Monster Hunter Wilds Bow Build Guide (Moves, Gear, How To Play)

While many weapon builds in Monster Hunter Wilds are fairly straightforward, the Bow has multiple features that make it harder to choose a path. Due to the variety of moves and mechanics exclusive to the Bow, the gear that defines a build for this weapon can be more complicated than you’d expect. From unique Coatings to specific armor Skills, a solid Bow build assembles many different concepts.

Every Bow weapon comes with individual Coatings you can apply to arrows, making each Bow along different upgrade trees unique. When you use the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds​​​​​​, you can only equip the specific Coatings tied to it during a hunt. Some Coatings inflict Status effects, others simply do more damage, but knowing when and where to activate Coatings can help you take down monsters much faster.

How To Play A Bow Build

Deal Damage Through Creating Wounds And Exploiting Weaknesses

The goal of any Bow build is to maintain your Stamina and create Open Wounds on a monster to exploit for constant, high DPS. The Bow can be one of the most damaging weapons against monsters in the right hands, especially if your build has multiple Skills supporting an aggressive strategy. Since every shot you make with your Bow drains your Stamina though, you need to balance your offense and mobility simultaneously.

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Monster Hunter Wilds: How To Use Trick Arrow Gauge & Tracers

The Trick Arrow Gauge is a unique feature of the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds, acting as a resource you can use with Tracer arrows to hunt monsters.

Your Bow’s damage depends on what type of weapon you’re using, as most deal either Elemental or Non-Elemental Damage. The Affinity on any Bow determines your chances of landing critical hits, making high Affinity crucial for some Bow builds. When landing Bow combos in Monster Hunter Wilds, you can quickly land critical shots on targets to deal the weapon’s highest potential damage.

As you play using a Bow build, here are some crucial techniques to remember to constantly utilize the weapon’s unique strengths:

No matter what Bow build you’re using, you also have to fill up the Trick Arrow Gauge to use Tracers and Coatings during a hunt. The Trick Arrow Gauge is filled up when you land attacks against a monster or when you use your Charging Sidestep to perfectly dodge a creature’s incoming attack. One-third of the Gauge is needed for most actions, so some builds thrive off giving you more ways to gain the resource.

Best Bow Gear & How To Get It

Match The Right Skills To Weapon Upgrades

The best gear for Bow builds are ones that deplete less Stamina, either through Skills or weapon/armor Decorations. This is only possible by collecting certain gear or unlocking the right weapon upgrade in Monster Hunter Wilds that grants you the right skills. As you go through both Low-Rank and High-Rank, certain Bow gear will become more appealing to give you additional strength.

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No matter what Rank you’ve reached, some Skills are almost necessary for the Bow to make any build work. Generally, Skills that increase your Affinity and damage while targeting monster weaknesses are good for Bows, especially if they are maxed out. Here are some Skills to look for on any type of gear for a strong Bow build:

• Constitution – Lessens fixed Stamina depletion.
• Critical Boost – Boosts the damage from critical hits.
• Stamina Surge – Speeds up Stamina recovery.
• Spread/Power Shots – Increases the attacking power of the Bow’s Power Shots and Quick Shots.
• Burst – Provides additional elemental and raw damage to your weapon after landing attacks consecutively.
• Weakness Exploit – Increases Affinity when you attack monster weak points and Wounds.

The following tables go over the best gear you can get for a Low-Rank or High-Rank Bow build, including the skills and Decoration slots including in specific weapons or armor pieces:

This Low-Rank build gives you a bonus from wearing multiple pieces of the Guardian Ebony Odogaron armor. While wearing 4 pieces of G. Ebony armor, you can Burst Boost (4), a Skill that extends the duration of Burst and grants a significant attack bonus. This bonus only applies when Burst is active, but this unique armor set ability will last for a long time when you have the max number of pieces for its best effect.

Having multiple instances of the same skill on your gear will cause them to level up, stacking their effects and making them stronger. While it may take some time to grind for the best Bow build possible in Monster Hunter Wilds, getting the right gear can make you unstoppable on future hunts.

Released

February 28, 2025

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence, Blood, Crude Humor

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