Switch Axe F [SA-F]

Bases

SA becomes SA-F in Frontier. While Earth Style is closer to what we know in the West, Heaven and Storm Styles totally change how the weapon works. For a general explanation, SA in Frontier is an axe who can turn into a sword or a light sword using a gauge system, increasing its damage using phials.

There are 4 phial types:

power phials increasing directly your MV by 10%
element and status phials who increase your weapon element/status by 30%
exhaust phials adding KO damage to your sword strikes (the fatigue mechanic not existing in Frontier)

SA-F was added with both Heaven and Storm Styles on release, meaning that unlike the other weapons where Storm Style is an improved Heaven Style which is an improved Earth Style, each SA-F Style is quite unique. As a tl;dr:

Earth: the OG base SA with axe and sword modes with a few small changes
Heaven: SA-F is mostly played in axe mode, sword mode being traded for dynamic morphing attacks which increase the weapon mobility
Storm : SA-F can parry the monster attacks and go into light sword mode, a stronger mode than the original sword mode
Extreme: a fusion of all the 3 other Styles

Earth Style

While it looks like MH3U SA, Earth Style SA-F has a few changes:

increased movement speed in axe mode (similar to SnS)
can do 2 side steps instead of 1
faster manual reload
sword gauge build-up on axe attacks
balanced MV on axe mode, all attacks having similar MV
no more projecting your allies with the rising axe attack
after a dodge (roll or side step), you can perform a rising attack in both sword and axe mode or the forward axe attack

Elemental discharge is stronger in Frontier with a 160 MV (a lvl4 charged GS strike has 180 MV). Hitting a monster during the elemental discharge stabbing motion increase the discharge power even further, with a massive 270 MV.

Earth Style SA-F usually alternate between the 2 modes fluidly by reloading the sword gauge with your sword attacks (back in the days in mainline, you had to wait for the gauge to recharge or force a manual reload) then using the elemental discharge during big openings to deal huge damage.

Gauge	Over time regeneration	Axe attacks	Manual reload	Parry
Sword [100]	5 pts / 5s	2 pts / hit	42 pts	Impossible

Heaven Style

Heaven Style keeps the sword gauge but can’t morph into sword mode. Sword attacks are now tied to dynamic morph attacks using the sword gauge to increase the weapon mobility. You end up fighting mostly in axe mode using dynamic morph attacks to dodge attacks.

SA-F can run in Heaven Style but it’s different from the other weapons Extreme running as it’s faster and doesn’t consume stamina, the hunter using SA-F as a propeller. You can then either perform a double attack (the second axe hit recharging the sword gauge) with △ or a fast rising hit with ○.

SA-F can perform a charge similar to Hammer by holding R1, allowing you to move while consuming stamina. You acquire some charge after a few seconds which can be lost if you stay too long in that state, releasing the charge making you perform a weak axe attack. You have 2 attack options when the charge is active:

savage axe combo by spamming △, unleashing a flurry of ultra rapid sword attacks, each attack consuming sword gauge. The MV is similar to axe mode savage axe combo but the attack rate is way higher. As a result, element and status damage from this combo is halved.
rising charged attack using ○, your strongest attack in this mode with a 75 MV

After each attacks aside from the savage combos, you can perform a dodging attack backwards or on the sides. This attack has some iframes but doesn’t consume any stamina, using the sword gauge just like when you run. You can chain side steps and dodging attacks to move quickly. You can then chain with the axe forward attack with △ or the rishing charged attack (just as powerful as before) by holding △.

If the sword gauge goes under 30%, you can press Select to perform a manual reload. Note that you can still perform dynamic morph attacks with a low gauge but trying a sword attack with an empty gauge will lock you in an overload animation.

Gauge	Over time regeneration	Axe attack	Manual reload	Parry
Sword [100]	5 pts / 5s	2 pts / hit	50 pts	Impossible

Storm Style

Storm Style lose the sword gauge and dynamic morph attacks but gain the light sword gauge. The light sword gauge is 3 times longer than the original sword gauge. It charges over time slowly and with your axe attacks but you can’t perform any manual reload. Instead, SA-F can now parry attacks by pressing R1, gaining huge gauge charge when you do it. The parry cancels any guard knockback and can be chained against multi-hits attacks but consume some sharpness since you block with your blade. You can also perform a parry when unsheating by pressing R1 + △ + ○.

Once the gauge is filled, pressing Select will allows you to trigger light sword mode. Light sword is stronger and has a longer reach than the previous sword mode, its color being tied to your phial type. It can’t perform morph attacks but can morph at neutral by pressing Select so long as you have some gauge left. If you fully empty the light sword gauge, you’ll forcely go back into axe mode and will have to fully fill back the light sword gauge to trigger the mode again.

Light sword mode is similar to the OG sword mode. △ allows you to perform a 2 vertical strike combo while ○ allows you to use a stronger combo consuming more gauge with 2 rising hits and a spinning one. You can still parry hits in light sword mode to charge your gauge and maintain the mode active.

Light sword can trigger an ultra elemental discharge by pressing △ + ○ then spamming △. Like the regular elemental discharge, the damage and range of the final explosion is increased if you hit a monster during its charge, going all the way up to an absurd 451 MV.

Storm Style SA-F usually tries to go in light sword mode as soon as possible then stays in that mode by parrying attacks, going back to axe mode only when the gauge is almost empty.

Gauge	Over time regeneration	Axe attacks	Manual reload	Parry
Light sword [300]	5 pts / 5s	2 pts / hit	Impossible	50 pts

Extreme Style

Extreme Style fuse all the previous 3 styles. You’ll get back Heaven Style sword gauge and its dynamic morph attacks increasing your mobilit while keeping Storm Mode light sword gauge and its parries (moved to the R2 button aside from the unsheating parry which is still tied to R1 + △ + ○).

Once in light sword mode, SA-F can now perform Heaven Style run and dynamic morph attacks but also mid-combo morphs (with Select) and the OG Earth Style elemental discharge (spamming ○ instead of △), all this using the 3 times longer light sword gauge.

Both gauge coexisting at once introduces some nuances :

you can’t perform a manual reload of the sword gauge

light sword gauge doesn’t regenerate over time

parries now grant more light sword gauge charge
axe mode hits generate 3 times more energy for both gauges

Gauge	Over time regeneration	Axe attacks	Manual reload	Parry
Sword [100]	5 pts / 5s	6 pts / hit	Impossible	Impossible
Light sword [300]	Disabled	6 pts / hit	Impossible	75 pts

Daily bonus

The Daily bonus increase the gauge charge by reloading or blocking with SA-F. Parry efficiency is doubled, regenerating 100 points in Storm Style and 150 points in Extreme Style.