Lance — Aether Pike Perfect Guard Black Eclipse

Overview

Lance Attack Focus for patch 1.041, built on Aether Pike (Gogma Artian) with Gore Magala's Tyranny (Black Eclipse II) + Lord's Soul (Guts/Tenacity) rolled in. A generalist endgame AT build with an active Perfect Guard → Offensive Guard → critical-poke loop.

What sets it apart: Offensive Guard has real uptime on Lance because Perfect Guard is a moveset primitive, not a defensive reaction. Sub-saturated affinity; a raw-heavy reinforcement preserves value in peak windows where affinity overflows the cap.

Core rotation

The loop is PG-driven, not reactive:

• Perfect Guard (exact R2 timing). Costs no stamina, nullifies knockback, fires Offensive Guard 3 (+15% attack for ~20s).
• Counter Thrust (R2 + Triangle). The main damage dump after a PG.
• Charged Thrust. Committal, in long openings after a stagger.
• Mid Thrust loop (X, X, X). Sustain between PGs on weak spots to build wounds that feed WEX 5.
• Power Guard (R2 + Circle). Replaces PG on very fast attacks where timing is uncertain — a stamina-cost trade-off.
• Binding Counter (Triangle after Power Clash). The cash-out for Power Clash triggers against specific monsters (AT Arkveld charges, Zoh Shia breath cones).

Focus Mode is mandatory for aiming at wounds on monsters with multiple breakable parts (AT Arkveld wings/tail, AT Gogmazios chin/wings).

Structural thesis — weapon-as-piece

Aether Pike Gogma Artian counts as a piece toward set/group-bonus thresholds. On the paper doll the armor has 2pc Gore β (mail + coil) + 1pc Sororal α (arms — the Nerscylla lineage also counts toward Gore Tyranny) + 2pc Arkveld γ (helm + greaves). Without weapon-as-piece, 4pc Gore Tyranny would sit at only 3 pieces.

With weapon-as-piece:

• Gore Tyranny 4pc (Gore mail + Gore coil + Sororal arms + weapon) → Black Eclipse II (Frenzy + raw +10 + aff +15% post-cure for ~30s).
• Arkveld's Hunger 2pc (Arkveld helm + greaves) → independent Hasten Recovery I.
• Lord's Soul 3pc (Arkveld helm +1 + Arkveld greaves +1 + weapon roll +1) → Guts + passive +5% attack.

The roll pool is universal — any Gogma Artian rolls any set or group skill except Festival Spirit, Prayers and Master of the Fist. RNG is seeded by the base element. Lance Attack Focus is pure raw, so the element sleeps — the element choice follows farm preference (a non-elemental Skyscraper is the most common base for the upgrade).

Active set/group bonuses

• Black Eclipse II (Gore Tyranny 4pc via weapon-as-piece). At the start of combat the hunter is auto-infected with Frenzy. Antivirus 2 speeds the cure — on the cure, raw +10 + aff +15% for ~30s. The post-cure window is the build's super-peak window.
• Hasten Recovery I (Arkveld's Hunger 2pc). ~2-3 HP per hit sustained on Lance. Not a bulk heal, a leak-stopper — it reduces Potion pressure on long hunts. Synergizes with the Corrupted Mantle HP drain.
• Lord's Soul 3pc. Guts + passive +5% attack. Guts is a safety net for PG mistimes on one-shot attacks (AT Arkveld charges, AT Gogmazios ultimate). Lance with Guts allows a full-commit Counter Thrust with no backdash reserve — freeing ~+2-3% sustained DPS via reduced backing off.

Reinforcement — raw-heavy shape

1× Sharpness EX  (+50 sharpness gauge)
2× Attack EX     (+12 raw each, +24 total)
1× Attack III    (+9 raw)
1× Attack II     (+6 raw)

Total raw contribution: +39 over base. Respects maxPerBonusType: 2 (max 2× EX per kind; III and II are different tiers, counted separately).

Why raw-heavy. Peak aff calculation: -15 base + 30 WEX + 30 MM + 10 Agitator + 10 Antivirus + 15 Black Eclipse II = +80%, with 20pp of headroom to the cap. The set is sub-saturated — Aff EX wouldn't be wasted if it rolled, but raw-heavy preserves value at super-peak (Mantle + Frenzy cure simultaneously overflow the cap at ~115% theoretical, capped at 100% with 15pp of overflow). Editorial call: raw-heavy canonical, Aff-balanced acceptable (a ~1% DPS gap, within variance).

Canonical principle: the reinforcement pattern is a function of the set. Calculate peak aff before choosing between raw-heavy and aff-balanced.

RNG fallback (preference order):

1. Atk EX → Atk III (~4% DPS drop).
2. Sharp EX → Sharp III (~3% DPS drop, depends on sharpness management).
3. A mixed shape (1× Atk EX + 2× Atk III + 1× Sharp EX + 1× Aff EX) is still acceptable in a sub-saturated set — Aff EX preserves off-peak value.

The build doesn't break with a full fallback.

Native skills and the super-peak window

Black Eclipse II — in early combat (first ~30s) the hunter is auto-infected; Antivirus 2 (2× sane-jewel-1) speeds the cure via continuous damage. Post-cure: raw +10 + aff +15% for ~30s.

Maximum Might 3 exact cap (3× mighty-jewel-2 in the arms/head/waist [2] slots) — +30% aff at full stamina. A well-piloted Lance keeps stamina full for most of the hunt (PG doesn't consume it).

Agitator 5 exact cap (Challenger Charm III +3 + 2× challenger-jewel-3 in the legs/chest [3] slots) — +28 raw + 15% aff in rage. A Lance in AT hunts keeps the monster enraged at high uptime (60-80%), making Agitator 5 as consistent as MM 3 at peak.

Super-peak window (Corrupted Mantle 90s + freshly-cured Frenzy + rage + wound + full stamina): theoretical aff pushes to +115%, capped at 100%. Raw stack ~238. A transient ~30-60s window per hunt. In that interval: Counter Thrust spam on wounds + committal Charged Thrust in openings, with Guts as a safety net for aggressive commits.

Mantle and jewel allocation

Corrupted Mantle (90s / 600s cd / +5%→+30% aff stacked / +~4.5% raw post-buff / gradual HP drain) is the ideal mantle. The HP drain is offset by Arkveld's Hunger 2pc (Hasten Recovery) — a non-trivial synergy. The mantle doesn't occupy a composition slot.

Alternative: Evasion Mantle on hunts where PG timing is uncertain (a new matchup). It gives no DPS but shortens the learning curve — useful for studying a monster, not for optimal runs.

Charm — Challenger III default

Challenger Charm III (Agitator +3) pairs with the armor's 2× challenger jewel [3] to close the Agitator 5 cap. Mighty Charm III was discarded for overcap (stacking with 3× mighty jewel [2] would push MM to 6/3) — the fix: the charm goes to Challenger, and 3× mighty jewel close MM 3/3 exact cap on their own.

WEX 3 native to the Arkvulcan Helm γ + 2× tenderizer-jewel-3 close the WEX 5 cap, so an Exploiter Charm would be redundant.

Optional upgrade via an Appraised Charm (Golden Age, an HR100+ RNG drop or the Melding Pot):

• Rarity 8 — MM 2-3 + a weapon-skill Master's Touch 1 + a [3] or [2] slot. Frees 1 weapon slot for Tenderizer III (natural WEX 5 with no extra decos) or a Mastery Jewel.
• Rarity 7 — WEX 1-2 + Agitator 1-2 + a [1-2] slot. Trade MM3 for MT1 + an extra slot — valid for anyone prioritizing sharpness preservation.

Don't farm the RNG before closing the rest.

Aggregated skills (target)

• Weapon decos. Critical Boost 3 (critical-jewel-iii-3), Offensive Guard 3 (guardian-ironwall-jwl-3), Guard Up 3 (shield-ironwall-jwl-3), Guard 2 (combo jewels).
• Exact armor caps. WEX 5 (Arkvulcan helm γ 3 + 2× Tenderizer III), MM 3 (3× Mighty Jewel [2]), Agitator 5 (Challenger Charm III + 2× Challenger Jewel [3]).
• Deliberate sub-cap. Antivirus 2 (target 3), Crit Boost 3 (target 5), Master's Touch 0 (upgrade via Appraised).
• Extra natives. Constitution 2 (Gore coil β), Flayer 2 (Arkveld greaves γ), Evade Window 2 (Gore mail β), Evade Extender 1 + Burst 1 + Partbreaker 1 (Sororal arms α).

Expansion to full cap via an Appraised Charm or future set variants (a 4pc Arkveld trade — Gore coil → Arkveld coil — would lose Antivirus 2 but gain Hasten Recovery II + an extra [1] slot, a situational trade-off).

Matchups

• AT Arkveld (a patch 1.041 feature). Dream matchup. Clear hitzones for WEX 5, the aggro sequence (tail slams + aerial recoveries) triggers PG + Offensive Guard consistently, the Gore Frenzy never fails, and Hasten Recovery offsets the Mantle HP drain.
• AT Gogmazios. Viable but sub-optimal as a generalist — a pure raw build doesn't exploit the elemental weakness. The elemental Gogmapocalypse variant (archived) is higher DPS in phase 3.
• AT Jin Dahaad. Ok. Natural frostblight would trigger Jin Dahaad's Revolt if the armor were Dahaad-based; here the build performs at baseline.
• AT Nu Udra. Ok. A neutral build — Hasten Recovery offsets fireblight chip damage.

Team synergies

• HH with Attack Up (L) or Affinity Up. Amplifies the peak window multiplicatively.
• A GS tank-damage redirecting aggro. Frees the Lance for positioning on weak spots (Lance is short-range, meeting-spot constrained).
• Avoid 2× Lance. Competition for PG windows and wound management.

Ideal party: 1× Lance + 1× HH buffer + 1× mobile DPS (DB/LS) + 1× flexible (Hammer/SnS for wound crits and stagger).

Farm path

• Aether Pike. Skyscraper R8 Artian Lance base (Tempered Artian HR80+) → upgrade via blacksmith (~30,000z + 3 Tarred Devices) → pick Attack Focus → re-roll Gore Tyranny + Lord's Soul.
• Arkvulcan Helm γ + Greaves γ. AT Arkveld (permanent event quest, TU5/patch 1.041).
• Gore Mail β + Coil β. Tempered Gore Magala HR50+.
• Sororal Vambraces α. Nerscylla α HR30+.
• Challenger Charm III standard crafting post-HR100.
• Reinforcements. 1× Sharp EX + 2× Atk EX + 1× Atk III + 1× Atk II via Gogma re-roll (Mutated Armament drops, RNG seeded by element).
• Decorations. 1× critical-jewel-iii-3, 1× guardian-ironwall-jwl-3, 1× shield-ironwall-jwl-3, 3× mighty-jewel-2, 2× challenger-jewel-3, 2× tenderizer-jewel-3, 2× sane-jewel-1.

Target profile

A generalist endgame AT pick for patch 1.041 — AT Arkveld the dream, AT Gogmazios viable (the elemental variant is higher in phase 3, archived), AT Jin Dahaad and AT Nu Udra ok. Lance is defensive-aggressive by nature — this build maximizes the aggressive while preserving the defensive foundation (Guard Up 3 + Offensive Guard 3 + Guard 2 + the PG loop). Which is why it's meta and not tank.