Lance Guide
Lance does not give ground. Keep its point aligned with one vulnerable part while you watch the monster. Between thrusts, judge whether the next opening is long enough to continue, whether an incoming hit calls for a guard or counter, or whether a guarded advance will preserve your aim. Those defensive decisions become uninterrupted offense inside the monster's reach.
Three thrusts followed by a hop or Guard Dash form a repeatable rhythm. Both choices reset the thrust sequence, while Counter-thrust and Insta-Block let a well-read attack become the start of your next response. Movement with the weapon drawn is constrained, and sheathing interrupts your defense, so maintain the correct distance and facing instead of retreating after every attack.
This guide reflects Sunbreak's final balance. Complete button inputs and recommended combos are in Weapon Controls in the in-game Hunter's Notes; the official manual lists Lance's basic inputs. Combat Mechanics explains why the same swing can deal different amounts of damage. Every move is listed 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.
Guard and counters
When no monster attack requires a response, use three thrusts and then either hop before starting the sequence again or use Guard Dash to advance into the next thrust. Guard only when an incoming hit will actually connect. Blocking an attack consumes stamina, can still let some damage through the shield, and can knock you back. reduces stamina loss and knockback. Add enough levels for the attacks whose knockback otherwise prevents your intended counter or follow-up.
Enter Counter-thrust before a blockable hit lands. The stance guards the hit and automatically answers with a thrust; it is not a follow-up selected after an ordinary block. If attempting a fourth thrust is a mistake, use a hop to cancel the sequence and transition into guarding. After the hop, begin the next sequence with another thrust.
requires a precisely timed guard; the following attacks then deal more damage. Holding the shield continuously does not count as a timed guard.
Guard Dash keeps the shield raised while you close the distance. Leaping Thrust deals three hits after it. Elemental damage benefits from those multiple hits. Guard Dash → Leaping Thrust lets you return to the target monster part without rolling away from it. Shield Charge is the charging approach that keeps the shield raised. Dash Attack is the alternative charging approach. The shield is not raised while you sprint.
Power Guard drains stamina while held, so release it into a follow-up instead of waiting in the stance without a specific attack to receive.
lets the shield block certain attacks that are normally unblockable. Those blocks can still let damage through the shield.
The direction of your guard follows the shield, not the camera.
Insta-Block and Anchor Rage
Insta-Block is a Switch Skill. Time it precisely and you gain access to Cross Sweep. If another hit is coming, use Insta-Block again instead of committing to the sweep. A mistimed block does not grant access to Cross Sweep.
Anchor Rage is a Silkbind guard. The Attack buff scales with the strength of the hit you blocked, not with the amount of knockback after the block. reduces that knockback, but it does not weaken the buff. Anchor Rage costs one Wirebug. Keep one Wirebug available for Wirefall when losing your recovery option would be dangerous.
Spiral Thrust and Skyward Thrust are alternative Silkbind attacks. The falling portion of Skyward Thrust deals multiple hits.
Shield Tackle deals blunt damage during an advancing guard. It can stun when it hits the head. The shield hit does not apply the lance's elemental damage. It replaces Guard Dash—you cannot equip both in the same slot.
Switch Skills
You can configure both scrolls by choosing among the options below for each combat role. A baseline setup that emphasizes guarded movement and counterattacks uses Insta-Block, Guard Dash, Shield Charge, and Anchor Rage.
| Slot | Default | Alternative for Lance |
|---|---|---|
| Block | Insta-Block | Guard |
| Advance | Guard Dash | Shield Tackle |
| Run-in | Shield Charge | Dash Attack |
| Silkbind | Anchor Rage | Spiral Thrust or Skyward Thrust |
Switch Skill Swap lets you use Shield Tackle on the second scroll to attack the head, then swap back to the scroll with Guard Dash when you need to remain at the target monster part. Changing scrolls this way is a playstyle choice, not part of the usual attack loop.
Fight loop
When no attack interrupts you, use three thrusts. Then either hop and start the thrust sequence again, or use Guard Dash → Leaping Thrust → Thrust to advance while continuing your offense. Use Insta-Block when you can meet an incoming attack within its timing window. On success, follow with Cross Sweep → Thrust to resume attacking after the block. If another hit is coming, use Insta-Block again. Use Anchor Rage against a swing you can safely block. In return for spending one Wirebug, you gain an Attack buff based on the strength of that swing. Enter Counter-thrust before a blockable hit when you want the stance to guard and answer it. Use Power Guard only with a specific follow-up in mind because it drains stamina while held.
At the start of a training hunt against Great Izuchi, aim at the head, which has a sever hitzone value of 80, and begin with three thrusts. Use Anchor Rage if its first swing is safe to block and spending the Wirebug will still leave the recovery option you want.
During a knockdown, keep the lance aligned with the chosen part and repeat the thrust sequence without waiting for a counter. Use Guard Dash → Leaping Thrust when you need to close a short gap, or Shield Charge when the gap is long enough to justify a charge.
When you see an attack coming, enter Counter-thrust so its guard receives the hit and answers it. Rolling moves you away from the target monster part. Wirefall is the recovery option after a knockdown.
Skills
When hits start to hurt, address defense before adding another damage skill. Eat a meal, then collect health-increasing Spiribirds up to the limit of the equipped Petalace. See Getting Started. Combat Mechanics explains the mechanics behind .
Core
| Fight-loop skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Raises Attack after the precisely timed guards that already drive the fight loop. Holding the shield does not trigger it. | |
| Reduces knockback and stamina loss. Use enough levels to preserve the follow-up you want against the attacks you intend to block. | |
| Lv 3 | Adds 50% affinity on a physical hitzone of 45 or higher—the target monster part at which you remain positioned. |
| and | Build affinity without exceeding 100%. raises the physical damage of attacks that actually land as critical hits, so it becomes more valuable as affinity rises. |
| Raises Attack and affinity while the monster is enraged. | |
| Maintain white or purple sharpness | Dropping to a lower sharpness color reduces physical and elemental damage and can make attacks bounce. Choose an option from Keep a color. |
| Defensive | Why |
|---|---|
| Eat before every hunt | Raises maximum health and stamina for the quest; Dango adds its own skills. Guarding can still let some damage through the shield. |
| Spiribirds | Raise quest health up to the limit of the equipped Petalace. |
| Armor Sphere | Raises Defense at the smithy. Spend them on armor you expect to keep when hits start to hurt. |
| Resistance matching the monster's element | Raise the relevant resistance when elemental damage or its blight is causing trouble: , , , , or . |
| Has a chance to reduce damage taken while guarding or damage from a missed counter. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun after mistakes that bypass the shield. |
| Increases healing, helping restore the damage taken while guarding that accumulates as you stay close. |
In a group, add when attacks from teammates interrupt you or your thrusts interrupt them. It has no purpose when playing solo.
The following skills are often useful, but they are not required:
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Lets the shield block certain attacks that are normally unblockable. Those blocks can still let damage through the shield. | |
| Lv 4+ | Raises Attack. Lv 4 is the first level that adds a percentage bonus as well as a flat bonus. |
| Lv 3 | Increases passive Wirebug recovery while you are on the ground after using Anchor Rage, Spiral Thrust, or Skyward Thrust. |
| Adds physical damage at full health. Damage taken while guarding deactivates it until you heal. | |
| Repeated hits build its temporary bonuses, and the thrust-counter loop supplies those hits. | |
| Raises damage for a short time after you recover from a blight or abnormal status. | |
| Adds affinity after its condition is met, but is less controllable than . | |
| After repeated attacks fill its gauge, it prevents the damage reaction and reduces the damage from one hit that would knock you back. | |
| Increases damage toward part breaks and severs. It does not increase damage to the monster's health. | |
| Raises Attack and Defense after a faint. It can help recover a troubled hunt; do not plan to faint just to activate it. |
Keep a color
Choose one sharpness-management method. becomes more reliable as affinity rises because it prevents sharpness loss only on critical hits. Thrusts consume sharpness. Guarding does not.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Adds sharpness when the sharpness gauge is not already full. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss on critical hits. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss for a fixed time after you sharpen. | |
| Reduces the average number of sharpness points consumed. | |
| Grants a timed boost after sharpening restores enough lost sharpness levels, so it requires deliberately dropping through those colors first. | |
| Lets you use a whetstone during a short gap between monster attacks. |
Comfort
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Shortens item use after you have found time to sheathe. | |
| The red portion of the health bar returns faster. | |
| Adds Defense after armor has already been upgraded with Armor Sphere. | |
| Lv 3 prevents elemental blights; lower levels shorten their duration. | |
| Lets you survive one qualifying lethal hit. The next hit can still make you faint. | |
| Prevents applicable roars from interrupting thrusts; guarding the roar is the alternative when you can face it in time. | |
| Extends hops, but the extra distance can carry you away from the target monster part. | |
| Extends the duration of invulnerability during hops. It does not change the guard. | |
| Reduces fixed stamina costs from hops and blocking. It does not reduce the continuous drain from holding Power Guard or recover Wirebugs. | |
| Sometimes lets you consume an item without removing it from the pouch. | |
| Grants a random Spiribird effect at fixed intervals in applicable quests, supplementing the birds you collect on your route. | |
| Resists roars, wind, and tremors while a large monster is enraged. |
Styles
| Style | Skills |
|---|---|
| Element | Match the weapon's element to a vulnerable hitzone and use the corresponding Attack skill: (or water, thunder, ice, or dragon). activates on an elemental hitzone of 25 or higher. Guard Dash → Leaping Thrust deals three hits, each of which can apply elemental damage. |
| Shield Tackle | Its blunt hit can build stun when it reaches the head, and increases that buildup. The shield hit does not apply the lance's element. Replaces Guard Dash. |
| Raises Attack on the red scroll at the cost of Defense. Damage taken while guarding becomes more dangerous. | |
| Afflicted | rewards clearing Frenzy. raises Attack and affinity while the monster is affected by poison, paralysis, or an elemental blight, so use it only when the hunt can sustain one of those conditions. |
This hunt
These skills solve particular matchups or plans. Add one only when its condition occurs often enough to change how you can hold position or recover from an attack.
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
| Allows guards against ordinarily unblockable attacks; its levels determine how much damage those guards still let through. | |
| Prevents applicable tremors from interrupting your position and next thrust. | |
| Prevents applicable wind pressure from interrupting you. | |
| Raises Attack while a blight or abnormal status is active. Use it only in a hunt where you expect that condition and do not plan to clear it immediately. | |
| Raises barrel-bomb damage when bombs are part of your plan for a sleeping monster. | |
| Draws more attention as you attack, which can give a group more chances to make the monster face your shield. | |
| Makes the Riding Gauge easier to fill and improves Wyvern Riding. Use it only when the hunt plan values another ride. | |
| Reduces the mobility penalty from monster muck or deep snow. | |
| Grants hellfire resistance and adds explosive hellfire effects after its conditions are met. | |
| Lv 2 | A precisely timed Switch Skill Swap negates the hit, moves you backward, and recovers Wirebug gauge. The backward movement changes your spacing, so plan the next approach. |
| While the monster targets you, it raises Defense, extends dodge invulnerability, and reduces guard impact. |
A specific hunt can also make , , , , or more important than a general damage skill.
Skills that look better than they are
- Holding guard does not activate .
- A mistimed Insta-Block does not grant access to Cross Sweep.
- does not lower the buff from Anchor Rage. The buff follows the strength of the blocked hit, not the resulting knockback.
- Shield Charge keeps the shield raised but lasts for a limited time. Dash Attack can continue until you cancel it, run out of stamina, or hit a wall, but it does not guard during the run.
- requires sharpening after losing enough sharpness colors; it does not activate merely because a combo consumed sharpness.
- reduces deflections at Lv 1 and prevents them at Lv 2 or 3. Its bonus against hard parts does not make those parts the best target for every build.
- Using the last available Wirebug for Skyward Thrust leaves no Wirebug for recovery if you are knocked to the ground, which can lead to a faint.
- requires full stamina. Power Guard and hops consume stamina.
Settings
Set automatic sheathe to Manual so movement does not put the lance away while you are maintaining position. The direction of your guard follows the shield, not the camera.
When you hard-lock on a flank to hold space, glance at the shield facing before a Power Guard. A camera that tracks the head while the shield still faces the body leaves the next chip or counter lined up on the wrong side of the hit.