Hunter Tips?

[CottonCrumble]

Hi. I recently started my hunter and went partisan. I find the learning curve enjoyable, and yet, steep. So I'm looking for some tips. For one, what are some good partisan PAs to use, and how/when should I use them?

Also I'm having a hard time soloing as I'm getting hit too much by not dodging in time (or guarding). The PAs I use seem to have animations that last for an eternity and aren't cancelled by simply guarding. Are there any pieces of advice or good video examples I can go off of to help me improve how I play my hunter?

Thanks.

P.S. I'm level 18 trying to solo my desert missions to get used to the technical aspects of the hunter class.

[WaltherFeng]

Use the dash to cancel out of moves.

If you have Partisan Gear ability, you can wait till the second Just Frame (After spinning motions) virtually after every attack to recharge your Gear Gauge.

Also, learn the Step Attack from the skill tree and abuse it hard while dashing all over the place.

[CottonCrumble]

Oh, yeah I know how to dash-cancel, have the Step Attack, and how to wait for the frames to re-charge my partisan's gauge. I also use the dash a lot when my PP is running low.

I was looking for something more specific--like how to manage when there are 3 types of monsters clumped in a group of 10 or so, or what PAs are good in what situations. Sometimes I get the feeling I'm dashing too much and may be sacrificing damage, but I'm not sure.

[marvelous stan]

I also find the inability to guard cancel out of the flourishes very annoying. Unfortunately I am already heading up the left side of the talent tree and now I'm thinking about rerolling to play swords since they seem much more amenable to parrying boss attacks. The stretch armstrong dragon ran me over when I was using partisan but I had no trouble against him using sword, even using mostly basic attacks.

In any case I use wire lance against groups of enemies though. Throwing them into each other is just so much fun!

[soulpimpwizzurd]

once you get the partisan pa speed rush you'll pretty much never use anything else, and it'll get a lot easier to handle large groups of mobs.

in terms of other general advice like your example of 3 types of monsters in a group of ten, always get the ones that annoy you the most first. like those guys with the pew pew laser beams, and the shield holding guys that can shield charge.

also if you want to survive, try sticking on the outer edge of a group of mobs, instead of going right in.

[Zorafim]

I really can't give advice. Hunter seems to be very trial and error. Try everything at least once, and see what you like best. Force yourself into tough situations and see what you need to get out on top. And learn enemy animations. There's always some tell they do which allows you to know when and where to dodge to. Even though you're the one who's targetted by the most attacks, you should learn enough about your enemies to be able to dodge between them all and never get hit.
except that Slinky's sweep. I can never dodge that one. Any time I do, I dodge out of one part of the attack into another. How am I supposed to dodge that...

As for partisan, I never block. Blocking doesn't cancel out of partisan like it does for sword, and half damage isn't worth it for me. At low levels, I used the three hit backstep PA, the rising PA, and the AoE PA. Then I got the one which hits 5 times and hits everything, and I haven't used any other PA after that.

[Adelheid]

Charging Partisan gear isn't worth it unless you have time where you're not hitting the boss/enemy anyway. If you have to lose PP generation or PA use simply to keep it full then it may not be worth it.

The Wind Blade PA is the best one, it can usually hit weakspots that aren't exposed, like Ragne's head.

[Zorafim]

Don't spam twirls to keep it up, but do keep it around. Maybe refill it between spawns. The AoE it adds can be amazing at times.

[soulpimpwizzurd]

except that Slinky's sweep. I can never dodge that one. Any time I do, I dodge out of one part of the attack into another. How am I supposed to dodge that...

just guard < : )

in terms of almost all of his attacks except the stun spin and the weird double bendy smash, i've found the following works the best:

start attacking either end of him. once he rears up to attack run diagonally up to it's left or right side towards its other end. punish it using the delay after it attacks. you are now towards the rear of the gummy dragon. continue to attack until it lifts up its tail to do a tail smash. as soon as you see it's tell that it's going to tail attack, do the same thing. run diagonally up towards its head.

generally if you do this and go back and forth you can dodge most attacks easily. his spinning sweep attack is hard to dodge out of since it has such big range. you usually have to guard/just guard that one.

[Zorafim]

I don't have nearly enough points to get just guard, but I'm hoping Guard at least stops the stun. If that's the case, thanks for enlightening me to the one situation when I'd use a guard over a dodge.