How do you use the Monster Hunter Wilds bow? The bow returns in Wilds, and is one of the Monster Hunter weapons that has received the biggest changes, making it more accessible to new players, that’s if you’re able to manage your stamina and you like mid to long range combat, with the occasional close-range monster dodge.
The bow doesn’t require any ammo management, making it a great option over similar Monster Hunter Wilds weapons such as the bowgun, but it does require you to keep an eye on your stamina as well as effectively manage a new trick arrow gauge. The best Monster Hunter Wilds bow build should see you switching between shot types and using your trick arrow gauge to land killer blows, let’s take a look at how it works.
How to use the Monster Hunter Wilds bow
The bow’s update in Wilds means it has more varied playstyle and combat options for new and returning players, and if you’re set on using the bow, you can always choose stamina skills to help you manage this better in combat. Quick shots, however, don’t use any stamina, and there are ways to recharge your stamina in combat that require a well-timed dodge.
The trick arrow gauge can be used to fire special arrows such as coatings and tracer arrows. Tracer arrows consume some of the trick gauge, but allow shots that home in on a targeted area, and detonate after enough time has passed or enough damage has been dealt. It also allows longer range, furthering critical distance, and is great to use in combo with other attacks such as quickshot, coating shots, or spread, as they’re guaranteed to hit.
All Bow coatings:
- Power coating
- Close-range coating
- Piercing coating
- Poison coating
- Paralysis coating
- Sleep coating
- Blast coating
- Exhaust coating
The gauge itself is a small bar found on the righthand side of the screen, divided into three sections, with each section consumed, eight coating arrows or tracer arrows are loaded into your bow. The trick is, you need to keep this topped up, so you’re able to constantly land combos, and fortunately there are a few ways to keep this trick gauge up. You can earn trick gauge by attacking, dodging, and charging.
The trick gauge is the center of how combos can be used to effectively target and weaken monsters. The arc shot, for example, leaves lingering bomb arrows behind on an enemy that always land if tracer arrows are used, and bombs can quickly be dealt with using Dragon Piercer to set them off.
Monster Hunter Wilds bow moveset
- Dodge – Use this to raise charge, stamina, and trick gauge.
- Flying Shot – Instead of sidestepping, jump in a certain direction while shooting an arrow.
- Arc Shot – Fire arrows into the sky that rain down on a monster, can be charged up to three levels to increase the amount of bomb arrows left behind.
- Instant Dragon Piercer – Half the ready time, does half the damage, but can be used to detonate bomb arrows.
- Thousand Dragons – Does a volley of spread arrows that deal high damage, great paired with the bombs and tracer arrows.
- Hailstorm – A two-part focus strike, if a monster is wounded, aim the arrow at the wound or tracer arrow to launch a tracking arrow that hits multiple places on the monster. It can be charged up to three levels to increase the amount of arrows and unleash a follow up attack that deals damage to the wounds.
Now that you’re caught up on how to use the bow, here’s how to use the Great Sword in Monster Hunter Wilds to take down all these Monster Hunter Wilds monsters. For more on the upcoming game, here are the MHW characters and what to expect from the MHW beta in February.