Monster Hunter Wilds is the current generational entry for Capcom‘s beloved fantasy monster hunting franchise, and it shows. The developer and publishing giant have reworked many of the systems that needed it and improved upon others in countless ways – its fourteen weapon types notwithstanding – so perhaps a Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide is in order.
Players are thrown into the thick of it quite early on in Monster Hunter Wilds. After a quick riding tutorial, the game immediately expects players to choose a weapon and go after a big green monster. Therefore, we thought it imperative to go over every weapon available to players right off the bat, as well as to explain the kinds of combat scenarios they are best suited for, so everyone can have a more even playing experience when entering the Forbidden Lands.
Sword & Shield (SS)
Essentially the most basic of all the weapon types, the sword & shield offers a well balanced experience for all players. However, it can be potent for any starting player, and even more useful for those who choose to master it: allowing and awarding massive damage numbers.
The sword & shield is a fast weapon set, which dishes out slicing damage with every touch of the button. Utilising the shield also offers blunt damage, and making use of many combinations will have any monster begging for mercy. As hunters learn how to deliver advanced combos, they will be able to evade while dealing damage, do jump attacks, and even execute elaborate shield bashes knocking monsters back and/or down.
The sword & shield also allows items to be used from the item pouch, without putting the weapon away, making it a great weapon for players who like to be right in the monsters face, whilst still having some supportive capabilities. It is a nice weapon for any beginner and can be learned quickly. Mastering it, however, can take some time. Since it delivers slicing damage, soft monster parts, such as tails, can be removed very easily. It also looks pretty cool.
Great Sword (GS)
Look. This game is a JRPG, and what would a Monster Hunter Wilds weapon guide be without the obvious anime big sword so many Japanese titles are fond of?
The great sword features incredibly slow attacks dishing out incredible amounts of damage. At close range, the great sword deals massive blows, and it even allows hunters to execute cool new power contest moves in Wilds that ultimately result in the monster being hit back or to the side.
With that said, monsters can be very easy to miss due to the slower nature of the weapon, but the damage it deals will often stagger a monster or knock it down completely. While players initially move very slowly, the correct set of equipment will allow players to sheath and unsheathe faster or even run and move better with the weapon drawn.
Long Sword (LS)
Another big anime sword, this traditional long sword resembles an ōdachi and features many moves that are sweeping in nature, but combines them with high jumps and lots of dicing in order to make hunters feel like true swordmasters.
Long sword users command fluid swiping combinations allowing for great manoeuvrability and dexterity while also affording big damage and a whole heck of a lot of monster part severing. It also features a massive amount of range, which, coupled with the many jumps and dodges it enables, makes it one of the most damaging weapons in this Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide.
Combos are most definitely the way to go with the long sword. Four-stage combos are the weapon’s bread and butter, but all of them branch off into advanced moves that can be cancelled out or otherwise swapped with others. Often at the last second in order to create deadly sweeps and swipes that fit with any moment of a hunt.
Dual Blades (DS)
As the name implies, the dual blades are a set of, well, blades of really any type (whether axe, dagger, or short sword). It focuses heavily on rapid blows at the cost of stamina depletion; has little to no defence, and a whole lot of manoeuvrability. Mastering the weapon affords players extreme manoeuvrability, and while damage is not great at first glance, the many single-digits add up exponentially for hunters who manage to continue dealing their damage nonstop.
The set comes with alternate fighting modes and gauges that need to be understood to be effective, making it one of the more challenging weapon types to learn. In essence, hunters who are obsessed with speed will be shocked at how quickly a sword & shield can dish out damage. Many will end up learning how the weapon will not only help in growing those numbers, but also allow players to continue going through damage and dodges.
As one can imagine, mastering the blades will take a lot, and not doing so essentially makes the weapons useless. Moreover, it is important to gear up well since hunters will be up close and personal with any given monster!
Hunting Horn (HH)
Listen, if any game implements a literal horn (complete with musical notes) and actually manages to do so with excellence, it is Monster Hunter. The Hunting Horn can bash monsters over the head, but it is first and foremost a musical instrument meant for total supportive play, which provides buffs to party members.
The hunting horn may be an instrument, but it is not nearly as simple to master as one might think. It is literally the most challenging weapon to master in this Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide, and even moreso when playing solo. This is mainly because users are extremely vulnerable when playing the notes needed for certain buffs. Depending on which notes are played, different buffs (and even buff levels) are applied. These buffs can increase health, increase affinity, add defence, or even let hunters get more loot while gathering.
Learning the correct attack combinations (notes) will be the biggest key to success for any prospective maestro. Thankfully, players can do many of the buffs before a hunt even starts, but timing them perfectly with the new dynamic weather and open world systems in Wilds can be tricky. Furthermore, once buffs run out in the middle of hunts, players are sitting ducks. This weapon certainly carries a lot of responsibility.
Hammer (H)
If bonking is what you are after, the hammer is undoubtedly for you. The hammer is the weapon hunters choose if they want to, specifically, knock monsters right out. It is slow and heavy and huge, but nothing else compares to its raw knockout potential!
The hammer hunter’s main job is to know where the monster’s face is located. The blunt damage it delivers is perfect for knocking monsters out and throwing them around when the power struggle moves introduced in Wilds are activated. Once knocked out, monsters lie on the ground dazed and confused for a good ten seconds, allowing any other hunter to come in and mess it up. With that said, hammer users can easily knock their fellow hunters around as well, so be mindful!
Similar to the great sword, using the hammer comes with a massive penalty to speed and manoeuvrability. Using the hammer makes it extremely challenging to dodge or move out of the way, so wearing lots of armour and having the correct equipment with the right abilities is a must. With that said, mastering the hammer and getting its combos right will reward players with brief moments of invulnerability during certain moves.
Lance (L)
The lance is the franchise’s best looking weapon, and this fact persists through to this Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide. It features a massive tower shield, gigantic lance and is primarily used by hunters with massive cojones because of its general glass canon type gameplay.
The lance may not look like it, but it is a very manoeuvrable weapon letting players zip around the battlefield with ease with poking away at the feet of any monster that comes too close. The trade-off, however, is that without the shield in the way, players can easily be knocked off their feet. The shield can soak up an almost endless amount of damage otherwise, and is designed specifically to allow its users to poke monsters and deliver slower, less chaotic damage numbers in normal gameplay, but massive damage when counters are triggered.
As one can imagine, the lance also goes against the grain in terms of combos – it really only has two. However, hunters who choose to main the lance will quickly learn how they can be the catalyst for their party. Lance hunters are also generally required to have a lot of knowledge on monster weak points, shielding hunters behind them from bigger area-of-attack moves, and staying mobile enough not to get tunnel visioned to death from other approaching monsters.
Gunlance (GL)
Okay so hear me out: a lance, but with a detachable point that can shoot mini lances! While it is the sexiest weapon in the catalogue, there is no doubt the lance is also the plainest. Enter gunlance with its tanky boomsticks and slow moving mobility.
As the name implies, gunlances are modified lances letting users fire off “shells”. It uses one of the game’s few ammunition mechanics (of which there are three types) to bombard monsters at melee range.
The gunlance’s moves generally are more animated, asking its users to swing and deliver much more lively moves and combos than its pokey counterpart. The gunlance is a much slower and much more deliberate weapon whereby its users will not be running around as much as lance users do. Moreover, it is also much less tanky, with larger stamina depletion than its kin. However, hunters who master the gunlance will be able to disable monsters and explode weak points and wounds with ease, making them some of the most useful party members to have.
Switch Axe (SA)
Players who like the bigass-ness of the great sword, but wished their weapons went gzuzuzuzu and had a film credit for a Micheal Bay film need look no further. The switch axe is an axe, but as its name suggests, it is an axe that can switch… into a great sword. While relatively easy to master, the switch axe is a veteran favourite due to its versatility.
In terms of combos, the switch axe features too many to think about as it has combos for each of its switched modes. The key is to manage the charge it continually builds up while in sword mode, and then to unleash it on monsters in the axe mode.
Button mashing comes easy with the switch axe, since the main thing to remember is that the switch can be triggered after pretty much any button press and combination. Mastering the weapon, however, will make the switch axe hunter a force to be reckoned with when the going gets tough.
Charge Blade (CB)
The switch axe’s co-star comes heavily liked by veterans. Where the switch axe is an axe and a sword, the charge blade is a sword & shield, and an axe. It is also blazingly fast and can pack a heck of a punch. Mastering it, however, is quite a doozy.
The whole idea with the charge blade is for hunters to deal quick and hard hitting slashes in its sword & shield mode. Successful hits will charge up the blade and store its energy in vials to be used in axe mode. Once enough energy has been charged up, the sword becomes hot and less sharp, meaning it will bounce off of monsters much more easily instead of slashing through them. This is the perfect time to switch it into its axe mode where the vials will be used as buffs that enhance the damage done by the axe blade. New moves added in Monster Hunter Wilds allow charge blade users to go ham on monsters who are downed, with moves that cut up wounds like it is nobody’s business.
With that said, button mashing the charge blade can get users in trouble. Switching a cool blade into an axe results in slower attacks that do little damage, while not switching soon enough means the sword mode will bounce off monster hide with no damage done. For reference on how challenging the charge blade is to master, one can find entire websites dedicated to its use complete with formulas and video evidence on when and where to switch the weapon modes, what to wear, and which abilities to utilise!
Insect Glaive (IG)
Did you main a dragoon in Final Fantasy XIV Online? Do you like the spear or double-tipped staff wielding legends usually attributed to Ancient China? Then the insect glaive is the weapon for you! Designated as the main lightweight weapon, insect glaive users will never see three-digit damage numbers, regardless of how hard they try. However, the amount of mobility and airtime the insect glaive affords not only look amazing, but also comes with the additional benefit of mounting monsters easier and chopping up parts on monster backs that are generally much harder to hit.
Critical affinity is where the insect glaive shines. The weapon is extremely easy to use and also looks super cool, which makes it a favourite to newcomers. However, using the glaive as intended can be quite a challenge considering it also comes with a massive insect (called kinsect) that must be ordered around while players are mashing [the correct] buttons to keep themselves in the air, and dodging, while attacking.
Kinsects are big bugs that attach to insect glaive user arms. These kinsects usually come with different boons and buffs, and utilising them in the field not only act as support for fellow hunters, but can also offer damaging properties to monsters. In order to use the weapon effectively, users must learn how and when to send their kinsects out to the monster they are hunting. Moreover, different parts of a monster yield different results from their kinsect, and all of this must also be done while the users themselves are flying about. It looks super cool, but not even the new combos added in Wilds make it any easier to become good at.
Light Bowgun (LB)
Welcome to the first ranged weapon of this Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide. The light bowgun is, for all intents and purposes, a crossbow machine gun hybrid meant to chip away at monsters while letting players walk and move around the field without much hindrance.
Ascribed by the franchise as the go-to ranged weapon, the light bowgun is the most-used ranged weapon. The main reason for this is its utmost versatility, since most light bowgun variants feature seemingly countless ammo types and also lets users run and jump and even dodge around the field with the weapon in hand.
Above and beyond all of the ammunition types and movement the light bowgun allows, its hunters can also expect a whole heck of a lot of combos during combat, making it the weapon with the most gameplay mechanics tied to it. As one might expect, the light bowgun is an incredible starter weapon, and mastering it also takes very little effort. Hunters who have never dabbled with ranged weaponry, but are in dire need of some for a certain hunt, will do no wrong by choosing this weapon.
Heavy Bowgun (HB)
While the lightbowgun is considered one of the fastest and most utilitarian weapons in this list, it comes with a heavier counterpart. The heavy bowgun is perfect for players who want to look like they are lugging around literal canons or massive machine guns.
The heavy bowgun comes with a few similarities to its counterpart, namely the ridiculous amount of ammunition types available to hunters, and its damage output over time. However, unlike its counterpart the heavy bowgun is heavier, slower, and all-round clunkier. Hunters who wield these monstrosities cannot jump, and dodging is exponentially more difficult. However, the payoff is well worth it since hunters who manage to launch their payloads successfully can seriously turn the tide of any hunt!
Heavy bowguns come with just as many combos as its kin, but instead of focusing on movement and chaining combos, the real masters focus on learning monster weaknesses and environments in order to take advantage of any and all hazards that may turn the tide in battle. Heavy bowgun hunters can be the quickest draws and in situations where literal seconds make a difference.
Bow (B)
Okay. Look. In a world where huge anime swords and insect-controlling bladed staves exist, sometimes it is good to have a little balance with a traditional weapon like the bow. The third and final ranged option open to hunters is a mid-range all-rounder focusing on elemental payloads and status damage above raw damage output.
While the bowgun variants come with all the versatility in the world, bows offer utility instead. Manoeuvrability is a massive aspect of bow-use, and while range is not as good as its mechanical counterparts, finding the sweet spot can do much more harm to a monster than one might realise.
Bows do not use ammunition. Instead, it relies on hunters to “coat” their arrows with certain coatings changing the way arrows interact with targets. From blast damage, through to poison, sleep, and even the ability to pierce through multiple parts of a monster, these coatings add onto the already-massive elemental bonuses bows apply.
Like all other weapons in this Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide, hunters need to craft mulitple different bows in order to ensure they have the correct bow with the correct elemental damage modifiers for the job. Once this easy hurdle is over, bow hunters then need to learn and master the seemingly endless combos bows offer. Mastering the bow is key, however, since merely being a mediocre archer will leave a party worse off than being a bad bowgun user. It is not the easiest weapon to learn, and mastering it comes with an even larger skillgap. However, with time and patience, bow users can make or break entire hunts!
This is the end of this Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Guide. While I am a long sword and bow main, delving into each weapon will never let a person down. Players looking into mastering High Rank hunts and slaying tempered beasties will need to be on their absolute A-game when the going gets tough! What weapon will you be using in the Forbidden Lands? Let us know.
Junior Editor at Vamers. From Superman to Ironman; Bill Rizer to Sam Fisher and everything in-between, Edward loves it all. He is a Bachelor of Arts student and English Major specialising in Language and Literature. He is an avid writer and casual social networker with a flare for all things tech related.
