Video summary

I spent 1000 hours making this Weapon Tier List | Monster Hunter World & Iceborne

Main summary

Key takeaways

Gaming

Game storyline (as described)

  • Monster Hunter World + Iceborne: The creator frames their experience as progressing through:
    1. The base game
    2. Iceborne’s campaign
    3. The Guiding Lands, where they performed additional completion-style tasks such as:
      • cutting tails
      • breaking horns and faces

How the creator approached the weapons (context for rankings)

  • They spent ~1000 hours playing each of the 14 weapon types across Monster Hunter World + Iceborne.
  • They also completed a “100 hour weapon challenge” on all weapons:
    • Start a brand-new character with nothing
    • Clear the base game + Iceborne campaigns
    • Then go to the Guiding Lands and:
      • sever tails with the weapons/tools they used, or
      • break horns/faces using blunt weapons
  • Their tier list is ranked using three factors:
    • Fun to play
    • Hard to learn
    • Perceived strength/impact, based on challenge performance

Gameplay highlights & key takeaways by weapon tiered in the video

Dual Blades — (high tier / discussed early)

Strengths

  • Very quick learning; rewards fast movement and dodging.
  • High attack tempo enables racking up damage with many quick hits and lower risk.

Strategy / tip

  • Suggested as a first weapon for new players because the short-range difficulty becomes easier to manage over time.
  • Start close, learn your spacing, then transition to other weapons more comfortably.

Heavy Bowgun — (mid tier, strong but less fun)

Strengths

  • Devoured campaigns; certain ammo types are described as insanely strong (notably slicing for tails and spread ammo).
  • When built defensively (guard/guard skills + shield mods), it can feel very safe.

Weakness / why it ranked lower

  • Feels lackluster: lots of standing and shooting rather than engaging with monster movement.

Long Sword — (high tier / “popular for a reason”)

Strengths

  • Learned quickly; consistently effective across base game + Iceborne.
  • Counters are described as highly satisfying.

Note

  • It felt weaker in at least one tough matchup (they mention Elaton, potentially gear-related).

Gunlance — (low tier / “clunky,” but strong)

Strengths

  • Some shelling experiences (including combo explosions) were enjoyable.
  • Wyvernfire (referred to as “wyvern AK”) is described as incredible.

Weakness

  • Clunkiness: reliable when stationary/grounded, but harder to chase moving targets for damage.

Future interest

  • Wants to revisit due to weapon changes in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Sword & Shield — (high tier emphasis on utility, not damage-only)

Strengths

  • Great kit for controlling monsters:
    • Shield knockouts
    • Easy item access (fast sheath/speed)
    • Traps and topples
    • Strong carving/foot attacks that enable practical disruption

Playstyle / strategy

  • Their builds include mushroom dancer + wide range to help teammates by force-feeding support mushrooms.
  • Their damage approach centers on Perfect Rush.

Reason for not ranking higher

  • The hunt became repetitive, mainly because they chased Perfect Rush windows.

Lance — (safe, counter-focused, but repetitive)

Strengths

  • Surprisingly strong once learned.
  • With defensive investment (guard + guard up), many attacks can be largely negated.
  • Multiple counters make it extremely hard to “get punished.”

Weakness

  • Gameplay loop becomes counter → poke → counter, which they found too safe and repetitive.
  • They don’t enjoy a “tank lifestyle.”

Mobility note

  • They worried it would be slow, but noted it has enough mobility options to keep pressure.

Charge Blade — (very hard learn, very engaging)

Strengths

  • Described as having “multiple mini-games” during hunts.
  • Guard points + proper management create the feel of being both immovable and unstoppable.
  • SAED (super amplified elemental discharge) is described as one of the most satisfying feelings.

Overall

  • They call it the hardest weapon they learned and the peak “engagement.”

Bow — (lowest tier by their personal evaluation)

Why it’s not for them

  • Range/positioning feels too close-range for the payoff.
  • Low perceived damage against large HP pools when not fully geared for elemental optimization.
  • Didn’t want the time investment to craft multiple elemental sets for endgame bow play.

One bright spot

  • Very satisfying to cut tails; they cite tail-cutting as memorable.

Switch Axe (“Swag Axe”) — (fun through mobility + high damage, but not always the “laser dump”)

Strengths

  • Sword mode combos are stylish and fun.
  • Axe mode mobility (evade/roll + skills like evade extender) makes it feel fast.
  • Exhaust + sleep builds can create hilarious hunt patterns (monster sleeps multiple times).
  • Damage is described as extremely high with low commitment in many situations.

Weakness

  • Zero Sum discharge is effective, but they dislike it as a “lazy button mash,” so they often avoid it.

Hammer — (fun learning; then novelty fades)

Strengths

  • Loves disruption: traps/paralysis plus concussions.
  • Initially felt easy, then became harder in high rank—learning became satisfying.
  • Sliding attack kept the weapon interesting.

Weakness

  • Hammer felt slow; the split between charged/non-charged plus knockouts reduced the “prize” feeling once it happened too often.

Hunting Horn — (strong support/beatdown; solo damage eventually drags)

Strengths

  • Emphasizes it’s not “just support”—it’s aggressive:
    • knocking monsters down
    • buffing teammates
    • strong mobility (they note highest move speed via a horn song)
    • autos + Slugger synergy
  • In groups, team damage increases make hunts smoother when solo damage falls off.

Weakness

  • Solo damage falloff becomes painful near the end of Iceborne and against tempered monsters (longer slogs).

Insect Glaive — (good damage, but hated the bug mechanics)

Strengths

  • Grounded play can deal big damage; they prefer staying grounded over aerial play.
  • Speed/consistency through World + Iceborne sets was a positive.

Main complaint

  • The “insect/buffs” tagging mechanic is described as unfun and lame:
    • tagging monsters in multiple places to maintain buffs
    • buffs expire frequently, and losing them breaks build effectiveness mid-combo
  • Without buffs it feels like a much worse weapon.

Light Bowgun — (more agile than heavy, but ammo + spreadsheet burden)

Strengths

  • Feels more fun than heavy due to agility and evade reload.
  • Rapid-fire ammo feels cooler.

Weakness

  • Low magazine capacity makes hunts feel slower and more ammo-management heavy.
  • Complexity is mostly in endgame builds/spreadsheets they didn’t want to grind.

Great Sword — (top tier)

Why it’s the best for them

  • The “true charge slash” loop brings huge dopamine from landing fully charged hits.
  • Rewards patience and reading monster openings.
  • Provides consistent stagger/knockdowns and follow-up opportunities.

No major downside

  • Only real issue is slow speed, but they handle it by attacking only during openings.

They’re interested in other GS builds

  • Elemental/status GS, Slugger-focused variants, Frostcraft, ledge-based play, etc.

Tier outcome (the creator’s final placements mentioned)

  • S Rank: Great Sword
  • They also explicitly mention:
    • S Rank includes Bow in the discussion of placements, but they later apologize and say they “don’t get it,” implying Bow was effectively ranked very low for them.
    • Gunlance and Bow are treated as especially disappointing for their preferences.
    • Charge Blade is described as high/near the top for engagement.

Strategies / key tips emphasized across the video

  • Start with Dual Blades if you want an easier onboarding, then branch out.
  • For Sword & Shield: build around Perfect Rush, but expect potential repetition.
  • For Lance and Gunlance: play to their “range/stance” strengths—chasing movement can feel punishing.
  • For Charge Blade: learning guard points and timing is core; it’s essentially a “mini-game” system.
  • For Great Sword: win through patience and positioning—only commit during real openings.
  • For Bow / Light Bowgun / Heavy Bowgun: endgame power depends heavily on correct setups; the creator wasn’t interested in spreadsheet-style heavy time investment.
  • For Insect Glaive: if you dislike maintenance mechanics (bug buffs), it will likely feel bad even if the damage is high.

Gamers/sources featured (at the end)

  • No other gamers/channels are formally listed by name in subtitles, except:
    • Rauan / Ruuran (mentioned as a related name tied to Gunlance hype; likely a creator/community figure)
    • Uno Hunter (mentioned as an example of Hunting Horn master gameplay)

Original video