and that's all she wrote 💌

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This week I was able to reach 6'57"80 and 6'57"53. The "53 video is the cleaner hunt overall, but it is less bold and has less of a personal flair. Velkhana's AI in that hunt is also similar to the AI in Alex's fantastic hunt, so it would not be offering much new content beyond what he has already provided.

Be sure to check out Alex's 6'46"48 world record here!
[ Ссылка ]

This "80 video, on the other hand, is significantly more interesting to watch than the "53. In this hunt, I fit in quite a few fancy maneuvers and fortunately got to capitalize on every topple. It is not as clean since it has two very noticeable mistakes during the hunt, but the highlights in this hunt outweigh them and ultimately make for a more exciting upload.

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Highlights
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1:22 – 1:30
The triple tail sting counter following the claw stagger, where all mid counter thrusts reach Velkhana's head. This happens once in a blue moon, and when it does happen, it is a beautiful sight to see.

This response takes advantage of a minor property of the counter thrust: its angle can be adjusted within a 30° cone by holding the left stick in that direction at the same time as the input. While this is rarely used in practice, fighting Velkhana with the Lance requires so much precision that we can employ this property to devise a brilliant response to its signature attack.

5:26 – 5:36
Blocking the surprise ice beam while in the air, launching a point blank leaping thrust, and finally countering a triple tail sting to secure the topple. For starters, if I didn't see the surprise ice beam and instead walked off the ledge, I would have fainted in one hit and lost the hunt right there. 😅

Next, I used leaping thrust at point blank because I knew the hilt of the Lance would connect with Velkhana's head, and it would bring me closer to its forearms in case it decided to follow up with a tail sting. Luckily, Velkhana did perform a tail sting, and thanks to the leaping thrust, I could hop into position to counter the stings with the very tip of the Lance. The topple was the cherry on top that sealed this maneuver's title as a highlight.

4:57 – 5:17
The brilliant climax of both the hunt and the soundtrack; ty Ari for such an amazing song. 🎶

The bass drops right as Velkhana breathes down the ice rings, with all four rings and a glorious explosion at the end—truly a gift for headphone users. There is also a brief moment of pure silence immediately following the final ice ring's explosion that feels like a rainbow after a heavy storm.

To top it off, I manage to optimally exploit the raining icicles at 5:12. The Lance barely grazes Velkhana's head as it looks downward, and then comes the tight power guard to make that oh-so-sweet escape (ft. Akon).

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Mistakes
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1:51
This accidental counter claw is my facepalm of 2021. I don't make this input mistake often, but when I do, it is during my best-paced and possibly record-breaking hunts. 😖

Fortunately, Velkhana was very aggressive immediately afterward, so I was able to recover some lost time with the counters.

6:27
I accidentally pivoted leftward and thrusted into the air twice during this claw stagger. This is what I do when I jump off a claw stagger and notice there's ice on the ground, in which case I can't use charge and reverse attack.

When the clutch claw hit the ice wall, however, it eliminated having to clutch on and jump off. Unfortunately, I forgot to acknowledge this and instead put my mind on autopilot, thrusting away like normal. Thankfully the last thrust connected with Velkhana's head, otherwise I would have lost an entire set of thrusts from this pivot.

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Build
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My build is at 7:26. The reason I used Part Breaker 2 is because it changes the thrust required to link a claw stagger after a topple from a charged thrust to a high thrust. You can see an example of this at 1:45. This frequently enables me to cancel Velkhana's Aura 2 roar animation if it occurs immediately after a topple, which saves about 4 seconds each time. The success of this varies slightly depending on when Offensive Guard expires during the topple, but on average, it helps a lot.

Unfortunately, Velkhana didn't roar directly after the first topple, so I didn't get to show it in this hunt. I also could have cancelled the roar animation at 4:23 if I fit in a thrust while it was winding up, but that's all in the past now.

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Game Details
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• MHW: Iceborne – PC Version 15.11.01
• 6★ Event Quest – "The Place Where Winter Sleeps"

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Mods Used
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• Daily Food Skills Utility – Felyne Booster
• No other mods or overlays

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Music
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0:25 ♫ Ariana Grande – breathin
4:18 ♫ Ariana Grande – thank u, next

Thank you for reading this and for watching my video!

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