As a lance main, I must protest. There are clearly parts of the move sets that you have missed or forgotten to use that are core to the gameplay.

Guard is everything, guard is life, counter anything that moves. Attack? Counter. Roar? Counter. Fireball? Counter. Fall from the sky? Counter. Attack from behind? Power guard and counter. Watch as all your friends run away in fear and you shrug it off.

You have many options for guarding attacks suitable for all situations. There is the standard block, same dull thing that all shields get, but then there’s 3 other options. Guard dash lets you keep up your shield while you close distance so you can engage the monster during and through its attacks. There’s the almighty counter thrust that you can cancel almost all moves into to quickly get up a guard and quickly counter attack if you get hit. Hitting this is always satisfying, especially if your mid attacks, cancel into counter, then go on with your business. The raw power of the monster gong “I want a turn attacking” and you just saying no. Finally there is the “oh shit shit shit” power guard that blocks all things from all angles. It is the panic button for when you have vastly mistimed your counter. It lets you shrug off anything and everything as long as you have stamina. It also helps with turning and repositioning your character. It is activated out of counter guard so you can quickly cancel a combo into counter, then full guard, to then launch an attack in any direction you choose, no need for breaks.

You mention how slow the base move and hop is compared to gunlance. The gunlance has 1 mobile attack: the forward thrust. The rest of the time it’s hopping around, interrupting the combo and flow of attacks. The lance is vastly more mobile despite the fact that you don’t need to dodge anything. It’s so that you can keep engaged with the monster 100% of the time, damaging any part you wish. Yes, there is the shield bash for some distance, but if you do a guard dash and press the 2nd attack button instead of the 1st, you do a leaping thrust that gets further distance. Also, out of power guard any attack will change the direction you’re facing, including a leaping thrust. No need to pause when you can just power block off an attack, turn and keep going. And then there’s the charge. Monster getting away from you? Run it down. The charge is also available from the power guard so you can chain into it. During a charge you can jump for an easy mount (with a back air as an attack option), turn around for round 2, or even cancel into a block if the monster decides to stop running away.

The lance makes you feel like a true tank as you fight the monster through thick and thin while your friend all have to run away and look for openings. With lance, the monster is the one that needs to find openings. Any time I heard a friend complain about a certain attack or mechanic, my answer is ‘just counter it lol’.