While a lot of players would’ve had their first hunting experience with Monster Hunter World in 2018, I’m sure there’s still a plethora of new hunters coming into the fold with the much anticipated launch of Monster Hunter Wilds. Monster Hunter is a series known for its mechanical complexity and nowhere is this more evident in the game’s selection of weapons.
Each of the 14 weapon types offer a distinct gameplay experience, some are even complex enough to function as their own combat system! While it might be tempting to jump straight into the likes of Charge Blade or Hunting Horn right off the bat, it’s more beneficial to learn a simpler weapon class as you become accustomed to other parts of the game.
Despite some being easier than others, there is no best weapon type in Monster Hunter, even beginner friendly weapons can be best-in-class. Here are some of the best to start with if you’re jumping into Monster Hunter for the first time.
Overwhelm Your Quarry with the Dual Blades
When you aren’t used to Monster Hunter’s design quirks, it becomes very easy to mash attack buttons and hope for success. There are very few weapons that you’ll find victory with through this method, but Dual Blades is one such hunting implement that focuses on near-constant hacking and slashing. They’re all about overwhelming monsters with unrelenting attack sequencies, able to easily inflict status ailments and exploit elemental weaknesses.
If there’s one thing to be mindful of when using Dual Blades, it’s to keep your Demon mode uptime as high as possible. Demon mode is a unique stance you can enter by pulling the right trigger. It increases your movement speed, damage, dodging, and even unlocks some new moves for you to use. Demon mode can only be entered if the Demon Gauge is charged, which will slowly deplete energy and stamina as you stay in Demon mode.
Dealing damage in Demon mode will slowly fill up the Archdemon Gauge. Archdemon mode is a slightly less powerful version of Demon mode but is always active as long as there’s energy left in the gauge. It’s a good way to get access to Demon mode’s positives without constantly losing stamina as you engage in combat. It’s also very adept at cutting off monster parts like tails and tentacles.
Leave Monsters Stunned with the Hammer
Where some weapons can feel like your doing rocket science in real time, the Hammer has one clear goal. As a Hammer user, it’s your job to bonk the monster on the head as hard and often as you can. As a blunt weapon, its impact damage will slowly build up to the eventual knockout of the monster, leaving them stunned on the ground for your team to take advantage of. Even though the threshold for stunning goes up each time you inflict the status, an efficient Hammer user can get a hefty number of knockdowns in a single hunt.
Your bread and butter is a simple three hit combo that ends in a meaty upswing. This third hit can be held to adjust timing, but has double purpose in that its also an Offset Attack. This means you can reposition as you charge up your third hit to regularly hit your Offsets and open the monster up for counter attack. Once you’ve got it on the ground, whack the monster’s head over and over with the Big Bang combo for massive damage and a potential stun.
The Hammer is also very strong at hit and run tactics. Holding the right trigger will allow you to charge up powerful swings while moving. Each level of charge results in a different attack, so be sure to experiment to see what to use in each situation. This charged attack is a bit different in Wilds, though. Now you can pull yourself with the Slinger while charging to avoid attacks ala Monster Hunter Rise.
When you hit a level 3 charge, you can transition the charged attack to an even more powerful version for more damage and stun build up. This variant of the charged attack brings your movement speed down to a crawl, so it’s imperative you only use it when you know you can connect the hit. Even though it’s incredibly simple, the Hammer is so rewarding to master as you understand how to exploit monster tells to build up stun and deal massive damage.
Become an Impenetrable Fortress with the Lance
Lance is commonly known for being a defensive powerhouse that has some pretty respectable offence. This has always been the case, but some new tools in Monster Hunter Wilds make the Lance the strongest it’s ever been. Lance’s strength lies in its relative safety. Its range means you can poke monsters from afar while hiding behind your shield when they wind up for big hits. You can also use angled strikes to hit airborne targets or focus on out of reach weak points.
While movement speed is very slow while unsheathed, the Lance has access to hops that allow you to quickly reposition in the middle of combat, allowing you to swiftly get out of harms way and continue your offence. When a monster inevitably hits the ground, the Lance has a lot of ways to get some great damage. The running charge is a great example of this, allowing you to run into a monster for multiple hits of damage.
The tower shield that Lance has also means you’re also able to Clash with monster attacks. These cinematic collisions will send a monster reeling if you’re successful in pushing them back, allowing you to follow up with a leaping thrust or shield attack. It takes Lance’s already impregnable defence to a whole new level. Like Hammer, the Lance has a simple gameplan that has quite a high skill ceiling thanks to it movement tech and ability to optimise damage output.
Build Up to Bombastic Finishers with the Switch Axe
If you’re wanting to try out some of the more unique weapons that’re still beginner friendly, the Switch Axe is a great place to begin. This morphing weapon can switch between a weighty axe mode that builds up power for you to morph into sword mode to unleash a whole heap of damage. While that sounds complex, it’s quite similar to Dual Blades in its gameplan and execution.
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As mentioned, attacking in axe mode builds up your sword mode gauge. Attacking in sword mode depletes this gauge but will also charge your sword mode further, empowering it with elemental or impact damage depending on your chosen Switch Axe. When sword mode is fully charged, you can also use Zero Sum Discharge, where you mount the monster and unload energy through your Switch Axe for massive damage. It also has access to Full Release Slash, which is riskier but amounts to large chunks of damage if executed properly.
It also has some handy new defensive options into its kit. For starters, sword mode has a counter that transitions nicely into other combos or a Full Release Slash. Axe mode also has an Offset Attack in its rising uppercut, which complements the relentless offence of Switch Axe quite nicely. It’s important to manage your sword mode charge effectively and to look for opportunities where you can pull off Full Release Slashes for big damage. It’s a fluid and aggressive weapon that feels great to use in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Rain Down Hell from afar with the Bow
While Heavy Bowgun and Light Bowgun are quite tricky to learn as a beginner player, the Bow is a strong and versatile ranged option for those who want more of a marksman playstyle. It’s all based around charging your shots for maximum damage and making use of perfect dodges to avoid attacks and refill your stamina.
You can also apply coatings in the heat of battle to deal additional damage, exhaust monsters, or even inflict them with status ailments. It’s this focus on debilitating your foe coupled with a healthy selection of movement options that make the Bow an approachable and easy to learn class of weapon. It also has some really big hitting moves when the window presents itself, with the Dragon Piercer tearing through monsters with big hit boxes.
It’s innate range also means you can spend time understanding monster tells, attacks, and how to best avoid them. The only trap you have to be careful not to fall into is running out of stamina. The Bow is a stamina hungry weapon if you want to keep your damage output consistent. Making use of stamina regen items like Dash Juice or Rations is important to keep ahead of the curve. Perfect dodges are another great way to keep stamina topped, but you need to be in the fray to activate them often.
At the end of the day, there’s no wrong choice for your first weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds, but it can have a drastic impact on your first experience. Regardless of what you choose, stick with it, look at the hunting guide for recommended combos and abilities, and above all else – experiment!
Monster Hunter Wilds is out now for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
