If you're looking to broaden your Monster Hunter Wilds weapon horizons, choosing a new weapon type to try can be a daunting choice—especially now that Wilds has started to see some substantial weapon rebalancing. Maybe you're familiar with the various gauges, meters, and mechanics of the available weapon types, but it's always a tricky question to answer: What weapon do I want to fall in love with next?
Our Wilds weapon tier list is here to help. I want to note up front that we assembled our tier list with general play in mind after a combined 500+ hours of hunting. This isn't a tier list for speedrunning potential. Instead, we're more interested in versatility, utility, and—generally—how freakin' cool the weapon feels to use, whether you're fighting your first Chatacabra or an Arch-Tempered Apex.
Ultimately, the best Monster Hunter weapon is the one you enjoy using most. If you're looking for a nudge towards a new weapon to swing, however, here are the ones we'd point you towards first.
Looking for more hunting tips? Check out our Monster Hunter Wilds guide hub for all the G-Rank advice we've crafted so far.
Monster Hunter Wilds Weapons, Ranked
S Tier: Switch Axe, Gunlance, Great Sword
A Tier: Hammer, Sword and Shield, Long Sword
B Tier: Insect Glaive, Dual Blades, Bow, Heavy Bowgun, Charge Blade
C Tier: Light Bowgun, Hunting Horn
D Tier: Lance
Monster Hunter Wilds weapons: S Tier
S: Switch Axe
With an updated attack toolkit in Wilds, the steady ramp-up and explosive payoff of the Switch Axe has gained a kind of combat fluidity that almost feels like mastering a martial art.
In the more nimble axe mode, quick access to a rising Offset Attack lets you knock monsters down to earth. In the heavy-hitting sword mode, a perfectly-timed Counter Rising Slash gives Switch Axe a bit of Long Sword flavor, smoothly negating an incoming attack and countering with your own.
We're rating Switch Axe more highly than you might find on other tier lists because—like the Great Sword—it's a bit of an omnitool. It's also a convenient onramp for gauge management weapons. Learning the flow of axe and sword mode is a good primer for the kind of phial juggling you'll have to do if you want to eventually give Charge Blade a try.
S: Gunlance
The Gunlance is a vehicle for brutality. Fitting for its name, it's a burst damage powerhouse. Unlike the Lance, which uses its shield for prolonged close-quarters exchanges, the main purpose of the Gunlance's shield in Wilds is to help unleash a cascading avalanche of damage.
Unfortunately for me, I prefer the Lance, but for most players the Gunlance gets the easy recommendation. One, it's got a gun on it. Two, it's capable of some of the most brutal damage output in the game—all while offering the relative safety of a beefy greatshield.
It's powerful; it's punchy; it's got perfect guards and power clashes. The only downside is that its not the most mobile weapon. As more difficult monsters get added with each Title Update, you run a greater risk of fighting something that'll punish you for trying to block your way through every attack. Your various Guard skills will help, but when a Lagiacrus is sparking up, the best way to survive it is to be somewhere else.
S: Great Sword
Despite the simple concept—swinging a very big sword to do very big damage—the Great Sword has always been a weapon that requires nuance. Monsters are more than willing to punish an overeager Great Sword novice for misplaced positioning or poorly-judged timing on their meaty charge attacks.
In Wilds, however, Capcom's chosen the Great Sword as its primary combat showcase. As the mascot monster-slaying implement, the Great Sword has access to just about every new Wilds combat mechanic, and as a result, is far more approachable.
While it's more nimble in Wilds, its attack animations still require more commitment than other weapons, so paying attention to your positioning is important. As the titule update monsters get more vicious, they've only gotten more willing to punish careless greedy attacks. But for those willing to meet it halfway, one of Monster Hunter's most demanding weapons is now a swiss army knife of monster-slaying.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapons: A Tier
A: Hammer
Ah, my beloved Hammer. The Hammer, to me, is a pure distillation of Monster Hunter fundamentals. It's a no-frills beatstick that expects you to meet just three demands: Know your positioning, know your timing, and know them well. Do that, and you're rewarded with heavy damage and vital stuns when you're bonking the monster's head.
In motion the Hammer is deliciously mobile. Dodging and weaving between incoming blows is fun on its own: Quests become boxing matches with opponents 10 times your size, where you're hunting for an opening to deliver a knockout haymaker. It's a dance of close calls and earth-quaking counter blows.
Despite its lagging damage numbers, we still rated Hammer highly at launch. Since then, it's only cemented its spot, thanks to buffed attack damage and the addition of easily-accessible offset attacks on charged upswings.
A: Sword and Shield
Sword and Shield has always been criminally underappreciated, but in Wilds it's an absolute powerhouse, capable of hacking away at monsters with a hailstorm of attacks and shrugging off a surprising amount of incoming threats with generous transitions into Perfect Guard windows.
But the real attraction here is how Sword and Shield moves. In Wilds, it handles buttery smooth, with constant opportunities during and between attacks to sidestep and reposition without even a slight interruption to your combo.
Before Wilds, I thought of Sword and Shield as the Monster Hunter baseline. Now it feels like one of its high points.
A: Long Sword
If we were judging by popularity alone, Long Sword would top our chart. Heck, it'd be on a tier all its own. And it certainly has enough style to contend with any other weapon on the list: drawing a sword from its sheathe for a sweeping slash attack that triggers a delayed flurry of phantom cuts is, unsurprisingly, extremely cool.
In Wilds, its attacks have impossibly gotten even cooler, and the new Spirit Charge makes managing the spirit gauge simpler than ever, ensuring you can consistently deal your highest possible damage.
I initially knocked Long Sword because I thought its spirit gauge management had actually been too simplified. As time has gone on, though, it's become undeniable how rewarding Long Sword is in Wilds, even if I might grumble about not needing to pull off iai counters as much.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapons: B Tier
B: Dual Blades
Dual Blades in Wilds are like if a Beyblade learned to hate.
This weapon has always emphasized aggression, and in Wilds that's cranked up to 11. Enter the Demon Boost: With a perfectly-time dodged, you'll nullify the incoming attack and activate a damage buff simultaneously. With just a little practice, you can easily skate through monster hits and continue dishing out a hurricane of rapid cuts like a murderous little blender.
What keeps me from choosing them more often is that they can feel a little spammy, like it doesn't entirely matter which flavor of slash I'm throwing out at any given moment. If you're just looking for speed, however, feel free to consider this an S ranking instead.
B: Insect Glaive
I admire how Insect Glaive plays like nothing else, even if watching IG users zip through the air makes me feel a little inadequate. It's worth a try just to experience Monster Hunter as a gravity-agnostic individual; hunting feels very different when you only really need to touch the ground when you want to.
That said, it can feel too removed in some fights, like what the monster's doing downstairs is a little irrelevant. Until something swats you out of the air, anyway.
B: Bow
Bow is good in Wilds. Really good. The only thing keeping it from ascending farther up the list is how demanding it is to execute well. Those tracer and fuse arrows can be a little baffling to deploy in the middle of a fight, however, and you need to play extremely aggressively to bait out perfect dodge opportunities to refresh stamina and maximize the Bow's damage potential.
It's an incredible weapon if used optimally, but those are high expectations. That said, if you're eager to chase that skill ceiling, or if you're fully unconcerned with playing optimally, you'll have a great time whenever you send a Dragon Piercer down the length of a monster.
B: Heavy Bowgun
There's an undeniable magic to bringing fully automatic machinegun fire to a fight with a dragon when everyone else is hitting it with swords and hammers. And depending on how well you can slap an armor build together, the Heavy Bowgun is capable of pumping out enough damage to smoke tempered monsters in under a minute.
Bowgun players initially reacted to the changes Wilds made to ammo and recoil with a bit of frustration. Since launch, however, the gradual willingness to meet the HBG where it's at has proven that it can dish out admirable ranged damage. Some impressive equipment editions, like the spread-based Seregios HBG, have added build variety, too.
You'll risk faster monsters running circles around you if you're not careful, but if you mind your position you can be a mobile gun emplacement.
B: Charge Blade
Mastering the Charge Blade is a satisfying triumph over some of Monster Hunter's most opaque mechanics. Once you've got all your sword glowing, your shield charged, and your axe head spinning, you've balanced some near-unfathomable forces into a deadly combination.
That mechanical complexity comes at the cost of some moveset depth. I like juggling the Charge Blade's charge mechanics more than I like actually swinging it in sword or axe mode. The combo options feel a little thin.
Even so, the Super Amped Element Discharge remains one of Monster Hunter's single most satisfying attacks, and swinging a spinning saw blade into a deflating Rompopolo is a special delight. Just expect to do some additional studying to wrap your head around the Charge Blade's mechanics. It didn't earn its daunting reputation without reason.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapons: C Tier
C: Light Bowgun
Like with the HBG, the Light Bowgun had some growing pains during the transition into Wilds thanks to changes to ammo and recoil that added some heavy clunk to Light Bowgun.
Still, it's a weapon with plenty of merit. It might not have the raw punch of the HBG, but what it lacks in impact it makes up for in maneuverability. If you're looking to do ranged combat, but find the Bow's execution difficult and the HBG too plodding, the Light Bowgun will get you where you need to go.
C: Hunting Horn
You might not know this if you only pick DPS in MMOs and hero shooters, but playing support is fun! Hunting Horn doesn't just have a unique playstyle that strings notes together while still pumping out damage. Because each Horn has its own set of songs, it opens up a layer of itemization, encouraging you to match song effects to the hazards of your next hunt—a satisfying extra twist on the Monster Hunter fantasy.
I end up staring at the staff to make sure I'm lining up the right notes, but that's on me.
It is, admittedly, a bit sluggish on the damage front. But you'll be beloved for your buffs and heals in every multiplayer hunt you join. We might have it at C tier, but if you're looking for an alternative playstyle that adds a bit more than bullying monsters, Hunting Horn provides.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapons: D Tier
D: Lance
Ah, sweet Lance. You deserve better than how Wilds has treated you.
For the uninitiated, the Lance's big, honking shield would probably indicate that it's a defensive weapon. You couldn't be more wrong. The Lance is quietly Monster Hunter's most aggressive playstyle. That shield isn't for cowering under the monster's attacks; it's for shrugging aside its attempts at keeping you from going for its throat. With the Lance, you're a bulldog, and you've got a six-foot spear for teeth.
Unfortunately, as satisfying as the pace and rhythm of Lance combat is, the numbers in Wilds just haven't been on its side—and that only gets clearer as it falls farther and farther behind in performance. Capcom has said Lance is on its to-tweak list, so hopefully we'll get to bump it up soon. For now, while there's still plenty of fun to be had with it, it's a weapon that's only worth seeking out if you identify with it particularly strongly.
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