7+ Best Sword and Shield Builds in Monster Hunter Now (SnS)

Do you want to be the best Sword and Shield (SnS) user in Monster Hunter Now? This guide will show you the best armor and weapon combinations to maximize your SnS potential and dominate the hunt!

Read on to discover powerful builds that will help you defeat any monster!

1. Best Build Armor for Sword and Shield Players MH Now (Before Anjanath)

This build is ideal for beginners in the early stages of the game. It emphasizes the Critical Eye skill, which increases affinity by 20%.

Here are some armor sets for SNS weapons created from the largest Monsters in Monster Hunter Now.

Armor	Grade	Skills
Kulu Headpiece	Grade 2	Lock On
Leather Mail	Grade 2	Attack Boost
Girros Vambraces	Grade 2	Sneak Attack
Leather Belt	Grade 2	Health Boost
Kulu Greaves	Grade 2	Critical Eye

Optional: You can replace Girros Vambraces with Kulu Vambraces to unlock the Critical Eye skill, which becomes available at Grade 4.

2. Optional Armor Build for Sword and Shield Players MH Now

Armor	Grade	Skills
Kulu Headpiece	Grade 2	Lock On
Leather Mail	Grade 2	Attack Boost
Paolumu Vambraces Concentration	Grade 3	Concentration
Paolumu Coil	Grade 3	Divine Blessing
Kulu Greaves	Grade 2	Critical Eye

3. Best Build Armor for Sword and Shield Players MH Now (Mid Game)

Armor	Grade	Skills
Kulu Headpiece	Grade 4	Critical Eye
Leather Mail	Grade 2	Attack Boost
Kulu Vambraces	Grade 4	Critical Eye
Jagras Coil	Grade 4	Rising Tide
Kulu Greaves	Grade 6	Critical Eye

4. Best Build Armor for Sword and Shield Players MH Now (End Game)

Armor	Grade	Skills
Kulu Headpiece	Grade 4	Critical Eye
Rathalos Mail	Grade 5	Weakness Exploit
Kulu Vambraces	Grade 4	Critical Eye
Anjanath Coil	Grade 6	Special Boost
Kulu Greaves	Grade 6	Critical Eye

5. Best Optional Armor Build for Sword and Shield Players (Offensive Guard)

Armor	Grade
Radobaan Helm	6
Barroth Mail	6
Rathian Vambraces	6
Diablos Coil	6
Radobaan Greaves	4

Note: This is a simple Offensive Guard setup called Burst 2 Guard 3 Offensive Guard 3 + Lock-On. You can customize it by using different armor pieces, but this is the basic version.

6. Best Optional Armor Build for Sword and Shield Players (Partbreaker)

Armor	Grade
Black Diablos Helmet	5
Rathalos Mail	6
Rathian Vambraces	6
Diablos Coil	5
Diablos Greaves	6

Note: Only use Partbreaker 4. You can obtain 5 if you replace the Rathian Vambraces with Diablos Vambraces, but having Lock-On is crucial for part sniping.

7. Best Sword and Shield Weapons in Monster Hunter Now

Here are some recommendations for SNS weapons in the monster hunter now game:

(Early Game)

Weapon Sword and Shields	Monsters	Description
Blooming Knife	Pukei	A recommended sword and shield choice for beginners, capable of delivering raw damage to help defeat large monsters early in the game.
Jagras Edge	Great Jagras	A worthwhile early upgrade option for effectively combating monsters like Kulu, Girros, Tobi, and Anja.
Lumu Knife	Paolumu	An alternative for dealing raw damage without elemental properties.
Aqua Messer	Jyuratodus	A sword and shield type weapon with a more potent Water element, boasting superior statistics compared to the Jagras weapon.

(Mid to End Game)

Weapon	Monsters	Description
Thunder Edge	Tobi Kadachi	The Thunder Edge is the only sword and shield weapon with a lightning element. You can use it to combat monsters weak to electricity.
Glacial Grace	Legiana	The Glacial Grace (Legiana) is a weapon with an ice element that you can utilize to take on Diablos, a monster vulnerable to ice.
Flame Knife	Rathalos	The Flame Knife (Rathalos) is a fire-element weapon that you can wield to battle monsters with a weakness to to fire-element.

8. Best Elemental Sets for SNS in Monster Hunter Now

Here are the latest elemental gear combinations for Sword and Shield players in Monster Hunter Now:

Elemental SnS Set	Monster	Headpiece	Mail	Vambraces	Coil	Greaves
Fire	Rathalos	Anja Helm (Grade 4)	Rathalos Mail (Grade 6)	Anja Vambraces (Grade 6)	Rathalos Coil (Grade 6)	Kulu Greaves (Grade 6)
Water	Jyuratodus	Kulu Headpiece (Grade 4)	Jyura Mail (Grade 3)	Jyura Vambraces (Grade 6)	Rathian Coil (Grade 6)	Jagras Greaves (Grade 6)
Thunder	Zinogre	Kulu Helm (Grade 4)	Rathalos Mail (Grade 6)	Zinogre Vambraces (Grade 6)	Kadachi Coil (Grade 6)	Zinogre Greaves (Grade 6)
Ice	Legiana	Kulu Helm (Grade 4)	Barioth Mail (Grade 6)	Barioth Vambraces (Grade 6)	Legiana Coil (Grade 5)	Rathalos Greaves (Grade 6)