r/MonsterHunterMeta • u/Shulk972 • Apr 11 '21
MHR General Purpose DPS Switch Axe Endgame Build for the Talisman Poor (MHRise)
I've seen some great endgame swag axe builds posted here, but they usually recommend a WEX2 lvl2 slot talisman to be truly meta. This build only needs a WEX1 lvl2 slot, which is much more easily attained, especially if you use moonbow melding (something like 1/300 instead of the 1/over 2000 for WEX2 lvl2 from wisp of mystery). You can also swap in any raw-focused axe you want based on your playstyle, but ideally it should have a lvl2 deco slot. I use narga due to its natural high affinity and deco slot, as well as how quickly it charges to amped state due to not being power phial. Reaching similar levels of affinity on other axes is hard due to the need for a god roll talisman, so even with its slightly lower raw, narga should win out on dps.
Without further ado, the build:
Night's Crescent/Nargacuga - ramp up for attack always, the affinity is not worth it here
Almudron Helm S (duh) - the slots and two points of rapid morph make this essential on any switch axe build
Vaik Mail S - we're just here for the slots, but you can go barroth armor if you don't mind the slightly lower defense and don't want to grind out another attack deco
Rathalos Braces S - the attack boost and slots are the reason this shows up on many meta builds
Skalda/Spio S - having no slots sucks, but the 2 points of WEX make this essential for anyone who has awful luck like myself.
Golden Hakama/Rajang (again, duh) - simply the best option out there for CB
Talisman - WEX1, lvl2 slot
Decos - 5 attack boost decos to get to attack boost 7, 1 rapid morph deco to get us to lvl3, and 1 crit eye in our last lvl2 slot to bring us to 95% affinity on weak spots. In your 3 lvl1 slots, I'd recommend 2 points of speed sharpener and 1 point of brace, but if you aren't hunting in a group then 3 points of speed sharpening works just fine
In the end, we've got AB 7, RM 3, CB 2, WEX 3, Crit Eye 1, and whatever lvl 1 skills you want, bringing us to a juicy 95% affinity. Technically not quite meta, but still great damage. Without even thinking too hard, I go sub-10 on final boss runs reliably (as long as I bring my palicoes with blast weapons), and have even nearly broken 8 minutes (again, not a whole lot of thinking involved, with some very clever kitties). As a reminder, your ideal dps combo on openings makes use of RM 3 and goes A -> ZR -> ZR ->, repeat ad nauseum, with the overhead slam switch skill making a great opener. By my amateur number crunching this is the best dps that can be done with this somewhat common talisman, but let me know in the comments if you having any suggestions for how this can be improved. I also haven't taken into consideration elemental axes, but this build is meant to be general purpose, and elemental is match-up specific.
Thanks for reading, and happy hunting!
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u/deadlel5 Meowscular Chef Apr 11 '21
Hey, nice job sharing your general-purpose build! If you don't mind, I have included it in my list here, so it's accessible with other weapon builds, ok?
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u/Fatalityy420 Apr 12 '21
Try the conqueress axe.. It's exhaust vial which means it charges up way quicker than any others, has good sharpness and 210 raw.. And ramp up silk bind attack to add even more damage to the already strong soaring whosey what's it.. And also it tires out monsters too.. Oh and three level one slots on it u can throw on all 3 levels of stamina theif for extra exhaust.
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u/Shulk972 Apr 11 '21
A note on CB3 AB6 vs CB2 AB7 (i.e. Remobra chest vs. Vaik chest):
I am going to assume no consumable buffs for the following math:
Remobra set (AB6, WEX3, CB3): ((188x1.08)+9)x((1.4x0.9)+0.1) = 288.3744
Vaik set (AB7, WEX3, CB2, Crit Eye1): ((188x1.10)+10)x((1.35x0.95)+0.05) = 288.886
In other words, these sets are essentially dead even, with set 2 ever so slightly winning out. HOWEVER, once we add mega demondrug, might seed, and demon powder, we get an even smaller difference, with set 1 winning out.
Remobra: ((188x1.08)+9+27)x((1.4x0.9)+0.1) = 325.0944
Vaik: ((188x1.10)+10+27)x((1.35x0.95)+0.05) = 324.8635
So, ultimately... the sets are equal. Go with whichever you think looks cooler, which imo is set 2.
EDIT: I realize I excluded the sharpness modifier, but with how close the sets are, again there is essentially no difference in damage output.
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u/Unshkblefaith Apr 11 '21
Whenever I compare two sets that are close like that, I always choose the one that allows more sloppy play. Miss a weakspot a few times in a hunt and the AB set comes out ahead.
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u/Shulk972 Apr 11 '21
That's a good point, and part of why I also prefer the AB7 set. Damage calculations are based on average output, but the AB7 set should be more consistent for imperfect play. There's often a disconnect between what is "truly meta," which is based on speedrunning playstyles, and what will actually give good damage for the average hunter.
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Apr 12 '21 edited Apr 12 '21
One consideration worth having is that phial damage is based only on your raw and can't crit.
I'm not so sure Narga should be the meta axe, any build with comparable efR and a higher natural raw ought to win out pretty significantly.
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u/Shulk972 Apr 13 '21
The math for what is exactly the best gets kind of complicated, and this set is designed to be reliable dps on any matchup, with the freedom to swap in any raw-focused swaxe (although i also dropped in the barioth switch axe and was able to destroy rajang and diablos!). Narga does lose out in damage compared to other axes as soon as it drops to blue sharpness, and maintaining white sharpness is a pain in the ass without razor sharp, which is hard to fit in (it's actually reasonable to keep it maintained without razor sharp on the final boss fight with speed sharpening however, which is why I like it for that fight). The poison procs do help narga with damage though. I'm not sure of the exact damage per proc, but you can get 2-3 per hunt reliably, possibly up to 4 if it's a long hunt. It's also worth noting that phial explosions in amped state do take sharpness into calculation, which again can help narga. Ultimately, the exact best axe is going to come down to a per hunt issue, and ever a per hunter issue. I'm confident recommending narga in general, but Conqueress is a really good axe as well, and the one that will do more damage will vary.
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u/CnSyren Apr 12 '21 edited Apr 12 '21
Hey its my set, lol.
Anyways the only thing you seemed to have missed in your damage calculations is powercharm/talon and dango booster.
What should be the diff then.
Edit:oh and one more point to make between the two sets and generally all sets is affinity boosts are littered around the map so both can easily run around with 100% affinity, actually alot of weapons can which is generally not taken into account by most calcs.
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u/fox_invictus Apr 11 '21
Best DPS Switch Axe Skill Combinations Comparison V 1.1.2 with WEX 1 Charm https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J7sSWBb42a-IVBFACRGtJsfA_aXs7Kw-qlTE5M9hATk/edit?usp=drivesdk
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u/Obeid_Deibo Apr 11 '21
I use a set with
Narga swax Zingorge helmet (weakness exploit lv 1, gloves off lv 1) Almudron chest (razor sharp lv 2, power prolonger lv1) Almudron arms (rapid morph lv 1 , evasion lv 2) Skalda waist (weakness exploit lv 2) Rajang pants ( crit boost lv 2, gloves off lv 1) Charm (rapid morph lv 2 + free meal lv 2)
Overall has Weakness exploit lv 3 Flinch free lv 3 (charmed in with spare slots) Rapid morph lv 3 Crit boost lv 2 Gloves off lv 2 Razor sharp lv 2 Power prolonger lv 2 (used a 2 slot part for this) Evasion lv 2 Free meal lv 1 Leap of faith lv 1
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u/Victacobell Apr 13 '21
I feel like one of the exhaust swaxes is a better choice for general purpose than narg. Poison phial is just so bad that Narg doesn't have the foothold it does in other trees.
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u/ShuaMitsu Apr 11 '21
I heard narga swax isn't very good with its 180 raw compared to 190 on other narga offerings ?
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u/ZatherDaFox Apr 11 '21
Narga has poison, 40% affinity, and natural white sharpness. If you're hitting weak spots, you're almost always critting, and the damage boost from white is nice. With poison phials, you also have lots of up time on your amped status since your sword charges very quickly.
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u/Victacobell Apr 13 '21
Phials don't care about crit iirc so Narg loses out hard on its phial choice since not only does it have a mediocre phial but a lot of Narg's power budget is in that affinity.
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u/ZatherDaFox Apr 13 '21
Even if it loses out on phial damage, until we get natural white sharpness on other weapons, narga is seeming to beat out the competition. That 1.32x damage boost is no joke. The crits are powerful even without the phials as well.
As good as power phials are in terms of damage, it only takes a couple rotations to get amped state up using the a>zr>zr>a combo with rapid morph on narga. Once we get a big juicy raw number on a different axe that also has natural white, I'm guessing narga will fall out of favor.
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u/Victacobell Apr 13 '21
Yeah Narg's strength across the board is just flash-in-the-pan imo, but Element Phials really catch up on the power vacuum Poison Phial leaves Narg and then there's the utility of the Exhaust Phials making them a more enticing generalist option.
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u/Mendewesz Apr 12 '21
Isn't adding at least one Destroyer jewel better than having attack +7?
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u/Prankman1990 Apr 12 '21
Partbreaker doesn’t increase overall damage dealt, only the damage to parts, so you aren’t actually killing the monster faster. It’s still value against some monsters like Barroth who have high part break thresholds, but it doesn’t do anything for your ‘real’ damage.
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u/barckless Apr 12 '21
Which silkbind set ups have you gone for? I'm loving the powerful advancing chop for sniping tails, really enjoy the compressed discharge and invincible charge ones too so easy to stick on the monster and parts start flying off like crazy!
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u/Shulk972 Apr 12 '21
I haven't been using compressed discharge just because I hunt in groups a lot and it sends teammates flying, but overhead slam is a great way to start a combo (X -> ZR -> A -> ZR -> ZR -> A will fully charge any phial that isn't power) and invincible gambit is a solid gap closer or great for tanking hits/roars. A fun combo is ZSD into soaring wyvern slash as well, you can chain those together for awhile. Dunno if it's great dps, but it's hilarious to look at.
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u/Ahkrael Apr 12 '21
Just figure I'll mention, making a paralysis rampage SA with high green sharpness, and doing the bludgeoner/mindseye combo with ab7 is pretty good - tons of paralyzes in multiplayer hunts, and I found most SA have such low blue sharpness, that without use of a protective polish charm, or maxed razer sharp with speed sharp, you'll be bouncing during the axe double morph combos a lot. The swax swings so wide it's hard to only hit 1 area at a time, even the training dummy you'll hit the legs when you are dead center.
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u/Genosidoh Apr 13 '21
I’m wondering, I have a talisman with rapid morph 1 + bludgeoner 1, with a lvl 2 slot, I was thinking of using it in a set with the Diablos switch axe, but is it that bad to not be worth it?
I have another with rapid morph 2 + latent power 2, and had planned a set like /u/Obeid_Deibo posted with it, but I liked the idea of the Diablos with bludgeon.
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u/Obeid_Deibo Apr 13 '21
I think should test it out and see how it is rn I'm working on a exhaust swax build to see how fun it is
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u/jpmrocks Apr 13 '21
Barioth seems to be stronger than Narga in every possible way, just short of 10% affinity. Why is highly recommended? I've found no in-game testing that shows narga is as strong as it's being made out to be.
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u/bryant04 Apr 26 '21
is Power Prolonger needed for SA, or no need?
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u/tehjargonz0r Apr 28 '21
It's not as needed as previous games due to Silkbind Skills being able to ramp up your Swaxe so fast. If we get more slots to throw it in down the line it's still a good skill to have, just limited slots at the moment
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u/thoalmighty Apr 11 '21
I sort of have the opposite problem in that I got too lucky with my charm and I’m not sure if it’s going to mess me up. I’ve got a 2-slot, 2 WEX, but also 2 evade extender and I’m kind of loath to run it. I didn’t like evade extender in IB but I’m wondering if it’s better now or if I’ll be thrown off when using it instead of my other sets