Embark on a thrilling adventure in Monster Hunter Wilds, where lots of beasts await. To conquer them, you'll need to wield the right weapon, but deciding which one can be overwhelming for beginners.
Luckily for you, this guide will outline the top dogs in the current meta. We'll also delve into the best skills associated with each top-tier weapon, so you’ll know where to invest your time and resources.
Bow
Nothing beats the timeless Bow. It offers an excellent ranged playstyle with high damage output at long distances or close quarters. Plus, you can do Focus Strikes on Wounds and charge it up for empowered attacks.
When monsters get too close for comfort, use the Bow's spread shot to unleash a fan of arrows. You can further enhance the damage by applying various Coatings, which grant desired effects to your arrows. For instance, the Pierce Coating enables your arrows to penetrate multiple enemies, while the Exhaust Coating applies Stun and Exhaust Buildup.
Complement your Bow with the right skills. Critical Boost, Fire Attack, Critical Element, and Spread/Power Shots are the top picks in the current meta.
The Critical Element increases damage from Fire, Ice, Water, Thunder, and Dragon elemental attacks when you land a critical hit. Meanwhile, Critical Boost enhances your critical hit chance for guaranteed high-damage shots. Combine them with food buffs, and you'll make quick work of your enemies.
Gunlance
The Gunlance features a unique blend of offensive and defensive capabilities and an attack pacing. On one hand, the weapon can do slashing and explosive effects, yielding fire and true damage. On the other hand, the Gunlance can block enemy attacks and reply with explosive effects.
These are possible thanks to the Shelling mechanic, which uses ammo to deliver powerful blows. Proper pacing usually leads to blocking, counterattacking, and finishing off the combo with Wyrmstake and Wyvern Fire.
The best skills for the Gunlance are Artillery, Guard, Load Shells, and Focus. This set improves explosive attacks, lowers stamina depletion when guarding, enhances reloading and shell capacity, and increases the weapon gauge.
Long Sword
The traditional melee weapon, the Long Sword, is a meta pick in Monster Hunter Wilds. This one represents the fluidity of continuous combos and deadly counterattacks.
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Mastering the Long Sword means getting to know the Spirit Gauge. As you land regular attacks, the gauge charges up to let you use Spirit Blade moves. When the gauge reaches stage three, it turns red and that means, it’s party time!
The Red Spirit Gauge unlocks the new Crimson moves or beefy versions of your regular attacks. But unlike the regular gauge, the Red Spirit Gauge drains over time instead of being consumed when performing Spirit Blade moves.
As for counterattack, the Long Sword uses i-frames. A correct counterattack results in taking no damage, charging the Spirit Gauge, and dealing damage to your enemy.
For skills, critical hit is the theme in the current meta with Critical Boost and Master’s Touch. The former increases damage from critical hits while the latter prevents your weapon from losing its sharpness when landing critical hits.
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