Lance

Weapon Traits
Lances are quite powerful Weapons that should not be overlooked. They have the capacity to deal some pretty decent damage. Lances can be found in the 2 main trees (as usual with almost all weapons).


 * Lances have an overall high Sharpness bar compared to other weapons (even though almost no natural white bar of sharpness is available in MHF2)
 * Lances come with a shield and is the best blocker in the game (along with Gunlance)
 * Lances have a tendency to be accompanied with a defense bonus (although this defense boost is usually minimal). They can be used for tanking but Gunlances are recommended if you choose to take the tanking route.
 * Lances have a wide variety of elements within, making them suitable for the every situation, although they are not as elementally powerful as the Sword and Shield.
 * Lances have a long range of attack (due to their length) and have very precise and accurate strikes. This makes them perfect for targeting specific monster parts that other weapons can not as easily reach.
 * Lances have a middle to high overall damage (compared to their cousins, the gunlances, they have higher damage).
 * Hunters can land 2 kinds of stabs, frontal and upward, both of them able to chain up to 3 times.
 * Lance wielder hunters can perform small back jumps and sideways slides (after each one of them you can again chain 3 stabs in any combination) After a back jump, if you hold the analog stick right or left and press X, you can do a slide dodge in that direction (useful if you are unfamiliar with the dodging style and back jump towards a monster).
 * After performing one jump (or after attacking) the lance can perform a large backstep that is longer than the usual backstep. You can do this by pulling back on the anolog stick and pressing X during your hop after the initial hop or attack. After the large backstep is performed, you can't chain together any more jumps until you reset your combo. This jump also uses more stamina.
 * Lance hunters can perform a charging attack, which depletes stamina. The charge is relatively weak but can be finished with a powerful front stab (the strongest single Lance attack).
 * Lances have the Fast draw and defensive stance abilities.
 * Some users complain about the lack of mobility but by backhopping in the direction that you want to travel in you can reach your destination faster than if you were walking with your weapon unsheathed (note: the amour skill Evade Distance Up increases the hop distance of the lance thus improving evade techniques and unsheathed travel).
 * Lances have the special ability to become either an impact or cutting weapon (meaning that the lance will take the higher of the two hit zones). For example, when the lance strikes a Rathalos in the head, the cutting hit zone has a value of 80 and the impact hit zone of the head has a value of 70. The game automatically will select the higher value (in this case the 80 cutting hit zone).

Movements on Detail
Now we will see more details on the movements and even some combos.

Weapon Sheathed
= Draw weapon = Roll R + = Quick Draw &amp; Defensive stance + Direction = Quick Draw + Frontal Stab

Weapon Drawn
R(HOLD) = Defense R(HOLD) + = Defensive + Frontal Stab = Small jump back (Can be used as long as there is stamina)

= Frontal Stab (Can be chained up to 3 times) = Diagonal Stab (Can be chained up to 3 times) After any Stab + Left/Right + = Sideway small jump (Can be used up to 3 times)

+ = Charging attack (The hunter will run until stamina is depleted) During Charging attack + = Frontal Stab &amp; End of charging attack During Charging attack + = End of charging attack

Lance Damage

 * The lance can be a very powerful weapon if used correctly. It requires a little more skill to weild effectively than other weapons which tends to scare off some novice hunters
 * The damage for all Blade masters (melee classes) is calculated using the following formula: [ATP x TYPE x CRITICAL x SHARP x HITZONE x DEFENSE x RAGE x VAR]/[CLASS]=Total


 * Although this formula may seem complicated, it helps to show the difference between damage between the different Lance attacks.


 * In Monster Hunter, weapons always deal a fixed percent of their raw power based on the chosen attack.


 * For the lance, the following values indicate the percent of the lance's raw power that each attack uses:
 * Lance_Chart.jpg


 * Simply put, this chart shows the difference in power between attacks. The higher value indicates a stronger attack. But do these values really make a difference? Let's find out!
 * Let's say that I use my guard attack on a Low-Rank Rathalos' head using a lance with 322 raw power and green sharpness. According to the damage formula (I won't bore you with the math) you would deal 25 damage. Now if you used that same lance but hit the Rathalos' head with an upward stab (again, I won't bore you with the calculations) you would deal 35 damage. As you can see, the upward stab's higher percent of raw power used does impact the final outcome of damage. The upward stab's 10 more damage (35-25) will significantly reduce your hunting time and will make the hunt noticeably shorter.


 * Now this doesn't mean only use the more powerful attacks. There is a time and place for everything. With practice (and a lot of patience), you will be able to easily choose the best attack to use against a monster that suits the current situation.

Lance Strategies
There is no correct strategy to fighting any particular monster. It is up to the hunter to develop one's own strategy that works best for them. Here are just two of the common strategies that many lance users use

Evade

 * The most difficult lancing technique to master is the evade strategy. The reason why many of the expert players use this strategy is because you can kill a monster much faster by evading than by blocking with your shield
 * For this strategy, you will need armor with the skill "Evade+2" (this skill increases the duration of invincibility while rolling/hopping). The skill "Evade Distance Up" (increases roll/jump distance) is not required, but it does make evading a little bit easier.
 * Evade+2 will not let you jump through every attack in the game but it lets you evade most of them.
 * The way the skill works is as the monster tries to hit you, you press the X button to jump backwards (or any other direction of your choice). If you time the jump correctly you will jump right through the attack without taking any damage
 * This method also helps to save stamina as back hopping requires much less stamina than blocking.
 * You can only evade attack (by hopping through them) if the duration of the monster's attack is short enough.
 * For example, lets say that you are using low rank Obituary/Butterfly armor which has the skill evade+2 and you are lancing a Rathalos. The Rathalos's tail swing has a short duration, meaning that if you hop the second that you get hit, you will have successfully have evaded the attack. The fireball attack also has a short duration so if you back hopped through the fireball you will, again, have successfully evaded the attack.
 * Now lets say that you are lancing an Akantor with evade+2 armor. Akantor's charge attack has a long duration so it is only possible to evade the attack by physically moving out of the way. If you back hopped, once you finished with your jump you would still be in the way of Akantor's charge so you would get hit.
 * The trick to evading through attacks is only to hop through attacks that have a short duration (tail swings, fireballs, bites, claw swings, etc.)
 * The more experience you gain by using the lance, the easier it will become to determine the correct time and place to either evade or guard

Guard

 * The guarding strategy is the easier of the two primary lancing strategies but by using this strategy you won't be able to kill monsters as fast as you could've by using the evade strategy
 * Now don't get me wrong, although evading can kill many monsters faster than guarding that doesn't make guarding obsolete. That big shield is there for a reason. There are certain attacks that are much easier to defend against by guarding and there a few monster (such as Black Gravios) that can be killed much quicker by shielding against their attacks.
 * If you plan to block most of the monster's attacks, then a good armor skill to have would be "Guard+1" (there is an upgrade to this skill, Guard+2, that increases the skill's effectiveness but is rarely useful because Guard+1 will almost always do the trick)
 * The skill Guard+1 reduces the stamina required to block an attack as well as reducing the knock-back of attacks. This means that for most attacks you won't get pushed back at all from blocking. This is very useful because it saves stamina and the time you save from not getting pushed back helps to reduce the your hunting time. Guard+2 increases these abilities further but it is not worth the slots because Guard+1 should be adequate for the majority of your hunts.
 * Another skill that can be very useful against certain monsters is "Guard Up". This skill make any previously unblockable attacks now blockable. For example, the Plesioth's beam attack, Gravios's beam attack, and the Khezu's shock blast attack are all unblockable attacks that will go right through your sheild if you attempt to block them. With Guard Up, all of these attacks become blockable so now every attack in the game is blockable.


 * The one downside of Guard Up is that some monster's don't have any unblockable attacks which makes this skill useless against them. If you are fighting a Rathian, you can already block all of its attacks anyways without Guard Up which means that if you are using Guard Up during that fight it becomes a waste of valuable slots. Skills such as Guard+1 would've been much more useful in that situation.


 * The way to fight a monster using a lance is simple. All you have to do is hit the monster a few times, back hop (it doesn't matter which direction you hop in) and hold block (its faster to cancel a combo with a hop and then shield than to stop attacking, wait for your character to get back into ready stance and then hold down the block button).


 * Remember, don't get too greedy with your attacks or you will end up getting hit.


 * Remember, just because these evading and guarding sections are listed under "lance techniques" doesn't mean that if you aren't using one of these strategies you're doing it wrong.


 * It is up to the hunter to develop his/her own strategies and use whichever one they feel the most comfortable with.


 * Some may find that they like using an even combination between guarding and evading and use an armor set with Evade+2 AND Guard+1 while others might feel more comfortable using only guarding techniques.

Beginner's Guide to Lances
Most people seem to dismiss Lances as underpowered weapons with low mobility, limited attacks and a crappy damage output. I used to think so too. However, practicing with Lances in Freedom Unite, I find this viewpoint quite myopic and that people grossly underestimate the Lance.:


 * First off, I personally don't believe that there is such a thing called "Tanking" in Monster Hunter. Regardless of a hunter's weapon, or armor defense rating, no hunter should ever be considered as a "damage sponge". Hell, everyone takes shitload of pain from all the boss monsters (especially so in terms of raw damage) so I would like to dispel the belief that Lances (or even Gunlances) are tanking weapons. Bottom-line: you don't guard or dodge well, just be prepared to see your health drop to a third. Serious.
 * Now, moving on to General Lance Properties. It is quite a fast weapon in terms of attack speed, and has above average damage. By now, it should be clear that the tactic for Lances is to attack quickly, then cease and Guard for a possible attack. Rinse and repeat. Also, this weapon has good range and allows you to keep your distance from a monster while dealing damage to it. The unique evading system for the Lance (three consecutive steps to the right, left or behind) gives users greater flexibility while keeping monsters at bay and staying the hell out of the way of their attacks. The Charge attack is also good for dealing rapid damage to monsters. (Be sure to end the Charge with the Stab for maximum damage!)
 * Granted, the Lance might be a difficult weapon to wield for beginners, but the main thing to learn for Lances is how to quickly line up your stabs to the desired area of the monsters, but still leave enough time AND room to evade/guard, then prepare for subsequent attacks.

Here's a few tips to better Lancing:

Tip #1: Don't get greedy with attacks.

This should be the main principle behind any weapon, not just the Lance. Attacking excessively and wildly makes you prone to counterattacks, especially if you aren't skilled in taking advantage of the stagger limit system. For Lances, focus attacks on the monster's weak spot (the head for most monsters). Of course, being in front of the monster is often the most dangerous situation to be in, that's what the giant shield strapped to your right arm is for. After acing a few stabs to the weak spot, evade and hold R to guard as quickly as possible, or just dodge to the sides or away from the monster. Once the monster has conducted its (failed) attack, quickly get back in position and launch a counterattack of your own.

Tip #2: Utilize the Charge!

The Charge attack (press Triangle and Circle simultaneously) puts the hunter into a Charge (see above). While running, this attacks deals rapid (although little) damage along the way. It's great for getting out of an encirclement by minions, or getting behind a large monster quickly. What I usually use this attack for, is to close the distance between me and a large monster, especially if the monster is fast (Blangonga, Rathalos etc.). I also use it as an alternative to sheathing the weapon and panic running, and just charge away from the monster to escape. Be aware that this attack drains stamina, and if you hit a wall or obstacle you will come to a stop. Also, the hunter is still vulnerable when charging, so watch the situation carefully and decide whether a Charge would be useful.

Tip #3: Keep your distance!

The Lance is long for a reason. Lance users should attack at their discretion and yet maintain an optimum range from their target, ideally two back-jumps away from the monster at all times. Step in, get a few hits in, step out or block. Rinse and repeat. Again, as explained in tip #1, one attack is better than nothing. If you feel that an imminent attack is on the way, just stab once or twice then get ready to evade or block. One hit can make or break the mission in a game like monster hunter.

Tip #4: Utilize the Guard!

The Lance (and Gunlance) is special in the sense that they can remain in Guard-mode while allowing the hunter to move around, albeit at a slow pace. Do this if your health is low and cannot afford to take another full hit, or to get close to a monster that uses breath attacks (Rathalos, Rajang, Plesioth etc.). You can do a weaker, straight stab from a Guard position for offence, and still remain in control of your Guard. Also, Guarding with the Lance does not break your stance, and can even allow hunters to make consecutive guards against a chain of attacks, provided they have sufficient stamina. Unlike the Great Sword, Guarding with the Lance does not decrease Sharpness so don't hesitate to Guard if the need is present.

Tip #5: Master a multipurpose weapon!

The Lance has another special ability: it can deal cutting damage or impact damage depending on what its target is weaker against (See above, under Weapon Traits). No other weapon has this ability, which allows the Lance to have maximum damage capability i.e. it deals the most damage out of every hit that connects. If you have read the Did You Know? Archives, it is proven that Daimyo Hermitaur's shell CAN be broken by a Lance, since it automatically reverts to impact damage (akin to a Hammer/Horn) when attacking its shell. This also allows the Lance to sever monster tails, something that the Hammer/Horn can never do. The Lance is therefore a very versatile weapon.

Recommended Armor Sets for Lancers:

HR1 to HR3 : Protection Piercing, Giaprey Mail, Battle Vambraces, Giaprey Tasset, Genprey Greaves

Skills: Guard +1 and Auto-Guard

A perfect starting Lancer's equipment. Easy to obtain and has essential skills for Lancing.

HR4 to HR6 : Full Gravios S set.

Skills: Guard +1, Guard Increase, Flat-Footed.

Although relatively tedious to obtain, Gravios armor focuses more on Guarding Skills and is perfect for Intermediate Lancers. Flat-footed can be gemmed out, or Guard +2 can be activated with the help of a slotted Lance e.g. Roaring Wyvern.

HR7 to HR9 : Full Auroros/Borealis Haku Set (Made from High Rank Azure Lao Shan Materials)

Skills: Guard +1, Guard Increase, Damage Recovery Speed +1

This is the set I personally use now for all Lances. Apart from the crappy fire and dragon resistances, this armor set is THE best for Lances/Gunlances. It can even be gemmed to Guard +2, or Damage Recovery Speed +2 without a slotted weapon. Best of all, this is not even a G-ranked armor set and can be obtained with High-Rank Lao Shan materials.

Well, that's the lowdown on Lances. Good range, good damage, excellent guard, shouldn't you "take a stab" at using a Lance? (Quotes from the Red Devil)

Done by: k4153r D

(My first time writing a general weapon guide. :p If any discrepancy is detected in this guide, or that it is too vague/hard to understand, please leave a message on my talk page and I'll improve it/write a new guide. Thanks to all readers!)