Lance Guide and Best Combos in Monster Hunter Wilds

The Lance is all about strong defense and steady offense. With its massive shield, you can block some of the hardest-hitting attacks in Monster Hunter Wilds, while its precise thrusts let you keep up constant pressure on the monster. If you like standing your ground, countering at the perfect moment, and staying in control of the fight, the Lance is a great choice.

Unlike most weapons, the Lance is not about flashy combos; it is all about patience, positioning, and knowing when to strike. Monster Hunter Wilds makes it more mobile and aggressive than before, adding Power Guard, Victory Thrust, and new movement options that let you stay on the attack while keeping your defense up.

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

In case you're looking for our Lance builds, click below.

Strengths

• Unmatched Defense – Can block almost anything with minimal knockback.
• Steady Damage – Precise thrusts let you stay on the attack without dropping guard.
• Hard-Hitting Counters – Power Guard and Victory Thrust turn defense into big damage.
• More Mobility – Guard Dash and Dash Attack help close gaps and stay aggressive.

Weaknesses

• Slow Recovery – Many attacks have slower animations, leaving you vulnerable without your Shield.
• Limited Evasion – Sidesteps and backsteps are your only option with your weapon drawn.
• Struggles with Tails – Thrust-based attacks make tail cutting rather difficult.
• Stamina Drain – Blocking, countering, and dashing eat up stamina fast.

Title Update 2 came with a number of balance changes to many weapons, although the Lance had very little done to it. Quick notes of changes are:

• Charge Counter can now be instantly chained into following a successful Focus Strike: Victory Thrust.
• Focus Strike: Victory Thrust has had its hitbox widened to be more generous when targeting wounds.
• The first component of the Lance's Focus Strike (using the shield) was unintentionally breaking wounds early, which has been resolved.

While very small changes that have no major impact on overall Lance gameplay, this does help with some issues related to Wounds the weapon has been struggling with.

The Lance in Monster Hunter Wilds stays true to its identity as a high-defense weapon with powerful counterattacks, but new mechanics make it faster, more aggressive, and more flexible than ever. While it still rewards patience and precision, you now have more ways to control fights, close gaps, and punish monsters for every attack they throw at you.

One of the biggest changes is the ability to maintain your guard while charging, keeping your defense up without losing momentum. Blocking strong hits speeds up charge levels, letting you use high-damage moves faster!

Thrust Combos form the bread and butter of offense for the Lance, allowing you to target monster parts with precision. Mid Thrust using / / will attack directly in front, while High Thrust using / / will instead attack diagonally upward. Thrusts come in a 3-step combo, and can be seamlessly mixed together.

After the third Thrust, you can follow-up with either a Triple Thrust with / / for three quick hits, or immediately jump into a stage 3 Charged Guard by holding / / . Either can be done regardless of which Thrust type was used to end the combo.

These two attacks and this standard combo will often be your main source of offense when a Monster isn't directly attacking you, so learning when to use each depending on the part you're targetting is crucial.

The Lance has a wealth of different Guard options open to it, and rather than being a secondary component of the weapon is a core aspect to its gameplay. With its wealth of tools you can cover almost any bad situation you might find yourself in.

At its most basic, the Lance has a strong standard Guard state using its large Shield, that can be entered into by holding / / . You can switch into this at any step in a combo, and can be held infinitely. While Guarding, your movement is significantly reduced but you can change your facing with directional inputs.

While active, any attack that strikes you will have its damage and knockback reduced, but will consume Stamina and reduce Sharpness when it connects. If this exceeds your current Stamina, your Guard will break and you will be knocked back. You can still be dealt chip damage during this, so be aware when blocking particularly dangerous attacks. When an attack is Guarded, you will also perform a small counter-hit.

After a successful Guard, you can follow up with one of three different Thrusts:

• Return Thrust - / / - the quickest follow-up for small windows, and chains into the second step of your Thrust Combo.
• Payback Thrust - / / - slightly longer windows required, but immediately chains into your Thrust Combo finishers.
• Retribution Thrust - + / + / + - requires an even longer window, but deals significantly more damage and also chains into Thrust Combo finishers.

Lance also has access to the new Perfect Guard mechanic. If you time your Guard perfectly rather than holding the stance, you will instead negate all damage, sharpness loss and knockback. You will also immediately be able to follow up with any of the 3 standard Guard counters.

Guarding and Perfect Guarding also have a chance to trigger the new Power Clash mechanic added in Monster Hunter: Wilds. This will trigger a brief moment where you will zoom into your character, and need to rapidly tap / / . If successful, this will deal a massive amount of follow-up damage and knock the monster down. If you are unsuccessful, you will be knocked back instead.

The Charged Guard and Counter state can be entered into at any time while Guarding by holding / / , or immediately after the third step of your Thrust combo. This has three stages, indicated by a glow around your character. The damage your follow-up hit will deal is based on the glow surrounding your character:

• Start - No Glow - 1x
• Stage 1 - Silver Glow - 1.2x
• Stage 2 - Orange Glow - 1.4x
• Stage 3 - Red Glow - 1.7x

While charging, if you are struck by an attack, if it doesn't break your guard it will be blocked and you will automatically follow up with a High Thrust I. If, however, you release the Guard at the moment of a monster attack, you will perform a much stronger Double Counter-Thrust, and negate the incoming attack entirely.

Finally, the ultimate defense for the Lance involves Power Guard. This is a special state that can be entered into from a Charged Guard by holding + / + / + . While in this state, you will have an even stronger knockback reduction. Being attacked no longer reduces Stamina, but instead will constantly drain while holding the stance.

This charges using the same colors as the Charged Guard, however instead of charging over time it instead is gained by being attacked by monsters while guarding. If you reach a Red Glow state, Retribution Thrust is instead replaced with Grand Retribution Thrust, dealing even more damage and is your most powerful counter-attack finisher.

While holding a Guard stance, your mobility is greatly reduced. Instead, you have a handful of options to quickly step in different directions. Do be aware, the Lance requires you to be very aware of your Stamina management as a main resource for defense, so don't over-step!

• While holding Guard, you can hop backward with / / . You can also hop in each direction with an appropriate input.
• During a Thrust Combo, you can hop backward with / / , or hold Forward while hopping to advance on your target.
• You can also side-step with a directional input if you hold Focus Mode with / / .

Each of these steps will maintain your current step in a given combo.

A more niche aspect of Monster Hunter: Wilds, the Lance has a special Guard state that is activated against continuous attacks from specific monsters, such as Uth Duna's flamethrower. This will bring the camera in close while you hold it, repeatedly draining Stamina with each tick. When the Monster finishes the attack, you can follow up with a powerful Counter Rush with / / .

The Lance has a high movement Dash Attack that can be started at any point by pressing + + / + + / + + . This will immediately cause you to charge forward, dealing constant damage to monster parts you pass through. This can be slightly steered in each direction while moving, and your stamina slowly drains, and each attack drains your Sharpness. The longer the Dash Attack goes on, the more your momentum builds and damage increases. There are also 3 different movement options while charging:

• Forward + / / will cause you to jump. This can be chained into a jumping attack, which causes mounting damage.
• Left/Right + / / will perform a quick side-step.
• Backward + / / will cause you to flip 180 degrees quickly.

To end the dash attack, you can either press / / to cancel it immediately, or either / / or / / to execute a Finishing Thrust.

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 Lance can make great use of this to orient its position to aim each Thrust, granting even greater control over your targets to hit key monster parts. Holding this also gives better movement options during your Combos, so is a staple for Lance gameplay.

The Lance also has a special attack that can be used from focus mode: Victory Thrust. If this connects with a wound you will charge into your target, dealing multiple hits and finishing with a powerful Thrust. This deals a lot of damage, but does consume the Wound when it triggers.

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. Lance is unique in that it can perform a Jousting Charge while mounted by holding / / , dealing damage to any Monster you pass through.

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

• Jumping Downward Thrust Dismount: Pressing / / followed by / / will dismount and Thrust your Lance downward.
• Jumping Thrust Dismount: Pressing + / + / + will dismount and Thrust your Lance forward.

Lastly, while mounted on a monster, after a wound is created you can execute a powerful finishing strike by pressing / / .

The Lance is all about consistently sticking to a target and performing combos, while mixing in guards to build a flow. Therefore, while a lot of combos can be performed, knowing when you need to switch to defense to capitalize on counters forms the core of Lance gameplay at any level.

The basic Lance Thrust combos can be mixed together, and form the core of your offense. Bear in mind that both the I, II and III steps of your standard combo can be mixed together between either Mid Thrust or High Thrust when mentioned here.

Mid Thrust I ➜ Mid Thrust II ➜ Mid Thrust III ➜ Triple Thrust

Your most basic Thrust combo that can be repeated.

1. Mid Thrust I: Press / /
2. Mid Thrust II: Press / /
3. Mid Thrust III: Press / /
4. Triple Thrust: Press / /

This is your standard fast combo that you can always rely on. Just be aware that Mid Thrust will strike directly in front of you, so may not have the vertical reach you need for some Monsters.

High Thrust I ➜ High Thrust II ➜ High Thrust III ➜ Charged Counter

A slightly slower Thrust combo option that leads directly into a stage 3 Charged Counter state.

1. High Thrust I: Press / /
2. High Thrust II: Press / / again
3. High Thrust III: Press / / again
4. Charge Counter: Hold / / after High Thrust III, then release in sync with the attack.

This immediately puts you in a strong position to follow-up with a powerful counter if timed well. These Thrusts are slower than the standard combo, but have much more vertical reach allowing for pin-point targeting.

While the Lance has a surprisingly simple core to keep up the pressure, it also has a handful of combos that can be used to get into the fray quickly, or switch it up to stay on the offensive.

This will get you into range of your target, and follow-up with a fast, high damage entry into your main Thrust Combo.

Leaping Thrust ➜ Wide Sweep ➜ Mid Thrust III ➜ Triple Thrust (Safe Damage):

1. Leaping Thrust: Press + / + / +
2. Wide Sweep: Press + / + / +
3. Mid Thrust III: Press / /
4. Triple Thrust: Press / /

Following a Perfect Guard, this is your highest damage follow-up counter to quickly punish Monsters.

Perfect Guard ➜ Retribution Thrust ➜ Triple Thrust (Safe Damage):

1. Perfect Guard: Time / /
2. Retribution Thrust: Press + / + / +
3. Triple Thrust: Press / /

This will get you into range of your target, and follow-up with a fast, high damage entry into your main Thrust Combo.

By utilizing a well timed Power Guard, you can transition straight into a powerful follow-up that transitions into a point blank Dash Attack for massive damage.

Charged Guard ➜ Power Guard ➜ Grand Retribution Thrust ➜ Dash Attack ➜ Finishing Twin Thrust:

1. Charged Guard: Hold + / + / +
2. Power Guard: Hold + / + / +
3. Grand Retribution Thrust: Press + / + / +
4. Dash Attack: Press + / + / +
5. Finishing Twin Thrust: Press / /

This deals huge damage, especially in long openings that allow you to build momentum by allowing the Dash Attack to repeatedly hit a monster at close range.