Monster Hunter Wilds · Great Sword build
Updated · Ver. 1.042 · HR 100+ · Endgame meta · S tier weapon
A high-risk, high-reward raw Great Sword on four pieces of the Final Fantasy XIV Bale α armor: The Blackest Night barrier and its Eventide counter, Attack Boost 5, Critical Boost 5, Agitator 5, Latent Power 5 and Resentment 4, on the Shatterseal Drakesnest with its huge white sharpness.
Attack
Priority 1
Attack Boost
5/5
Priority 2
Critical Boost
5/5
Priority 3
Agitator
5/5
Priority 4
Latent Power
5/5
Priority 5
Resentment
4/5
Priority 6
Maximum Might
3/3
Priority 7
Counterstrike
3/3
Priority 8
Focus
3/3
Set bonus
The Blackest Night · 4 pts
Mantle
Rocksteady Mantle
Sharpness
Weapon skills
Focus3Shattering Reflection1Shatterseal Drakesnest, the event quest Great Sword from the weapon design contest: Focus 3 and Shattering Reflection built in, a very long white sharpness bar and three level 3 slots.
Maximum MightLv 2ResentmentLv 2
Soul of the Dark KnightLv 1
Quick SheatheLv 2Latent PowerLv 2Soul of the Dark KnightLv 1
Maximum MightLv 1ResentmentLv 1Latent PowerLv 1Soul of the Dark KnightLv 1
Jin Dahaad's RevoltLv 1
Lord's SoulLv 1AgitatorLv 3
Bind ResistanceLv 2
ResentmentLv 1Latent PowerLv 2Soul of the Dark KnightLv 1
Charm
Historical Charm
Slots 2-1
Attack BoostLv 2AgitatorLv 1Use The Blackest Night from the item bar: it sheathes your weapon and raises a barrier. Let the monster break it and you get a few invulnerable frames and trigger Eventide, a huge hit in front of and behind you, but your whole health bar turns red. Undead Redemption then keeps that red health from draining for 30 seconds, doubles your base defence and heals you as you attack; you can still cart, so backing off to heal is often wiser. Red health keeps Resentment on. If the barrier times out you perform Edge of Shadow instead. The item has a long cooldown. Latent Power adds 50% affinity after enough damage taken or time in the fight, and Maximum Might adds 30% at full stamina (tackles cost stamina).
The Blackest Night4 ptsFour Bale pieces unlock The Blackest Night, an item that raises a barrier around you. If the monster breaks it you trigger Eventide, one of the hardest hits of the build, and Undead Redemption for 30 seconds: red health stops draining, base defence doubles and attacks restore health. The cost is your whole health bar turned red.
Two Bale pieces unlock Dark Arts: bonus element damage while you have red health (secondary here) and, for the Great Sword, an extra shockwave on level 3 charged slashes that reaches a little range.
Attack BoostCritical BoostThe Historical Charm's Attack Boost 2 plus an Attack Jewel III reach Attack Boost 5, whose top levels add a percentage raw bonus. Two Critical Jewel III go past the Critical Boost cap of 5, so one level is wasted. Both only affect raw, which is all this build deals.
Latent PowerAgitatorMaximum MightLatent Power 5 grants 50% affinity once you have taken enough damage or fought long enough, Agitator 5 adds affinity and raw while the monster is enraged, and Maximum Might 3 adds 30% at full stamina.
ResentmentCounterstrikeResentment raises raw while you have red health, which Eventide and ordinary hits give you. Counterstrike triggers on knockbacks and on the shoulder tackle.
True Shadowbringer (the Final Fantasy collaboration Great Sword) as the weapon: it has Darkside, which deals self-damage on level 2 charges and higher for bonus raw, keeping Resentment on at all times. Its slots are smaller: Darcblade uses Focus/Handicraft Jewel, Critical Jewel II and Critical Jewel, for Critical Boost 3, Focus 3, Attack Boost 2 and Handicraft 1.
A Gogma Artian Great Sword also works in place of the Shatterseal Drakesnest.
Resentment 5 instead of Counterstrike 3: swap one Counter jewel for a Furor jewel.
The Historical Charm (Attack Boost 2, Agitator 1, slots 2-1) is Darcblade's own roll; adjust the jewels to your charm.
Build by Darcblade, adapted and re-fitted to the database.
Updated · Ver. 1.042 · gear data from wilds.mhdb.io · build adapted from Darcblade
A high-risk, high-reward raw Great Sword on four pieces of the Final Fantasy XIV Bale α armor: The Blackest Night barrier and its Eventide counter, Attack Boost 5, Critical Boost 5, Agitator 5, Latent Power 5 and Resentment 4, on the Shatterseal Drakesnest with its huge white sharpness.
Loadout: Shatterseal Drakesnest (Critical Jewel III [3] ×2, Attack Jewel III [3]); Bale Burgeonet α, Bale Cuirass α, Bale Gauntlets α, Dahaad Shardcoil γ, Bale Sollerets α; Historical Charm; Rocksteady Mantle; armor jewels Protection Jewel [1] ×3, Sheath Jewel [1], Counter Jewel [2] ×3, Challenger Jewel [3]. Core skills: Attack Boost 5, Critical Boost 5, Agitator 5, Latent Power 5, Resentment 4, Maximum Might 3, Counterstrike 3, Focus 3, plus The Blackest Night (Soul of the Dark Knight).
Shatterseal Drakesnest with Critical Jewel III [3], Critical Jewel III [3], Attack Jewel III [3]; Bale Burgeonet α, Bale Cuirass α, Bale Gauntlets α, Dahaad Shardcoil γ, Bale Sollerets α; Historical Charm; Rocksteady Mantle. That reaches Attack Boost 5, Critical Boost 5, Agitator 5, Latent Power 5 with The Blackest Night.
Any monster. A high-risk, high-reward raw Great Sword on four pieces of the Final Fantasy XIV Bale α armor: The Blackest Night barrier and its Eventide counter, Attack Boost 5, Critical Boost 5, Agitator 5, Latent Power 5 and Resentment 4, on the Shatterseal Drakesnest with its huge white sharpness.
Eventide turns your whole health bar red. Undead Redemption stops it draining for 30 seconds, but you can still cart if you get greedy, and The Blackest Night has a long cooldown, so you cannot rely on it all the time.
No: the build deals raw damage, so element weaknesses and resistances barely matter, and it has no Weakness Exploit, which is why it is filed under any monster.
It is adapted from Darcblade's video "BEST ENDGAME GREAT SWORD BUILDS : MONSTER HUNTER WILDS", re-fitted to the game data on this site: every piece, jewel and skill total above is checked against the database, and the swaps list what was changed and why.
Great Sword is S tier on the weapon tier list. This is one of 10 Great Sword builds on the site, each tuned for a different target.
Great Sword · ComfortAll-rounder: Black Eclipse, Antivirus 3, Guard 3 and Offensive Guard 3 on Ostrak Oblivion.
Offensive Guard 3 · Weakness Exploit 5 · Agitator 5
Great Sword · ElementalGogmazios farm set: fire and dragon Ostrak Oblivion, Offensive Guard, Mutual Hostility II.
Offensive Guard 3 · Weakness Exploit 5 · Agitator 5
Great Sword · ProgressionPre-HR 100 set: Resentment 5, Weakness Exploit 5, Agitator 5, Critical Boost 5.
Resentment 5 · Weakness Exploit 5 · Agitator 5
