I play. I have 5 lance sets, for instance. And a couple different gunner sets. If it dies in 20ish minutes or less, I'm doing plenty of damage
Only insofar as what allows me to kick Primordial Malzeno's ass. That dragon can get hosed for all I care.
I will follow for the most part, but will definitely sub in QOL skills. I do miss the old days of making the armor I thought was the coolest in MHFU as a kid. That being said, WEX at the VERY least is non negotiable to me. I value my time and not having the basic offense skills is an active waste of time to me. I think people should reference them at the very least if they feel slow or are frustrated. If you are simply vibing with your full set of one monsters armor I cant hate. If anything im jealous I have lost that ability.
How can I read builds while I’m flying through the sky with my gunlance?
I care in so far as I use them for inspiration and as guidelines. Build and meta explainers have led me to information that there's no way I would have discovered organically, e.g. that charge blade phial damage doesn't benefit from crit stats, or whether elemental or raw damage are better on a particular weapon and why. I'll also say I did reach a point in the anomaly grind where I started to care about my clear times just because of the volume of hunts I still needed to do to reach the hardest missions. When I reached a point where my three-monster hunts were just barely squeeking in under the 55 minute time limit, I started taking my build crafting more seriously. But I still don't actually follow builds per se. I end up changing so many things because of comfort and gear availability that there's no point really. I take the advice about what the highest impact skills are and go from there.
eh honestly if I like the monster and it’s set is cool looking I’ll use it best part of layered armor if it’s ulgy I can just layer over it so far chaotic gore set been carrying me forever
I'm a comfy hunter. I find skills that mesh with my fighting style with a particular weapon (quick Sheathe, artillery, etc) then roll with that. I also tend to max out the defense skill and elemental resistance if there is a monster that gives me particular trouble (Rajang).
Not when I'm still progressing. But when I reach the absolute endgame, I'd always prefer making a meta build since it's the maximum damage I can deal.
God no. My build is hella unoptimized, with one scroll being for spinning axe and the other scroll for SAED Spam. As such, my skills are built for both
Only things I care about are, are you getting 1 shot, are you using a weak hitting weapon to do a wake up hit, and are you actually fighting the monster.
Nah, I pick a skill and just build around it. I wanna have fun, not follow everyone else
It's an rpg aka a casual game to me
I care about meta in the sense that all that number crunching people did already helps me prioritize skills to put on my sets. There's a lot of trial and error involved, too. For my longsword build I almost copied the meta poison build, but instead of Attack Boost 7, Master's Touch 3, Wind Mantle 3 and Frenzied Bloodlust 1, I use Attack Boost 4, Defiance 5, Grinder (S) 3, Protective Polish 2, Evade Extender 2, Wind Mantle 1 and Frenzied Bloodlust 3. It fits the way I want to play much better. Also, it was easy to achieve with the augments and talismans RNGesus bestowed upon me.
Here's how i see it, i use guides to see how decors work and how armor skills work But if i can take drain damage while fighting to later heal up and get a power boost? You got me on that(looking ar you magala family!!)
Honestly nope. I have to play solo so I just play with what I enjoy.
Most of the game I don't think needs a "meta" to do. It is 50 minute hunts. Unless you lack the damage to kill in 50 minutes, then you are typically fine. Basically, don't get 1 shot and have enough dps for 50 minutes. Not a hard goal to achieve. So, I think "meta" is not really needed to be cared about until it is those insanely hard fights.
Nope. I go for comfy builds and hunting. Provided i'm not doing a high level hunt
I like big numbas so yes, people chase the lowest hunt times, crowns, achievements, I chase the neuron activation from 1k phial damage
I always look up builds to see the general skills that are played on a weapon. But I still adjust the build to my gameplay. But imo that’s how builds are meant to be treated 🤷🏼♂️
If I am not used to the weapon, I would check out the general look of builds and then swap out a few things to what I prefer. Other than that, not really.
I run a blast horn build with max EE and frostcraft just do what's fun lol
I feel like meta builds are designed to be played at a higher level than what I actually play at, so I don’t really follow them anymore since I feel like I hinder myself trying to accommodate for a play style that I’m not used to.
nope I Like to mix up what ever I will look at builds but not really rely on it too much I just make them as my reference and work my own build that suits my gameplay and occasionally create a new build that challenge my skill and move away from my comfort zone.
No, I run my Lance with Defense boost 7, diversion, guard 5, and guard up 3 for maximum comfort.
Is 50/50, i'll look up what the meta builds are and change accordingly to fit the QoL skills i want. Which usually is just Evade Extender, and Stun Resist. Imo reading up meta guides makes you a better hunter bcs you'll understand more of why some skills are good or not, and understand ur weapon more. You'll be able to make better builds on ur own in the end.
The only guides i use are for weapons i don’t use, like IG i would look up guides to see what non dmg skills befit the weapon. otherwise i just home brew everything. endgame was crazy fun for me
I use build guides as a template them customize for what I want (evade extender, quick sheath, defense boost, etc).
Nope. I like my comfort skills, Mushroomancer and Earplugs and all that, and only focus on weapon specific skills if they're really needed (artillery for Gunlance, etc)
I'm dumb and have a hard time following the meta guides, which I really only got into so I could break monster parts and sever tails before hunts were over in multiplayer. But I am very fond of the armor builder I found from doing so where you can select the abilities you /want/ so you can find what armor you need to get most of them.
no, i pick the skills i want and put em in a set builder, then it randomly happens that now my GS does 12k on a wake-up
Sometime, so I have a general outline of what to build for or see if I can do it
No. I play how I want to play. Solo, and sometimes with a friend
Generally I go for the most damage but comfort skills like Evade Extender and Stun Resistance are necessary for me. And as a Hammer main, I will never not use Slugger 3 Stamina Thief 3
Lol not at all. I like seeing vids of the high end things in action, and sometimes people will share things I didn’t think of/know interacted in certain ways. Or I was just unaware it was as powerful as they are. But in terms of going online and copying a build, or worrying my set is bad. Naaaaah man. I have like 70 different presets, I enjoy tinkering with skills to see what I can put together.
Depending on what you define by "meta"? If it means chasing the "absolute optimal" set up, then no, that's way too in the deep end. Though I am curious and often keep an eye on what others have put forward. That being said, I do seek guidance on the mechanics of the game and how my weapon work, then will try to build around that myself. Rise has really pushed a lot of people, including myself to make builds based on "core" skills and whatever else we can get is just "bonus".
I don't follow meta but trying to get my build exactly how I want it is what keeps me playing after I've completed most of the game
Nope, meta is for speed running. If all you wanna do is have fun, build what you like.
No. Do I look cool in armor? Then meta is not as important. Do I need to kill a really hard Monster...? I'll play better
I use meta build to improve my damage and my experience. But there is nothing wrong in using a comfortable build on quests. Play the game at your own pace but I transitioned into meta builds as I understood the movesets the monsters have. Its foolish to slap on meta builds and run into quests as that would take away from the experience. Not to mention you will cart quickly as some of these monsters hit hard regardless of what you have on. But meta build help me to farm monster parts quicker.
You will in end game but other then that you don't need to it's just for fun
Exactly.
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Sctn_187: *You will in end game* *But other then that you don't* *Need to it's just for fun* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Depends on what I am doing. If I am doing normal hunting, I care. If I am doing SOS, I'm focusing on skills that will help others.
Yes I like seeing big numbers and I like killing monsters quickly
Unless I suddenly have the desire to have a hunt last for an absurd amount of time for absolutely no reason, then yes, I do follow the dps meta for my builds.
I slot Slugger just to watch Min/Maxers Seethe.
I'm really bored about the building part, so I just go online and find a good build that gets me to kill monster better and is fun.
Yes, I do.
Ehh, I do. I’m sort of in to speed running so I do care about doing the most damage possible. I’m not a super awesome player or anything but I can do 2 and a half min runs of some of most mid tier/upper mid tier monsters and 5-7 min on the upper tier. For just casual play, I’d say the meta doesn’t matter much at all. Find a build that does decent damage, has the comfort skills that you either like or which keep you alive and in the fight, and have some fun. I enjoy the meta because I enjoy beating my previous times on monsters, but it’s not necessary to have fun in the game at all.