Monster Hunter Wilds Bow: Weapon Guide

Everything you need to know about the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds, including its basic combos, Focus Strikes, and more.

The Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds is easily one of the best weapon types in the game. Although it’s a ranged weapon, it’s still capable of dishing out incredibly high amounts of damage in short bursts. Furthermore, the Bow is also incredibly versatile when it comes to damage types. If you’re looking for a weapon that strikes the perfect balance between agility and strength, then Bow is the perfect choice for you.

In addition to that — unlike other weapon types in Monster Hunter — you won’t have to worry about any form of “sharpness management” when it comes to the Bow. Since it’s a ranged weapon, there are no sharpness gauges to talk of. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not a complicated weapon.

With the Bow, you still need to manage your ammo type, coatings, etc. Here’s everything you need to know about the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds.

How To Use the Bow in Monster Hunter Wilds

The Bow is an incredibly agile weapon type, akin to the Sword and Shield. Although you do need to make sure that you’re carrying sufficient coatings, i.e., elemental ammo, there is no resource cost for regular arrows. You essentially have access to an infinite amount of arrows while using the Bow. Furthermore, in Monster Hunter Wilds, you no longer need to constantly replenish your base arrow types, i.e., normal, pierce, and spread. The Bow has access to a Trick Arrow Gauge, which is needed to use Tracer arrows or coatings. A Tracer arrow is essentially used to mark a monster’s weak spot. Once you fire a Tracer arrow, subsequent shots using the Bow will hone in on it.

The Tracer arrow isn’t permanent, as after a short while it explodes, dealing damage to the monster in the process. The trick to using the Bow is fairly straightforward: fire a Tracer arrow, and follow it up with a barrage of elemental shots. It also allows you to fire Charged Shots, which deal significantly more damage but require proper positioning and timing.

Here are the basic combos for the Bow in MH Wilds:

Combos	Button Combinations (PlayStation/Xbox)
Charge	Hold-R2/Hold-RT
Aim/Focus	Hold-L2/Hold-LT
Quick Shot	Circle/B
Power Shot	Circle (during Quick Shot) > Circle (Power Volley)/B (during Quick Shot) > B (Power Volley)
Arc Shot	Hold-L2+R2 > Circle/Hold-LT+RT > B
Charging Sidestep	Hold-L2 > Cross/Hold-LT > A
Dragon Piercer	Triangle+Circle/Y+B
Instant Dragon Piercer	Triangle+Circle (during Dragon Piercer)/Y+B (during Dragon Piercer)
Thousand Dragons	R2+Triangle+Cirlce/RT+Y+B
Select Coating	Hold-L1 > Triangle/Circle/Hold-LB > Y/B
Apply Coating	Triangle/Y
Ready Tracer	Hold-R2 > Square/Hold-RT > X

Bow Coating Types

Coatings play a vital role in combat while using the Bow. Here’s a list of all coating types:

• Power Coating: Increases the base damage of the arrows fired.
• Close-range Coating: Increases damage dealt by arrows fired at close range.
• Piercing Coating: Allows arrows to pierce, best used against monsters with armored hide.
• Poison Coating: Allows arrows to inflict Poison status.
• Paralysis Coating: Allows arrows to inflict Paralysis status.
• Sleep Coating: Allows arrows to inflict Sleep status.
• Blast Coating: Allows arrows to inflict Blast status.
• Exhaust Coating: Allows arrows to inflict Exhaust status.

Bow Offset and Focus Strikes in MH Wilds

Unlike other weapon types, the Bow doesn’t have a dedicated Offset Attack. Instead, you will have to rely on Charged Shots and Exhaust coating to topple/stun monsters. Although the weapon lacks a dedicated Offset skill, it does have a pretty powerful Focus Fire, Hailstorm. The Focus Fire deals a ton of damage to the wounds created on the monster, and also momentarily staggers them. Furthermore, Focus Strike is also a really good opportunity to deal a ton of elemental damage to the monster.

Here are the combos for the Bow’s Focus Fire in Monster Hunter Wilds:

Combos	Button Combinations (PlayStation/Xbox)
Hailstorm	Hold-L2 > R1/Hold-LT > RB

The Bow is an excellent weapon for both newcomers and veterans. While it does take a bit of getting used to its coatings and arrow types, it’s not nearly as complicated as some of the other weapon types. Furthermore, due to its sheer versatility and damage-dealing potential, the Bow also makes for an excellent secondary weapon, especially for co-op sessions in MH Wilds.

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We provide the latest news and create guides for Monster Hunter Wilds or MH Wilds. Meanwhile, you can check out the following Monster Hunter articles or catch Deltia playing games on Twitch and YouTube:

• Monster Hunter Wilds: 5 Basic Things To Keep in Mind Before Jumping In
• All Monster Hunter Wilds Weapon Types
• Monster Hunter Wilds NPCs: All Characters Guide
• Monster Hunter Wilds Focus Mode Guide