Making your very own Gunlance set in Monster Hunter Rise can be a daunting task without guides if you’re unfamiliar with the weapon. Especially since there are three different types; Normal, Long, and Wide; that you have to consider when looking for the best Gunlances. But be afraid no more! Below we have compiled a selection of the best weapon trees, armor, and skills in the Monster Hunter Rise 2.0 update from various sources (including the Funlance and Monster Hunter Meta Reddit page) to make it easier to craft your own Gunlance sets. Read on below, start theory-crafting, and test them out on the Toadversary in the Training Area.

Monster Hunter Rise 2.0 – Long Gunlances

To open the Monster Hunter Rise Gunlance guide, let’s talk about Long first. Long is the jack-of-all-trades and pretty much the easiest one to build. In general, all you need to keep an eye out on Long Gunlance is just the shelling level. Since shelling and Wyrmstake will be your primary damage dealers, if you got the max shelling level, you’re good to go. However, if you do want to full burst, it could also still deal a decent amount of damage. For that reason, there are not many weapons you have to choose from.

Recommended Meta Gunlance:

  • Howlitzer + Affinity Boost (Canyne tree).
  • Icesteel Gunlance I + Kushala Soul (Kushala Daora tree).

Recommended Switch Skills:

  • Guard Edge: countering attacks or roar (and after Blast Dash) will be your only way to let out fast Wyrmstake.
  • Blast Dash: for extra mobility at the cost of shell usage.
  • Ground Splitter: a must to add shelling damage for the duration of the skill.
  • Guard Reload: gives guard point when reloading and reloads Wyrmstake at the cost of only reloading three shells.

Monster Hunter Rise 2.0 – Wide Gunlances

Stab (or poke) and shelling is the name of the game with Wide. This type of Gunlance also has a special Wyrmstake that can deal KO damages if it gets stuck on a monster’s head. Unfortunately, Wide is currently in a pretty tight spot regarding DPS since the KO Wyrmstake deals fewer damages than normal Wyrmstakes, supercharged shelling doesn’t give a significant damage boost. Even though it’s fast/low-commitment, full burst (both on Normal and Long) easily out damages the stab-shelling playstyle. It’s still a good choice if you need to utilize a safer playstyle though.

  • Mighty Cornpopper + Anti-Aquatic Species (Guild tree).

  • Admiral’s Arbalance + Wyrmstake Boost (Ore tree).

  • Tigrex Gunlance + Affinity Boost/Brutal Strike if not using any Affinity boosting skills (Tigrex tree).

  • Doombringer Gunlance + Water Boost (Almudron tree).

  • Ambermarch + Attack Boost (Barioth tree).

  • Datura Gunlance + Poison Boost/Wyrmstake Boost (Pukei-Pukei tree).

  • Guard Edge: counter monster’s attacks or roar with a fast Wyrmstake.

  • Charged Shelling: Wide got bonus damage from both charged shelling levels.

  • Ground Splitter: a must to add shelling damage for the duration of the skill.

  • Guard Reload: gives guard point when reloading and reloads Wyrmstake. And Wide can only hold up to three shells anyway.

Monster Hunter Rise 2.0 – Normal Gunlances

The type to pick if you want the most explosions; Normal holds up to six shells. Your best bet is to do the melee until a slam, then unload all your shells through the full burst attack. Although considered the best type DPS-wise — since most of the time, it has high raw and you can always ramp-up raw but not shelling damages — most Gunlance fans are afraid that this will make the “Slaplance” style (comboing without using shelling at all) once again the best way to use the weapon.

  • Araknalance + Dragon Exploit from Fiore Unu (Rakna-Kadaki tree)

  • Ortlinde + Poison Boost (Rathian tree)

  • Despot’s Phlogiston + Anti-Aquatic Species (Zinogre tree)

  • Guard Edge: counter monster’s attacks or roar with a fast Wyrmstake.

  • Blast Dash: for extra mobility at the cost of shell usage. Normal has the most shells so it’s not big of a deal.

  • Hail Cutter: cuts Wyvern’s Fire timer. Can be followed with a full burst and combos nicely with Blast Dash.

  • Quick Reload: quickly reload all of your six shells without reloading Wyrmstake.

Below we get to the final segment of this Monster Hunter Rise 2.0 Gunlance guide, the armor sets and skills you can use as the base for your build. Just mix and match them with other armor parts, Talismans, and decorations to get the skills you need in your own build.

Armor Sets:

  • Bazelguese set:
  • Bazelguese Helm: Artillery x1; Guard x1; 2-0-0 Deco slot.
  • Bazelguese Mail: Agitator x1; Guard Up x2; 1-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Bazelguese Braces: Guard Up x1; Load Shells x1; 2-2-0 Deco slot.
  • Bazelguese Coil: Guard x1; Load Shells x1; 2-2-0 Deco slot.
  • Bazelguese Greaves: Artillery x2; Guard x1; 3-0-0 Deco slot.
  • Basarios set:
  • Basarios Helm S: Defense Boost x2; Load Shells x1; 2-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Basarios Mail S: Guard x1; Load Shells x1; 1-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Basarios Vambraces S: Guard x2; Speed Sharpening x1; 1-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Basarios Coil S: Defense Boost x2; Speed Sharpening x2; 2-0-0 Deco slot.
  • Basarios Greaves S: Defense Boost x1; Load Shells x1; 3-0-0 Deco slot.
  • Rhenoplos set:
  • Rhenoplos Mail S: Artillery x1; Stun Resistance x2; 3-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Rhenoplos Vambraces S: Artillery x2; 2-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Jyuratodus set:
  • Jyuratodus Helm: Evade Extender x1; Offensive Guard x1; 2-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Jyuratodus Greaves: Guard Up x2; 2-1-1 Deco slot.
  • Barroth set:
  • Barroth Helm S: Attack Boost x1; Defense Boost x1; Offensive Guard x1; 2-1-0 Deco slot.
  • Nargacuga set:
  • Nargacuga Coil S: Evade Extender x1; Evade Window x1; 2-0-0 Deco slot.

Armor Skills:

  • Bazelguese Helm: Artillery x1; Guard x1; 2-0-0 Deco slot.

  • Bazelguese Mail: Agitator x1; Guard Up x2; 1-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Bazelguese Braces: Guard Up x1; Load Shells x1; 2-2-0 Deco slot.

  • Bazelguese Coil: Guard x1; Load Shells x1; 2-2-0 Deco slot.

  • Bazelguese Greaves: Artillery x2; Guard x1; 3-0-0 Deco slot.

  • Basarios Helm S: Defense Boost x2; Load Shells x1; 2-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Basarios Mail S: Guard x1; Load Shells x1; 1-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Basarios Vambraces S: Guard x2; Speed Sharpening x1; 1-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Basarios Coil S: Defense Boost x2; Speed Sharpening x2; 2-0-0 Deco slot.

  • Basarios Greaves S: Defense Boost x1; Load Shells x1; 3-0-0 Deco slot.

  • Rhenoplos Mail S: Artillery x1; Stun Resistance x2; 3-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Rhenoplos Vambraces S: Artillery x2; 2-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Jyuratodus Helm: Evade Extender x1; Offensive Guard x1; 2-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Jyuratodus Greaves: Guard Up x2; 2-1-1 Deco slot.

  • Barroth Helm S: Attack Boost x1; Defense Boost x1; Offensive Guard x1; 2-1-0 Deco slot.

  • Nargacuga Coil S: Evade Extender x1; Evade Window x1; 2-0-0 Deco slot.

  • Artillery x3: the only armor skill to add shelling damage.

  • Load Shell x2: faster reload and adds an additional shell.

  • Evade Extender x2: for mobility. Level 3 is overkill but can be fun especially if you’re used to pivothopping.

  • Guard x3: if you like blocking.

  • Guard Up x1: if you want to block everything (mostly).

  • Wirebug Whisperer x1 /x3: for faster Wirebug usage. Level 2’s effect is negligible so either go minimum or maximum amount of skill level.

  • Handicraft: to add more sharpness.

  • Razor Sharp: randomly reduces sharpness usage.

  • Your usual raw damage boosters if you plan on using melee (mostly for Normal and Long):

  • Attack Boost.

  • Critical Boost.

  • Critical Eye.

  • Master’s Touch.

  • Weakness Exploit

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Hopefully, this Gunlance set build can be useful for your hunts. Don’t forget to eat for Dango Bombardier and stay tuned at The Nerd Stash for more Monster Hunter and other gaming guides.

  • Attack Boost.
  • Critical Boost.
  • Critical Eye.
  • Master’s Touch.
  • Weakness Exploit