Summary
Like most of the other weapons, bowguns have had a bit of a rework inMonster Hunter Wilds. Both light and heavy bowguns function a little differently thanprevious games, and ranged fighting inMonster Hunterhas always been a little more complex than just pointing and shooting. That means that these weapon types can be a little confusing for new players, especially when they start to get into ammo mods and craftable ammo types.
For light and heavy bowguns, there are the standard ammo types: normal, spread, and pierce. These don’t have to be crafted and come with every bowgun. Each bowgun also works with certain special ammo types. These are craftable ammo types with special properties. Some types are limited to certain weapon types, exclusive to either light or heavy bowguns.
Once players get into the system, it’s less complicated than it sounds. The ammo system has been streamlined compared to previous games, but there’s still the question of whether these special ammo types are worth using. Not all ammo types are worth investing time in crafting, using, and building gear around. For players who want a quick go-to guide, these are the best ammo types to craft inMonster Hunter Wilds.
14Paralysis Ammo
Stop Them In Their Tracks
Status effect inflicting ammo is a good choice, especially for light bowgun players. Paralysis ammo is effective against most monsters and can make hunts a lot easier, allowing multiple procs of paralysis in one hunt. Certain light bowguns can rapid-fire status-based ammo, which can be highly effective.
13Sleep Ammo
Snooze Shot
Sleep is less generally useful than paralysis as a status effect, but it’s still a worthwhile ammo type. Sleep stops a monster from attacking and opens them up for big hits in a similar way to paralysis, so it’s equally effective. Some monsters are more vulnerable to sleep, so crafting this ammo can come in handy in the right hunt.
12Poison Ammo
Damage Over Time
Poison can be a valuable status effect against any monster that’s vulnerable. Having damage over time ticking on a monster while players inflict their main damage from other sources can make hunts go a bit faster for bowgun players. Light bowguns will always have an easier time proccing status effects, but poison can be used with either bowgun type.
11Dragon Ammo
Dragon Element Damage
Elemental ammo can be useful for both types of bowgun inMonster Hunter Wilds, when it’s used to target monster weaknesses. Dragon element is one of the more generally useful elements, as there are several high-tiermonsters with a dragon element weakness. All elemental ammo inWildsacts the same as pierce ammo when shot, dealing multiple instances of damage and passing through the monster.
10Thunder Ammo
Thunder Element Damage
Thunder element is another very useful type of elemental damage, as there are some monsters inMonster Hunter Wildswith aThunder element weakness. Like with other elemental ammo, it’s only worth using against monsters with a weakness. Bowgun players need to pay attention to the ideal range when using elemental ammo, too, as both types of bowgun have a damage sweet spot a short distance away from monsters.
9Flaming Ammo
Fire Element Damage
Fire is slightly less useful than the two elements above as there are fewer total monsters with a weakness to it, but it’s still worth using against monsters that do have afire weakness. When crafting ammo, players should note that normal ammo is infinite, so the only thing needed to craft more ammo on the fly is the other primary ingredient, like the Fire Herb here for flaming ammo.
8Freeze Ammo
Ice Element Damage
Freeze ammo isn’t quite as useful as it sounds. It doesn’t freeze enemies, it’s just the name given to Ice elemental ammo. It’s still a useful ammo type againstenemies with an Ice weakness, but players should be aware that it’s just another elemental ammo type.
7Water Ammo
Water Element Damage
Water comes at the bottom of the tier list of elemental damage types. That’s just because there are slightly fewermonsters with a Water weaknessinMonster Hunter Wildsat the moment compared to other elemental damage types. As with the other elemental types, it’s still worth using if a monster is weak to the element.
6Cluster Bomb
Indiscriminate AoE
For heavy bowgun players, cluster bombs are a slow but powerful AoE. A cluster bomb drops 3 to 5 shells depending on the bowgun level, and these blasts all deal damage in a small radius. The radius is tight, so shots have to be well-aimed, especially as stray blasts can damage a player’s companions.
Cluster Bombs are shot like a mortar, requiring the player to stand in place for a moment, so their use has to be well-timed, but they deal heavy damage.
5Wyvern Ammo
Explosive Shot
Wyvern ammo is anotherheavy bowgunexclusive ammo type. This is a powerful, single-shot charged blast that deals relatively high damage. Unfortunately, relatively high isn’t quite high enough to make Wyvern Ammo worth using over other ammo types due to the length of time taken to load the ammo and fire the shot.
