All of the weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds have three things in common: they’re big, they’re heavy and they take a lot of skill to wield.
Renowned for its deliberately deliberate combat system, with hulking swords, axes and hammers only matched in size by the monsters they’re designed to hunt, the Monster Hunter series can seem quite inapproachable not just to first-timers, but unsure fans who’re yet to gel with one of the diverse roster of weapons on offer.
To help you get to grips with which of the weapons is right for you, here’s a rundown of our picks for the best weapons in a range of categories. Your first tip is free: the pointy end goes towards the monster; but even that’s confusing when every end of these weapons is pointy.
It’s important to remember this too: Monster Hunter Wilds is a complicated game and every weapon requires some effort to learn and become comfortable with its moveset. However, because of this, every weapon also has its own unique advantages, so whatever you choose is valid; these are just our opinions.
Monster Hunter Wilds Best Weapons
Best weapon overall: Charge Blade
The Charge Blade is my personal favourite weapon in Monster Hunter because of its raw power, versatile moveset and ability to both handle every monster on its own or meaningfully contribute to party multiplayer.
It consists of a sword-and-shield form and an axe form, which you can switch between on-the-fly by performing different attacks and combos. These combos are a little complicated at first – and it’s definitely possible to use the Charge Blade “wrong” if you’re not careful – but the general flow is as follows:
- Quickly build up elemental energy by attacking in sword-and-shield form
- Perform a “Charge” move (R2 + Circle in sword form) to store the energy in the axe form
- Unleash exceptionally powerful and wide-reaching axe combos with your new elemental power (R2 + Triangle for vertical, R2 + Circle for horizontal)
- Once a monster is wounded, hold L2 and press R1 for a long-reaching, powerful sword attack to break the wound
- Switch back to axe form and repeat until you run out of elemental energy
A mistake a lot of new players make is using the sword-and-shield form for anything more than building up elemental energy and a bit of running around with faster movement speed (which doesn’t make any sense because the two sword and shield pieces should weigh the same as when they’re locked together as an axe).
You can see how much elemental energy you have stored in the small pots, called phials, in the top-left corner of your screen. When the phials are all red, that means they’re full and your sword attacks will start to bounce off of monsters. This is your cue to press R2 + Circle to Charge and switch to axe blows. You can definitely just use the axe attacks without charging energy first if you want, it’s just not as explosive.
The Charge Blade is also one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new mechanics in Monster Hunter Wilds, namely Focus Mode and Wounds.
One of the biggest weaknesses of the Charge Blade in previous iterations was that its combos were easy to get locked into and if you lined up your character poorly against more mobile monsters it was very easy to get into trouble.
But now with Focus Mode, you have much more control over where your attacks land mid-combo, effectively letting you turn and realign the flow of your attack to avoid costly misses.
Again, because of its slow movement speed in axe form, the Charge Blade also used to be difficult to reposition with. But now, with the Focus Mode Strike performed with R1 while holding L2, you have a really fast, incredibly long-reaching attack which allows you to cover distance quickly. This is obviously best used to attack monster wounds, but is also extremely good at closing medium distances when a monster jumps or runs away from you and doesn’t leave you as exposed to retaliation.
I feel like the Charge Blade is well-suited to both the early-game and post-game since it has access to a host of useful ailments and combines well with both the hunting horn to produce high-damage combos and ranged weapons as you draw the aggro and tank for other party members.
Best weapon for beginners: Dual Blades or Bow
Dual Blades
The Dual Blades are great for beginners in Monster Hunter because they rely on a simple strategy – hit things lots until they fall down – rather than a complicated web of combos, alternate forms and elaborate, missable, finishers to succeed.
They’re also one of the most mobile weapons and quickest to sheathe, which helps with tricky positioning mid-fight and lets you use items more quickly when you run into trouble.
While they don’t deal the most damage per hit, they’re one of the easiest melee weapons to reliably get in a lot of hits with – which makes them good for statuses – and don’t have a lot of mechanics going to waste if you just focus on regular combos. Their Focus Attack is also very far-reaching and up there with the best.
The main mechanic you need to get to grips with on the Dual Blades is called Demon Mode, where you press R2 to buff your character with increased damage and new combos. For a particularly furious flurry, press R2 to activate Demon Mode, then Triangle and Circle at the same time to perform a Blade Dance. You can then mash R2 to pull off an incredibly rapid series of slashes. If it doesn’t seem to be working, look at the orange sword indicator in the top left of your screen – you can only Demon Flurry after a Blade Dance when this is full. Does the game ever tell you that? Of course it doesn’t!
One of the only issues with Dual Blades is that they lose their sharpness quickly, and using a whetstone in the heat of battle or when pursuing a monster is very easy to forget for newer players. But if you can remember to sharpen them regularly, the Dual Blades will serve you very well.
Bow
There’s a meme that if you play with the Bow in Monster Hunter, are you really playing Monster Hunter? But that just speaks to a speed and accessible flexibility that couldn’t really be found in the older games. To make a comparison to another popular series, it’s kind of like playing Pyromancer in Dark Souls, or a Bleed build in Elden Ring.
The Bow is a strong and valid choice that’s fast and has access to a huge range of useful ailments as well as a great ability to quickly target specific parts of Monsters. What’s more, because of the distance a ranged weapon affords you, moment-to-moment there’s less of an emphasis on positioning, evading and learning monster attack patterns because you don’t need to worry about standing on a Monster’s toes.
This makes it a perfect weapon for beginners who’re finding all of the moving parts and complicated combos in the series overwhelming or just plain ol’ difficult.
Because of the different arrows you can use and elements you can imbue your base weapon with, the Bow also makes a great choice of secondary weapon.
The Bow isn’t completely point-and-shoot though, there are still a couple more things you need to consider: optimum range and arrow charging.
As you aim with the bow, you’ll notice your reticle is white. As you get closer to the monster, it will turn orange, indicating that you’re now at optimum range. If you leave this sweet spot, your shots will be so weak as to be ineffective.
Secondly, as you press R2 to attack, hold the button and watch the reticle slide into itself. Once the line reaches the middle and the reticle refills, this means you’re at half charge and you’ll deal a good amount of damage. You can continue to hold the button further for a full charge, but you need to consistently aim for this half-charged state and build that into the rhythm of your shots to be the most effective with your damage.
Best weapon for solo players: Switch Axe
If charging and changing between different elemental modes of the Charge Blade isn’t for you, then the similar, but more relentlessly aggressive, offensive prowess of the Switch Axe also offers a powerful and varied toolkit for holding the attention of even the toughest Monsters all by your lonesome.
In Monster Hunter Wilds, the huge weapons are a little faster than in previous entries in the series and the Switch Axe is one of the beneficiaries of this. It has a solid regular moveset, access to many different ailments on the crafting tree, and the ability to incorporate advanced strategies like charge attacks and combo finishers as you get more and more comfortable with all of the options at your fingertips.
Basically, the Switch Axe offers two heavy weapons in one: just the axe is more damaging and the sword is faster.
Both new and solo players will greatly appreciate the axe form’s Wild Swing attack, which is one of the few moves in the game which will let you wail away on a monster for massive damage as long as your stamina allows.
One of the only reasons I feel like the Switch Axe is weaker in Wilds than the Charge Blade is because of its Focus Attack, which is quite slow and static, but its follow up is still very good. Personally, I think almost every weapon works just as well on your own as with a party, but those that really pack a punch are the most satisfying. These include the already mentioned Switch Axe and Charge Blade, but also the Hammer, which is another really fun solo option.
Best weapon for multiplayer: Hunting Horn
If you want to be the most popular member of your online party, main the Hunting Horn. This unique weapon was introduced in the previous full-sized Monster Hunter game, Monster Hunter World, and functions essentially as this universe’s version of the Bard class.
By playing different songs on the Hunting Horn you can provide support buffs to yourself and allies, allowing your party to make the most of more specialized weapons they might have equipped and pull off the highest damage and most efficient part-breaking combos they can muster.
However, since this is Monster Hunter after all, the huge and heavy Hunting Horn also has the properties of a giant hammer, meaning it can put out solid slams and hefty hits at the same time as fulfilling its support role.
The Hunting Horn is an incredibly complex but incredibly cool concept which is very satisfying to play with.
Basically, in the top left-hand corner of your screen is a staff (the five horizontal lines musical notes are written on). Your Triangle attack plays one note, your Circle attack plays another note, then your Triangle + Circle attack plays a third.
Depending on the kind of Hunting Horn you’ve crafted, you then have a repertoire of songs you can play. When you’ve attacked in the right order of notes to play a song, you can then hit R2 to “Perform” and grant a buff based on the song you’ve played.
It’s technical, powerful and a lot of fun – but definitely too much for a lot of players. That means not only is it best in multiplayer where you can buff other players, but your party can also carry some of the mental load and control the monster for you so you’re not lost in the moment-to-moment of the fight and can actually think about what you’re doing.
Best weapon for applying statuses: Dual blades or Bow or Heavy Bowgun
Both on your own and in a party, statuses like poison, paralysis, sleep and blast are a powerful and exciting addition to any Hunter’s arsenal. It feels like elements are more of a focus this time in Monster Hunter Wilds, so it makes sense to make the most out of them – it’ll put you at a massive advantage against a slew of tough creatures.
When applying status build-up, the most important thing isn’t necessarily to put out a lot of damage, but to get a lot of hits consistently. The best melee weapon for doing this is the rapid, barbaric flurry of the Dual Blades, but the best ranged weapons also excel at applying statues; namely the Bow and Heavy Bowgun.
The Heavy Bowgun in particular with its mounted rapid-fire mode is almost guaranteed to land a status when timed with a stun or knock-down, making it the perfect partner for a large weapon-wielding party-mate like the Hammer, Charge Blade, Switch Axe or Great Sword.
For more explainers covering Monster Hunter Wilds’ deepest systems, as well as item locations and tips on the best gear, check out our in-progress Monster Hunter Wilds guide hub.