Which Weapon type has the most DPS?

Solution 1:

In the general sense, every weapon will give the same DPS at the same rough level of skill. If you are just as skilled with the Dual Swords as the Gunlance, your DPS is going to be roughly even. How much DPS you do depends on quite a few factors, and if all of these are equal, so will the DPS.

You can see the damage formula here. It's not just raw DPS you need to pay attention to, nor elemental. You need to ensure you are hitting the right area of the monster, using an element the monster is weak to, and you have to make sure you dodge, too. Monsters aren't just going to sit still and take it, either, so you can't just assume you can go all out and have perfect DPS.

In the end, DPS is somewhat of a meaningless stat, as it all evens out.

Solution 2:

I found a forum thread where it appears a user has done some tests to address this question, though with melee weapons only:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/642342-monster-hunter-3-ultimate/68529875

According to the tests the dps of melee weapons from highest to lowest is: 1) Dual swords 2) Switch axe 3) Long sword 4) Great sword 5) Hammer 6) Gunlance 7) Sword and shield 8) Lance 9) Hunting horn

The results come with the following disclaimer:

However this chart is not meant for determining weapon tiers because it only calculates damage without taking into account other weapon attributes like mobility, blocking and special abilities like using items without sheathing, countering, shelling and playing songs. These abilities allow the weapons with low DPS (GL, SnS, Lance, HH) to compensate for their lack of damage output by creating openings the other weapons don`t have access to.

Because of this the list above describes theoretical DPS. Effective DPS as you stated is trickier to figure out as it is influenced by many factors like individual player skill and the attack patterns of the monster. Whether you are solo or in a group can also influence things (paralysis can be more valuable with more people to capitalize on it). Ultimately, I think the weapons are pretty balanced and player skill and preference is a much more important factor in determining how good a weapon is.

Solution 3:

That chart (this one posted by Monkeez) doesn't take into account GL full shell discharge after the slam (that unloads from 2 to 5 shalls at once for 2-5x damage) and also the fact that WF and shells ignore the defense, so on high rank monsters the damage is higher then normal attacks.

Look at the damage that GL does on high def monster (like Abyssal Lagiacrus) compared to the same SA: http://imgur.com/a/p3l1s#1 (And I added Weakness Exploit, giving a little bit of advantage to raw attacks) Look at the average damage and at the difference between the damage on parts that are not weak spots. And Gunlance has the best shield in the game.

Of course, if you fight a Baggi the SA does more damage, since it has very low defense and GL shell attacks do almost the same damage.

Also in 3U the highest damage output (if you check speed runs videos) comes from Lance charge attack with Mega Juice. Each hit has 1/2 damage, but they're very fast and elemental/status is still the same, not halved. I've seen G-Rank monsters destroyed in like 50 seconds using 4 Lances and 1 trap to keep it still. Of course, that's theoretical damage, since the monster has to stay still and you also need mega juice for stamina.

Also putting Dual Swords #1 in dps is kinda lame (or theoretical, again) since Archdemon mode lasts few seconds and in other modes you need complicated and long combos to keep up. With Switchaxe you just need to press X, doesn't even matter Sword mode or Axe mode if you have power phial.

Same for the longsword that has to reach soulblade 3 to be competitive and it's still inferior to th switchaxe, so basically has less dps then the Greatsword.

Real damage chart on a long fight (so things like archdemon mode last only few seconds and you may even end up wasting them) is more like:

1) Lance (on immobile targets and with mega juice, so theoretical, but possible with status/traps) 2) Switchaxe 3) Greatsword, Hammer, Gunlance 4) Dual Swords 5) Longsword, SnS, HH, Lance (used normally)

(Yeah, Lance is first and last)

Also yeah, as that thread suggests there are more factors to consider, like support from HH, shield from lance/gunlance, fast item use from SnS, etc.

Overall the only useless weapon is the LS, that can be replaced by the SA entirely, or partially by GS or DB. Needs Spirit level 3, or it's worse then Hunting Horn. 75 dps with normal combo and decent dps only with spirit blade combo (that can only be used with filled bar). Better to use SnS then LS.