Played with Lobos for a bit, but he's the only one of you guys thaat ive found online so far.
Mmm, okay, Lance.
It's a very straightforward weapon, no pun intended.It isnt very mobile. Alot of your combat strategy will consist of knowing when to end your jab combo strings and dodge, only to begin again. Lances, next to other weapons, are not very strong, but they do have a unique ability that balances that out. No, I dont mean the speed at which you can attack, but that a lance's damage type is automatically set depending on where you attack a monster. If the tail is more weak to cutting damage, the lance will do cutting damage. If the head is weaker to impact damage, it will follow accordingly. That being said, just because it determines the best type of damage for you doesnt mean you dont need to be precise; it's literally a pointy stick, so pin-point where you want to hit.
Attack
You can strike horizontally and diagonally. The accuracy factor is a plus, since most higher-grade lances have high affinity (critical hits), and it makes it easier to not hit your teammates. It's also a minus since you may find yourself jabbing air/water sometimes, but that's just a matter of practice.
You also have a few other attacks, like the draw attack, the sweep, charge attack, the charge attack finisher, shield bash, shield poke, and the counter.
Draw attack is simple enough to understand. You whip out your weapon as you were running, and do a powerful stab in that direction. Any move with momentum behind it has a greater chance to topple a monster, so keep that in mind.
The sweep is a decent move to clear the area when there is too much going on (ex. Minions, annoying teammates). It's certainly not very strong, but it's obviously meant for multiple enemies. It's slow, but it hits just about everywhere but right behind you, so it definitely has its uses.
I love the charge attack, even though it's the weakest attack with a lance. The reason I use it so much is because it propels you faster that if you were running/swimming, it can be used to evade attack, it does consecutive hit damage when sharpness is green, takes 1 second to fully charge, and has a very powerful finish. More or less, a downed monster just eats up all the hits of a charge attack, or those that lie low to the ground like the Gobul, Lagiacrus, Barioth, and Angaktor. Grinding into tails and undersides makes the battle that much easier, and the multiple hits gives you more of a chance for your weapons' element to kick in. Dont be overzealous though, bc monsters have a better charge attack, and your teammates wont enjoy being bowled over.
When doing the charge attack, it takes about a second, then you flash red. Right after that, your finishing move, your strongest move, is at it's peak. Just press the attack button anytime during the charge to do the charge finisher. Nothing more to say about it except you need to be precise or you wasted the stamina and time.
Shield poke. It's very situational, and a little pointless in my opinion (puns). If you press the attack button while you arent moving with your shield up, you perform a little jab. Imagine the charge attack, but just one hit. You cannot evade after the move, you cannot start a combo string, you have to wait for your guard to come back up to use another move, it only hits one direction...you get the point. If you are going to drop your shield to jab, then do it properly.
Shield bash is not as pointless, but also situational. it's good for stunning small monsters, since it's always impact damage. It's mediocre strength, but good news is you can evade out of it, and it resets combo strings as well. The move shifts you forward quite a bit as well, so it's so of an offensive/evasive move.
The last kind of attack is the Counter. It can be charged up, but it's not easy to hit with. It brings the shield in front of you for either a short or long period of time, then thrust upward after it finishes charging, or if you get hit during that time. It's a great move, since it can block several hits during 1 attack, and it's as strong as the draw attack, but as I said, it's challenging to implement in the heat of battle. This is easier to do on the classic controller, even while in combo strings, so take advantage of it. It does take up stamina to Counter though, so be wary when you take the risk.
Defense
You couldn't have missed the giant shield. Lance is the best defense weapon in the game, but it's not good to rely on that strength. Your guard can be broken if you take too many big or small hits, especially with (advanced) rank monsters. It is crucial to always have a full or next to full stamina bar if you want to defend some heavy blows. Also know that all attacks cannot be guarded fully, or even guarded at all. Heavy hitters like Rathian, Gobul, and Uragaan can damage you slightly through your guard. Angaktor, you should never shield against the magma stream unless you'd like your armor to ignite, or if you have the Guard Up skill. It takes care of most physical attacks, but everytime you absorb a blow, it takes a considerable amount of stamina, even if it's a small bite. Shielding can also guard against roars, bright flashes, wind, tremors, and water currents, but as I said, dont depend on it always. Keep in mind that while you can quickly draw your weapon for an attack, you can also quickly get into defensive stance as well. Depending on your controls, it would be the dash + charge attack button to do this. It will save you plenty times if you do it right.
Evasion
It's as important as defense, albeit harder to perform. After any attack but the shield poke, you can backstep or side step dodge. You cant roll with a lance drawn, so get over it. To backstep in any direction you want, you want to pretend you are walking in the opposite direction, then backstep quickly. It's alot faster that walking or shuffling, and you get invincibility frames while you do it. Another way to "evade" rushing with your shield. Technically, if you get attacked while doing it, the monster will still hit your shield, but at least you didnt end up in the sweetspot area while you defended. Do not do this against a monster that does radial damage, like Uragaan. Your back will be exposed, and you are still a soft and fleshy human.
Useful things for Lancers:
Mega Dash Juice - It's a godsend to not have to worry about when your charge attack will run out, how much stamina will deplete if you shield ___ attack, or how many times you can backhop to get out of the way. It's worth it, especially in the +31 rank monsters, since their attacks can remove an entire full stamina bar.
Armor Skill: Guard Up - It's sort of a nice feeling to know that now you can guard any attack in the game, but it can be deceiving, especially with radial attacks and water currents.
Armor Skill: Guard +1/+2 - Decreases knockback and stamina loss when blocking.
Armor Skill: Evasion Up - Increases evasion distance, so those backhops are a bit more useful.
Armor Skill: Evasion +1/+2 - Extends the invulnerability period of a dodge.
Armor Skill: Constitution +1/+2 - Slows down stamina depletion when evading and blocking.
Armor Skill: Auto-Guard - Guards automatically, when possible. it's good since it gets everything you didn't see, and you can walk instead of shuffle, since the game will react for you.
When using the charge attack, try to run along the side of a monster's body or by the tail so you won't be punished.
Try to stab diagonally upwards more than horizontally to improve your accuracy.
I think I covered most of it. Sorry if I said too much or whatever.