The Insect Glaive is a tricky weapon in Monster Hunter World, which requires a lot of knowledge. Learn in this guide how the buffs from the Kinsect extraction work and how to best use the weapon with its combinations.
The Insect Glaive is a complex weapon that has three highly different main mechanics:
Sword-like handling when attacking
This weapon is a pole with a blade at the end, which can be swung similarly to a sword. The reach is decent, so you don’t have to get too close to the monster.
Jump mechanic that provides high mobility
The special thing about the Insect Glaive is that you can catapult yourself high into the air with it. Here, you perform acrobatic attacks, which you unleash from above onto monsters. The attacks are extremely useful for jumping onto monsters and riding them, as you can attack from above with ease.
Kinsect that provides buffs to the hunter
Additionally, the weapon is accompanied by a so-called Kinsect. This is a large beetle that sits on your arm and is used in battle to deal damage and collect extracts from monsters. The extract is converted into different buffs, which can give you more power in defense or offense and restore your health.
The Kinsect is further developed in the forge, just like the weapon itself, and can be outfitted with elements or status effects. It has its own Kinsect tree with different insects that you can equip.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Insect Glaive
You can also recognize whether the Insect Glaive suits you as a weapon by looking at its advantages and disadvantages. Here they are once listed in overview:
Advantages:
- Extremely high mobility, allowing for acrobatic jumps possible in any direction
- To ride monsters, the Insect Glaive is the best weapon in the game
- Fast attacks without charges
- Strong buffs for yourself through the Kinsect
- Highly flexible, as both the weapon and the Kinsect can be individually upgraded
- Also suitable as a support weapon
Disadvantages:
- Quickly consumes a lot of stamina
- Has no blocking ability; you must dodge attacks from monsters
- Relatively low attack power (without buffs)
- It can take time to collect all buffs with the Kinsect and for the weapon to reach its full potential
Controls: How to Use the Insect Glaive and Kinsect in Combat
You can practice the control of the Insect Glaive, just like with the other weapons, in the training area of your house. Just talk to your Palico attendant. When controlling the Insect Glaive, it is important to note that you control your pole and the insect independently from each other.
Sending the Kinsect into battle
Your Kinsect has two functions in battle:
- It attacks monsters and leaves Kinsect powder, which creates a specific status effect. If the powder is hit by a weapon, it explodes and deals poison or paralysis damage to the monster. The type of damage inflicted depends on which Kinsect you have equipped.
- It collects monster extract and grants you buffs, which you can see in the status bar under your weapon sharpness. The buffs are divided into three colors and either increase your attack, defense, or speed – depending on which body part the extract came from. The buffs will be covered in more detail later.
Control of the Kinsect (PS4):
- Use Kinsect: With L2, you aim at the monster. A yellow crosshair appears.
- Extract collection: With Triangle, you send the Kinsect to collect extract from monsters. You must pay attention to the body part, as the respective body parts of monsters provide different buffs. The buffs are represented in three colors.
- Red: improved attack
- White: faster movement
- Orange: prevents knockbacks when attacking
- Green: restores health
- Recall/Buff received: To collect the buff for your hunter, recall your Kinsect with Circle.
- Fire Kinsect: If you use R2, the Kinsect attacks the targeted enemy and leaves behind powder clouds with status effects, like poison.
Basic control of the Insect Glaive for PS4 and Xbox One
In the game itself, you can look up the control of the Insect Glaive anytime in your hunting notes. Here is a list of the standard control for PS4 and Xbox One:
- Standard attack: PS4 – Triangle / Xbox – Y
- Strong attack: PS4 – Circle / Xbox – B
- Kinsect extract collection: PS4 – L2 + Triangle / Xbox – LT + Y
- Kinsect recall: PS4 – L2 + Circle / Xbox – LT + B
- Mark target: PS4 – L2 + R2 / Xbox – LT + RT
- Set marker: PS4 – R2 / Xbox – RT
- Catapult: PS4 – R2 + X / Xbox – RT + A
- Aerial attack: PS4 – Triangle (in the air) / Xbox – Y (in the air)
- Jumping upward strike: PS4 – Circle (in the air) / Xbox – B (in the air)
- Dodge in the air: PS4 – X (in the air) / Xbox – A (in the air)
Combos of the Insect Glaive – Important: Red extract changes some attacks
The different combinations can also be viewed in the hunting notes. It is important to note that some attacks of the Insect Glaive change when you collect the red extract from a monster. This causes the animation of the attacks to change, allowing you to execute more attacks in succession and thus deal higher damage.
Here are the most important combos listed in the PS4 layout. For the Xbox layout, just match the buttons above with those specified in the basic controls.
- Combo for short opening: Thrust (L + Triangle) – Slash (Triangle) – Double strike (Triangle)
- Basic combo with Red Extract active: Jumping strike (L + Circle) – Strong upward strike combo (Triangle) – Tornado strike (Circle)
- Combo in the air: Catapult (R2 + X) – Dodge in the air (X) – Jumping upward strike (Circle)
Kinsect Guide: How do the extracts and buffs actually work?
To really master the Insect Glaive, you should especially familiarize yourself with the function of the extracts.
The essences collected by the Kinsect give you buffs, which are marked in different colors:
- White – Movement is increased for 90 seconds. This allows you to perform faster attacks.
- Red – Attack is enhanced for 60 seconds and some attacks are adjusted. If you now perform an attack with Y/Triangle in the air, you spin with the Insect Glaive and deal high damage. Additionally, your chance to ride the monster increases.
- Orange – Defense is improved for 45 seconds. You also gain resistance against weaker attacks.
- Green – Some health is restored.
You can identify which buffs are currently active by looking at the rectangles below the weapon sharpness.
Combined colors yield better hybrid effects
The Insect Glaive only unleashes its full potential when you have all buffs (red, white, orange) active at the same time. Then you can slice through monsters at high speed with stronger combinations from all angles!
These are the hybrid effects:
- Red + White – 20% more attack + the standard bonuses from red and white for 60 seconds
- White + Orange – 5% more defense + earplugs (resistance against some monster roars) + standard bonuses from white and orange for 60 seconds
- Red + White + Orange – 25% more attack + 8% more defense + earplugs + standard bonuses from red, white, and orange for 60 seconds
What body parts of monsters give which buffs?
To obtain the essences and their buffs, you must send the Kinsect to various monster parts. This can vary slightly from monster to monster. However, there is a general rule to follow regarding monsters.
- White = Wings and Legs
- Red = Head
- Orange = Body
- Green = Tail
Insect Glaive in the German Video Tutorial
In the video below, you can see the Insect Glaive and its combos in action. Charles guides you through the basic techniques and gives a few useful tips for combat.
Kinsect leaves powder on the monster, which triggers an effect upon attack
If you mark a monster’s body part with “Mark Target” (L2 + R2 / LT + RT), the Kinsect will attack. At the spot where the Kinsect attacks, it leaves behind powder. If this cloud is hit with an attack, it explodes and triggers its respective effect.
It depends on the equipped Kinsect which effect it triggers. Like the Ladies’ Shield II, which causes paralysis with its powder.
It does not matter whether you cause the Kinsect powder to explode with an attack or if another hunter from the group does it. As long as the cloud is hit and is near the monster, the effect will be triggered.
The Kinsects can cause the following (abnormal) status effects, depending on the type:
- Poison
- Stun
- Paralysis
- Healing
- Explosion
In the Forge: Managing, Developing, and Changing the Element of Kinsects
At this point, it should be clear to everyone that mastering the Insect Glaive has a lot to do with Kinsect management. The Kinsect has its own area in the forge and can be developed just like any weapon in the game.
There is a complete Kinsect tree where you can further develop and customize the beetles. Just like for weapons, you need to collect resources for the different Kinsects to be able to craft them.
On the status bar to the right, you can see what properties the Kinsect has before you build or develop it.
The element of a Kinsect can be changed at any time
A particularly strong feature of the Kinsect is that you can change the element of each individual beetle at any time. This makes the weapon incredibly flexible, as the Kinsect stands independently of the pole weapon in its element.
You can always adjust the element for the monster you are currently fighting. However, to change the element, you need to have the corresponding resources. In the image below, the Pseudokath I could thus gain the Thunder element if 1 x Thunderbug, 3 x Machalite Ore, and 1,000 Zenny are paid. However, only one element can be active at the same time.
Kinsect statistics: What do they mean and which are important?
The Kinsect is equipped with various statistics that you should pay attention to when upgrading:
- Attack type: The Kinsects have either blunt or cutting attacks.
- Pollen: This status indicates what effect powder clouds trigger
- Element: The element can be changed for every Kinsect
- Power, Speed, Healing: This determines how strong the potential of the Kinsect’s buff extracts is. The maximum is level 15.
Speed is particularly important! It indicates how fast your Kinsect flies to the monster and comes back again. You want to have a Kinsect that is as fast as possible to quickly acquire the buffs.
Kinsect Tree Explained in the German Video Guide
In this video, Charles will explain the basics of the different Kinsect types and guide you through the Kinsect tree.
Practically with the Insect Glaive: Mounting, Support, Queen against flying monsters
The Insect Glaive is the queen of the skies, and those who handle it skillfully hop around monsters like on a trampoline. Particularly strong features of the Insect Glaive are:
- Mounting/Riding: Due to the jumping properties, the Insect Glaive is THE weapon to jump on monsters and ride them. While on the monsters, you can execute strong attack combinations while safely perched on the beast.
- Support: Especially with the Kinsect powders, you have the ability to support your team. If you have melee fighters in your team, you can equip a Kinsect with extra healing pollen. If you shoot this at the monster, the hunters nearby will heal themselves directly when they slice through the clouds.
- Queen of the Skies: Especially against flying opponents, the Insect Glaive is an excellent choice. You can easily jump after your opponents and fight them in the air.
If you like tricky, mobile, and flexible weapons, the Insect Glaive is a good choice. It is advisable to familiarize yourself with the Kinsects themselves and the effects of their buffs. Effectively executing the attacks in the air is purely a matter of practice.
Here you will find a quick overview of all 14 weapon classes in Monster Hunter World
