G-rank Chronicles: Equipment Ramble no 1.

Pokepal starts blabbing about armor sets.

Someone please make him stop.

I just remembered that I unlocked the ability to override the

appearance of my helmet so goodbye ugly Nargacuga helmet.

The armor set I am primarily using is the high rank Nargacuga armor set. It’s a bit on the fanservicey side of things in terms of looks but it isn’t too terrible in that department compared to something like the Kirin or Barioth sets and it has a nice skill set that I can work well with.  I’ve chosen to substitute the low rank variant of Nargacuga’s chest armor since despite the rather steep 40 point defense penalty I get from using it the low rank version has a decoration slot that the high rank version lacks. This armor set gives me the following skills:

Critical Eye +3

Constitution +1

Evade Extender

Critical Eye +3 gives me a 30% boost to my critical hit rate which is a really nice offensive boost,  Constitution +1 decreases the rate that I lose stamina while I dodge and Evade Extender, as the name suggests, doubles the amount of distance covered by my evasion rolls, which is a really nice boost to my mobility, especially since it allows me to use my rolls to bypass the mobility restriction that is imposed on me while I put the Switch Axe in Sword Mode.

[img width=640 height=360]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dx3ALAHUwAAzCTd.jpg[/img]

[I]The new hotness.[/I]

However the real star of this show is the Switch Axe I just got fully upgraded, the Sedatious Axe. The Sedatious Axe was crafted primarily made from low and high rank Seregios parts. Seregios weapons tend to have high sharpness and affinity (which effects the weapon’s critical hit rate). The 20% affinity that the Sedatious Axe has combined with the 30% boost from critical eye +3 gives me a total 50% crit rate. The Sedatious Axe also has the ability to regain some sharpness every couple of times I roll, this is something of a signature ability the Seregios weapons have.

If you want to know how the Switch Axe works this piece of reddit copy pasta will explain it better than I ever could.

Listen here, lad. Ain't nothing better than the Switchiest of Axes, and 'ere's why.

You have an Axe that transforms into a goddamn sword. What's that? Charge Blade does the same thing? You don't need that pussy ass shield. With the Switchiest of Axes, you don't need a shield, because it's all about that MANLY DEE-PEE-ASS, baby. You got hops. You got rolls. If you get hit, take it like a MAN. I don't care if you're male, female or Gigginox. Hack-and-slash? You're damn right. They don't call this fancy dildo the Slash Axe back in Japan for nothin', son.

Having trouble keeping up with that Great Jaggi because you have to sheathe every five seconds? YOU PIECE OF DUNG. you ever seen a Greatsword user slowly plod across the map with his gigantic peni- I mean, sword in hand? Your Sword mode is just as big, so you have to sheathe it, right? WRONG, SUCKER. Roll after that Beastie. Evade Extender will give you the boost your puny chicken legs need to keep up with the monster. Ever wanted to be a Konchu? Well, now you'll be rolling all over the damn place for that sweet, sweet manly DEE-PEE-ASS. And when the monster falls down, what do you do?

You blow your fuckin' load all across their face, that's what. X+A in sword mode for that delicious explosive burst that will take a chunk out of your bar and sharpness, but will also obliterate a pretty part of the monster's body. If you're a bit of a pussy and need to pull out (heh), pull the circle pad back and you'll do a premature e... explosion that doesn't take nearly as long. Nothing is manlier than EXPLOSIONS, except maybe Evade Extender. (GET IT. YOU PUSSY)

But it's called the Switch Axe, not the Switch Blade. (Wazzat? Charge Blade? Giggit out of here) That means the Axe is equally as capable as the Sword. You ever used the Axe of the Charge Blade? That thing is slower than a drowsy Basarios. Not this Axe. This Axe is a hurricane, a storm of manly steel, and it has stupidly huge range. Ever wished your little toothpick SnS and Dual Blades could reach that Gravios tail that dangles oh-so-close but just out of reach? AXE MODE, KELBITCH. That motherfucker is the Deviljho dick in a land of Jaggis. Every tail in the game is yours, every one of them (except maybe Fatalis, he's a bastard). And what happens when you upswing a teammate? COME ON AND SLAM, AND WELCOME TO JAPAN

And did you know which weapon has the manliest DEE-PEE-ASS when a monster has fallen? SWITCH AXE, APTOFUCKA. Upswing into rapid chops will turn any monster into choice cuts for sale at the hunter's market later. Do this on the tail a few times and soon you'll hear the tasty sound of it falling off. Get used to this sound, because soon you'll be chopping off tails everywhere and drown in Mantles and Palliums. The Manly Chops of Doom ain't nuttin to mess around with.

You know that huge diddlydong you're slapping against that monster's thighs? No, I don't mean that, I mean your Switch Axe, which I'm sure you've picked up by now because it's the MANLIEST. Turns out that not only is it a diddlydong, it's a transforming diddlydong. Tilting the Circle Pad forward and pressing X in Axe mode makes you do a short forward stab, then hit R and X after then to MANLY SHIFT into Sword mode with a slash. OR, you can do the MANLY CHOPS OF DOOM, then finish it off with a tap of R to do this magnificent Reverse Roundhouse Slash. After the RRS, hit that R one more time to MANLY SHIFT into Sword Mode. In Sword Mode, whenever your sword sweeps horizontally, R+X shifts you back into Axe form to EXPAND DONG. (seriously, the Axe is so fucking long.)

Switch Axe is versatile, too. You want extra MANLINESS? Get a power phial. Want to see that monster pant for breath as you turn it into the next main course? Exhaust Phials. You can even KO the monster if you're manly enough. Want to support your significantly less manly teammates? Para Phial, Poison Phial, blah blah, they're all yours. Or is the monster weak to element? Get that element phial, or use the Dragon phial (because we all know Dragon is the manliest element). The possibilities are endless, just like the apparent reach of your Axe.

I should talk about reloading, but fuck that shit. Capcom pls remove

What the wrog are you waitin' for? Pick up your very own Transforming Dildo now at the smithy, you shitstain.

Actually that didn't really explain anything did it. Basically the Switch Axe has two modes, axe mode and sword mode. Axe mode is your base mode and has some nice reach and strong mobility while Sword mode has more power and it’s attacks can't be defected but each attack depletes some of your Switch Guage, which can be refilled by attacking in Axe mode, keeping the weapon sheathed, or by reloading it after it runs out. Knowing how to use both modes is key to mastering the Switch Axe. 

If any of this sounds overpowered at all than let me assure you that it's not. Defensively I’m pretty far behind the curve and even without that holding it back armor skills in general offer a fairly miniscule advantage. Having a total 50% critical hit rate doesn't matter when everything in this game has a gargantuan health bar (and the Sedatious Axe is going to start falling behind offensively and it's going to stay that way before I'll be able to upgrade it.) Evade Extender is probably one of the most drastic armor skills you can get in terms of changing how you play the game but even than, while I can roll farther than I could without it and that makes things easier for me that doesn't make a difference really in the end. 

There is only one skill that really matters in the end and that's the skill of the person playing it. Everything else is little more than an extension of your own skill.

But the main reason that I’m talking about armor is quite simple: For the next update I plan to go after a new armor set. The Nargacuga S armor set is excellent and I plan to keep running with it for a while longer but for the Dual Blades I need something a bit more appropriate for that weapon’s skillset. Thankfully I have something in mind...

Next time:

My new Dual Blades armor. some disassembly required.

G-Rank Chronicles Part 1: Cephadrome and Diamyo Hermitaur

Pokepal chases Land Shark across the land.

Giant Enemy Crab finds new work after e3 2006 press conference

So I've decided to attempt to solo Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate’s G-rank content. Basically for anyone who doesn't know what G-rank is it basically stands for “Git Gud” rank. Getting hit is a really bad idea and it's largely designed to be the last stretch of Multiplayer content before the post game and thus everything you face in the game is scaled around being faced 2-4 players and hits like a truck.

I’m doing this stuff by myself because I want to prove to myself that I can do it. It's more than possible to pull this off although it's fairly difficult. Unfortunately for me this is the point in the game where any sense of mercy the game has is thrown out the window. Upgrading your armor at this point isn't so much about being able to easily tank more attacks as it is about not being one-shot by quite as many things.

Currently only my strongest armor set, the Nargacuga armor from High Rank, is strong enough to hold it’s own against this kind of brutality, and the skill set that armor provides me with is mainly geared towards the Switch Axe that I’m using, although I am in the process of grinding stuff for some of the other weapon classes in the game that I’ve become proficient with in past titles so that I’ll have more toys to play with. But without further ado we'll begin with this quest, simply titled “surprise”.

Okay, just breathe, just breathe... Is this place trying to kill me!?

 I'm just out traipsing through the sand when a Cephadrome 

AND Daimyo Hermitaur pop out! I'm not sure how much more I can take... 

Hunter, can you sort this out before I have an arrest? - Jittery Travler

The dunes map comes from 4 ultimate but has a much deeper history with the series, given that it’s a massively overhauled recreation of the very first desert map. While it doesn’t leverage the climbing mechanic to nearly the extent that other 4th generation maps do it has some really nice variety in terrain to make up for it. In areas 7 and 2 cool drinks are required to not take damage in the desert heat which is something to keep in mind.

My main issue with this map is that it's a massive pain to get from Area 7 to Area 3. This was actually solved in the night version of this map, in which there's a passage between the two areas that open up, but that version of the map isn't available in Generations Ultimate. I feel that being able to easily get around a map is really important so the removal of that passageway really bothers me, especially since a lot of the monsters you fight in the dunes are able to cross between those two areas regardless of the time of day.

Here's the dunes fight music.

When I started the quest I was in area 10 and I decided to move down to area 7 which is where I ran into the Cephadrome. It’s this weird little hammerhead shark with dinosaur legs that swims around in the sand. Before I continue I should explain something. In Monster Hunter sand is generally treated very unrealistically. While some creatures merely burrow through the sand a lot of creatures are able to interact with sand in the same way a fish swims through water. While it’s a bit strange if you actually think about it (although the incredible animation work that goes into these monsters makes everything look really natural and not at all out of place) it creates a really interesting dynamic from a gameplay perspetive in which the monster is able to swim beneath a surface that us hunters can only walk over.  It’s really cool and it's something we're going to be seeing alot of

One of the Cephadromes most notorious moves is what’s generally known in the community as it’s hipcheck, which is telegraphed brilliantly by it stepping forward with it’s right leg and turning with it’s side right side towards you while sort of doing this wind up thing before lunging at you from that side. It’s probably it’s most devastating attack and while I knew it was coming because I saw it was telegraphed I mistimed the dodge and got nailed by it.

Hipcheck time. #MHGU #MHGenU #monsterhunter #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/hNyDxeLk1t

— Spencer Johnson (@Pokepal148) January 4, 2019

As you can see from the clip above I was forced to fall back a bit to heal after taking advantage of the invincibility frames you get when your character gets up after being knocked over to avoid another hipcheck. I knew Cephadrome generally has a bit of downtime after using a hipcheck so I used it to put some distance (and a giant stone pillar) between the two of us due to the healing animation leaving me vulnerable to further attack. After this as you can see I attempted to climb atop the stone pillar to do a jumping attack from above in an attempt to mount the Cephadrome. We’ll talk about how mounting works when I manage to actually pull it off but for now you probably noticed that the Cephadrome just knocked over my stone pillar and that was really rude of him.

As you can briefly see at the end of the clip the destruction of my stone pillar created a little sinkhole in it’s place. It also means I won’t be able to attempt to mount the Cephadrome from there. Sadly we won’t be getting much more time to admire the new scenery because the Diamyo Hermitaur (think the giant enemy crab from sony’s 2006 E3 show with a giant horned monster skull for a shell) has joined the fray. The way this works when two Monsters are on the field at once is that it’s generally a pretty miserable time so if it’s at all possible you want to attempt to separate the two. To that end I have an item called a dung bomb that allows me to essentially drive one of the two monsters away.

Monsters tend to roam around a set of areas on the map. I know that the Diamyo Hermitaur will cycle between areas 1, 2, 7, and 4 and I believe that the Cephadrome tends to go through areas 2 and 7, given those are the two areas with the most sand for it to swim through. Generally in Dual Monster quests both Monsters will tend to patrol their respective zones, occasionally even crossing paths with eachother. Since the cephadrome has been hanging around in area 7 much longer than the Diamyo Hermitaur it’s a better idea to use the dung bomb on the Cephadrome since it’s going to be a bit easier to convince that a change of scenery is going to be good for all parties involved. Unfortunately that plan didn’t pan out so well because Cephadrome is difficult to hit with a thrown object do I had to resort to using it on the Hermitaur and wouldn’t you know it the Cephadrome decided to leave of it’s own accord.

After throwing a paintball at the Diamyo Hermitaur so I can keep track of it’s movements throughout the map (I also had used a paintball on the Cephadrome earlier in the hunt.) I decided to move to area 2 to continue picking on our landshark friend. While area 7 was fairly flat and straightforward area 2 consists of rollling sand hills that are fun to fight around. Unfortunately because of the dung bomb’s effects the Diamyo Hermitaur decided to follow me here. Another Dung Bomb later (and an annoying reminder that the Diamyo Hermitaur is a massive pain to deal with while fighting another monster) we now once again have some alone time with the lovely Cephadrome.

Diamyo Hermitaur is the worst in dual monster quests. #MHGU #MHGenU #monsterhunter #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/ioGhAq5CZX

— Spencer Johnson (@Pokepal148) January 8, 2019

Shortly after this I was able to trip the Cephadrome and amusingly enough it’s animation while being knocked over is similar to a fish out of water flopping around but it’s a chance for me to get a few free hits in. I'll explain the tripping mechanic when i feel like looking up how it actually wotks but for now the Cephadrome has begun to limp away and I just got a notification saying that supplies have arrived.

The supply mechanic is meant to supplement the items you bring to a hunt and also somewhat cover for what you forget to bring with you (or chose not to bring). A good example of the latter is that I chose not to bring sonic bombs despite knowing that they are particularly effective against both the Cephadrome and Diamyo Hermitaur because I always forget to use them so they end up taking up inventory space. It also means I get a few free healing items. By a few free healing items I mean a lot of free healing items because G-rank Quests are balanced around 2-4 players and I’m doing it by myself because I’m a friendless idiot. Because most supply items disappear at the end of the quest it’s best to use them first before digging into your own items but in high and G-rank supply items are not available until later into the hunt so you have to make do without them. Thus for the remainder of this quest I will be using the 9 first aid med+s I have available before chugging away at my remaining mega potions. I do have to stop at the base camp to pick up my supply items but since I’m in the area I might as well swing by. In the earlier parts of the game you automatically start at the base camp and supply items are available from the start but we are long past the point where this game gives me nice things.

Because the Cephadrome was limping that means it’s low on health so it moved to area 3 of the map to try to rest for a bit. While I was rummaging through the supply bin for free stuff the Cephadrome finished resting and thus recovered a meager amount of it’s health. Soon after I arrived to beat it up with my Switch Axe it decided to go back to area 7. Once I arrived back there in hot pursuit it started burrowing around and, since I actually remembered I have sonic bombs for once, I decided to use one of the two sonic bombs from the supply chest to bring it out of the sand. Forcing it out this way causes it to helplessly flop on the land for a bit while I beat it up a bit with my Switch Axe and this allowed me to finally finish it off and move on to the Diamyo Hermitaur.

The Diamyo Hermitaur is much more difficult fight than the Cephadrome is. I neglected to mention the Cephadrome’s moveset before now in order to show the difference in how vast their movepool is. Basically there’s the aforementioned hipcheck, theres a move where it charges forward while it slides across the sand, it has a tail swipe like pretty much everything else in the game, it can spit a bit of water at you, and it can swim under the sand and try to leap at you from there.

The Diamyo Hermitaur is much more threatening than that. It can turn around and charge at you with it’s shell, it can swipe at you with it’s claws, it can lunge forward at you, it can burrow underground and attack you from there similar to how the Cephadrome can but it does so in a much more aggressive and difficult to dodge way, it can spit pressurized streams of water at you, it can try to pin you (we’ll talk about that when a monster manages to pin me.) It can block your attacks with it’s shell and claws unless your weapon is sharp enough to pierce them, it can leap in the air and try to crush you. Most importantly though Being that it’s a crab it’s able to move very easily from side to side as well as forwards and backwards and this gives it the kind of maneuverability that a lot of monsters in this game don’t have and makes it one of the most dangerous earlygame monsters in the series.

To make matters worse it’s shell and armored claws are capable of deflecting a lot of my attacks. This is one of the two main effects of Monster Hunter’s Sharpness mechanics. Essentially there are several color coded levels of sharpness that a weapon can have. The lowest level of sharpness is Red, which is followed by Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, White, and Purple sharpness. Each weapon can maintain a certain level of sharpness for a fixed number of attacks made with that weapon before it goes down to the next level of sharpness. While the weapons you get in the beginning of the game only go up to green sharpness as you upgrade those weapons you'll get access to higher levels of sharpness. There are also damage multipliers associated with your weapons sharpness so maintaining your weapon’s sharpness is very important.

A weapon with high enough sharpness can cut through the Diamyo Hermitaur’s shell and claws. However even if you can get through the shell I feel that it's better to attack him on the side. Ignoring the fact that it takes more damage when you hit him on the sides the fact is that you aren't always going to have a way past his shell. It might be in the next Monster Hunter game or it might be in a future play through but I don't feel that it's wise to rely too much on attacking him on his shell because it's so important to be able to work around the shell if you don't have a way to cut through it.

The Diamyo Hermitaur is also extremely frail though and within a matter of minutes I had it crawling to area 3 to try to get some rest. It was gone soon afterwards. That was faster than I expected. There was a time when the Diamyo Hermitaur gave me a lot of grief. Back in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate it’s the monster you had to face to reach High Rank in singleplayer and I had a ton of difficulty with it because I was facing it with low rank equpment against a high rank version of a monster I hadn’t seen before. Now though I was able to dispatch it really easily and while part of that is the fact that I have better gear going into this fight than what I had for that one a lot of it is simply the fact that I have dealt with the Diamyo Hermitaur a lot. This is the 20th time that I’ve defeated a Diamyo Hermitaur between this game and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and so I’m very well practiced when it comes to dealing with that thing. Either way, the quest is complete.