Hunter Weapons

There are 14 types of weapons for use by Hunters. Weapons are divided into two different classes: melee and ranged. The type of armor worn by Hunters should correspond with their chosen weapon and overall strength and build. For example, if you wish to exert mobility, wearing plate armour and using a greatsword would likely be detrimental, whereas if you are looking for raw power and high defence, choosing a bow and wearing leather or monster feather armour would not be advised.

Each weapon causes certain types of damage: severing, blast and pierce. The weak spots of a monster may vary depending on the type of damage dealt to it. Severing damage is notably useful for slicing off the tails of certain monsters, while blast builds up with use and results in a large explosion that can stun monsters. Pierce damage excels at breaking through tough enemy armour, and revealing the flesh underneath.

Most weapons are capable of delivering two or more types of damage, with varying efficiency. For example, the Sword and Shield and Great Sword primarily focus on dealing severing damage, but are also capable of causing blast damage with certain attacks. A few weapons, such as the hammer and long sword, strictly focus on utilizing blast and severing damage respectively.

There are five types of elemental damage that can be attributed to a weapon: Fire, Lightning, Water, Ice and Dragon

All weapons are forged out of combinations of metal, along with monster skins and materials. Higher level metals and monster parts will make the weapon stronger and more sturdy. As such, there are hundreds of weapons a Hunter can have made, provided they have the adequate materials to provide a smithy with, as well as the coin.

While there is no limit to how many weapons a Hunter can use or master, most Hunters stick to mastering familiarity of a single weapon before deciding to move on to another, while some Hunters will use a single weapon type for their whole career.

### **Full List of Weapons**

While the below shows the 14 different types of Hunter Weapons, this is a full list of every weapon that can be crafted, whether from metal, bone or other monster materials.

## Greatsword

The Great Sword is a weapon capable of dealing massive damage. It can be charged to deliver even more power, although charging the blade slows it even more, leaving you easily open for attacks. It also has a generally lower sharpness than other weapons, so it's wise to have sharpening tools around and use them regularly.
As a weapon which has its own depth of usage and requires a certain amount of training to be able to master and fully use, the Great Sword is not just any big pointy stick. It can also block, serving as a shield with slightly better protection than the Sword and Shield. Blocking comes with a downfall, however, as each time you shield an attack the sword will lose sharpness.
### **Advantages**

* Extremely powerful
* Can guard against attacks
* Can perform charged attacks, increasing its already sheer raw power
* Can destroy certain hard-to-reach parts on flying wyverns
* Long range
* Sharpness is lost very slowly while attacking, so even a small bar of a level of sharpness can take a Great Sword a long time and lots of hits to drop to a lower level - thus higher damage can be dealt with the same amount of Sharpness compared to other weapon classes.
* Can be drawn instantly to block monsters' attacks - this is referred to as Instant Guard - and this can save the Hunter's life.
* Performing charge attacks will cause monsters to flinch more than any other weapon.

### **Disadvantages**

* Extremely slow movement and evasion.
* It is impossible to KO monsters, much like a hammer can.
* Users must always sheath and unsheath the weapon due to its sluggish speed
* Requires tremendous skill and practice to use and master its striking ranges.
* Blocking reduces not only stamina but also sharpness - a bit more than a bounced-off attack.
* Takes great timing to unleash its powerful attacks.
* Striking an enemy with different areas of the sword blade will produce varying damage quantities.

## **Long Sword**

The Long Sword is a very popular choice amongst Hunters, favoured especially by Hunters from Eastern lands. The Long Sword boasts comparatively swift attacks, fluid movements, and relatively high damage potential with the addition of the Spirit combo. Having moderately high attack power combined with mobility means having some drawbacks, however. Since its departure from the Great Sword family, the Long Sword has no ability to guard against attacks by any means, aside from if the Hunter dodges a blow. Thus, the hunter must be aggressive enough to know when and where to attack, while being cautious enough to know when to cease attacks and dodge. The Long Sword has a short delay after most attacks, but can balances this with a back-hop/wide swing attack, known among the Hunter circle as a 'Fade Slash' which can be performed after any attack, allowing fluidity. The hunter must take some risks, in order to fill up his Spirit Gauge, which, once full, increases damage dealt and enables the sword to unleash a powerful Spirit Combo: a fast flurry of attacks that greatly increases the chance of severing body parts.

### **Advantages**

* Good power
* Great speed
* Faster movement speed than the Great Sword when unsheathed
* Perfect for breaking monster parts and severing tails
* Spirit gauge leads to powerful and sharp attacks
* Long range

### **Disadvantages**

* Cannot block
* Movement speed is not as good as with the Sword and Shield, Dual Swords or Light Bowgun
* Weaker than the Great Swords (In terms of the damage done in a single hit)
* It also can't charge an attack like the Great Sword
* It can't cut off horns and wings as easily as impact weapons like a hammer
* It's impossible to knock out enemies like the hammer can.
* Requires very deft timing with fast monsters like the Kirin, since only certain areas are vulnerable.

## Sword and Shield

Sword and Shield focuses on using a wide variety of elements or statuses to cause considerable damage.

The sword and shield class is usually the first type of weapon that Hunters use in their training. Also known as the SnS, this type of weapon uses speed and agility to inflict long combinations of status-inflicting attacks quickly. A hunter is able to perform a rolling dodge, is able to run normally with the weapon drawn, and is able to suppress weak attacks with the shield while blocking. While they are the fastest and most agile kinds of weapons, Swords and Shields typically have very weak raw damage. To compensate for this, the SnS attacks quickly and many of the weapons in this category are imbued with powerful elemental properties or cause Poison, Sleep or Paralysis. This makes them one of the best melee weapons to induce Status Effects.

### **Advantages**

* Speedy attacks
* Guard ability
* Great elemental potential
* Often sharper than other weapon types that have the same level of sharpness.
* Despite its poor attack power, it is a good weapon especially against agile, fast monsters, and it can eventually bring down a target (but this may require a long time)

### **Disadvantages**

* Has overall unimpressive sharpness
* Guard isn't as good as some other weapons
* Poor damage done in a single hit (Although its speed makes up for it)
* Small reach will force you to stay very close to monsters

## **Dual Blades**

Dual Blades are a high speed class of melee weapon. Their small attack stat and inability to block is made up for by their high attack speed and wide variance in elemental damage and status effects. Dual Blades can also increase their damage output via the 'Devil's Dance' skill (akin to the Longsword's 'spirit blade'), which increases damage output.
Dual Blades are most notable for their 'chain-attack' method of dealing large amounts of damage over time. This differs from Sword and Shield methods of creating grandiose combos or infinite strikes (as opposed to short combos which move the player dramatically).
### **Advantages**

* The weapon has a myriad of improvements that can be done at smithies. They can also be upgraded with different attributes to immensely strengthen their wielder.
* ﻿Devil's Dance allows a wielder to unleash destructive attacks that will devastate almost any monster.
* Dual Blades will still continue inflicting attribute damage even if sharpness decreases.
* They can stack a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
* Fast sheathing and agile movement.

### **Disadvantages**

* Sharpness drops quickly.
* It is impossible to guard.
* Stamina decreases fast with Devil's Dance, requiring the hunter to consume items to boost or sustain their stamina.
	+ Devil's Dance is euphoric and if not maintained carefully, it can be over used and cause the Hunter to faint.
* Low damage (speedy attacks and long combos can make up for this).
* Smallest range out of all weapons, requiring users to be much closer to the enemy and thus increasing their risk of getting hit. Additionally, it makes it difficult for them to hit flying enemies or large bosses with body parts that hang overhead and out of reach.
* Awkward evasion capabilities — hunters may sometimes find themselves 'locked' into a stream of attacks and unable to dodge when they need to, due to the weapons being light and therefore the Hunter carrying themselves into a momentum flurry.

## **Hammer**

Staunch and resilient, the hammer is perhaps the first representative weapon-of-choice to dictate pure, unadulterated damage directly to the target. In this field, the weapon's typical attributes allow a hunter to run openly with the weapon drawn, perform short-range, almost 'bunting' and swing attacks with their initial attacks, and the ability to charge up different types of swings while moving. As the hammer class has immense damage potential, and indeed, some of the outright highest raw damage in the game, the weapon boasts no defensive or evasive capabilities aside from the standard rolling dodge maneuver. A sense of timing is needed to master the weapon's true damaging traits: releasing charged swings while timing and aiming diligently against the foe's movements. No easy task. Further, hammers have a decent variance of elemental attributes, and are useful for racking up elemental damage. It's not possible to cut tails with a hammer, but it is easy to break heads and other body parts.

### **Advantages**

* Surprisingly light when unsheathed.
* Highest raw damage out of all melee weapons
* Particularly useful charged attacks. (Can also remain mobile while charging attacks)
* Can KO monsters

### **Disadvantages**

* Slow to attack
* Requires good timing
* Sharpness is pitiful (Though, it is not consumed as fast as other melee weapons, due to its fewer attacks)
* Charge attacks are draining on the Hunter
* Elemental and status damage is mostly poorer than weapons with fast attack speed, like a Sword and Shield
* Unable to cut tails
* Unimpressive reach — must be closer to the monster than other weapons, making evasion significantly more difficult
* A user cannot block and can only evade a monster

## Hunting Horn

The Hunting Horn is a weapon similar to the Hammer in that it does impact damage and can stun a monster when it connects with the head. What makes it different from the hammer however, is its ability to also be played as a musical instrument, with music either to provide buffs to themselves party members, or to place negative effects on monsters, such as by stunning them or playing them a lullaby.

### **Advantages**

* Longer reach than Hammer.
* Recital has different uses, from attack and defense boosts to elemental resistances, healing and the power to negate some status effects and tremors.
* Can KO monsters much like the hammer.

* Recital songs get even stronger in higher ranks as the Hunter learns new compositions.

### **Disadvantages**

* Does not have charged attacks.
* Weaker than Hammer.
* It has no guard.
* Its attacks are a bit slower than the Lance, Gunlance, and Longsword.
* Due to its long range and varying attacks, it is not as precise as the Hammer when targeting monster weak points.
* A Hunter wielding this will often become the primary target of more intelligent monsters who realise the horn is causing the effects on them.
* It's harder to KO some monsters.

## **Lance**

Lances are long weapons that can strike from a distance. The lance is always accompanied by a large shield which generally grants a powerful defense against most attacks. Although slow and difficult to travel with, the weapon's damage output can be impressive. Lances have different moves, such as the upstab, forward stab, and charging attack. Lances are one of the only weapons that can attack and block at the same time.
### **Advantages**

* The Counter-stab maneuver allows the wielder to quickly cancel an attack combo to raise their shield, and then immediately keep attacking after blocking a monster attack.
* Incredible range.
* Considerably good attack power.
* Many lances also give defense boosts.
* Most effective guard out of all melee weapons.
* Good sharpness.

### **Disadvantages**

* Dodging is somewhat limited.
* Small variety of ways to attack.
* Very cumbersome to wield.

## Gunlance

Gunlances are long, piercing weapons with a mechanism inside which can fire an explosive round. This is called Shelling. Unlike Bowguns, the Gunlance cannot fire over distances. The Shelling ability can only be used from close range and reduces the weapon's sharpness with each use. The use of the weapon is largely similar to the original Lance. Unlike ranged weapons, Gunlances do not use ammo, but kinetic power within a chamber of gunpowder. They are able to charge up, indicated by the radiating energy at the tip of the lance, and dish out a strong explosive attack referred to as Wyvern's Fire.

### **Advantages**

* Consistent and reliable shelling damage with its fixed and unblockable damage.
* Capable of executing a variety of relatively fluid combos by mixing up stabs and shelling.
* Versatile range and attack direction, able to attack at 45 degree and 90 degree angles (overhead). Coupled with Long shell types, the Gunlance becomes one of the longest-reaching melee weapons.
	+ This also makes very easy to knock flying monsters in the air.
* Due to their unique explosive mechanics, Gunlance shells excel at breaking otherwise tough-to-damage monster parts such as an Uragaan's chin or a Nargacuga's wing blades.

### **Disadvantages**

* Shelling, and its associated special attacks, chew through sharpness relatively quickly.
* Gunlances cannot fire shells when sharpness is at red level.
* Heavyily draining recoil that leave the user open to attacks.
* Only method of dodge is a single backhop/sidestep giving Gunlance users limited evasive options.
* The Gunlance's wide spread shelling attacks (Wide shells, Full Blast and Wyvern Fire) pose the large risk of disrupting nearby hunters with friendly fire.

## Switch Axe

The Switch Axe is a powerful melee weapon, capable of such momentum that the hunter swinging it is dragged around by the momentum of each swing. Described as a marvel of technology capable of phantasmagorical might.

The weapon has transformation capabilities, with one blade shifting while being sheathed as well as sliding to a different position to change its attack style. In its secondary form, the weapon behaves far differently from its standard variation and uses a phial of specialized coating to add certain effects to the weapon. The weapon is also able to overload this phial, ending in a concentrated burst.

The true power of the weapon is its versatility, with the 2 different forms and the combos to link the two types together. Rather than dodge rolling, the Switch Axe user can quick step to the side, allowing them to keep focused on his attack while keeping out of harm's reach.

It consists of two forms: Axe and Sword. The axe possesses a great range and can hit difficult-to-reach parts of the monsters very easily, especially with the rising slash which can even hit a Rath's wing while it is flying. It also has a potentially infinite combo which is only limited by the user's stamina. It consists of swinging the axe very quickly from left to right and right to left after a rising slash. Apart from that, its power and mobility are similar to Long Sword's without spirit bar effects.

The Sword mode, which uses the phial, looks similar to Great Sword in form, but is a much faster weapon with less powerful attacks when compared to GS. The Hunter can simply hit with vertical or horizontal combos to benefit from the phial effect, and can also make a concentrated burst (or discharge): after a forward slash, the weapon will rise while dealing damage, then produce a powerful explosion which produces recoil and makes the weapon revert to axe mode. Of course, this move will still benefit from the phial effect. You can tell how much time you have left to use sword mode by the phial charge bar on the side of the weapon, going from blue when full, to white when low, to red when empty. When the charge bar is empty, the weapon will revert to the axe manually, having to effectivelly manually reboot and costing a Hunter several seconds that they may need to stay alive.

### **Types of Phials**

Every switch axe is imbued with one type of phial, which boosts their capabilities while in sword mode. The types and effects of the phials are as follows:

* Power Phial: A phial that boosts the raw power of a Switch Axe's sword mode. One of the more common phials.
* Element Phial: A phial that boosts the natural elemental/status power of a Switch Axe in sword mode. Only Switch Axes with natural element/status can have this phial.
* Dragon Phial: A phial that gives a Switch Axe a fixed amount of Dragon Element in sword mode. Since natural Dragon Element is very rare among Switch Axes, these weapons are treated as quick substitutions. Switch Axes with this phial are always Raw, and have Dragon Element as their latent elemental power.
* Poison Phial: A phial for raw Switch Axes, giving them venomous properties in sword mode. Switch Axes with this phial always have the Poison status as their hidden latent power.
* Paralysis Phial: A phial for raw Switch Axes, giving them potential paralytic effects in sword mode. Switch Axes with this phial always have the Paralysis status as their hidden latent power.
* Exhaust Phial: A unique, raw-exclusive Switch Axe Phial that famously only come from the "Wild Axe" branches. It gives a Switch Axe the ability to drain boss monsters' stamina on select attacks, making them more prone to exhaustion while also being able to stun monsters if sufficiently hitting the head like impact attacks. They still are able to cut tails like slice attacks. However, Switch Axes with this phial have no hidden latent power that can be activated with the "Awakening" skill.

### **Advantages**

* Quick sidesteps allow easy evading through monster attacks.
* Attacks come out relatively quick with little recovery, and attacks even faster in Sword Mode.
* Can switch modes mid-combo. Faster than manually switching.
* Can target weak spots with precise hits.
* Very high damage in Sword Mode

### **Disadvantages**

* Loses sharpness faster than average.
* Its most powerful attacks are disruptive to other Hunters.
* Combos are rather hard to get out of due to momentum.
* Mobility is rather limited in sword mode, and has the same mobility of a great sword.
* The Switch is weak at guarding.

## **Charge Blade**

Charge Blade is a weapon somewhat similar to the Switch Axe, with the ability to switch between two different weapon modes: the Sword Mode and the Axe Mode. Unlike the Switch Axe however, the Hunter starts in a sword mode by default and each mode functions very different from the Switch Axe. In Sword mode it functions similarly to Sword and Shield, wielding a sword and a large shield for blocking that is relatively quick. This mode is primarily used for charging up energy. Once enough energy has been charged, it can be stored in the shield, and the hunter can use powerful explosive attacks in the slower but stronger Axe Mode. The shield itself can also be charged for a damage bonus, and enables the destructive Super Amped Element Discharge (colloquially referred to as the 'Ultra Burst') which can discharge energy in a huge axe slam and can prove devastating to monsters.

### **Advantages**

* Quick attacks in sword mode, and quicker attacks in axe mode than the Switch Axe.
* Multiple Energy charges can hugely amplify the weapons power.
* Shield provides solid defence, especially when charged.

### **Disadvantages**

* Very complicated weapon with multiple steps to use effectively.
* While the Super Amped Element Discharge causes massive damage, the recovery is very long, so leaves you wide open.
* If charges arent made at the right time or overshot, will cause the weapon to manually reload, leaving you open and vulnerable.

## Insect Glaive

The Insect Glaive is a double-ended bladed rod is capable of quick, fluid attacks similar to the Long Sword. It also allows the hunter to jump at any time in a pole vaulting fashion. The rod is also capable of summoning a Kinsect to attack monsters. The hunter can either freely send out the Kinsect on a direct flight, or first shoot out a pheromone bullet at the target that works as a 'lock on' to a monster. This allows the insect to home in. When the Kinsect successfully hits an enemy, it will drain out an 'essence' which varies in color and attribute, depending on which part of the monster it hits. This will then power up the hunter when the Kinsect is called back. The Kinsect is always found clinging on the right arm of the hunter when it's not in flight.

The Insect Glaive's attacking style is based on the art of Bōjutsu, where the wielder employs various long-ranged techniques like thrusting, sweeping, and spinning. The techniques are not limited to just attacking, however, as the rod can also be used to perform tricky maneuvers like pole vaulting to gain a high-ground advantage, or for evasive purposes. The Insect Glaive has many uses and suits both front-line and support Hunters.

### **Kinsect**

The Kinsect is the default insect which is available with each Insect Glaive. Each of them have a distinct physiology, unique stats, and are even enhanceable by evolving them into better forms.

Each Kinsect has its own stats, very similar to any kind of monster. These stats are enhanced during the upgraded process. The stats are:

* Power = Increases the damage of the Kinsect.
* Stamina = Determines the number of times the Kinsect can be commanded to attack.
* Speed = Increases the speed at which the Kinsect moves.
* Fire = Increases the Kinsect's fire elemental damage.
* Water = Increases the Kinsect's water elemental damage.
* Thunder = Increases the Kinsect's thunder elemental damage.
* Ice = Increases the Kinsect's ice elemental damage.
* Dragon = Increases the Kinsect's dragon elemental damage.

The Kinsects on Insect Glaives vary between two different species: blunt and cutting. These two different species of Kinsects perform the same on the glaive but have different properties when attacking monsters and also have different appearances.

Blunt Kinsect

* Deals blunt damage allowing it to K.O. monsters if sent out enough
* Breaks parts more easily than that of the Cutting Kinsect.
* Flinches a monster more often

Cutting Kinsect

* Deals cutting damage
* Has the ability to possibly sever a monster's tail

When a Kinsect is used to attack (drain essence) from a monster, the body part which it hits determines what type of essence it 'steals' to power up the hunter upon its return. There are 4 essences, which are:

* White = Increase the hunter's speed for 90 seconds. Generally acquired from the monster's legs and wings.
* Red = Increase the hunter's attack and alters some attack animations (e.g. some attacks hit multiple times in a single input) for 60 seconds. Generally acquired from the monster's head.
* Orange = Increase the hunter's defense and knockback resistance to weak attacks for 45 seconds. Generally acquired from the monster's body.
* Green = Recover a small amount of health. Generally acquired from the monster's tail.

The Hunter can mix these buffs for the following effects:

* Red + White = Further Attack increase
* White + Orange = Further Defense increase
* Red + White + Orange = Further Attack, Defense and Speed

### **Advantages**

* Has great speed and power.
* Excellent mobility for a mounting attack or evasive actions.
* Can receive various buffs in speed, attack, and defense.
* Long range attacks via Kinsect.
* The leaping attack, with the Insect Glaive, makes it very easy to mount a monster.
* Attack speed similar to the Sword and Shield, with similar fluidity between the attacks as a Long Sword.

### **Disadvantages**

* The leaps made by the Insect Glaive leave the user vulnerable in mid air to any attacks.
* The lack of shield makes the wielder of the Insect Glaive reliant on evasion, placing the wielder in danger of attacks too close, fast, or wide to be dodged.
* More intelligent monsters will become wise to aerial attacks the more you use them, and can work around them to their advantage.
* Obtaining different essences from monsters and maintaining the effects can be quite the chore; especially when the wielder is facing agile or multiple monsters.
* The buffs gained from the Kinsect are short and unlike the Hunting Horn, are personal and do not spread to your group.
* Upgrading a Kinsect is an extremely complicated and financially draining procedure.

## Light Bowgun

The Light Bowgun is a bowgun that allows you to move around at a normal running speed. You can unsheathe/sheathe it much faster than a heavy bowgun due to the clear weight difference. Due to its compact size, it does not come with as much firepower as its larger counterpart. Most hunters prefer light bowguns because of the fast movement and reloading speed. Light bowguns are usually easy to make and master.

There are several monsters that are more easily killed by using the bowgun. Diablos are killed much more efficiently using a bowgun's Ice shots (however pellet shots work better). Kirin are also killed more efficiently using a spray of pellet shots since they rarely stand still long enough for melee Hunters to deal consistent damage. Yian Kut-Ku is easily beaten by rapid fire, but be careful: while in the middle of a rapid fire burst you cannot move.

The light bowgun has the advantage of being easy to handle without restricting the movement of the user during combat. However, bowguns are limited by the type of bullets they can equip. It is best to suit the bowgun that utilizes the kind of bullet that would deliver the most damage to your specific opponent.

The Light Bowgun is more elemental than its counterpart, the Heavy Bowgun. Heavy Bowgun is usually used as a 'Main Gunner', while the Light Bowgun is a supporter. With light bowguns you can fire a plethora of elemental damage such as Thunder, Ice, and Water. With the Heavy Bowgun, you use Crags and Clusts, the main 'Powerhouse' bullets. The Light Bowgun is capable of using these too, but many prefer Heavy Bowgun over Light for these ammos.

Also, you need to look closely at the stats of your Light Bowgun before you craft or buy it. If you are fighting a fast wyvern, look at your reloading and recoil speed. They stay in the same general area (Very Fast reload, Moderate Recoil, etc.), but change slightly depending on your bullets.

You can also add mods like Long Barrel, or Silencers, or change Fixed Scope out for Zoom Scope to modify the stats of your Light Bowgun.

These are important things to take in mind when heading off to hunt certain monsters.

### **Advantages**

* Lighter than its counterpart and offers more mobility
* Faster rate of fire than the Heavy Bowgun
* Ranged combat allows you to stay clear from melee range of a monster

### **Disadvantages**

* Has to reload often due to rate of fire
* Shots are not as powerful as the Heavy Bowgun
* Very limited melee range use if a monster comes near you

## Heavy Bowgun

The Heavy Bowgun is the ranged weapon of choice for those who wish to have as much firepower as they can, while still maintaining some distance. While much slower than their Light Bowgun cousins, they are the only ranged weapon that allows a shield to be attached, giving them guard capabilities. For an experienced gunner, this is more of a restraint since you can only attach a power barrel or a shield. Unlike the Light Bowgun however, the Heavy Bowgun does not support elemental ammo, opting only raw power ammo. Heavy Bowgun users are ideal when accompanied with a Light Bowgun user as the main gunner, or if in a group, as a sniper, given their powerful rounds.

### **Advantages**

* High attack power.
* Generally less deviation than the Light Bowgun
* Shield attachment available
* Larger clip sizes than the Light Bowgun

### **Disadvantages**

* Long unsheathing and sheathing due to weight
* Poor mobility
* Slow reload speeds
* No elemental ammo
* Heavy recoil

## **Bow**

The Bow is one of the most tactical weapons in a Hunter's arsenal. Although it is very versatile and has a wide range of options, it is not the weapon of choice for an amateur but rather a weapon of choice for a skilled hunter.

The Bow is a naturally fast weapon. When using a Bow, a common tactic is 'hit and run.' Also, using the bow requires the knowledge of the monsters' weak points and elemental weaknesses in order to ease the task of taking it down. This is, of course, not a problem; as there are a large number of elemental Bows at the hunter's disposal.

Last but not least, the use of charge levels and coatings allow a large set of options. A hunters choice of what charges and coatings he or she is going to use is very important.

### **Advantages**

* Ranged weapon, thus carries less risk than direct melee attacks that a melee Hunter would be involved in.
* A wide variety of arrow types, including Scatter, Rapid and Pierce.
* Can be imbued with numerous attributes, for example, Power Coating, Close Range, Poison and Paralysis

### **Disadvantages**

* Wearing armour to enable more mobility provides less protection
* When fighting against agile monsters, such as the Nargacuga, Tigrex, Monoblos, Rajang, Kirin or Blangonga, the Bow's movement speed slows hunters down somewhat with a drawn weapon. Should these creatures enter rage mode, they become even faster and deadlier, increasing the danger to hunters significantly.
* It is impossible to guard against attacks with the bow.
* Slow sheathing speed