View Full-size

Bow to the warrior way of the Long Sword!

Overview

The Long Sword is a balance between the mobility of a smaller weapon, and the power and range of a heavier weapon such as the Great Sword. If you’re fond of a hard hitting weapon but don’t want to sacrifice mobility and attack speed, look no further, the Long Sword is for you. The Long Sword also possesses the unique Spirit Dance ability, which fills your Spirit Gauge. Fill it up to gain an increased boost to attack!

Pros

• High raw power with moderately fast attack speed

• Long, wide range

• Fade Slash allows for moving and repositioning while attacking to stay on the offensive

• All Spirit Attacks have natural ESP
  Cons

• The huge range is utterly notorious for tripping allies in multiplayer

• Weapon lacking in power without consistently pushing the Spirit Gauge. Worse, the Spirit Gauge will be completely lost if it is not kept high enough, as opposed to previous games where it would just drop a level

• Spirit Dance is a long attack that leaves you open

Usage Tips

Hands down the most important key to mastering the Long Sword is being able to keep the Spirit Gauge consistently as high as possible. The Spirit Gauge will go from White, to Yellow , and finally maxes out at Red. White will last 6 minutes, 30 seconds and gives a 5% boost to attack. Yellow lasts 4 minutes, 30 seconds, and gives a 10% attack boost. Red lasts only 2 minutes, but gives a massive 30% attack boost. If you lose any level of spirit gauge, you will lose everything , unlike previous games where you merely dropped down to the next level. As a result, you will have to keep up on the offense as consistently as you can. If you reach red, then you can postpone depletion for 10 seconds by performing another roundslash , but it is risky.

As a result, the Long Sword lends itself well to hyperoffensive play. Be prepared to take high risks for high rewards, or heavy punishment. Timing and positioning are incredibly important because you cannot block, and you cannot afford to miss a potential opportunity for attack.

Recommended Skills

­­Because of the Long Sword’s new playstyle, Evasion+1/+2 is invaluable to helping you dodge around a monster. One other skill that is even more important, however, is Focus. Focus will increase the speed at which a weapon charges. For example, Great Swords will reach level 3 charge slightly faster, as well as Hammers. In the case of a Long Sword, with a gauge you must charge up, Focus will speed up the rate at which the gauge fills by a noticeable amount. Given the new mechanic of how the Spirit Gauge works, Focus becomes of paramount importance to obtain, particularly if the target monster is very powerful and swift, such as Brachydios or Seregios.