Best Ammo To Craft In Monster Hunter Wilds

Summary

• Craft paralysis ammo for effective status effects.
• Sleep ammo can stop monsters & open for big hits.
• Poison ammo inflicts damage over time for faster hunts.

Like most of the other weapons, bowguns have had a bit of a rework in Monster Hunter Wilds. Both light and heavy bowguns function a little differently than previous games, and ranged fighting in Monster Hunter has always been a little more complex than just pointing and shooting. That means that these weapon types can be a little confusing for new players, especially when they start to get into ammo mods and craftable ammo types.

For light and heavy bowguns, there are the standard ammo types: normal, spread, and pierce. These don’t have to be crafted and come with every bowgun. Each bowgun also works with certain special ammo types. These are craftable ammo types with special properties. Some types are limited to certain weapon types, exclusive to either light or heavy bowguns.

Once players get into the system, it’s less complicated than it sounds. The ammo system has been streamlined compared to previous games, but there’s still the question of whether these special ammo types are worth using. Not all ammo types are worth investing time in crafting, using, and building gear around. For players who want a quick go-to guide, these are the best ammo types to craft in Monster Hunter Wilds.

14

Paralysis Ammo

Stop Them In Their Tracks

• Effects: May inflict paralysis on impact
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Parashroom

Status effect inflicting ammo is a good choice, especially for light bowgun players. Paralysis ammo is effective against most monsters and can make hunts a lot easier, allowing multiple procs of paralysis in one hunt. Certain light bowguns can rapid-fire status-based ammo, which can be highly effective.

13

Sleep Ammo

Snooze Shot

• Effects: May inflict sleep on hit
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Sleep Herb

Sleep is less generally useful than paralysis as a status effect, but it’s still a worthwhile ammo type. Sleep stops a monster from attacking and opens them up for big hits in a similar way to paralysis, so it’s equally effective. Some monsters are more vulnerable to sleep, so crafting this ammo can come in handy in the right hunt.

12

Poison Ammo

Damage Over Time

• Effects: May inflict poison (damage over time) on hit
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Toadstool

Poison can be a valuable status effect against any monster that’s vulnerable. Having damage over time ticking on a monster while players inflict their main damage from other sources can make hunts go a bit faster for bowgun players. Light bowguns will always have an easier time proccing status effects, but poison can be used with either bowgun type.

11

Dragon Ammo

Dragon Element Damage

• Effects: Deals dragon elemental damage with pierce effect
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Dragonfell Berry

Elemental ammo can be useful for both types of bowgun in Monster Hunter Wilds, when it’s used to target monster weaknesses. Dragon element is one of the more generally useful elements, as there are several high-tier monsters with a dragon element weakness. All elemental ammo in Wilds acts the same as pierce ammo when shot, dealing multiple instances of damage and passing through the monster.

10

Thunder Ammo

Thunder Element Damage

• Effects: Deals Thunder elemental damage with pierce effect
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Thunderbug Capacitor

Thunder element is another very useful type of elemental damage, as there are some monsters in Monster Hunter Wilds with a Thunder element weakness. Like with other elemental ammo, it’s only worth using against monsters with a weakness. Bowgun players need to pay attention to the ideal range when using elemental ammo, too, as both types of bowgun have a damage sweet spot a short distance away from monsters.

9

Flaming Ammo

Fire Element Damage

• Effects: Deals fire elemental damage with pierce effect
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Fire Herb

Fire is slightly less useful than the two elements above as there are fewer total monsters with a weakness to it, but it’s still worth using against monsters that do have a fire weakness. When crafting ammo, players should note that normal ammo is infinite, so the only thing needed to craft more ammo on the fly is the other primary ingredient, like the Fire Herb here for flaming ammo.

8

Freeze Ammo

Ice Element Damage

• Effects: Deals Ice elemental damage with pierce effect
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Snow Herb

Freeze ammo isn’t quite as useful as it sounds. It doesn’t freeze enemies, it’s just the name given to Ice elemental ammo. It’s still a useful ammo type against enemies with an Ice weakness, but players should be aware that it’s just another elemental ammo type.

7

Water Ammo

Water Element Damage

• Effects: Deals water elemental damage with pierce effect
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo

Water comes at the bottom of the tier list of elemental damage types. That’s just because there are slightly fewer monsters with a Water weakness in Monster Hunter Wilds at the moment compared to other elemental damage types. As with the other elemental types, it’s still worth using if a monster is weak to the element.

6

Cluster Bomb

Indiscriminate AoE

• Effects: Drops explosive shells in a tight AoE (can friendly fire)
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Bomberry

For heavy bowgun players, cluster bombs are a slow but powerful AoE. A cluster bomb drops 3 to 5 shells depending on the bowgun level, and these blasts all deal damage in a small radius. The radius is tight, so shots have to be well-aimed, especially as stray blasts can damage a player’s companions.

Cluster Bombs are shot like a mortar, requiring the player to stand in place for a moment, so their use has to be well-timed, but they deal heavy damage.

5

Wyvern Ammo

Explosive Shot

• Effects: Fires a single charged explosive shot
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Dragonstrike Nut

Wyvern ammo is another heavy bowgun exclusive ammo type. This is a powerful, single-shot charged blast that deals relatively high damage. Unfortunately, relatively high isn’t quite high enough to make Wyvern Ammo worth using over other ammo types due to the length of time taken to load the ammo and fire the shot.

4

Exhaust Ammo

Stamina Depletion

• Effects: Depletes monster stamina
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Exciteshroom

Exhaust is an interesting status effect, as inflicting it fully can drastically reduce the effectiveness of monsters for a time. It can cause monsters to attack less frequently, move more slowly, and even try and flee to seek food.

On the other hand, it’s difficult to inflict; some monsters are immune, and there are other easier ways to make monsters less of a threat, like paralysis. If players absolutely want to play around headshot stuns, exhaust ammo can help, but it’s not generally that useful.

3

Sticky Ammo

Sticky Bombs

• Effects: Sticks in the target and explodes after a short delay
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Blast Nut

Sticky Ammo is a sticky explosive shot that detonates after sticking in a monster for a short time. It does okay damage, and it can be used effectively with headshots to inflict additional stun on monsters. Reload speed, recoil, and ammo limitations mean it’s not the most efficient type of damaging ammo, though.

2

Slicing Ammo

Monster Part Damage

• Effects: Breaks into spinning blades that deal slicing damage to monsters
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Slashberry

Slicing ammo isn’t great for overall damage output. When the shot hits a monster, it breaks apart into slicing blades that each deal moderate damage. This damage is adept at dealing parts damage and severing monster parts like tails, though, so it does have its uses.

1

Tranq Ammo

Monster Capturing

• Effects: Tranquilizes monsters caught in traps
• Ingredients: Normal Ammo + Tranq Bomb

Tranq Ammo can’t be called a generally useful ammo type, but it does have one specific use. If players want to capture monsters, this ammo type works well. It’s only very slightly more convenient than using Tranq Bombs to achieve the same thing, though, and players need the bombs to craft the ammo in the first place.