Highlights

  • Monster Hunter Wilds could draw inspiration from Dragon's Dogma 2 to revamp its unique Insect Glaive weapon.
  • The Mystic Spearhand Vocation in DD2 brings a mix of fast movement and powerful magick spells.
  • By incorporating new Kinsect skills inspired by the Mystic Spearhand, Wilds may bring fresh non-melee elements to the Insect Glaive.

Monster Hunter Wilds is poised to be the debut of the sixth generation of Capcom’s flagship action RPG series, and it has the opportunity to incorporate new elements inspired by other titles in the publisher’s recent catalog. Following the success of Dragon’s Dogma 2 earlier this year, it’s possible that the reception to its open-world design could inform the next MH’s own direction. With one playstyle in particular bearing some direct similarities between the two franchises, however, Monster Hunter Wilds might be able to invigorate one of its most unique weapons by looking at what made the Mystic Spearhand Vocation of DD2 so engaging.

Ever since its introduction in 2013’s MH4, the Insect Glaive has remained one of the series’ most original and fully-realized weapon concepts. Not only does it fill the role of a double-sided polearm with extremely high mobility across its moveset, but the titular Kinsect companion associated with the weapon can act as a limited projectile that can buff the player using extracts from monsters. This has created a niche which even a new weapon type in Monster Hunter Wilds would be unlikely to ever share, but the Insect Glaive has also remained relatively unchanged over the years. Now that Capcom has pursued an entirely new dynamic within the same basic style in another game, Wilds has more new references for the future than ever before.

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Monster Hunter Wilds Has a Golden Opportunity To Shake Up the Franchise's Damage Types

The Elemental damage types of the franchise have remained nearly unchanged since the series' inception, but Monster Hunter Wilds can introduce more.

Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Mystic Spearhand Brings Deep Versatility to the Polearm Archetype

Evoking Monster Hunter’s Insect Glaive

Essentially acting as a replacement for the Vocation known as Mystic Knight in the original Dragon’s Dogma, the Mystic Spearhand is a newly-introduced option which shares the emphasis on fast movement that was established with the Insect Glaive. This mixed Vocation’s many spinning maneuvers can allow the player to easily mount large enemies and deliver quick slashes to critical points, but the Mystic Spearhand is defined equally by the access to magick it provides.

The Mystic Spearhand’s Complementary Suite of Spells

While players are probably going to be dish out most of their damage with melee attacks, the likes of Dragoun’s Stabbe, a piercing air dash, or conjured Seching Blade projectiles, significantly bolster the potential for more complex gameplay. It might take more skill to effectively utilize a defensive spell like the Mystic Spearhand's Mirour Vesture in the midst of fast-paced combat, but these kinds of technical options are fitting for a Vocation that seems intended to reward this sort of intensity and dedication.

What Monster Hunter Wilds’ Insect Glaive Can Learn from the Mystic Spearhand

Wilds’ Potential to Elevate the Status of its Kinsects

MH World offered the greatest potential for using damage-centric Kinsect builds to achieve consistent results compared to the Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Rise, but this is still a rare way to build a hunter, and requires a relatively deep understanding of the Insect Glaive. While the Insect Glaive should remain based around its fast-hitting strikes for its main source of damage in Wilds, incorporating more usage of Kinsect skills in the vein of the Mystic Spearhand’s spells could provide even more synergy. Examples such as Humble Offringe, which levitates objects in the area to hurl at foes, could be repurposed in order to both allow the insect portion of the weapon to have more of an active role apart from extracts, and shine a light on a side of the franchise's non-melee elements.

Ranged Weapons Are Underrepresented in Monster Hunter

With the Bow and Medium Bowgun being the only additional choices over the years, there haven't been any new ranged weapons in Monster Hunter in years. The Insect Glaive is already capable of providing a slightly mixed style of play through limited Kinsect attacks and long-range extract retrieval, but expanding its arsenal to have it lean more heavily into the fantastical capabilities of dynamic combat in Monster Hunter Wilds' seemingly larger open-world.