Fun fact: despite the hate for longsword, if you're doing it right(which isn't hard) you're doing at least 2x the damage of the next highest person, assuming similar-level weapons. Also, anyone that says you should keep away from the head while using a hammer should be punched.
To be more specific, using the longsword right is basically get red spirit bar -> spam spirit combo on highest damage hitzone. Always. Anyone complaining just doesn't know the numbers.
That's aimed at YOU, Knirisk.
Whee, GameFAQs knowledge. The community over there is the home of the best players outside of Japan.
I'm pretty sure I never said that you should keep away from the head while using a hammer. The idea is to not put yourself in the hammerer's way when he's aiming for the head. Er... Looking back, I probably could've stated it better.
I don't get why you'd really use a longsword very much in multiplayer anyway, unless you don't use the spirit combo at all. The spirit combo staggers pretty much everything that isn't a GS-user already swinging. Moreover, the longsword can't guard in any fashion. I understand that the hammer can't, either, but the hammer helps the team in other ways. A superpound is way easier to hit than a spirit combo and causes KO/Exhaustion. 2x damage is good, yeah, but how about 4x damage from the whole team? And again, most monsters aren't big enough (With examples of Rathian, Rathalos, Uragaan, Lagiacrus, etc.) to use the spirit combo constantly on the highest damage hitzone without staggering teammates.
It may be the highest-damage weapon, but only in skilled hands, not the hands of the general community. Otherwise, its cons just outweigh the pros. Although, that might just me remembering my HR35 days when High Rank Rathian killed so so many of my teammates. So bitter. The longsword hunters never stood a chance to Rathian's backflip.