Dealing with insane chip damage on Lance?

[u/Traditional_Tune2865]

Basically the title. Really high chip damage wasn't really a thing in World until the final couple monsters if you had a decent build, but in Wilds I'm already coming up against really high chip damage, with max lvl guard, against attacks from monsters like tempered Gore and Zoh Shia. I've been trying to hit more perfect guards and play some evade lance, but I don't play lance so I can dodge attacks or the need to have perfect timing against half the attacks from these monsters. My understanding of Guard Up is that the reduction in damage is only for unblockable attacks so I don't think that would help any either.

Does lance now just require perfect timing in order to keep you from sheathing every couple attacks to heal or am I missing something?

[u/elodieandink]

I’m noticing you haven’t mentioned Guard Counter. Against single hit attacks, it’s pretty much the goto and better than Perfect Guard. If you release at the right time, you get double damage, but if you’re too slow you still block the hit and attack back.

Also, if you don’t want to worry about timing, you’ve also got Power Guard that’s literally a 360-degree “block everything” move.

[u/Traditional_Tune2865 → u/elodieandink]

Counter thrusting has similar problems to perfect guarding. It's a great tool in Lance's kit and feels awesome, but it's another one of those moves that kinda completely negates the big ass shield lance has. Counter thrust feels like basically just a re-skinned spirit slash. I've also yet to figure out the timing on some of the longer combo attacks that are still going by the time your iframes end, but I'm still trying to work on it.

And power guard will absolutely destroy your health. By the end of Worldborne I was avoiding it when possible, and in Wilds I only use it if I'm caught out of position or to counter roars into grand retribution.