Re: Dragon Hunter D
If this game is true to Monster Hunter, Long Swords should rock. Rock Hard. If you have played Monster Hunter 2nd portable, Long Sword is the ultimate noob weapon. It's fast, it has long reach, and it can be charged up for a devastating combo (which is probably what down + A is. The attack is charged up by hitting the enemy). It has the attacking power of the great sword, but the speed of sword and shield. You can't block with it, but this is more than made up by its speed. It is also the only weapon with an attack that makes the user step backward (the back sweep), thus allowing you to attack and yet immediately move out of range of the monster. (Probably what left right A tries to copy).
Damn. This is getting me heated up. Now where did I put my PSP again....
Yeah, you're right on what Down A(spirit strike) and Left Right A (backstep swing) is replicating, but you're slightly wrong on the version of Longsword that is good.
There's a tiny little confusing thing with MH, in that the attack number doesn't really reflect damage you do that well once you compare different type of weapon.
A '460' attack Lance/Gunlance actually has the same power as a 960 attack Greatsword/Longsword (they're both 200 base attack). And each attacking move you do use a % of your actual base power to do damage. For example, Hammer's little side slap attack does 20% damage, while the spinning's golfswing does a massive 100% (the highest % single attack in game is Greatsword's perfect charge with roughly 130% power)
And in the MH2 PSP version, Longsword doesn't really have a great power ratio on its attacks. The benefit from spirit bar is actually that you get +10 base attack, a rather tiny amount once you get to higher content.
Now, in MH3 for the Wii, Longsword get a few changes and totally make it rocks.
First of all, the backstep slash can now go SIDEWAY as well as back, giving Longsword higher mobility while still maintaining the damage.
Secondly, Spirit combo is changed a bit, and a new finishing strike gives your sword a buff if it lands. The buff go from yellow -> white -> red glows, and it gives 5%, 10%, 30% more damage to your attacks respectively (the game's Down A attack seems to replicate this move instead of the old spirit strike). The sword buff pretty much make Longsword top-tier as long as you can keep the 3rd buff going (you must land the final spirit strike to refresh the buff)
.- . now you make me wanna play MH3 again...too bad I'm on a holiday trip...gahhh