Best Gunlance Builds and Shell Explanations for Monster Hunter Wilds

Mastering Monster Hunter means finding a weapon that matches your style. If you enjoy explosive firepower with a defensive edge, the Gunlance is for you. This weapon isn’t just about stabbing and blocking; it comes with shelling, a unique mechanic that adds an explosive twist. However, while it penetrates monsters’ defenses, shelling isn’t one-size-fits-all. Understanding Gunlance types, mechanics, and best gear in Monster Hunter Wilds will help you find the perfect playstyle for your hunts.

How Gunlance Shelling Works: Types and Powers, Explained

Before we get into the builds and best weapons, it’s essential to understand how Gunlance shelling works in Monster hunter Wilds. Since its first incarnation in Monster Hunter 2, Gunlance offers three different types of shells. And with it, comes practically three different playstyles:

• Normal: Increased fullburst shelling damage with the highest shell capacity, 5 Shells. Great for mixed shelling with stabbing, slamming, and Wyvernstake spam playstyle.
• Wide: Increased shelling, charged shelling, and Wyvern’s Fire damage. Has the lowest shell capacity at 2 Shells. Mostly for pure shelling or fast, low commitment stab-shell hit-and-run tactic but still good as an all-rounder.
• Long: Increased Wyrmstake Cannon damage and has the longest shelling range. Starts with 3 Shells. Can be used in any situation but doesn’t perform as well as its brothers.

However, Wilds adds additional changes to the mix. Shelling damage now scales with weapon base damage, but Capcom still applies restrictions through three Power levels:

• Slightly Weak: Shelling deals about 30% less damage than Normal.
• Normal: Standard shelling damage.
• Slightly Strong: Shelling deals about 20% more damage than Normal.

Nevertheless, this does not mean you should always pick the ones with Slightly Strong Power — unless you’re going with pure shelling. Base damage, bonus elemental damage, shelling types, and shell amounts also add up to your overall DPS. Wyvern’s Fire is also barely affected by the Power attribute.

Best Gunlance Builds for Monster Hunter Wilds

Now that we’ve covered Gunlance shelling types and mechanics, let’s dive into the best builds. Keep in mind that these builds serve as templates — you can mix and match them based on your preferred armor skills and playstyle.

Low Rank

Gear	Perks
Quematrice Culebrina	Slightly Strong Normal shelling, 5% Affinity, Fire element, Guard skill
G. Veldian Hasta	Slightly Strong Wide shelling, Dragon element, Guard skill, Level 1 Deco slots x2
Balahara set	Evade Extender x3
Ajarakan set	Partbreaker x2

In terms of weapon, fortunately, the early monster Quematrice tree provides a strong Normal Gunlance option. Using it is a good way to introduce you to the weapon’s moveset if you’re still unfamiliar with it. Since you can and have to utilize all of its arsenal — melee rotations, shellings, Wyrmstake, Wyvern’s Fire — to make it shine.

But if you want to min-max, then you might want to go with Wide Gunlance instead. Start off with the Bone tree then you can use Ajarakan for the Blast status, Guardian Rathalos, Arkveld’s. However, Load Shells 2 is mandatory for Wide shelling to reach its full potential since Wide only comes with two shellings capacity. Not to mention that Decoration drop rates are RNG-based, so getting the right setup early can be tricky.

In terms of armor, you should craft Balahara pieces as your number one priority, especially for its Arms, Waist, and Legs parts. Having Evade Extender significantly improves mobility, making Gunlance’s limited movement more manageable. Once you face Ajarakan, crafting its Head and Chest can massively improve your DPS thanks to Partbreaker.

High Rank

Gear	Perks
G. Lawful Bors	Slightly Strong Wide shelling, Dragon element, Guard skill, Level 3 Deco slots x2, Level 1 Deco slot x1
Firetrail Quemador	Slightly Strong Normal shelling, 5% Affinity, Fire element, Level 3 Deco slots x1, Level 2 Deco slot x1, Level 1 Deco slot x1
Ebony Odogaron Beta set	Burst x5 (with Alpha Arms), Earplugs x1
Challenger Charm	Agitator

Thankfully, Gunlance’s main damage comes from its shelling damage so you don’t need to make a variety of sets focusing on elements, or affinity. Instead, just focus on increasing your raw and shelling damage.

The Quematrice tree remains one of the strongest Normal Gunlances, but the Guardian Arkveld tree is the best overall pick, even for fullburst builds. With max Load Shells, Artillery, and Burst, it becomes an absolute powerhouse. Always spam Wyvern’s Fire whenever possible! If you want to play around with Long though, Gravios’s Gunlance is your best bet.

For the Ebony Odogaron, you might want to mix it with Jin Dahaad Legs. Combine them with the Challenger Charm, and you can get Level 4 Agitator to increase your damage when monsters are enraged. This can offset negative affinity weapons, like the Guardian Arkveld Gunlance. Additionally, Burst help reduce Wyvern’s Fire cooldown, making it even deadlier.

Important Armor Skills for Monster Hunter Wilds Gunlance Builds

• Artillery: Increases shelling and Wyvern’s Fire damage. Boosts Wyvern’s Fire cooldown.
• Load Shell: At Level 2, adds 1 additional Gunlance Shell capacity.
• Guard: Reduces stamina usage when guarding against an attack.
• Focus: Speeds up charged shelling charge rate.
• Evade Extender: Increases dodging (hops and rolls) range.
• Partbreaker: Increases damage to monster’s part and wounds. Might be hard to use in online multiplayer hunts.
• Burst: Increases damage from continuous attacks and speeds up Wyvern’s Fire recovery.
• Agitator: Increases damage when a monster is enraged.
• Counterstrike: Boosts your damage after getting hit.
• Earplugs: Nullifies monsters’ roars, giving you more time to set up Wyvern’s Fire.

How Endgame Artian Gunlance Crafting Works in Monster Hunter Wilds

Complete Monster Hunter Wilds‘ main story quests and beat a Tempered monster for the first time, and you’ll be able to craft relic Artian Gunlance. Weapon Shards like Blades, Discs, Devices, and Tubes are obtained from defeating Tempered monsters and melded from the Melding Pot in Suja.

Unlike most other weapons which only concerns element and raw damage, as mentioned before, Gunlance comes in three flavors. This ends up affecting how Artian weapon crafting works, as the shelling is determined by what pieces of Cracked Discs and Rusted Device you use.

Full Element/Status	Artian Shelling Type
Raw, Fire, Ice, Sleep	Normal
Blast, Paralysis, Poison	Wide
Dragon, Thunder, Water	Long

For Artian Gunlance crafting in Monster Hunter Wilds, you want to focus on Attack Infusions. Because the weapon relies more on shelling than critical hits from high affinity. Blast and Paralysis work the best for it since they proc fast and lets you create more openings from knocked down or paralyzed monsters.