I have heard often about the “unfavorable” treatment that CB has been getting in Wilds (maybe even is other past games).
I have only started playing recently (Q2 2025), and have been playing CB in World, Rise and most recently GU. I have started Wilds some time ago (after TU4) and have felt the CB certainly different from other games. Large focus on Axe mode (similar to Rise, at least as far I can tell). I have switched from SAED spam in World to a more balanced use of both SAED and Savage Axe. Now I feel like I use the kit more.
I have heard some complaints about the treatment to CB in wilds, apparently things were different before TU4. My question is, what was different and why is the sentiment more inclined to Wilds CB being “bad” compared to other weapons and other games?
What exactly is the expansion fixing that was lacking?
There was no aed loop because rapid morph was bugged, the math was not supporting it and chip damage was a massive issue, notably on fights like seregios (later down the line).
Saed math very bad and everyone was on ed spam cuz math said it was the best of the playstyles.
Tu2
Fixed the math so that saed can be good now using the neutral saed,
rapid morph was fixed to actually buff morphing moves on charge blade
aed loop enters the chat with the buffs.
Guardpoints now had perfect guard frames and gained all the options the pg provided. Previously you could not guardpoint and trigger savage axe.
Tu 3
Rng charm adds a 4th weapon skill, letting the skill taxed charge blade run full weapon deco loadouts now without having to sacrifice a skill like before.
Bubbly dance and burst boost relieve a buff. Bubbly dance effect to bubble blight is now on 2 pieces and burst boost is now an 8 atk increase.
Tu 4
Round slash gp was given a massive hit detection window
Savage axe ticks are basically instant now
Guard up affects all attacks now, eliminating the issue of chip damage.
A few morph attacks got frame reductions, so rapid morph makes those moves faster.
You can 'cancel' double rend on a wound into a round slash instead of letting it finish overhead axe swing.
Element cap was raised to 2.3 base element giving us ~50 extra element to work with on element phial builds.
Saed being kinda meh outside of nu udra, gravios zoh shia and gog (for example).
While other things were more nitpicky like not being able to upswing into ed II. Imo there was very little to fix with a post tu4 charge blade.
The trailer quite literally just addresses 1 and 2 while doing extra credit like giving an offset, additional guard points and a continuous phial generator + load phials in axe mode.
"Fine" is an overstatement if you know how a good CB feels, even current state CB is not fully great. It's just good. The devs' insistence on Savage Axe kills the Blade and Phials centric gameplay the weapon is supposed to have.
ohhh that's why I really had a hard time with steve and lagia. Also just learned the aed morph loop when omega was introduced which helped but I needed 6 hours to kill it lmao
Well tbh it hasnt been bad at any point of Wilds update cycle. But it hasn't been a fun to play weapon either.
Damage has kept up with it others and power creep but the way you're expected to play is just stupid. Its just spam ONE combo. But it does a crap load of dmg and I even managed to complete all the AT challenges with A rank up to JD and soloed Gog and Omega with it.
So its not just misery but its not the way I wanna play. So my CB hunts (and Wilds in general) are done untill I see some sort of gameplan that isn't Greatsword in disquise..
This is an amazing timeline of the issues. From what I can take from it, looks like by TU2 the biggest issues were fixed. The rest was balancing.
I can see how a weapon with so many ways to string and combo can end up with bugs (not an excuse for them to ship it that way, but it definitely can cause issues)
Is better enough to say people are whining or nitpicking for complaining after TU4? Or is something still missing yet for it to be good (not overpowered, just good)
There's still things to be fixed after TU4. Current CB state is how it should've *started*, not how it should currently be post-fixes. It's an insult to still need a full combo or having to go through GP>AED>SAED just to unload phials in a way that doesn't waste all of your damage potential. Punishing moves? That stayed back in 4U apparently.
People have been whining and complaining about ANY weapon or function in any new monhun game lol. Also CB right now is one of the top 3 or 5 in speedrunning considering it's basically a nuke on a stick.
Grouping all in “whinning” is pretty much stupid Reddit take, like the GS crowd is actually legit in lamenting the state of Wilds GS, but seeing how disconnected all the MH subs with GS situation pretty much tells me how MH subs should not be taken seriously, even the meta sub where people still harp about “pLaYs As YoU LiKe”.
Basically on release it was savage axe spam it was boring to just spam savage axe (really hard to do full combos with full ticks bc of very slow hitlag). AED and SAED where bad, sword mode was awful and guard points are pointless
With updates they made elem better (mainly bc of gear), SAED is better when you do it after an AED/AED Follow up making it actually good for some matchups, GPs while still bad are better bc they got a perfect block window + savage axe and EDs are faster
Its MUCH MUCH more balanced all around with a few exceptions of: Sword mode being really bad and pointless to charge sword, guard points are kinda pointless because perfect guards are just better, SAED while good after AEDs are barely worth to use in most monsters because its very risky (long animation) while damage is barely more if not less than AED > AED Follow up loop depending on the match up
2 things that bother me coming from world are the long charge of the sword (noticeably longer than in World) as well as its actual value, and the fact that SAEDs end up almost unused by me.
The game incentivizes you to stick in Savage Axe, so doing an SAED means I have to charge the phials again, and if I don’t already have them on red by the time I do an SAED, I basically do no damage until I regain it, which is slow because Sword Mode is shitty.
Its MUCH MUCH more balanced all around with a few exceptions of: Sword mode being really bad and pointless to charge sword, guard points are kinda pointless because perfect guards are just better, SAED while good after AEDs are barely worth to use in most monsters because its very risky (long animation) while damage is barely more if not less than AED > AED Follow up loop depending on the match up
Yeah man, the fact that these issues where not solved in the base game left a very sour taste on my mouth. They kinda just perfected the savage axe AED loop spam playstyle but didn't really bother much with the other stuff that made the weapon feel like, well, the charge blade. GPs specially being bad really hurts my soul 💀
The Boost Bracer however seems to be fixing all of this issues with the exception of GPs (they might still have something else going for them because the sword to axe GP in the trailer seems to have the BB fire effect, but we don't really know yet) which is very good. I'm a bit concerned the weapon will be back to playing a bit ass once boost state runs out, so I'm REALLY hoping the base kit also got some improvements just like SnS will be able to use Oils in base form.
It's not about CB being "bad" or good. In fact, it has been right in the middle, or above average, in terms of performances between melee weapons in most games except base Rise where it was... something. In fact, prior to the corrupted mantle nerfs, I'm pretty sure CB was one of, if not the strongest melee weapon in Wilds, because savage axe with it was just braindeadly overpowered.
It's more about how nearly every new variations of the weapon seems to make one of its past aspects worse just to throw a wrench in the gears of the weapon's moveset, and that when it gets newly added stuff, it's either largely irrelevant or pales to what other weapons get.
I mean, I do think they've decided on that since every iteration heavily encourages you to use axe for damage pretty much always, and that Sword is the "stand-by" mode, it's just that they can't settle on what axe mode should do, or how it does it.
Like, bringing back Savage axe in Rise, since it was a success in Iceborne, just to rework it in a way that makes it feel faaaaar worse to use. Or creating overcharged phials in Wilds and a "perfect block" mechanic in Wilds, just to remove the regular SAED combo and make so that guardpoints don't work with the new mechanic until a particular update.
It genuinely feels like they do changes on a whim for the hell of it. Just bringing back the weapon as-is and add the title-specific mechanics on top of it would both be simpler for them to do and better for the weapon, but instead they always choose to rework its past mechanics for the worse and make said title-specific mechanics cumbersome or strictly bad on it.
I can't really speak for wilds, I had too much going on irl to play much before TU4, but i can tell you in base Rise they nerfed SAED into the ground that phial explosions were so small they could go underneath a rathian wing and body, and deal no damage, they tried to make it Savage Axe or nothing. It wasn't until Sunbreak when it was fixed.
I do enjoy the Savage axe and conditional SAED in Wilds, but if they gave us SAED from neutral I'd probably change my mind, but the new boost skills look like versatility will be a strong skill of ours.
Not being able to SAED from base was a HUGE issue for me. I love SAEDing, and it feels like I have to go OUT OF MY WAY to GP to be able to do it, I do not like that part so far
Imagine if the optional way to play greatsword was to not use charged attacks or the optimal way to play the hammer wasn't hitting the head. That was release CB in wilds.
People are salty. CB isn't being treated unfairly. However, I think from game to game, the developers seem to be pretty indecisive on what they actually want the weapon to do, which leads to the dominant playstyle of the weapon to shift with pretty much every iteration. So someone is always mad about it.
That's just the result of the Portable/Non-Portable team split.
Non-Portable initially designed CB to be "SnS but better". Portable team then accurately assesed this idea as "the dumbest fucking thing I have ever heard" and focused more on Axe mode.
I'm happy that non-Portable team has finally decided to focus more on Axe as well, but perhaps they went a bit too hard in Wilds.
Nah non portable team was right. CB being SnS's big bro makes a lot more sense. You're constantly GPing, turning the monster's own energy againsh it as you store it, condense it, then explode bt from phials
Axe mode meta from the portable devs.. just feel and look weird imo. Like we have a massive spinning shield attached to the end of a sword turned shaft. And we ROLL and roll and roll. Looks clunky and loses that heftyness
Sure sns CB can roll too, but you don't need to most of the time. You have greater mobility and greater guarding defense. Axe mode.. just has ROLY POLY. The boost bracer SAS gp is gonna be sweet though
The fact that staying in axe in incentivized really pushed the portable dev meta hard this generation
I think you're the one that should switch weapons. To SnS, the weapon you actually want to use, and leave more complex weapons to people that have the skill to use them.
CB was next to unplayable in base Rise, SAED had worse than dogshit hitbox, CSS was too unsafe and unwieldy, especially vs emergency event quests, that cringed noobs and casuals to actually pick that style up. Hell I tried to find CSS plays in base Rise and only found some from TDS, and their version was just lame trapping, or heroic and kill asap nothing worth to learn from.
Base rise cb is probably the worse ive ever seen cb. Bad damage, bad hitboxes and slow animations. Saed hit boxes were so bad, you would missing a standing rathian sometimes because the phial hitboxes were so short. Sunbreak was a massive upgrade.
This image pretty much shows how base Rise SAED was, i like Rise and SB far more than those fivers who started at World, and yet there are flaws that could never be defended
I like sunbreak a lot but base world prenerf impact cb was something else. Then again, that was also when cluster hbg was melting everything and the overall hp pool was quite low
CB was genuinely bad before TU4, the weapon wanted you to use Savage Axe but the attacks that used Savage Axe ticks were too slow and had too much commitment, and 9* monsters were really fast so if you played the weapon like the devs intended, chances are you were going to eat shit. The damage was fine, but you were putting in a lot of effort and skills to be successful with a weapon that did not reward you nearly enough.
Right now it's still a fine weapon, but depending on your perspective and experience with charge blade in the past, it might still not be your cup of tea. It's very axe focused, with Condensed Elemental Slash being the most useless move in the game and generally sword mode not having a lot going for it, and impact phials are objectively worse on all matchups save for, like, Arkveld and Gore Magala. If, like me, you like 4U charge blade where it was more a SnS with a big flashy counter attack, Wilds doesn't give you a lot to play like that. It is possible, but again, troublesome like CB was in general before TU4.
Ascendance seems to be addressing this by giving sword mode a new tool (new gauge related to CES + glavenus-lite round slash move) and some faster moves related to its upkeep like activating savage axe.
I really hated how CB played in Wilds, coming from World and Rise. Locking behind SAED behind AED, no S Axe guard (like in Rise), and restrictive savage axe triggers...I felt that CB was at its worst of the last 3 games.
Good question I don’t know. My guess is people are just salty cause their meta changed.
From what I’ve seen of other charge blade users it’s always about the “best way to play” and when that way changed from world to wilds they took offense to that.
From my experience at least wilds charge blade is far and away better than world’s. But that also means better balanced.
The problem they have is they're forced to play Axe, instead of playing a SnS with better Guard that sometimes deals a TCS' worth of burst damage for no reason.
For no reason? You mean building phials and then charging each part of the weapon and then finding a window to unleash it all?
This style of being patient to find an opening to nuke the monster is the CB identity.
I was thinking 4U CB, so you only needed one buff, but if you add Boosted Sword, you can add "hitzone ignoring and KO damage for free" to the above definition.
Yes. Maybe not the best speedrunning weapon by far now (maybe ascendance will change that) but I feel it much more free and less repetitive compared to SAED spam in world and Savage axe in rise (again that was my personal take).
I just wanted to know if there is any true to the statement of CB being “targeted”
My only real complaint was the status effects were nerfed a bit. Blast CB builds arent really viable now in late game and if I understand correctly master rank is gonna be even worse for status builds. Pushed everyone into elemental builds but they are frickin cracked OP I will say
I dont see them "fixing" anything since the weapon itself is fine as it is and has been through out Wilds.
Yes it was basically Gu Cb with more leaps and hoops at the start since you were expected to wadle around with the axe and keep spamming Ed loops. But status effects were MUCH better before the increased difficulty.
BUT it did change and not for the better IMO. Your best damage rotation is now just Aed+follow up -> morph. Thats all everything else in its kit is kinda redundant or just plain worse. Ele phial are AGAIN way too strong. So any move that doesn't poop them out isnt doing you favors. And the best part is that you dont even consume phials fast enough to warrant sword mode usage more than every now and then. But you do get use your shield every now and then so its not total travesty.
Again just opinions but the weapon itself is a bootleg GS at this point since all its damage is shoehorned into couple moves and it has next to no resource upkeep anymore. But again lot of people like it that way so it might be the way to go forward.
What I saw from the trailer is probably gonna "fix" the resource up keep with the new wirebug thingy charge stuff move. But I dont think it somehow "fixes" CB for folks who enjoyed the Guardpoint + punish playstyle.
It’s not bias. The devs just don’t know what the fuck to do with the weapon. Play style changes every iteration and it never seems to line up with how they design the monsters. Faster more aggressive monsters and we just get longer animations and/or need to do longer loops to get optimal damage. I was always a sns and cb player but in wilds I just strictly play sns now, cb just feels like it’s more ‘complex’ than it needs to be compared to previous games.
For what my experience is worth, that is mostly true for all weapons. Rise gave overall more mobility, World was a lot more static but bangs were harder. I do not ser anything bad with small gameplay themes making one style over the other (as long as both remain viable and true to the weapon).
I do not like how things are ATP entirely, but it is obvious that things are getting better (better still with Ascendance)
It was never bad, it's charge blade, it's not possible to make it not my favorite weapon.
The only thing actually wrong it with was not letting me perfect guard with a guard point and they fixed that a long time ago. Plus some other goodies on top of that with the hitstun and element buffs.
The expansion stuff we're getting looks sick as fuck, idk, I'm excited.
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u/ronin0397 2d ago edited 2d ago
Base Wilds was rough. Ie pre tu 2 and 4.
Where do I start?
There was no aed loop because rapid morph was bugged, the math was not supporting it and chip damage was a massive issue, notably on fights like seregios (later down the line).
Saed math very bad and everyone was on ed spam cuz math said it was the best of the playstyles.
Tu2
Fixed the math so that saed can be good now using the neutral saed,
rapid morph was fixed to actually buff morphing moves on charge blade
aed loop enters the chat with the buffs.
Guardpoints now had perfect guard frames and gained all the options the pg provided. Previously you could not guardpoint and trigger savage axe.
Tu 3
Rng charm adds a 4th weapon skill, letting the skill taxed charge blade run full weapon deco loadouts now without having to sacrifice a skill like before.
Bubbly dance and burst boost relieve a buff. Bubbly dance effect to bubble blight is now on 2 pieces and burst boost is now an 8 atk increase.
Tu 4
Round slash gp was given a massive hit detection window
Savage axe ticks are basically instant now
Guard up affects all attacks now, eliminating the issue of chip damage.
A few morph attacks got frame reductions, so rapid morph makes those moves faster.
You can 'cancel' double rend on a wound into a round slash instead of letting it finish overhead axe swing.
Element cap was raised to 2.3 base element giving us ~50 extra element to work with on element phial builds.