The dual blades of Monster Hunter World have some of the flashiest moves in the game. They're able to deal consistent damage over time due to their high attack rate and low weight which lets players run around like an anime character. On top of this, they come with a burst mode of sorts that boosts damage overall, making them a decent DPS weapon class for single player missions.

Dual blades are generally more difficult to get the hang of for beginners because they're based on speed and not power. To get the most out of their damage per second, it's recommended to focus on status effects and elemental weaknesses, which differ with each monster. These weapons are for players dedicated to a certain role, that want to look cool while dishing out mediocre damage.

Play-style

Quick tutorial to the dual blades

Dual blade players focus on dealing burst damage to monsters, while potentially plaguing them with ailments and elemental weaknesses. To do this, they must weave in and out of the monster's attack range using their high agility and movement speed. The weapon's attacks themselves provide good options for escaping dangerous situations, so make sure to take advantage of that as well.

Seasoned players use all three modes of the dual blades during battles, dipping in and out of each, performing a dance between stances. These weapons can be difficult to handle because players have to juggle three forms while also evading and attacking. Weapons like greatswords and charge blades don't worry too much about these things since they can deal big damage in a few hits. Because of this, dual blades are all about getting in, and staying in while narrowly avoiding death, so they can deal damage.

Learn Basic Combos

Basic Dual blade combo

Because the dual blades require so many hits to land to deal out decent damage, it's important that every hit of a combo connects. The spacing of dual blades takes a bit to get used to since the blades are so short, but learning to move effectively while attacking is key for dual blade users. Basic combos include pressing the normal attack button three times, followed by the heavy attack button twice. What's great about this combo is that it's long and has a move that strikes vertically, and can be aimed using the left stick.

If a monster collapses or gets behind the player, they can use the normal attack button, followed by the heavy attack button and pull back on the stick. Doing so turns the character around, so they can easily adjust during a combo and not have to waste time sheathing or turning around. Every second counts for a damage per second class, and the move set of the dual blades acknowledges that.

Combos get more complex and useful than the ones listed above, but those two are important to start with. Eventually, combos will flow into each other so it seems like dual blade users only ever stop attacking to fill up their stamina bars before doing it all again. It's important to note that these combos only work in normal mode.

Demon Mode

How to enter Demon mode in MHW

During demon mode, the dual blades do more damage and movement speed increases at the cost of depleting stamina. Demon mode also introduces new moves into the dual blades' kit. Lastly, while attacking in demon mode, the dual blades' meter will increase, which grants players a new mode called arch-demon mode. Archdemon mode is basically a more powerful normal mode. Attacking during archdemon mode depletes the meter, and when the meter is empty, the player has to fill it up again.

The best way to maximize damage and stamina use with these three modes is to dip in and out of normal mode and demon mode regularly during a battle. When there's a big opening, drop into archdemon mode and deal big damage without completely depleting the meter. This allows the stamina bar to fill up a bit while attacking in arch-demon mode, which means more attacks when it's time to switch back to demon mode.

Practice Aerial Combat

Demon mode exclusive air combo

After understanding combos and how to effectively balance the three modes, aerial combat is another staple of the dual blades to master. The dual blades have some of the most versatile aerial options in the game, which are also some of the most visually stunning. While in demon mode, if the player presses the heavy attack button while sliding, and follows it up with two normal attacks, they will perform an aerial blade dance. The animation for the aerial blade dance is like something straight out of Attack On Titan, and extremely satisfying to pull off.

The same attack plays when the player jumps off of a ledge or wall in demon mode, granting high mobility and acting as an alternative to mounting attacks that are more suited for higher damage classes. This move consists of a bunch of hits so it's great to land on large monsters because it's easy to trigger a status effect from it if timed well.

Skills

Dual blades work pretty well with standard attack based skills like attack boost, critical eye, and critical boost. They also gain a lot from weakness exploit and elemental skills that take advantage of a monster's weakness. Lastly, since stamina is depleted while in demon mode, and the class is mobility-focused, marathon runner can go a long way in supplementing that play style since it slows down stamina depletion.

Armor

Player character at the smithy

During the base game, the guardian armor set can carry a player through low and high-rank quests if they upgrade it as the game progresses. It's available from the beginning of the game, in the character creation screen or from the hunter's room. The armor comes with skills for survivability, including marathon runner, and high base stats so not much change is needed.

As far as armor upgrades go, the Rathalos and Zorah Magdoros sets are good compliments to the dual blades since they offer boosts to elemental and status effects respectively. These armor sets are good for improved quality of life, but not necessary during high rank.

Weapons

Character fighting in the wildspire waste with dual blades

Unlike high damage classes, dual blades have to be crafted pretty often for best use. This is because they're at their best when exploiting the weakness of a monster, which is different for each monster. This means more grinding for materials and repetitive boss fights. Ideally, players would have a set of blades for every element, but in low and high ranks, thunder and water will suffice.

As a dual blade user it's important to pay attention to sharpness as that determines how much damage is actually done. Keeping sharpness up will mean more damage over time. Dual blades can reach maximum sharpness pretty easily and maintaining it isn't too bad compared to other classes. Skills like handicraft and protective polish help get the most out of a dual blade experience.