Insect Glaive Guide
Insect Glaive is a partnership between hunter and the Kinsect. Every approach starts with extract control: which body part gives each extract and when those buffs will expire. Precise aim then flows into either a grounded combo or an aerial approach as the next opening allows. Red extract unlocks the glaive's stronger attack patterns, while white and orange improve mobility and protection from knockback.
With red extract active, grounded strings can finish with Tornado Slash. Vaults can cross over an attack, reach a high body part, or build an aerial sequence before Diving Wyvern. Each route has a purpose: stay on the ground when you can keep a combo on the intended body part, and take to the air when its movement or extract access solves a positioning problem.
Sunbreak, final balance. Button inputs are in the official manual. Combat Mechanics explains why the same attack can deal different amounts of damage. Data for every move is in Motion Values.
If this weapon is new to you, try it in the Training Area first. Use the in-game Hunter's Notes to practice its basic attacks; this guide explains how to connect them into a hunt.
Extracts and Kinsect
Aim at the monster body part that provides the extract you need, send out the Kinsect, and recall it to receive the extract. The harvested extract remains on the kinsect until it returns. Red changes and strengthens the glaive's attack patterns, white increases the hunter's movement speed, and orange protects the hunter from knockback.
Collecting all three colors activates triple extract. The colors then use one shared timer, and collecting another extract does not refresh an individual color while that timer is active. extends the powered-up duration. Rise has no green extract; healing from a kinsect comes from a kinsect bonus or a move that explicitly provides it.
Kinsects differ by bonus as well as their basic statistics. Dual Color (Attack) collects the targeted extract together with red, which reduces the number of trips needed to unlock the red attack patterns. Assist kinsects join selected attacks while all three extracts are active. Powder kinsects leave dust near a marked body part, and Powder Vortex gathers nearby dust at the marked point before detonating it. Choose a bonus whose condition you intend to use rather than treating every kinsect as interchangeable.
Tornado Slash
Obtain red extract, place a grounded string on the intended body part, and finish with Tornado Slash when the opening is long enough for its two strikes. Its second strike carries most of the move's power, so move or shorten the string when the monster will leave before it connects.
Tetraseal Slash is the alternative grounded finisher. It delivers four concentrated strikes, and one strike marks the monster for Powder kinsects. Its repeated hits and increased elemental modifier make it the finisher to consider when a build emphasizes elemental damage or a Powder kinsect, provided the monster stays in reach for the full sequence.
Silkbind Vault moves the hunter forward and upward at the cost of one Wirebug. Use it when that path reaches the target or clears an incoming attack; it is not a required link between grounded strings.
Diving Wyvern
Diving Wyvern spends one Wirebug to pull the hunter straight down into a focused strike. Successful Vaulting Dances increase the power of successive aerial attacks, so the dive can finish an aerial sequence. Do not force that buildup through an unsafe attack: missing the body part gives up the opening, and aerial movement also consumes stamina.
Kinsect Slash thrusts the hunter and kinsect toward the reticle without consuming a Wirebug. When it connects, it absorbs the targeted part's extract and leads into a Vaulting Dance. Once the slash absorbs red, later uses perform Enhanced Insect Spiker instead of gathering another color. Aim the slash at the part whose extract you want before collecting red.
Silkbind Vault and Kinsect Glide are Wirebug movement choices. Awakened Kinsect Attack instead consumes every active extract, launches the kinsect, and spends one Wirebug before drawing the hunter toward the target. It shares a switch-skill slot with Diving Wyvern and Recall Kinsect. Keep a Wirebug available when the option to use Wirefall after a hit matters more than another Silkbind attack.
Switch Skills
Two scrolls let you carry different choices for each switch-skill slot. These four slots change the routes discussed in this guide:
| Slot | Choice | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Grounded finisher | Tornado Slash or Tetraseal Slash | Tornado Slash concentrates power in its second strike; Tetraseal Slash commits to four strikes and marks the target. |
| Midair attack | Jumping Advancing Slash or Kinsect Slash | Jumping Advancing Slash is a multi-hit aerial attack; Kinsect Slash aims through the reticle and gathers an extract until it has collected red. |
| Aerial movement | Silkbind Vault or Kinsect Glide | Silkbind Vault leaps forward; Kinsect Glide sends the kinsect first and pulls the hunter toward it. |
| Wirebug attack | Recall Kinsect, Diving Wyvern, or Awakened Kinsect Attack | Recall Kinsect evades and restores kinsect stamina, Diving Wyvern finishes an aerial route, and Awakened Kinsect Attack trades every active extract for an attack. |
Switch Skill Swap can place Awakened Kinsect Attack on the second scroll. Swap to it when you deliberately want to spend the current extracts, then account for the time needed to gather them again.
Fight loop
Gather red from the appropriate body part, choose a reachable part with a high sever hitzone, and begin a grounded string. Use Tornado Slash when the opening will hold through its second strike. Use Silkbind Vault when height, distance, or an incoming attack makes the ground route a poor fit. If Kinsect Slash is equipped, aim it at the body part whose extract you need while beginning an aerial route. Watch the extract timer so you can plan the next collection after the active set expires.
At the start of a hunt against Great Izuchi, the head has a sever hitzone value of 80 and provides red extract. Send the Kinsect to the head, recall it, and then attack the same part while red is active.
When the monster is down, use the grounded finisher that fits the length of the opening. If you are already airborne with successful Vaulting Dances behind you, finish with Diving Wyvern. Use Awakened Kinsect Attack only when its scroll is active and you accept that it will consume every active extract.
When the monster attacks, roll or choose an aerial path that clears the hit, then return to the reachable body part. Insect Glaive has no guard action, so a vault is not a block. Orange extract reduces knockback, and combining white with orange adds resistance to roars and flinching. If an attack knocks you down, Wirefall can recover at the cost of a Wirebug.
Skills
Choose skills for the condition you can maintain. When one or two monster attacks can make you faint, defense preserves more attacking opportunities than a damage skill does after a cart. Eat before the hunt, upgrade armor with Armor Sphere, and collect Spiribirds when the equipped Petalace leaves room for their bonuses. See Getting Started. Combat Mechanics explains .
Build priorities
| Damage and uptime | Why |
|---|---|
| Extends the powered-up duration, so the chosen attack route is interrupted less often by extract collection. | |
| Lv 3 | Adds 50% affinity on physical hitzones of 45 or higher. Use the glaive's movement to keep attacks on a qualifying body part. |
| and | raises the chance to crit, while raises the damage of each crit. More affinity makes apply more often, but affinity above 100% has no effect. |
| Raises Attack and affinity while a large monster is enraged; it contributes nothing before that condition begins. | |
| Sharpness management | Every glaive hit consumes sharpness unless an effect prevents it. Choose from Keep a color according to how the build sharpens and whether it maintains affinity. |
| Defense | Why |
|---|---|
| Eat before the hunt | Raises maximum health and stamina for the quest; Dango also provides its selected skills. |
| Spiribirds | Raise quest health and other statistics up to the limits of the equipped Petalace. |
| Armor Sphere | Raises armor Defense at the smithy. Upgrade armor you intend to use when monster hits become dangerous. |
| 20 resistance to the relevant element | Prevents the corresponding elemental blight. Use , , , , or as needed. |
| Has a chance to reduce damage when an attack connects. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun, which otherwise leaves a hunter with no guard action unable to respond. |
In multiplayer, prevents reactions when hunters hit one another. It has no purpose in a solo hunt.
Add these when their condition matches the build:
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| An element matching the monster's weakness, then | Repeated hits can apply elemental damage several times. only affects elemental damage on hits that crit, so it becomes more reliable as affinity rises. |
| Lv 4+ | Raises Attack; Lv 4 is the first level that adds a percentage multiplier as well as a flat bonus. |
| Reduces stamina consumption for evades and other qualifying actions, including aerial movement. It does not affect kinsect stamina. | |
| Restores the hunter's stamina faster between aerial actions. It does not restore kinsect stamina. | |
| Lv 2 or 3 | Lv 2 speeds Wirefall recovery. Lv 3 also speeds passive Wirebug recovery while the hunter is on the ground. |
| Adds Attack only while health is full; any unrecovered damage disables it. | |
| Consecutive hits build temporary Attack and elemental Attack bonuses. Multi-hit finishers can establish the condition quickly. | |
| Raises Attack and elemental Attack for a limited time after recovery from a blight or abnormal status. | |
| Temporarily raises affinity and reduces stamina consumption after its condition is met; it cannot be active on demand. | |
| After its gauge fills through continuous hits, it reduces damage and prevents the reaction from one attack that would cause knockback. | |
| Makes monster parts easier to break or sever. | |
| Raises Attack and Defense after a faint, up to two activations where the quest permits it. |
Keep a color
Choose a method or combination that fits the weapon's gauge and sharpening routine. also depends on critical hits.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extends the sharpness gauge when it has room to grow. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss on critical hits. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss for a fixed time after sharpening. | |
| Gives attacks a chance not to consume sharpness. | |
| Grants a timed sharpness-property boost after sharpening restores enough color levels. | |
| Reduces the whetstone cycles required to sharpen. |
Comfort
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Increases the health restored by healing effects. | |
| Shortens the time required to consume food and drink items. | |
| Restores the red portion of the health gauge faster. | |
| Raises Defense; higher levels also improve elemental resistances. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents all elemental blights when individual elemental resistances do not reach 20. |
| Prevents one faint when an otherwise lethal hit meets its health condition. The effect does not protect against the next hit. | |
| Prevents qualifying roars from interrupting an attack when white-and-orange extract protection is unavailable. | |
| Extends the invulnerability period of evades; it does not add a guard. | |
| Extends evade distance, which can clear a wider attack but can also move the hunter beyond the targeted body part. | |
| Gives food and drink items a chance not to be consumed. | |
| Grants a random Spiribird effect at fixed intervals in quests where the skill applies. | |
| While a large monster is enraged, its level determines which roars, wind pressure, and tremors it resists. |
Styles
These styles change which conditions the build emphasizes:
| Style | Skills and decisions |
|---|---|
| Element | Match the glaive's element to the monster's weakness. Add only when the targeted elemental hitzone reaches 25, and use Tetraseal Slash when the opening holds through its repeated hits. |
| Aerial | Gather the needed extracts before committing. Use Kinsect Slash for aimed extract collection and successful Vaulting Dances to strengthen the aerial sequence before Diving Wyvern. |
| Powder | Mark the body part so a Powder kinsect attacks it and leaves dust, then trigger Powder Vortex where it can gather that dust. |
| Afflicted | While Frenzy is active, raises Attack and evasion and reduces stamina use; overcoming Frenzy restores the red health gauge and grants affinity. raises Attack, and at higher levels affinity, only while the monster has poison, paralysis, or an elemental blight. |
This hunt
These skills answer specific monster or quest conditions rather than every hunt:
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
| Use the level that blocks the monster's roar when extract-based interruption protection will not be active. | |
| Use the level that blocks the monster's wind pressure when it repeatedly stops your approach or landing. | |
| Use it when ground tremors repeatedly prevent a punish after the monster attacks. | |
| Adds Attack while the hunter has an abnormal status, including an elemental blight. | |
| Raises the damage of barrel bombs and other explosive items when the hunt plan uses them. | |
| Draws more attention when you attack; take it in multiplayer only when you intend to be targeted more often. | |
| Improves Wyvern Riding after the monster becomes mountable; it does not make glaive attacks deal more ordinary damage. | |
| Reduces mobility penalties from monster muck and deep snow. | |
| Grants hellfire resistance and adds hellfire effects after its conditions are met; use it only in a build that deliberately manages those effects. | |
| Lv 2 | A well-timed Switch Skill Swap negates the hit, performs a backward Swap Evade, and restores Wirebug gauge. |
| Raises Defense and extends dodge invulnerability while the monster targets you. |
A hunt can also justify , , , , or when the corresponding status repeatedly interrupts the chosen route.
Choices that look better than they are
- Do not remain airborne only because the weapon can vault. Use an aerial route when it improves access, clears an attack, gathers an extract, or builds a finisher; land when a grounded string can stay on the intended body part.
- Choose Jumping Advancing Slash for its multi-hit aerial attack, or Kinsect Slash for aimed extract collection. Neither choice replaces the need to aim the full route.
- Do not take on the assumption that combo hits activate it. Its boost begins after sharpening restores enough color levels.
- Do not take to improve the Kinsect. It changes the hunter's stamina consumption, not the kinsect's stamina.
- Do not plan around green extract. Rise has no green extract; use a kinsect bonus or move that explicitly heals instead.
- Do not take for this weapon. The skill modifies an existing guard, and the glaive has no guard action.
- Do not spend the last Wirebug on Diving Wyvern when the option to use Wirefall after landing is more important.
- requires full stamina for a period of time. Vaulting and aerial movement consume stamina, so an aerial route works against that condition.
- activates after a slide. A vault is not a slide and does not activate it.
Settings
Set automatic sheathe to Manual if automatic sheathing interrupts attempts to step away and aim the Kinsect. Aim at the body part that provides the extract color needed for the next route.
While aiming the Kinsect, keep the camera high enough that extract markers on elevated parts stay visible. A low camera that clips into the body makes it harder to choose the color you meant before you send the insect.