Gunlance Guide
Gunlance is patience with an explosive answer. When the monster commits to an attack, the length of the opening and your ready ammunition determine whether to begin an explosive sequence or keep the shield available: absorb the attack, spend shells and the stake, reload, and be ready to guard again. This guide begins with the Normal-shelling loop, where Full Burst fires every loaded shell after a slam.
Shell damage cannot land critical hits and ignores a part's physical hitzone. In Wilds, true Attack affects it, while , the weapon's Shelling Power, and its shell type provide other ways for shelling damage to differ. Melee strikes still use sharpness, affinity, motion values, and the part they hit.
This guide reflects Title Update 4. Use the in-game Hunter's Notes for weapon controls; the official manual covers common controls and Focus Mode. Combat Mechanics explains why the same melee strike hits for different numbers. 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.
Shelling and ammunition
Each Gunlance has a fixed Normal, Long, or Wide shell type. Decorations cannot change it.
- Normal has the largest magazine, so Full Burst rewards reloading and spending every shell together.
- Long is built around longer-range charged shells, so it favors charged shelling.
- Wide has the smallest magazine but the strongest individual shells and a stronger Wyvern's Fire, so it favors deliberate single shots and that larger commitment.
strengthens shells, Wyvern's Fire, and Wyrmstake explosions, and it speeds the firing of Wyvern's Fire. improves reload speed, and its second level adds one shell. affects only attacks that can land critical hits, so it does not increase shell damage.
An ordinary shell consumes one tenth of a sharpness unit. The gauge therefore needs several shells before it loses one full unit, but shelling is not free. Full Burst applies that reduced cost to every loaded shell. Low sharpness does not reduce shell damage, while melee attacks still lose damage and bounce more readily as the color drops.
Wyrmstake Cannon plants a stake in the monster. Its thrust, repeated contacts, and final explosion are separate hits. A full reload restores both shells and a spent stake; a quick reload restores shells. After Wide Sweep, choose the ordinary stake when you do not want to empty the magazine, or use Wyrmstake Full Blast to spend the shells and stake together.
Continue from that blast into Multi Wyrmstake Full Blast when the opening remains long enough. Enter the quick-reload input during the follow-up so it reloads shells before the next blast. The move ends with a Guard Point, which gives the sequence a guarded ending once that point becomes active.
Wyvern's Fire holds two charges. Its gauge recovers over time, and landing attacks fills it faster; shells fill more of the gauge than slams. A Perfect Guard gives you a shorter route into the shot. Because its firing recovery leaves the shield unavailable, spend a charge only when the monster's next action will not arrive first.
A Perfect Guard can also lead into a Power Clash when the monster's attack permits one. When it does not, the Overhead Smash counter turns the successful guard back into the shelling loop.
Drake Auger is the Focus Strike. It drills into an open wound with repeated contacts and finishes by firing the Wyrmstake Cannon. If the monster starts to move or is about to throw you off, enter the finisher input during the drill to fire the stake early.
You can reposition while shelling and fire from a sidestep. Stop the firing sequence before the monster's next attack when you need the shield. It is not active during Full Burst, the post-shot recovery of Wyvern's Fire, or reload portions without a Guard Point.
Full Burst
For Normal shelling, repeat Overhead Smash -> Full Burst -> reload -> Overhead Smash. After a Perfect Guard, counter with Overhead Smash to reach the next burst by a shorter route. A loaded magazine increases the burst's payoff, but the whole firing animation is a commitment: delay it when the monster can attack or roar before you recover.
If the monster is already winding a roar or turn, reload and hold the shells instead of forcing the burst. A cancelled or interrupted Full Burst costs both the magazine and the recovery frames you needed to re-guard.
Drake Auger
Use Drake Auger when an open wound will remain in reach for the drill. Let the repeated contacts run while the monster is still, or use the early finisher when the opening is ending. Reload afterward if the spent stake is needed for your next sequence.
Do not start the drill on a wound the monster is already turning away from. Losing the wound mid-spin wastes the stake and leaves you recovering without a shell plan.
Fight loop
With Normal shelling, look for Overhead Smash -> Full Burst -> reload. A Perfect Guard both answers the incoming attack and shortens the route to the next slam. When the monster stays in reach after Wide Sweep, plant the stake, or commit the loaded magazine and stake to Wyrmstake Full Blast. Continue into Multi Wyrmstake Full Blast only if the opening can also cover its reload and second blast. Face the next attack as its ending Guard Point becomes active.
With Long shelling, use the extra reach and favor charged shells. With Wide shelling, use the stronger individual shells and spend Wyvern's Fire during a long opening; a Perfect Guard supplies the shorter route into that shot.
At the start of the hunt, create a wound on a part your melee strikes can keep reaching. Against Chatacabra, the tongue and head take more sever damage than the torso, so aim slams and sweeps there when possible. Shelling ignores that physical hitzone difference. Use Drake Auger when the wounded part will remain in reach long enough for its drill.
During a knockdown, choose the longest sequence that can still finish before the monster rises: a loaded Full Burst, a stake sequence, or Wyvern's Fire when a charge is ready. Reload before the opening closes if you will need the ammunition immediately. Ending early is better than being caught in firing recovery with the shield down.
Skills
Choose weapon skills according to how much of the hunt comes from shelling or melee, then use defensive skills to solve a specific cause of lost uptime. Getting Started covers meals and pouch preparation. Combat Mechanics explains wounds and the separate weapon and armor skill budgets.
Core
For this guide's starting style, Normal Full Burst, begin with skills that improve the explosions and the full-magazine loop.
| Offensive (weapon) | Why |
|---|---|
| Strengthens shells, Wyvern's Fire, and Wyrmstake explosions, and speeds the firing of Wyvern's Fire. | |
| Improves reload speed; at level 2, the extra shell gives Full Burst one more shell to fire. | |
| Raises true Attack, which increases both melee and Wilds shelling damage. | |
| Maintain sharpness for melee | Shell damage ignores sharpness color, but slams, sweeps, and stake contacts do not. Preserve the best color the weapon can reasonably maintain. |
| Offensive (armor) | Why |
|---|---|
| Adds affinity when melee strikes hit qualifying weak points and wounds. Shells cannot use the affinity. | |
| Adds Attack and affinity while a large monster is enraged; the Attack benefits shelling and melee, while affinity benefits only attacks that can crit. |
| Defensive | Why |
|---|---|
| Upgrade the armor | Higher Defense reduces physical damage when an attack reaches you. |
| Reduces guard knockback and stamina depletion. Add levels when a blocked attack pushes you too far away or delays the counter. | |
| Allows the shield to block ordinarily unblockable attacks and reduces damage taken while guarding. Use it only for a matchup that demands those blocks. | |
| Has a chance to reduce incoming damage when it activates. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun when attacks reach you instead of the shield. |
In a group, prevents allied attacks from causing damage reactions. It has no partner attacks to solve in solo play.
Other skills are conditional rather than automatic additions:
| Skill | Why | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Increases critical-hit damage from melee attacks such as Overhead Smash and Wide Sweep, but cannot affect shells. | Weapon | |
| Temporarily raises Attack after a precisely timed guard, so it rewards a loop that consistently starts from Perfect Guard. | Weapon | |
| Gradually raises Attack and elemental attack while hits continue to land. Multi-hit actions can activate it, but the bonus lapses when you cannot sustain the chain. | Armor | |
| Raises Attack while health is full; damage through or around the shield removes the condition until you heal. | Armor | |
| Temporarily raises elemental attack and status buildup after recovery from a blight or abnormal status. It does not directly raise raw shell damage. | Armor | |
| Makes part breaks easier and increases damage when a Focus Strike destroys a wound. | Armor | |
| Raises Attack and Defense after a faint, so it helps only after the hunt has already gone wrong. | Armor |
Keep a color
Melee attacks need sharpness for damage and resistance to bouncing. Ordinary shells still consume one tenth of a sharpness unit each, even though shell damage ignores the color. Pick a sharpness skill only when it solves the way your chosen weapon and loop lose sharpness.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extends a sharpness gauge that has room to grow. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss on critical hits, so it can preserve sharpness on melee contacts but not on shells. | |
| Prevents all sharpness loss for a fixed time after sharpening, covering melee contacts and shell costs during that window. | |
| Gives attacks a chance not to consume sharpness. | |
| Shortens the whetstone sequence; it does not preserve sharpness between uses. |
Comfort
| Skill | Use it when |
|---|---|
| You want each heal to restore more health. | |
| Item-consumption time is preventing you from returning to guard. | |
| You often retain recoverable red health after taking damage. | |
| You need more Defense after upgrading the armor. | |
| Elemental blights are repeatedly disrupting the hunt. | |
| You accept its lower Defense in exchange for surviving one qualifying lethal hit. | |
| Your plan depends on using specialized tools more often. | |
| Roars repeatedly cancel long firing sequences. | |
| Longer hops help you regain the correct distance or facing; account for the extra travel before the next strike. | |
| You want a chance to consume food or drink without removing it from the pouch. |
Styles
| Style | Skills |
|---|---|
| Long | Build charged shelling around , then add if its reload benefits the chosen sequence. |
| Wide | Build individual shells and Wyvern's Fire around ; level 2 adds one shell to the small magazine. |
| Melee | Add affinity and only in proportion to the strikes that can crit; those skills do not improve shell damage. |
This hunt
Matchup skills protect the long actions that a particular monster otherwise interrupts. Add one when it creates more usable openings than another general damage skill would.
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
| Use it when easier wound creation and extra damage on buildup support repeated Drake Auger opportunities. | |
| Use it when wind pressure interrupts your firing or reload sequences. | |
| Use it when ground tremors interrupt those sequences. | |
| Use it when the matchup reliably inflicts ailments and you intend to fight while one remains active. Its Attack bonus can benefit Wilds shelling and melee. | |
| Use it when stronger flash attacks create openings against the target. Spend the opening on a sequence that fits its duration. | |
| Use it for a plan built around barrel bombs; it increases explosive-item damage, not Gunlance shell damage. | |
| Use it in a group when drawing more attention helps you face attacks with the shield and start from Perfect Guard. | |
| Use it when water, oilsilt, or streams impair movement enough to prevent positioning or recovery. |
Specific hunts can also make , , , , , or more useful than a general defensive skill when the target inflicts that condition often enough to interrupt long actions. Dung Pods belong in the pouch when another large monster may interfere; Wilds has no Dungmaster skill.
Skill traps
- and the Attack portion of can improve shelling in Wilds; their affinity portions cannot make explosions critical.
- and improve only the melee portion of this style because shell damage cannot crit.
- requires a timed guard. Firing a shell through an incoming hit does not satisfy that condition.
- grants affinity after sliding on terrain. It contributes only when the route and melee sequence actually use that trigger.
- supports mounting and mounted wounds, not the grounded shelling loop by itself.
- requires full stamina for a period, while hops and guarding spend the resource. Use it only when the loop restores the condition reliably.
- reduces stamina depletion at low health. That can support hops and guarding, but it does not pay for Full Burst, which spends shells rather than stamina.
Settings
Use Focus Mode to aim Drake Auger at an open wound. Set automatic sheathe to Manual so the game does not put the weapon away while you are preserving a loaded magazine or preparing to guard.
Before a long Wyvern's Fire or Full Burst commit, confirm the camera still faces the part you loaded shells for. A camera that spun during a guard hop often dumps the burst into the air or a weak flank instead of the wound you charged toward.