How to charge the Charge Blade Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds

The Charge Blade is the most complicated weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds. It has two modes: Sword and Axe. You use Sword mode to charge the Charge Blade and Axe mode to unleash the charge with powerful attacks. But even charging the Sword isn’t so simple.

While Monster Hunter Wilds‘ on-screen button guide tells you that you simply need to press R2/RT + Circle/B to charge, there’s quite a lot more to it than that. In fact, if you try to charge without doing anything else first, then nothing will happen. Conversely, it’s important to charge the Sword at the right time because your attacks will become ineffective if you don’t.

How to accumulate Sword energy with the Charge Blade in Monster Hunter Wilds

Before you can charge the Charge Blade Sword, you first have to accumulate Sword energy. You can do this by performing any basic attack combo. For example, tap Triangle/Y three times to perform a simple Weak Slash – Return Stroke – Roundslash combo. Notice that this makes glowing yellow outlines appear on the five empty phials in the top-left of the screen, indicating that you have accumulated some Sword energy. Your Sword also glows yellow and is now ready to charge.

But if you perform more basic Sword combos, the phials and Sword will both turn red, indicating that you have accumulated maximum Sword energy. If you keep attacking without charging, the Sword will get overloaded: the phials and Sword will glow red, and your basic attacks will bounce off enemies and you won’t be able to perform combos. At this point, you really should charge your Sword, and it may automatically charge if you persist in attacking. It’s better to do it manually, though, and make charging the Sword part of your attacking rhythm.

How to charge the Sword when using the Charge Blade in Monster Hunter Wilds

Once the phials glow yellow or red, hold R2/RT to Guard then tap Circle/B to charge the Sword. If your phials were glowing yellow, then three of them will be filled white. If they were glowing red, then all five of them will be filled white.

You can also overcharge the phials simply by charging them a second time. This makes them change from plain white to flashing yellow with a plume of sparks on top. Overcharging your phials will allow you to inflict additional damage with some of your Axe attacks.

How to use Charge Blade charges in Monster Hunter Wilds

There’s no point charging your Charge Blade Sword if you don’t use those charges, and that’s where the Charge Blade Axe comes in. There are various ways to switch between the Sword and the Axe, the simplest being to hold R2/RT and tap Triangle/Y to perform a Morph Slash (Sword to Axe) or Fade Slash (Axe to Sword). You can switch from one to the other via various combos, but to keep things simple, let’s just use a Morph Slash to switch to the Axe and start spending those Sword charges.

The simplest ways to use a charge are to tap Circle/B in Axe mode to perform an Element Discharge, or to press Triangle/Y + Circle/B to perform an Amped Element Discharge. Both of these consume one phial, with the Amped version being slower, but more powerful. As you gradually master the Charge Blade, you’ll learn more powerful Axe strikes and combos that consume more phials, and that’s when it truly evolves into an A-tier weapon.