Monster Hunter Rise: Best Weapons

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There are 14 weapon types in Monster Hunter Rise, varying from giant swords to literal instruments, but what are the actual best weapons for each of those types? There is a plethora of different versions for every weapon in the game, making this a very hard decision, with a lot of theory-crafting taking place as well. Thankfully, with the game out for a while now, we have enough data for a premature view of what weapons are actually the literal best, to their respective fields.

Best weapons for every type in Monster Hunter Rise

The beauty of games like Monster Hunter Rise, lies within the sheer amount of options you have when building your characters. Armor pieces, skills, decorations, buddy skills, and of course weapons, are all things to consider when you are trying to make an end-game setup. While the term ‘best weapons’ can be really subjective, there are tools that work best by default, when compared to others.

Monster Hunter Rise has three types of weapons. ‘Raw’ weapons, elemental and ailment weapons. The first are the ones without any elemental or status attribute at all, hitting the monster with raw damage, elemental ones are the ones enhanced with any of the game’s elements, and ailment weapons are the ones able to inflict negative status to a monster, such as poison and paralysis.

In the current state of the game, elemental and raw weapons are considered to be the best, with a lot of setups complimenting them perfectly. This however is dependent on the weapon class. Dual Blades for example, tend to need a different tool for each element, as this is what they specialize into and their damage comes from multiple, fast-hitting elemental bursts. Hammers and Great Swords on the other hand, can make the most out of it just with a single, hard-hitting raw weapon. Please note that all these are subject to change though, since MH Rise’s upcoming DLC can easily affect every list in here. That said, for the time being, here is what the game offers.

Best Great Sword Weapons

Great Swords need big numbers, and don’t really care for a monster’s elemental weakness. Hence why raw Great Swords are preferred, with Dark of Night taking the spotlight due to its white sharpness. high attack and great affinity.

  • Dark of Night/ Nargacuga Tree

Honorable Mentions

  • Feud Hornsword/ Diablos Tree
  • Abominable Great Sword/ Goss Harag Tree
  • Tigrex Great Sword/ Tigrex Tree

Best Long Sword Weapons

High affinity is a must for Long Swords, due to their fast attacking speed in conjunction with multiple-hitting special attacks. Nargacuga’s weapon is again the clear winner here, with a great 40% affinity and white sharpness.

  • Deepest Night/ Nargacuga Tree

Honorable Mentions

  • Sinister Shade Sword/ Magnamalo Tree
  • Despot Boltbreaker/ Zinogre Tree
  • Doom Bringer Blade/ Almudron Tree
  • Squawkscythe/ Death Stench Tree

Best Sword and Shield Weapons

The Sword and Shield is an extremely balanced, fast and versatile weapon, but since it lacks some hard-hitting attacks besides its special skills, elemental weapons for each type are recommended.

  • Fire
    • Djinn II/ Rathalos Tree
    • Gnashing Flammensucher/ Anjanath Tree
  • Water
    • Master Odyssey/ Water Tree
  • Thunder
    • Despot’s Crookbolt/ Zinogre Tree
  • Ice
    • Nardebosche/ Barioth Tree
    • Mincing Blade II/ Goss Harag Tree
  • Dragon
    • Secta Unu Black/ Bnahabra (Dragon) Tree

Best Dual Blades Weapons

Dual Blades are similar to the Sword and Shield, meaning they really shine when exposing a monster’s elemental weakness. Different Dual Blades for each element are the go-to with this class.

  • Fire
    • Twin Flames II/ Rathalos Tree
  • Water
    • Mud Twister/ Almudron Tree
  • Thunder
    • Despot’s Blitz/ Zinogre Tree
  • Ice
    • Gelid Soul/ Ice Tree
  • Dragon
    • Fortis Gran/ Guild Tree 2

Honorable Mentions

  • Raging Claws/ Felyne Tree
  • Night Wings/ Nargacuga Tree

Best Lance Weapons

Lance is rather versatile, with both raw and elemental weapons equally viable. However, due to how easily they can reach elemental caps, elemental Lances are preferred in hunts.

  • Fire
    • Dawnbreaker Lance/ Aknosom Tree
  • Water
    • Kimi Ga Kiru/ Mizutsune Tree
  • Thunder
    • Despot’s Casophony/ Zinogre Tree
  • Ice
    • Abominable Lance/ Goss Harag
  • Dragon
    • Azure Elder Spear II/ Ibushi Tree
    • Rampage Spear IV/Rampage Tree

Honorable Mentions

  • Diablos Spear/ Diablos Tree
  • Night Rains Black/ Nargacuga Tree

Best Gunlance Weapons

Gunlances have different Shelling types, each of them with their own benefits. This results to three different Gunlances being the best to what they do.

  • Normal Shelling Type
    • Ortlinde/ Rathian Tree
  • Long Shelling Type
    • Howlitzer/ Canyne Tree
  • Wide Shelling Type
    • Mighty Cornpopper/ Guild Tree
      • or
    • Diablos Cannon/ Diablos Tree
      • or
    • Admiral’s Arbalance/ Ore Tree 2

Best Hammer Weapons

Hammers hit hard, and while clunky, they do have some unexpected versatility to them, making them viable both for elemental builds and raw damage.

  • Doom Bringer Hammer/ Almudron Tree
  • Red Bludgeon II/ Rathalos Tree
  • Yadora Morte/ Death Stench Tree

Honorable Mentions

  • Supernova/ Thunder Tree
  • Abominable Hammer/ Goss Harag Tree

Best Hunting Horn Weapons

The revamped Hunting Horn became an extremely versatile weapon in Monster Hunter Rise, both offensively and as a support tool. There are a lot of different versions that are good for this class, so feel free to experiment a lot, but one seems to completely outclass the rest with its awesome skills, making it a sole contender for the best Hunting Horn.

  • Rampage Agitato IV/ Rampage Tree

Best Switch Axe Weapons

The choice of speedrunners in previous titles, the Switch Axes were considered the best weapons in Monster Hunter for killing things fast. Versatile and hard hitting as well, they have some options to consider.

  • Sinister Shadowslice/ Magnamalo Tree
  • Azure Elder Axe II/ Ibushi Tree
  • Fall Drache/ Dragon Tree

Best Charge Blade Weapons

While difficult to learn, the Charge Blade is a destructive weapon, able to unleash hell to any monster in its way. Elemental variants don’t really matter, as long as we see big damage numbers and huge explosions.

  • Scream in the Night/ Nargacuga Tree
  • Undying Blade II/ Rajang Tree (only with Dulling Strike)

Honorable Mentions

  • Stunning Axe/ Goss Harag Tree
  • Dragonsong/ Dragon Tree

Best Insect Glaive Weapons

Insect Glaive users are masters of the sky, with a weapon that can take down monsters with ease, without even being hit at all. With so many hits landing on a monster, it’s hard to consider anything else than a weapon with high affinity and raw damage, making the Nargacuga version the literal best Insect Glaive.

  • Evening Calm/ Nargacuga Tree

Best Light Bowgun Weapons

Another versatile type of weapons, Light Bowguns are a staple when it comes to keep constant pressure on a monster. A lot of different weapons can be used here, but the following two are the ones mostly being used in the current meta-game.

  • Magnamalo Spread/ Magnamalo Tree
  • Night Owl/ Nargacuga Tree

Best Heavy Bowgun Weapons

In contrast to Light Bowgun, the Heavy variant is all about big nukes and relentless assaults. The weapons being the best here, totally resmble this playstyle.

  • Tigrex Howl II/ Tigrex Tree
  • Despot’s Paroxysm/ Zinogre Tree
  • Baleful Night/ Nargacuga Tree

Honorable Mentions

  • Sinister Dreadvolley/ Magnamalo Tree
  • Guerrera Cannon II/ Barioth Tree

Best Bow Builds

Bows are fast, best suited for mid-range assaults, and can take advantage both of elemental and raw builds, with high affinity. That said, elemental versions are preferred due to how versatile they can be.

  • Fire
    • Flaming Rage Bow/ Anjanath Tree
  • Water
    • Rampage Bow IV/ Rampage Tree
  • Thunder
    • Flying Kadachi Striker/ Tobi-Kadachi Tree
  • Ice
    • Heaven’s Glaze/ Ice Tree
  • Dragon
    • Azure Elder Bow II/ Ibushi Tree

Honorable Mentions

  • Night Flight/ Nargacuga Tree

With that, we have our list of best weapons in Monster Hunter Rise. Hopefully, these can be a stepping stone for your builds, and try out new tools you haven’t up until now. Please note again that these can easily change, depending of what Capcom has in store for us with the following DLC, and of course can be subjective depending on your own playstyle and build. In any case, feel freeto craft any of the weapons above, as they are the most solid choices you have right now in Monster Hunter Rise. Happy hunting!

Monster Hunter Rise is available on the Nintendo Switch. For more guides about the game, make sure to check our extensive list right here.

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