Skip To...
As far as poster weapons go in Monster Hunter World, the Greatsword is the most iconic and recognizable. Because who would miss the massive slab of metal and bone strapped to a small hunter’s back? Unsurprisingly, the Greatsword is as heavy and as unwieldy as it looks. So, if you want to wield the weapon right, here’s our best Greatsword build recommendation for MHW with consideration for Iceborne and base game versions.
Iceborne Greatsword Build (Best Overall)
The set we recommend excels a lot in single-player and solo hunts since it takes advantage of Punishing Draw, which is the first attack you commit with a sheathed melee weapon in Monster Hunter World. Ideally, you’ll want to hit the monster’s head with Punishing Draw, which is the main role of the Greatsword.
Because it competes well with the Hammer when it comes to stunning monsters. Thus, the playstyle can be risky, so you’ll have to time your attacks well and know when to conserve aggression or avoid overextending.
| Gear (Weapon/Armor/Charm) | Decorations |
| Black Fatalis Blade | -Challenger Jewel+ 4 -Expert Jewel+ 4 |
| Frostfang Helm B+ | -Attack Jewel+ 4 -Flawless Jewel 2 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Dragonhide B+ | -Critical/Protection Jewel 4 -Critical/Protection Jewel 4 -Critical/Protection Jewel 4 |
| Dragonclaws B+ | -Flawless/Protection Jewel 4 -Flawless/Protection Jewel 4 -Flawless/Protection Jewel 4 |
| Dragonbarbs A+ | -Charger/Medicine Jewel+ 4 -Charger Jewel 2 |
| Dragonfeet A+ | -Attack Jewel+ 4 -Attack Jewel+ 4 |
| Challenger Charm V |
As you can see, it’s also a Fatalis set, meaning you have to reach the MHW endgame for the best Greatsword build. It’s worth it alone for the Black Fatalis Blade, which is one of the meanest-looking Greatswords in the game.
Sadly, the Black Fatalis Blade is somewhat notorious for its negative Affinity which means you’ll be seeing fewer crits. If you want more critical attacks to trigger, you’re going to have to swap it out with Safi’s Shattersplitter. It has lower damage overall but more consistent crits.
Budget Iceborne Greatsword Build
You can consider this as the more realistic build for Iceborne, especially if you just got to Master Rank. After all, solo hunting with a Greatsword can be tricky against a bad matchup (i.e., rapid and twitchy monsters).
You can start with this build once you get to the Guiding Lands or use it as a stepping stone. You can even take it to endgame if you want, but make sure to upgrade some bits and pieces.
| Gear (Weapon/Armor/Charm) | Decorations |
| Royal Venus Blade | -Elementless Jewel 2 |
| Oolong Hair A+ | -ExpertJewel+ 4 |
| Astral Cloth A+ | -Geology Jewel 1 |
| Azure Age Sleeve A+ | -Vitality Jewel 1 -Vitality Jewel 1 -Vitality Jewel 1 |
| Acidic Glavenus Coil B+ | -Stonethrower/Expert Jewel 4 -Charger Jewel 2 |
| Glavenus Greaves B+ | -Fortitude/Expert Jewel 4 |
| Exploiter Charm II |
The Decoration combo here isn’t a hard suggestion, so feel free to replace them, especially the Vitality Jewels, once you get used to Master Rank’s difficulty. You’ll still need to hunt a good combination of monsters in Master Rank for the armor, while the Royal Venus Blade is rather easy to obtain in an event.
Base Game Greatsword Build
If you’re just starting out in Monster Hunter World‘s base game, here’s what you should aim for as a Greatsword user. It’s the best Greatsword build in MHW if you don’t have Iceborne. Of course, you will need to replace it right away once you get to Iceborne‘s Master Rank.
The build’s general idea for playstyle is still the same: hit the monster’s head, try to score a lot of stuns and knockdowns, and then hit their head some more with some charged attacks or True Charged Slash.
| Gear (Weapon/Armor/Charm) | Decorations |
| Empress Galea “Blaze” / Defender Great Sword V | -Challenger Jewel 2 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Drachen Armet A | -Challenger Jewel 2 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Damascus Mail B | -Expert Jewel 1 -Expert Jewel 1 -Expert Jewel 1 |
| Drachen Vambraces A | -Challenger Jewel 2 -Challenger Jewel 2 |
| Drachen Coil A | -Tenderizer Jewel 2 |
| Drachen Greaves A | -Critical Jewel 2 |
| Exploiter Charm II |
As you can see, it’s a toss-up between the Empress Galea “Blaze” from Lunastra and the Defender Great Sword V. For most attacks, Defender Great Sword V yields more damage, but for some reason, Empress Galea “Blaze” scores significantly higher damage on True Charged Slash attacks likely because of the higher Affinity.
So you can settle the conundrum yourself depending on how well you can land those True Charged Slash attacks. Either way, you’re going head-to-head with the monster to see who can knock out the other first. Such is the way of Greatsword mains.
