Monster Hunter series thread

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Any tips for heavy Bowgun by chance as every guide tot hat one I see people getting pummeled more than anything

Take the advice I learned way too late:

Guard, guard, guard. You can get away with taking the initiative once in a while on the light bowgun. You really can't do that with the heavy.

However, do not rely on the auto-guard with the heavy bowgun. Get used to the active guarding (on an XBox controller that's hitting Y+B) and do it right before you get struck. Do it too early and you'll still take scratch damage but you may still be able to react. Do it on time, and a lot of attacks will do nothing at all. I'm still wary of trying to guard against eruption attacks but I think it's doable - but only if you're guarding against the last eruption. There feels like a bit of downtime between guards.

From my experience, your optimal ranges are quite a bit farther away with the heavy bowgun than they are with the light. Spread ammo, despite being shotgun range, is actually not going to be effective if the monster just attacked and you're point-blank with their thighs.

For the Ignition modes, I can't say much about the Wyverncounter vs Wyvernblast yet as I never got good with either. However, your choice of Wyvernheart (the machine gun) vs Wyvernpiercer is going to depend on the boss and your angles - namely, you want to use Wyvernpiercer against long bosses like Jin Dahaad, and Wyvernheart against shorter bosses like the Ebony Odogaron or any of the primates. Something like Guardian Rathalos or Arkveld, you could go either way. Watch for long attack animations, that's the time to let loose - and if the monster's coming your way, stop immediately as there's a bit of delay after stopping your attack.

I would also say that stocking ammo types, while still important, is actually less of a concern on the heavy bowgun than it is on the light. Ignition Mode relies on its own ammo pool and doesn't benefit from your ammo pouch, unlike the Light Bowgun's rapid fire mode, so you're not going to be burning through ammo quite as fast.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

So....

I've officially entered the High Rank content proper, and the game's opening up to me.

When I finished the Yian Kut-Ku quest, I'd apparently done so much beforehand that I shot up to HR 12 immediately. With the fact that I need HR 15 for the next of the High Rank missions, it's time for me to seriously investigate weapons again.

I'm probably going to be doing weapon practice a while with the provided notes (and looking up guides on the Hunting Horn in particular, since that one's so difficult to use right), and it'll be time for one of those weapon face-offs again... but with all 14 weapons this time.

I'll let you all know my main when I'm done testing.

 

[Icepaw]

Hunting Horns have different songs depending on which one you're using as well so if you do end up going with that one you'll probably be making several of those. Another reason I avoid it like the plague as it is so annoying, at least with bows I can use the coatings I want with most bows and even bowguns aren't too harsh on ammo typings but the horn was nuts. Hope you'll have fun either way, i'm needing to experiment some more with the charge blade in Rise as Id didn't know about the double charging thing if that's even in Rise, More I know about the weapons I intend to main in Wilds beforehand the better off I'll be or so I hope

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Hunting Horns have different songs depending on which one you're using as well so if you do end up going with that one you'll probably be making several of those. Another reason I avoid it like the plague as it is so annoying, at least with bows I can use the coatings I want with most bows and even bowguns aren't too harsh on ammo typings but the horn was nuts. Hope you'll have fun either way, i'm needing to experiment some more with the charge blade in Rise as Id didn't know about the double charging thing if that's even in Rise, More I know about the weapons I intend to main in Wilds beforehand the better off I'll be or so I hope

I did notice that with the Hunting Horn. Apparently they're set up so that one of the melodies available is ALWAYS Self-Improvement, and that seems to be one of the more important melodies available.



Anyways, one of the more annoying parts of this lengthy test is the leadup. I need to go grind LR Lala Barina about two dozen times (and I think Vespoids in a couple cases too) because I plan to make sure all the weapons bar the bowguns have a paralysis element weapon to start off (for the Bow this means making sure there's a paralysis coating available). Evens the playing field and might compensate for my experience with the bowguns.

Should I keep the Palico in the field or put 'em on standby for my extensive testing regimen? Having not done a ton of multiplayer yet I don't know how well my allies will do at distractions... and when I was using bowguns the Palico bailed me out more than I'd like to admit.

Aside from that, I've got both my punching machine settings and my actual monsters (yes, it's like the first weapon mini-tourney) lined up for this. This is gonna be an interesting weekend.


EDIT: Something I forgot to mention: Unlike the last weapon tourney, I'm going double-elimination on this.

If I learn something about a weapon too late (like the Demon Dodge for the Dual Blades, really important for the DPS buff it gives - apparently you have to dodge in Demon Mode, which I didn't realize), I get a second chance with the weapon.

I'm also giving each weapon pairing two battles, each one getting a chance at a leadoff. It will eliminate some of the skew I had last time.

And, uh.... I won't show the bracket this time, but Hunting Horn's first opponent is Sword & Shield, so the Horn's REALLY got its work cut out for it....

I promise if I ever pick up a second Monster Hunter game, it's not going to be this convoluted and tryhard. I just really need to know what actually fits me.

 

[Faust]

With the possible exception of the hunting horn, all of the weapons have something to recommend them. Some are just rather more complex to use than others.

One that I started off disliking, but came to love later on for certain monsters, was the Insect Glaive. It's just so darn agile!

The longsword is also well worth investigating, especially if you can get used to the sheath attacks and the helm-splitter combo.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

With the possible exception of the hunting horn, all of the weapons have something to recommend them. Some are just rather more complex to use than others.

One that I started off disliking, but came to love later on for certain monsters, was the Insect Glaive. It's just so darn agile!

The longsword is also well worth investigating, especially if you can get used to the sheath attacks and the helm-splitter combo.

Biggest tip I can give with Hunting Horn is that you can ready and play your melodies on the Seikret.

That ALONE is a massive deal, even if Self-Improvement doesn't carry over to your other weapon. Given that Wilds lets you bring two weapons into battle, coming in with a set of buffs ready to go in purple status is extremely helpful.

There's also some tech regarding the Echo Bubbles and how Focus Strikes are handled, but I haven't quite nailed that part yet.


After my first round, I can say both Longsword and Insect Glaive are in the second round. Insect Glaive won by forfeit and didn't even get its double matches, but even then I think the main thing I need to learn is how to get a full set of Kinsect extracts without triggering a Wound. I seem to only be able to get one or two. If nothing else, the vaulting tech makes it incredibly easy to get on a monster's back.

Dual Blades, Charge Blade, Hammer, and Great Sword are all at risk of being eliminated from further consideration for me. (So are Switch Axe and Sword & Shield, but they get to sit out a bit.) Out of those four, Dual Blades and Hammer have a chance of staging a comeback. Charge Blade's chances are slim because I find it very finicky - it again seems to always want to steer me towards Axe mode even when I'm not ready to unleash.

But in Round 1's test fights, the ONLY weapon that got me carted - TWICE - was the Great Sword (and it's the weapon that forfeited to Insect Glaive). EVERYTHING being a charge attack is just too much for me to handle while also watching the monster's movements. If I get carted by the Great Sword again, then Great Sword's probably out by default.



EDIT 2: Having done the loser's bracket for this round, I can say with certainty that Charge Blade and Great Sword have been eliminated for any further consideration from me.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Okay, I can't take this test anymore.

After nearly getting my ass handed to me by a Guardian Fulgur Anjanath, it's definitely time for me to stop clowning around and focus on just two weapons at this stage.

I will have to consider options like the Long Sword later. My two weapons are the Hunting Horn and the Insect Glaive.


.....no, seriously. Unlike everyone else here, I REALLY grew to love the Hunting Horn.

Here's what I have to say on it:

• Do not try to play the notes for whole melodies all at once. You can stagger the notes as long as your next note is correct. This is basically the whole way you're dodging anything.
• When playing the melodies, you can instantly turn some songs purple if you time all your hits on each melody. You want to run with max buffs any time you can.
• You'd think this weapon has really weak effects on Wounds, and you'd be right. The reason to do Focus Strikes with Hunting Horn is actually not damage - if you strike a Wound, you have a short window to play up to five notes! Easy chance to get your four-note melody.
• Speaking of four-note melodies, those are played separate from the main 3-melody chain.
• The choice of horn also affects the Echo Bubble - basically a circular zone you can drop that grants a buff. Something like Stamina Regeneration is more useful if your allies are running Dual Blades or Bow.

I'll have more as I learn to master this weapon.