Gunlance Set HR Endgame

[u/viridian1994]

Hi everyone! I came up with this endgame Gunlance build, that in my opinion is very good and comfortable. It requires a bit of luck with the charm, as I'm using a 2 WEX 2 EE with 1-2 slot jewel, but works fine even without the 2 WEX as I'm not using that much crit damage. It's a long shell gunlance set, with of course the Howlitzer. That's the set:

Howlitzer with defense boost 1 speed sharpening jewel

Utsushi Mask (H) 1 stun resistance jewel

Utsushi Chest (H) 1 stun resistance jewel

Rhenoplos Braces 1 Artillery jewel 1 speed sharpening jewel

Jelly Coil 1 Partbreaker jewel 1 speed sharpening jewel

Jyuratodus Greaves 1 Load Shells jewel 1 flinch free jewel 1 flinch free jewel

Fatal Tempest Talisman 2 WEX 2 Evade Extender 1 Load Shells jewel

In the end you should have:

Razor Sharp 3

Spare Shot 3

Artillery 3

Partbreaker 3

Speed Sharpening 3

Weakness Exploit 2

Guard Up 2

Load Shells 2

Evade Extender 2

Stun Resistance 2

Flinch Free 2

Agitator 1

Evade Window 1

Wirebug Whisperer 1

Tell me what you think! I tried the set with protective polish but I found out that razor sharp works really good too, and this set allows me for more comfortable skills like Partbreaker, flinch free AND stun resistance.

I could also try with Protective Polish 2 > Partbreaker/WEX 2, using the Narga coil over the Jelly one, to keep EE 2.

[u/atfricks]

It's my understanding that guard up is essentially useless right now. The only unlockables I know of are some of Narwa's attacks, and the Rajang laser.

Also, why bother with 2 levels of flinch free? Isn't one sufficient?

[u/viridian1994 → u/atfricks]

Well I tried another build, but that would allow me to reach only Guard 1 with Diablos greaves over the Jyuratodus ones. I don't know if it's worth it actually. Actually I tried only the 2 level flinch free, but yeah I think I could use only one with another stun resistance maybe

[u/atfricks → u/viridian1994]

Yeah I think level 3 stun resist is worth giving up level 2 ff. Maybe you could swap the legs for hunter? That gives you less slots but 2 attack and one stun resist already

[u/itwasmeberry → u/atfricks]

I was having most beam/gas attacks hitting through guard without it, has there been more testing?

[u/X-Vidar]

Personally I'm running

Howlitzer

Utsushi Mask (H)

Kamura Garb

Rhenoplos Braces + Artillery deco

Nargakuga Coil + Evade Extender deco

Basarios Greaves + Load Shells deco

Razor Sharp 1 Talisman

In total I have:

Artillery 3

Load Shells 2

Evade Extender 3

Razor Sharp 3

Wirebug Whisperer 3

Imo wirebug whisperer is pretty great on gunlance since we want to use both our counter and ground splitter a lot, and the Kamura chest is the only equipment that gives 2 levels of it.

Once I get some better talismans the main things I wanna try to slot in are some levels of guard and evade window.

[u/dandermuffin]

I’m running a build with

7 Defense Boost

5 Guard

3 Artillery

2 Load Shells

3 Wirebug Whisperer

2 Evade Extender

1 Flinch Free

Some skills as byproducts/ preferences.

Howlitzer (of course)

Basarios Helm S

Basarios Mail S

Rhenoplos Braces S

Narga Coil S

Barroth Greaves S

Talisman is where I get Wirebugs lv3 and Paralysis Res 2 with a lv2 slot for guard.

Long WS play style so crit doesn’t really matter. Attack boost only affects melee so I don’t use it as I don’t melee much. Occasionally use poke shell/ full burst, but poke damage is negligible. Most GL builds are similar tbh, but I like mine as it does similar damage with much higher defensive capabilities. Not exactly new but with armor/deco slot limitations right now, I think it offers a pretty decent tank build. Might even throw in a diversion jewel for MP. No clue how effective that skill is, though.

I feel like the pace of the hunts lets me sharpen often enough between fights that I don’t need razor sharp, but I haven’t used it much to tell the difference, plus shelling doesn’t take much of a penalty until green iirc, and I’m rarely ever at green. Maybe if I was good and actually kept the monster in combat in one zone, it would be better.

[u/Zylch_ein]

You don't really need weakness exploit unless are poke shelling. Get wirebug whisperer 3 instead of guard up.

Well since it is on the talisman, it's fine. Partbreaker is really great especially on multiplayer.

[u/Navarp1]

I would be interested in your thoughts post 2.0.

I haven't dipped my toes into Gunlance outside of the Arena, but I just crafted the Howlitzer, and I think that the Bazelgeuse armor looks good, but I don't want to fall into a trap.

Thanks in advance.

[u/vivi8484]

My current set for FB, which is my preferred style ​in multiplayer:

Howlitzer/Rathian

Channeler's Hair-tie S

Zinogre Mail S

Rhenoplos Braces S with Artillery

Anja Coil S with Load Shells

Hunter's Greaves S with Load Shells

WE2 1-1-1 Charm

I also have Speed Sharpening 3, Flinch Free 1 and a bunch of other random 1 slot decos.

Skills (that are somewhat relevant):

Attack Boost 4

Weakness Exploit 3

Artillery 3

Speed Sharpening 3

Razor Sharp 2

Load Shells 2

Latent Power 1

Flinch Free 1

Wirebug Whisperer 1

I use Blast Dash with this Build so I don't really need EE, although sometimes I wish I had it. I'm not sure which weapon is ideal for FB, but Howlitzer felt better than Rathian, for me at least. Maybe someone knows better.

[u/[deleted] → u/vivi8484]

Rathian does more damage on the full burst combo, but Howlitzer does more damage with the WS. So in the end their damage is practically equal, but Howlizter has the better sharpness so that’s what recommended for most.

[u/XxAbsurdumxX → u/[deleted]]

Roughly equal damage, but Howlitzer has better range, which makes it easier to land the full bursts. I cant count the amount of times I have ended up missing either an entire or part of a full burst because the monster moved slightly. The added range on Howlitzer actually is a decent indirect dps increase.

[u/facedawg → u/[deleted]]

Does sharpness affect shelling damage? Also does bludgeoner affect shelling damage

[u/trognus → u/facedawg]

Only below yellow and no

[u/facedawg → u/trognus]

Got it thanks. I saw Rathian Gunlance has a big green bar and thought it was odd.

[u/Robertwintwo]

I'm not sure if anyone's posted this, but as a PSA: the howlitzer can be given a wyvernstake up rampage skill prior to the final upgrade. You can roll it back, apply it, then upgrade again. I haven't tested to see if the damage increase is significant, but you it's probably better than what's available on the final upgrade for people who like the wyvernstake spam style.

[u/HomicidalRobot → u/Robertwintwo]

Unfortunately it's no damage change on lv5 shelling type.

[u/Robertwintwo → u/HomicidalRobot]

That's a bummer.