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Everything you need to know about the best Hunting Horn build in Monster Hunter Wilds, including the Decorations, skills, and more.
The Hunting Horn is an excellent weapon choice in Monster Hunter Wilds. While it used to be an excellent secondary weapon in past games, something players used mostly for co-op sessions, the Hunting Horn in the latest Monster Hunter title has received some major overhauls, making it viable even for a solo playthrough.
In fact, the Hunting Horn is now almost as effective as any other heavy weapon type, albeit with some limitations. The new offset attack, as well as the Focus Strike, bring the Hunting Horn much closer to weapons like Hammer and even the Great Sword. While the weapon does retain its moveset complexity from past games, it’s now significantly more beginner-friendly.
That said, the Hunting Horn, much like the Hammer or other weapon types in the game, works best with a well-optimized build, especially in the endgame. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to craft the best Hunting Horn build in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn Overview
The Hunting Horn isn’t an easy weapon to pick up and play. While it does have combos that don’t require much learning, that’s only half of its capabilities. The real strength of the weapon comes from its ability to stack notes (Melodies), which can be used to deploy passive buffs and effects periodically. It’s a weapon that benefits from a more passive style of gameplay.
Essentially, when using the Hunting Horn, your goal is to use an Echo Bubble, followed by the Attack Up and Echo Wave Melodies, while you stack notes like the Offset Melody and Self Improvement. Additionally, there are special Decorations for the weapon to facilitate the effectiveness of the notes.
Furthermore, as a regular weapon, even outside the passive buffs, the Hunting Horn is capable of dishing out pretty impressive damage numbers. Additionally, it’s also quite capable of staggering and immobilizing monsters. Although the Hunting Horn isn’t built to sever monster parts, with the right set of skills, you can use it quite efficiently to inflict Partbreak. Here’s a look at the Hunting Horn’s strengths and weaknesses as a weapon type:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Ability to stack and apply passive buffs periodically. | Relies heavily on combos and buffs for damage. |
| Good raw damage and single-hit DPS. | Can be quite tricky to learn (and master) for new players. |
| Combos are incredibly stamina-efficient. | Offset attack tied to a melody, which can be tricky to perform. |
Best Hunting Horn Build in Monster Hunter Wilds
For our Hunting Horn build, we went with the Rarity 8 Omitika. We also chose the Paralysis status effect, which works really well with the weapon’s moveset. Additionally, to improve the Melody Effects, we used the Sonorous Jewel, which helps the buffs last much longer.
Furthermore, for the other weapon skills, we chose Slugger and Stamina Thief, both of which work quite well for a heavy weapon. With Slugger and Stamina Thief equipped, knocking out monsters and inflicting Exhaust will be quite easy, which will give you more opportunities to dish out damage. To round off the build, we went with the full Arkvulkan (Beta) set, which offers good defense and passive healing.
We also used Weakness Exploit, Partbreak, and Flayer skills to further boost the Hunting Horn’s damage output and ability to stagger monsters. Partbreaker and Weakness Exploit also help a ton with enhancing the weapon’s Offset attack. That said, here’s a look at the Hunting Horn build:
- Weapon: Omiltika (Rarity 8, Artian Weapon)
- Weapon Decorations:
- Sonorous/KO Jewel [3]
- Gambit/KO Jewel [3]
- Drain Jewel III [3]
- Armor: Full Arkvulkan (Arkveld) β set
- Arkvulkan Helm β
- Decorations:
- Tenderizer Jewel [3]
- Jumping Jewel [2]
- Sheath Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulcan Mail β
- Decorations:
- Tenderizer Jewel [3]
- Destroyer Jewel [2]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulkan Vambraces β
- Decorations:
- Destroyer Jewel [2]
- Destroyer Jewel [2]
- Steadfast Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulkan Coil β
- Decorations:
- Steadfast Jewel [1]
- Steadfast Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Arkvulkan Greaves β
- Decorations:
- Flayer Jewel [3]
- Sheath Jewel [1]
- Decorations:
- Talisman: Chainblade Charm II
- Mantle: Rocksteady Mantle
Melody Effects
- Self Improvement
- Status Attack Up
- Divine Protection
- All Ailments Negated
- Echo Wave (Paralysis)
- Offset Melody
Hunting Horn Build Skills
Here are the skills that you get access to with the best Hunting Horn build:
Equipment Skills
- Punishing Draw: Level 5
- Stamina Thief: Level 3
- Horn Maestro: Level 2
- Slugger: Level 2
- Weakness Exploit: Level 5
- Convert Element: Level 3
- Stun Resistance: Level 3
- Partbreaker: Level 3
- Quick Sheathe: Level 3
- Flayer: Level 3
- Recovery Speed: Level 1
- Evade Extender: Level 1
Set Bonus Skills
- 2-set bonus active: Hasten Recovery I
- 4-set bonus active: Hasten Recovery II
Group Skills
- 3-set bonus active: Diversion
Hunting Horn Build Stats
Following are the raw stats for the best Hunting Horn build:
Attack Status
- Attack: 798
- Affinity: 20%
- Element: 150 (Paralysis)
Defense Status
- Defense: 391
- Fire Res: 10
- Water Res: 0
- Thunder Res: -5
- Ice Res: 0
- Dragon Res: -15
Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn Build Explained
The Hunting Horn build focuses on these primary factors:
- Improved Status Effects
- Enhanced Melodies
- Focus on wounds
Here’s an explanation of how these factors come into play for the Hunting Horn build:
Improved Status Effects
For the Hunting Horn build, we went with the Paralysis status effect since it’s the most efficient when it comes to temporarily immobilizing monsters. You can also go with the Sleep status. However, for the Hammer’s playstyle, Paralysis works the best. Additionally, with the Horn Maestro equipped, you can significantly increase the duration and effectiveness of the Status Attack Up and Echo Wave Melodies.
You can also use a Paralysis Jewel to further improve the efficiency of the status effect. However, with the Status Attack Up Melody and Horn Maestro, you won’t really need to waste a Decoration slot on a Status Effect Jewel.
Enhanced Melodies
Melodies are the most powerful tools in the Hunting Horn’s arsenal. As such, for a proper Hunting Horn build, the Horn Maestro (Sonorous) skill is a necessity. Horn Maestro essentially improves the duration of the Melody Effects, and also the effectiveness of them. The skill comes in incredibly handy not only for Melodies like Status Attack Up, Echo Wave, and Self Improvement but also for Divine Protection and the Offset Melody.
Focus on Wounds
Wounds are an easy way to not only dish out raw damage but also inflict status effects. Furthermore, the Focus Strike, Reverb deals a ton of damage in a single attack, which can be amplified by Attack Up and Status Effect Melodies. Furthermore, with Flayer, Weakness Exploit, and Partbreak equipped, inflicting wounds won’t be much of a hassle as long as you can hit the monster’s weak points.
How To Use the Best Hunting Horn Build in Monster Hunter Wilds?
Here are some tips on how to use the best Hunting Horn build in Monster Hunter Wilds:
- The general rule of thumb for using the Hunting Horn is to stack a few Attack Up and Self Improvement notes before starting the fight. You can choose to start with a mounting attack. However, it’s best to save the mount for later with the passive buffs applied. If you’re using Support Hunters, make sure to disable mounting for them in the Options menu.
- Always remember to create multiple Echo Bubbles before playing a note. That way you can use the more powerful versions of the Melodies without compromising on mobility. Echo Bubbles don’t last for long. However, with Horn Maestro equipped it shouldn’t be much of an issue.
- While you might be tempted to use the Melodies as soon as you have them stacked, it’s worth saving them for instances when you can properly use them. This is especially true for Offset and Echo Wave Melodies, which are the best damage dealers for the Hunting Horn.
- Since we have Flayer and Partbreaker equipped, make sure to capitalize on the monster’s wounds. Additionally, once you paralyze the monster, do not immediately start playing notes. Instead, take some time to create Echo Bubbles and follow it up with Attack Up Melody. Follow these up with the regular combo to best capitalize on the Paralysis status effect.
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