As a seasoned Monster Hunter gamer with over 500 hours of playtime, I‘ve tested all 14 weapon types extensively. And in my opinion, the Sword & Shield is one of the most versatile and fun weapons out there. Its unparalleled mobility lets you stick to monsters like glue while bombarding them with quick combos.
However, creating the right Sword & Shield build can make or break your hunting experience. You need skills that complement the innate strengths of this weapon to really unleash its full potential. And with over 100 armor skills in MHW, finding the ideal combinations is no easy task.
In this guide, I‘ll share the two best endgame Sword & Shield builds I‘ve crafted over dozens of hunts. I‘ve battled countless tempered elders, furious Rajangs, Raging Brachys, and even fatalis using these setups to perfection. So whether you love big damage or prefer supporting your teammates, you‘ll find the perfect build here!
Overview: Understanding Sword & Shield Playstyles
Let‘s first go over the strengths of the Sword & Shield so you know exactly what to enhance with your build:
High Mobility
The Sword & Shield offers the most mobility out of all weapons. You can roll out of any combo and reposition quickly without sheathing. Use hit & run tactics, stick to monsters like glue.
Strong Shield
While not as powerful as the Lance, the Sword & Shield still packs a sturdy shield. You can block most attacks without getting knocked back too far. Useful for learning new monsters.
Decent Raw Damage
Don‘t let the small size fool you. Rapid sword combos and perfect rush allows the Sword & Shield to dish out pretty high raw DPS.Aim for weak points to maximize damage.
High Elemental Damage
The fast hitting combos also apply elemental or status damage quickly, making this weapon very versatile. But you need protective skills due to the close quarters nature.
Wide Support Options
You can use items with your weapon drawn for on-the-fly support. Tackle through attacks to mount monsters more easily. And cut tails faster with your agile moves.
As you can see, the Sword & Shield is extremely versatile. You can build it purely for damage or specialize in support. I‘ll cover both playstyles in the upcoming builds.
Raw Damage vs Elemental: Which Is Better?
Before sharing weapon builds, let‘s quickly discuss whether raw or elemental damage is better for the Sword & Shield:
Raw Damage
Focuses purely on the physical attack power of your weapon. You‘ll need skills like Attack Boost, Agitator, Critical Eye to enhance raw damage.
Good For: Versatile hunting without micromanaging elements. Consistently high damage regardless of location.
Elemental Damage
Maximizes fire, water, ice, dragon, or thunder damage from your Sword & Shield. Skills like Critical Element and matching weakness is key.
Good For: Exploiting specific monster weaknesses. Extremely high DPS but tricky to pull off. Requires lots of gear swapping.
Personally, I prefer raw damage builds due to their versatility. You can hunt any monster without worrying about weaknesses or losing sharpness on weapon swaps. And they still dish out very competitive damage times.
But elemental damage has the highest damage potential if you fully counter the monster‘s weakness. So it ultimately comes down to personal preference and playstyle!
Let‘s start with a comfy high raw damage build first.
Raw Damage Endgame Build
This is hands down my favorite Sword & Shield setup for quickly hunting tempered elders and heavy hitters like Rajang or Raging Brachydios.
It focuses purely on maximizing raw damage while still having enough defensive skills to avoid getting one-shotted by the toughest attacks. Trust me, 800+ hours of trial and error went into optimizing this build!
Raw Damage Gear
This is the equipment you‘ll need:
| Armor Piece | Skills |
|---|---|
| Fatalis Helm B+ | Attack Boost 2, 4-slot |
| Fatalis Mail B+ | Critical Eye 4, 4-slot |
| Fatalis Braces B+ | Critical Eye 2, 4-slot |
| Fatalis Coil B+ | Attack Boost 4, 4-slot |
| Fatalis Greaves B+ | Wide-Range 2, 4-slot |
| Weapon: Fatalis Sword & Shield | 300 True Raw, White Sharpness |
| Charm: Challenger V | Agitator +7 |
I choose full Fatalis armor for its insane armor skills and decoration flexibility. Combined with Challenger V charm, it offers plenty of offensive skills.
The Fatalis Sword & Shield also boasts a whopping 300 true raw. I use Health Regen and Attack Increase augments to get back health on every poke and power up slashes.
For tools go with Rocksteady and Temporal mantles. They provide minutes of damage uptime and save you from potential carts.
Next let‘s talk about the key skills for this high DPS setup:
Raw Damage Skills
Thanks to all the great skills on Fatalis armor, we can easily achieve:
| Skill | Level | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Attack Boost | 7 | +21 Raw Attack |
| Critical Eye | 7 | 100% Affinity |
| Critical Boost | 3 | +40% Crit Damage |
| Agitator | 7 | +25 True Raw when Active |
| Peak Performance | 3 | +20 Attack at Full Health |
I also slotted in Divine Blessing 3, Health Boost 3, and Stun Resistance 3 to prevent getting comboed to death by the toughest monsters.
But the key damage gems are Fatalis‘ "Destroyer" jewels which provide Attack + Critical Boost in one skill. Absolutely critical for pushing raw damage to the limit!
Summary: Benefits & Playstyle
Added up all together, this build hits over 1000 True Raw when maxed out, even without might seeds or demondrugs! And that‘s not factoring in the +25 raw from 7/7 Agitator which is active in 90% of hunts.
You can literally shred through monsters by aggressively looping perfect rush combos + falling shield bash + rising slash when they get up. Plus Fatalis‘ Sword & Shield naturally makes these combos flow so smoothly!
I‘ve broken my PRs against Alatreon, Kushala, and Teostra using this build. It has damage to spare while keeping you alive with sufficient protection. Absolute beast of a Sword and Shield setup for experienced players!
Next up, it‘s time for the ultimate elemental damage build that abuses every weakness.
Elemental Damage Endgame Build
Veteran players looking to push speedrun times have probably guessed it already…this build uses full Safi‘Jiva armor!
By leveraging the insanely powerful Hardened Flamevein armor set bonus you can easily hit 1K+ elemental damage. But it‘s a glass cannon so not for casual hunters.
Let‘s get into it:
Safi‘Jiva Element Build
The equipment you need:
| Armor Piece | Skills |
|---|---|
| Safi‘s Hellclaws B | Critical Eye 2, Lv4 slot |
| Safi‘s Hellplate B | Blight Resistance 2, Lv4 slot |
| Safi‘s Hellgreaves B | Power Prolonger 2 |
| Safi‘s Helltwig Coil B | Tool Specialist 2, 2x Lv4 slots |
| Kjarr Sword "King" | 730 Fire, Small White Sharpness |
| Charm: Blaze Charm V | Fire Attack +6 |
I went with a mix Kjarr Sword "King" to max out fire damage. You‘ll need custom augments adding Element V + Element VI skills for even more fire power!
Having two pieces of Safi‘Jiva armor activates the Hardened Flamevein set bonus, boosting elemental damage when hitting wounded weak spots.
Combine this with Kulve Taroth‘s Kjarr weapons that have built-in Critical Element and you get some downright broken elemental numbers!
Safi‘Jiva Elemental Skills
Here are the essential skills you need via decorations:
| Skill | Level | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Attack | 6 | +100 Fire Ele |
| Critical Eye | 7 | 100% Affinity |
| Critical Element | 2 | +15% Ele Damage on Crits |
| Critical Boost | 3 | +40% Crit Damage |
| Blight Resistance | 3 | Immune All Elemental Blights |
I also added Constitution 3 for combo stamina management and Evade Window 5 to roll through attacks consistently. Remaining slots went into vitality gems for 200 HP.
So how much elemental damage does this add up to?
True Endgame Elemental Power
The Kjarr Sword King starts with 730 base fire damage at purple sharpness.
With this setup…
- Fire Attack 6 adds +100 fire
- Hardened Flamevein adds +30% fire when hitting wounded weak spots
- Critical Element 2 adds +15% elemental damage on critical hits
That comes out to 1092 fire damage on crits, nearing 1100 fire damage!
And thanks to 100% affinity from Critical Eye + Agitator, you‘re critically hitting almost every sword poke and perfect rush. That fire damage quickly annihilates monsters weak to it!
I used this setup to farm tempered Teostra in less than 2 minutes flat because of his triple weakness to fire. It shreds apart Paolumu, Banbaro, and Velkhana effortlessly as well.
This Safi build definitely isn‘t comfy, but if you want to show off Sword and Shield‘s true elemental power, nothing else compares!
Additional Sword & Shield Tips and Combos
Before concluding, I wanted to quickly mention a couple of useful Sword & Shield mechanics, combos, and tips from my own experience:
Use Items Instantly
You can use potions, bombs, traps etc without sheathing for speedy support. Don‘t forget to bring Lifepowder to save teammates!
Perfect Rush for Max Damage
When the monster knocks down or gets trapped, you can unload the full Perfect Rush combo for massive DPS:
- Rising Slash
- Overhead Slash
- Thrust
- Falling Bash
- Spinning Reaper
Practice this bread and butter combo until it becomes second nature!
Cut Tails Faster
Use the lateral slash and falling bash infinite combo to quickly sever tails. Sword attacks don‘t bounce off tails so keep targeting it.
Re-position Quickly
You can roll out of any sword attack by pressing back + rolling for easy re-positioning. Extremely useful when stuck in a combo!
Learn to leverage these unique mechanics to truly master Monster Hunter with the Sword & Shield.
Conclusion: The Right Sword & Shield Build for You
After breaking down both raw damage and elemental builds, you might be wondering – how do I choose?
It ultimately comes down to personal preference and playstyle. Here‘s a quick recap:
Raw Damage Build
- Versatile for hunting any monster without micromanagement
- Simple yet consistent DPS that‘s easy to play
- Comfy defensive skills prevent carting
Elemental Damage Build
- Ability to gain insane 1000+ ele damage numbers
- Speed runner choice requiring mastery of mechanics
- Riskier glass cannon playstyle but very fast hunts
So if you want an easy build to learn Sword & Shield, go with Raw Damage. But ele pros who want to exploit every weakness and set record times should pick the Safi setup.
At 1000+ hours, I can confidently say Sword & Shield is one of the strongest and most fun weapons in Monster Hunter World. Making the right build amplifies its already incredible potential to another level.
I hope this guide gives you some ideas on creating your ideal Sword & Shield setup. Let me know which one sounds more fun to you in the comments below!
Happy Hunting! 🗡️
