In Monster Hunter World, there's a lot of different ways to lock down a monster. There's Wallbangs, Environmental Traps like vines and boulders, Status Effects like stun or paralysis that leave the monster open to attack. A lot of the monsters also have Trips or Head Topples that make them fall over for a few seconds. So in this section, we're gonna go over the best Combos you can do to maximize your Damage during these openings.

Lance's strength comes from its ability to maintain aggressive pressure while staying safe. During monster attacks, you'll be guarding and counter-attacking (covered in the Guard Mechanics section). When the monster is vulnerable - whether from trips, topples, status effects, or environmental traps - you'll want to maximize your damage output with the optimal combo for that situation.

Your primary damage loop as a Lance user revolves around these three core combos. Each serves a different purpose and situation, but all maintain the Lance's signature rhythm of precise, controlled strikes.

This Combo consists of Three Pokes followed by an Instant Canceled Dash Attack. This will give us one Dash Tick followed by the Finisher Hit. I would go as far as to say that this is the best Combo in the game. It's decently fast, does good Damage, low Sharpness consumption and only very slightly relies on good positioning. The reason why it's slightly positioning reliant is because although The Dash attack is very short, it still moves you forward a bit. So ideally you want to be Stuck Against the monster's head.

The Triple Poke Dash is your go-to combo for most situations. It delivers strong, consistent damage without excessive sharpness consumption. The dash is short enough to keep you on target while providing a fluid combo loop. This combo shines during medium-length openings like topples, paralyzes, and KOs.

To execute this perfectly, position yourself so that the short dash keeps you in contact with the monster's weakpoint, usually the head. After the three pokes, perform an instantly-canceled Dash Attack to deliver one dash tick and a finisher hit before returning to pokes.

The Triple Poke Twin Finisher is your ultimate damage combo when you have a perfect opening. After your three standard pokes, perform a Charged Dash Attack, counting approximately 6 dash ticks (or waiting for the subtle visual charge-up) before executing the finisher. This delivers the powerful Twin Finisher attack instead of the standard finisher.

This combo is best used during lengthy openings like wallbangs, knockdowns from mounts, or when a monster is trapped. Due to its long duration and positioning requirements, it's situational - but when executed correctly, nothing beats its raw damage output.

The Triple Poke Hop is your reliable fallback combo. While it has the lowest damage potential, it requires minimal positioning and works in virtually all situations. After three pokes, a quick hop resets your combo sequence, allowing you to immediately continue attacking.

This combo excels during short openings, against highly mobile monsters, or when you're still learning the weapon. It's also valuable when a monster is about to recover or move, as the hop provides mobility to reposition for defense. As you gain experience, you'll naturally transition to the higher-damage combos, but this remains a solid option when conditions aren't ideal.

Here's a quirky bit of Lance trivia for the mathematically minded hunters out there! There's a theoretical variation of the Twin Finisher Combo that's mathematically stronger (but practically useless).

By buffer-inputting a jump at the very start of your Dash, you can perform an aerial dash tick followed by ground ticks. Since aerial ticks have a higher motion value (MV 25) than normal dash ticks (MV 11), the math works out to:

Standard dash: 6 ground ticks = 11 × 6 = 66 motion value
Jump combo: 1 ground + 1 aerial + 3 ground = 11 + 25 + (3 × 11) = 69 motion value

With the Airborne skill, the aerial tick gets another 30% boost! But in reality, this combo is extraordinarily impractical and likely impossible to execute consistently in actual hunts. It's just an amusing example of how deep Lance's mechanics go beneath the surface.