How do you use the Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn? This unconventional blunt weapon is what happens when you put a Hammer in the hands of a Rock Band enthusiast. The result is a comically large melee weapon you can swing at your enemies while chaining musical notes to boost your stats.
In short, the Hunting Horn is the closest that Monster Hunter Wilds comes to a bard, which makes it perfect for players who prefer to take a support role in multiplayer. However, if you’re looking for brute strength, don’t let that dissuade you. The Hunting Horn remains a solid Monster Hunter Wilds weapon when playing solo in the RPG game thanks to its wide range of powerful buffs and stun attacks. Here’s how to put on a show with the Hunting Horn and slay monsters with your stellar performance.
How to use the Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn
The Hunting Horn is one of the best blunt weapons in Wild, but using it requires some finesse. Unlike any other weapon, the Hunting Horn’s attack inputs are musical notes of different colors, which can be chained together to cast different buffs. You can have up to three songs active at any one time by chaining the last note in one song into the first note of the next.
Self-Improvement and Attack Up are your one-hit wonders – if you were a real musician, these are the songs your audience would be lining up to see, and you should aim to sustain their uptime throughout any fight. Certain Hunting Horns offer situational melodies, such as elemental resistance against particular monsters. Expect to rely on these songs during inclemencies that spawn Monster Hunter Wilds monsters empowered by the elements.
Echo Wave (Blunt) is a brand-new song in the Hunting Horn’s repertoire. While its damage was restricted to melee swings in earlier Monster Hunter titles, this melody lets you weave offense into your performance when all buffs are active. Echo Bubbles are also a vital aspect of the Hunting Horn’s damage output this time around. Place three melodies in one area of effect to inflict a devastating Echo Wave sequence alongside supplementary damage over time.
Finally, the Offset Melody is a powerful Special Performance that has the chance to knock monsters off-balance. Since there’s no way to guard with the Hunting Horn, this is your go-to counter in situations where dodging isn’t viable – if required, hold down the input to delay the swing and nail the timing of that counter. While this isn’t always available, it’s an excellent one to watch out for when choosing your Hunting Horn.
Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn moveset
Here are all the moves and combos for the Hunting Horn:
- Left Swing: A basic attack that stores a white musical note.
- Right Swing: A basic attack that stores a red musical note.
- Flourish: A double swing that lets you store two notes in a single animation.
- Backwards Strike: A basic attack that stores a yellow musical note.
- Overhead Smash: An overhead slam attack similar to the Hammer.
- Hilt Stab: A series of rapid jabs that lets you play a musical note while skipping the lengthier animations of basic attacks.
- Perform: Play the notes you store into the note sheet to activate the melody effects.
- Performance Beat: A swift, mid-performance swing that lets you sidestep incoming attacks.
- Encore: Boosts melody buff effect to maximum at the end of your performance.
- Echo Bubble: Places an AoE that inflicts damage over time.
- Special Performance: A unique attack that varies on the Hunting Horn equipped. Offset Melody is a common attack.
- Focus Strike – Reverb: A powerful slam attack that lets you queue up five notes when hitting a wounded monster.
- Melody – Self-Improvement: Movement speed buff. Playing an encore activates an attack buff and temporarily stops enemies from deflecting your attacks.
- Melody – Attack Up: Attack buff. Playing an encore boosts its effect.
- Melody – Fire Res: Fire resistance buff which also prevents Fireblight. Certain Hunting Horns offer alternative elemental melodies such as Water Res, Ice Res, and Thunder Res.
Melody – Echo Wave: An aggressive melody that inflicts damage, though the specific type corresponds to the Hunting Horn you have equipped.
Now that you know how to play the Hunting Horn, you’ll be a popular co-op partner with pals in Monster Hunter Wilds crossplay. If you’re struggling to keep to the rhythm, consider the MHW Great Sword or MHW Hammer for alternative melee weapons that let you march to the beat of your own swings. Finally, get set for the next Monster Hunter Wilds beta with the MHW system requirements to beat the low-poly blues.