Choosing your Weapons

In Monster Hunter: World there are 14 different weapons to choose from, each is unique and they can all be upgraded to do serious damage. There is no best weapon, you just need to experiment with the weapons on offer and focus on the one that best suits your gamestyle. Some weapons are more challenging for a beginner to pick up than others, the star rating next to each one indicates the accessability for new players.

You are given a basic version of each weapon for free when you begin quests so it is advised that you take a few different ones with you and see which one you click with. If you prefer you can always use the training ground to get a feel for a weapon with no risk of fainting. Finding out early on what your ideal weapon is beneficial as it will prevent you from pouring crafting resources into a weapon that you will not be using.

Sword & Shield

This weapon offers a good balance of offense and defense without compromising your movement. It also allows you to use healing items while still equipped. The swords short reach puts you at a disadvantage against bigger monsters and its attack does not do a lot of damage so you will have to work hard to bring down your quarry.

Dual Blades

If being quick and nimble is your style of play you may want to consider the Deal Blade. Although this weapon will increase your movement speed it will not do much damage with each hit unless it is taken into Demon mode where its attacks will have boosted damage. Remember though that while Demon mode is active your stamina will drain which can lead to you over exerting yourself and becoming exposed and vulnerable to attacks if you stay in it too long so managing your stamina is of paramount importantance.

Light Bowgun

This is a ranged projectile weapon that to be effective requires that you aim it from the correct distance and load it with the right ammo type. There are lots of different ammo types it can use and each has its own status effect. Ammo types need to be crafted but it is worth the extra effort. Learning how to quickly and efficiently swop the ammo types during battle is the key to using the light bow gun effectively. There are two types of firing modes, one of which brings up cross hairs for more accurate aiming.

Heavy Bowgun

This heavy ranged weapon adds plenty of different status effects to monsters. To have an optimum effect the heavy bowgun must be fired from the correct distance. This weapon like the light bow gun uses different ammo types which can leave you vulnerable to attacks when you need to reload it.

Bow

This versatile weapon which is ideal for ranged attacks applies different status effects to enemies as and when they are needed during combat. Unlike the Light Bowgun and Heavy Bowgun the bow doesn't fire different ammo, it uses powder coatings which are appied to the arrows. It also has special attacks to charge your shots which comes at the cost of stamina.

Great Sword

This weapon is massive and heavy making it slow to weild when drawn, it does however make up for this by dealing massive amounts of damage on every hit, especially the charged attacks. As it is such a hefty weapon that slows you down considerably it is only worth drawing when you are in a position to hit something.

Long Sword

This weapon is easy to weild and has a decent reach. There is a spirit meter just below the stamina bar which you can charge up by dishing out damage. Once you have some charge in it you will be able to do Spirit Attacks which will enable you to do extra damage.

Switch Axe

This dual purpose weapon that allows you to switch from an axe and a large sword. The axe has range and heft and the sword can be weilded with speed and has the added benefit of phials which allows you to release stored energy and attacks. However without those added benefits the sword is not very effective and you will find it more beneficial to revert back to the axe.

Charge Blade

This weapon has two modes, using it in sword mode enables you to charge the axe allowing you to unleash the energy stored in the phials to deal out extra damage. In sword mode you also have the added benefit of using a shield when can used to deflect minor blows. The most important thing to consider when using the charge blade is knowing when to make the change.

Insect Glaive

This weapon comes in two parts, the glaive which is a swift and fluid double bladed staff and the kinsect which is a bug that is attached to your arm which you are able to fire at your enemies. When you send out the kinsect it will grab extracts from monsters to give you buffs. The fallibles with this weapon for beginners is aiming and launcing it as well as learning the tricky aerial moves.

Hammer

This close combat weapon has a short range and is slow to wield. The advantage it has however it that its charged attacks are unblockable and if you can land a few in a row you will knock your adversary out. As it is such a hefty weapon you need to enure you are going to hit your quarry before you swing it.

Hunting Horn

This weapon is similar to the hammer in that you can knock monsters out with it, but has the advantage of an increased range. It also has a musical horn that plays different songs which adds additional buffs to you and members of your party. The disadvantage with this weapon is that it is tricky to use for beginners as there is a series of combinations that must be learnt if you want to weild it effectively.

Lance

This long ranged weapon comes with a useful shield and is effective at both low and high attacks, the lance allows you to seek out weak spots and dish out damage with precision. The disadvantage with this weapon is that your movement is seriously hampered when using it which increases your reliance on the shield to protect yourself which uses stamina.

Gunlance

This heavy weapon as its name would suggest is a lance that doubles up as a gun. The lance enables you to seek out your enemies weak spots and stab them while the gun allows you to fire explosives that adds damage to your attack. The disadvantage with this weapon it that it has a tendancy to go blunt quickly and will require you to pull out your whetshone frequently to keep it sharp.