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Best Weapons in Monster Hunter Now

Executing combos to annihilate your opposition.

Monster Hunter has returned with its latest entry in the franchise that takes on a more fast-paced, interactive approach to the series. The franchise has made the switch to free mobile gaming and offers a unique 1v1 gameplay mechanic of hunting down beasts.

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Similar to Pokémon Go in its close-quarters battles instead of catching beasts, you will need to face them and dish out as much damage as possible before the enemy attacks. With a total of 6 Weapon Types available in the game, players will want to focus on the best weapon to use depending on the monsters they are facing and the playstyle that works best for them. This is Vincent’s guide on the best weapons to use in Monster Hunter Now.

What Weapons Should You Use in Monster Hunter Now?

With 6 Weapons to use: Sword & Shield, Great Sword, Long Sword, Hammer, Light Bowgun, and Bow, the choice of which is best to use comes down to gameplay and damage output. Each Weapon Type offers its own unique moveset and different mechanics to use in the midst of battle. If you are wondering which is best to use, we highly recommend the Sword & Shield, Long Sword, and Light Bowgun. If we were to create a ranking, we would put the Sword & Shield in first place, Light Bowgun in second, and Long Sword in third. Now let’s get into why these are the best to use.

Related: Top 10 Monster Hunter Games, Ranked.

Why You Should Use The Sword & Shield, Bowgun, and Long Sword?

Our recommendations are based on the easiest to use and master, with high damage output, and offer a great solo grinding experience. If you want something that requires skill and patience to master, you will want to use weapons such as the Great Sword and Bow. Each Weapon Type offers a unique skill move that should be used to take out a huge chunk of your opponent’s health, but some require timing from charging up and having accuracy to actually hit the monster.

Because of this, the Sword & Shield is an incredibly easy weapon to use that dishes out decent damage with every hit. It also offers more fast-paced attacking and defensive moves that allow you to easily evade the monster’s strikes whilst being able to attack the enemy after repositioning safely. It is quick to use, easy to master, and offers damage from the get-go. You have the ability to use combos to climb your enemy and air attacks such as slams to return to ground attacks. The Shield provides necessary defense, alongside the easy execution of dodge rolls to evade attacks.

Next, the Long Sword. Although harder to master and requires timing to execute most hits, the damage is higher than that of the Sword & Shield. Its charge attack can be used to counter an enemy’s attack or to completely avoid it, as you can fly past the enemy’s body mid-attack animation and avoid its hit altogether. This type also offers range, giving you distance against the enemy where you have more time to evade attacks.

Finally, the Light Bowgun offers a range of ammunition that can aid you from afar to deal damage against certain enemies. You will find that this weapon is much more effective than the Bow due to its faster fire rate and higher damage output. However, the Bowgun is quite slow in the reload so be sure to pay close attention to what the enemy in front of you is doing and time this at the correct point so you do not take unnecessary damage.

Disadvantages of the Great Sword, Hammer, and Bow

Although we have stated why you should use the Sword & Shield, Bowgun, and Long Sword, we want to explain why the other weapons are not as efficient as these. For starters, the Bow, Great Sword, and Hammer are much harder to use and master for beginners.

Whilst the Great Sword and Hammer offer high damage from the start, it offers little in the movability category which can often result in you getting hit either mid-attack animation or immediately after your swing. These two weapons require great timing and the memorizing of all of your attack moves so that you know how much damage you can successfully deal before you have to evade any attacks. These can easily result in you getting hit, whereas the three weapons we recommended above offer the ability to get out of the way of attacks easily and quickly.

Finally, the Bow offers very little in the damage department compared to the other Weapon Types, especially if you cannot execute combos. Whilst the other Weapon Types offer combinations and special moves that excel and dish out a ton of damage, the Bow is one that can be quite difficult to use effectively.

Most of your general damage output is much lower than that of the other weapons available in the game and with accuracy, precision, and distance needed, you will often find yourself having to use patience and repositioning, instead of punishing your enemy by getting in close or timing your special attack at the right moment.


We hope this guide on the best weapons to use in Monster Hunter Now was helpful. For more guides like this one guides see Do Monsters Respawn in Wild Hearts? and Best PC Graphic Settings for Wild Hearts. Thank you for reading this guide, if you want to see more from us you can follow us on Facebook.

Author
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Hadley Vincent
Hadley is a Freelance Writer for Gamer Journalist. They have been with the company since October 2022. With a BSc Honors in Psychology, Hadley focuses their creativity and passion for Video Games by primarily covering Horror, FPS, and anything with a great narrative. You will often find Hadley covering the latest indie horror games or deploying into Call of Duty's DMZ. They love a good story and one that can keep them up at night, be that for its scares or its lore.