What you need to know
- Monster Hunters Wilds, the next big entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter series, has received its 10th weapon overview trailer, and it gives the spotlight to one of the series oldest weapon types, the Sword & Shield.
- The Sword & Shield is a beginner-friendly weapon that offers a diverse move-set of slashing and blunt attacks, defensive techniques, and the unique trait of allowing the player to use healing items without putting the weapon away.
- Monster Hunter Wilds currently has a tentative release date of 2025, and it will launch on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.
Capcom continues to pump out more gameplay trailers for Monster Hunter Wilds, showcasing all the new flashy attacks and gameplay changes it will bring to the franchise's fourteen weapon types. Today's trailer focuses on one of Monster Hunter's most iconic weapons that's been a part of the franchise since its debut in 2004, the Sword & Shield.
The Sword & Shield weapon type is your standard short sword and shield combo. Out of all the weapon types, Sword & Shield is the perfect weapon for beginners new to the series. It possesses a healthy range of offensive attacks that's easy to learn and lets players block incoming attacks with the shield.
However, while Sword & Shield may look simplistic at first glance, this weapon type contains plenty of unique mechanics that help it stand out among the other types.
For starters, the Sword & Shield can attack with both the sword and the shield. This allows you to weave together combos where you can bash enemy monsters in the face with the shield to knock them out, and then unleash a flurry of slashing attacks to hack away at them while they're down.
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In addition, the Sword & Shield is the only weapon type that allows you to use healing and support items without sheathing the weapon away. So if you get hurt during battle, you can chug a healing potion to recover from your wounds while staying on the offensive.
On top of all that, the Sword & Shield is the only weapon type that allows the user to fire Slinger while having the weapon out, giving it some ranged attack capabilities that most other melee weapons don't have like the Great Sword or Long Sword. This allows the Sword & Shield to take full advantage of the various Slinger ammo you will find exploring the game's large hunting ground biomes for monsters and using their unique properties to make certain encounters easier.
In the Sword & Shield's weapon overview trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds, it appears the weapon type will receive subtle yet significant changes and additions to its move-set that will offer players more mobility, new attacks, and defensive options.
The new gameplay additions and changes for Sword & Shield seen thus far are:
- A new side-step slash attack that allows you to position yourself during combos.
- You can now run instead of only walking while using potions and items with the Sword & Shield unsheathed.
- A new slide attack that allows you to close the gap with a monster just a short distance away and initiate combo attacks.
- The new Focus Strike will have you pierce a monster's weak spot or wound with the sword, do a jumping uppercut on them with the shield, and then punch them with the shield while you're falling back down to the ground.
- A new defensive move where you block incoming attacks with the shield at the last second, and then counter-attack with a powerful spinning slash.
- A new combo finisher where you plunge the sword into a monster, then run it down their hides to rip their flesh apart.
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The Sword & Shield can be built for pure offense or support to help keep teammates alive.
The Sword & Shield is another one of my top favorite weapons to use in Monster Hunter (alongside Charge Blade and Gunlance) for its versatility. By taking advantage of the series' armor skill system (which provides passive buffs or active abilities depending on what piece of armor you wear), you can create special loadouts with the Sword & Shield so it can fulfill almost any role in battle.
You can craft builds that focus purely on dealing damage or crowd control builds, which use the Sword & Shield's fast attacks to quickly inflict status effects that can cripple enemies and take the pressure off of fellow players.
My favorite kind of Sword & Shield build is to utilize armor skills that let me pass on the effects of healing items to teammates. Since the Sword & Shield allows the user to use healing items without putting the weapon away, this build effectively turns me into a combat medic that can keep friendly allies alive while staying on the attack.
With this in mind, I'm really looking forward to testing out Sword & Shield's new mobility and defensive moves and being able to run now instead of walking while using items with the weapon out in Monster Hunter Wilds. I have a strong feeling these gameplay changes are going to make my combat medic Sword & Shield build stronger and come in handy at saving teammates when we start hunting the most dangerous adversaries of Monster Hunter Wilds' monster roster.
Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.
