All Monster Hunter Wilds weapon types explained

Weapon types in Monster Hunter Wilds

Weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds fall into four different types: Light, Heavy, Technical, and Ranged.

Light weapons allow your hunter to stay quick on their feet, dodging with ease, while Heavy weapons hit hard but are slower but can sometimes be used to block.

Ranged weapons are pretty self-explanatory, but technical weapons is an umbrella term for wildly varied options like flying through the air with the Insect Glaive or playing supportive music with the Hunting Horn.

Don’t forget, there’s a training area in base camp, and it’s worth spending some time there to pick which weapon is best for you.

Light Weapons

Dual Blades

One of the more popular weapons for newcomers, Dual Blades are flashy but there are levels of expertise to using them thanks to Demon and Archdemon modes.

The blades are combo-friendly, and initiating the Demon Mode will allow more elaborate offensive options while draining stamina, meaning it’s best to pair Dual Blades with something that’ll increase your stamina like the right meal.

Archdemon Mode buffs your attack speed, too, adding additional strikes in a shorter period of time - ideal for when a monster is knocked down and weaker.

Long Sword

Long Sword is one of the most obvious weapon types to gravitate towards for its flair and style, but it’s more challenging than you may think to master.

It’s built around counterattacking and a Spirit Gauge. The latter builds with damage dealt via attacks and Spirit Combos, moving from uncharged, to white, yellow, and red in the HUD under your weapon sharpness.

Once you’re at 'code red' you can deal increased damage but your Spirit will begin to dwindle, making Long Sword mastery a case of continually finding fresh ways to keep your meter in the red - usually via counterattacks.

Sword and Shield

One of the easiest weapon types in Monster Hunter Wilds for beginners, the Sword and Shield has long been one of the simplest to get to grips with.

It doesn’t deal the damage of its more powerful sword siblings, but it does have the added benefit of the shield. Not only that, but it incorporates sever damage with the sword, and the shield can be used for blunt damage, covering both damage types with a single loadout.

Heavy Weapons

Great Sword

If you’ve fancied yourself a bit like Cloud Strife, the Great Sword is a fun weapon that hits hard. It’s also handed to you right away at the start of the campaign, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily all that easy to use.

Put simply, it’s slow, but it does cover both attacking and blocking thanks to its sheer heft. You can Guard against a monster’s attaches, and then follow up with big, wide attacks or the lethal Charged Slash that remains infinitely satisfying to pull off.

Anything that can keep a monster in place to tee them up for the Charged Slash will be helpful - it’s a slow, three-stage attack that requires careful planning to ensure it hits right.

Gunlance

Is it a gun? Is it a lance? Nope, that one’s coming up - the Gunlance is, as the name suggests, a bizarre combo of a lance and firearm that mix together to make a really fun weapon that’s pretty versatile.

The lance part is a melee weapon with plenty of range, and it can guard, too, thanks to an additional shield. You can load in a variety of ammo types, but it’s worth remembering you’ll need to be crafting ammo regularly to take advantage of that fact, and you’ll need to reload mid-hunt, too, only adding to the Gunlance’s lack of mobility.

Hammer

There are few things more enjoyable in Monster Hunter than the sheer 'thunk' of a well-placed Hammer, but it’s a challenging weapon to use.

Like the Great Sword, its size makes moving while wielding it a little challenging, but it has a great chance to stun opponents since it’s all blunt damage. Some of its attacks are ideal for testing an opponent’s defences before whirling in with a huge strike when they’re knocked down.

Lance

A gunlance without a gun? How quaint! In all seriousness, the Lance is easier to use when detached from a firearm, giving you just positioning and attack timing to focus on.

Again, there’s range to it and the benefit of a shield, but in conjunction with being able to 'poke' at a monster’s wounds, there are few better for precise strikes right where it hurts.

Just be mindful that it’s very slow to reposition, so take every advantage you can get to adjust your footing while the monster is looking the other way.

Technical Weapons

Charge Blade

Two weapons for the price of one, the Charge Blade is one of Wilds’ more complex weapons as a result.

Its sword form lets you deal damage while staying nimble, charging up a meter that lets you convert to an axe and then hit harder at the cost of mobility. Experienced hunters will no doubt get the most out of it, but if you’re curious it’s worth keeping on your Seikret knowing you can practice in easier quests.

Hunting Horn

Another dual-purpose tool, the Hunting Horn is most easily compared to a hammer thanks to its heft and blunt damage.

The other side of it is based around melodies which buff things like attack strength. You’ll need to learn the most important melodies and when to play them, while a new feature in Wilds lets you create an area of effect status via an Echo Bubble.

These are tied to your chosen Hunting Horn, and allow you to save notes in the bubble so you can prepare multiple melodies in sequence.

Insect Glaive

This writer’s favourite weapon, the Insect Glaive is all about movement. You can use it to deal quick hits on the ground, but it really comes into its own when you use it to jump into the air.

This means the Insect Glaive is ideal for mounting monsters, while it also has plenty of range for hitting those Wound spots. The included Kinsect can be used to buff hunters, or debuff monsters, too.

We have a guide covering our best Insect Glaive build and one on how to manage Kinsects if you'd like to learn more about this weapon.

Switch Axe

Another weapon with an axe and sword combo, the Switch Axe differs from the Charge Blade by lacking a defensive shield, but has increased range.

It’s more offensive, letting players roll into position then hit with the axe or sword modes, while also offering a big elemental payoff for the sword configuration once you build up the included Phial.

Ranged Weapons

Bow

The Bow is, as you’d imagine, ideal for aerial threats, and while it fires more slowly than Bowguns it can use a Tracer in Wilds to make it easier for subsequent hits to strike their target.

You’ll need to manage stamina for pulling back on your shots, too, but you can recover some with perfect dodges.

Light Bowgun

Looking to keep a monster at a distance? The Bowgun could be perfect. It fires quickly and accurately, but you will need to keep your ammo levels topped up and keep crafting more.

It also allows for plenty of movement, but it can’t block like its heavy variant - which brings us nicely to…

Heavy Bowgun

The Heavy Bowgun has different special ammo depending on what one you’ve crafted, so be sure not to pick up the wrong one before heading on a hunt.

It’s much slower, but deals more damage and can be used to guard against attacking monsters.

Multiple weapons and how to switch in Monster Hunter Wilds

For the first time, players can now take more than one weapon on a hunt. You’re limited to two, and these can be switched when you’re on your Seikret (the bird-like mount).

While you borrow a Seikret early on in the campaign, it only takes a couple of main story quests to get one of your very own, and therefore the option to stow a weapon on board.

When you’re riding your Seikret, when playing with a controller press right on the D-Pad to switch between your chosen pair of weapons.

Blunt versus Severing damage types in Monster Hunter Wilds explained

Blunt and Severing damage (sometimes known as 'Cut' damage) are damage types that apply to certain weapon types.

Something like the Hammer does blunt damage, and hitting a monster in the head can trigger a stun. On the other hand, bladed weapons deal severing damage, and can remove monster tails.

Weapon crafting in Monster Hunter Wilds explained

Once you unlock Gemma’s Forge early on in the story, you’ll want to visit after each hunt to see if there’s anything you can use to upgrade your gear.

Armour has its own upgrade trees, but the key thing is that they both require many of the same materials, making it important to grab as many materials as you can while you’re out and about.

That includes small creatures, flora and fauna, and mining deposits - if you see it, grab it!

Hope you're enjoying Monster Hunter Wilds!