Best Long Sword Builds for Iceborne 2023-2024

Want to learn about the best Long Sword Builds for Monster Hunter World (MHW) Iceborne? Look no further than our best endgame builds for Long Sword! This build is made on Iceborne's last patch and is a build that is centered around Iceborne's Meta Endgame builds.

Long Sword Endgame Meta Build

Fatalis Armor Set

Weapon		Decorations
Fatalis Zaggespanon		Mighty/Maintenance Jewel 4 x2
Armor		Decorations
Head	Dragonhead Beta +	Challenger Jewel+ 4 x1 Attack Jewel+ 4 x2
Armor	Dragonhide Alpha +	Mighty/Maintenance Jewel 4 x2 Critical Jewel 2 x1
Vambraces	Dragonclaws Alpha +	Mighty/Maintenance Jewel 4 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Waist	Dragonbarbs Alpha +	Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 Shaver Jewel 3 x1 Mighty Jewel 2 x1
Legs	Rimeguard Greaves Gamma +	Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 Critical Jewel 2 x1
Charm	Challenger Charm V	---

Fatalis Armor Set Skill List

Skills
Agitator 7	Critical Eye 7
Attack Boost 5	Maximum Might 5
Tool Specialist 5	Stun Resist 3
Critical Boost 3	Weakness Exploit 3
Handicraft 3	Evade Window 2
Quick Sheath 2	Peak Performance 3
Clutch Claw Boost 1	Fatalis Legend 4

	A Long Sword build that utilizes a high affinity rate from Agitator and Critical Eye. The amount of affinity it gains from Agitator, Critical Eye, Weakness Exploit, and Maximum might is enough to reach a 100% affinity when striking weakspots despite having a negative affinity from the Fatalis Zaggespanon.

Long Sword Meta Builds

Raging Brachydios Build

Raging Brachydios Build	Punishing Draw Build
Safi Blast Awakening Build	Safi Paralysis Awakening Build

Weapon		Decorations
Lightbreak Edge		Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 Critical Jewel 2 x1
Armor		Decorations
Head	Kaiser Crown Beta +	Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Armor	Brachydium Mail Beta +	Challenger Jewel+ 4 x1 Critical Jewel 2 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x1
Vambraces	Kaiser Vambraces Beta +	Challenger/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Brace Jewel 3 x1
Waist	Kaiser Coil Beta +	Challenger/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Critical Jewel 2 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Legs	Brachydium Greaves Beta +	Challenger/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Charm	Attack Charm V	None

Raging Brachydios Build Skill List

Skills
Agitator 7	Critical Eye 7
Attack Boost 7	Health Boost 3
Critical Boost 3	Weakness Exploit 3
Blast Attack 2	Heat Guard 1
Latent Power 1	Flinch Free 1
Brachydios Will	Teostra's Technique

	An agitator build featuring the Lightbreak Blade for the Long Sword! It makes use of the top 3 affinity boosting skills (critical eye, agitator, and Weakness Exploit) to make your afffinity reach more than a 100%.

Punishing Draw Build

Raging Brachydios Build	Punishing Draw Build
Safi Blast Awakening Build	Safi Paralysis Awakening Build

Weapon		Decorations
Safi's Shatterblade		Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 ---
Armor		Decorations
Head	Frostfang Helm Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 KO Jewel 2 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x1
Armor	Brachydium Mail Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 KO Jewel 2 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x1
Vambraces	Kaiser Vambraces Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Brace Jewel 3 x1
Waist	Kaiser Coil Beta +	Challenger Jewel+ 4 x1 Challenger Jewel 2 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x1
Legs	Brachydium Greaves Beta +	Challenger Jewel+ 4 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x2
Charm	Challenger Charm V	None

Awakened Ability
Teostra's Essence	Attack Increase VI	Attack Increase V x3

Punishing Draw Build Skill List

Skills
Attack Boost 7	Critical Eye 7
Agitator 7	Health Boost 3
Critical Boost 3	Weakness Exploit 3
Blast Attack 2	Slugger 2
Heat Guard 1	Flinch Free 1
Teostra's Essence (Awakening)	Frostfang Absolute Art 1

	The Punishing Draw Build is centered around the sheath moves of the Long Sword to maximize the Punishing Draw skill. It improves the damage of your Iai Strike as well as your draw attacks which can greatly improve your DPS.

Safi Blast Awakening Build

Raging Brachydios Build	Punishing Draw Build
Safi Blast Awakening Build	Safi Paralysis Awakening Build

Weapon		Decorations
Safi's Shatterblade		Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 ---
Armor		Decorations
Head	Kaiser Crown Beta +	Attack Jewel+ 4 x1
Armor	Brachydium Mail Beta +	Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x2
Vambraces	Kaiser Vambraces Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Brace Jewel 3 x1
Waist	Kaiser Coil Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Legs	Brachydium Greaves Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x2
Charm	Challenger Charm V	None

Awakened Ability
Attack Increase VI	Attack Increase V x4

Safi Blast Awakening Build Skill List

Skills
Attack Boost 7	Critical Eye 7
Agitator 7	Health Boost 3
Critical Boost 3	Weakness Exploit 3
Blast Attack 2	Heat Guard 1
Latent Power 1	Flinch Free 1
Teostra's Technique

	Another Brachydium Set featuring the Safi Blast Weapon. It has a higher base damage than Lightbreak Edge if fully augmented and thus, sports a higher DPS.

Safi Paralysis Awakening Build

Raging Brachydios Build	Punishing Draw Build
Safi Blast Awakening Build	Safi Paralysis Awakening Build

Weapon		Decorations
Safi's Bindblade		Para Jewel+ 4 x1 ---
Armor		Decorations
Head	Brachydium Helm Beta +	Para Jewel+ 4 x1 Attack Jewel+ 4 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Armor	Kaiser Mail Beta +	Expert Jewel+ 4 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x2
Vambraces	Brachydium Braces Beta +	Attack Jewel+ 4 x1 Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Waist	Kaiser Coil Beta +	Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Critical Jewel 2 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x1
Legs	Brachydium Greaves Beta +	Brace/Vitality Jewel 4 x1 Expert Jewel 1 x2
Charm	Challenger Charm V	None

Awakened Ability
Teostra's Essence	Element Increase VI	Element Increase V x3

Safi Paralysis Awakening Skill List

Skills
Critical Eye 7	Agitator 7
Attack Boost 5	Paralysis Attack 4
Critical Boost 3	Weakness Exploit 3
Health Boost 3	Blast Attack 2
Flinch Free 1	Latent Power 1
Teostra's Essence (Awakening)	Brachydios Will

	One thing to remember about status ailments is that the threshold needed to proc it is higher in multiplayer. The Safi Paralysis build is more for solo play for several paralysis procs for easy free damage.

Long Sword Progression Build

Early Iceborne Progression Build

Mid-Late Iceborne Build

MHW Related Links

Starter Iceborne Build

Weapon		Decorations
Defender Katana V		--- ---
Armor		Decorations
Head	Guild Cross Circlet Beta	Steadfast Jewel 1 x3
Armor	Kushala Cista Beta	Critical Jewel 2 x1
Vambraces	Kaiser Vambraces Alpha	Attack Jewel 1 x1
Waist	Bazel Coil Beta	Handicraft Jewel 3 x1
Legs	Empress Greaves Beta	Protection Jewel 1 x1 Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Charm	Earplugs Charm III	None

Starter Iceborne Skill List

Skills
Health Boost 3	Divine Protection 3
Stun Resist 3	Earplugs 5
Weakness Exploit 3	Handicraft 3
Critical Boost 1

A general safe build for players starting out in Iceborne. It has a healthy amount of skills that provides safety such as Health Boost, Divine Blessing, and Stun Resist. On the other hand, the damage it provides is also not lacking thanks to Critical Boost 1 and Weakness Exploit which, if used properly, can give up to 50% affinity which can allow you to rack up damage quickly when hitting wounded monster parts.

Early Iceborne Progression Build

Weapon		Decorations
Anja Direfang I		--- ---
Armor		Decorations
Head	Jagras Helm Alpha +	Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Armor	Bone Mail Alpha +	Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Vambraces	Alloy Vambraces Alpha +	Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Waist	Lumu Coil Alpha +	Attack Jewel 1 x2
Legs	Alloy Greaves Alpha +	Handicraft Jewel 3 x1
Charm	Handicraft Charm III	None

Early Iceborne Skill List

Skills
Attack 4	Speed Eating 2
Health Boost 3	Defense Boost 2
Speed Sharpening 3	Divine Blessing 3
Windproof 2	Weakness Exploit 2
Handicraft 4

	A decent balance of protection skill (divine blessing, health boost), QoL skills (speed eating, speed sharpening) and offensive skills (handicraft, Attack, weakness exploit). A decent overall armor build that can allow you to reach the mid stages of Iceborne.

Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build

Weapon		Decorations
Deepest Night		--- ---
Armor		Decorations
Head	Nargacuga Helm Alpha +	Vitality Jewel 1 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Armor	Nargacuga Mail Beta +	Elementless Jewel 2 x1
Vambraces	Damascus Vambraces Beta +	Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1 Attack Jewel 1 x1
Waist	Shara Ishvalda Coil Beta +	Tenderizer Jewel 2 x2
Legs	Nargacuga Greaves Alpha +	Attack Jewel 1 x2
Charm	Earplugs Charm III	None

Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build Skill List

Skills
Peak Performance 3	Piercing Shots 1
Evade Window 3	Handicraft 2
Critical Eye 3	Health Boost 3
Attack Boost 4	Non Elemental Boost
True Razor Sharp/Spare Shot

This build relies on consistent damage instead of huge damage bursts from critical strikes. You get a steady 40% affinity from your skills and Deepest Night but its true build defining skill is True Razor Sharp. It allows you to continue fighting until a monster dies/ retreat without having your sharpness dull. The Non-Elemental Boost also further augments Deepest Night's damage since its status effect is sealed making it a non-elemental weapon.

Best Long Sword Weapons and Skills

Best Weapons for Long Sword

Weapon	Explanation
Fatalis Zaggespanon [Atk] 1155 | [Affinity] -30%	・Weapon with the highest raw damage ・ High Sharpness
Lightbreak Edge [Atk] 990 | [Affinity] 0%	・Blast sword with high raw damage and excellent sharpness ・ Has ④ and ③ slot
Dark Claw "Demise" [Atk] 924 | [Affinity] 0%	・Has a high Dragon Element value ・ Very effective against monsters weak against Dragon Element

Best Skills for Long Sword

Skill	Explanation
Health Boost ( ★★★ )	Increases maximum health to increase your survival rate A must have for beginners
Weakness Exploit ( ★★★ )	Significantly increases your attack by targeting weakpoints
Critical Boost ( ★★★ )	Increases the damage of critical hits. Best used when paired with Weakness Exploit
Critical Eye ( ★★★ )	Increases your Affinity
Clutch Claw Boost ( ★★★ )	Allows you to wound monsters easier
Teostra Technique (★★)	Prevents sharpness loss with critical hits
Agitator (★★)	Increases damage against enraged monsters
Handicraft (★★)	Increases sharpness gauge
Attack Boost (★★)	Improves attack power and affinity at level 4
Peak Performance (★★)	Increases attack power when HP is full. Works well with Health Regen Augment

Best Skills for Long Swords

MHW Related Links

Best Builds

Best Endgame Builds and Weapon Progression Builds

Best Builds Per Weapons

Melee Weapons
Long Swords	Great Swords	Sword and Shield	Dual Blades
Hammer	Hunting Horn	Lance	Gunlance
Switch Axe	Charge Blade	Insect Glaive

Ranged Weapons
Bow	Light Bowgun
Heavy Bowgun

Best Counter Builds

Monster Counterbuilds
Fatalis	Alatreon