The Great Sword in Monster Hunter Now is a formidable weapon that packs a powerful punch with each swing, though its size can make it a bit cumbersome to handle. To create an effective Monster Hunter Now Great Sword build, slowing down the enemy is crucial. Recent updates have introduced the ability to craft sleep-based weapons from specific monster materials. To fully leverage this, you'll need to pair the right skills to ensure frequent sleep induction. Here's a detailed guide on the gear required for the optimal build.

Best Monster Hunter Now Great Sword Build

While the best Monster Hunter Now Long Sword build focuses on poison, the Great Sword thrives with the Sleep element. To fully realize this build, you'll need to hunt a somewhat rare monster, but the majority of the gear can be sourced from more common monsters.

Full Monster Hunter Now Great Sword Build

Weapon

The choice for a sleep-based Great Sword is limited, but the Frilled Blade stands out. It comes equipped with the Evade Extender skill, enhancing your defensive capabilities by allowing you to create distance after dodging. While not essential for the build, it significantly aids in maneuvering with the Great Sword. To craft this weapon, you'll need to hunt the Somnacanth for its materials.

Helmet & Greaves

A significant portion of this build is derived from the Nightshade Paolumu, introduced during the first paid event. This monster provides critical components and skills, such as the full three levels of Rude Awakener, which boosts your damage by 100% on the first hit against a sleeping monster. Although Nightshade Paolumu are more common now, they might still require patience to encounter in events or rare spawns post-main story completion.

Mail, Gauntlets, & Coil

The rest of the build focuses on maximizing the Status Sneak Attack skill, ensuring sleep buildup when attacking from behind. Additional skills like Evade Extender and Artful Dodger enhance evasion capabilities. These parts are sourced from the more common Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, easily tracked with a paintball.

Best Monster Hunter Now Great Sword Driftstone Slots

This build has the advantage of requiring relatively few Driftstone slots to unlock its full potential. Ideally, five slots in Sleep Attack would be optimal. However, you can also use these slots to boost evasion with Artful Dodger and Evade Extender or enhance damage from behind with Sneak Attack.

• Sleep Attack - Boosts the weapon's sleep buildup. 50 at rank 1 and 150 at rank 5. (Azure only)
• Sneak Attack - Increases damage when attacking from behind. 10% at rank 1 and 30% at rank 5. (Pale only)
• Artful Dodger - Enhances ease of evasion. Slightly easier at rank 1 and significantly so at rank 5. (Azure only)
• Evade Extender - Increases evasion distance. Very slightly at rank 1 and massively at rank 5. (Pale only)