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The Longsword in Monster Hunter World is one of the most popular weapons both for newbies and veterans of the franchise. It’s simple to use, yet also offers a high skill ceiling for those who want something more interactive than mashing buttons until the monster limps. A Monster Hunter World Longsword build, for that matter, helps in learning the weapon.
Because just like all weapons in Monster Hunter World, the Longsword requires some finesse and min-maxing. Leave the min-maxing to us with the help of our best Monster Hunter World Longsword build. So you can worry about other stuff, like your Palico who keeps zoning out during hunts, or the Handler grabbing half the credit for everything.
Iceborne Longsword Build (Best Overall)
If you’re already past the base game and are on your way to farming the heck out of the mightiest Elder Dragons in the Iceborne expansion, this is the ultimate Monster Hunter World Longsword build.
To achieve this, you need to have at least reached the endgame loop in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. This usually involves Tempered monsters and other, more dangerous variants. Based on community math, here’s the best build.
| Gear (Weapon/Armor/Charm) | Decorations |
| Fatalis Zaggespanon | -Challenger Jewel+ 4 -Expert Jewel+ 4 |
| Frostfang Helm B+ | -Attack Jewel+ 4 -Critical Jewel 2 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Dragonhide B+ | -Attack Jewel+ 4 -Flawless/Protection Jewel 4 -Flawless/Protection Jewel 4 |
| Dragonclaws A+ | -Flawless/Protection Jewel 4 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Dragonbarbs A+ | -Brace Jewel 3 -Shaver Jewel 3 -Jumping/Attack Jewel 4 |
| Dragonfeet A+ | -Critical/Protection Jewel 4 -Critical/Protection Jewel 4 |
| Challenger Charm V |
The Mantles are up to you and as you might have noticed, you’re gonna be farming Fatalis a lot with this build. To play this build, you just need to capitalize on Punishing Draw and the Iai slash. It allows you to stun your monsters faster, especially when coupled with the Longsword’s fast attacks.
That means practicing your timing with the Iai, which should be manageable given how it also uses the Foresight Slash’s counterattack concept.
Base Game Longsword Build
Of course, it’s understandable if you don’t have Iceborne or if you’re just starting out with the expansion. Hunting Fatalis is a tall order, especially solo. Consider this one as some kind of transition build that will help you get more powerful gear against Iceborne monsters.
Some madlad has probably taken this build to Iceborne‘s endgame and lived to tell the tale but do yourself a favor and use it to work towards the Fatalis build above.
| Gear (Weapon/Armor/Charm) | Decorations |
| Kjarr Sword “Fire” | |
| Drachen Armet A | -Flawless Jewel 2 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Empress 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 III | |
It’s certainly not as demanding as the Fatalis build, but it’s also a lot weaker. This build is more offense-based and you have to rely a lot on Foresight Slash to power through enemy attacks. Thankfully, it only needs one Attack Jewel and also, and it can reach 100 percent Affinity.
One thing to note is that you need to ensure that your health is full 90 percent of the time during fights. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your Peak Performance bonus. You can thus replace Flawless Jewel 2 with something else if you feel like you’re getting hit too often to activate Peak Performance.
Budget Longsword Build
The problem with the Kjarr Sword “Fire” Longsword build above is that it’s too reliant on the Kulve Taroth Siege RNG. If you want a Monster Hunter World Longsword build with guaranteed chances of obtaining everything, then you can try this one out.
If you farm for this Longsword build hard enough or long enough, you can get all the items. It’s still viable for Iceborne, but you’ll need to upgrade your armor and decorations.
| Gear (Weapon/Armor/Charm) | Decorations |
| Defender Katana V | |
| Oolong Hair A+ | -Expert Jewel+ 2 |
| Astral Cloth A+ | -Vitality Jewel 1 |
| Artemis Guards A+ | -Fortitude Jewel 1 |
| Hornetaur Coil B+ | -Crisis/Expert Jewel 4 -Attack Jewel 1 |
| Artemis Greaves A+ | -Crisis/Expert Jewel 4 |
| Exploiter Charm II | |
Feel free to replace the armor with a Drachen set from the build above if you manage to find a good group against Behemoth (though there’s still an element of RNG in defeating that boss).
All these Monster Hunter World Longsword build templates (minus the best one) should help you work your way up the hierarchy until you’re skilled enough to consistently hunt Fatalis for the best build. And even then, there are still more monsters to hunt.
