F.A.Q.
What determines the duration on the WSB?
The type and amount of slinger ammo loaded into the WSB will determine it's duration. That's the reason why in some builds you see stonethrower being used
What determines the damage on the WSB?
WSB's damage is tied to the shelling level of the weapon and which shell was used (Uncharged, charged, burst fire...), so it will remain the same if hit by a build with artillery 5 + felyne bombardier or a build without any levels of artillery.
Is the WSB's damage the same for all shelling types?
No, the WSB's damage varies among shelling type, so, for example, when triggered by an uncharged shell from a wide gunlance, the WSB explosion will have a different value from when it got triggered by an uncharged shell from a normal gunlance.
Can other players trigger my WSB?
Yes, the WSB can also be triggered by other gunlancer's shells or other sources of explosive damage (For example, sticky ammo or clusters), but, naturally, the damage will be lower.
Can shells deal K.O. damage or apply status?
Shelling, WSB explosions, wyrmstake cannon (Tick + explosion) and wyvern's fire, none of those moves can apply status or deal K.O damage, even if you're using impact mantle (You can still get K.O.'s with them by firing thorn pods on the monster's face and then using those moves)
I noticed that sometimes when I'm playing gunlance, I don't get staggered, not even by the monster's attacks, why is that?
While shelling, reloading or quick reloading, you have natural flinch free 3 and wind resist 5, so make sure to abuse that.
If I raise my attack, will that make the shells stronger?
Shelling does a fixed amount of damage, much like barrel bombs, and it's damage is only affected by the shelling level of the weapon, artillery and felyne bombardier (Food skill), so any attack increase will have zero effect on your shells.
*It also does a tiny bit of fire damage, which is why you see some minor damage variation*
How come no one uses master's touch on Gunlance sets?
While infinite sharpness is something Gunlance would very much enjoy having access to, it is unfortunately out of reach of all the shelling style (Non-shelling can make use of it). Since shells are unable to crit, they, they get zero benefit from master's touch, meaning that, while the melee hit would consume no sharpness, shelling would still shred throught it. For this reason, the prefered sharpness management tool for Gunlance is using the razor sharp charm, for it halves the sharpness cost on shells and shelling related moves while also having a 50% chance to not consume sharpness on melee attacks and a hidden modifier that gives shell and shelling related moves a 10% chance to not consume any sharpness.
*While protective polish, paired with item prolonger, is also an option, it still gets outclassed by the razor sharp charm, because of the downtime that comes with having to apply/re-apply it (this still holds truth even if whetfish fins+ are being used).*
Some people recommended using guard, others recommended using evade window. Which one should i use?
Guard on gunlance, while very easy and comfortable to use, is unfortunately very clunky. There is a considerable delay to bring the shield up after every attack and, unlike lance or charge blade, gunlance does not have ways to integrate the shield into the combos, essentially punishing aggression (Do not mistake aggression with overcommitment). Evade window on the other hand, while being a bit more difficult to use, can be more rewarding. The step dodge on gunlance can be executed with little to no delay after attacks, can be used to cancel charged shelling and skip the recovery frames on a plethora of moves on the gunlance's kit, and since the evasion window fixes the problem of reduced i-frames on the step dodge (23% less than a normal roll), the player can sustain a more aggresive style of gameplay. In conclusion, while both can get the job done, evade window will outperform guard, in terms of damage, in the majority of the matchups.
*Neither of those are a necessity, altough (depending on the player) is it possible to perceive a noticeable increase in DPS due to the increase in damage uptime that those skills provide.*