Monster Hunter Rise: Best Charge Blade Builds | HGG (2024)

If you’re a fan of technical weapons that can output some serious damage, then look no further than the Charge Blade. Built like a Bloodborne trick weapon, the Charge Blade has two forms: a giant sword and shield, and an equally giant, element-spewing axe. Though the Charge Blade is considered one of the most complicated weapons in the series, Monster Hunter Rise and its expansion Sunbreak have made the learning curve slightly lower. With the proper build, you’ll quickly understand why hunters learn the ins and outs of this weapon. In this article, we’ll be going over some of the best Charge Blade builds to get you from Low Rank to Master Rank in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

Let’s get started!

MHR Sunbreak | Best Charge Blades

Like any weapon in Monster Hunter, you need to keep your playstyle in mind when choosing a Charge Blade. When it comes to this weapon, a major choice you’ll have to make is whether to focus more on impact phials or elemental phials. Or, to make it easier, raw damage versus elemental damage.

For this guide, we’re mostly going to focus on raw damage. Raw damage Charge Blades tend to have more general use, since they don’t rely on attacking a monster’s elemental weakness. If you are interested in focusing on elemental builds, I highly recommend experimenting with the different Charge Blades in the game, as elemental builds can be very rewarding.

I’d also like to take a moment to offer some additional disclaimers. Firstly, some elements of this guide (mostly those concerning Master Rank quests) are unique to the Sunbreak expansion. Secondly, we’ll be referencing the Switch controller scheme for any relevant controls, as that is the platform I play on. It should be simple enough to know which controls they translate to for your chosen platform, though!

Without further ado, here are our recommendations for the best Charge Blades in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

Regas Hyper

• Raw Damage: 120
• Elemental Status: N/A
• Affinity: 0%
• Phial Type: Impact Phial
• Rampage Slots: 1
• Rampage Skills: Attack Boost II, Affinity Boost I, Defense Boost II

Scream in the Night

• Raw Damage: 190
• Elemental Status: N/A
• Affinity: 40%
• Phial Type: Impact Phial
• Rampage Slots: 1
• Rampage Skills: Attack Boost III, Affinity Boost II, Defense Grinder II

Barroth Guardian

• Raw Damage: 280
• Elemental Status: N/A
• Affinity: -20%
• Phial Type: Impact Phial
• Rampage Slots:N/A
• Rampage Skills: N/A

As you can see, each Charge Blade is meant to carry you to the next stage of your hunting career. You’ll largely be sticking with each weapon and its upgrade tree until you’re ready to move on to the next one.

MHR Sunbreak | Best Charge Blade Switch Skills

The Charge Blade’s ability to change between its sword-and-shield mode and its axe mode lets you seamlessly switch between a strong defense and a powerful offense. While this unique aspect of the weapon makes it incredibly versatile, Switch Skills allow you to focus more on either attacking or defending.

While the defense skills might be easier for new players, the effectiveness of any Switch Skill is going to be dependent on your preferred playstyle. Below, we’ve listed every Switch Skill to help you choose which option is best for you.

Switch 1A — Condensed Element Slash

Description: While charging, elemental energy gathers on the sword to strengthen it and generate a powerful bash effect. The damage dealt by the sword temporarily increases, and incurs additional damage. Reinforcing the sword with this skill, however, requires the shield to also be elementally boosted.

Controls: Hold X while charging. Release X at the right time. Releasing too quickly or too late will result in a failed execution.

How to Unlock: Available by default.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Condensed Spinning Slash.

Switch 1B — Condensed Spinning Slash

Description: Activates the Element Regeneration system while charging. The shield rotates and acts as a spinning saw blade. This technique switches the weapon into Axe Mode, allowing multiple hits until the mode is disengaged. Longer hits in Axe Mode turn the energy into phials.

Controls: Hold X while charging. Release X at the right time. Releasing too quickly will cause the attack to fail. Holding the attack button while making successful strikes with the ace will result in multiple hits.

How to Unlock: Unlock ★3 Village Quests or ★2 Hub Quests.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Condensed Elemental Slash.

Switch 2A — Morph Slash

Description: Sword to axe, axe to sword. This switching attack forms the basis of a Charge Blade. Right as the weapon begins switching to an axe, or right as it is about to finish switching to a sword, the shield is raised to block incoming attacks.

Controls: ZR + X in Sword mode and ZR in Axe Mode.

How to Unlock: Available by default.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Counter Morph Slash.

Switch 2B — Counter Morph Slash

Description: A defense-focused switching attack with a longer blocking effect. The weapon can block attacks as it’s switching to either Axe or Sword Mode. If an attack is successfully blocked during the switch, the follow-up Element Discharge Slash’s damage increases.

Controls: ZR + X in Sword Mode and ZR in Axe Mode.

How to Unlock: Craft or upgrade a total of 8 unique Charge Blades.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Morph Slash.

Switch 3A — Counter Peak Performance

Description: A Guard technique using Wirebug silk. If an attack is successfully blocked, phials are filled, and you can lead into various attack-focused actions.

Wirebug Gauge recovery speed: Medium

Controls: While holding ZL, press A.

How to Unlock: Available by default.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Axe Hopper and Ready Stance.

Switch 3B — Axe Hopper

Description: Slam the axe overhead, using recoil and ironsilk to propel you up into the air. While going upwards, you can unleash a powerful Elemental Discharge.

Wirebug Gauge recovery speed: Medium

Controls: While holding ZL, press A. Press A to perform a high-powered Mid Air Element Discharge Slash. Press X+A with active shield boosting to perform a high-powered Midair Element Discharge Slash.

How to Unlock: Complete the ★5 Hub Quest “Charge Blade Coalescing.”

Swappable: Can be swapped with Counter Peak Performance.

Switch 3C — Ready Stance

Description: A Silkbind maneuver that binds sword and axe together with ironsilk. After guarding, a heavy knockback leaves you in Sword Mode and lowers your guard reaction so you’re able to chain sword/axe attacks.

Wirebug Gauge recovery speed: Fast

Controls: While holding ZL, press A. When guarding or after minor knockback, use A for Axe: Element Discharge II, X for Sword: Return Stroke, and ZR for Sword: Morph Slash. After major knockback, X for Sword: Morph Slash, X+A for Axe: Amped Element Discharge.

How to Unlock: Reach MR 4 and complete the first two key quests before the Astalos Urgent Quest.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Counter Peak Performance.

Switch 4A — Phial Follow-Up

Description: A mechanism in which a small explosion is triggered by Shield Thrust during Elemental Boost or by sword attacks while in Sword Boost Mode. Functions as support when attacking in Sword Mode.

Controls: Shield Thrust during Elemental Boost or sword attacks in Sword Boost Mode.

How to Unlock: Available by default.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Phial Follow-Up: Firing Pin.

Switch 4B — Phial Follow-Up: Firing Pin

Description: A mechanism that lowers the pressure of elemental energy generated through Shield Thrust during Elemental Boost, or by sword attacks while in Sword Boost Mode. The elemental energy generated builds up on your target but disappears over time. It can be detonated by any attack in Axe Mode and extends the time limit of the Elemental Boost.

Controls: Shield Thrust during Elemental Boost or sword attacks in Sword Boost Mode. Continuing to attack will amplify the energy built up on your target.

How to Unlock: Reach Elgado Outpost (the main hub for Sunbreak) and learn skill swap from Master Utsushi.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Phial Follow-Up.

Switch 5A — Morphing Advance

Description: A Silkbind technique for quickly closing the distance to your target while morphing into Axe Mode. While advancing, you’re immune to knockback and attacks that send you flying. You can also follow up by morphing back into Sword Mode.

Wirebug Gauge recovery speed: Fast

Controls: While holding ZL, press X. During Morphing Advance press X or ZR for Sword: Spinning Slash, A for Axe: Element Discharge II or X+A for Axe: Amped Element Discharge.

How to Unlock: Available by default.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Air Dash.

Switch 5B — Air Dash

Description: A Wirebug-based technique where you rise up while whirling an axe, then propel yourself away with a Phial Explosion. Damage often leaves monsters mountable, and you can control your fall direction to some degree. If no Phial Explosion is detonated, you’ll fall straight down.

Wirebug Gauge recovery speed: Fast

Controls: While holding ZL, press X. During Air Dash press X midair for Axe: Jumping Slash or A for Phial Explosion.

How to Unlock: Reach MR 4 and complete the first two key quests before the Astalos Urgent Quest.

Swappable: Can be swapped with Morphing Advance.

MHR Sunbreak | Best Charge Blade Builds

Now that we’ve gone over some of the basics, let’s go into our recommended best Charge Blade builds in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. As a reminder, these builds will be focusing on giving you an easy-to-follow path from Low Rank to Master Rank. Think of these builds as a starting point for each portion of the game that can be expanded on and personalized as you move deeper into the game.

Build 1 — Low Rank

If you’re new to the Charge Blade (and especially if you’re new to Monster Hunter in general), it might be difficult to start making a build for such a technical weapon. This build will help get you started to carry you through most of the Low Rank quests. This set can be crafted near the midway of the lower-level missions and has a long life span in terms of the hunts ahead.

This is a pretty simple start, since this is the build you’ll use to learn the weapon. We use mostly the Izuchi gear to give us some bonuses to our affinity. The Ingot Greaves do the same thing, but also give us a damage boost as well. The most important part of this build is the Rhenoplos Braces, however. Get used to these braces, as they will likely be on your character for much of the game. The Artillery effect gives us a direct boost to our phial damage, which we want.

In terms of Switch Skills, we only have Condensed Spinning Slash unlocked at this point, but I recommend switching to it, as it ups your damage considerably in Axe mode. We also set our Rampage Skill as Affinity Boost I to work with our Izuchi gear, but you can put whatever you’re comfortable with. It won’t change the build too much.

Keep following the upgrade path for the Regas Hyper to keep your damage up, and you should be good until we hit our next build.

Build 2 — High Rank

Once we finish with Low Rank monsters, our build changes up a bit. This build should help you with a lot of early to mid-High Rank quests and get you ready for what comes next.

With this build, we’re going to be turning our Charge Blade into a semi-crit weapon. We use a mix of armor to up our crits and critical damage while also adding some quality-of-life skills like Rapid Morph to decrease the time it takes to switch between forms. You may have noticed that I put two choices for our chest armor slot. Either option can be used to max out one of our skills that isn’t at Level 3: Latent Power or Artillery. In all honesty, you can choose any chest piece you want. Maybe even choose a chest piece that has a lot of decoration slots if you’ve been experimenting with them.

Since you should have all the base game Switch Skills unlocked at this point, you can freely switch out all your skills to your liking. I switched out Counter Peak Performance for Axe Hopper because I tend not to use it, and Axe Hopper helps attack the monster’s head quickly and easily.

For our Rampage Skill, I choose Attack Boost III to make up for Scream in the Night’s low damage. At this point, decorations and talismans are open to you, so use those to personalize your build and better fit your playstyle/needs.

Build 3 — Master Rank

And finally, we hit Master Rank. If you’ve picked up Sunbreak, then you know it changes up a bit of the formula when it comes to base Rise. Mainly the ability to switch our Switch Skills mid-hunt. This, along with some new gear, is going to see our build change a bit. While you can start Sunbreak as soon as you hit HR 7, I’m writing this build with the assumption that you started within the HR 20–40 range, as I believe that’s a good place to start the hunts in the expansion.

The first thing you’ll probably notice about this build is that we went a lot more defensive. With Sunbreak throwing out encounters more difficult than those found in the base game, I found switching to a more defensive playstyle way more comfortable for me. With our gear, we get skills like Guard and Defense Boost to make those hard-hitting monsters hit a little less hard. We also have skills like Load Shells to increase the capacity of our phials.

Our Switch Skills don’t change too much once we hit Master Rank. I switched to Ready Stance, but with the addition of skill swapping, it’s not as much of a big deal as in the base game. Choose whichever skills you like most and have fun.

We also don’t have any Rampage Skills this go around, since Barroth Guardian has no rampage slots. All in all, this is a good build to get you fairly far in Master Rank content. Just remember to continue upgrading your Barroth Guardian so your damage doesn’t fall off, and you should be good.

Join the High Ground!

And that’s it for our guide to the best Charge Blade builds in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. Do you agree with our builds? Do you have your own builds that got you through the expansion? Comment them down below and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more content like this in the future.

Happy hunting!