Best starter Heavy Bowgun builds in Monster Hunter Wilds

The best Heavy Bowgun build in Monster Hunter Wilds is the one that gets the most out of its variety of elemental damage types and status effects without sweating over ammo. It’s the perennial blessing and curse of Monster Hunter’s dedicated ranged options: You get to chip away at a monster’s HP in more ways than anyone else on the battlefield, but you’re also the only one with an ammo pouch that can run dry.

Bringing a Heavy Bowgun to the party in Monster Hunter forces you to relearn good positioning. Sure, bowguns have the luxury of dishing out damage from a distance, but they’re also finicky about exactly how far away you should be from the target. Back up too far and you’ll notice bullets bouncing off a monster’s skin for a measly one damage. Get too close and you have the same problem. Once you dial in that golden distance, though (more on that below), monsters will have a miserable time dealing with the Heavy Bowgun’s versatility.

First I’ll go over the Heavy Bowgun’s playstyle for new Monster Hunter players and explain the new features added to Wilds for returning players. Then we talk builds: The best armor pieces and Heavy Bowguns for shredding through Monster Hunter Wilds’ Low Rank campaign.

How to play Heavy Bowgun in Monster Hunter Wilds

Efficient Heavy Bowgun play starts with getting acquainted with the gun you’ve crafted—its ammo types, Ignition Mode attack, and base mods. Then. it’s all about dialing your aim. Here’s the Heavy Bowgun playbook.

1. Ammo up: Before every hunt, go into your tent and restock your ammo pouch. When gathering supplies to craft ammo, set all of your desired ammo types to auto craft with R3.
2. Consult the monster guide: If you’ve fought a monster before, check if that monster is weak to any elemental ammo your bowgun supports (Thunder, Poison, Freeze, etc).
3. Hold LT to aim, RT to fire, and Y to reload: Simple as that.
4. Swap ammo on the fly: You can cycle between ammos quickly by holding LB and up/down on the dpad. Alternatively, you can assign ammos to quick slots on a custom radial menu.
5. Learn effective range. Every ammo type has a different effective range. You won’t deal maximum damage unless your reticle is orange and looks like this:

One of the simplest weapons in Monster Hunter on its face, but the Heavy Bowgun reveals its complexity through its Ignition Mode, Wilds’ reworked “supercharged” mode for bowguns, and the mods you can attach outside of battle to change its behaviors. Below are some advanced tips for Heavy Bowguns new to how they work in Wilds, plus a major defensive upgrade exclusive to the weapon:

• Shields: No longer a mod, every Heavy Bowgun comes with a shield that will automatically block attacks from the front if you’re not in the middle of an animation.
• Perfect Guard: Press Y+B to hunker down in place and attempt a perfect block. Timing this block right will let you follow up with a Focus Blast (more on that below). Perfect Guards can also trigger a Power Clash with the monster (mash Y), toppling it and scoring some free damage in the process.
• Normal, Spread, and Pierce Ammo are infinite: All Heavy Bowguns now have access to these three basic ammo types, and their ammo is infinite. You can’t craft better versions of these ammos anymore—their power level is determined by the bowgun itself and mods.
• Ignition Mode: Press LT+B to attach a special high-damage ammo type that burns Ignition Mode meter (visible under the reticle). There are two types of Ignition ammo: Wyvernheart, a full-auto machinegun mode, and Wyvernpiercer, essentially way better pierce ammo.
• Focus Blast: Press LT+RB to plant your feet and fire a sticky shot that destroys wounds and topples monsters for major damage. You can bank three Focus Blasts at a time that recharge on a cooldown.
• Wyverncounter: A unique offset attack that Heavy Bowguns can use while in Ignition Mode by holding Y. A special melee-range ammo is loaded on the bowgun’s barrel, and firing just as a monster’s attack connects will send it toppling backwards instead of hurting you.
• Wyvernblast: An alternative to Wyverncounter that plants your feet and charges a huge blast of damage.
• Mods: That “Customize Bowgun” option on every equipment screen is just for you. Heavy Bowguns get three mod slots, which you can use to expand the magazine size of an ammo, increase its power, or further buff Ignition Mode. As you get to know the weapon and the monster you’ll be hunting, tailor this to the fight before you set out.

Best Heavy Bowgun build for Low Rank

In truth, not a lot of Low Rank armor has anything exciting going for bowgun users, so you’ll notice a pattern here: Botanist, because it makes restocking ammo in the middle of a hunt a much faster process. On the weapon side, we’re focusing on defense and a few nice attack-boosting perks.

• First weapon: Iron Assault

The basic Heavy Bowgun on the Ore tree is admittedly boring, except for one thing: Tetrad Shot, which increases the affinity and damage of every fourth and sixth shot. This is best used with Normal ammo, which is now a 3-round burst by default, and the Iron Assault’s level 2 Pierce ammo. For one of the first Heavy Bowguns you can get your hands on, this is a really nice damage boost.

• Second weapon: Rompo Sniper 1

Guard Up level 2! This lets you block usually unblockable attacks with the Bowgun’s shield, which gets increasingly important through the Low Rank campaign as monster size ramps up. Just point your gun in the direction of the monster, go for Perfect Guards when able, and you’ll be surprised how much this iteration of Heavy Bowgun can play like a Lance or Gunlance.

• Third weapon: Nu Muneo 1

One of several Rarity 4 Heavy Bowguns that can carry you across the Low Rank finish line just fine, but I especially enjoy the increased reload speed that comes with Opening Shot level 2. That pairs nicely with its level 2 Spread Ammo, letting you stay in the monster’s face and spend less time leaving yourself open during a reload.

• First armor set: Leather Headgear, Leather Vest, Hope Vambraces, Leather Belt, Leather Pants

There aren’t any armors at the start of Low Rank that pair with Heavy Bowgun specifically, but the closest by far is the Leather set’s Botanist perk, which at higher levels increases the pickup rate of all herbs, mushrooms, and insects. This makes ammo gathering a lot easier, so throw on at least two or three of these Leather pieces and load up on all the Thunder, Sticky, Fire, and Paralysis ammo you can carry.

• Second armor set: Nerscylla Helm, Kranodath Mail, Nerscylla Vambraces

Once you start fighting tougher monsters, you’ll want to start backing away from the Leather set and craft something sturdier. The Nerscylla set’s Ambush perk is decent for sneak attacks if you’re already in the monster’s face using Spread Ammo and the Kranodath Mail grants Flinch Free, which will help your reloads go uninterrupted by cheap shots from a beast.

• Third armor set: Duna Helm, Duna Mail, Duna Vambraces

This set works best once you’ve gotten confident with the flow of Heavy Bowgun. Other than a nice base defense upgrade from the Duna set that’ll carry us toward High Rank, the best perk here is Peak Performance, which increases attack for a while if your HP is full. We’re taking a bit of a gamble that we can dodge, distract, or generally space out monsters well enough that they don’t make contact too often. If you’re a “Guard Up” bowgun user all the way, consider another Rarity 3 or 4 armor like the Ajarakan.