Gunlance Build Guide for Monster Hunter Now: Dominate Your Hunts with Power and Precision

Are you ready to master the Gunlance in Monster Hunter Now? This incredible hybrid of offense and defense allows you to get up close and personal with some of the game’s toughest monsters, while also dishing out powerful explosions. In this guide, we’ll help you build the best high-damage Gunlance setup, complete with detailed information on weapon choices, armor sets, and Driftsmelt slots to enhance your performance.

With this optimized Gunlance build, you’ll be well-equipped to take down both common and rare monsters with deadly efficiency, all while enhancing your overall damage output. Let’s dive into the details to make sure you’re ready for battle.

Why the Gunlance is a Top Choice in Monster Hunter Now

The Gunlance is a unique weapon in Monster Hunter Now, combining the melee capabilities of a lance with explosive firepower. If you love the idea of defending against powerful attacks while also hitting hard with explosive shells, the Gunlance is a perfect fit.

What makes the Gunlance stand out is its versatility in combat. You can use it to block powerful hits, stab at close range, and unleash devastating shelling attacks. But, to truly maximize its potential, you need the right gear, skills, and strategy.

Key Features of the Gunlance

• Shelling Power: The Gunlance’s explosive attacks can deal serious damage, especially when targeting monster weak points.
• Defense Capability: Unlike other ranged weapons, the Gunlance offers excellent defensive options, allowing you to block and parry monster attacks.
• Versatility in Combat: With a combination of melee stabs, explosive shells, and charged shots, the Gunlance is effective at close and mid-range combat.

Now, let’s take a look at how to create the ultimate Gunlance build for Monster Hunter Now.

Best Gunlance Build Overview

To create a powerful Gunlance build, we need to focus on boosting damage output while ensuring good defense and versatility. This guide focuses on the Sinister Gunlance, a Blast-element weapon that is ideal for breaking monster parts and dealing high damage over time.

Weapon: Sinister Gunlance

• Element: Blast
• Shelling Type: Long
• Ability: Partbreaker I (Grade 8)

The Sinister Gunlance is your best bet for dealing high damage, thanks to its Blast element. Blast builds up over time and erupts in an explosion that significantly reduces the monster’s health. This weapon is especially effective in breaking monster parts, which is crucial for farming rare materials.

While you’ll need to hunt several Magnamalo monsters to fully upgrade the Sinister Gunlance, the payoff is worth it.

Recommended Armor Set

For this build, we will mix and match armor pieces that complement the Sinister Gunlance and amplify key abilities such as Blast Attack, Partbreaker, and Weakness Exploit.

Helm: Coral Pukei-Pukei Helm

• Skills:
  • Weakness Exploit I (Grade 5)
  • Weakness Exploit II (Grade 8)
  • Lock On I (Grade 6)

The Coral Pukei-Pukei Helm is great for increasing your damage when attacking monster weak spots. It also makes it easier to hit those spots with the Lock On ability, which boosts your affinity and makes triggering the Blast effect more likely.

Mail: Banbaro Mail

• Skills:
  • Concentration I (Grade 3)
  • Partbreaker I (Grade 6)

The Banbaro Mail complements the Partbreaker ability of the Sinister Gunlance, allowing you to focus on breaking parts faster. The Concentration skill also helps to fill your Special Gauge quicker, enabling more frequent special attacks.

Vambraces: Magnamalo Vambraces

• Skills:
  • Blast Attack I (Grade 4)
  • Blast Attack II (Grade 6)

These vambraces enhance the Blast element of the Gunlance, allowing you to build up the Blast effect faster, which results in more frequent and powerful explosions.

Coil: Diablos Coil

• Skills:
  • Partbreaker I (Grade 5)
  • Offensive Guard I (Grade 6)

The Diablos Coil strengthens your defensive capabilities while also improving your offensive output. Offensive Guard increases your attack power after a well-timed guard, giving you a significant damage boost when blocking at the right moment.

Greaves: Magnamalo Greaves

• Skills:
  • Blast Attack I (Grade 4)
  • Sneak Attack I (Grade 6)

The Sneak Attack skill from the Magnamalo Greaves increases your damage when attacking a monster from behind, which pairs well with the Blast effect. This will help you deal even more damage as you position yourself strategically during hunts.

Optimizing Driftsmelt Slots

Driftsmelt Slots are an essential part of optimizing your Gunlance build. These slots allow you to elevate your armor skills to higher levels and make your build even more powerful.

Recommended Driftsmelt Slot Skills

1. Offensive Guard (Amber Driftsmelt Slot): Increases attack power for 10 seconds after executing a well-timed guard. This skill can boost your attack power by up to 40% at max rank, making it a game-changer in tough hunts.
2. Concentration (Azure Driftsmelt Slot): This skill increases your Special Gauge fill rate, allowing you to unleash special attacks faster. The faster you fill your gauge, the more often you can perform high-damage moves.
3. Critical Eye (Cyan Driftsmelt Slot): Critical Eye increases your affinity, giving you more chances to land critical hits, especially when attacking monster weak spots.
4. Weakness Exploit (Pale Driftsmelt Slot): This skill boosts your affinity when hitting a monster’s weak point, increasing the likelihood of triggering a critical hit or an explosion.
5. Sneak Attack (Pale Driftsmelt Slot): Increases damage when attacking from behind. This is perfect for positioning yourself strategically and hitting monsters where it hurts most.

Strategy Tips for Gunlance Play

Mastering Shelling and Explosions

One of the key strategies when using the Gunlance is to master its shelling capabilities. You’ll want to mix in your explosive shells between regular stabs to maximize your damage output. This is especially effective when targeting a monster’s weak spots.

Block, Counter, and Attack

Remember, the Gunlance offers excellent defense. Use your shield to block heavy monster attacks, then follow up with a counterattack. The Offensive Guard skill will reward you for this by boosting your attack power for a short time after a successful block.

Positioning for Sneak Attacks

To take full advantage of the Sneak Attack skill, you’ll need to position yourself behind the monster whenever possible. This may require some careful maneuvering, but the damage boost is worth it.

FAQs

1. What’s the best way to farm Magnamalo for the Sinister Gunlance?

Use the Paintball Tracker to hunt Magnamalo efficiently. You can also team up with other hunters to make the process quicker and easier.

2. Why is Partbreaker so important for the Gunlance build?

Partbreaker helps you break monster parts more easily, which is crucial for farming rare materials. It also complements the Gunlance’s explosive damage, making it easier to take down tough monsters.

3. How do I increase my shelling damage?

Focus on upgrading skills like Artillery and Blast Attack to increase the power of your shelling attacks. These skills will make your explosions more frequent and more powerful.

Key Takeaways

1. The Sinister Gunlance is the top choice for a high-damage Gunlance build, thanks to its Blast element and part-breaking potential.
2. A mix of armor pieces from Coral Pukei-Pukei, Banbaro, Magnamalo, and Diablos ensures a balanced build that boosts both offense and defense.
3. Maximize your build with Driftsmelt Slots that enhance skills like Offensive Guard, Concentration, and Critical Eye for increased damage and speed.