Monster Hunter Now: Weapons Tier List

Are you a newcomer who got overwhelmed by the weapon selection in Monster Hunter Now? Or are you trying to metagaming and blast through the game using the most powerful weapon? Whatever your reason is, our Monster Hunter Now weapons tier list can help you pick which one to use! Note: This Monster Hunter Now weapons tier list will be separated into two categories: How much damage they can deal in a short burst and how easy they are to use.

Monster Hunter Now: Damage Potential Tier List

S Tier:

• Great Sword: This gigantic slab of metal and monster parts is the poster boy of Monster Hunter weapons. And for a good reason! Great Sword can deal four-digit damage in a single slash through the third charged attack or True Charged Slash’s last hit. We’re simply talking raw damage here, not even utilizing monsters’ elemental weaknesses.
• Light Bowgun: Ranged or Gunner weapons have always been known as one of the better DPS in Monster Hunter games. When built right, Bowgun users can keep up and even outgun Great Sword players. Try using Bowguns with elemental Slicing or Sticky Ammo like Tobi-Kadachi’s Thunder Blitz or Anjanath’s Blazing Rifle. Don’t forget to take Recoil and Reload Speed Armor Skills too to turn your crossbow into a handheld Gatling gun.
• Bow: Since this is another Ranged weapon, its damage potential works basically the same as the Light Bowgun. For a Bow, the best Shot type for constant DPS is Rapid. The other two types need good positioning for maximum damage. Spread is great, but you have to stick close to the enemy. Meanwhile, Pierce works best when your attack can pierce a monster’s body from head to tail.

A Tier:

• Long Sword: Compared to the Great Sword, it doesn’t deal as much damage in a single hit. But its charged attack can parry, leaving you safe and unscathed going through a monster’s attack. Its combos are also faster. With all of those combined, a Long Sword can out-DPS other weapons when played properly.
• Sword and Shield: Out of all Melee Monster Hunter weapons, this one is the best weapon to inflict an Elemental or Status effect. All thanks to its extremely fast combos. Keep sticking and slashing the monster’s weak parts and you should easily deal a consistent amount of good damage.
• Hammer: Like Sword and Shield, Hammer can also hit pretty fast and hard. It’s also armed with a three-leveled charged attack just like the Great Sword. You can easily mix between fast combos and charged attacks when there’s an opening. Not to mention that you can Stun a monster by repeatedly hitting its head! Giving you and your team more time to wail on your target. Although it has simple combos, Hammer lacks defensive moves aside from the standard dodge. You have to be really aggressive to be able to realize its full damage potential.

Ease-of-Use Tier List

Note: This Monster Hunter Now weapon tier list considers both how easy their game plan is and how easy it is to properly build them.

S Tier:

• Hammer: There’s a saying in the Monster Hunter community that Hammer is an “unga-bunga” weapon. Once held, it can and will activate a Hunter’s primal instinct. This weapon doesn’t come with any fancy blocking, parrying, or dodging moves after all. Just keep bonking a monster’s head and unleash the Spinning Bludgeon with wanton disregard for safety.
• Sword and Shield: There’s a good reason why we have to spend the first two Chapters of the game using it. Sword and Shield is the perfect jack-of-all-trades weapon to familiarize yourself with the game’s mechanics. You can just keep tapping your screen to deal consistent damage. If you can’t evade an attack, just tap and hold to block. Veteran players can mix up combos with the weapon’s unique backhop attack as both offensive and defensive moves. Elemental and Status weapons also work great with its fast hack-and-slash combos.

A Tier:

• Long Sword: This Japanese katana-styled sword is very popular amongst the player base, and it’s not surprising. It’s fast, the Spirit Helm Breaker Skill is cool, and the charged attack can be used as a parry! Still, it’s combo isn’t as fast as Sword and Shield and you have to properly timed the charged attack for a successful parry.
• Bow: I consider the Bow easier to use compared to the Bowgun since you can keep charging your shots while dodging. But compared to most Melee or Blademaster weapons, building a Bow takes more time. You have to have a good armor set and a collection of powerful Elemental weapons first. Unlike Melee, which instantly synergizes well with any Armor Skill that buffs up damage.
  However, speaking of Ranged weapons, our site’s Monster Hunter aficionado Ethan Webb said that Ranged weapons could induce motion sickness in more sensitive players. That might also affect your effectiveness at using either a Bow or Bowgun.

B Tier:

• Great Sword: With great damage, comes great responsibility. The biggest problem with Great Sword is that the weapon is really, really slow. You have to be responsible when and where to use hard-hitting charged attacks to deal maximum damage. You can try just tapping away a monster to death. But your damage will be horrible and the attack animation is still slow to boot.
  It also takes much more time to inflict Status effects and Elemental bonuses compared to faster weapons. You have to have a good grasp of both the weapon’s and monster’s timing to fully realize its potential.
• Light Bowgun: If you’re playing a Bowgun using an early game set, I assure you, you won’t have a good time. Plinking away at monsters from a distance is somewhat doable, but the damage is minuscule. Aiming with the gyroscope can help you target parts without the Lock On Armor Skill, but it’s not easy.
  Plus, you’ll need to exploit monsters’ Elemental weaknesses for maximum damage. That means you need at least fully upgraded Fire, Water, and Thunder Bowguns for each occasion. Monster materials don’t come cheap, you know!