Monster Hunter World!!!!!

Ok, PSA: Bow is easy mode in MHW. Seriously. This thing is way OP. ;)

I still think the Swag Axe is more fun, but Bow seems a great option when you’re hunting for specific parts, or when you want to be done quickly and without pain.

I could never get the hang of the bow for some reason. I saw tons of vids where people destroyed monsters with it but it just never clicked for me.

The greatest benefit of the bow is that, by staying a bit away from the monster (without having to stop attacking), you can read it much better, and you have more time to react to whatever the monster does. Also, mobility with the bow is not only great, but beneficial - if you sidestep while aiming you get a charge, so your next attack gets stronger. Well, if it’s not at max charge already, that is.

The big challenge with the bow is stamina management. That’s it. It’s a very powerful, adaptable and easy to use weapon. It’s not as exciting as other weapons might be, but for me, it is easy mode. I captured a Jyuratodus and a Rathian without even using a potion, not once. That’s unheard of for me. ;)

So, another week, another weapon I think will be my main! This time, it’s a weapon in which didgeridoo rhymes with blunt trauma - the Hunting Horn!

Seriously. Such a fantastic weapon. Yesterday I ended up hunting a Great Girros during an expedition to the Rotten Vale and I was impressed by how easy it was with the HH. I didn’t even notice the small Girros because my wide arc attacks would just obliterate them while I fought the Great Girros. Also hunted a Pukei-Pukei and an Anjanath and in both cases it was soooo smooth. Really fun to play (pun intended).

So yeah, since my Palico is using a Coral Orchestra, we’re the Bard Duo now! Dropping the beat(down) on monsters since January 2019. ;)

The blacksmiths just love guys like you that can’t make up your mind.

I know, right? I did craft a few sword and shield sets yesterday to try, and I’m really liking those too. ;)

LA-LA-LA-LA, I CAN’T HEAR YOU.

Sticking with charge blade still, though HH is on my list. I’ve avoided it thus far as my son already plays hammer and it seems like we’d be conflicting with each other.

So, uh, went to hunt Legianas today (for Monster Bone+). Hunting Horn was hard. Charge Blade was hard. Switch Axe was hard. Sword and Shield? Done and done.

Then, time to hunt an Odogaron. Sword and Shield. Easy peasy. Even knocked it out with a shield bash! So cool.

Yeah, I’d say I’m liking this one. ;)

Yep, SnS is great. The biggest issue I had with it is that the lack of range made it hard to see what was going on. I’m bad at situational awareness in general, and having to be that close to a monster just made it worse.

I finally convinced myself to switch back to the heavy bowgun and try it with a shield. I could get used to having actual defense - what is this…blocking?! I took on a easy peasy Hornetaur investigation to play around with it - a Radobaan rolled away and ignored my potshots, but when I finally annoyed an Odogaron, all that yelling brought around a Bazelgeuse and then the Radobaan decided to come back and also crash the party, and this is why I love the game, giant monster brawling never gets old.

So it seems like you love almost every weapon. Hah. Which is great.

“Almost” is the key here. I tried Longsword and didn’t really like it. At least for now I have no interest in Hammer, or Dual Blades, or any of the Lances. And while I may try Light Bowgun at some point, I’m not much interested in Bowguns either.

And it seems that the weapon that does fit my playstyle best is Sword and Shield. Good mobility, good versatility, good support, lots of options in terms of raw damage, or elemental damage, or ailments. It’s a very well-rounded weapon, and the one I’m having the most success with currently.

I might try the Bow a bit more. It was really easy mode for me earlier, but now that I just made it to High Rank, it might be good to see how well it fares at this point.

BTW, I tried MP for the first time yesterday. Nothing fancy - just responding to Low Rank SOS Flares - but I loved it! I can see me doing that more, in a more support-oriented role, as is usual in my case.

On that note, here’s a tip: don’t hunt Odogarons with a Hunting Horn. It’s… uh… painful. ;)

I love MP. I’ve got my private group to three now. I am slowly, very slowly, trying to sell them on the idea of just doing open sessions and posting the quests. We’re pretty far behind, so the blob should be well ahead of us. If a fourth person joins us, it will be fine even if they’re still getting the hang of it. If I don’t get in there fast enough, I won’t care. I’ll let them fight, and then we can just do it again. I’m ahead of them on PC anyway and my experience on PS4 gives me some advantage anyway.

I wish Capcom had just considered the cut-scenes, small group with random combo’s just a tad better but hey, hopefully the next one. I assume there will be another one.

So this finally kinda clicked with me - bow dancing is fun and I actually understand the crafting loop now.

I just fought Sonic’s angrier, bonier cousin - and now they’re saying they’re going to move the airship further down into the vale, and that this is the “point of no return.” This would normally indicate a final boss fight or some other breakpoint in a game, but this doesn’t seem like the right time for that. Can someone clarify what’s meant here? Is there something I should be doing to “prepare?”

It’s just the next mission.

OK, so that’s all theatrics. I kind of thought so, but “point of no return” is often a real warning in games. Thanks!

I’m looking forward to the next week and reading about your new favorite weapon lol. Your posts really remind me of what I went through on my MHW journey.

Do try Lance sooner rather than later though, especially if you like Sword and Shield.

Well, I’ve tried Light Bowgun yesterday for a bit. I like the fact that it can adapt to almost anything, all that with good mobility too, so it might be a cool option to bring with me when responding to SOS Flares, so I have many options to help the team as necessary… but it’s certainly not a new favorite for solo play. Far from it.

I’ll try Lance at some point. But so far, I guess my favorite still is Sword and Shield.

I’m kinda migrating back to bow at the moment. Charge Blade is lots of fun, but I’m starting to really see what makes ranged weapons click for me - wider field of view, and less staggering/tripping. I’ve yet to learn how to stay out of the constant stuns and trips that occur just by being within 10ft of a monster, and bow lets me cheat around that. Even with a stun resist 3 charm, I get tripped/staggered all over the place, and some of those last nearly as long as a stun.

I still feel bad because it seems like MH is a game about melee, and ranged almost feels cheaty. I console myself with the fact that I will ultimately need to build weapons for every element, and have a number of different gear/deco loadouts.

Well, nothing wrong going with ranged weapons. Those are safer to use, give you better situational awareness (thanks partly no not have to fight with the camera most of the time), and adapt better to almost any battle. They don’t look as cool or hit as hard, but that’s part of the equation.

That said, I gotta hand it to Capcom there - they make every weapon in MHW interesting in some way. Some are better at certain things than others, but all of them have something special.