The Bow is a DPS powerhouse in Monster Hunter Wilds. It has the most agile set of moves in the game where you will have to focus on consistently repositioning around a fight to deal optimal damage.
While the bow might seem easy to pick up, it’s one of the harder weapons to master in the game. Bow users are usually very squishy making it considerably easier for monsters to cart them.
So you will need to learn the monster patterns by heart and dodge at the right time to gain i-frames and be impervious to attacks.
However, this also means that you will need to keep a constant eye on your Stamina gauge and know when to “Dash Dance” and to create distance from the monster to get a window to regen your stamina.
So if you are looking to main the bow in Monster Hunter Wilds, then the guide below will help you out.
New Bow moves in Monster Hunter Wilds
Compared to the previous franchise entries, Bow has received a fair number of new movesets in Wilds. Here is a list of them all:
1) Ready Tracer
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | M1+E |
| PS5 | R2+Square |
| Xbox | RT+X |
In this new move, you replace the next shot with a Tracer Arrow. When it hits the monster, it lodges into the part that it makes contact with making all subsequent arrows to home in on it. It’s one of the best tools to use against monsters like Arkveld who are very aggressive and like to move around a lot.
2) Focus Fire: Hailstorm
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | M1+Shift |
| PS5 | L2+R1 |
| Xbox | LT+RB |
If a Monster is Wounded or you have placed a Tracer Arrow on it, you can then use Focus Fire: Hailstorm which will fire a barrage of arrows to hone in on the highlighted wound or Tracer. The monster takes a lot of damage from this attack and you can fire this off from a great distance.
Moreover, If a Hhailstorm lands on a Wound, you immediately follow it up with a Dragon Piercer allowing you to maximize the Bow’s Focus Strike attack.
3) Thousand Dragons
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | M1+R+F |
| PS5 | R2+Triangle+Circle |
| Xbox | RT+Y+B |
This is an alternative move to the Dragon Piercer. Instead of hitting a monster with a charged arrow that pierces it, you ready up a powerful spread shot that shoots significantly more arrows than normal.
4) Flying Swallow Shot
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | R2+Space → R |
| PS5 | L2+X → Triangle |
| Xbox | LB+A → Y |
After a Charging Sidestep, you can tap the corresponding button to perform a Flying Swallow Shot. This will make your hunter leap into the air and fire a couple of arrows based on the number of Bow charges that you have. This move is great at closing as well as creating distance from the monster allowing you to have a much easier time with the hunt.
Key Bow mechanics and features in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are some of the key bow features and mechanics that you need to be aware of in Monster Hunter Wilds:
1) Bow relies heavily on Stamina management
The bow is the only ranged weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds that relies on Stamina to shoot arrows. Different attacks and charged attacks will consume a different amount of stamina.
Stamina management is key when it comes to mastering the weapon, as you do not want to find yourself out of stamina when the monster is going in to attack you.
2) Bow has different arrow types
You can fire several different arrow types at the monster. These are as follows:
- Spread shots
- Piercing arrows
- Exploding tracers
- Arc Shots.
3) Bow charges attacks to power up
Your bow gains charge when you constantly fire it or use a charged sidestep. This charging mechanic consumes stamina, but your arrows start dealing more damage when charged. You also see an increase in the total number of arrows fired for both Normal and Power Shots at higher Charge Levels.
4) Bow comes with a Trick Arrow gauge
In Monster Hunter Wilds, the bow has a new resource gauge mechanic which is spent on applying coatings and loading Tracers. When you Land attacks on a monster or perform Discerning Dodge (perfect dodging) you fill up the huge. When you load a tracer or apply a coating, the gauge will be consumed.
You won’t have to craft or purchase coatings anymore as Wilds completely changes the Bow’s gameplay patterns where you are constantly looking to fill up the gauge.
5) Bow comes with coatings that inflict monster with various effects
As you fill up the Trick Gauge you will be able to apply arrow coatings on your bow. Each coating type creates a different effect on the monster. Here is a list of all the coatings that are currently available in Wilds:
| Coating | Effect |
|---|---|
| Power | Arrow damage increases |
| Close-Range | Will reduce your critical range but increase arrow damage. |
| Pierce | Allows arrow to pierce |
| Poison | Arrows will build up poison |
| Paralysis | Arrows will build up paralysis |
| Sleep | Arrows will build up sleep |
| Blast | Arrows will build up blast |
| Exhaust | Arrows will build up stun/exhaust |
Cycling through your available coating will help you increase the bow’s DPS making many hunts significantly more manageable.
Basic Bow controls in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here is a list of all the basic bow moves in the game:
| Move | Xbox Input | PS5 Input | PC Input |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charge → Shoot | Hold RT → Release | Hold R2 → Release | Hold M1 → Release |
| Aim / Focus | Hold LB | Hold L2 | Hold M2 |
| Quick Shot | B | Circle | F |
| Power Shot → Power Volley | During a Combo B → B | During Combo Circle → Circle | During Combo F → F |
| Arc Shot | LB+RT+B | L2+R2+Circle | M2+M1+F |
| Charging Sidestep → Flying Swallow Shot | LB+A → Y | L2+X → Tringle | M2+Space → R |
| Dragon Piercer | Y+B | Triangle+Circle | R+F |
| Instant Dragon Piercer | During Combo Y+B | Dring Combo Tringle+Circle | During Combo R+F |
| Thousand Dragons | RT+Y+B | LT+Triangle+Circle | M1+R+F |
| Select Coating | LB+Y/A | LT+Tringle/X | CTRL+Up/Down arrow |
| Apply Coating | Y | Triangle | R |
| Ready Tracer | RT+X | R2+Square | M1+E |
| Focus Fire: Hailstorm | LT+RB | L2+R1 | M2+Shift |
Best Bow combos in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are some of the best, high DPS bow combos that you should be trying out in Monster Hunter Wilds:
1) The Power Volley into Tracer Combo
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | M1+E → M2+Space → F(x5) → M2+Shift |
| PS5 | R2+Square → L2+X → Circle(x5) → L2+R1 |
| Xbox | RT+X → LB+A → B(x5) → LT+RB |
It’s a very high-damaging combo that will generally exhaust all of your stamina. You start it off by putting a Tracer on the monster’s weak part. Then follow it up with a CHarging Sidestep and then into two sets of Power Volley strings.
You then finish it off with Focus Fire: Hailstorm. As the Tracer is already embedded in the monster, all of your shots will hone in on it.
2) The Arc Shot combo
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | M2+M1+F → M2+Space → F → F →M2+Shift |
| PS5 | L2+R2+Circle → L2+X → Circle → Circle → L2+R1 |
| Xbox | LB+RT+B → LB+A → B → B → LT+RB |
It’s the best combo to go for when the monster is down or staggered giving you more room to go into longer attack animations. The Arc Shot riddles the monster with Tracer Arrows allowing you to go into a Power Shit volley set and then finishing it off with Focus Fire: Hailstorm. If the monster is Wounded, you immediately follow it up with a Dragon Piercer.
This combo is easily one of the highest DPS combos for th bow on downed monsters.
3) The Dash Dancing combo
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | Hold M2+Space → M1 → F → Rinse and repeat till you run out of stamina |
| PS5 | Hold L2+X → R2 → Circle → Rinse and repeat till you run out of stamina |
| Xbox | Hold LB+A → RT → B → Rinse and repeat till you run out of stamina |
It’s the bow’s bread-and-butter combo in most hunts. It keeps you agile while allowing you to consistently dish out affair bit of DPS. You use this combo when the monster is constantly running around or looking to land its attacks on you.
It’s the best way to keep triggering Discerning Dodge in a fight allowing you to keep the tempo up. However, it requires perfect Stamina management to be effective in the long run.
4) The low Stamina cost Tracer combo
| Platform | Input |
|---|---|
| PC | M1+E → M1 → M1 → M1 → M2+Shift |
| PS5 | R2+Square → R2 → R2 → R2 → L2+R1 |
| Xbox | RT+X → RT → RT → RT → LT+RB |
If you are having trouble with Stamina management, then this low Stamina tracer combo will get a good deal of DPS in on the monster while giving you more room to maneuver around. The combo revolves around setting the Tracer on the monster and then hitting it with Normal Shots, then finishing with Focus Fire: Hailstorm.
Advanced Tips and Tricks for mastering the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind when you are looking to make the most of the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds:
1) Always stay within Critical Distance of the monster
A Critical Distance measures the effective range of the bow. When you bring up the reticle and point it at your target, it glows orange while aiming then it means that you are in Critical Distance.
Your arrows do the most amount of damage to the monster when you are in the Critical Distance range. This distance shortens when you use a Close Range coating.
Moreover, just because the reticle is glowing doesn’t mean all of your shots are doing the most amount of damage that they can. For example, your Normals Shots will do the most damage in the Critical Distance range, however, arrow types like the Power Shot and the Thousand Dragons might miss as they have a shorter range.
So it will take some time for you to get used to the effective range of the bow when you are weaving in combos.
2) Stamina management is key
Effectively using the bow consumes a lot of Stamina. But if you want to have a decent DPS uptime and not get swatted away by a monster as soon as the hunt begins, you will need to master managing this resource.
Make sure to always keep Stamina skills in your build like Constitution and Stamina Surge. You can even eat for Black Belt which will make it much easier to manage Stamina.
Drinking Dash Potion or finding and consuming insects (Wiggly Litchi) that provide you with a buff similar to a Dash Juice will be very helpful.
3) Master the Discerning Dodge
When you perfectly time a dodge as soon as a monster is about to land a hit, you do a Discerning Dodge instead. When you pull it off you fill your Trick Arrow Gauge as well as recover a fair chunk of your missing Stamina.
You can go into a full-powered Flying Swallow Shot after a Discerning Dodge allowing you to keep your max charge and close or increase the distance between you and the monster.
The Discerning Doge will be a core part of your DPS uptime allowing you to keep the aggression on. This move is what makes the bow a DPS powerhouse.
4) Make the most of your coatings
With the Trick Arrow Gauge mechanic, you will have an infinite supply of coatings in Monster Hunter Wilds. So make sure that you keep applying it to your weapon as soon as you have charges on it.
Power Coatings will significantly improve the damage that your arrows do, while Poison and Paralysis coating will build up the status effect and proc. it to affect the monster with it.
Using your coatings wisely will help improve your DPS uptime.
5) Mount monsters if you are near an elevated ledge
If you are close to an elevated ledge make sure to use leaping strikes with the bow to try and mount the monster. While the bow is not great at dealing mounting damage, with enough strikes you will be able to pull it off and then down the monster to get a huge window to hit the moster with your hardest-hitting combo.
Should you main the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds— Weapon Pros and Cons
In Monster Hunter franchise history, the Bow has remained one of the highest DPS weapons and the fact remains true in Wilds. It relies on an agile playstyle where you will need to constantly move around and reposition around the monster to be the most effective.
However, the weapon is pretty hard to master. You need to learn the monster patterns here to make the most of Discerning Dodge, and always be on top of your Stamina management. Bow builds are very squishy and it’s very easy for even low-rank monsters to combo-lock you to an early cart.
But if you are serious about cosplaying as “Legolas but in Dragon’s Dogma 2” then the bow is the perfect weapon of choice for you in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Here are some of it’s pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ᐧ Very high DPS output and DPS uptime ᐧ A speed-runner’s favorite companion ᐧ Has coatings that apply status effects allowing good utility ᐧ Very agile making it hard for the monster to pin you down | ᐧ Very Stamina hungry needing contact Stamina management. ᐧ One of the hardest weapons to master in the game. |
