Soar into the fray with Monster Hunter Wilds’ Insect Glaive, a weapon that blends aerial agility with strategic Kinsect mastery. This guide unpacks the latest changes, essential combos, and how to harness your Kinsect’s buffs and debuffs to dominate the hunt across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Whether you’re vaulting into midair assaults or orchestrating powerful extract-driven strikes, discover how to maximize this high-mobility weapon’s potential and stay one step ahead of the fiercest monsters.
While it’s possible to perform jumping attacks by leaping off a ledge or your Seikret, the insect glaive is the only weapon type that allows you to vault into the air at any time – perfect for making the most of mounts. But it’s only one aspect of its appeal, as you can also pair it with kinsects to gain extra buffs in combat.
It’s not a weapon for beginners, but as well as the insect glaive changes for returning players, for those making their debut with the weapon, we provide an explainer of how kinsects work, and which insect glaive combos to take advantage of.
Insect glaive and kinsects guide
The Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Wilds is a highly mobile weapon that allows players to vault into the air for aerial attacks, making it unique among the game’s arsenal. Central to its gameplay is the Kinsect, a companion insect that can be sent out to harvest extracts from monsters, providing various buffs to the hunter or applying debuffs to the enemy. Different body parts of monsters yield different colored extracts-red, white, orange, and green-that enhance the hunter’s abilities. Mastering the use of Kinsects and combining their buffs with fluid combos, both on the ground and midair, is key to maximizing damage output and maintaining high uptime on monsters. The weapon’s aerial playstyle also offers defensive advantages by helping hunters evade attacks and mount monsters effectively. This guide covers essential Kinsect mechanics, the best combos, and changes in Monster Hunter Wilds to help both new and veteran players excel with the Insect Glaive.
The insect glaive is a Monster Hunter Wildsweapon with serious air superiority. It allows you to vault in the air with R2 X (on PlayStation) or RT A (on Xbox), and you bounce in the the air up to three more times when you successfully connect an advancing slash attack, which can also result in you mounting the monster if you’re lucky.
Kinsects are special insects that work with the insect glaive to provide buffs by harvesting monster extracts. They can also attack monsters with severing or blunt damage, depending on the type of kinsect you’ve equipped.
There are three ways to harvest extracts:
- Up close, hold R2/RT and then Triangle/Y, which can also be held so that the kinsect pierces the target to harvest multiple extracts.
- Alternatively, hold R2/RT while aiming and then R1/RB to fire the kinsect from a distance at the monster. (This requires more accuracy on your part.)
- The third is by using focus mode, where your kinsect will attack alongside your focus attacks. When firing the kinsect from afar, you can receive the extract buff by pressing R2 circle/RT Y to recall your kinsect.
When holding the right trigger, you’ll also see a tiny colored crosshair indicating what extract you will get from that part of the monster. There are four different colors – red, white, orange, and green – which provide different extract effects, more so when you have multiple extracts.
Monster Hunter Wilds insect glaive changes
The Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Wilds has undergone significant changes that reshape its aerial combat style and kinsect integration. Notably, the iconic “Vaulting Dance” move has been removed, reducing some of its previous airborne mobility. However, this is balanced by new powerful attacks like the Rising Spiral Slash, which consumes all three gathered essences for a high-damage finisher and allows partial essence recovery. Essence extraction has been improved with a clearer targeting system and the ability to charge the kinsect for piercing attacks that collect multiple essences faster. The red essence no longer boosts attack directly but now enables charging the Descending Slash, which can be upgraded when combined with other essences. Overall, the weapon maintains its hallmark aerial capabilities and kinsect synergy while offering deeper strategic options in essence management and combo execution.
With a variety of new mechanics introduced in Monster Hunter Wilds, this also means changes for the insect glaive, mostly for the better. For one, there’s a greater incentive to use kinsects to collect all three buffing colored monster extracts, which will give you an enhanced status as well as new moves.
In an enhanced state, when you use advancing slash while vaulting, you’ll spin the glaive like a propeller, keeping you in the air for a bit longer. These blows can also count as additional hits.
On the ground, the enhanced state will let you use a new powerful attack called Rising Spiral Slash. It will result in you losing the enhanced status right away, but it’s a devastating combo that can also gain new monster extracts depending on where you hit, so you can regain that status quite quickly while also having the chance to mount the monster.
Like the other weapons, the insect glaive also has a focus strike for damaging exposed monster wounds – but if you’re really skilled, you can also perform this move while airborne. Better yet, if you successfully damage the monster’s wound, your kinsect will follow this attack up by piercing through the monster and collecting all three colored extracts, instantly powering you up.
In Monster Hunter Wilds, while your kinsect doesn’t level up, you are able to nurture them to become new kinsects. Their power will otherwise be based on the rarity and elemental affinities of your insect glaive.
All kinsect buffs and bonuses
Kinsects in Monster Hunter Wilds provide crucial buffs and bonuses that enhance the insect glaive’s combat effectiveness. They gather colored extracts from monsters-red boosts attack power, white increases movement speed and jump height, orange prevents knockback, and green grants instant healing. Combining these extracts yields additional benefits, such as increased defense and resistance to wind pressure, tremors, and roars. Collecting all three primary extracts unlocks powerful moves like the Rising Spiral Slash. Kinsects also produce colored dust clouds that can inflict status effects like poison or paralysis. Each kinsect has unique stats affecting speed, stamina, and powder effectiveness, and their bonuses can improve extract gathering, stamina recovery, and elemental damage, making them indispensable for maximizing the insect glaive’s aerial and mounting combat capabilities.
Kinsects are able to harvest monster extracts in four colors. Certain combinations will also grant additional buffs. Here are the buffs you’ll get from each color and color combo:
- Red: Allows you to charge attacks when holding circle/B
- White: Increases movement speed and jump height
- Orange: Negates knockback when weapon is drawn
- Green: Recovers health (as such, this is something you gain immediately rather than as a buff that sticks around)
- Red and white: Increases your attack
- White and orange: Increases your defense
- Red, white, and orange: Further increases and enhances your attacks, reduces wind pressure, tremors and roars.
When attacking and harvesting monsters, kinsects also leave behind colored clouds of dust called kinsect powder that can be attacked to trigger different effects. These effects depend on the type of kinsect you have equipped and come in the following colors of clouds:
- Green: Slightly recovers your health
- Purple: Builds up poison
- Yellow: Builds up paralysis
- Orange: builds up blast
Kinsects also have their own stats, which will vary depending on the kinsect. Powder effect indicates the effectiveness of the kinsect powder they leave behind, power indicates their attack power, speed indicates how fast they can harvest extracts for you, and stamina indicates how long they can remain flying and attacking for before you need to recall them. Furthermore, each kinsect will also provide additional bonuses, such as a boost in extracts, or a faster charge.
How to upgrade and unlock new kinsects
To upgrade and unlock new Kinsects in Monster Hunter Wilds, you first need to purchase one of the two basic Kinsects-Mauldrone or Culldrone-from Gemma the Smithy after defeating The Black Flame (Nu Udra) in Chapter 2. You can then raise these Kinsects by spending monster materials, which evolves them into one of three different types, each with unique stats and abilities. Further upgrades become available once you reach High Rank and defeat Yian Kut-Ku, allowing you to evolve your Kinsects into their final forms with enhanced powers. You can also buy additional basic Kinsects to explore different upgrade paths and tailor your Kinsect’s nurture effects to fit your playstyle.
Kinsects can be bought from Gemma the Smithy. When speaking to her, go to Manage Kinsects menu, which gives you options for raising kinsects and buying kinsects.
You only have two kinsects to choose from – the Mauldrone or Culldrone – and both cost 100z each. They can then be nurtured into new kinsects by selecting the Raising Kinsects menu, which works similar to weapon trees with different branches requiring different materials. There are currently a total of 12 kinsects you can fully upgrade to; you can obtain each one by buying more of the basic kinsects and then raising them along a different nurturing path.
If you want to get the most out of buffs from monster extracts, the Pseudocath is the best kinsect for this, as it has increased speed and a fast charge. It also leaves behind blast powder, which also has an attack boost bonus.
Nurturing a Pseudocath requires buying a Culldrone and then upgrading it to a Windchopper with three Dragonite Ore, two Monster Fluid, and two Wingdrake Hide, as well as paying 500z. You can then nurture a Pseudocath once you have three Carbalite Ore, two Monster Broth and two Kut-ku Wing, plus 3,000z. Note that you can only obtain these materials after completing the story and unlocking high rank quests.
Monster Hunter Wilds insect glaive combos
The Insect Glaive in Monster Hunter Wilds offers a dynamic and highly mobile combat style centered around aerial attacks and the use of Kinsects. Key combos include the Basic Combo, which chains Rising Slash, Reaping Slash, and Double Slash, all of which can be enhanced with Kinsect buffs. The Dust Effect Combo allows quick detonation of Kinsect powder to deal extra damage. The Midair Combo lets hunters traverse large distances while airborne, ideal for mounting monsters. The most powerful combo involves collecting three extracts with the Kinsect, charging attacks, and finishing with the Rising Spiral Slash, which consumes all extracts and leaves the hunter airborne for continued assault. Mastery of these combos, combined with precise Kinsect management and vaulting, enables sustained high damage and effective monster control.
The best way to make use of the insect glaive is to stay in the air by vaulting.
When in the air, you can perform a midair evade with X/A, a jumping slash with circle/B or an advancing slash with Triangle/Y. If the advancing slash connects, you will bounce in the air again and can follow up with another attack, which also incrementally increases in power. To help with maneuvering, you can also perform a midair evade before executing the advancing slash.
Another vaulting combo consists of vaulting backwards by pressing R2 and X/RT and A while holding the left stick down, which also makes you invulnerable to attacks. If you hold R2/RT while performing this move, you’ll also mark your target for your kinsect to attack. You can then leap back in with an advancing slash, which will also detonate the kinsect powder left behind by your kinsect.
If you’re looking for a powerful combo to perform on the ground, then make sure you have all three buff extracts. Perform a leaping slash by pressing forward/up and circle/B, then hold circle/B to perform a tornado slash, then release to perform a strong descending slash, and as you land on the ground press L2 and circle/LT and B to perform the rising spiral slash, which takes you to the air again but also consumes all three extracts. From here, you can still continue the combo by vaulting in the air with advancing slash.
How do the new changes enhance the aerial combat of the Insect Glaive in MHW
The new changes in Monster Hunter Wilds enhance the Insect Glaive’s aerial combat by allowing hunters to perform up to four consecutive jumping advancing slashes before needing to land, with each successful vault and combo increasing an aerial charge level that boosts the damage of subsequent aerial attacks. This mechanic rewards chaining midair attacks, culminating in significantly higher damage on finishing moves like the descending thrust charge, which scales up with the aerial charge level from 48 to 70 damage per hit as levels increase. Additionally, the vault maneuver now includes a midair evade and attack option, improving both offensive and defensive aerial capabilities, and the ability to vault up to three times (similar to Monster Hunter Rise) restores the weapon’s signature aerial mobility and power boosts. These updates make the Insect Glaive more dynamic in the air, emphasizing fluid combos and strategic use of vaulting for positioning and damage output.
How does performing multiple jumping slashes increase aerial damage in MHW
Performing multiple jumping slashes in Monster Hunter Wilds increases aerial damage by resetting your aerial evade and attack limit with each successful last hit of a Jumping Advancing Slash, allowing you to chain up to three resets midair. Each reset boosts the power of your aerial moves, effectively stacking damage as you continue your aerial combo without touching the ground. This mechanic encourages chaining consecutive jumping slashes, which lift you higher and increase the damage output of subsequent aerial attacks, culminating in stronger finishing moves like the Descending Thrust and Rising Spiral Slash. The aerial charge level gained from these resets significantly enhances the damage dealt during your airborne assaults.
