Are you tired of being stuck on the ground in Monster Hunter: World? Wish you could fly through the sky like Rathalos and rain down pain from the heavens like Bazelgeuse? Or maybe you just want to stop getting tripped up by tail swipes?

Well, the Insect Glaive may not make you that powerful, but its aerial abilities can’t be beaten. Our Monster Hunter: World Insect Glaive guide will give you an idea about this weapon type and what to expect if you take up these unusual arms.

The Basics of the Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter: World

Insect Glaives are weapons that are faster than most other types in Monster Hunter: World. Like the Dual Blades, fast combos are the bread and butter of an effective Insect Glaive user. Meanwhile, the weapon’s longer range and greater versatility can keep you out of harm’s way. This is important as you cannot guard with a Glaive — only dodge.

This weapon type is for players that want to be agile and airborne. Insect Glaives rely on fast attacks that you can easily chain into combos. This also means that the Insect Glaive’s overall attack power is on the lower side, so you need to be able to land those combos if you want to take down a monster effectively.

Insect Glaives also have a unique add-on item: Kinsects. Kinsects can help give your Glaive different attributes and elemental types. Kinsects are like an additional equipment slot for Insect Glaive users to upgrade and worry about.

Kinsect Extract

All of this is complex enough to be worthy of its own guide. Let’s just stick to the basics for now. Know that, to get the most out of your Insect Glaive, you want to launch your Kinsect (using L2 + Triangle or Left Trigger + Y) at the monster. Depending on where it hits, it will gather a certain color of “Extract.” Then you can recall your Kinsect with L2 + Circle and Left Trigger + B. When you do, you will temporarily receive a buff that corresponds to that color.

The different colors of Extract are as follows:

Red – Provides a damage boost and improves your attack combos. You usually retrieve this from monsters’ heads.
White – Increases your speed. You usually retrieve this from monster limbs and wings.
Orange – Increases your defense. You usually retrieve this from monster bodies.
Green – Heals you immediately. You usually retrieve this from monster tails.

The best kind of Extract to have, however, is… well, all of them. You get an even stronger buff — and reset the buff’s timer — when you manage to collect red, white, and orange all at the same time. The best time to attack is while under the effect of this buff. It drastically increases your damage output and attack combos.

Monster Hunter World Insect Glaive

Fly High Into the Sky

The most unique aspect of the Insect Glaive are its aerial abilities. Hitting R2 + X or the Right Trigger + A (depending on your controller) will launch your hunter high into the air. Because of this, the Insect Glaive is probably the easiest weapon to get airborne — and ready to mount monsters — with.

That’s because any attack that lands in the air also does “mounting damage” to the target monster. Each time you deal mounting damage of any kind, there is a small chance you will latch onto the monster’s back and attempt to topple them. The Insect Glaive is, unsurprisingly, the best weapon type to use if you want to mount monsters consistently. With the combination of aerial combat and mounting damage, you’ll be able to knock down beats with relative ease.

Once in the air, you can do one of three things: launch a mid-air slam attack, do a mid-air dodge in any direction, and then attack, or do a spinning attack in any direction. If you land your mid-air spin attack, you will launch off the monster’s back and be able to attack again… and again and again. There’s a catch, though. Staying in the air costs a lot of stamina, so it’s important to juggle when to slam or dodge to get back on the ground.

Staying in the air and attacking long enough will trigger the Vaulting Dance, a powerful move, so it’s best to try and stay in the air as long as possible. Of course, mounting is usually a desirable outcome, too.

Tips for Insect Glaive Users

Make sure to level up your Kinsects with your Glaives – Don’t consider your Kinsects a secondary item that can be upgraded whenever. Keeping your Kinsects properly upgraded and changing them around for any given situation is imperative for mastery of this weapon type. Thankfully, they don’t require too many materials to craft and upgrade.

Lowering stamina consumption is the best thing you can do – The stamina costs of being airborne are high. Any skills and buffs you can use to lower stamina costs are going to make your fights as an Insect Glaive much easier.

Affinity can help your damage output – The Insect Glaive has quick attacks that do less damage. Upping your Affinity stat can help you do more damage, and couples well with the attack up Kinsect extract.

Set your Kinsect to auto-attack while you jump around – You can always “mark” your target by aiming the Insect Glaive with R2 or Right Trigger, then letting go to fire a pheromone blob. After you release your Kinsect, it will continuously attack that spot on the monster for a short time.

It’s good for an extra bit of damage. More than that, though, the Kinsect will create puffs of “dust” that detonate when you strike them. The effects of dust depend on the Kinsect, but if you continue bursting the clouds near a monster, you can heal yourself, cause poison, paralysis, and do all kinds of other fun things.

Monster Hunter: World Insect Glaive Guide - Tips, Strategies, Combos

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