Charge Blade Guide and Best Combos in Monster Hunter Wilds

The Charge Blade is one of Monster Hunter Wilds' most complex weapons, combining two different modes to mix between extreme defense and incredible offense, and presents a deep challenge to master. It is ideal for hunters who are looking for something that can do everything, with endless potential for optimization.

The Charge Blade is famous for its complexity, having both a Sword Mode and an Axe Mode that give offense and defense options depending on the situation. It also uses Charge Phials to power up each mode, adding different effects and combo abilities to both modes. These are built up and stored during Sword Mode, and unleashed in Axe Mode for explosive attacks that deal devastating burst damage. This encourages you to switch between the two frequently, giving the feeling of wielding two different weapons at once.

This guide covers everything you need to know about the Charge Blade in Monster Hunter Wilds, from its mechanics and best combos to its strengths, weaknesses, and how to use it during hunts.

In the event you are looking for our Charge Blade builds, please click the link below.

Strengths

• Extreme Damage - When managed correctly can dish out incredible bursts of damage
• Strong Defense - With a variety of guard points it can stay up close and react to monsters
• Very Versatile - Has a lot of different tools to react to the situation between both Sword and Axe mode
• Long Range - Between high mobility in Sword and long reach attacks in Axe, can always connect with monsters

Weaknesses

• High Complexity - Requires you to learn a variety of different move sets and combos to make use of
• Barrier to Entry - Alongside this, the weapon requires you to understand these to use it at all
• Overcharging - Mis-managing Phials cause attacks to bounce
• Requires Good Positioning - Its biggest attacks can completely miss if aimed poorly

Title Update 2 came with a number of balance changes to many weapons, including the Charge Blade. Many of the changes were significant enough to open up new playstyle options as much more competitive - in particular SAED - although previous Savage Axe playstyles remain slightly stronger. Quick notes on changes are:

• Phial damage from Amped Element Discharge has been increased, and increased even further for Super Amped Element Discharge.
• Individual ticks from Savage Axe follow-up attacks have been reduced.
• Weak Slash, Return Stroke and Shield Thrust have had their raw scaling increased.
• Impact Phial damage increased while in Sword Boost mode.
• Guard Points now also interact with Perfect Guard, allowing you to combo directly into Savage Axe Slash.

This has brought the two playstyles of Savage Axe and SAED much closer, opening up build options between the two. While Savage Axe is slightly weaker than before, it still remains an the slightly stronger option due to requiring much smaller openings to deal its damage. This is especially true if you struggle to consistently build to and land SAEDs.

The Charge Blade has a fairly elaborate UI Gauge underneath your stamina bar that tracks a variety of different things. First, there are three icons on the left to show the state each part of your weapon is currently in.

Second, there are 5 Phials to the right that indicate the number of Charge Phials you currently have, and a color highlight to show how many Phials will be received when you next Charge by pressing + / + / + :

Phial Indicator	Effect & Notes
	Phial is empty and needs to be charged
	Phial is filled and ready to be used
	Next Charge will restore 3 Phials
	Next Charge will restore 5 Phials
	Sword attacks will bounce until you Charge
	Phial effects increased by 40%

Phials are generated with attacks from Sword Mode, and banked by using Charge, and if you don't bank these routinely your sword attacks will bounce off until you do.

Managing your Phials is crucial to getting the most out of the Charge Blade, as they fuel everything it does. These are needed to trigger both the Sword Boost and the Element Boost (explained below), and to power up your Super Amped Element Discharge finishers.

Both your Sword and your shield have independent buffs to maintain that empower your attacks in different ways, and open up additional abilities.

• Element Boost is activated by holding / / after Charge. While the effect is active, your guard is increased in Sword Mode and you have access to Super Amped Element Discharge in Axe Mode.
• Sword Boost is activated by holding / / after Charge, and will follow up with Condensed Element Slash. While the effect is active, your sword attacks gain the benefit of Phials, damage is increased and your attacks will no longer bounce.

The duration of Element Boost is 30 seconds per Phial consumed, increased if they were Enhanced. The Sword Boost requires Element Boost to be active, and will last for 90 seconds regardless of the amount used to charge it.

You want to have these active as much as possible, spending Phials on this in between your SAED combos. Being caught off-guard with Element Boost fading during a big damage window is never fun!

Power Axe Mode massively increases the damage of your Axe Mode attacks, and unlocks additional follow-ups to all of its standard swings by holding the input as it connects with a monster. This is a little more difficult to keep active, with a couple of specific ways to get that axe head spinning:

• Perfect Guard Counter: after performing a Perfect Guard, you can follow up by pressing and holding / / to use Savage Axe Slash. This also includes perfectly timed Guard Points.
• Focus Strike - Double Rend: if you strike a wound when using Double Rend, you will immediately transition into Power Axe Mode.
• Mounted Finisher: pressing / / after creating a wound on a monster you have mounted will perform a finisher and activate Power Axe Mode.

While in this mode, the amount of Phials consumed by any Amped Element Discharges you use will be reduced, but does not reduce the cost of Super Amped Element Discharge. Lastly, it opens up the option to combo into Savage Axe Slash follow-ups by breaking out of an Element Discharge combo.

Each Charge Blade also comes with its own specific Phial type. These are specific to the weapon and cannot be changed. Currently, there are two different Phials each different Charge Blade has:

• Element Phial: Enhances elemental attacks used in Axe Mode. In particular, these enhance Super Amped Element Discharge, your big finisher.
• Impact Phial Enhances physical attacks used in Axe Mode. On the other hand, these boost Power Axe swings, and make it easier to stun monsters.

These choices slightly alter the type of combos you are looking to use the most, as they focus on different parts of Axe Mode and Power Axe Mode.

Like all shield weapons, the Charge Blade also has access to Guard, raising your shield by pressing / / to reduce damage at the cost of stamina. If this is timed perfectly with a monster strike it will trigger Perfect Guard, massively reducing the damage you take and allowing you to immediately transition into Power Axe Mode as a follow-up.

These also have a chance to trigger a Power Clash with the attacking monster, requiring you to rapidly tap / / . If successful, you will topple the monster and follow up with a Savage Axe Slash and activating Power Axe Mode.

The Charge Blade also has a variety of Guard Points built into its combos. These are moments when your shield is raised toward a monster while performing certain actions that will serve as a heightened guard, reducing damage taken if hit and allowing you to continue your current action. Moves that have Guard Points in them are:

• Morph Slash - Sword: while transitioning from Sword Mode to Axe Mode, a guard point is triggered as you raise your shield to attach it.
• Morph Slash - Axe: when transitioning back to Sword Mode from Axe Mode with / / you will end in a guard point.
• Element Boost: when charging your Shield, you will slam it forward after completing it into an extended guard point.
• Roundslash: the third attack in your / / combo will face your shield forward, ending in a guard point.
• Fade Slash: after using a directional follow up with / / your will end with your shield raised after swinging.

These are extremely difficult to master, requiring even more timing than perfect guards as they happen during longer animations. If you can read a monster well however, they have a big impact on how quickly you can flow between charge states and dish out damage.

Focus mode is a new feature in Monster Hunter wilds that lets you aim your strikes by holding / / . Your strikes will aim toward your camera while using this, allowing you to target wounds or specific monster areas.

The Charge Blade in particular can make excellent use of this feature, allowing you to control your Fade Slash directions to stick to a monster during Sword Mode. The biggest benefit though is being able to rotate during the wind-up of Amped Element Discharge, making sure it still aims toward the monster as the animation begins. Note though, once the swing is locked in you cannot reposition it anymore.

The Charge Blade also has a special attack that can be used from Focus Mode: Double Rend. This can be used from either Sword Mode or Axe Mode, and if this connects with a wound you will immediately transition into a Savage Axe Strike, entering Power Axe Mode. This is a very consistent way of activating this, plus it deals a lot of damage.

In Monster Hunter Wilds you have access to your very own Seikret mount, and comes with its own attacks both while mounted and when dismounting. You can perform a Standard Attack swinging to the side with your Sword using / / and this will generate a small amount of Phial charge.

You also have three different dismounting options when engaging a monster from your Seikret:

• Jumping Slash Dismount: Pressing / / followed by / / will dismount in Sword Mode.
• Jumping Morph Slash Dismount: Pressing / / followed by / / will dismount in Axe Mode.
• Dismount Attack: Pressing + / + / + will dismount your Seikret and perform a downward strike using your sword.

Lastly, while mounted on a monster, after a wound is created you can execute a powerful finishing strike by pressing / / . This leads into a Savage Axe Strike that activates Power Axe Mode and topples the monster.

The Charge Blade has a deep combo system that involves a lot of inputs to chain together its various effects. A lot of these require careful resource management to build up and execute in a precise order, leading into high payoff moments, so even the most simple combos are key to unlocking the weapon's potential.

In Monster Hunter Wilds, there are generally two different focuses depending on your chosen playstyle that affects your combo choices:

• SAED playstyles focuses on building Phials quickly through generation combos, then building into longer Axe combos that end in explosive finisher moments. This is much more reliant on landing those combos, and can be slightly more difficult to pull off. After Title Update 2, SAED has massive payoff, and is much more competitive as an option.
• Savage Axe playstyles aim to be in Power Axe mode as much as possible, relying on the chainsaw follow-up attacks to deal its damage. This is less committal than SAED, making it more flexible to monster patterns. This is generally slightly higher damage when played correctly.

Basic combos are easy to pull off, and are often how the Charge Blade activates some of its combo skills. Many of these are parts of linked combos further in the chain that are mixed together, so knowing them is very useful.

Forward Slash ➜ Return Stroke ➜ Roundslash
This is your most basic attack string. This won't be used much, but does store up some Phials slowly.

1. Forward Slash: Forward + Press / /
2. Return Stroke: Press / /
3. Round Slash: Press / /

Morph Slash ➜ Rushing Element Discharge I ➜ Element Discharge II ➜ Amped Element Discharge
This is your fastest way to switch from Sword Mode into Axe mode quickly and begin an AED.

1. Morph Slash: Press + / + / +
2. Rushing Element Discharge I: Forward + Press / /
3. Element Discharge II: Press / /
4. Amped Element Discharge: Press / /

Amped Element Discharge ➜ (Optional) Amped Element Discharge Follow-up ➜ Super Amped Element Discharge
This is your biggest damage combo chain that leads to huge bursts of damage, but requires you to have Phials charged to pull it off.

1. Amped Element Discharge: Press + / + / +
2. Amped Element Discharge follow-up: Press / /
3. Super Amped Element Discharge: Press + / + / +

The Charge Blade by design involves a lot of long, technical combos to activate most of its effects. Some of them are fast, and others can be linked together, but most of the things you want to be doing involve setting up for payoff. Knowing some key moves to execute is vital to access your strongest attacks.

Forward Slash ➜ Charged Double Slash ➜ Shield Thrust ➜ Charged Double Slash ➜ Charge
This is the fastest way to fully refill your Phials, setting you up to either activate Element Boost, Sword Boost, or transition into SAED.

1. Forward Slash: Forward + Press / /
2. Charged Double Slash: Press / /
3. Shield Thrust: Press + / + / +
4. Charged Double Slash: Press / /
5. Charge: Press / /

You can either follow this up by holding / to transition into Elemental Roundslash for Sword Boost, or holding / / to charge Element Boost.

Perfect Guard ➜ Savage Axe Slash ➜ Element Discharge II ➜ Charged Double Slash ➜ Charge
Following up a Perfect Guard is the fastest way to activate Power Axe mode. This also includes successful Guard Points.

1. Perfect Guard: Press / / at the right moment
2. Savage Axe Slash: Press and Hold / /
3. Element Discharge II: Press and Hold / /

This can instead be followed up with + / + / + for an SAED if you have Phials you want to spend.

Perfect Guard ➜ Super Amped Element Discharge
This is your fastest path to SAED uses, allowing you to immediately follow up any Perfect Guard (including Guard Points) with one.

1. Perfect Guard: Press / / at the right moment
2. Super Amped Element Discharge: Press + / + / +

Power Axe Mode ➜ Element Discharge I ➜ Element Discharge II ➜ Rising Slash
While in Power Axe mode this allows you to loop Savage Axe Slash so long as you maintain the buff.

1. Element Discharge I: Press and Hold / /
2. Element Discharge II: Press and Hold / /
3. Rising Slash: Press and Hold / /