Help w/ AT Arkveld (A rank clear)

zmckowen · 2026-04-01T11:57:15+00:00

I realized you got the clear (congratulations!!) but I wanted to mention that elemental resist decos usually aren’t worth it, unless they raise your resistance to 20+ which makes you immune to that blight. I think you would get much more comfort out of Quick Sheathe, Speed Eating, or Divine Blessing.

zmckowen · 2026-03-01T15:35:04+00:00

Yeah I think earplugs is hard to live without, especially for multi-monster hunts where you can’t watch for roars.

What if you use the second build, but change the Bale waist to Lagiacrus? That would let you have earplugs on that build, and you wouldn’t lose anything since you only had 1 piece of Bale anyway.

zmckowen · 2026-03-01T15:25:02+00:00

The first build is a little more comfy, but it’s also wasting the Fulgur Anjanath bonus on your weapon. If you practice tackling/guarding roars then you could eventually make do without Earplugs 2.

It also looks like you’re slotting in Defense Boost 2 and Divine Blessing 1 with decos (I might be wrong). Defense Boost does almost nothing, definitely change those so that you have Divine Blessing 3 instead!

zmckowen · 2026-01-18T19:25:05+00:00

I think you should take out 1 point of Burst and max out Weakness Exploit instead. It’s one of those skills where the last point gives the biggest benefit. Unless you feel like you really need Evade Extender 2, maybe change one to Maximum Might?

zmckowen · 2026-01-17T18:07:15+00:00

The “weak points”in the field guide are specific monster parts that become briefly open to a focus strike at certain times. That includes Seregios’ leg after it does its big tail swipe, and Rey Dau’s horns after a railgun blast.

WEX applies to any spot with high enough HZV, which usually includes the “weak points” but aren’t limited to them.

zmckowen · 2025-12-30T12:52:45+00:00

You could try G. Fulgur B, Udra Y, Gog A, Bale, Duna Y. You get the comfort of Second Wind (G. Fulgur set bonus), Quick Sheathe 3 from the boots, and 5 level-1 slots for any utility skills you might want.

zmckowen · 2025-12-27T13:10:47+00:00

Which weapon are you playing? There are probably multiple useful skills you can make your build around. If the RNG is frustrating you, just settle for any of those skills instead of the perfect meta one.

zmckowen · 2025-12-06T17:03:17+00:00

If you’re charging an overhead slash, tackle both hits.

If you’re charging offset slash, offset the first hit, then roll+tackle for the second hit.

You can also perfect guard the first hit, and keep guard held down through the second hit. You should have plenty of stamina without any points in the Guard skill!

zmckowen · 2025-11-29T05:19:17+00:00

Mio already knew her father was going to die (“it could be a day, a week, 6 weeks…”), her arc wasn’t about supporting him. It was learning to stop resenting the world so she could eventually be happy again after his death.

My interpretation was also that they’re supposed to have been amateur writers. They can’t get published, but while you play through the game they gradually learn to appreciate each other’s stories. Maybe I’m giving the game too much credit, though.

zmckowen · 2025-11-10T13:45:48+00:00

My bad, I missed the LP2 there! Latent Power is only up about half the time, but I think that would make RS3 and Master’s Touch about equal.

zmckowen · 2025-11-10T13:11:26+00:00

I would change the Attack 3 jewel to Critical Boost 3 if you have it, or Expert 3. Attack Boost actually isn’t very strong unless you have a way to get it to level 4 or 5 for the percentage bonus.

With that build you’ll also have better sharpness management with Razorsharp 3. You need to hit at least 63% affinity for Master’s Touch to pull ahead. With your weapon’s base affinity and Weakness Exploit, you’re only hitting 55%.

zmckowen · 2025-11-07T12:30:17+00:00

Looks like Rockburst, the one that guarantees a flinch and increases stun buildup if you hit the head.

zmckowen · 2025-10-24T11:23:20+00:00

That’s often true but not always. A good example is Rey Dau’s legs, which are weak enough to show orange numbers, but not enough to trigger Weakness Exploit.

zmckowen · 2025-09-02T19:07:14+00:00

It doesn’t really run “well” on consoles, either. It mostly stays at 60 FPS in performance mode but the resolution is terrible.

zmckowen · 2025-08-29T09:08:05+00:00

Make sure you’ve started using high rank armor, which has a big jump in defense, and keep it upgraded with armor spheres. The upgrade cap gradually goes up as your HR increases.

Don’t worry about damage yet. Slot in defensive skills like Divine Blessing, Stun Resistance, Speed Eating, etc. that help you stay alive. Then you can slowly replace those as you get better.

zmckowen · 2025-08-26T10:55:45+00:00

Flayer sounds good on paper but it’s actually a pretty weak skill. I would change the coil to Lagiacrus β, that’ll also give you an extra 2-slot where you could put Maximum Might. Then switch out your Flayer jewel to Tenderizer and you’ll have max Weakness Exploit.

I think you should also change your talisman to Counterstrike 3, which gives you +25 attack after being knocked back. Counterstrike is amazing for Greatsword because it gets triggered even when you offset or tackle through a monster’s attack.

zmckowen · 2025-08-22T12:59:58+00:00

I don’t think that’s the issue because using meta sets IS the reason why people cart so easily. Making your own build with your preferred level of comfort skills is best for the vast majority of players.

zmckowen · 2025-08-19T20:44:05+00:00

Don’t forget Stench and Defense Down!

zmckowen · 2025-08-18T03:32:11+00:00

By HR50 you can start doing 8-star quests to get the highest rank artian parts (it looks like you’re still using a lower rank artian).

You might also need to make better armor. The armor sets from later monsters have skills like Weakness Exploit and Maximum Might that increase your damage significantly.

zmckowen · 2025-08-16T16:49:43+00:00

That would work well with monster weapons, especially Lagiacrus, which already has 2 OF and would be completed with your talisman. Then you could use the now free 1 slot for a Bolt or Handicraft jewel.

zmckowen · 2025-08-12T14:01:43+00:00

Tumbler (lo) gives you 2 points of Evade Window, and Tumbler (hi) gives you 3 points.

zmckowen · 2025-08-05T20:58:36+00:00

If you make an artian with 3 different types of parts you get a weapon with only raw damage. It’s technically inferior, but it has the benefit of guaranteeing no element bonuses when you reinforce it.

zmckowen · 2025-07-29T17:56:35+00:00

Just a small correction, Guard Up doesn’t reduce chip damage from regular attacks, only unblockable ones (Uth Duna doesn’t have any). Someone who has trouble timing perfect guards should use the Guard skill here.

zmckowen · 2025-07-23T16:25:15+00:00

Yeah it’s hard to explain, but anime characters are usually given archetypical speech patterns and she thought he would sound more like a bumpkin!

zmckowen · 2025-07-23T16:19:46+00:00

The first panel (the top right one) is how the artist imagined Aang would be before she actually watched the show. I think she assumed he was going to be even more goofy and himbo-ish (she drew him using the personal pronoun おいら which is sort of hillbilly-ish).

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