These are the best Low Rank Great Sword builds in Monster Hunter Wilds. Learn about all the builds in the early game, tips for building at the beginning, and the best Skills and Armor pieces to use with the Great Sword while in Low Rank.

Great Sword Builds Progression (Low Rank)

Note that if you are still comfortable with a previous build you're using, you can skip some builds. This is a suggested build progression that you can follow until endgame.

Low Rank Build (HR 6 to HR 8)

WEX Flay Decimate Build

Effective Raw

174.04

Effective Element

20

Raw Crit Damage

1.25x

Element Crit Damage

1.00x

Attack

816

Element

200

Affinity

-10%

Sharpness

Defense

139

vs. Fire

11

vs. Water

3

vs. Thunder

-5

vs. Ice

-1

vs. Dragon

-16

Weapon Skills

FocusLv.3

HandicraftLv.1

Armor Skills

ConstitutionLv.3

FlayerLv.3

Weakness ExploitLv.2

Blight ResistanceLv.1

Maximum MightLv.1

Stamina SurgeLv.1

Set Skills

Guardian Arkveld's VitalityLv.1

Rathalos's FlareLv.1

Group Skills

Guardian's Pulse

Best Weapon

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
G. Veldian Gladius I	4	816	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	①①ー	200	-10%
Skills	Focus Lv. 2

G. Veldian Gladius I's strong attack and Dragon element makes it a strong Great Sword for this build. Not only that, but its Focus and two Level 1 decoration slots gives it good flexibility.

It is ideal to equip one Focus Jewel to get Focus 3, then a Handicraft Jewel to increase the length of its Green sharpness.

Alternative Weapon Choices

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Albirath Wing I	4	768	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	①ーー	280	15%
Skills	Critical Element Lv. 1 Master's Touch Lv. 1

Abirath Wing I's Critical Element skill allows your Elemental Damage to Crit, increasing your total damage output.

The only downside is that you have to sacrifice Focus, leading to slower overall combos. You can mitigate this by equipping a Focus Jewel on this weapon.

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Nihil Great Sword I	4	768	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	①ーー	200	0%
Skills	Critical Draw Lv. 2

Nihil Great Sword I has Critcal Draw 2, making it a good weapon for hit-and-run tactics. However, you may have a hard time creating wounds with this tactic, something this build relies heavily on.

Thanks to this weapon's Green Sharpness, you can opt to equip a Focus Jewel instead of a Handicraft Jewel so that you can charge your Critical Draw attack fast.

WEX Flay Decimate Armor Loadout

Armor	Slots	Skills
G. Arkveld Helm	ーー	Flayer Lv. 1
G. Arkveld Mail	ーーー	Flayer Lv. 1 Blight Resistance Lv. 1
G. Rathalos Vambraces	ーー	Weakness Exploit Lv. 1
Xu Wu Coil	ーーー	Stamina Surge Lv. 1 Maximum Might Lv. 1
G. Rathalos Greaves	ーー	Weakness Exploit Lv. 1
Charm	Chainblade Charm I
Decorations List	Weapon Decorations: Focus Jewel【1】 x1 Handicraft Jewel【1】 x1 Armor Decorations: Physique Jewel【1】 x3

Skill Summary

This build revolves around the synergy between Weakness Exploit and the new Armor skill Flayer. Weakness Exploit increases your affinity whenever you attack a monster's weak spot, and is further increased if said weak spot has a wound. This is where Flayer comes in, as it makes it easier to inflict wounds while also dealing additional raw damage once you inflict enough damage.

The G. Arkveld armor's Set Bonus skill, Decimator, will heal you whenever you break wounds, allowing you to recover HP without having to use items after sheathing your weapon. This keeps you in the fight for longer, allowing you to deal more damage to the monster. Additionally, Scorcher, the Set Bonus skill from the G. Rathalos armor, gives you a chance to deal additional fire damage whenever you land an attack.

The final piece of this build, the Focus from the G. Veldian Gladius I and decorations, lets you charge up your charged attacks, including the powerful True Charged Slash, quickly. This allows you to dish out high amounts of damage in shorter periods of time.

Maximum Might provides enough affinity to cancel out the negative affinity of G. Veldian Gladius I, allowing you to enjoy the effects of Weakness Exploit to its fullest.

Best Secondary Weapons

Weapon & Type	Explanation
Bone Shooter III (Heavy Bowgun)	•　A strong Heavy Bowgun with access to Level 2 Spread and Cluster Ammo, as well as Flaming Ammo. •　Has Guard 2 and Attack Boost 1, giving you both defensive and offensive capabilities.
G. Veldian Harpes I (Dual Blades)	•　Dual Blades will be able to take advantage of the build's Flayer skill, quickly creating wounds on enemy monsters. •　The build's Stamina Surge will help refill the Dual Blade's stamina expenditure whenever you enter Demon Mode •　Weakness Exploit will help negate the weapon's negative affinity.

Low Rank Build (HR 3 to HR 5)

Offensive Guard Partbreaker

Best Weapon

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Immane Blade I	3	576	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	ーーー	210	10%
Skills	Offensive Guard Lv. 1 Guard Lv. 1

Immane Blade I's long Green sharpness and Offensive Guard gives it great offensive capabilities, making it one of the best Great Swords at this level.

Additionally, since the Immane Blade I has Sleep, make sure to bring Large Barrel Bombs to deal extra damage to the monster when you wake it up with a True Charge Slash.

Alternative Weapon Choices

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Buster Sword I	2	576	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	ーーー		0%
Skills	Critical Draw Lv. 1

Buster Sword II has Green sharpness and Critical Draw, turning this into more of a hit-and-run build.

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Bone Blade II	2	624	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	ーーー		0%
Skills	Focus Lv. 1 Attack Boost Lv. 1

Bone Blade II's Focus helps you charge your attacks faster, while its Attack Boost increases your attack by a little. The biggest downside of this sword, however, is its yellow sharpness.

Offensive Guard Partbreaker Armor Loadout

Armor	Slots	Skills
Ajarakan Helm	ーーー	Bombardier Lv. 1 Partbreaker Lv. 1
Ajarakan Mail	ーーー	Partbreaker Lv. 1
Doshaguma Braces	ーーー	Recovery Speed Lv. 1
Doshaguma Coil	ーーー	Item Prolonger Lv. 1
Ajarakan Greaves	ーーー	Partbreaker Lv. 1 Blast Resistance Lv. 1
Charm	Fitness Charm I

Skill Summary

This build takes advantage of Partbreaker not just to destroy parts and cut tails easily, but also because of its up to 30% additional damage to Wounds. This synergizes well with the Great Sword, which can easily create wounds on monsters.

Additionally, the build has Powerhouse, which gives +10 Attack with every successful Power Clash and Offset Attack while Offensive Guard gives another 5% Attack bonus with ever Perfect Block.

For survivability, the build's Constitution will help you get around more easily when evading thanks to its reduced Stamina Consumption. Not only that, but it will also reduce the stamina consumption when blocking, increasing survivability.

Best Secondary Weapons

Weapon & Type	Explanation
Ner Bustergun I (Heavy Bowgun)	•　A great alternative weapon that can shoot strong bullets while also having good defensive capabilities. •　Works well with the armor build, especially after adding the damage boost from Offensive Guard. •　Prioritizes Pierce Ammo, making it great against long monsters.
Bone Shooter II (Heavy Bowgun)	•　Uses strong bullets like Cluster Ammo, capable of taking down stronger monsters. •　Has innate Attack Boost, further increasing damage dealt. •　Prioritizes Spread Ammo, making it strong against most monsters.

Low Rank Build (HR 1 to HR 3)

Mobile Crit Draw

Best Weapon

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Buster Sword I	2	576	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	ーーー		0%
Skills	Critical Draw Lv. 1

Hit-and-run is one the playstyles you will learn when playing the Great Sword, and is the most friendly for beginners. As such, the Buster Sword I's Critical Draw will help increase the damage of your initial attack.

Additionally, the sword's Green Sharpness will help you get through the hides of monsters at this HR level.

Alternative Weapon Choices

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Bone Blade II	2	624	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	ーーー		0%
Skills	Focus Lv. 1 Attack Boost Lv. 1

The Bone Blade II's Focus allows you to perform charge attacks faster. This allows you to charge up the Great Sword's strongest attack, the True Charged Slash, faster. Addiitionally, you will deal more damage thanks to Attack Boost.

The only downside with this weapon is its low sharpness, which means your weapon is liable to bouncing when facing monsters with tougher skin. You will need to rely on charged attacks to prevent your attacks from bouncing.

Weapon	Rarity	ATK	DEF
Hope Blade II	1	480	0
	Slots	Element	Affinity
	ーーー		0%
Skills	Speed Sharpening Lv. 1

Hope Blade II's Speed Sharpening helps you maintain the sword's Green sharpness, which helps you maintain your damage output, while also preventing your attacks from bouncing against monsters.

This weapon's downside, however, is that it does not have other offensive skills until you upgrade it further.

Mobile Crit Draw Armor Loadout

Armor	Slots	Skills
Alloy Helm	ーーー	Quick Sheathe Lv. 1
Balahara Mail	ーーー	Quick Sheathe Lv. 1
Balahara Vambraces	ーーー	Evade Extender Lv. 1
Balahara Coil	ーーー	Evade Extender Lv. 1
Balahara Greaves	ーーー	Evade Extender Lv. 1

Skill Summary

This build focuses on the basic hit-and-run tactic of the Great Sword. By using the Buster Sword II's Critical Draw, you will be able to land a critical Overhead Slash or Charged Slash on enemy monsters, which is a strong opening attack.

After performing said slash, you can then sheath your weapon quickly with the build's Quick Sheathe, or roll to safety first with Evade Extender before sheathing. This build gives you a lot of mobility, keeping you out of harm's way.

You can then repeat this process again and again, continuously performing critical attacks on the enemy and dodging its attacks. This build is also perfect for cutting off a monster's tail, as it allows you to relocate to the monster's tail easily whenever it turns to face you.

Best Secondary Weapons

Weapon & Type	Explanation
Bone Shooter II (Heavy Bowgun)	•　A great alternative weapon that can shoot strong bullets while also having good defensive capabilities. •　Works well with the armor build already, thanks to Quick Sheathe and Evade Extender being strong HBG skills.
Bone Shotel II (Long Sword)	•　Long Swords benefit from both Quick Sheathe and Evade Extender, making it a perfect secondary weapon for this build. •　Bone Shotel's Focus helps you ramp up faster, while the Attack Boost helps increase your damage.

Monster Hunter Wilds Related Guides

List of Builds for Each Weapon

All Weapon Builds in Monster Hunter Wilds

All Weapon Builds & Guides
Great Sword Low Rank | High Rank	Long Sword Low Rank | High Rank
Sword and Shield Low Rank | High Rank	Dual Blades Low Rank | High Rank
Hammer Low Rank | High Rank	Hunting Horn Low Rank | High Rank
Lance Low Rank | High Rank	Gunlance Low Rank | High Rank
Switch Axe Low Rank | High Rank	Charge Blade Low Rank | High Rank
Insect Glaive Low Rank | High Rank	Bow Low Rank | High Rank
Light Bowgun Low Rank | High Rank	Heavy Bowgun Low Rank | High Rank

Non-Meta Builds in Monster Hunter Wilds