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Monster Hunter 3G/3 Ultimate for the 3DS and Wii U
==================================================
A Comprehensive Analysis of the DUAL SWORDS/BLADES
==================================================

By: aquashiram14

Contact: aquashiram14 (at) gmail (dot) com

:D

I check my email more often than my inbox, so PMs are less effective than my
email!

Remember: If you have a personal recommendation that has worked beautifully for
you (please make sure you're a Dual Swords user because Lance armor doesn't
always work on DSes you know) but isn't here, EMAIL ME! I enjoy any and all
contributions, tips, edits, corrections, criticisms, etc.! And you WILL get
credit (unless it's a minor typo or something)

------------------------
|**********************|
|*DUAL SWORDS: A GUIDE*|
|**********************|
------------------------
Introduction

The game actually officially calls them Dual Blades, by the way.

Dual Swords have a pretty smooth learning curve so they're an excellent weapon
for beginners (I would still recommend Sword and Shield as the top choice).
Their controls are easier and most of their function is pretty intuitive and
doesn't require much overthinking.

This guide also has some general tips for beginners. Veteran hunters will
probably find this guide a lot less useful but beginning hunters should get a
lot out of this.

So...what gives me the qualifications? Not much, actually. This is why this
guide is geared mainly for beginners. I played the demo a ton with Dual Swords
because they looked cool, and I've been hooked on them ever since. Within the
game I have entirely used Dual Swords...I plan on branching out eventually, but
at this point in the game my money would be sucked out of me if I tried to
upgrade any other weapons I wanted to try. But considering that I'm currently a
100% Dual Swords user, I do know how to use them.

For those wondering how experienced, I have broken 250 hours on this game, so
I believe that I am decently experienced. I am by no means the ultimate goddess
to everything on the DS, but I did start this game as a rock-bottom beginner.
MH3U was my very first game :) So if you are struggling, I can relate.

For your guide happiness, ITEMS are in ALL CAPS. Along with other important
TERMS and ARMORS and WEAPONS. That way, you won't have to spend a while
searching for them.

Important things are also boxed.

Oh, and the best tip for beginners, outside of PRACTICING? Don't overthink it.
It's weapons. It's armors. Weapons do damage, armors are for defense. Potions
heal you. Traps trap the monster. Tranq bombs will make monsters go into
zzzzz-land. Use your prior knowledge. It might look complicated, and it
certainly can get that way, but only if you let it do that to you.

BY THE WAY, absolute beginners, you'd better make sure you familiarize yourself
with the following resources. BOOKMARK them, DOWNLOAD them, and love them:

Ping's MH3U Dex
Monster Hunter Wiki
Kiranico

Trust me, they are a big, big help.

--------------
Legal Infos
--------------

This guide is my own original product. Dual Swords lists come from various
databases on various phone apps, Ping's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Dex, Monster
Hunter Wikia, and various .jpgs of upgrade trees. All official names are
copyrighted by Capcom.

Please do not redistribute or post this guide elsewhere without explicit
permission from me (I check my email frequently, don't worry). If you have any
questions or criticisms or general questions about the game, email me, I
might be able to answer. Over time, I will add an FAQs section.

This is version 1.50.

Please just Ctrl+F the section names. One day, I will add tags.

Version History

Version 0.6:  Started May 20th, 2013, took about a week.
             Has all basic information and is lacking only
              actual Dual Sword listings
             Very skeletal but isn't devoid of any
              helpfulness
             First version that was released.
Version 1.00: Been playing game more and adding/subtracting
              a ton.
             Some sections are incredibly shallow, so I
              made them more thorough.
             Grammar and typo fixes
             All Dual Swords listed, all the detailed
               information coming soon
             Added in three crucial sections (how on earth
               could I have forgotten)
             Planning on offering more advanced advice
               soon
             Also added things like nice pretty boxes to
               prevent the text-wall-syndrome.
             Re-formatted, it's allowed to be 80 characters
               wide :D
Version 1.50: Minor revisions, fixing typos, grammar edits
             Minor information errors should be fixed
             Completely redid the Recommended Weapons section
             Adding on more to Recommended Armor, even more recommendations
               coming as I experiment and research
             Beginning the High Rank section of Recommended Weapons,
               will be streamlining the entire section again soon
             Renamed "Tactics" to "Tackling Monsters"
             Completley done with Dual Swords listing except sharpness,
                which is coming soon, plus added a new Dual Sword now available
                to the West.
Version 1.51: More minor revisions, such as SLIME and stuff.

Credits and Thank-yous

Thanks to me, first, because I'm selfish and I wrote this
    guide :D

Thanks to my friends IRL who critiqued the shit out of this
    guide when it was first released (it was sooo bad)
    and hunted with me while I was still getting the hang of
    the controls.
    Oh and they also contributed a lot to the Recommended
    Armor/Weapons sections.

Thanks to Quendorsof for giving me solid information about
    Ceadeus and Duramboros.

Thanks to you for reading :D

Thanks to Capcom for making such a great game!


====================
Table of Contents
====================
1.  Introduction
     a. Legal Information
     b. Credits and Thank-yous
2.  Table of Contents
3.  Basic Overview
     a. In-depth Analysis
4.  Preparations
5.  Controls
     a. The Superman Dive
6.  Raw Power vs. Elemental Power
7.  Recommended Armor Sets
8.  Recommended Weapons
9.  Demon/Archdemon Mode
10. Tackling Monsters
11. Underwater Combat
12. All Dual Swords

===============
Basic Overview
===============

DUAL SWORDS (or Dual Blades) will be referred to in short hand as DS. Do not
confuse with Nintendo DS. Dual Swords are what it says: Two swords, one in each
hand, that you use to attack monsters. They're about as freaking cool as
they sound. Unlike bows, bowguns, and gunlances, you have to be extremely up
close and personal with the monster ("Say ahhh!") since these aren't long, huge
dual swords, these are small and light ones.

A lot of the controversy over Dual Swords is that they make the game "easier".
Dual Swords have easy controls and no truly complex attacks. Learning when and
where and how to use a Charge Attack with a Great Sword is notably harder than
learning how to go into Demon and Archdemon mode with Dual Swords. So if you're
very new to this game, Dual Swords are highly recommended for you. Your first
weapon choice I would say should be Sword and Shield, but for you offensive
speedsters, the Dual Swords should tickle your fancy.

If you're unsure of what to pick, download the demo, go hunt a Lagombi, and try
out each weapon until you find what suits you best (be sure to look up the
controls for them, of course). Don't fret if you faint, this is a demo :)

Here's what this guide will do. This guide will explore pretty much every aspect
of Dual Swords that I could think of (I will refer to them as "DSes" throughout
the walkthrough). It will also provide general help for beginners as they begin
to tackle their first big monsters. At the end, I even provide you people with a
comprehensive list of every Dual Sword you can possibly forge, along with any
potential comments I might have.

This guide is NOT a hold-your-hand walkthrough of how to tackle every possible
monster with Dual Swords. Over time, you'll find your own attack style.

-----------------
In-depth Analysis
-----------------

DSes are swift and fast. They're the speedsters of the weapon group. It's easy
to chain combos together almost infinitely (but it's also impractical because
monsters don't just sit there). They have their own special mode, too, called
DEMON MODE, which greatly increases damage output at cost of stamina (unless you
have Dash Juice). If you inflict enough damage to fill up a red bar under
your stamina bar, you'll enter ARCHDEMON Mode, which is Demon Mode without any
stamina depletion! But more on that later.

Dual Swords also have pretty much the highest damage-per-second (DPS).

******************************
* SUMMARY                    *
* 1. Fast, light, and mobile *
* 2. Demon/Archdemon mode    *
* 3. Can easily break out of *
*      a combo by rolling    *
* 4. Easy to chain attacks   *
******************************

But like all weapons, DSes have their drawbacks. The biggest drawback is that
you cannot BLOCK ATTACKS. Dual Swords DO NOT HAVE SHIELDS. I repeat: Dual Swords
have no shields. ALWAYS keep that in mind. Developing your evasion skills will
be of utmost importance if you choose to invest time into this weapon class!
Learn to love the B button.

Another problem with DSes (especially if the monster is bigger than Moga Village
itself) is their SMALL HIT RANGE. Great Swords can hammer tails and heads,
hammers can hammer heads, and I've used Long Swords and easily broken heads
and ears, but Dual Swords cannot reach such parts easily.

This can be frustrating if the one part of a monster you need is the tail, but
the tail is too high off the ground for you to slice off, essentially barring
you from certain equipment (or at the very least, making it tons harder to get).

DSes also rely more on elemental affinity than other weapons. Because of their
lower raw power when compared to a weapon like a Great Sword (at max power,
around the high 300s, they still have lower raw power than a low rank Great
Sword), honing on on a monster's elemental weakness is EXTREMELY important
and can mean the difference between life and death.

Finally, DSes don't last long. You have to sharpen them. And a lot. Because they
attack so fast, they can make up for their low base power, but that comes at the
cost of swift sharpness decrease. In Low Rank, getting a full set of WROGGI
ARMOR is highly recommended. Not only does it give a useful POISON IMMUNITY, it
also has the skill RAZOR SHARP, which slows the rate your weapons dull by half.
A godsend. (I will go more into armor in a later section)

*********************************
* SUMMARY                       *
* 1. Cannot block, must evade   *
* 2. Cannot roll in the middle  *
*      of an attack, must wait  *
*      until that one attack is *
*      done                     *
* 3. Lower raw power            *
* 4. Small hit range            *
* 5. Dull very quickly          *
*********************************

Some of the best ways to compensate are the following:

1. Learn how to evade. Learn a monster's attack patterns.
2. Bring DASH JUICE for Demon Mode. And for everything.
3. Forge more than one Dual Sword. This applies to any weapon class you want to
    specialize/generalize in. Monsters have elemental weaknesses just waiting
    to be abused, and some monsters are even particularly weak to status
    effects! (Like Duramboros and poison)
4. Know where monsters are most vulnerable. Barroth's arms are its weak points.
    I suggest you use Monster Hunter Wiki to research.
5. ALWAYS have 20 WHETSTONES. No matter what. ALWAYS. I don't even care. Just
    bring them with you.

I will probably repeat these throughout the guide. Because they're important!

================
 Preparations
================

Okay, you're all set to go! You've got your 20 Whetstones, a few Dash Juices,
and all your extra essentials to hunt a boss class monster!

BUT WAIT. Is your BAG ready?

For beginners that are looking, here is what I normally take. Be aware that low
rank quests start you out at base camp and the Supply Box will have many useful
items specific to your quest--a quest involving killing bugs will provide you
with free POISON SMOKE BOMBS, for example, so you can kill them but leave their
bodies intact for carving. GET INTO THE HABIT OF PREPARING ON YOUR OWN. Once
you've completed Low Rank, the training wheels are off, and the Supply Box will
have nothing for you.

***************************************
* THE BEGINNER'S PERFECT BAG OF ITEMS * (Mainly geared for fighting boss-class
* Mega Potion/Potion x10              *   monsters)
* Iron Pickaxe/Mega Pickaxe x5        *
* Bug Net/Mega Bug Net x 5            *
* Paintball x 10+ (bring at least 10) *
* Well-done Steak x5 (BBQ raw meat)   *
* Whetstone x20                       *
* Pitfall Trap x1                     *
* Shock Trap x1                       *
* Tranq Bomb x8                       *
* Dung Bomb x10                       *
***************************************

Brief description of some of the items

Paintball: It will track the monster's locations regardless of if you have a
    map or not. Wears off after 10 minutes or so, so be sure to paint the
    monster more than once if the fight's long enough.
Well-done Steak: Boosts your Stamina.
Tranq Bomb: Toss 2 at a monster caught in a trap. Monster will say goodnight
    and you'll have successfully captured it!
Dung Bomb: If another monster shows up that you weren't specifically told to
    hunt, toss one at it. It stinks, and the monster will leave the area
    because it's ashamed to show its stinky face :D Because it now stinks.

**If a monster pins you down, detonate a poo bomb in its face. Even monsters
don't appreciate having toilet waste stuffed in their mouth. If you're
fighting with friends, though, let it have its way with you--they can get in
some free hits.

If you are questing in Sandy Plains (Day) or Volcano, bring 5 COOL DRINKS. If
you are questing in Sandy Plains (night) or Tundra, bring 5 HOT DRINKS.

DASH JUICE, as said earlier, will make your life easier. TRAPS are optional
but if the quest goes awry or you wasted that EZ Trap for that capture quest,
having an extra is a very good idea.

**Tip: If you're on a Low Rank capture quest and your EZ Trap fails, and you
forgot to bring traps or just don't have extras, go around killing Melynxes.
If they drop a shiny as they dig away, there's a 3% chance they'll drop you an
EZ Shock Trap. Not the best, but hey, if you truly cannot fail the quest, it's
your only option.**

Even if you're on a hunting quest, PICKAXES and BUG NETS can allow you to
obtain bugs and things as you head off to where the monster's chilling.

Later on, consider bringing other items such as POTIONS and HONEY, so that you
can COMBINE them to create MEGA POTIONS. This can save you in a pinch if you run
out of the stock of Mega Potions you already brought. If you use this strategy,
it's highly recommended you purchase and bring COMBO BOOKS, which will help
your combos succeed.

Remember to bring ANTIDOTES if your monster can poison (ex. Gigginox), ENERGY
DRINKS if your monster can put you to sleep (ex. Great Baggi), NULBERRIES if
your monster can cause any sort of Blight (ex. Royal Ludroth and Waterblight),
etc. (Pretty much all monsters later on can cause Blights lol)

OVERPREPARATION = SUCCESS.

And please, never forget the almight POO BOMB.

**********************************
* FUN TIPS!                      *
* 1. A free DLC gives you 5,000  *
*     resource points! Get them! *
*     Use them to farm Nulberries*
*     which you can SELL!        *
* 2. If you have veteran friends,*
*     farm Lagombis to get the   *
*     Snow Slicers.              *
**********************************

**********************************
* HIGHLY RECOMMENDED             *
* 1. Use the Monster Hunter Wiki *
*    to do your research. IT WILL*
*    HELP YOU.                   *
* 2. Once the monster has spotted*
*    you, its icon will appear   *
*    on the touch screen. Tap it *
*    and the camera will auto-   *
*    lock onto the monster if you*
*    press L. Indispensible!     *
**********************************

All right. You're bored of this text. Time to learn how to use dem weapons!

========================
Dual Swords: Controls
========================

You need only the following buttons: X, A, Y, B, and the R shoulder. For
attacking and combat, anyways.

X: Unsheathe if your weapon is sheathed.

X: If you're unsheathing, you'll do a sort of lunge attack.
  Otherwise, it's a basic fancy shmancy short attack.

Press X twice: Combo attack that is longer and flourishes more

Press A: Butterfly-ish swipe

X+A: Lunge attack if weapon is already unsheathed

X and then A: Combo Attack involving a spin. Long attack,
             be careful when using.

R shoulder: Go into Demon Mode (you'll lift the swords
           above your head, cross them, and they'll have
           a red haze around them)

Y: Sheathe your weapon. Press Y while in Demon Mode to exit
           Demon mode. Cannot sheathe your weapon to exit
           Archdemon mode.

B: Roll (weapon sheathed or unsheathed)

Those are your most basic controls for success.

-----------------
The Superman Dive
-----------------

Also called the Safety Dive and the Panic Dive, it involves diving/belly
flopping onto the ground. Why is it such a lifesaver? The brief moment you're in
the air, you're invincible. That's the one invincibility frame you might need to
dodge, say, a Savage Deviljho's dragon-breath. The invincibility frame granted
by ROLLING is far shorter and requires pretty insanely accurate timing. This
makes the Dive far more reliable to save your hide in a pinch.

First off, you have to have sheathed your weapon. You can't go Superman Diving
if your weapon's out. Sheathe it! If you are in a pinch and there's no time
to sheathe your weapon, then I recommend you not even bother attempting to
sheathe, sprint, and dive. Just roll ASAP!

Next, the monster must have SPOTTED YOU. The easiest way to test is to poke its
icon in the touch screen and press L. If the camera auto-locks, it's spotted
you. Also if you've just encountered it and an exclamantion mark (!) has
appeared above its head, it for sure has noticed you.

Now, dash! Dash as fast as you can! Run away! To do so, move around using the
left circle pad (3DS's only have one so you know which one I'm talking about,
3DS players) while pressing R. You should be sprinting and your stamina bar,
unless you ingested Dash Juice, should be depleting.

Oh, and you'll probably look pretty silly running like that.

Now, press B. It's hard to fit all your fingers and manage it all at once, but
just press it! You'll jump into the air and land on the ground on your tummy.

Good job, you made yourself temporarily invincible and have successfully
performed the Superman Dive! Use it. Love it.

**Note: Considering the mobility of DSes, you'll probably forget to sheathe
them and you'll simply run around with them out (on land anyways). This makes
the dive unavailable to you. So either master the roll, which you'll have to do
anyways, or learn to sheathe your weapon and dive.**

*****************************
* SUMMARY BOX               *
* 1. Monster should have    *
*     spotted you.          *
* 2. RUN by moving while    *
*     pressing R.           *
* 3. Press B (while still   *
*     running.              *
*****************************

=================================
Elemental Damage vs. Raw Damage
=================================

Dual Swords are the undisputed king of Damage-Per-Second, or DPS for short. They
are also the undisputed losers of the greatest single-hit power contest (there's
no acronym for that as far as I'm aware), so having such high DPS helps
compensate for this.

There's one other mechanic that helps save the Dual Swords from being the
weakest weapon class available, and that's elemental affinity and power.

Elemental affinity is one of the more intricate aspects of Monster Hunter, and
isn't often easily understood. Raw damage is a bit more intuitive for people to
get, so I'll go over that first, then I'll talk about elemental affinity
and power, and how the two are related, particularly when talking about Dual
Swords. Here we go.

------------
Raw Damage
------------

Raw Damage is a weapon's BASE POWER negating all other skills and elemental
affinity. You can view it by going to your ITEM BOX and viewing your equipment,
or by looking at your forgeable/upgradeable weapons when talking to the SMITHY.
If you wish to see the power of your equipped weapon, press the START button and
go to STATUS to view your general equipment summaries.

You'll see a NUMBER and a COLOR BAR. Matched Slicers has the number of 98 and
has a red and orange and yellow bar.

Ludroth Pair has the number 168 and has a red, orange, yellow, and a teensy bit
of green in its bar.

As you've probably guessed, the longer the bar, the better its SHARPNESS.
Ludroth Pair can reach green sharpness, while Matched Slicers can only reach
yellow sharpness. Sharpness is very important, it acts as the damage multiplier
of your base power, which is indicated by the number. Sharpness is
also important because some monsters have very hard skin/scales/fur/whatever.

For example, green sharpness weapons bounce off a low rank Barroth's head. Only
blue sharpness or impact weapons can damage that shovelhead's head. Bouncing
literally looks like you bouncing. There will be no blood effect. Number-wise,
only a fraction of damage will be dealt and you cannot chain combos if you
bounce.

So what exactly does the number 168 represent? I'll tell what it doesn't
represent:

It DOES NOT represent actual damage. Smashing a monster in the face will not
auto-deal 168 damage.

The number 168 is "theoretical power". If the world of Monster Hunter were
super-duper perfect, then you'd deal 168 damage.

But it's not always perfect. Monsters have weak points and strong points, and
hitting either one results in difference in damage, not to mention you hitting
the monster spot-on or not. Each weapon class has its own individual damage
multiplier in the first place, and let's not go into things like which attack
you used, which part of the blade connected with the monster, etc. As you can
probably tell, it gets complicated.

The following table shows you basic damage multipliers. What I want you
beginners to take away from this is that BETTER SHARPNESS IS BETTER and to
ALWAYS STAY AT MAXIMUM SHARPNESS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

The sharpness levels you will want per rank:

Low Rank: GREEN SHARPNESS
High Rank: BLUE SHARPNESS
G Rank: WHITE or PURPLE SHARPNESS (PURPLE is the best)

I will mention that there are in-depth game formulas on how exact damage is
determined, similar to games like Pokemon and Fire Emblem. But this guide
will not cover them. Instead, here's a very simple table about sharpness
damage multipliers!

************************************************
* Color      |    Raw      |     Elemental     *
*----------------------------------------------*
* Red        |   0.50      |    0.25           *
*----------------------------------------------*
* Orange     |   0.75      |    0.50           *
*----------------------------------------------*
* Yellow     |   1.00      |    0.75           *
*----------------------------------------------*
* Green      |   1.05      |    1.00           *
*----------------------------------------------*
* Blue       |   1.20      |    1.0625         *
*----------------------------------------------*
* White      |   1.32      |    1.125          *
*----------------------------------------------*
* Purple     |   1.50      |    1.20           *
************************************************

You'll probably see that the base-level Great Sword has power in the high 300s
while Ludroth Pair, which is higher-up in the Dual Swords hierarchy, only
musters 168 base power (if you were to look at the weapons the game starts you
out with) This shows just how much more raw power other weapons possess.

So how could you possibly compensate for such low power?

Well, first of all, there is the obvious logic that since the DS hits so much
faster than a Great Sword, the small damage will ADD UP. But there's also...

Elements!

----------
Elements
----------

Monster Hunter has the following "ELEMENTS":

Water
Fire
Thunder
Dragon
Ice

SLIME is a bit of an oddball. It has some elements of an element (no pun
intended) but it also has some elements of a status.

Some consider SLIME to be the noobiest of noob elements because of its
overpoweredness, but while no monster ever is immune to slime, some monsters
have higher tolerance to it than others. In my opinion, slime is as legitimate
as any other element/status to attach to your weapon. But as with all things,
overdependence and making it a crutch is unhealthy!

For the most part, element weakness can be pretty up in the air. Wait, that
Royal Ludroth is weak to FIRE? And Lagiacrus is a water monster, not an
electric one? BOTH?

So what does this mean for you?

It means that nothing's ever guaranteed. Yippee!

For example, Barroth likes to coat itself in mud. If Barroth is coated in mud,
it's weak to water, meaning Ludroth Pair, a water-element weapon, will be great.
But once you break all that fancy mud armor off, it's immune to water and weak
to fire.

********************
* NOTE             *
* Immune to element*
* does NOT equal   *
* immune to weapon *
* altogether.      *
********************

Continuing with our Ludroth Pair, it says "WA 120". This means it is of the
WATER element (durr) and has 120 elemental power. This is factored in with
things like your sharpness (refer to table above), the weakness of the monster
to a particular element and the PART of the monster you are attacking, a
dividing constant, and a defense constant. Again, complicated.

The end result is that under your average conditions you'll probably be dealing
around 1 - 5 points of extra damage if monster is weak to element. Beginners,
just remember this: Higher elemental power = more extra damage. Yay.

Let me guess: You're thinking that that's so puny it hardly matters. Well, it
does, especially when you consider that in one opening, Dual Swords can attack
3 or 4 times to make up for their lower power. Like car gas bills, Dual
Swords damage can add up.

All I can tell you is that do yourself a favor and research your monsters.
Monster Hunter Wiki is always a great site, and in terms of videos,
iCEMANnoob has GREAT video guides on, literally, every monster in MH3U,
including subspecies.

----------
Statuses
----------

Some Dual Swords you'll notice don't have "WTR" or "DRG" or "THD", but instead
"PAR". What on earth is PAR? A golf element?

Not quite (excuse my lame puns).

Bloodwings, for example, a dual sword available at 4-star quests, aren't of any
of the specific elements and can instead POISON a monster. In addition to
poison, they can also inflict extra damage, just like elemental weapons can, but
this depends on the monster. (Poison WRECKS Duramboros! OHO! A HINT!)

The two main statuses you'll want to care about are PARALYSIS and POISON.
Paralysis is essentially a free shock trap and gives you extra time to, say, go
into Demon Mode and attack a lot. Poison inflicts constant damage over a period
of time just like any other game with poison involved and is a good way to
whittle down the monster even if you yourself are unable to find an attack
opening.

SLIME technically falls more into this category than the element category,
because monsters do have a tolerance to Slime. When you use Slime weapons and
you notice big colorful explosions, that's the status effect of Slime. Over
time, those explosions will become rarer. What Slime does is make it easier
to break monster parts, and the explosions also deal damage on a similar level
to Barrel Bombs.

Each monster has its own specific "Tolerance" to a status effect. Higher
Tolerance = harder to inflict status. Obviously monsters like Gigginox can never
and will never be poisoned because they themselves are poison. ACTUALLY I'M
JUST KIDDINNG. Gigginox can be poisoned o_o but she has incredibly high
tolerance to it. Anyways, do yourself a favor and look online at tolerance
values for a monster you're about to face if you are considering something like
Bloodwings or Gobul Stunprongs. That way, you won't find yourself in for a
nasty surprise when your monster just won't get itself poisoned or paralyzed.

Oh, and please don't go trying to poison Gigginox unless you just want to
see it for the lolz. WHICH YOU PROBABLY DO BUT DON'T.

Interestingly enough, there is one single weapon that can inflict SLEEP. It
is crafted from the Green Plesioth. But Sleep is a very chancy element and not
one that is as reliable as Poison or Paralysis. Just food for thought.

========================
Recommended Armor Sets
========================

This section is mostly geared to the Low Rank hunter staring at an approaching
High Rank. I will have a brief listing of High/G Rank armor.

Armor comes with its set SKILLS. Just like Final Fantasy characters can learn
skills, just like Fire Emblem classes each have their unique skills a character
can equip, just like Pokemon each have unique abilities. Skills for armor
sets are based off of how many SKILL POINTS you accumulate.

For example, your Leather Armor has +10 points Spirit's Whim, because each of
the five pieces (head, chest, waist, arms, and legs) adds +1, +2, or +3 to the
total. Thus, because you had at least 10 points, Spirit's Whim activated. If you
were to miraculously have 15, Divin Whim would activate. And if you had -10
(yes, negative skill points ARE possible), then Spectre's Whim would activate.
It is a BAD SKILL.

You can view the SKILL POINT TABLE by viewing your STATUS and scrolling to the
third page.

The following skills are king for any blademaster, and Dual Swords especially:

*************************************************************
*   SKILL            |       DESCRIPTION                    *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Razor Sharp        | Halves the rate your weapon sharpness*
*                    | decreases                            *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Sharpness+1        | Boosts your sharpness by (most       *
*                    | commonly) one level. About the only  *
*                    | way to reach PURPLE sharpness        *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Speed Sharpener    | Speeds up your sharpening speed. Less*
*                    | time spent being vulnerable!         *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Critical Eye       | Boosts weapon Affinity (the chance   *
*                    | you might land a CRITICAL HIT,       *
*                    | which scores approx. 1.25x damage!)  *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Evasion +1         | Frame of invincibility when you ROLL *
*                    | is increased to approx 5/30th seconds*
*************************************************************

For underwater combat, let me tell you that QUICK SHEATHE is a surprinsigly
useful skill. Any weapon unsheathed underwater makes you swim slower than
molasses, and being able to sheathe your weapon in a fraction of normal time
WILL save your hide. May I recommend Bnahabra armor? It's pretty too.

General all-around good skill for those in love with, say, Nargacuga weapons,
will want to consider the skill AWAKEN. If your weapon does not display any
element, it does have an element, but it needs to be awakened. AWAKEN is notably
why the Kelbi Bow is so broken, but I digress. You'll want that skill if you
pursue the Dual Hatchets line or any Nargacuga weapon.

Another interesting skill if you decide to use any weapon with the SLIME
element (i.e. any Brachydios weapon) is BOMBARDIER. Normally associated with
bombs and all things that go boom, but I supposed Brachydios slime, since it
explodes if it touches you... Anyways, BOMBARDIER will power up your SLIME
attacks. The skill ELEMENT ATK UP will NOT affect Slime element weapons
(CREDIT goes to Demonfang0).

The top two skills you'll absolutely want if you choose Dual Swords are: RAZOR
SHARP and SHARPNESS+1. RAZOR SHARP is probably the better of the two, owing to
its ease of availability, and the fact that many great endgame weapons also
sport naturally high sharpness.

So, where to get these?

Low Rank hunters will have access to RAZOR SHARP.

Razor Sharp is available through a full set of GREAT WROGGI armor, which you
will have access to after 2-star quests, when you unlock FLOODED FOREST,
the Great Wroggi's domain. Bring ANTIDOTES when you fight the thing.

Wroggi Armor also gives poison immunity, which is cool too :D

Here is a table listing what you'll need for WROGGI ARMOR.

*************************************************************
*   PART     |              RESOURCES                       *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Helm       | King's Beak x1, Great Wroggi Hide x2,        *
*            | Wroggi Scale x2, Killer Beetle x2            *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Mail       | Great Wroggi Hide x2, Great Wroggi Claw x1,  *
*            | Poison Sac x3, Ice Crystal x5                *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Vambraces  | Great Wroggi Claw x2, Great Wroggi Hide x2,  *
*            | Wroggi Scale x2, Carpenterbug x3             *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Faulds     | Wroggi Hide x3, Wroggi Scale x2,             *
*            | Monster Bone S x6, Killer Beetle x3          *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Greaves    | Great Wroggi Claw x2, Great Wroggi Hide x2,  *
*            | Wroggi Hide x3, Carpenterbug x3              *
*************************************************************

EVASION+1 can be surprisingly lifesaving, and let me tell you that it might
sound poo-poo in theory, but in practice it will make a very noticeable
difference! Evasion+1 gives you a longer moment of invincibility when dodging
by rolling and diving.(CREDIT goes to Demonfang0).

The best way to acquire this skill is through a set of VOLVIDON ARMOR. It also
comes with Tremor Resistance which is handy.

*************************************************************
*    PART    |              RESOURCES                       *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Helm       | Volvidon Claw x2, Volvidon Shell x2,         *
*            | Monster Fluid x2, Dragonite Ore x4           *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Mail       | Volvidon Shell x3, Volvi Rickrack x2         *
*            | Jumbo Bone x2, Uroktor Scale x4              *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Vambraces  | Volvidon Claw x2, Volvi Rickrack x2          *
*            | Jumbo Bone x2, Uroktor Scale x4              *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Faulds     | Volvidon Shell x3, Paralysis Sac x4          *
*            | Monster Fluid x1, Firestone x1               *
*-----------------------------------------------------------*
* Greaves    | Volvidon Claw x2, Volvidon Shell x2          *
*            | Volvi Rickrack x1, Earth Crystal x4          *
*************************************************************

(Rickracks are obtained by breaking Volvidon's armored back. When Volvidon is
rolling around after you knock him over, traipse over to where his backside is
visible--you'll want to attack the grey section and it'll break quickly)

Finally, Evasion+1's sister, EVADE DIST UP. This increases your rolling distance
when rolling out of the way to avoid an attack. It is arguably more useful (I
like them both). I believe you can acquire this skill through a full set of
LAGOMBI ARMOR (what's with all these mammals?).

---------------
General Armor
---------------

For Low Rank hunters that are about to defeat Ceadeus and enter the realms of
High Rank, beware. High Rank is no joke. The moment you enter High Rank, ALL
of your Low Rank armor is null and void and is hereby pronounced as useless
unless you're hunting multiplayer with a friend who is still in Low Rank.

But obviously, you can't magically get High Rank armor before you hit High
Rank. This is where what I like to call TRANSITION ARMOR comes in handy.
"Transition Armor" is armor that has high enough defense to be able to take a
few hits from a High Rank monster (like, I don't know, Purple Ludroth). It
definitely will be hammered hard if you can't shield or dodge, but you won't
be dying in two hits. Transition Armor is super awesome in Low Rank and rather
mediocre in the very beginnings of High Rank, and as you tread through High
Rank becomes wholly useless, but you'll want it in the beginning.

A first good set is LAGIACRUS ARMOR. It has a decent arsenal of skills and has
great defense.

The second set of good armor that you might want to try out is the RATHALOS
ARMOR. It is basically Lagiacrus Armor's opposite in terms of elemental
resistance and weakness, meaning if you forge a set of each, you'll be all set
for both the high end of Low Rank and the low end of High Rank. Just bear in
mind that both need one Lagiacrus/Rathlos plate, which can be exceedingly
tedious to get.

Speaking of transition armors, it is possible to make them High Rank viable (and
make High Rank armors G-Rank viable). Use your Armor Spheres! After a full
Advanced Armor Sphere upgrade, Low Rank Lagiacrus armor sports 270 defense,
while Wroggi S (High Rank Wroggi) has 285 defense. Such upgrades to cross
ranks is commonly referred to as OVERFORGING. It is actually very practical.

For the Ceadeus fight, may I recommend Gobul armor? It comes with the Olympic
Swimmer skill, which doubles your swim speed. Obviously helpful, but it won't
be of much use elsewhere...

When you reach G Rank, I recommend you take some time farming Goldbeard Ceadeus
and Ceadeus and make the following set:

HELIOS/SELENE Z with the HELIOS/SELENE X WAISTPIECE

This will give you the following skills: Sharpness+1 and High-Grade Earplugs,
and it also sports hefty defense and is one of the best END-GAME G RANK armors
to run, even though it's obtained basically right in the beginning of G Rank.
Tedious and annoying, yes, but worth it.

--------------
Sharpness +1
--------------

Obtainable in very few armor sets but infinitely useful, this essentially adds
another bar of sharpness to your weapon. Obviously for Blademasters, this is
THE holy grail of skills. It's also the only way to have a weapon attain
PURPLE SHARPNESS, which is the sharpness you'll need to hit something like
Lucent Nargacuga.

Sharpness+1 can also turn weapon with great power but terrible max sharpness
into useable weapons. For example, Raider's Savagery, the very final ICE weapon
in the Lagombi-Barioth line (start = Snow Slicers), can only obtain a maximum
of Blue sharpness. Ewwww, GTFO, blue sharpness when you've hit High/G Rank???
But if you slap on your armor/decorations, it can hit Purple Sharpness! Wow!
Big improvement! The weapon is now actually useable!

VERY few armor sets will actually come with this skill, the only few being that
of Deviljho's and a few of the elder dragons' armor sets. Ceadeus armor does
NOT provide the Sharpness+1 skill (CREDIT goes to Quendorsof). Jhen Mohran
armor does NOT provide the Sharpness+1 skill. However, HALLOWED JHEN MOHRAN's
armor gives SHARPNESS+1, and many other monsters have a part here and a part
there that give HANDICRAFT points, meaning you can mix and match to your
fancy. The Deviljho armor set, VANGIS X (G Rank) also provides Sharpness+1,
as does the HELIOS/SELENE Z (Goldbeard Ceadeus) set.

The final option is to forge a few Handicraft Jewels and gem in the skill. The
plus side is that you can know pick whichever armors you want without being
restricted by which armor provides Handicraft or not, but the downside is you're
using up valuable gem slots AND the materials needed are exquisitely rare.

Here's the three that you can make (if there are errors PLEASE email me):

1: DEIFIC FANG x1, ADAMANT ORB x1, AGANAKTOR CLAW+ x2
2: RATH GLEEM x1, ADAMANT ORB x1, DEVILJHO RIPPER x2
3: MIRALIS FIRECLAW x1, ADAMANT ORB x1, DEVILJHO GEM x1

If Monster Hunter has taught me anything about things like stones and gems,
the Deviljho gem will be a rare find...but they're all rare. Good luck.

I know a good many hunters who simply just do without and use weapons that hit
purple sharpness naturally. Some consider it a luxury, some consider it to be
a necessity. I can tell you that while you don't need it, you will much
appreciate it.

=====================
Recommended Weapons
=====================

All right. Here's the best weapons that will go along wonderfully with your
newfound, beautiful, cowboy/cowgirly Wroggi Armor! Or whatever-armor-you-
chose armor. This is basically the recommended upgrade path(s) that I think you
should take. I experimented a lot and tried out a bunch of different blades and
wasted a bunch of my zenny so you wouldn't have to waste yours :D

You'll notice that the game starts you out with your basic MATCHED SLICERS. Of
course, considering it's your very first weapon, it's pretty...bleah. So upgrade
it ASAP or what I recommend you do is to instead forge a pair of JAGGID SHOTELS
which you can forge by farming Great Jaggi a bit. Not hard, right?

You can also upgrade your JAGGID SHOTELS to JAGGID SHOTELS+ (remember that you
can use Ctrl+F) to find the exact resources you need in the Dual Swords dex
at the end of this guide). Pelagicite Ore is the only new thing you'll be
needing, which you will unlock with the 3-star quests in Flooded Forest.
Once you've got access to the Tundra, you can upgrade them further into
LEADER'S SHOTELS or TWIN ACRUS.

Speaking of 3-star quests, you'll have to fight Royal Ludroth a bit, and Royal
Ludroth will be popping up in Moga Woods for you to freehunt, so farm him a
bit and forge the Ludroth Pair. It'll be a good Water weapon, and then later
I'll turn it into the best poison dual sword set :)

The 4-star tier is a tier where you'll be doing some upgrading. Like I said
earlier, farm Great Baggi and get your Leader's Shotels. Don't worry about the
Twin Acrus yet, it's forgeable, and you'll have to farm Lagiacrus a bit for 'em.
Next, take the quest "The Creeping Venom", do it a few times in a row (I love
Gigginox, so it was a ton of fun for me, well, maybe not so much, I absolutely
loathe Giggi). Yes, it's tough, sometimes tougher than Lagiacrus, but it'll
develop some crucial skills you'll need. Plus, it's a ton easier with WROGGI
ARMOR, and didn't I just recommend that to you?

Once you've gathered your resources, upgrade your Ludroth Pair into BLOODWINGS.
They have high power, great sharpness, and they can potentially POISON your
monster. Especially effective on DURAMBOROS, an upcoming urgent quest.

Also in the 4-star tier is a very easy fatsy, the Lagombi. Kill it. Over and
over again. You'll have your ICE weapon, the Snow Slicers. Effective on the
upcoming Lagiacrus fight.

You'll also have the urgent quest "Fell the Lagiacrus!". Do it. That'll unlock
your 5-star quests. Fell the Lagiacrus! will still be an available quest in the
clear and high-visibility Deserted Islands, so farm that quest a bit and forge
the Twin Acrus. That will be your LIGHTNING weapon.

The 5-star tier is a tier full of confusion and new, new monsters. You'll first
only unlock monsters like Duramboros, Volvidon, and Nibelsnarf. Not much you
can really make out of them. If you opted for the Dual Hatchets line, you have
the option of upgrading to Twin Chainsaws, which are Nibelsnarf's weapons.

But once you've cleared either "Heat Exhaustion" or "The Lord of the Seas",
and THEN cleared either "The Desert Gourmand" (Nibelsnarf) or "Walk 'N' Roll"
(Volvidon), you'll advance the story some more. You will then unlock a few
more monsters, namely Rathalos and Barioth. You'll have to clear their
respective quests "The Wrath of Rathalos" and "A Bard's Tale" to unlock
"Denizen of the Molten Deep", among others, and this is where things will get
interesting for you.

You will FINALLY finally finally be able to make a FIRE weapon of your choosing.
And even better, you have two options, both of which I recommend. You can forge
Brother Flames, the Rathalos/Rathian weapon (awww that's cute, they share a
weapon together!), or Flamestorm, the Agnaktor weapon.

You can upgrade your Bloodwings straight into Brother Flames to save you from
having to acquire 8 Flame Sacs, but I don't recommend it because Bloodwings
are a GREAT weapon and you shouldn't give them up. If you can't stand the
farming to forge them, consider the Flamestorm, Agnaktor's weapon, which you
get by upgrading the Leader's Shotels. It only took me 2 Agnaktor runs to get
them! The only frustrating thing you might find is that you'll have to break
Agnaktor's back for a fin.

Barioth is a very random, sporatic monster, but truthfully an easy defeat if you
pay attention. So get 2 Frost Sacs (took me 2 Barioth runs, one kill and one
capture) to upgrade your Snow Slicers into SNOW SLICERS+.

You should now have the following:

Flamestorm/Brother Flames
Twin Acrus
Bloodwings
Snow Slicers+

If you have plenty of zenny and spare resources, you can feel free to do the
following:

Forge another Ludroth Pair and then upgrade into Ludroth Pair+ once you've
    unlocked Duramboros for a Water weapon (If you cannot cut Duramboros's
    tail because the guy's so massive, it's a possible capture award. But
    you can break and cut his tail with DSes! (CREDIT GOES TO Quendorsof).
Get some Dual Hatchets and upgrade into Insecticutters for a Dragon weapon.

And that will set you just fine for Low Rank, and even into early High Rank.

Remember that exact materials necessary are found in my Dual Swords Dex, please
use Ctrl+F.

-----------
High Rank
-----------

Well I've played through High Rank now so I know what I'm talking about, kay?
And in order to really know my swords, I am working on obtaining almost every
single one of them (save the ones that need Awaken...I don't recommend those
really simply because for each Awaken set there is, there's a set with the same
element that doesn't need Awaken). The things I do for you! Be grateful.

If you picked Brother Flames, then you're in luck because Rathian and Rathalos
are unlocked early on. If you're having trouble with plates, break their head
and cut off their tail and then capture them for maximum chance.

Twin Acrus+ can be obtained with similar ease. Voltstones are exclusive to
Crimson Qurupeco (just as Qurupeco has Flintstones). Break the brown things on
the tip of his wings (beware, you'll bounce) and capture him. It's possible
to obtain three in one quest. Plates and horns, you'll want to break Lagiacrus's
face, chop off its tail, and then capture, similar to Rathian and Rathalos.

Wyvern Lovers is equally obtainable, but the Rubies will give you a hard time.
They're like High Rank Plates, you'll want to use the same process and just
be patient. Thankfully, you only need one from each gender.

Once you've unlocked High Rank Lagiacrus, you'll have a hard time finding that
Sapphire, but you only need one. Blackcurl Horn is obtained by breaking the
horns of Black Diablos (an annoying fight, but it's only once). When Diablack
is not enraged, Sonic Bomb her out of the ground and then Flash Bomb her out of
the sky for maximum damage, then stay away from her when she's mad. That's the
easiest way to defeat her. Capture her for more rewards and an easier time.

An alternative and newly available Thunder weapon, unlocked at 8-star, is
Usurper's Fulgur, the Zinogre weapon. It is more powerful than the Lagiacrus
line but arguably more annoying due to the Jaspers and Skymeralds, which are
akin to Lagia Sapphires and Rathian/Rathalos Rubies. It eventually upgrades to
dual Thunder-Dragon blades that are surprisingly practical, so I'd recommend
you get Usurper's Fulgur if only for those. It'll be worth your Jaspers.

Your Bloodwings could have been upgraded in Low Rank, but now Fearsome Maws
are much easier to obtain, so upgrade to Bloodwings+. You now have two options,
the Poison option (Gigginox) or the Thunder option (Baleful Gigginox). My
honest opinion is that you already have plenty of Thunder options. Go with
Gigginox, it's the only Poison weapon you'll get and packs plenty of power
and sharpness, things Baleful Gigginox's line lacks. I believe that the
Venom Wings, unfortunately, need some Diablos parts, so you'll have to wait
a bit and be patient enough to fight Diablos (a pain in the arse) a few times.

If you don't have an extra Ludroth Pair+ lying around, my guess is you don't
have a water weapon. You're in luck, the pre-7-star urgent quest requires you
hunt a Plesioth. Plesioth's annoying hipchecks and tailswings have been
somewhat fixed so they're tolerable, and he's in fact not got much health at
all if you use your Lagiacrus lightning weapon. Turn him into a weapon, it's</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
easily the BEST water DS in the game.

Jade Barroth gives Frozen Gobs, both as shiny drops when you break its arms
and as quest rewards. Get two (easily can be done in one quest) plus more
Lagombi parts (check out "On Thin Ice", and break the ears), and you'll easily
obtain the Snow Sisters. Once you've unlocked High Rank Barioth, and you have
some Graciums (Tundra), get the parts and you'll have Blizzarioths, which
continue on to become the best Ice DS without needing Awaken. You can upgrade
those to Blizzarioths+, by the way, later on in High Rank.

You'll unlock Volcano kinda late into High Rank, but that's no excuse to ignore
Agnaktor! His quest, "Denizen of the Molten Deep", is a Key Quest anyways, so
take your time and upgrade your Flamestorm to Flamestorm+ if you have one.
It's higher fire power and higher affinity makes it my top choice for a fire
weapon. It can also upgrade to a Fire-Ice dual element weapon sporting an
awesome 360 Ice-power, so it'll be worth your time. Did I mention they look
awesome? And also, you can upgrade those to Salamanders/forge Salamanders right
off the bat once you've unlocked Steel Uragaan (9-star).

I think it's 8-star quests where Brachydios becomes an urgent quest. Brachydios
is a hard fight, but farm him a few times (tough, I know) and you'll get the
Dios Slicers, the DS's slime weapon. A must-have for its looks, power, and
unique elemental affiliation. Brachydios is the 3-star Tanzia Port urgent
monster, interestingly enough. It is totally possible to upgrade those to
Dios Slicers+ as well, but good luck finding that Gem.

On a side note, you still don't have a dragon weapon yet, so the insect weapons,
the Insecticutters, are totally recommended if you don't want to farm Deviljho.
The parts are laughably easy to obtain, just use Poison Smoke Bombs on the
bugs and wait for them to die, leaving carve-able carcasses. The Insectirippers
are so easy to get with some patience and have more Blue sharpness than most
of your weapons at the same rarity level will have. Rare Scarabs might puzzle
you, but if you fight Jade Barroth and let it limp away, it'll bust open secret
areas 8 and 9 (or 7 and 8?). The bone piles give you ElderDragonBone things,
and the bugs give you Rare Scarabs and equally rare bugs. Gather some before
you wake up the sleeping Jade.

Speaking of Deviljho, his signature line (yeah, he has his own tree thing),
is Wrath & Rancor. High power, good elemental power too. Definitely recommended
unless you just hate Deviljho. Plus, it's one of the first weapons you can
upgrade in G Rank that will have white sharpness (the other being the insect-y
DS), which is magnificent. The Deviljho Gem might be tedious, but it'd be worth
your while to learn how Deviljho works anyways when you have to deal with...
HUNGRY DEVILJHO.

Weapons I do NOT recommend: Anything Diablos. Please don't bother. In other
classes Diablos weapons are good. But not for Dual Swords.

Twin Chainsaws line all has things that are easily outclassed/need Awaken.

Nargacuga weapons all need Awaken and are otherwise outclassed.

Glutton's Tools are fun and you'll probably get them anyway because they're
hilarious, but they're obviously Joke Items. Shaka Scarecrows, ironically
enough, have good sharpness (white) at max level. But I wouldn't recommend
them unless you play online or locally a LOT because paralysis weapons are
only good when there's other people to exploit that besides you!

For that same reason, the Gobul Stunprongs aren't recommended. With Blue
sharpness as their highest level (even with Sharpness+1!) they are horribly
useless in G Rank. They are, however, the demo swords, so if you get them
out of nostalgia or Rule of Cool, go ahead (I certainly did).

I'd recommend you ignore Mercury Edges for now until you get weapons powerful
enough to kill Ceadeus in under 30 minutes.

--------
G Rank
--------

Note: Once you hit G Rank, evermore options become available for you to toy
and tinker with, meaning there's hundreds of thousands of combinations of
weapons, gems, and armors for you to discover. That means I really won't be of
much help unless you hate farming and want to get just the best weapons that'll
keep you safe.

The only thing I can say to you now is that the weapons you've got, you've got
to be committed to maxing them out now. Yes, that means getting parts and
upgrading them until they can't be upgraded anymore. Some new weapon branches
will be available for you (such as the Stygian Zinogre's dual Dragon/Thunder
DS), and you will also have access to Dire Miralis's exclusive little line,
which is something you should get for BRAGGING RIGHTS. Plus it's called
"Megiddo Nova". That oozes coolness.

In my opinion, here's some good weapons for each element:

Fire: Agnaktor (Agnaktor Inferno) and Dire Miralis (The Fistolution)
Water: Plesioth (Alluvion Slashers)
Ice: Barioth (Raider's Icecarvers), or Typhoon if you have Awaken
Thunder: Lagiacrus (Neo Acrus Whitebolt) and Abyssal Lagi (Nether Confidants)
Dragon: Weathered blades (Enduring Sacrifice) and Deviljho (Nero's Wrath)

Unique weapons that I also recommend:

Gigginox (Grimmest Noxwings): High power, great sharpness, and the only good
    poison weapon because all the rest need Awakening or something
Stygian Zinogre (Stygian Superbia): Dual Dragon-and-Thunder is surprisingly
    useful, nearly every monster weak to Dragon is also weak to Thunder, AND
    the Dragon power is a whopping 360, with the Thunder power not far
    behind. Dragon weapons for some odd reason are hard to find with DSes.
Chum-Chum Scarecrows: If you play online, these silly things will come in great
    handy, keeping the monsters paralyzed so that your fellow hunters can get
    in some great hits!

Also, Lucent Nargacuga's Dual Swords sport natural purple sharpness--and the
sharpness itself is a full, maxed out bar of sharpness, even without the skill
Sharpness+1. In combination with fairly high power, they are extremely durable
Dual Swords in their own right. Their only problem is that it's just a Poison
weapon, and not very high Poison power at that, but I still highly recommend
them.

======================
Demon/Archdemon Mode
======================

I said I'd give it its own section. Here it is. This is the selling point of the
Dual Swords, and what makes up for their low raw power.

Earlier I said if you press the R shoulder button with your weapon unsheathed
and at the ready, you go into DEMON MODE. If you look at the touch screen (or
top screen, depending on your settings) you will notice a slim horizontal
bar below your stamina bar. It's much smaller and shorter. That's your DEMON
BAR, as I'll call it.

When you go into Demon Mode, your stamina bar will deplete at a constant and
fairly quick rate. If you wish to exit Demon Mode, you have the following
options:

1. Get hit. This normally happens on accident lol, don't get
    hit on purpose to exit Demon Mode.
2. Sheathe your weapon.
3. Stamina depletes all the way and your Demon Bar isn't full.
4. Press R again. This enables you to exit Demon Mode
    without having to sheathe and unsheathe, saving time.

But if you're in Demon Mode and your Demon Bar fills up (it will become totally
red) then it will flash red and white and you'll see the red haze has spread to
your entire body.

This is a GOOD THING. You have entered ARCHDEMON MODE. Your attacks are amped
up even further, you attack faster, and even better, your stamina bar will not
deplete! Your Demon Bar will, but at a fairly slow rate.

------------
Demon Mode
------------

First, let's just talk about Demon Mode. In Demon Mode, if you press B to dodge,
you don't roll. Instead, you do a Demon Dash (as I'll call it) and you flit
quickly to one side or another depending on where you're going. DEFINITELY
superior to the roll. It costs STAMINA, however, and in Demon Mode your
Stamina's already depleting, so be careful.

Unless, of course, you bring...DASH JUICE! I highly recommend you bring Dash
Juice if you've got some. Or Mega Dash Juice. DASH EXTRACTS, one of the
Dash Juice's ingredients, is a potential carve reward from Royal Ludroth. I
hope you like Royal Ludroth, cos you're gonna need those extracts.

Anyways.

Another thing about Demon Mode is that your attacks are not only sped up, but
pressing X+A will allow you to do a very unique move called the DEMON DANCE.
If the monster's stunned or trapped or been knocked over, or if it's Jhen
Mohran's weakpoints, get into Demon Mode and press X+A over and over again.
You'll fill up your DEMON BAR.

Also: The Demon Dance gives you automatic ESP (you will never bounce). I have
fought Jhen Mohran several times and reached Red sharpness while attacking her
weakpoints, and so long as I Demon Danced/Flurried, I never bounced.

About how fast your Demon Bar fills up: It fills up every single time you land
a hit that's not on an ally. And it does fill up pretty fast--you shouldn't
worry much about charging speed. It charges about as fast as the Long Sword
does, if not a little faster.

So once you're in Demon Mode, just attack stuff, and your bar will fill up.
Don't get hit though, or else you exit Demon Mode and your only reward is
a half-filled Demon Bar. The best times to go into Demon Mode are as follows,
in order of best-ness.

1. You placed a Pitfall Trap/Shock Trap and the monster got caught.
2. You flinched the monster (i.e. it's flailing on its back/side).
3. The monster's asleep and is pretty much screaming for you to hit it.
    Also, the monster's eating something.
4. The monster's very visibly tired and is standing for a long time doing
    nothing between its attacks, leaving wide opening for attack.

HOW TO BREAK JHEN MOHRAN'S WEAKPOINTS AND DEAL A TON OF DAMAGE

Yeah really. The DS's own the place here. Go to the weak point. Unsheathe.
Press R. Spam the Demon Dance. Once you reach Archdemon mode, keep on attacking
using the DEMON FLURRY (covered below). Once your Stamina has recovered, press
R again and go into Demon Mode while in Archdemon Mode (dunno if this gives a
power stack but hey whatever). Spam the Demon Dance. Rinse. Repeat. So long
as you do this, you deal lots of damage PLUS you get automatic ESP!

----------------
Archdemon Mode
----------------

Congratulations! You're in Archdemon Mode. Your attacks will no longer be
ridiculously long but you will still attack and move faster than outside of
Demon or Archdemon Mode. You will retain your Demon Dash, by the way, but it
will take Stamina so be careful about your Stamina. Hooray for quick dodging!

Once your bar depletes, you exit Archdemon Mode. You cannot exit Archdemon Mode
by taking damage or sheathing your weapon. But being in Archdemon Mode doesn't
hurt you, so don't worry about it.

There are THREE ways your bar will deplete:
1. Bar will simply deplete on its own over time.
2. Whenever you use the Demon Dash dodge
3. When using the Demon Flurry attack.

(2 and 3 CREDIT goes to Demonfang0)

In Archdemon and Demon Mode, your attack power is exponentially higher (I do
not know the actual figures. If you do, I will be more than happy to give you
credit) and easily makes up for the lack of initial raw power granted by other
weapons. It's similar to Spirit Dancing with the Long Sword, by the way, for
those of you familiar with the Long Sword.

Also exclusive to Archdemon Mode is the DEMON FLURRY. Here's how to use it:
Press X, which either gives you your unsheathe-charge attack, and then
immediately begin buttonmashing X+A, which will lead you to do a very complex
series of moves. If you pay attention to your Demon Bar, you'll notice that
it drops significantly each time.

Other than that, Archdemon Mode is pretty much the same as Demon Mode.

It's a high risk high reward sort of manuver. But "high risk high reward" is
basically Dual Swords, so you should just get used to it because otherwise
it's just too bad for you.

===================
Tackling Monsters
===================

I will not give you a guide on how to dual sword every single monster. Learn it
on your own, research, and have fun with it, ok?

That said, the overall tactics of monster hunter also apply to Dual Swords, so
veteran hunters feel free to not take this with a grain of salt. Beginner
hunters, read carefully.

This, my friends, is the golden rule of Monster Hunter:

Don't get hit, hit it till it dies.

Once again:

Don't get hit, hit it till it dies.

Easier said than done? Of course. But as no-duh and captain-obvious as it
sounds, saying this in your head WILL help you become a better hunter.

1. OBSERVE.

I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT DIVE STRAIGHT INTO THE FRAY. I KNOW you
want to just kill the thing. But please. Your life is more important!!!

All I can say is this: If you've fought the monster before, then you know its
attack patterns and you know exactly when and where you can strike. So go on
ahead. Monsters' AIs aren't so complex that their attacks shuffle up to
something different each time you fight them.

If it's your FIRST time ever hunting a monster, then you'd best prepare
yourself for anything. First off, I dearly hope you did your research. Don't
dive straight into any hunt without doing research. Why not make use of the
gifts other hunters have bestowed upon you in the form of video guides and
Monster Hunter Wiki?

Once you've got a general idea of at least its attacks, go on ahead, take your
quest, find its area, watch its biology video (Gigginox's is particularly
disgusting). Make sure you keep your camera locked onto it at all times. Play a
bit defensively at first. Once you have a better feel for how the monster works
(e.g. when Gigginox is "giving birth", she is particularly vulnerable to attack)
go on ahead.

But strike a balance between offense and defense. Just because I tell you to
stand back and "fight without fighting" for a bit, doesn't mean you should spend
20 minutes running in circles believing you ought to 100% KNOW a monster. THAT
will only come with time.

2. Be prepared for RAGE MODE.

Sometime during the process, you'll notice that the monster suddenly isn't
having such an opening anymore. It charges at you, somersaults, and then charges
right back at you even though you ran in the opposite direction. It's moving
faster, and attacking like a tank. That means the monster has gone into RAGE
MODE. When this happens, it's CRUCIAL that you be ever more aware of your
surroundings. If a monster is in Rage Mode, never assume that once it finishes
an attack, it'll leave you an opening. It might chain two, three, up to even
four or five attacks together before you get an opportunity (Diablos is that and
much more).

Rage Mode can easily catch even experienced hunters off guard, so make sure you
know the monster's signs that it's in Rage Mode. The most common one is that
white puff of smoke. Others include eyes turning red, parts of the monster
change color, etc.

Rage Mode can be especially dangerous to Dual Swords user. If you catch
yourself up in a length combo with no way to break out of it, the monster might
just whirl around and break your attack for you. So dive in, press the X button
once, dive out.

So what do you do about Rage Mode in general? One option is to just leave the
area, pull yourself together, and come back when the monster has calmed down.
If you're seriously about to fall apart, there is never any shame in leaving,
healing, sharpening up, and mining and bug-catching while you gather your
brain back together and allow the monster to cool off.

The more commonly taken path, though, is to just tough it out, deal with it,
and keep your cool. Monsters won't stay in Rage Mode for forever.

3. PRACTICE.

This is painfully self-explanatory.

3. Keep your gear UP TO DATE.

Trust me on this. As soon as you can, upgrade your armor and your weapons, or
forge new armor and weapons. You can't expect to use the Matched Slicers the
game started you out with on a Lagiacrus, right? Better weapons can reach
better sharpness levels, ensuring you don't bounce off. Better armor helps your
ability to take hits, and comes with better skills (most of the time).

Simply making sure your armor and weapons are appropriate for your quest can go
a long way in giving you success after success. (By the way, this same
philosophy applies to your items.)

4. Know your ELEMENTS.

I went over this earlier and I'll say it here again. Also be aware of monsters
who are weak to one element in one state and weak to another only in another
state.

There are three solutions to this. The first one, and the one I recommend you
don't use, is to bring a weapon of one of the elements said monster is weak to
and only attack during one of its states. This can be time-consuming however.
The second solution is to find the monster's secondary weakness. Sometimes,
though, at the stage in the game you're in, this may not be possible.

The final, and best solution for beginners, is to simply use a neutral weapon.
In Low Rank, it's not desperately necessary that you always have elemental
weaknesses in check. Just remember that by the time you hit High Rank, you'd
better have at least one weapon per element.

5. Never give up! And fight with friends :)

Trust me. Fighting with friends, local or online, is always more fun. Plus,
you get the added bonus of possibly being able to obtain better weapons and
armor before you actually would unlock a monster in solo play.

I, for example, got the Snow Slicers before I completed my 1-star quests. This
not only made my solo campaign (up until 4-star anyway) a tad easier, but it
was fun fighting Lagombis together and it developed my skills while still giving
me a "crutch". I also felt much safer and could attempt more reckless things
that I never would have done if I were soloing, when stakes are much higher.

===================
Underwater Combat
===================

Premiered in Tri and continues to be integral in Moga Village in 3 Ultimate...
which is basically the same as Tri but this time there's DUAL SWORDS which is
why this guide exists.

Infuriating for some, fun for others, but overall regarded as much more
difficult than land battle, especially for beginners.

Considering that this guide is for you beginners, here is the basics on how to
manuver around underwater. Let me first of all commend you and warn you because
you have picked the most painful weapon. Dual Swords underwater is pain
incarnate, so you'd better be prepared for frustration and pain!

The biggest difference between land and sea is that you can not only move left
right, forwards and backwards, but also up and down. As long as you're moving
forward, move around your camera angle and you'll be able to move up and down.

If your camera faces up to the surface (you'll see glimmering rays of sunlight)
you'll eventually get your head above the water. If you've just dove into the
water and you point your camera down, you will only see the top of the water.
But eventually the camera will "break" through this and you'll see yourself in
your underwater glory.

Another crucial difference is that you obviously have to hold your breath
underwater. Your oxygen level is indicated by a small vertical bar next to your
health and stamina meters. If it goes all the way down, your health will drain.
Bring along Mini Oxy Supplies (sometimes if your monster is an underwater
monster, the supply box will have 2 for you).

Occassionally, once you have Cha-cha and/or Kayamba, they may do a dance that
replenishes your oxygen. The two Shakalaks DO have AI that tells them to do
a particular dance when you're critical in a certain way. If you're low on
health, at least one of them is pretty much guaranteed to do a Health Recovery
dance for you. Same goes for oxygen. Still, bring the Oxygen Supplies.

But the more reliable way to replenish your oxygen without having to swim all
the way back up to surface is to find oxygen bubbles along the sea floor. Swim
through them and you'll hear a noise and see white rays of light swirl around
you, indicating that your oxygen has been replenished.

One of the more annoying aspects of underwater combat is that the camera will
sometimes screw with you and be above water, so that all you can see is
yourself underwater and the monster half in, half out of the water. This
severely limits your ability to manuver successfully because water is NOT
transparent in this game (it's even worse if you're in Flooded Forest, where
the water is murky already).

In order to rectify this, you will have to point your camera down as far as
possible and swim as fast as you can, then press L and reorient yourself to
face your monster.

You will find yourself pressing L more often than not. Because you will not
only be orienting yourself left/right, but also up/down, auto-target locking on
the monster will enable you to swim towards it without having to manually move
around the camera. If you're on a 3DS without a Circle Pad Pro, I'm sure you
know by now that if you want to move the camera, you have to stop moving,
orient the camera, then return your thumb to the circle pad. This costs time
and leaves you vulnerable to attack (if you can afford it, get out there and
buy a Circle Pad Pro. Please. Or you could, you know, use the claw that the
Sony players had to use lol. But it could give you CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME!).

Poking the B Button will not cause you to roll. Instead, you will put on a
short spurt of speed in the direction your circle pad is pointed in and you
will spin as you swim fast, like a human torpedo. This does not give you, as
far as I'm concerned, any appreciable invincibility. So evading underwater WILL
be a bit of a pain. Learn how to sheathe your weapon and swim away as fast as
you can and make it a habit. It will benefit your land-mongering skills too,
and will benefit you later if you choose to use heavier weapons, such as
Lances.

You can use every single item that you can use above land underwater.

Except Pitfall Traps. For obvious reasons.

Okay seriously how do you make a hole in the water I don't even.

One last thing: Underwater combat is plagued with hitbox diassociation and
sometimes, even worse, hitboxes from hell. Prepare yourself for damage even
if Lagiacrus's tail DID NOT hit you. Suck it up and just steer clear the
next time...if you can.

You WILL need underwater combat all throughout the game. It will never go
away!

So...now...

How exactly do you go about using those Dual Swords to fight
underwater?

Dual Swords are both advantaged and disadvantaged. They are light and mobile,
meaning you can swim around while they're unsheathed...and actually get a
decent speed. If you need to swim fast to avoid a Gobul charge though, sheathe
your weapons and sprint-swim (Superman diving, for obvious reasons,
does not work underwater).

What makes Dual Swords oftentimes hellish to use underwater, though, is their
small hitzone. What is a mere annoyance on land can be your literal death
underwater. Having to get up close and personal with a SEA SERPENT is never
a good idea, especially considering you're a human (I hope) and water is
not exactly a human's best element.

This also leads to the issue of spatial perception underwater. You WILL run
into the scenario where you thought you were SUPER FAR AWAY from the monster,
only to swim closer and BUMP! you've bumped into the monster. TOO CLOSE. The
only solution I have is to either turn on the 3D (which will require some
getting used to but IS helpful) or to just get used to it and learn to force
yourself to attack before you think you're supposed to. This can become
annoying, but that's just too bad for you!

Do you remember that X+A move that is the "charge forward" move that you can
pull off? You know, when you first unsheathe your weapon and you charge forward
on land. Well, that move isn't exclusive to unsheathing. Go ahead and press
X+A if you're not in Demon/Archdemon Mode and you'll do it again. This is a
FANTASTIC move to pull off that lets you move a great distance forward in the
water without having to sheathe your weapon, swim, then unsheathe, which can
get tedious.

So. Some tips for fighting underwater.

1. PRACTICE. When you're done practicing, PRACTICE SOME MORE.

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. And it is still painfull self-explanatory.

2. Keep a dry washcloth or some sort of dry fabric at your
side.

..What is this kind of tip doing here? Trust me. If you're a beginner fighting
a Royal Ludroth, your hands are going to sweat. And the last thing anyone needs
is for your sweaty little thumb to SLIP OFF the circle pad as you attempt to
dodge an attack. IT WILL HAPPEN. So just close your 3DS or pause your Wii U,
wipe your hands, wipe the 3DS or Wii U gamepad, and continue. The more
confident you grow in your abilities, the less this issue will pop up.

But don't SWEAT it.

*groan*

Closing your 3DS and putting it to sleep, by the way, will automatically pause
your game when you open it back up.

3. Turn up the brightness.

Like, turn it WAY WAY UP. I nearly always keep my 3DS on minimum brightness
simply for the sake of battery. But if you're fighting underwater and
ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE FIGHTING UNDERWATER IN FLOODED FOREST...

TURN THE BRIGHTNESS UP TO AT LEAST TWO OR THREE. OR FOUR OR FIVE. I DON'T CARE.
TURN IT UP.

4. Overprepare.

And you thought you were overprepared for land combat! Underwater combat is out
of your element. And fighting a leviathan who's totally at home in the water
doesn't really help things out. So prepare EVEN MORE. Got your 10 Mega Potions?
Yay you. Go back and bring 10 Potions and 10 Honey so that you can combine
them and make 10 more. Got 20 Whetstones? Grab the 2 Mini Whetstones you're
provided with anyways. Just. Bring. EVERYTHING.

Also, never forget your OXYGEN SUPPLIES. And if you're in Low Rank, grab those
MINI OXY SUPPLIES too.

Once you've unlocked it, give Cha-Cha or Kayamba the ANCIENT MASK so that
if you're low on oxygen, you can signal them and they'll swim over and give you
some. But they can be unreliable so bring your Oxygen Supplies still.

5. Stick closer to the floor.

Does not apply to Flooded Forest, where underwater battle is a nightmare no
matter what. But if you're on Deserted Island, Tundra, Volcano, or Misty
Peaks (yeah yeah most of them don't even HAVE water areas but whatever) if
there is an ocean or lake for you to swim in, sticking closer to the bottom
will prevent the camera screw. You will also be able to not get lost and
if the monster is above you, you can swim UP to it and attack it's soft
underbelly, thus netting you more damage!

Plus, those oxygen bubbles are always coming up from the ocean floor, so
you'll be swimming down there anyways. Not to mention mineable ores are
on the bottom. Aw yeah, mining underwater!

======================
All 100+ Dual Swords
======================

Here is a comprehensive list of all the dual swords except the
Japanese-exclusive ones, which I will list ONLY IF they are released to the
West. For the beginners' sakes, I will not confuse them more than they already
are confused. I know how it feels, so I will attempt to make the layout
simple and easy.

I will not use random characters to draw actual upgrade trees, instead, I will
provide a link to a picture with the upgrade trees. Also check out Ping's
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Dex, which has EVERYTHING you could ever need to
know about carves, locations, and supplies necessary for this, that, and the
other.

For further simplification, I will order the weapons by upgrade tree. And to
make things even EASIER, I will notify you when you hit a new "level" of each
tree. A level of an upgrade tree is similar in that each weapon tends to have
similar raw power and can be obtained around the same time frame.

Layout:

WEAPON
Base power:
Sharpness: word (w/o sharpness+1) / word (w/sharpness+1)
Element:
Upgrades from:
Upgrades to:
Resources:
Resources: (second resources list only if weapon is
          produceable by forging AND upgrading)
Forge: (cost to forge, if possible)
Upgrade: (cost to upgrade, if obtainable via upgrade)
Personal Comments:

Any elemental affinity with parentheses () around it will
need the armor skill Awaken, which is only obtainable in
G Rank. Unless you're at Low Rank, where having something is
better than having nothing, try to avoid these. If a
High Rank weapon needs Awaken to unlock its full potential,
don't even bother. Dual Swords rely heavily on elemental
affinity because of low raw power and needing a G Rank skill
for a High Rank weapon is just stupid because once you've
hit G Rank, you'll need G Rank weapons.

Low Rank Awaken-necessary weapons, however, definitely can be used. Likely, you
won't really have a choice anyways.

Then you can simply use Ctrl+F to figure out what upgrades to what.

Some of the information may be blank simply because it is a bit difficult for
me to forge EVERY SINGLE WEAPON to see its max sharpness. I am doing extra
research so bear with me.

ELEMENTAL and STATUS ABBREVIATIONS
Wtr = Water
Thd = Thunder
Drg = Dragon
Fir = Fire
Ice = Ice

Par = Paralysis
Psn = Poison

Slime = Slime

---------------
Starting Tree
---------------

Named so because it all branches off the weapon the game starts you off with:
the Matched Slicers.

This tree contains more than 50 weapons. That's almost half of all possible
Dual Swords.

LEVEL ONE

=Matched Slicers=

Base Power: 98
Sharpness: Yellow / Yellow
Elemental: (Ice 50)
Upgrades from: None
Upgrades to: Matched Slicers+
Resources: Machalite Ore x1, Earth Crystalx2
Forge: 1,500 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: Your first starting weapon, so you'd have to use it anyways. Upgrade
         it ASAP though, it's weak and stupid.

LEVEL TWO

=Matched Slicers+=

Base Power: 112
Sharpness: Yellow / Yellow
Elemental: (Ice 50)
Upgrades from: Matched Slicers
Upgrades to: Dual Slicers
            Jaggid Shotels
Resources: Earth Crystal x3, Machalite Ore x2,
          Carpenterbug x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 2,000 z
Comments: Anything's better than those Matched Slicers.

LEVEL THREE

=Dual Slicers=

Base Power: 140
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: (Ice 50)
Upgrades from: Matched Slicers+
Upgrades to: Dual Hatchets
Resources: Ice Crystal x3, Iron Ore x6, Earth Crystal x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 3,000 z
Comments: More powerful Matched Slicers+. Obviously better. Personally, though,
         I prefer the Jaggid Shotels upgrade path.

=Jaggid Shotels=

Base Power: 154
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: (Psn 150)
Upgrades from: Matched Slicers+
Upgrades to: Jaggid Shotels+
Resources (forge): Jaggi Scale x3, Jaggi Hide x3,
                  Bird Wyvern Fang x5, Ice Crystal x3
Resources (upgrade): Jaggi Scale x2, Jaggi Hide x2
                  Bird Wyvern Fang x4, Ice Crystal x2
Forge: 5,400 z
Upgrade: 3,600 z
Comments: Highly recommended. Jaggi gear can get you through a good part of
         the game. Plus, its upgrades are awesomes.

LEVEL FOUR

=Dual Hatchets=

Base Power: 154
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: (Ice 80)
Upgrades from: Dual Slicers
Upgrades to: Dual Hatchets+
            Insecticutters
Resources (forge): Pelagicite Ore x5, Iron Ore x10,
                  Killer Beetle x6
Resources (upgrade): Pelagicite Ore x4, Machalite Ore x7,
                  Earth Crystal x8
Forge: 6,750 z
Upgrade: 4,500 z
Comments: I don't think it's worth the resources and cost. But you'll
         absolutely need these if you want Insecticutters.

=Jaggid Shotels+=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: (Psn 170)
Upgrades from: Jaggid Shotels
Upgrades to: Leader's Shotels
            Twin Acrus
Resources: Great Jaggi Claw x2, Great Jaggi Hide x4,
          Pelagicite Ore x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 5,800 z
Comments: Basically the equivalent to the Ludroth Pair and Snow Slicers, only
         it's obtainable lots earlier. Always recommended.

LEVEL FIVE

=Dual Hatchets+=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: (Ice 80)
Upgrades from: Dual Hatchets
Upgrades to: Dual Cleavers+
            Twin Chainsaws
Resources: Isisium x4, Pelagicite Ore x6, Machalite Ore x10
Forge: -
Upgrade: 6,500 z
Comments: If you want cool-looking swords, don't use these lol. But otherwise
         they're not bad.

=Insecticutters=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: Drg 50
Upgrades from: Dual Hatchets
Upgrades to: Insecticutters+
Resources: Bnahabra Shell x6, Altaroth Stomach x4,
          Monster Fluid x4, Monster Bone+ x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 7,900 z
Comments: They look nice but you can't get them until you unlock Lagiacrus.
         If you're lucky enough to get a Monster Bone+ from the Repel the
         Lagiacrus quest, then lucky you! A rare dragon element weapon.

=Leader's Shotels=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: (Psn 200)
Upgrades from: Jaggid Shotels+
Upgrades to: Flamestorm
Resources: Great Baggi Claw x2, King's Frill x2,
          Baggi Scale x2, Great Wroggi Claw x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 8, 100 z
Comments: Expensive and upgrade-only, but it upgrades to what is one of, like,
         not very many fire-element Dual Swords.

=Twin Acrus=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: Thunder 100
Upgrades from: Jaggid Shotels+
Upgrades to: Twin Acrus+
Resources (forge): Lagiacrus Claw x4, Lagiacrus Scale x5,
                  Lagiacrus Horn x1, Great Baggi Hide x2
Resources (upgrade): Lagiacrus Tail x1, Lagiacrus Claw x3,
                  Lagiacrus Scale x4, Lagombi Plastrom x1
Forge: 14,250 z
Upgrade: 9,500 z
Comments: They look cool and they're a great Thunder-element weapon. You will
         ABSOLUTELY need these if you want to kill Ceadeus in an efficient
         manner!

LEVEL SIX

=Dual Cleavers+=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Green / Blue
Elemental: (Ice 100)
Upgrades from: Dual Hatchets+
Upgrades to: Hurricane
Resources: Firestone x4, Dragonite Ore x6, Machalite Ore x10
Forge: -
Upgrade: 8,500 z
Comments: For so late in the upgrade tree, its power is a bit lacking.

=Twin Chainsaws=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: Thd 70
Upgrades from: Dual Hatchets+
Upgrades to: Twin Chainsaws+
Resources: Dragonite Ore x6, Thunderbug x5, Nibelsnarf Hide x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 8,800 z
Comments: Boy, these are ugly :D

=Insecticutters+=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: Drg 80
Upgrades from: Insecticutters
Upgrades to: Insectirippers
            Gobul Stunprongs
Resources: Altaroth Jaw x2, Bnahabra Wing x4, Hercudrome x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 11,000 z
Comments: Hefty price tag. Plus, you can't practically get it until High
         Rank. Hercudromes in Low Rank are only available in one particular
         area of the VOLCANO (not unlocked until 5-star) and the chance of
         getting them is 5%. But still recommended.

=Flamestorm=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness: Green / Blue
Elemental: Fir 200
Upgrades from: Leader's Shotels
Upgrades to: Flamestorm+
Resources: Agnaktor Shell x4, Agnaktor Hide x2,
          Agnaktor Fin x2, Agnaktor Scale x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 12,000 z
Comments: These look so awesome! Expensive but recommended.

=Twin Acrus+=

Base Power: 224
Sharpness: Green / Green
Elemental: Thd 110
Upgrades from: Twin Acrus
Upgrades to: Twin Acrus+
Resources: Lagiacrus Horn x2, Lagiacrus Hide x8,
          Lagiacrus Plate x1, Voltstone x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 22,000
Comments: Powerful but expensive! Can't get 'em until High Rank. The Green
         sharpness might be a turn-off, but just you wait, they upgrade into
         awesomeness!

LEVEL SEVEN

=Hurricane=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 100)
Upgrades from: Dual Cleavers+
Upgrades to: Hurricane+
            Dios Slicers
            Sworn Rapiers
Resources: Barroth Carapace x3, Earth Crystal x20,
          Machalite Ore x20
Forge: -
Upgrade: 15,000 z
Comments: Man these look so cool.

=Twin Chainsaws+=

Base Power: 210
Sharpness: Green / Blue
Elemental: Thd 90
Upgrades from: Twin Chainsaws
Upgrades to: Guillotines
            Type 51 Macerators
Resources: Carbalite Ore x6, Thunder Sac x4,
          Slagtoth Hide+ x6
Forge: -
Upgrade: 12,200 z

=Insectirippers=

Base Power: 238
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: Drg 100
Upgrades from: Insecticutters+
Upgrades to: Insectiscythes
Resources: Bnaha Carapace x6, Quality Sac x4,
          Monster Broth x4, Rare Scarab x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 18,800 z
Comments: INSECT GET. Highly recommended, the materials are EASY to find (Rare
         Scarabs = bug spots when Jade Barroth gets secret area)

=Gobul Stunprongs=

Base Power: 210
Sharpness: Green / Blue
Elemental: Para. 150
Upgrades from: Insecticutters+
Upgrades to: Gobul Stunprongs+
Resources: Gobul Hide+ x5, Gobul Fin+ x4, Gobul Lantern x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 13,000 z
Comments: These are the dual swords of the demo! Just a fun fact. But actually
         they're really bad, never reaching past Blue sharpness so oh well.

=Flamestorm+=

Base Power: 238
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: Fir 230
Upgrades from: Flamestorm
Upgrades to: Salamanders
Resources: Agnaktor Beak x4, Agnaktor Claw+ x3
          Agnaktor Hide+ x4, Agnaktor Carapace x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 26,000 z
Comments: UPGRADE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THEY'RE AWESOME.

=Levin Acrus=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: Thd 130
Upgrades from: Twin Acrus+
Upgrades to: Neo Twin Acrus
Resources: Shell Shocker+ x3, Lagiacrus Claw+ x5,
          Lagia Sapphire x1, Blackcurl Horn x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 40,000 z
Comments: Recommended! Have fun getting the Sapphire, heh. And the Blackcurl
         Horn :D

LEVEL EIGHT

=Hurricane+=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: (Ice 120)
Upgrades from: Hurricane
Upgrades to: Cyclone
Resources: Uragaan Carapace x5, Carbalite Ore x15
          Machalite Ore x30
Forge: -
Upgrade: 25,000 z

=Dios Slicers=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: Slime 170
Upgrades from: Hurricane
Upgrades to: Dios Slicers+
Resources (forge): Brach Carapace x5, Brach Ebonshell x3
                  Brach Scalp x2, Firecell Stone x3
Resources (upgrade): Brach Carapace x3, Brach Ebonshell x2
                  Brach Scalp x1, Mystery Slime x3
Forge: 36,000 z
Upgrade: 24,000 z
Comments: These are incredibly sexy. Slime is a very powerful element/status
         thing. Get 'em! (You can find Brachydios in the 3-star Tanzia quests
         and appears in 9-star in Moga)

=Sworn Rapiers=

Base Power: 238
Sharpness: Green / Blue
Elemental: Wtr 70
Upgrades from: Hurricane
Upgrades to: Sworn Rapiers+
Resources (forge): Carbalite Ore x6, Lightcrystal x4,
                  Gracium x4, Luminous Organ x2
Resources (upgrade): Gracium x5, Lightcrystal x4,
                  Plesioth Webbing x3
Forge: 21,900 z
Upgrade: 14,600 z
Comments: Outclassed by Plesioth's weapons.

=Guillotines=

Base Power: 238
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 110
Upgrades from: Twin Chainsaws+
Upgrades to: Golem's Saws
Resources (upgrade): Gracium x6, Furgurbug x5,
                  Fucium Ore x10
Forge: -
Upgrade: 23,500 z

=Type 51 Macerators=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Wtr 200)
Upgrades from: Twin Chainsaws+
Upgrades to: Deathsnarfs
Resources (forge): Nibelsnarf Claw+ x2, Nibel Carapace x4,
                  Nibelsnarf Hide+ x4, Monster Keenbone x4
Resources (upgrade): Nibel Carapace x4, Nibelsnarf Hide+ x2,
                  Dragonite Ore x10, Monster Keenbone x2
Forge: 31,500 z
Upgrade: 21,000 z
Comments: What the heck is with that name. Anyway don't get them.

=Insectiscythes=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: Drg 150
Upgrades from: Insectirippers
Upgrades to: Entomotheos
Resources (upgrade): Bnahabra Cutwing x5, Prized Stomach x5
                    Emperor Hopper x10
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000
Comments: Useful as a dragon weapon, considering there's not many.
         Plus it has Decoration slots! It's one of the first weapons that will
         ever have Dragon. So I recommend you get it. The materials are all
         obtainable from G Rank Harvest Tour quests.

=Gobul Stunprongs+=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: Para. 170
Upgrades from: Gobul Stunprongs
Upgrades to: Plegion Stunswords
Resources (upgrade): Gobul Spike+ x5, Gobul Fin x6, Gracium x5
                    Agnaktor Hide+ x6
Forge: -
Upgrade: 23,000
Comments: Dunno what the random Agnaktor Hides are doing. Decent
         weapon but low sharpness. Actually, AWFUL weapon with low sharpness.
         But they look cool!

=Salamanders=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 260
Upgrades from: Flamestorm+
Upgrades to: Ignis Noire
            Dichotomy
Resources (forge): Agnaktor Carapace x5, Scalding Pleura+ x3,
                  Agnaktor Fin+ x5, S. Uragaan Scale+ x8
Resources (upgrade): Agnaktor Carapace x4, Agnaktor Hide+ x2,
                  Agnaktor Fin+ x4, S. Uragaan Scale+ x8
Forge: 55,500 z
Upgrade: 37,000 z
Comments: Farming Steel Uragaans will probably be annoying, but
         this is one weapon that I recommend you get.

=Neo Twin Acrus=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 150
Upgrades from: Levin Acrus
Upgrades to: Neo Acrus Whitebolt
Resources (upgrade): Lagiacrus Flail x1, I. Lagi Shard x5,
                    I. Lagi D-Shocker x3, Lagiacrus Talon x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 75,000 z
Comments: Yeah weird Lagiacrus/Ivory Lagiacrus parts, but this is
         another recommended weapon.

LEVEL NINE

=Cyclone=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 140)
Upgrades from: Hurricane+
Upgrades to: Tornado Hatchets
Resources (upgrade): Fucium Ore x5, Firecell Stone x3, Dragonite Ore x20,
                    S. Urag Carapace x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 30,000
Comments: Good for the tight budget, but needs Awaken.

=Dios Slicers+=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness:
Elemental: Slime 200
Upgrades from: Dios Slicers
Upgrades to: Demolition Blades
Resources (upgrade): Brach Pounder x2, Mystery Slime x5, Brachydios Gem x1
                    B. Diab Carapace x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 37,000
Comments: Have fun farming Black Diablos! But it's worth it.

=Sworn Rapiers+=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 90
Upgrades from: Sworn Rapiers
Upgrades to: Holy Sabers
Resources (upgrade): Gracium x5, Lightcrystal x8, Nibelsnarf Claw+ x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 21,500 z
Comments: Not very powerful, but it doesn't take much farming or money!

=Golem's Saws=

Base Power: 280
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 130
Upgrades from: Guillotines
Upgrades to: Golem's Maneaters
Resources (upgrade): High Voltstone x2, Lightning Sac x3, B. Giggi Piel x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z

=Deathsnarfs=

Base Power: 280
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Wtr 230)
Upgrades from: Type 51 Macerators
Upgrades to: Deathsnarfs
Resources (upgrade): Nibel Carapace x6, G. Agnak Claw+ x3, Mohran Brace+ x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 28,000 z
Comments: The name makes it hard to take seriously. Also they're really bad.

=Entomotheos=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Drg 200
Upgrades from: Insectiscythes
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Bnahabra Cutwing x8, Prized Stomach x8, Flutterfly x5,
                    Purecrystal x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 75,000 z
Comments: Definitely recommended, although low in base power. It has natural
         GREAT sharpness and really isn't a scream to get. Not to mention
         the very first G Rank Harvest Tour quests you unlock can allow you
         to upgrade it once, to Insectiscythes, then twice, to this! Wow!

=Plegion Stunsword=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: Para. 190
Upgrades from: Gobul Stunprongs+
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Fine Gobul Fin x6, Gobul Kingwhiskr x8,
                    Gobul Beacon x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: Not recommended unless you like aesthetically awesome weapons...lol
         I'm such a hypocrite I'm getting these YOU SHOULD TOO (really, it's
         awful)

=Ignis Noire=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 300
Upgrades from: Salamanders
Upgrades to: Agnaktor Inferno
Resources (upgrade): Agnaktor Cortex x4, Agnaktor Piel x4,
                    Agnaktor Talon x2, Supple Piel x8
Forge: -
Upgrade: 85,000 z
Comments: Strongly recommended.

=Dichotomy=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 140, Ice 250
Upgrades from: Salamanders
Upgrades to: Elemenders
Resources (upgrade): G. Agnak Cortex x5, G. Agnak Talon x3,
                    Agnaktor Piel x4, Agnaktor Talon x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 85,000 z
Comments: More impractical than they sound because if a monster is only weak to
         fire you're better off using something like Ignis Noire, but if
         it's weak to ice you're better off using a Barioth weapon or
         something. But considering their utter coolness...

=Neo Acrus Whitebolt=

Base Power: 364
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 180
Upgrades from: Neo Twin Acrus
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Lagia Mantle x1, I. Lagi Shard x6, I. Lagi Hardhorn x3,
                    I. Lagi D-Shocker x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 105,000 z
Comments: Awesome and powerful, but Zinogre's got better. Still cool though.

LEVEL TEN

=Tornado Hatchets=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 200)
Upgrades from: Cyclone
Upgrades to: Typhoon
Resources (upgrade): Eltalite Ore x5, Firecell Stone x5, Carbalite Ore x15
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: Better than the Barioth line in the Bone Tree unless you don't have
         Awaken, which could be what is the turn-off for this.

=Demolition Blades=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: Slime 230
Upgrades from: Dios Slicers+
Upgrades to: Spectral Demolisher
Resources (upgrade): Brach Cortex x5, Brach Ebonshell+ x4, Brach Scalp x2,
                    Eltalite Ore x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 75,000 z
Comments: By the time you've farmed Brachydios this many times, you'll be
         worthy of such an awesome weapon.

=Holy Sabers=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 110
Upgrades from: Sworn Rapiers+
Upgrades to: Guild Knight Sabers
Resources (upgrade): Fucium Ore x5, Rare Scarab x10, G. Agnak Claw+ x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 30,500 z
Comments: Low in power, but not a terribly hard one to get. Good for you lazy
         people.

=Golem's Maneaters=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 150
Upgrades from: Golem's Saws
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Gobul Lantern+ x2, Lightning Sac x5, B. Giggi Talon x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 70,000 z
Comments: Ignore them.

=Uber Deathsnarfs=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Wtr 280)
Upgrades from: Deathsnarfs
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Nibel Cortex x5, Nibelsnarf Piel x4, Fey Wyvern Gem x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: It is impossible for me to take this weapon seriously. SNARF WARF.
         But seriously. Water? Awaken? OUTCLASSED (PLESIOTH).

=Agnaktor Inferno=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 340
Upgrades from: Ignis Noire
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Agnaktor Cortex x3, Scorching Pleura x3,
                    Fine Agnak Fin x5, Allfire Stone x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 95,000 z
Comments: Highly recommended, HIGHLY recommended.

=Elemenders=

Base Power: 350
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 150, Ice 360
Upgrades from: Dichotomy
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Drenched Pleura x4, Fine G. Agnak Fin x5,
                    Scorching Pleura x4, Fine Agnak Fin x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 95,000 z
Comments: The staggering Ice power makes this much better than, say, the
         Hurricane line, which makes these swords surprisingly practical.
         Why use an Ice weapon of only 250-ish power when you have a dual
         element blade with ice power of a whopping 360?

LEVEL ELEVEN

It's a rare weapon that goes this far.

=Typhoon=

Base Power: 350
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 250)
Upgrades from: Tornado Hatchets
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Purecrystal x3, Firecell Stone x10, Meldspare Ore x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comments: All you need to do is mine, so if you have Awaken, why not? If you
         have Awaken, they outclass the Barioth line.

=Spectral Demolisher=

Base Power: 364
Sharpness:
Elemental: Slime 270
Upgrades from: Demolition Blades
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Glowing Slime x8, Brach Pounder+ x2, Brach Pallium x1,
                    Allfire Stone x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 90,000 z
Comments: If you have these, you are more than worthy of being the CHAMPION
         of championed hunters and you are at last worthy of these blades!

=Guild Knight Sabers=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 130
Upgrades from: Holy Sabers
Upgrades to: Master Sabers
Resources (upgrade): Purecrystal x2, Eltalite Ore x10, Emperor Hopper x10,
                    Hrd Ples Webbing x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 55,000 z
Comments: Decent enough, but there's better water weapons out there. They look
         SO COOL though.

LEVEL TWELVE

Wow.

=Master Sabers=

Base Power: 350
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 150
Upgrades from: Guild Knight Sabers
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Purecrystal x5, Meldspare Ore x10,
                    Maiden Butterfly x3, Rathian Mantle x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comments: This line holds the award for most upgrades of the tree. But for all
         its upgrading splendor and coolness, there's better water weapons.

-----------
Bone Tree
-----------

Named after their starting weapon, the Bone Scythes, which are available very
early. Another extremely big tree. And the second big tree: The rest are all
small trees. This tree is home to two Dual Swords I highly recommend for Low
Rank: Ludroth Pair and Snow Slicers.

In fact, don't get the Bone Scythes. Both Ludroth Pair and Snow Slicers are
forgeable right off the bat :D

LEVEL ONE

=Bone Scythes=

Base Power: 112</pre><pre id="faqspan-3">
Sharpness: Yellow / Yellow
Elemental: (Psn 80)
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: Bone Scythes+
Resources (forge): Bone x2, Bird Wyvern Fang x3
Forge: 1,050 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: Meh. Better than Matched Slicers, I guess. But you can pass.

LEVEL TWO

=Bone Scythes+=

Base Power: 126
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Psn 100)
Upgrades from: Bone Scythes
Upgrades to: Chief's Scythes
Resources (upgrade): Bird Wyvern Fang x5, Bone x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 1,890 z
Comments: Just pass on these and wait for Ludroth Pair/Snow Slicers.

LEVEL THREE

=Chief's Scythes=

Base Power: 154
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Psn 130)
Upgrades from: Bone Scythes+
Upgrades to: Ludroth Pair
            Snow Slicers
Resources (upgrade): Jumbo Bone x3, Sharpened Fang x4, Carpenterbug x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 2,400 z
Comments: Just pass on these and wait for Ludroth Pair/Snow Slicers.

LEVEL FOUR

=Ludroth Pair=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Wtr 120
Upgrades from: Chief's Scythes
Upgrades to: Ludroth Pair+
            Bloodwings
Resources (forge): Spongy Hide x3, Immature Sponge x5, Bone x8,
                  Aqua Sac x3
Resources (upgrade): Spongy Hide x2, Immature Sponge x4, Bone x6,
                  Aqua Sac x2
Forge: 4,950 z
Upgrade: 3,300 z
Comments: VERY recommended. You will want these!

=Snow Slicers=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Ice 120
Upgrades from: Chief's Scythes
Upgrades to: Snow Slicers+
            Diablos Bashers
Resources (forge): Lagombi Pelt x6, Lagombi Plastrom x2, Lagombi Claw x2
                  Lagombi Ear x1
Resources (upgrade): Lagombi Pelt x6, Lagombi Plastrom x2, Lagombi Claw x2
Forge: 7,500 z
Upgrade: 5,000 z
Comments: If you either can't get the ear (break the head) or don't have the
         zennie, upgrading from Bone Scythes isn't a bad idea considering the
         easiness of obtaining Bird Wyvern Fangs, Bones, and Carpenterbugs.
         VERY recommended.

LEVEL FIVE

=Ludroth Pair+=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Wtr 150
Upgrades from: Ludroth Pair
Upgrades to: Double Droth
            Plesioth Cutlasses
Resources (upgrade): R. Ludroth Scale x4, R. Ludroth Tail x2,
                    R. Ludroth Crest x1, Duramboros Tailcase x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 7,500 z
Comments: Highly recommended. To get the Tailcases, capture Duramboros, don't
         slay it.

=Bloodwings=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Psn 160
Upgrades from: Ludroth Pair
Upgrades to: Bloodwings+
            Brother Flames
Resources (upgrade): Gigginox Hide x2, Uncanny Hide x2, Venom Gland x2,
                    Monster Bone L x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 8,500 z
Comments: UPGRADE YOUR LUDROTH PAIR. This and the weapons that follow are very
         useful! Especially against Duramboros and Uragaan.

=Snow Slicers+=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Ice 140
Upgrades from: Snow Slicers
Upgrades to: Snow Sisters
Resources (upgrade): Lagombi Plastrom x4, Lagombi Ear x2, Frost Sac x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 8,600 z
Comments: Just some Lagombi/Barioth farming. Trust me, they're not hard.

=Diablos Bashers=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: -
Upgrades from: Snow Slicers
Upgrades to: Diablos Bashers+
Resources (upgrade): Twisted Horn x2, Diablos Tailcase x4, Diablos Fang x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 12,000 z
Comments: Please do NOT buy these. They have no element and negative affinity,
         which means that there's a chance you'll get a negative critical
         hit in which you don't score more but LESS damage.

LEVEL SIX

=Double Droth=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Wtr 200
Upgrades from: Ludroth Pair+
Upgrades to: Hidden Gemini
            Usurper's Fulgur
Resources (upgrade): Spongy Hide+ x2, Hydro Hide+ x4, Avian Finebone x6,
                    Torrent Sac x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 12,500 z
Comments: As one of the earlier High Rank weapons you can obtain, this can be
         a good reliable weapon from which you can upgrade. Do note, however,
         that both Hidden Gemini and Usurper's Fulgur are forgeable, so
         you're not missing anything if you bypass this weapon.

=Plesioth Cutlasses=

Base Power: 210
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Wtr 230
Upgrades from: Ludroth Pair+
Upgrades to: Plesioth Cutlasses+
Resources (forge): Plesioth Scale+ x6, Plesioth Fin x3, Whetfish x10,
                  Torrent Sac x3
Resources (upgrade): Plesioth Scale+ x4, Plesioth Fine+ x2, Whetfish x10
Forge: 24,000 z
Upgrade: 16,000 z
Comments: Much better than Ceadeus's weapon, even if they look a bit silly.
         In fact, best water weapon available to you. A must-have.

=Bloodwings+=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Psn 200
Upgrades from: Bloodwings
Upgrades to: Venom Wings
            Boltgiest
Resources (upgrade): Gigginox Claw x4, Fearsome Maw x2, Poison Sac x5,
                    Firestone x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 14,500 z
Comments: Definitely recommended. Difficult to obtain in Low Rank due to
         the low chance of getting Fearsome Maw (8% capture only) but that's
         better than Rathian Plates and it'll be easier to capture a low
         rank Gigginox. So upgrade it before you take on the bigger monsters.

=Brother Flames=

Base Power: 210
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Fir 120
Upgrades from: Bloodwings
Upgrades to: Brother Blaze
Resources (forge): Rathalos Scale x6, Rathian Scale x6, Rath Marrow x2,
                  Flame Sac x8
Resources (upgrade): Rathalos Scale x4, Rathian Scale x4, Rathalos Webbing x2,
                  Rathian Webbing x2
Forge: 18,000 z
Upgrade: 12,000 z
Comments: I highly recommend you get this weapon, and that you get it via
         forging so you can save your Bloodwings for its own upgrade path.
         With insane power for so early, it's very helpful. But in the long
         run, Flamestorms are more powerful. Pick one, or both...

=Snow Sisters=

Base Power: 210
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Ice 160
Upgrades from: Snow Slicers+
Upgrades to: Blizzarioths
Resources (upgrade): Lagombi Pelt+ x6, Lagombi Plastrom+ x4, Lagombi Claw+ x2,
                    Frozen Glob x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 17,700 z
Comments: Highly recommended. Frozen Gobs are easy to get if you know how
         Barroth attacks (Jade goes the same way).

=Diablos Bashers+=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness:
Elemental: -
Upgrades from: Diablos Bashers
Upgrades to: Diablos Mashers
Resources (upgrade): Diablos Ridge x6, Diablos Marrow x2,
                    Monster Keenbone x2, Rare Scarab x6
Forge: -
Upgrade: 17,000 z
Comments: I don't even know why I'm bothering to list these Diablos weapons.
         Negative affinity. No element. GTFO, Diablos.

LEVEL SEVEN

=Hidden Gemini=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Para. 50)
Upgrades from: Double Droth
Upgrades to: Night Wings
Resources (forge): Nargacuga Razor x8, Nargacuga Scale+ x4,
                  Narga Medulla x1, Monster Bone+ x4
Resources (upgrade): Nargacuga Razor x4, Nargacuga Scale+ x2,
                  Nargacuga Fang+ x4
Forge: 43,500 z
Upgrade: 29,000 z
Comments: If you want this, getting it via upgrade if you already have Double
         Droth will make your life actually easier. But all Nargacuga weapons
         require Awaken and are overall just mediocre. Not really recommended.

=Usurper's Fulgur=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 150
Upgrades from: Double Droth
Upgrades to: Despot's Blitz
Resources (forge): Zinogre Horn+ x2, Zinogre Claw x3, Zin Electrofur x4,
                  Zinogre Carapace x4
Resources (upgrade): Zinogre Claw+ x2, Zin Electofur x3,
                  Zinogre Carapace x3
Forge: 37,500 z
Upgrade: 25,000 z
Comments: For some reason I keep on wanting to call the monster Jinouga. I don't
         like the English localization...anyways, the best in Thunder, but
         very annoying to upgrade in the long run because of those Jaspers
         and Skymeralds. If you've already invested in Lagi's line, you can
         pass up on these. They DO, however, upgrade to a dual-element blade
         that is so practical and SO effective you'll probably want them.

=Plestioth Cutlasses+=

Base Power: 238
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 270
Upgrades from: Plesioth Cutlasses
Upgrades to: Plesioth Machetes
Resources (upgrade): Plesioth Fin+ x5, Nibelsnarf Claw+ x4,
                    Monster Keenbone x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 25,500 z
Comments: GET 'EM.

=Venom Wings=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: Psn 250
Upgrades from: Bloodwings+
Upgrades to: Grimgrim Wings
Resources (upgrade): Gigginox Hide+ x4, Uncanny Hide+ x4,
                    Grim Venom Gland x4, Diablos Ridge+ x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 23,000 z
Comments: Have fun farming Diablos, but hey, this is a good weapon line to
         pursue. Better than Baleful Gigginox's!

=Boltgeist=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 200
Upgrades from: Bloodwings+
Upgrades to: Double Boltwings
Resources (upgrade): B. Giggi Hide+ x4, Uncanny Hide+ x4, Thunder Sac x2,
                    Lagiacrus Claw+ x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 23,000 z
Comments: If you already have Lagiacrus's thunder weapon, this is redundant.
         But hey, they look cool.

=Brother Blaze=

Base Power: 238
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 140
Upgrades from: Brother Flames
Upgrades to: Wyvern Lovers
Resources (upgrade): Rathalos Tail x3, Rathian Carapace x8, Rathalos Plate x1,
                    Rathian Plate x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 19,000 z
Comments: I guarantee that the plate farming will drive you mad, but it's worth
         it in the end (unless you take Agnaktor's weapons instead!).

=Blizzarioths=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness:
Elemental: Ice 180
Upgrades from: Snow Sisters
Upgrades to: Blizzarioths+
Resources (forge): Barioth Pelt+ x5, Gracium x6, Barioth Claw+ x4,
                  Amber Tusks+ x3
Resources (upgrade): Barioth Pelt+ x3, Gracium x4, Barioth Claw+ x3,
                  Amber Tusks+ x2
Forge: 38,250 z
Upgrade: 25,500 z
Comments: Highly recommended, especially if you've already got Snow Slicers
         or whatever that's just waiting to get an upgrade. Hey, why not?

=Diablos Mashers=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: -
Upgrades from: Diablos Bashers+
Upgrades to: Diablos Sinidex
Resources (upgrade): Majestic Horn x2, Diablos Carapace x4,
                    Diablos Medulla x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 23,000 z
Comments: Affinity is now -30%, which is even worse. Just don't get Diablos
         Bashers in the first place. Please.

LEVEL EIGHT

=Night Wings=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Para. 70)
Upgrades from: Hidden Gemini
Upgrades to: Vimar Slicers
            Eclipse Slicers
Resources (upgrade): Nargacuga Pelt+ x6, Nargacuga Tailspike x4,
                    Narga Medulla x2, Monster Hardbone x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 39,000 z
Comments: Needs Awaken, inferior power. Generally not recommended. Too bad
         Nargacuga's so cool, it deserves better weapons.

=Despot's Blitz=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Thd 220
Upgrades from: Usurper's Fulgur
Upgrades to: Oppressor's Miracle
            Brimstren Drakeclaws
Resources (upgrade): Zinogre Horn+ x3, I. Lagi Hide+ x3, Zinogre Jasper x1,
                    Zinogre Shocker+ x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 38,000 z
Comments: Similar to the Lagiacrus line. But more powerful and equally annoying
         to farm for. DAT JASPER.

=Plesioth Machetes=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Wtr 300
Upgrades from: Plesioth Cutlasses+
Upgrades to: Verdant Slashers
            Jade Plesioth Fans
Resources (upgrade): Plesioth Fang+ x4, Plesioth Fin+ x5, Plesioth Head x2,
                    G. Agnak Fin+ x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 36,000 z
Comments: Great water weapons, recommended. VERY recommended!

=Grimgrim Wings=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: Psn 280
Upgrades from: Venom Wings
Upgrades to: Grimmest Noxwings
Resources (upgrade): Gigginox Piel x4, Gigginox Talon x3,
                    Foul Venom Gland x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: Highly recommended. It'll be worth those Gigginoxes. And in fact
         it really isn't a hard farm, those all are easy finds. This is a GREAT
         entry-level G Rank weapon.

=Double Boltwings=

Base Power: 280
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Thd 270
Upgrades from: Boltgeist
Upgrades to: Double Deathbolts
Resources (upgrade): B. Giggi Talon x3, Lightning Sac x4, B. Giggi Piel x4,
                    Monster Essence x10
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: Wish I could get both this and Gigginox's weapons, but that means
         having to upgrade all over again from Ludroth Pair...in the end,
         you'll probably only have the patience to pick one, and if I had to
         pick, it'd be Gigginox's, not Baleful Gigginox. By the way, B.
         Gigginox's weapons are only viable with Sharpness+1.

=Wyvern Lovers=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Fir 160
Upgrades from: Brother Blaze
Upgrades to: Wyvern Strife
Resources (upgrade): Rathalos Carapace x5, S. Uragaan Scute x5,
                    Rathalos Ruby x1, Rathian Ruby x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 36,000 z
Comments: Good luck getting rubies. But this is a good weapon so yeah, good
         luck!

=Blizzarioths+=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Ice 200
Upgrades from: Blizzarioths
Upgrades to: Raider's Icecarvers
            Ventus Vindictus
Resources (upgrade): Barioth Carapace x4, Freezer Sac x3, Barioth Spike x10,
                    Indigo Tusks+ x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 31,500 z
Comments: Highly recommended as always. The materials shouldn't drive you mad.
         Except for the Barioth Spikes. Break the claw things on his wings
         and capture him for max potential. Also break his tail off and carve
         it.

=Diablos Sinidex=

Base Power: 406
Sharpness:
Elemental: -
Upgrades from: Diablos Mashers
Upgrades to: Sinistrus Dextraos
Resources (forge): Stout Horn x2, B. Diab Chine x4, Blackcurl Horn+ x2,
                  Diablos Medulla x2
Resources (upgrade): Stout Horn x2, B. Diab Chine x4, Diablos Hardtail x2,
                  Diablos Chine x4
Forge: 90,000 z
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: I know you love the power, but please, don't make them. The negative
         affinity and no element makes it awful.

LEVEL NINE

=Vimar Slicers=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Para. 90)
Upgrades from: Night Wings
Upgrades to: Midnight Blackwings
Resources (upgrade): G. Narga Razor+ x4, G. Narga Shard x2,
                    Hvy G. Narga Fang x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 75,000 z
Comments: Needs Awaken. Plus low power even if awakened. Not recommended.

=Eclipse Slicers=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Psn 150
Upgrades from: Night Wings
Upgrades to: Alkaid's Asterism
Resources (upgrade): L. Narga Razor+ x6, L. Narga Dapples x4,
                    Hvy L. Narga Fang x3, L. Narga Tailspear x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 94,500 z
Comments: No Awaken, plus it's decent power! Inferior to Gigginox but they
         look super cool. Good luck farming Lucent Nargacuga.

=Oppressor's Miracle=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 270
Upgrades from: Despot's Blitz
Upgrades to: Nether Twinblades
Resources (upgrade): Zinogre Hardhorn x4, Zinogre Talon x2,
                    Zin Electrofur+ x2, Zin Skymerald x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 90,000 z
Comments: Good luck finding a Skymerald. But hey, worth it.

=Brimstren Drakeclaws=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Element: Thd 200, Drg 300
Upgrades from: Despot's Blitz
Upgrades to: Stygian Superbia
Resources (upgrade): Zinogre Cortex x4, Zinogre Talon x3,
                    S. Zin Hardhorn x2, S. Zin Dragonhair x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 90,000
Comments: Even though it's dual-element, it's practical because of its Thunder
         AND (very powerful) Dragon elements. Many monsters are weak to
         Dragon AND Thunder (few monsters are weak to fire AND ice), making
         this a prime choice to exploit a double weakness. Use this and your
         Deviljho-farming will be much easier!

=Verdant Slashers=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 360
Upgrades from: Plesioth Machetes
Upgrades to: Alluvion Slashers
Resources (upgrade): Plesioth Shard x5, Fine Plesio Fin x4,
                    Flood Sac x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comments: As always, great water power. Very great water power.

=Jade Plesioth Fans=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness:
Elemental: Sleep 170
Upgrades from: Plesioth Machetes
Upgrades to: Jade Battlefanzers
Resources (upgrade): G. Plesio Shard x5, Fine G. Plesi Fin x4,
                    Coma Sac x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comment: I won't blame you if you scream OMG SLEEP WEAPON?! and immediately
        jump for it, just know that as with all status weapons, the chance
        sleep will actually happen is completley random, and when the monster
        does fall asleep it wakes up if you hit it, making it redundant
        unless you like Barrel Bombs.

=Grimmest Noxwings=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness: White
Elemental: Psn 320
Upgrades from: Grimgrim Wings
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Nightmarish Maw x3, Revolting Piel x6,
                    Gigginox Talon x4, Nargacuga Fur x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comment: As always, recommended as your go-to poison weapon.

=Double Deathbolts=

Base Power: 294
Sharpness: Blue / Blue
Elemental: Thd 300
Upgrades from: Double Boltwings
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): B. Giggi Talon x5, Nightmarish Maw x2, Zin D-Shocker x4,
                    Lg Wyvern Stone x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comment: Pretty rare stuff is needed for this, and the power's a bit
        underwhelming. Not viable unless you pack Sharpness+1. I recommend
        Lagiacrus or Zinogre weapons over this but hey, it looks cool.

=Wyvern Strife=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 200
Upgrades from: Wyvern Lovers
Upgrades to: Wyvern Conciliation
Resources (forge): S. Rath Shard x6, G. Rathian Shard x6,
                  Rathalos Mantle x1, Rathian Mantle x1
Resources (upgrade): S. Rath Shard x6, G. Rathian Shard x6,
                  Rath Ripper x10, Conflagrant Sac x10
Forge: 127,500 z
Upgrade: 85,000 z
Comment: Make your life easier and upgrade. Of course, if you never had any
        Brother Flames to begin with, good luck. Highly recommended for
        sheer power.

=Raider's Icecarvers=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Ice 220
Upgrades from: Blizzarioths+
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Hvy Amber Tusks x5, Barioth Fur x3, Barioth Lash x2,
                    Cryo Sac x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comments: Much better than its Sand Barioth counterpart. Use these. Or you
         could use Elemenders which are even better with Ice 360. But use
         these!

=Ventus Vindictus=

Base Power: 350
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Fir 120)
Upgrades from: Blizzarioths+
Upgrades to: Raider's Savagery
Resources (upgrade): S. Barioth Fur x5, Rugged Pleura+ x2,
                    S. Barioth Talon x3, Monster Slogbone x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 60,000 z
Comments: There's far better fire weapons out there. Use Raider's Icecarvers.
         I will say those that these look so awesome!

=Sinistrus Dextraos=

Base Power: 434
Sharpness:
Elemental: -
Upgrades from: Diablos Sinidex
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Blackcurl Horn+ x2, Diablos Carapace x12,
                    B. Diab Cortex x12, Diablos Hardhorn x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 70,000 z
Comments: Again, don't use these. The power does NOT make up for the negative
         affinity, and you don't want to farm Black Diablos that many times.

LEVEL TEN

=Midnight Blackwings=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Para. 110)
Upgrades from: Vimar Slicers
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): G. Narga Razor+ x6, G. Narga Dapples x4,
                    Nargacuga Mantle x1, Monster Slogbone x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 85,000 z
Comments: Use Awaken and the 40% affinity will pay off. Otherwise, use something
         else. But the high affinity is quite the bonus.

=Alkaid's Asterism=

Base Power: 350
Sharpness:
Elemental: Psn 180
Upgrades from: Eclipse Slicers
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): L. Narga Razor+ x8, Nargacuga Mantle x1,
                    Elder Dragonbone x4, Cloudy Moonshard x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 135,000 z
Comments: For all the expense and the RARITY of the resources (you will NOT
         enjoy looking for Elder Dragonbones), it's not really worth it.
         But hey, whatever floats your boat.

=Nether Twinblades=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 310
Upgrades from: Oppressor's Miracle
Upgrades to: Nether Confidants
Resources (forge): A. Lagi Piel x6, A. Lagi Dynamo x1,
                  Zinogre Cortex x6, Zin Skymerald x1
Resources (upgrade): Zinogre Cortex x4, Lagia Mantle x1, A. Lagi Piel x4,
                  A. Lagi Hardhorn x2
Forge: 148,500 z
Upgrade: 99,000 z
Comments: I recommend you upgrade if you can to save yourself the pain of
         finding a Skymerald.

=Stygian Superbia=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: Thd 240, Drg 340
Upgrades from: Brimstren Drakeclaws
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Zin Skymerald x1, Zinogre Lash x5, S. Zinogre Lash x5,
                    S. Zin Skymerald x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 110,000 z
Comments: Top-of-the-line and useful weapon, definitely a gotta-have-it. But
         GOOD LUCK FINDING SKYMERALDS. ("Save the Princess" gives a good chance
         of Stygian Skymeralds)

=Alluvion Slashers=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 420
Upgrades from: Verdant Slashers
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Plesioth Shard x6, Hvy Plesio Fang x3,
                    Uber Plesio Head x1, G. Narga Tailspear x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 75,000 z
Comments: DAT WATER POWER.

=Jade Battlefanzers=

Base Power: 280
Sharpness:
Elemental: Sleep 200
Upgrades from: Jade Plesioth Fans
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Fine G. Plesi Fin x6, Uber Plesio Head x1,
                    Drenched Pleura x3, Lg Wyvern Stone x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 75,000 z
Comments: Inferior to any other weapon, but it's a sleep weapon, and the only
         one, making it unique enough...to want to actually farm for?

=Wyvern Conciliation=

Base Power: 364
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 230
Upgrades from: Wyvern Strife
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): S. Rath Cortex x6, G. Rathian Cortex x6,
                    Rathalos Mantle x1, Rathian Mantle x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 120,000 z
Comments: Aww, they finally made up after their STRIFE! *coughs* Anyways,
         I'm surprised there's no Azure Rathalos given there's a Gold
         Rathian part. But Gold Rathian is far more threatening than Silver
         or Azure Rathalos so HAVE FUN finding Mantles!

=Raider's Savagery=

Base Power: 378
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Fir 150)
Upgrades from: Ventus Vindictus
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Rugged Pleura+ x4, Hvy Indigo Tusks x10,
                    S. Barioth Lash x3, Lg Wyvern Stone x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 65,000 z
Comments: Not recommended. But they look cool. I just might want them...just
         a little.

LEVEL ELEVEN

It's a rare weapon that gets this far.

=Nether Confidants=

Base Power: 336
Sharpness:
Element: Thd 360
Upgrades from: Nether Twinblades
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Zin D-Shocker x6, A. Lagi D-Shocker x5,
                    A. Lagi Dynamo x1, S. Zin Skymerald x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 140,000 z
Comments: Surpasses the Lagiacrus weapon by ten million miles, but the resources
         needed are going to be incredibly infuriating to obtain. Good luck.
         It's funny how this is actually merely the ABYSSAL LAGIACRUS blade.

--------------
Big Appetite
--------------

Start with Glutton's Tools, which are essentially silverware. Yeah. This is a
very silly line in terms of looks. A small tree with an entirely edible theme.
Kinda borders onto Joke Item territory, but they're not THAT bad...

I'M JUST KIDDING THEY ARE.

LEVEL ONE

=Glutton's Tools=

Base Power: 140
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 50)
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: Gorger's Tools
Resources (forge): Pelagicite Ore x3, Voucher x2, Bone x4
Forge: 4,500 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: Lol

LEVEL TWO

=Gorger's Tools=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 100)
Upgrades from: Glutton's Tools
Upgrades to: Stewbry Stirfoils
Resources (upgrade): Voucher x10, Dragonite Ore x10, Nibelsnarf Claw x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 8,500 z
Comments: om nom nom

LEVEL THREE

=Stewbry Stirfoils=

Base Power: 224
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 180)
Upgrades from: Gorger's Tools
Upgrades to: Deepshake Frybakers
Resources (upgrade): Gourmet Voucher x5, Gracium x10, Nibelsnarf Claw+ x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 22,000 z
Comments: *slurp slurp munch*

LEVEL FOUR

=Deepshake Frybakers=

Base Power: 280
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Ice 220)
Upgrades from: Stewbry Stirfoils
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Gourmet Voucher x10, Fucium Ore x10, B. Diab Ridge+ x4
Upgrade: 31,500 z
Comment: Oh wait you need Black Diablos parts? I think I'll pass... Honestly,
        if you're looking for good weapons, don't make these. But if you're
        silly (and of course you are) you're gonna make these. Because
        they're silly.

-------------
The Planets
-------------

Named after the starting weapon Mercury's Edges. A very small tree based
entirely around Ceadeus and Goldbeard Ceadeus.

LEVEL ONE

=Mercury Edges=

Base Power: 224
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Wtr 120
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: Neptune Edges
Resources (forge): Ceadeus Tail x3, Crooked Horn x2,
                  Luminous Organ x5, Carbalite Ore x4
Forge: 24,000 z
Upgrade: -
Comment: Elder dragon, course it's good, but there's plenty of water weapons to
        choose from that are easier to get. Plus, in the end, Plesioth
        weapons are better.

LEVEL TWO

=Neptune Edges=

Base Power: 308
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Wtr 160
Upgrades from: Mercury Edges
Upgrades to: Pelagic Deublades
Resources (upgrade): Ceadeus Scale x8, Deep Dragongem x1,
                    I. Lagi Hide+ x4, Luminous Organ x6
Forge: -
Upgrade: 45,000 z

LEVEL THREE

=Pelagic Deublades=

Base Power: 364
Sharpness:
Elemental: Wtr 200
Upgrades from: Neptune Edges
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): I. Lagi Hardhorn x3, Dark Dragongem x1,
                    Crooked Hardhorn x4, G. Ceadeus Fur x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 100,000 z
Comment: Like I said, Plesioth weapons are better. But these look cooler.

---------------
Scaredy Crows
---------------

Named after the starting weapon Shaka Scarecrows. Another silly looking and
small tree. If you want to get these weapons, Kayamba and Cha-cha have to be
good friends!

Your Chum-Chum level will likely max out before you've gotten 15 million
tickets. But even after the level's hit its highest, Chum-Chum "points", so
to speak, are still tallied. And after a certain amount of these invisible
points are gained, talk to the Felyne at Marina (she'll have that speech
bubble on the map with the "..." indicating she has it for you). The only way
to make sure you get them is to check Marina often so you don't miss out.

LEVEL ONE

=Shaka Scarecrows=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness: Green
Elemental: Para. 200
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: Chum Scarecrows
Resources (forge): Chum-Chum Ticket x3, Monster Keenbone x5, King Scarab x3,
                  Paralysis Sac x5
Forge: 12,000 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: Scarecrows. Yay.

LEVEL TWO

=Chum Scarecrows=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Para. 220
Upgrades from: Shaka Scarecrows
Upgrades to: Chum-Chum Scarecrows
Resources (upgrade): Chum-Chum Ticket x5, Voucher x3, Lagiacrus Claw+ x4,
                    Omiplegia Sac x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 23,500 z

LEVEL THREE

=Chum-Chum Scarecrows=

Base Power: 196
Sharpness: White / White
Elemental: Para. 250
Upgrades from: Chum Scarecrows
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Chum-Chum Ticket x10, Gourment Voucher x3,
                    Gobul Kingwhiskr x1, B. Giggi Talon x4
Forge: -
Upgrade: 55,000 z
Comments: Paralysis is surprisingly powerful in multiplayer because multiple
         hunters can now exploit the paralysis. So if you're a DS user who
         wants to help out (as if you weren't already!), pick these over
         Plegion Stunsword and your efforts will be rewarded.

-----------
The Devil
-----------

The Deviljho Dual Swords line. Yeah, the Deviljho is so awesome it gets its own
(small) upgrade tree.

LEVEL ONE

=Wrath & Rancor=

Base Power: 266
Sharpness: Blue
Elemental: Drg 100
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: Wrathful Predation
Resources (forge): Deviljho Hide x6, Deviljho Fang x4, Deviljho Scalp x2,
                  S. Barioth Claws+ x2
Forge: 48,000 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: A rare dragon weapon. Plus, it's Deviljho.

LEVEL TWO

=Wrathful Predation=

Base Power: 322
Sharpness: White
Elemental: Drg 140
Upgrades from: Wrath & Rancor
Upgrades to: Nero's Wrath
Resources (upgrade): Deviljho Scale x5, Deviljho Talon x5, Deviljho Gem x1,
                    Conqueror's Seal x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: 85,000 z
Comments: Can't get the Seal until G-Rank, and have fun finding Gems! Do the
         super-easy G Rank quest "Sweltering Showdown" for Conqueror's Seal
         farming.

LEVEL THREE

=Nero's Wrath=

Base Power: 364
Sharpness:
Elemental: Drg 160
Upgrades from: Wrathful Predation
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Vile Fang x4, Deviljho Coat x8, Deviljho Crook x1,
                    Dracophage Bug x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 125,000 z
Comments: High power but low elemental power. Still, it's Deviljho. To get the
         bugs, knock over Stygian Zinogre and catch bugs.

-----------
Worn Tree
-----------

When it starts out, it SUCKS. When it ends, it still sucks. And it costs a ton.
And it needs 99 Earth Crystals. Buuuut if you're like me and you like smexy
weapons, go on straight ahead (actually, with 480 dragon power it's actually
awesome).

Oh, it's not obtainable until G RANK! Ha ha ha.

You'll want to mine specific areas in the Tundra and Volcano for a chance at
getting an Ancientshard. When appraised, there is a slim chance it will turn
into the WORN BLADE. Other things it could turn into include some pretty
awesome bows, Windeater, and other worn weapons (such as the Worn Great Sword,
etc.). So good luck.

LEVEL ONE

=Worn Blade=

Base Power: 98
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Drg 100)
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: Weathered Blades
Resources (forge): Ancientshard x1
Forge: -
Upgrade: -
Comments: Yeah, it's really bad. But it's a WORN BLADE, what do you expect?
         Ancientshards function exactly like Rustshards, they have a chance of
         being appraised into a random weapon.

LEVEL TWO

=Weathered Blades=

Base Power: 98
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Drg 100)
Upgrades from: Worn Blade
Upgrades to: Enduring Schism
Resources (upgrade): Earth Crystal x30, Monster Essence x5,
                    Commendation x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 5,000 z
Comments: Still not up to shape yet. Gotta forge it some more!

LEVEL THREE

=Enduring Schism=

Base Power: 168
Sharpness:
Elemental: Drg 420
Upgrades from: Weathered Blades
Upgrades to: Enduring Sacrifice
Resources (upgrade): Earth Crystal x70, Dragonbone Relic x3,
                    Allfire Stone x3, Conqueror's Seal x2
Forge: -
Upgrade: 50,000 z
Comments: Have fun getting those Earth Crystals! And just look at that dragon
         power!

LEVEL FOUR

=Enduring Sacrifice=

Base Power: 182
Sharpness:
Elemental: Drg 480
Upgrades from: Enduring Schism
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Earth Crystal x99, Dragonbone Relic x5,
                    Conqueror's Seal x5, S. Zin Dragnshell x3
Forge: -
Upgrade: 100,000 z
Comments: This. This is THE weapon. This is THE definition of cool. If you don't
         have it, you aren't cool! Actually truthfully it's not that good
         despite is whopping dragon prowess. Have fun getting those Earth
         Crystals again! And those Dragonbone Relics!

-----------
Dire Tree
-----------

Dire Miralis tree. Extremely small tree based around yet another final boss.

OOOOOPS I JUST SPOILED THE GAAAAAAME.

LEVEL ONE

=Megiddo Nova=

Base Power: 252
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 400
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: The Fistolution
Resources (forge): Miralis Smelter x2, Miralis Fireclaw x4,
                  Gushing Magma x2, ElderDragonBlood x5
Forge: 120,000 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: You'll need some pretty high-tier stuff, and dragon blood isn't
         easy to find at all, but you'll find it worth it. Plus, it's a final
         boss weapon, you gotta have it.

LEVEL TWO

=The Fistolution=

Base Power: 280
Sharpness:
Elemental: Fir 450
Upgrades from: Megiddo Nova
Upgrades to: -
Resources (upgrade): Miralis Fireback x5, Miralis Hellwing x2,
                    Dire Dragongem x1, Elder Dragonbone x5
Forge: -
Upgrade: 145,000 z
Comments: Inferior to the Agnaktor line, but once again, it's Dire Miralis.
         Heh heh Dire Dragongems ha ha ha.

-----------
SAMURAI??
-----------

Once Japan-exclusive, now the West can obtain it! You'll need to complete the
DLC quest "The Mountain in the Desert" (you can only take this quest once
you're at 7-star in Tanzia i.e. G Rank). All DLC since the beginning is still
available, so grab it (and the rest that you've missed) ASAP.

LEVEL ONE (and the only level)

=Bushido=

Base Power: 392
Sharpness:
Elemental: (Slime 180)
Upgrades from: -
Upgrades to: -
Resources (forge): Far East Sword x4, Ghostly Quartz x2, ElderDragonBlood x10
Forge: 90,000 z
Upgrade: -
Comments: Well it's a Japanese katana samurai thing. Of course it's awesome!
         Practicality-wise it's not, it has -10% affinity and you need
         Awaken, so automatically Brachydios outclasses it. BUT IT'S COOL.

In order to get Far East Swords, you'll have to complete "The Mountain in the
Desert" 4 times. Each time 100% you get ONE Far East Sword.

----------------------

Thanks for reading this guide everyone! Thank you so much!

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