Charge Blade Guide
Charge Blade is a weapon of preparation and release. Sword attacks build phial energy, and a precisely timed guard can start the axe pressure that spends it; how much energy you have banked and how long the monster will stay open determine whether to keep the Power Axe saw on a reachable weak part or commit every loaded phial to Super Amped Element Discharge.
Store sword energy to load the phials, then use those phials to charge the shield or power axe discharges. Power Axe Mode adds repeated saw contacts when you hold the attack input as the axe connects. Those contacts use the struck part's hitzone, your sharpness, and affinity. Super Amped Element Discharge has a longer commitment and spends every loaded phial, so choose it when the monster will stay in front of the attack through the phial burst.
A Perfect Guard, including a precisely timed Guard Point, can lead into the Savage Axe Slash that activates Power Axe. Focus Strike Savage Axe also activates it when the attack connects with a wound.
Title Update 4. Complete weapon controls are in the in-game Hunter's Notes; the official manual entry point links to the current manual. Combat Mechanics explains why the same swing hits for different numbers. Phials have their own rules. 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.
Phials, shield, saw
Sword attacks build phial energy. Store it to load the phials. If the sword becomes overcharged, its attacks bounce until you store that energy.
Storing more energy while phials are already loaded enhances them, strengthening their effects when you spend them. After storing, hold the shield-charge input to spend the loaded phials on the shield. The shield lasts longer when that action consumes more phials, and enhanced phials extend it further. Wilds lets you perform this shield charge directly after storing.
speeds phial loading; at level 2, a yellow gauge loads five phials instead of three. instead speeds the transitions between sword and axe modes.
Impact phials ignore hitzones and cannot deal critical hits, so use to increase their damage. Their explosions build stun only when they hit the head. Element phials instead depend on the monster's elemental hitzone. Power Axe saw contacts are ordinary hits, so hitzones, sharpness, and affinity all apply to them.
extends both the charged shield and Power Axe timers. It gives you more time between refreshes; it does not replace building and storing phial energy.
Guard Point and Perfect Guard
A Guard Point is a guard window inside an attack or morph animation. Arrange the animation so that its shield meets the incoming attack. A Perfect Guard comes from raising the shield as the attack arrives. A precisely timed Guard Point can also become a Perfect Guard, but that requires fitting the hit into the animation's guard window. After a Perfect Guard, choose Savage Axe Slash to activate Power Axe or a discharge when the opening can hold it. Holding the shield in advance still guards, but it does not meet 's timing condition.
reduces knockback, which helps preserve access to an axe follow-up after a guard. reduces guarded damage and lets the shield block certain attacks that are normally unblockable. Those guards can still cause chip damage or knockback.
Some successfully guarded attacks can start a Power Clash. Power Axe itself does not guard attacks.
Power Axe
Focus Strike Savage Axe activates Power Axe when it connects with a wound. A Perfect Guard, including a precisely timed Guard Point, can instead lead into Savage Axe Slash and activate the same mode.
Hold the attack input as an axe swing connects to produce extra saw contacts. These contacts use the struck part's hitzone, sharpness, and affinity, so keep the axe aligned with a reachable weak part. If you equip , a raw hitzone of 45 or higher also meets that skill's threshold. Power Axe reduces the phial cost of Amped Element Discharges, allowing a longer axe sequence, but it does not reduce Super Amped Element Discharge's full-phial cost.
Amped Element Discharge and Super Amped Element Discharge
Amped Element Discharge is the shorter phial expenditure, and Amped Element Discharge Follow-up is the attack that follows it. Both Amped Element Discharge and its optional follow-up can lead into Super Amped Element Discharge. A brief flinch may end before the slower SAED reaches its phial burst, so use the shorter discharge or saw contacts instead. During a long knockdown, the full Amped Element Discharge → Amped Element Discharge Follow-up → Super Amped Element Discharge sequence is an option only when the monster will remain in place for it. Focus Mode lets you adjust the discharge's facing during its wind-up; the swing eventually locks its direction.
Fight loop
Build energy in sword mode and store it. Spend loaded phials to establish the charged shield, then activate Power Axe Mode through a wound Focus Strike or the Savage Axe Slash after a Perfect Guard. Return to sword mode when phials run low or the shield needs a refresh.
At the start of a hunt, work toward a wound on a part the axe can continue to reach. On Chatacabra, the tongue and head are especially vulnerable to severing attacks. When a wound is available, Focus Strike Savage Axe converts it into an immediate Power Axe activation.
During a short opening, keep saw contacts on the chosen part or use Amped Element Discharge. During a knockdown, first read the remaining duration: stay with Power Axe if the monster may rise soon, or use the longer Amped Element Discharge → Amped Element Discharge Follow-up → Super Amped Element Discharge chain if the whole sequence will fit.
When an attack threatens the loop, time a Perfect Guard or arrange a Guard Point. Hold a normal guard when the timing is uncertain; it protects you without promising the Perfect Guard follow-up. Power Axe itself does not guard.
Skills
Choose skills for the attack path you actually use. Power Axe wants sharpness, affinity, and time on a reachable hitzone; an Impact-phial discharge plan also benefits from faster phial loading and . Eat before every hunt. Getting Started explains meals and pouch preparation. Combat Mechanics explains wounds and the two skill budgets. sits on the weapon. sits on armor.
Core
| Offensive (weapon) | Why |
|---|---|
| Speeds phial loading; at level 2, a yellow gauge loads five phials instead of three. | |
| Raises Impact phial damage; it does not affect Element phials or saw contacts. | |
| Speeds the form changes used to enter axe and return to sword. | |
| Raises Attack after a precisely timed guard, including a Guard Point that becomes a Perfect Guard. | |
| The saw crits. Impact phials do not. | |
| and | Raise affinity and Attack; affinity above 100% has no effect. |
| Keep white or purple | Preserves damage from saw contacts; phial explosions ignore sharpness. |
| Offensive (armor) | Why |
|---|---|
| Adds affinity when a saw contact reaches a raw hitzone of 45 or higher, with an additional benefit while that part is wounded. | |
| Raises Attack and affinity while the monster is enraged. | |
| Repeated saw contacts build its temporary bonuses. |
| Defensive | Why |
|---|---|
| Grill every hunt | Starts the hunt with the meal's health and stamina benefits. |
| Armor upgrades | Upgrade the armor when hits start to hurt. |
| 20 matching resistance | Prevents the corresponding elemental blight. |
| Reduces knockback, helping a successful guard retain access to its axe follow-up. | |
| Has a chance to reduce incoming damage. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun. |
In a group, add . Solo, skip it.
Often added, not required:
| Skill | Why | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Extends the charged shield and Power Axe timers. | Weapon | |
| Reduces guarded damage and lets the shield block certain attacks that are normally unblockable; those guards can still cause chip damage or knockback. | Weapon | |
| Raises Attack while health is full; shield chip damage disables it until healed. | Armor | |
| Adds affinity while stamina remains full, but rolling or guarding can interrupt that condition. | Armor | |
| Temporarily raises elemental damage after you recover from a blight or abnormal status. | Armor | |
| Adds affinity after its own activation condition; unlike , it is not tied to the part you hit. | Armor | |
| Raises stun buildup from Impact phials that hit the head; it does not strengthen saw contacts. | Weapon | |
| Speeds part breaks and tail severs; it does not increase damage to the monster's health. | Armor | |
| Raises Attack and Defense after a faint; it helps recover a hunt rather than defining the build. | Armor |
Keep a color
The saw spends sharpness. Phial explosions do not. Pick one on the weapon.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Adds sharpness when the gauge is not already full. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss on critical hits; Power Axe saw contacts can deal critical hits. | |
| No sharpness loss for a fixed time after you sharpen. | |
| Fewer sharpness ticks on average. | |
| Shortens the sharpening sequence. If an attack interrupts that sequence, sharpening starts over. |
Comfort
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Each healing item restores more. Chip still comes through the shield. | |
| Shortens the time spent drinking. | |
| The red portion of the health bar returns faster. | |
| Adds Defense after the armor itself has been upgraded. | |
| Prevents blights when the matching elemental resistance cannot reach 20. | |
| Survives one qualifying lethal hit; the next hit can still faint you. | |
| Shortens the recharge time of mantles and other specialized tools. | |
| Prevents roars from canceling Super Amped Element Discharge, but requires substantial investment; a Guard Point can already block many roars. | |
| Extends roll invulnerability, not Guard Point timing. | |
| Extends evasive movement, but can carry the next saw attack away from the intended part. | |
| Reduces the stamina cost of rolls and other fixed-cost evasive actions. | |
| Sometimes uses a consumable without removing it from the pouch. | |
| Shares compatible healing and support items with nearby allies. |
Styles
| Style | Skills |
|---|---|
| Element phial | Use the attack skill that matches the weapon's element and skip . Power Axe saw contacts still depend on hitzones. |
| Impact-phial Super Amped Element Discharge | Prioritize and , then spend more long openings on full phial discharges instead of Power Axe. |
This hunt
These skills do not belong on every set, but the right monster can make them more useful than a remaining Core option.
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
| Use it against monsters with normally unblockable attacks. A Guard Point can then block those attacks; it can lead into the saw when it also becomes a Perfect Guard and the reaction leaves the follow-up available. | |
| Prevents wind pressure from interrupting Super Amped Element Discharge or the Power Axe loop. | |
| Prevents tremors from interrupting Super Amped Element Discharge or the Power Axe loop. | |
| Raises Attack while a blight is active, benefiting saw contacts until the blight ends. | |
| A successful flash can ground a flying monster and create an opening for Super Amped Element Discharge. | |
| Raises barrel-bomb damage for a sleep wake-up; it does not raise Charge Blade attack damage. | |
| Makes the monster more likely to target you, which can keep it in front of the shield but changes its attention in a group. | |
| Prevents oilsilt from interrupting Super Amped Element Discharge or the Power Axe loop. |
A hunt can also make , , , , , or more important than a lower-priority Core skill. Dung Pods are carried in the pouch; Wilds has no Dungmaster skill.
Skills that look better than they are
- applies to critical saw contacts, not Impact phial explosions.
- does not clear an overcharged sword gauge; store the energy instead.
- Super Amped Element Discharge is a poor choice during a brief flinch because the monster can move before the phial burst reaches it.
- requires a precisely timed guard. A Power Axe saw contact cannot activate it.
- improves Impact phial damage, not Power Axe saw contacts.
- changes continuous stamina use, not phial generation. is the phial-building option.
Settings
Use Focus Mode to aim Focus Strike Savage Axe at a wound and adjust a discharge during its wind-up. Once the discharge swing locks in, Focus Mode cannot move it to a new position.
Before you start a long axe discharge, center the camera on the wound or head you mean to finish on. A camera left on the body after a morph often dumps the locked swing into a weaker zone than you planned.