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Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Insect Glaive

By
Vincent Lau

Become the new Ant-Man!

Overview

The Insect Glaive a new arrival to your arsenal of weapons to choose from, and most certainly is a potent option for those who like to constantly stay on the offensive. In the form of a staff with blades on each end, the Insect Glaive is known for its balance of fluid attack speed and high raw power, along with the ability to buff the user by sending out your accompanying Kinsect to extract essences from the monster that can increase things like attack and movement speed, and give you even more attacking options.

Pros

  • High raw without losing attack speed and fluidity

  • Moderately large reach helps with cutting off tails held high in the air

  • Kinsect and essence buffs add dramatic increase to power

  • Pole vault allows a jump attack to be performed without a ledge
    Cons

  • Weapon power is still somewhat lacking without the red essence buff

  • Buffs last for only 20 – 30 seconds and need to be obtained frequently

  • Pole vaulting leaves you vulnerable to being attacked.

Attack Controls
Thrust Attack X, can be chained three times
Overhead Smash A, can chain into X attacks
Backflip Smash Move backwards and press A
Shoot pheromones Press R while targeting a specific part of the monster
Send out a Kinsect R+A
Summon the Kinsect back After sending out the Kinsect, press R+A
Pole vault R+B

Usage Tips

Master using your Kinsect. While the Insect Glaive does have fairly high raw for its attack speed, if you want to make the most of your weapon, you will want to learn how to grab the essences from the monster. Head gives you red essence, which boosts attack. Feet and/or tail give orange essence, which boosts defense. Body gives white essence, which boosts movement speed. Any other miscellaneous parts will give green essence, which heals you for a small amount. If you obtain the red essence plus any of the other two essences (green essence will not mix with anything), you will have a significant increase in attack power, and you will attack faster and unlock new infinite combos. Get red, orange, and white essences however, and you will gain Earplugs, Wind Pressure resistance, a massive attack boost, and even faster, more powerful combos! The buffs will not last very long, however, so you will have to refresh them often.

Recommended sets of three for normal attacks are XX and then finish with A, or AXA. Be cautious about pole vaulting. I know, it’s the coolest thing since electricity, but you have no invincibility in the air. In fact, you will get punished more if you are hit out of the air, and unless you have earplugs, roars will send you dropping. Pole vaulting can be great for avoiding monster attacks, but it must be timed because any evasion skills do not apply to pole vaults.

Recommended Skills

Because of the offensive nature of the Insect Glaive, Evasion +1/+2 and Evade Distance Up are fantastic skills, if not downright necessary. The other skill that’s valuable is not obtained from armor, but from obtaining the proper Kinsect, and that is Buff Extend. Check the Kinsect section of this weapon guide for how to upgrade to the proper Kinsect that will give you Buff Extend. Buff Extend adds 30 extra seconds to your buffs, and is an amazing skill to have. If you pole vault a lot, Earplugs will help you stay in the air when the monster roars, and will help you with the mount. If you’re having trouble mounting, consider Mount Master.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Capcom
  • Platforms,
    3DS
  • Genre
    Action RPG
  • Guide Release
    31 March 2015
  • Last Updated
    7 December 2020
  • Guide Author
    Cassie Sun, Vincent Lau

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En route to Val Habar, what begins as a bumpy ride in the great desert quickly descends into the fight of your rookie hunter’s life, as a dangerous Elder Dragon appears out of nowhere, threatening to level your ride and the town ahead.

After somehow surviving the attack, your efforts impress the Caravaneer and you’re quickly enlisted into the Caravan. Your mission? To discover the secret of a mysterious “Article”, which will almost surely involve hunting bigger and deadlier monsters in a magical, colorful world that is the world of Monster Hunter.

Overwhelmed? Not so sure what to do? This guide will give you the reference point you need to not only complete the solo campaign with flying colors, but look awesome while doing so!

  • Information regarding Key Quests for both Caravan and Gathering Hall quests.
  • Tips for becoming the best hunter possible–from preparations to Palicos.
  • Breakdown of the 14 unique weapon types and how to wield them to their full potential.
  • Detailed maps and insights for all of the major hunting grounds.
  • Inside scoop on every monster you will face in battle (select postgame monsters pending).

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