Lance

The Lance is often an overlooked weapon in Monster Hunter, but many don’t realize that it offers insanely good offensive and defensive capabilities while being easy to use. However, the Lance is a skill-dependent weapon, requiring precision and mastery to reach its full potential. Here, I’ve crafted the best Lance builds and progression in Monster Hunter Wilds, from the start of the game to the endgame. Lance bros, unite!

This guide will be updated regularly along with future content!

Lance Gameplay and Combo

The Lance is the ultimate defender in Monster Hunter Wilds. But don’t be fooled by its appearance—it can dish out damage just as well as it can withstand attacks.

Lance's gameplay revolves around wound-making, constant poking, and counterattacks using your shield. The most important factors to consider are positioning and timing.

Mid Thrust (MT) combo is faster than doing the High Thrust. In Wilds, the faster you hit, the better the total damage.

• This means the best combo is: MT → MT → MT → Triple Thrust / Charge Counter.
• You can also immediately transition into Charge Counter mid-combo and, if needed, follow up with Power Guard for quick repositioning.

Perfect Counter is a crucial mechanic all Lancer users need to master. By perfectly timing R2 when the monster hits you, you will activate the Perfect Counter, or Guard Point, which you can then follow up with a basic poke or Payback Thrust (Circle), or the Dash Attack (Triangle + Circle), which is the highest damage between the three.

Of course, the Lance wouldn’t be Lancing if you weren’t charging into the fight using the Dash Attack. So, make sure to use it to reposition, chase the monster, or punish them when they are down.

The most satisfying move a Lance can perform is the Power Clash, where you perfectly time your shield to absorb a monster’s attack. This is a game-changing move in MH Wilds, and mastering it is essential.

With that in mind, let's dive into the best builds and progression!

Lance Low Rank Builds and Progression

There are no specific armor sets in Low Rank that provide the key skills Lance users need. Therefore, using basic armor is preferable, as it grants Divine Blessing, an essential defensive skill for beginners.

However, once you face G. Rathalos and G. Arkveld, you can start building up damage-oriented skills to enhance your offensive potential while still keeping your guard up.

Best Lances for Low Rank

• Albirath Tail I
• Rompo Piercer I
• G. Veldian Lancea I
• Barina Sarissa II

Once you have unlocked Barina Sarissa, it’s the best early-game Lance to equip. Its Paralyze status effect can greatly assist your hunts by immobilizing monsters for extra damage opportunities.

For progressing to High Rank, the best weapon choices are Albirath Tail I and G. Veldian Lancea I, as they provide solid damage and utility.

Lance High Rank Builds and Progression

After reaching HR 35, focus on upgrading your damage by switching to better weapons and charms. This will help you maximize your offensive potential and prepare for tougher hunts ahead.

You can choose the weapon based on the element you prefer. Each weapon type has its own advantages, whether it's elemental attack or status effects. Consider your playstyle and the monsters you are facing when making your choice.

Upgrade the armor set to 3-piece G Rathalos and 2-piece G Ebony to gain Weakness Exploit (WEX) and Burst Boost. This combination will significantly enhance your damage output, making it an excellent setup until you reach the endgame.

Best Lances for High Rank

• Albirath Tail II
• Rompo Piercer II
• G. Veldian Lancea II
• Rey Indra II
• Eiferschild I

Lance Best Endgame Builds

After HR 40, Lance truly shines. However, be prepared to farm a lot of decorations and Artian weapons to maximize its potential.

Lance Endgame Second Wind Mighty Build

Second Wind is Lance's best friend because it grants you a secondary stamina bar, which is crucial for keeping the Maximum Might skill activated at all times, even after performing a Perfect Guard or a couple of dashes.

This set, with 5 WEX, 3 Max Might, 3 Antivirus, and 2 Agitator, gives you 95% Affinity (with a non-Affinity Artian weapon), making it excellent for landing critical hits. Critical Boost 5 is highly recommended to maximize your damage output.

However, you will lose Max Might if you use Power Guard or a long Dash Attack. This playstyle is best suited for those who prefer using Perfect Guard and basic pokes.

The Skyscraper's optimal setup includes all Attack infusion and 4 Attack + 1 Sharpness reinforcement, with Paralyze status.

Lance Endgame 4-Gore Build

The 4-piece Gore armor is the core of this build, granting Black Eclipse II, which boosts Attack power and grants 25% affinity with Antivirus after being inflicted with Frenzy. When combined with Weakness Exploit (WEX) and Max Might, this setup ensures high critical hit chances.

Flayer and Burst are like Truffle du Conga—extra toppings, so to speak. Even at level one, they help boost your overall damage. If you want to min-max damage, then switch Flayer to Agitator.

Finally, Master’s Touch or Razor Sharp is essential to maintain white sharpness throughout the fight—at least until the monster runs away.

For the Skyscraper, use the Paralyze status with 3 Attack Infusions. Later, reinforce it with 4 Attack + 1 Sharpness to achieve optimal results, maximizing both damage and sharpness sustainability.

Lance Endgame Zoh Shia Comfy Build

After Zoh Shia was introduced as a regular monster you can hunt in Title Update 1, you can craft a new comfort build thanks to its armor set. Zoh Shia's armor set grants you Zoh Shia's Pulse, which provides constant passive healing.

The health regeneration is not that fast—it's not as fast as G. Arkveld's healing. However, Arkvulcan and G. Arkveld's set bonuses require you to constantly hit or destroy wounds to activate the healing bonus, whereas Zoh Shia's set bonus regenerates your health passively without any requirements.

In this build, you still get 5 Weakness Exploit, 4 Agitator, 3 Max Might, and 3 Antivirus, which grants you 100% Affinity. So, a bit less damage than 4-piece Gore, but you get that sweet passive healing.

Recovery Up and Recovery Speed jewels are recommended to boost the passive healing from Zoh's set bonus.

Lance Endgame Elemental Burst Build

Lance can constantly hit the monster without backing away, making Burst a perfect endgame skill. Burst is perfect to combine with elemental damage, so make sure the Artian weapon is element-infused.

The jewels slotted in the weapon slots in the image above are made if you want a semi-comfort build. However, if you want to min-max damage, change the jewels to:

• Critical Boost III
• Elemental Jewel III (Dragon, Ice, Water, etc.)
• Mastery III or Razor Sharp III

Critical Boost is a bonus skill that requires a Level 3 Jewel. If you don’t have it, you can swap it for Guard or any other Level 3 decoration that suits your playstyle.

Skyscraper offers the beautiful three Level 3 decoration slots, allowing for incredible customization. This weapon is undoubtedly one of the top choices for the endgame.

Lance Endgame Undying Tank Build

If you are trying to truly roleplay as what a Lance is supposed to be—canonically correct—then you have to try this build. This build makes you impenetrable; it's like a whole Viking-like shield wall, but just by yourself.

You get full Level 7 Defense Boost, Guard Up 3, Guard 3, and Divine Blessing 3. All of these dramatically improve your defense—you are basically an iron wall. On top of that, you also get Heroics 3, which adds an additional 100 Defense when you are low on health.

The set skill has Hasten Recovery II, providing you with passive healing if you continuously attack the monster, where Recovery Up 3 comes into play. Aside from that, Alluring Pelt is also active, provoking the monster to target you more, further solidifying your role as a tank.

Lance Endgame Comfy Build

This final build is perfect for those who prefer a more relaxed playstyle rather than sweating over min-maxing damage. It revolves around the 4-piece G. Arkveld armor, which grants Decimator II, healing you whenever you destroy a wound. Adding one Flayer to the armor slot gives you 5 Flayer, making it easier to inflict wounds.

For the weapon, you can use anything you want. This build is designed to provide comfort and versatility, so feel free to experiment with different weapons!

Best Lances for Endgame

• Skyscraper Para/Blast (all Attack infusion & 4 Attack + 1 Sharpness reinforcement)
• Fieberschild
• Indra Clairlance
• Shining Pillar
• Windpierce Tsukibami
• Gravios Lance

While the Agitator build is one of the meta options, the Burst build personally feels like it deals more damage. The 4-Gore build, however, is the highest damage-dealing Lance build right now. Nevertheless, it ultimately comes down to your playstyle and which build suits you better.

That's everything you need to know about the best Lance builds in the current meta. We will update this page if there are any changes or new content. Once again, Lance bros, unite!