Gunlance

This sections covers about the Gunlance

Introduction
Well for starters, the Gunlance or GL is similar to the Lance but has several differences. The Gunlance is a combination of a Lance and a sort of Gun that fires of shells at point-blank range (very near). The Gunlance is a bit difficult to use than the Lance. All in all, the Gunlance is a weapons similar to the Lance but sacrifices some of its attack power and sharpness for longer combos and the shelling ability. In short, the Gunlance is a powerful but a tad weaker, in means of attack power, than the Lance.

The Unique Abilities and Differences with the Lance
Here are some major differences with the Lance and Gunlance.
 * The GunLance has a shelling function, as previously mentioned.


 * A GunLance user cannot stab directly forward while guarding.


 * A GunLance user can perform a short running stab that is also a semi-uppercut which can hit targets slightly higher off the ground.


 * A GunLance user cannot side/backstep multiple times in rapid succession like a Lance user can.


 * A GunLance user can perform a direct uppercut by pressing "O" and Triangle at the same time, which brings the weapon in a perfectly upright position.


 * You cannot perform the Lance's "stampede" attack with a GunLance.


 * A GunLance can lose sharpness via excessive shelling, as well as normal attack.


 * On top of Shelling, the GunLance has an extra-powerful move called "Wyvern's Fire", which creates an even greater explosion after a short charge-up time.
 * The Gunlance has piercing damage(meaning it has a bonus damage in every piercing attack you do), and most of the monsters in the game are very weak to this kind of damage. It could be said that the damage goes almost directly through a monster, this meaning that while most weapons will have a damage reduction due to the monsters defense, a Gunlance user (as well as a Lance user) will have most of its base damage going unaffected.
 * The Gunlance provides the hunter with Shielding capability, as good as a Lance user due to the size of the shields, Lance and the Gunlance has the strongest Shielding capability, and can block some attacks that to other shielding weapons would otherwise be unblockable.
 * The Gunlance has the quick draw feat, allowing the hunter to quick draw the weapon to shielding position just by pressing "R" button and then triangle while standing still, which can be very useful.
 * The Gunlance has the shelling ability. As the name implies, the lance has a gun embedded in it, which will activate by just pressing circle. The best way to think about it is a really long shotgun with a bayonet. The shots are quite short ranged, but works well when linking it with the stabs of the lance. You can see the amount of shells you have remaining on the upper left side of the screen and you can reload by pressing circle while defending with the R button.
 * Each Gunlance has a different kind of shells to shot, usually they go from level 1 to level 3 shelling(though some go as high as lv5), and they come in 3 different kinds as well: normal, spreading and long. As the name implies, each kind acts in this way.
 * The shelling feat has a downside; it burns through the weapon's sharpness, so using it will quickly dull the weapon. Whetsones are strongly recommended when using this weapon.
 * Gunlances come with an incredible explosion damage attack, Wyvern's Flame . This attack can be done by pressing the circle and triangle buttons while defending with the R button. The delay is usually 3 seconds, and you have to be close for the attack to land. The downside is that after using it you'll have to wait for your weapon to cool down before being able to use it again. Wyvern fire is four times the length and four times the damage of it's shell shot. It is one long blast that is divided into four sections, so if you hit a wyvern very close up you would do the full four times the damage, but if you hit it at half the length, you only do twice the damage of shell shot and so-on. It's cool-down period is 110 seconds.
 * The Gunlances, just like the lances, can chain attacks. An example would be an attack from 3 single forward stabs to a shelling shot and repeat, or mix up with an uppercut (circle plus triangle) to diagonal attacks. See the video below for a great tutorial on how to do these combos.