Monster Hunter World: Charge Blade Guide (Best Combos & Strategies)

It’s fair to say that Charge Blade is the most technical one out of all 14 weapons in Monster Hunter World. Like the Switch Axe, it is a transformation weapon, so you have two modes of attack: the Axe and Sword Mode. Unlike most weapons, you have to manage two layers of bars/meters to be able to use it effectively. Not to mention, it also has some hidden counter and buffing mechanics you need to know. So, where do we begin? Through the basic guide and almost all fundamentals of the Charge Blade in MHW, of course.

MHW Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Charge Blade Basics

1. Charging Up Your Phials for Bonus Damage

Aside from basic attacks, Charge Blade game plan revolves around charging up Phials. It’s the bottle meter below your health. For the best Charge Blade MHW combo, a loop of:

1. Charged Double Slash (hold O/B/Right-click).
2. Followed by normal Triangle/Y/Left-click attacks.
3. Doing them rinse and repeat is the best way to build up your Phials.
4. If the monster is downed, then just spam the Charged Double Slash interspersed by one Triangle/Y/Left-click attack.

Once your blade goes red hot and the Phials meter also turns red, it’s time to charge your Phials by holding Block (R2/RT/Mouse 4) and pressing O/B/Right-click. You should see that your Phials are now white. This can also be done when your Phials meter is at yellow, but it won’t fill up as many Phials as at red. And do remember that when your blade is burning like that, all your attacks will bounce!

Now try changing to Axe Mode. With Phials stored, all of your Axe’s O/B/Right-click attacks will be followed by lightning sparks if you’re using Impact type. If you aim it at a monster’s head, those will deal KO/Stun damage. This is called Elemental Discharge and the combo finisher is Amped Elemental Discharge, or AED as the community calls it.

2. Charging Up Your Shield and Sword for a Big Finisher

You’ve seen all your friends and YouTubers pulling off that cool move, right? When they slammed the axe down, and everything explodes? That’s called Super Amped Elemental Discharge or SAED for short.

After you’ve filled up your Phials to white, it’s time to build the Phials meter again. This time, you want to charge your shield and sword instead. Here’s how you can charge your shield:

1. Turn your Charge Blade to Axe Mode.
2. Then perform AED with Triangle+O/Y+B/Right+Left-click.
3. However, don’t let the animation play out! Press or keep clicking R2/RT/Mouse 4 while your Hunter is performing AED.
4. They will do the Elemental Roundslash, which charges your shield.
5. At this point, you also want to avoid basic Triangle/Y/Right-click attacks. Focus on using Phial attacks instead, and in multiplayer basic attacks can throw other Hunters.

For charging the sword, here’s what you need to do:

1. With the Phial meter filled, hold the Block button (R2/RT/Mouse 4).
2. Then, while holding it, hold O/B/Left-click.
3. Release once your Hunter is glowing red and your Charge Blade generates sparks.
4. This can also be quickly performed after charging the shield.

You actually just need to charge the shield to perform SAED, but you can get some buffs by charging both. This is the best combo to perform SAED:

1. Do Elemental Roundslash (R2/RT/Mouse 4 right in the middle of AED/SAED).
2. Sword Charge Phial with R2+O/RT+B/Mouse 4+Left-click.
3. Cancel with Shield Trust (Triangle+O/Y+B/Right+Left-click)
4. Then execute SAED by pressing Triangle+O/Y+B/Right+Left-click again.

Still, since the animation takes time and it’ll eat up all your Phials, don’t use it haphazardly or risk missing the big damage. Wait until that Anjanath is focused on your cat or teammates, then let it rip from behind. Or utilize Guard Point, which we’ll discuss below, and counter roars with SAED.

Interesting fact: like Long Sword, you can fill up your meter by attacking dead small or large monsters. So always remember to stock up on Phials and meters even out of combat if you can!

3. Savage Axe, the Pizza Cutter

Iceborne added one new mode to the Charge Blade: the Savage Axe. All of your Charge Blade Axe attacks will deal more hits and are considered to be the best Mode in MHW. Particularly if you use an Elemental set since Element bonus damage will proc much more often.

To turn into Savage Axe, perform SAED by pressing Triangle+O/Y+B/Right+Left-click. But instead of letting it play, press L2/LT/Middle Mouse as if you’re aiming your Slinger in the middle of the animation. This will turn your Charge Blade into Savage Axe Mode as long as you have Phials stored.

4. Bonus Guard and Mind’s Eye from Charging Your Shield and Sword

Charging both your Charge Blade’s sword and shield is crucial for your battle plan. When your sword has been charged, your Charge Blade will get the Mind’s Eye effect. Your attacks will always hit and never bounce during the duration they’re charged. Meanwhile, having a charged shield will give you a bonus Guard Level 3 effect, reducing knockback and chip damage. The effect could also stack even if you use Guard Armor Skill.

5. MHW Guide: What is Guard Point, Charge Blade Special Counter Mechanics?

Simply put, a Guard Point or GP is a move that can also block a monster’s attack. While Charge Blade introduces this mechanic with its debut in MH4, it’s not the only one that has it. With the Iceborne expansion, Gunlance also has Guard Point for a few milliseconds in the middle of loading the Wyrmstake Blast.

This unique mechanic is automatically performed at:

• The end of Spinning Slash (Triangle/Y/Left-click x3 combo).
• The end of the Sliding Slash (moving+O/B/Right-click after an attack).
• The end of Elemental Roundslash (R2/RT/Mouse 4 right in the middle of AED/SAED).
• After Axe Morph Slash (R2/RT/Mouse 4 in Axe Mode, to change to Sword Mode).

The Guard Point is indicated by your character holding the shield forward in front of their body. Performing a Guard Point will also charge your meter, and you can combo it straight to AED or SAED. This unique feature is what makes Charge Blade seen as much more “difficult” compared to its fellow Blademaster weapons.

But honestly, you don’t need to revolve your play around this mechanic. Just see it as one of the weapon’s many tools and leave it to luck if you manage to pull it off. Personally, I cannot consistently do guard points in battles, especially when fighting hyperactive monsters like Odogaron and Barioth. But it does feel good when you manage to GP a roar, counter it with AED to the head, and Stun an annoying Rathalos.

Impact vs Element: Which Type of Charge Blade to Choose?

I mentioned “Impact type” in one of the above paragraphs. In case you noticed, Charge Blade comes in two different flavors: Impact and Power Element.

As I wrote above, Impact Phial Charge Blade can deal KO/Stun damage once you’ve filled up the Phials. The explosion also only deals raw damage alongside the Stun effect. Any Element bonus that comes with the weapon will only be applied to your normal attacks. It’s generally considered to be easier since having a bonus Stun is always nice for general usage.

Meanwhile, Power Element will add extra Elemental damages, as you can infer from its name. It’s much more situational because you have to consider a monster’s weak spots to deal maximum Elemental damage. Not to mention that each monster has different Elemental weaknesses too, so you have to craft more sets. But Element Charge Blade has huge damage potential and is better for fighting Stun-resistance monsters… or if its head is hard to aim at.

Lastly, their SAED explosions also have different shapes. Impact Charge Blade SAED is a straight line, while Element is wider, almost a V-shaped explosion, as seen above.

MHW Guide: Recommended Armor Skills for Charge Blade

Aside from the recommended Armor Skills below, you can use standard damage and survivability-boosting Skills.

• Capacity Boost: Increases Phials amount.
• Power Prolonger: Increases the duration of the charged shield and sword.
• Artillery: Increases ED/AED/SAED damage for Impact Phial.
• Focus: Makes charged slashes faster.
• Guard Up: Blocks (most of) unblockable attacks. Looking at you, Velkhana and Frostfang Barioth.
• Guard: At least put one point to reduce knockback.
• Offensive Guard: Can be used if you can Guard Point often.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.