Switch Axe High Rank and Endgame Builds for Monster Hunter Wilds
Learn everything about the best Switch Axe builds for High Rank as well as endgame builds for Switch Axe in Monster Hunter Wilds including the best skills to focus on as well as the best weapons, best armor all to help you progress through High Rank.
Welcome to our Monster Hunter Wilds build guide for the Switch Axe in both High Rank as well as endgame. Listed below you will find the best builds for the Switch Axe both for progressing through the earlier stages of High Rank as well as the best builds for Switch Axe at endgame.
To skip straight to the endgame builds, click the button below!
Switch Axe Changes in Title Update 2
Title update 2, released on June 30th brought two additional monsters to hunt in High Rank - Lagiacrus and Seregios, each with standard and tempered versions available. These both come with new weapons and armor sets to craft, and are available to hunt after HR31.
A quick breakdown of Switch Axe changes on this page as of the title update are as follows:
- The ideal armor set has been moved over to the Rey Dau Gamma variant due to the extra comfort it provides. Unfortunately, while Title Update 2 monsters have some interesting pieces, they aren't currently useful to mix into Switch Axe sets.
- Lagiacrus Armor has some very efficient pieces that may be useful in certain builds or upcoming sets, but is currently not incorporated into the meta build. The weapon on the other hand has potential against monsters weak to Thunder.
- The Seregios armor set is efficient, but Switch Axe generally has a harder time activating Adrenaline Rush consistently while performing Full Release Slash loops, so isn't used. The weapon has far too low uptime on Bladescale Honing to have value, so is also avoided.
Arch-Tempered Monsters and Gamma Sets
Traditionally the most powerful armor sets available in Monster Hunter, in Wilds the Gamma sets are being released with each Title Update. These grant access to the Lord's Soul 3-set bonus - a powerful additional cheat death effect - while coming with a slightly higher budget for strong skills. The sets currently released are:
- Rey Dau - this set focuses on Latent Power, which is generally less suited to the Switch Axe playstyle. Regardless of that though, the highly efficient skills on each piece and the strength of Lord's Soul makes it the recommended set in our Endgame section.
- Uth Duna - this set is unknown, and will be releasing later into Title Update 2.
Switch Axe HR 10 Armor Set
The first set to aim for as you begin High Rank still leans very heavily on some Low Rank sets, as they have far superior offensive skill options available. The best place to start is a mix of comfort and damage to adjust to the new monsters you'll be facing so you can find your footing. As you progress through the ranks these will be slowly swapped out for more tailored pieces to go with the Switch Axe playstyle.
Decorations are still something you'll be building a collection of at this stage, and while you will start to see slots appear on more gear, it's not really worth the time to go out and farm them this early. Simply use the ones you pick up that look like they'll add some comfort and keep progressing.
| Gear | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Barina Hache III | N/A |
| Head | G. Arkveld Helm | N/A |
| Chest | G. Arkveld Mail | N/A |
| Gloves | G. Rathalos Vambraces | N/A |
| Waist | G. Ebony Coil | N/A |
| Legs | G. Rathalos Greaves | N/A |
| Talisman | Leaping Charm II | N/A |
This set provides you with a solid starting point to get stuck into High Rank hunts and begin raising your Hunter Rank freely. It immediately starts with a craft of the Barina Hache III to unlock a solid blue sharpness weapon with Paralysis - a running theme for the Switch Axe as you move through the ranks. That means prioritizing a Lala Barina kill as early as possible is a good idea.
For the set to match with it, generally Low Rank pieces are much more useful this early, so use these with some Armor Sphere upgrades. Sticking to the Arkveld 2-piece to grant some points in Flayer and, more importantly, the set bonus to heal from wounds provides excellent early comfort. Pairing this with Guardian Rathalos for some points in Weakness Exploit and a single Guardian Ebony Odogaron piece to get a point in Burst provides a rounded overall setup. The Leaping Charm II also keeps some points in Evade Extender as a great complimenting Switch Axe skill.
HR 10 Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses
- Flayer - Level 2
- Weakness Exploit - Level 2
- Evade Extender - Level 2
- Critical Draw - Level 1
- Critical Status - Level 1
- Burst - Level 1
- Blight Resistance - Level 1
- Bleeding Resistance - Level 1
- Guardian's Pulse - 3-piece
- Rathalos's Flare - 2-piece
- Guardian Arkveld's Vitality - 2-piece
Switch Axe Mid-Game Armor Sets - HR 20-40+
As you move deeper into High Rank and unlock monster armor sets with access to stronger skills, you can start cutting out inefficient pieces and work toward a more offensive endgame build. This starts at HR20 with many of the Alpha and Beta sets from stronger monsters, and once Gore Magala is unlocked at Rank 40+ you can make a shift to a fully offensive setup.
We've separated these two stages into the tabs below depending on what gear you currently have access to:
Switch Axe Mid-Game HR Sets
Switch Axe HR20-39 Build
As you unlock more monsters within High Rank it's time to start looking at ways to raise your Affinity and pick up some more offensive skills. As you start farming monsters in this range you'll also pick up some higher value decoration slots as well that will be an important part of opening up your options when it comes to set building.
| Gear | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Barina Hache IV | N/A |
| Head | G. Fulgur Helm β | N/A |
| Chest | G. Fulgur Mail β | N/A |
| Gloves | G. Fulgur Vambraces β | Sheath |
| Waist | G. Fulgur Coil α | N/A |
| Legs | Mizutsune Greaves β | N/A |
| Talisman | Leaping Charm III | N/A |
This set makes use of the Guardian Fulgur Anjanath set to grant an additional stamina pair to make maintaining Maximum Might much easier, which the set also provides. It also starts to pick up points in Agitator for additional raw and Affinity to support it. The newly added Mizutsune Legs are an extremely efficient fifth piece to grab some valuable points in Burst to compliment it. You can optionally look at pieces from the Blangonga set to max out Agitator as well if you are willing to drop down to the 2-piece Fulgur set.
The base recommendation is Leaping Charm III when starting out due to the extreme comfort provided by Evade Extender, but as you start to gain more decorations to fulfill some skills you can look toward removing this. In particular, you can use this slot to grab two points in Counterstrike and complete it with a single decoration once you manage to obtain one.
Your priority hunts is obviously Guardian Fulgur Anjanath to complete the armor set as early as possible, and otherwise Lala Barina if you didn't already for the parts to craft Barina Hache IV, which should cover you until you can upgrade it in the endgame.
HR 20-39 Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses
- Maximum Might - Level 3
- Evade Extender - Level 3
- Critical Draw - Level 2
- Agitator - Level 2
- Burst - Level 2
- Critical Status - Level 1
- Stamina Surge - Level 1
- Guardian's Protection - 3-piece
- Fulgur Anjanath's Will - 4-piece
Switch Axe HR 40+ Mid-game Build
Once you unlock Gore Magala and High Rank Arkveld the entire crafting tree opens up with the acquisition of Hunter Symbol III. This allows you to start building a collection of the strongest equipment, and making offense your main focus. You should also have a nice collection of decorations available to round out an optimized set like the one below.
| Gear | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Lala Selenocosmi |
|
| Head | G. Fulgur Helm β |
|
| Chest | Gore Mail α |
|
| Gloves | Gore Vambraces β |
|
| Waist | Gore Coil β |
|
| Legs | Gore Greaves β |
|
| Talisman | Counter Charm III | N/A |
With the changes to Maximum Might in Title Update 1, a shift to a full Gore Magala 4-piece set is the best option to Switch Axe to maximize your affinity. This paired with a single Sane decoration grants a large amount when you overcome the Frenzy it applies, and paired with 3 Mighty decorations and Agitator you get very close to maxing it out. The Guardian Fulgur Anjanath Helm provides the best Agitator efficiency at this stage to round out the set.
The set uses Counter Charm III to max out Counterstrike which can be activated consistently during Full Release Slash, and has one floating 2-slot decoration that can be used on anything you like (Jumping is a universal recommendation here for Evade Extender).
The Lala Barina Switch Axe comes with an extremely large amount of white sharpness, some free Affinity and high Paralysis so is the go to craft until Artian weapons, and is your priority craft. Decorations used are Power Prolonger/Handicraft in the 3-slot to extend your Amped state, and then Critical Boost in both the 2-slot and 1-slot.
HR 40+ Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses
- Agitator - Level 4
- Constitution - Level 4
- Critical Boost - Level 3
- Power Prolonger - Level 3
- Maximum Might - Level 3
- Counterstrike - Level 3
- Antivirus - Level 3
- Critical Draw - Level 2
- Critical Status - Level 1
- Handicraft - Level 1
- Burst - Level 1
- Flinch Free - Level 1
- Evade Extender - Level 1
- Gore Magala's Tyranny - 4-piece
- Scale Layering - 3-piece
Switch Axe HR 50+ Endgame Armor Set
After reaching Hunter Rank 50, you unlock access to the entire suite of current endgame monsters as well as any event quests that appear throughout each title update. Currently we have a curated primary endgame build, and a variant build that doesn't rely on event quests that can be quickly put together.
Switch Axe Endgame Sets
Arch-Tempered Rey Dau Switch Axe Endgame Armor Set
While the Rey Dau set being focused around Latent Power isn't the first pick for Switch Axe, the efficient pieces paired with the strength and comfort of Lord's Soul makes it a good core to build around. This is rounded out with Zoh Shia pieces to still maintain skills needed.
| Gear | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Blazing Mahaiah |
|
| Head | Numinous Crown β |
|
| Chest | Rey Sandmail γ |
|
| Gloves | Rey Sandbraces γ |
|
| Waist | Rey Sandcoil γ |
|
| Legs | Numinous Greaves α |
|
| Talisman | Challenger Charm III | N/A |
As the power is weighted toward Lord's Soul and the 4-piece is relatively low impact due to its focus on Latent Power, only 3 pieces of Rey Dau is used. It uses the last two slots on Zoh Shia pieces to efficiently build up Agitator, Counterstrike and some extra comfort.
It completes Agitator with a Talisman, and rounds out decorations with Mighty and Counter 2-slots to max out both skills. Finally, it has 3 free 1-slot decorations available for whatever your best comfort pick is. We've added Constitution to make Maximum Might easier to maintain, though Divine Blessing is a good defensive option.
You can also optionally switch to 2-piece Gore Magala using Legs and Chest, while replacing the Head with Rey Dau Gamma. This has slightly weaker overall performance and comfort to make use of the Sane benefits, but has more Affinity on average without relying on Latent Power to cap out.
The Blazing Mahaiah is an extremely solid craft that competes even with very well rolled Artian weapons. Whiteflame Torrent is a flat damage proc that's simply in the background, but gets more valuable the less efficient you are with your Full Release Slash cycles. It also comes with exceptional raw, base affinity and high white sharpness making it the ideal crafted Switch Axe, and arguably one of the best available in the endgame.
HR 50+ Arch-Tempered Rey Dau Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses
- Agitator - Level 5
- Latent Power - Level 5
- Critical Boost - Level 3
- Power Prolonger - Level 3
- Maximum Might - Level 3
- Counterstrike - Level 3
- Constitution - Level 3
- Evade Extender - Level 2
- Recovery Speed - Level 2
- Whiteflame Torrent - Level 1
- Handicraft - Level 1
- Burst - Level 1
- Elemental Absorption - Level 1
- Lord's Soul - 3-piece
- Rey Dau's Voltage - 2-piece
- Zoh Shia's Pulse - 2-piece
Entry to Endgame Switch Axe Armor Set
As you enter into the endgame, using some Title Update 1 options the Switch Axe has some good options to quickly get started with high end hunts. This is a solid option to build out if Rey Dau isn't available to hunt for Gamma tickets, but requires HR50+ to have access to Zoh Shia.
| Gear | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Blazing Mahaiah |
|
| Head | Gore Helm β |
|
| Chest | Numinous Shroud β |
|
| Gloves | Gore Vambraces β |
|
| Waist | Gore Coil β |
|
| Legs | Gore Greaves β |
|
| Talisman | Counter Charm III | N/A |
Much like the HR40+ build, this uses the Gore Magala 4-piece as the extremely efficient affinity when paired with Sane decorations is hard to pass up. The Zoh Shia Chest allows you to max out Agitator extremely efficiently, rounding out the set in a way that couldn't be done prior to Title Update 1. Counter Charm III and Maximum Might decorations remain as well as finishers to the build, along with a single efficient Burst decoration.
The Blazing Mahaiah is an extremely solid craft that competes even with very well rolled Artian weapons. Whiteflame Torrent is a flat damage proc that's simply in the background, but gets more valuable the less efficient you are with your Full Release Slash cycles. It also comes with exceptional raw, base affinity and high white sharpness making it the ideal crafted Switch Axe, and arguably one of the best available in the endgame.
HR 50+ Endgame Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses
- Agitator - Level 5
- Constitution - Level 4
- Critical Boost - Level 3
- Power Prolonger - Level 3
- Maximum Might - Level 3
- Counterstrike - Level 3
- Antivirus - Level 3
- Evade Window - Level 2
- Whiteflame Torrent - Level 1
- Handicraft - Level 1
- Burst - Level 1
- Flinch Free - Level 1
- Gore Magala's Tyranny - 4-piece
- Scale Layering - 3-piece
Artian Weapons for the Switch Axe
A well rolled Artian Weapon is one the strongest option available for the Switch Axe in all situations, and is the end goal of endgame farming. With raw being more potent in general for the Switch Axe (though Element builds are an option too), universal crafts of either Paralysis or Blast are the go to, with our recommendation being a Paralysis Mundus Atlus for the additional CC. Currently the Blazing Mahaiah is a competitive alternative, so your Artian craft needs ideal rolls to keep up.
You should always aim to craft weapons with all 3 of the same status or element on your two Blades and one Device selections to maximize their infusion values. Also aim to use 3 Attack infusions to maximize the raw throughput. Ideally, you want the following reinforcements:
- Attack Boost +5
- Attack Boost +5
- Attack Boost +5
- Attack Boost +5
- Sharpness Boost +30
A perfect roll isn't necessary to make this a valuable craft. Ideally you're aiming to max out (or as close to) your Affinity with all other armor set buffs considered, have a small amount of Sharpness for comfort and then all the rest on raw attack. For the 3 decoration slots, you have a few options:
- Critical III recommended - a boost to your Affinity damage any way you cut it, always worth slotting in.
- Enhancer/Handicraft recommended - increases the amount of time you spend in Amped state while adding a bit of sharpness as a combination decoration. Very high value.
- Critical II/III - maxes out your Critical Boost skill for maximum offense. This is optional with the below two other choices.
- Razor Sharp/Handicraft - provides a lot of sharpness comfort in a single decoration, but is a bit overkill if you're already managing it properly.
Changelog
- 08 Jul. 2025: Updated for Title Update 2, highlighted sets mostly stay the same.
- 08 May 2025: Updated with Arch-Tempered Rey Dau sets.
- 10 Apr. 2025: Updated for Title Update 1.
- 21 Mar. 2025: Guide added.
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This guide has been written by Wordup, a frequent theorycrafter involved in a number of class communities. He is also an experienced player who has been in the world top 100 since the days of Sunwell, currently raiding in Echoes. You can follow him on Twitter.
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