Best Switch Axe Builds for Iceborne
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These are the best builds for the Switch Axe in Monster Hunter World (MHW) Iceborne for DLC progression and endgame. Learn about the best builds, skills, and weapons for the Switch Axe below!
List of Contents
Switch Axe Endgame Meta Build
Endgame Fatalis Armor Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
True Fatalis End
|
Expert Jewel+ 4 Expert Jewel+ 4 Critical Eye 2
x1Expert Jewel+ 4 Expert Jewel+ 4 Critical Eye 2
x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
Dragonhead Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Stun Resistance (Lv 3) |
Satiated/Attack Jewel 4 Satiated/Attack Jewel 4 Free Meal 1, Attack Boost 1
x3 |
Dragonhide Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Weakness Exploit (Lv 1) |
Challenger/Protection Jewel 4 Challenger/Protection Jewel 4 Agitator 1, Divine Blessing 1
x2Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Divine Blessing 1
x1 |
Escadora Armguards Alpha +
|
Slots: ③①ー
Attack Boost (Lv 3) Power Prolonger (Lv 3) |
Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1 |
Dragonbarbs Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Critical Eye (Lv 2) |
Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Divine Blessing 1
x2Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Critical Eye 1
x1 |
Dragonfeet Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Evade Window (Lv 1) |
Jumping/Evasion Jewel 4 Jumping/Evasion Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Evade Window 1
x2Tenderizer/Evasion Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Evasion Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Evade Window 1
x1 |
| Challenger Charm V | None | |
Fatalis Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Attack Boost 7 | Critical Eye 7 |
| Agitator 7 | Divine Blessing 5 |
| Evade Window 5 | Weakness Exploit 3 |
| Critical Boost 3 | Stun Resistance 3 |
| Power Prolonger 3 | Evade Extender 3 |
| Free Meal 3 | Inheritance 1 (Fatalis Legend 2) |
| Transcendence (Fatalis Legend 4) | True Razor Sharp / Spare Shot (Fatalis Legend 4) |
Taking advantage of Inheritance from the Fatalis Legend Set Bonus, this build provides high affinity and attack using the unlocked Agitator 7, complemented with Critical Eye, Critical Boost, Attack Boost, and Weakness Exploit.
Transcendance from the Fatalis Legend Set Bonus provides comfort and survivability with True Razor Sharp and the huge Health and Stamina boost. This allows for less sharpening between each encounter and gets you to max HP without Health Boost and eating meals or consuming Max/Ancient Potions.
Divine Blessing, Evade Window, and Evade Extender are nice defensive skills that allow you to dodge more effectively and lighten the punishment of making mistakes, allowing for a more aggressive playstyle.
Power Prolonger extends the duration of the buffs on your axe and sword, allowing your attacks to stay amped up for longer.
Switch Axe Meta Builds
| Meta Builds |
|---|
|
|
Elemental I Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Kjarr Axe "King"
|
Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Safi Crested Crown Beta +
|
Slots: ④①①
Evade Window (Lv 1) Critical Boost (Lv 1) |
Jumping/Evasion Jewel 4 Jumping/Evasion Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Evade Window 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x2 |
|
Safi Crested Chest Beta +
|
Slots: ④②
Blight Resistance (Lv 1) Critical Boost (Lv 1) |
Jumping/Evasion Jewel 4 Jumping/Evasion Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Evade Window 1
x1Jumping Jewel 2 Jumping Jewel 2 Evade Extender 1
x1 |
|
Safi Crested Vambraces Beta +
|
Slots: ④②②
Blight Resistance (Lv 1) |
Enhancer/Vitality Jewel 4 Enhancer/Vitality Jewel 4 Power Prolonger 1, Health Boost 1
x1Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x2 |
|
Safi Crested Belt Beta +
|
Slots: ④①
Evade Window (Lv 2) |
Enhancer/Vitality Jewel 4 Enhancer/Vitality Jewel 4 Power Prolonger 1, Health Boost 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1 |
|
Safi Crested Boots Beta +
|
Slots: ④②①
Critical Boost (Lv 1) |
Enhancer/Vitality Jewel 4 Enhancer/Vitality Jewel 4 Power Prolonger 1, Health Boost 1
x1Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x2Blaze Jewel 1 Blaze Jewel 1 Fire Attack 1
x2 |
| Blaze Charm V | None | |
Elemental I Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Fire Attack 6 | Evade Window 5 |
| Attack Boost 4 | Critical Boost 3 |
| Evade Extender 3 | Health Boost 3 |
| Power Prolonger 3 | Weakness Exploit 3 |
| Blight Resistance 2 | Critical Element (Kjarr Weapon) |
| Dragonvein Awakening (Safi'jiiva Seal 3) | True Dragonvein Awakening (Safi'jiiva Seal 5) |
A build that concentrates on dealing a lot of elemental damage using the Kjarr Weapon's Critical Element combined with Safi'jiiva's True Dragonvein Awakening.
True Dragonvein Awakening provides increased elemental damage and affinity from continuously attacking the monster. Each swing of the weapon consumes your HP whether it hits something or not, but Health Regen augments can help mitigate this a little bit.
Critical Boost, Critical Element, and Weakness Exploit boosts and takes advantage of the high affinity True Dragonvein Awakening already provides.
Evade Window and Evade Extender are nice defensive skills that allow you to dodge more effectively, allowing for a more aggressive playstyle.
Power Prolonger extends the duration of the buffs on your axe and sword, allowing your attacks to stay amped up for longer.
Just swap out the Charm and Weapon to match the element you're going for!
Elemental II Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
|
Kjarr Axe "King"
|
Satiated Jewel 1 Satiated Jewel 1 Free Meal 1
x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Golden Lunehelm Beta +
|
Slots: ④②ー
Health Boost (Lv 2) |
Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Critical Eye 1
x1Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
|
|
Silver Solmail Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Critical Boost (Lv 2) |
Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
Silver Solbraces Beta +
|
Slots: ④②ー
Slinger Capacity (Lv 3) |
Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Critical Eye 1
x1Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x1 |
|
Silver Solcoil Beta +
|
Slots: ④①ー
Windproof (Lv 1) Critical Boost (Lv 1) |
Expert Jewel+ 4 Expert Jewel+ 4 Critical Eye 2
x1Vitality Jewel 1 Vitality Jewel 1 Health Boost 1
x1 |
|
Silver Solgreaves Beta +
|
Slots: ④②①
Slinger Capacity (Lv 2) |
Expert Jewel+ 4 Expert Jewel+ 4 Critical Eye 2
x1Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x1Blaze Jewel 1 Blaze Jewel 1 Fire Attack 1
x1 |
| Blaze Charm V | None | |
Elemental II Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Critical Eye 7 | Fire Attack 6 |
| Slinger Capacity 5 | Critical Boost 3 |
| Health Boost 3 | Evade Extender 3 |
| Weakness Exploit 3 | Windproof 1 |
| Critical Element (Kjarr Weapon) | Slinger Ammo Secret (Silver Rathalos Essence 2) |
| True Critical Element (Silver Rathalos Essence 4) | |
This is a more comfortable build for dealing a lot of elemental damage that uses True Critical Element. Critical Eye and Weakness Exploit provides all the affinity you need while Critical Boost helps deal more damage.
Just swap out the Charm and Weapon to match the element you're going for!
Agitator/Master's Touch Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Lightbreak Axe
|
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Shaver Jewel 3 x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Brachydium Helm Beta +
|
Slots: ④④①
Weakness Exploit (Lv 1) |
Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Critical Eye 1
x2Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1
|
|
Kaiser Mail Beta +
|
Slots: ④①①
Latent Power (Lv 1) |
Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Health Boost 1
x1Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x2
|
|
Brachydium Braces Beta +
|
Slots: ④④ー
Agitator (Lv 2) |
Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Jumping/Expert Jewel 4 Evade Extender 1, Critical Eye 1
x1Critical/Evasion Jewel 4 Critical/Evasion Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Evade Window 1
x1
|
|
Kaiser Coil Beta +
|
Slots: ④②①
Blast Attack (Lv 2) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Evasion Jewel 2 Evasion Jewel 2 Evade Window 1
x1Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1
|
|
Kaiser Greaves Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Latent Power (Lv 2) Blast Attack (Lv 1) |
Critical/Evasion Jewel 4 Critical/Evasion Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Evade Window 1
x1
|
| Challenger Charm V | None | |
Agitator/Master's Touch Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Critical Eye 7 | Agitator 7 |
| Evade Window 3 | Latent Power 3 |
| Blast Attack 3 | Critical Boost 3 |
| Health Boost 3 | Evade Extender 3 |
| Weakness Exploit 3 | Clutch Claw Boost 1 |
| Master's Touch (Teostra Technique 3) | Agitator Secret (Brachydios Will 2) |
A high afifnity and attack build that uses the unlocked Agitator 7 complemented by Critical Eye, Critical Boost, and Weakness Exploit.
Master's Touch takes advantage of the high affinity to reduce sharpness loss, allowing your weapon to deal maximum damage for longer, lessening the amount of times you need to sharpen.
Switch Axe Progression Builds
| Progression Builds |
|---|
|
|
Starter Iceborne Build
The Guardian Armor plus Defender Weapon combo is a viable starter build for Iceborne's early game. It has good enough defense to take hits from the early monsters, as well as enough damage to let you farm for your early Iceborne build.
The Guardian Armor set is given to all players from the start of the game and has good defense and survival skills while the Defender Weapon can be crafted from the Smithy and can be fully upgraded with ease.
Early Iceborne Progression Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Mechanical Lumu I
|
Brace Jewel 3 Brace Jewel 3 Flinch Free 1
Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
|
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Bone Helm Alpha +
|
Slots: ③ーー
Health Boost (Lv 2) Partbreaker (Lv 1) |
Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft 1
x1 |
|
Bone Mail Alpha +
|
Slots: ②ーー
Attack Boost (Lv 2) Health Boost (Lv 1) |
Critical Jewel 2 Critical Jewel 2 Critical Boost 1
x1 |
|
Kulu Vambraces Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Critical Boost (Lv 1) |
Satiated/Expert Jewel 4 Satiated/Expert Jewel 4 Free Meal 1, Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
Kulu Coil Alpha +
|
Slots: ③ーー
Item Prolonger (Lv 2) Critical Eye (Lv 1) |
Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft 1
x1 |
|
Kulu Greaves Alpha +
|
Slots: ②ーー
Critical Eye (Lv 2) Item Prolonger (Lv 1) |
Critical Jewel 2 Critical Jewel 2 Critical Boost 1
x1
|
| Handicraft Charm III | None | |
Early Iceborne Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Critical Eye 5 | Handicraft 5 |
| Health Boost 3 | Critical Boost 3 |
| Item Prolonger 3 | Attack Boost 2 |
| Partbreaker 1 | Flinch Free 1 |
| Free Meal 1 | |
An early Iceborne build that can pack a lot of damage in the early game because of high sharpness and decent affinity. While lacking in some quality of life skills, it should be enough to get you to the mid game if you play carefully.
Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Night's Crescent
|
--- | |
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Brachydios Helm Beta +
|
Slots: ④①ー
Agitator (Lv 2) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1 |
|
Glavenus Mail Alpha +
|
Slots: ①ーー
Power Prolonger (Lv 2) Maximum Might (Lv 1) |
Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1 |
|
Brachydios Braces Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Agitator (Lv 2) Blast Resistance (Lv 1) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1 |
|
Zinogre Coil Beta +
|
Slots: ④②ー
Power Prolonger (Lv 1) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Elementless Jewel 2 Elementless Jewel 2 Non-elemental Boost 1
x1 |
|
Brachydios Greaves Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Agitator (Lv 2) Artillery (Lv 1) |
Challenger/Evasion Jewel 4 Challenger/Evasion Jewel 4 Agitator 1, Evade Window 1
x1 |
| Attack Charm III | None | |
Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Agitator 7 | Attack Boost 5 |
| Health Boost 3 | Power Prolonger 3 |
| Weakness Exploit 3 | Evade Window 1 |
| Artillery 1 | Blast Resistance 1 |
| Maximum Might 1 | Non-elemental Boost 1 |
| Agitator Secret (Brachydios Essence 3) | |
A high attack and affinity build that uses the unlocked Agitator 7 together with Non-elemental Boost, Weakness Exploit, some Attack Boost, and some Maximum Might, paired with Night Crescent's high sharpness and base affinity.
Power Prolonger keeps the buff on the axe and sword up for longer, but this can be swapped out for more defensive gear.
The lack of defensive skills on the build means you'll have to play carefully and wait for openings to deal a lot of damage.
Best Switch Axe Weapons and Skills
Best Weapons for Switch Axe
| Weapon | Explanation |
|---|---|
|
True Fatalis End
[Atk] 1225 | [Affinity] -20% |
・Has the highest attack damage and two 4-slots |
Chrome Machina III
[Atk] 945 | [Affinity] 0% |
・Easy to craft ・Damage can be increased by unlocking Free Elem/Ammo Up skill |
Golden Crescent
[Atk] 1015 | [Affinity] 15% |
・Has a 15% affinity ・Works well with Master's Touch |
Nyx Smasher II
[Atk] 840 | [Affinity] 0% |
・High Sleep Element of 450 ・Extremely useful in the Guiding Lands |
Best Skills for Switch Axe
| Skill | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Health Boost ( ★★★ ) |
Increases maximum health to increase your survival rate A must have for beginners |
| Alatreon Divinity ( ★★★ ) |
Equipped weapon's elemental power increases as your armor's elemental resistance increases |
| Weakness Exploit ( ★★★ ) |
Significantly increases your attack by targeting weakpoints |
| Critical Eye ( ★★★ ) |
Increases your Affinity |
| Power Prolonger ( ★★★ ) |
Allows your weapon to stay powered up longer |
| Tool Specialist ( ★★★ ) |
Reduces the recharge time for specialized tools. |
| Divine Blessing ( ★★★ ) |
Significantly reduces the damage you take |
| Lunastra Essence ( ★★ ) |
Raises the maximum level of the Tool Specialist skill |
| Focus ( ★★ ) |
Increases gauge fill rate and reduces charge times |
| Evade Window ( ★★ ) |
Increases invulnerability window when evading |
| Evade Extender ( ★★ ) |
Increases the distance traveled when evading |
Monster Hunter World (MHW) Iceborne Related Guides
Best Builds
Best Endgame Builds and Weapon Progression Builds
Best Builds Per Weapons
| Melee Weapons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Long Swords |
 Great Swords |
 Sword and Shield |
 Dual Blades |
 Hammer |
 Hunting Horn |
 Lance |
 Gunlance |
 Switch Axe |
 Charge Blade |
 Insect Glaive |
|
| Ranged Weapons | |
|---|---|
 Bow |
 Light Bowgun |
 Heavy Bowgun |
|
Best Counter Builds
| Monster Counterbuilds | |
|---|---|
 Fatalis
|  Alatreon |
Author
Best Switch Axe Builds for Iceborne
Rankings
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