I've waited literal months for these Monster Hunter Wilds changes, and I don't say this lightly, but I think we might actually be back

Monster Hunter Wilds patch 1.021.00.00 is now live on all platforms, introducing 9-star monsters and randomized charms that throw more fuel on the fire of the grind. It's a pretty beefy endgame update, but I'm personally more interested in the raft of weapon balance changes that accompanied the new monsters.

For a few months now, I've been on a bit of a monster hunting sabbatical, opting to save up content to then burn through once Capcom gives us better versions of several weapons. We already got a great hammer rework, and now my two other mains, lance and great sword, have gotten significant changes in the new patch.

Lance is the big winner in my book. It was noticeably weaker than almost all other weapons pre-patch, and while I'd never expect it to be tier zero given its defensive nature, early testing of across-the-board buffs suggests the gap in power has closed significantly. The counterattack-type moves – retribution thrust, payback thrust, and so on – have gotten the biggest buffs according to garrettrenton's breakdown, and elemental damage seems to have benefited from other value changes.

These changes ought to address two of my biggest complaints with the lance: its central guard and counter mechanic was comically weak, and raw damage lances bulldozed all of the more interesting elemental ones.

Capcom's also made changes to animation speed and hitbox size for several lance attacks, ensuring more consistent hits across the board and letting us weave in moves like the wide sweep attack more fluidly. It instantly feels better in your hands, and hunt times reflect the damage bump. I would juice heavy guard and its retribution thrust a little more, but the weapon's in a much better spot than the last time I played.

That probably would've been enough for me, but Capcom's also gone and beefed up the great sword, which already felt pretty top-tier. Damage values were only slightly increased, which is understandable, but changes to some combo routes – like tackling out of moves like strong wide slash or into true charged slash, or side blow cancelling a leaping wide slash – are a welcome quality-of-life boost.

Insect glaive, light and heavy bowgun, and dual blades also received significant changes in this patch, with a general focus on comfort and consistency with moderate damage boosts to some attacks. Other standouts from the lengthy patch notes include an improved offset attack for switch axe, better enhanced phial damage for charge blade, added hyper armor (interruption resistance) for the hunting horns' hilt stab, and a reverted nerf for the sword and shield's counter slash.

The biggest problem in Monster Hunter Wilds is still the game's performance, especially on PC, and that ought to be Capcom's top priority. But as we wait for planned CPU and GPU optimizations, beefing up the best part of the game – the combat – is a pretty good way to fill time.

A bruised Capcom escapes "Overwhelmingly Negative" Steam hell as Monster Hunter Wilds' recent user reviews climb to 20% positive.