[MHGU] G4 Ahtal-Ka - Valor Switch Axe (TA Rules) - 6'18"11 

Let me sum it up for you. Prying mantis go brrrrr But speedrunner go brrrrrer

My guy I know this is eight months late and your probably already at g-rank, but this game is huge. The amount of stuff it has to offer is insane, and will keep you coming back for hundreds of hours

I really love her! Best final boss in the series imo and one of the best monsters overall.

Deaga MHW is my first MH game so i was SUPER confused about what was going on but it rooms like a fun fight

Yeah, it gets more EFR. However, after finishing the run I noticed the Soulseer SA is a fair amount stronger while at Purple sharpness and about the same at White, compared to Crystalbeard's. Ahtal-Ka is also somewhat weak to Water, so that could be a viable option. Main con is you'll need to sharpen one or two extra times during the hunt.

@@Deaga were you using bludgeoner on this build?

The two TA wiki records are in the 5'30 ballpark using Striker and Alchemy, so Valor probably isn't the best. But it's a ton of fun!

No, valor lose energy charge+demon riot combo where you can maintain sword mode indefinitely in both striker and alchemy, In this case 6:18 is a already good because valor isnt good against ahtal ka when it comes to speedrunning, only bowguns or gs or maybe others few able to recharge and maintain the gauge easily. Sure it only waste a few precious seconds for valor switch axe style, but it still waste a lot of time to recharge your valor gauge.

I know this is late, but the weapon he has, the base damage is 370, with a ton of green and has a passive that gives art guage charge. Bludgener boosts green by 10%+green's 5% he gets 425 raw. That rivals white at 330 and 310 purple. With how much green he gets in a fight this long he doesn't need to sharpen as much to keep up attacking and the passive extra art charge lets him use demon riot more.

Not necessarily. First of all, it has massive raw, second very long sharpness and elemental discharge eats a lot sharpness, like a lot Third, its a deviant weapon, meaning faster HA gauge charge. I think the sharpness play the massive role here because elemental discharge eats massive amount of sharpness.

It was worth it for this one hunt where the extra HA charge rate from a deviant weapon was absolutely needed. Since I'm using Valor SA, the Elderfrost SA doesn't work out (I can't run Absolute Readiness to maintain sharpness), so Crystalbeard was the next best thing. It's a bit weaker than Ahtal-Ka SA with Sharpness+2 and Razor Sharp, but HA boost helped in this run. The Seregios SA (high raw, low sharpness) one also works nicely with Valor SA from what I've seen. Running Challenger Sheathe along with the natural sharpen as you dodge deal from seregios weapons is enough to keep sharpness topped off.

@@Deaga ahhh, i gotcha. are there any other general use SAs to build towards that you'd recommend?

Just those, I think. Elderfrost and Ahtal-Ka are probably the better ones as far as general SA usage with any style goes, although Elderfrsot 100% requires Absolute Readiness. That Seregios one works with Valor and, I assume, other single-art styles, in case you want to run a non-Readiness art. Ahtal-Ka with Sharpness+2 and Razor Sharp also works, but the seregios one can have infinite white sharpness, so it'll have an edge on longer hunts. it does, however, rely on Challenger+2, while the Ahtal-Ka one doesn't, so Ahtal-Ka's would be better for shorter hunts, or ones where the monster doesn't enrage much, such as Zinogre. Crystalbeard is a super niche one for when you need the faster HA charge rate, but also can't take Absolute Readiness as your art to use Elderfrost. Really wish there was a Rustrazor SA, it would fill this niche perfectly...

@@Deaga i see, thank you! this was helpful as hell also just remember, if there was a rustrazor SA they would probably give it a silly phial like dragon or something haha

@@kidfromfourside pls don't ruin my fantasies ;-;

This is as close to a Rustrazor SA as I could get. I really wish there was a Rustrazor SA ;-;

@@Deaga I've been toying with the idea of running an Adept+Tempest Axe (axe focused) build just for fun, so I also wouldn't have Absolute Readiness. Would you suggest Crystalbeard or Valstrax as a general purpose axe for this style? I'm looking for something that will rarely have to sharpen. I already use an Adept IG set using Crystalbeard IG but I get Mind's Eye naturally with the speed bug. With an axe focused build I'd likely need Mind's Eye, and farming Crystalbeard is horrible too lol.

@@Earthworm_Zim Axe focus seems really weak even with Tempest Axe, that HA honestly doesn't much. If you really want to use it though, I guess the best options are the good SAs for Demon Riot (ie with no Absolute Readiness), which are Ahtal-Ka, Crystalbeard and Seregios imo. All three of these can get more or less the same EFR with adequate sets. Ahtal-ka will eventually run out of sharpness, but you can get a ton of with Sharp+2 and Razor Sharp. Running Challenge Sheathe+Razor Sharp may also work on some matchups where you use valor sheathe a lot, such as Lagiacrus. Crystalbeard gets the faster HA charge, but Green sharpness might be a huge headache depending on what you're facing. I also don't think faster HA charge is too valuable when running Tempest Axe as your solo HA as it charges up pretty fast anyway. Probably not the best choice for Tempest Axe. Seregios SA (both of them) gets higher sharpness than CBeard, with the Sedition Axe even achieving Purple sharpness. Razor Sharp by itself should be enough to maintain your highest sharpness level with the auto-sharpening on sidesteps. Power is once again compatible with the Ahtal-ka SA. Maybe this is the best choice? Full disclaimer: I have my Expert +10 OOO Charm which makes it really easy to sneak in CE+2 on sets. No clue if you can replicate my sets without that.

lol NO I used it here situationally because I wanted the fast HA charge, but Elderfrost SA doesn't really work without Absolute Readiness for sharpness maintenance. Since there's no Rustrazor SA (soooo unfortunate!) then Crystalbeard is kind of the working option that has the deviant boost along with a long enough sharpness bar that I don't have to worry too much about maintenance. But it is a very, very situational choice. For Valor SA you'll probably want to use the Ahtal-ka SA for the most part.

xD