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What’s better than getting up close and personal with the gigantic beasts that inhabit the dangerous environs ofMonster Hunter Wilds? Why, staying away from them but still managing to take them down, of course! Of the 14 weapons available to you in the game, only three of them are suited to long ranges, and the Light Bowgun may be the safest of them all.
With an emphasis on movement and targeting weaknesses, the Light Bowgun may be the easiest of the three ranged weapons to get to grips with, and there’s a lot of room for optimisation and impressive moves. Let’s dive into this flexible weapon!
you may see the specific Light Bowgun controls for your platform by going into Settings > Info > Play Guide > Weapon Controls > Light Bowgun.
Light Bowgun Overview
The Light Bowgun is a ranged weapon that straddles between Bow and Heavy Bowgun in terms ofmobility- while the Bow is a very mobile weapon, the Light Bowgun is not very far behind it. With the Light Bowgun, you’ll befiring bursts of ammo into your foe, repositioning, and then firing again- it’s a very active and reactive moveset to get to grips with.
The weapon’s effectiveness hinges not on your ability to simply pump the most rounds into your foe, but your ability touse its special forms of shooting. Specifically, this means usingRapid Fire Modeto its best extent and firing offChaser Shotswhenever possible.
This is a weapon that we heavily recommenda session in the Training Campwith - getting used to the rhythm of Chaser Shots, Rapid Fire Mode, and reloading is difficult on the field as a total newbie!
In addition to the three unlimited ammo types (Normal, which is basic, Spread, which gives the Bowgun shots a wide angle, and Pierce, which deals damage constantly as it passes through a monster), there are many craftable/purchaseable ammo types that can be used to great effect. In brief:
Critical Range
A key aspect to ranged weaponry is the idea of aCritical Range. This is something you can see very blatantly when aiming your weapon with the L2/LT button - something you should be doing at all times when attacking with a ranged weapon.
You’ll have atargeting reticlevisible in the centre of your screen when aiming. When you are at the ‘Critical Range’,this reticle will be outlined in orange- if there’s no orange, you’ll either need toget closer or further awayfrom your target. If you fire outside of the Critical Range, you’ll be doing less damage than the alternative!
Different ammo types have different Critical Ranges! For example, Spread Ammo, which turns your gun into something of a shotgun, will have you closer to your target than other ammo types.
Rapid Fire Mode
A central feature of the Light Bowgun is itsRapid Fire Mode. Underneath the special ammo bar and above the regular ammo tracker on the right-side of the screen, you’ll see a gauge that is either yellow while full, or blue while reloading. This is your Rapid Fire allotment.
Hitting the Circle/B button while in the normal mode that you’ll begin in when equipping a Light Bowgun will put you into Rapid Fire Mode, which you’ll be able to see visibly on the weapon;the hunter will put a whole other magazine on the right side of the bowgun.
You can leave Rapid Fire Mode at any time by hitting the Circle/B button again.
While in Rapid Fire mode, you’re able to eitherhold down the fire buttonto continuously fire your chosen ammo into an enemy, or performgreater Chaser Shotsthan usual.
Only yourunlimited ammo typescan be used in Rapid Fire mode - don’t worry about not using your limited ammo types to their best potential by not saving them for Rapid Fire mode!
Chaser Shots
Another key aspect of the Light Bowgun moveset is the humbleChaser Shot. After firing a round of ammo, you canfollow up this shotwith a Chaser Shot using the Circle/B button. This will fire a stronger-than-usual followup attack using the same ammo.
The only reason not to use Chaser Shots in your main combos is if you need tovery quickly move out of a monster’s pathor avoid an attack, as Chaser Shots will have you stationary for a short while. It’s a little bit ‘risk for reward’, so learning a monster’s attack patterns and when it’s safe to execute Chaser Shots will make hunts far cleaner than otherwise.
Another benefit to Chaser Shots is that they willrefill your Rapid Fire gauge more than regular shots, so if your gun is far more suited to dealing damage through Rapid Fire (for example, if you’re not targeting an elemental weakness or a status effect and you just want raw damage), you’ll want to use Chaser Shots more for that juicy Rapid Fire uptime.
Light Bowgun Combos And Tips
Bowgun Customisation
A central aspect of both Bowgun weapons is the fact that you can customise them and bring along a pack full of ammo that suits the exact hunt you’re taking them on. To customise a Bowgun, you’ll need to head to theCustomise Bowgun page at any Camp’s menu or at a Smithy.
Bowguns can be equipped with a range of mods (which are all provided by the game, no need to craft them!) that improve certain aspects. They areMagazines, which increase certain ammo types' capacity, letting you fire them more before you need to waste time reloading. Different mods have different levels of utility:
Ultimately, the best choices here will come down to your experience with the Light Bowgun as a weapon and what you’re hunting at the time. Experience will be the key decider.
Wyvernblast Vs. Adhesive Ammo
Light Bowguns have two ‘special’ ammo types that can be used by pressing the Triangle/Y button at the same time as the Circle/B button. Like the modifications we just talked about, they can be swapped by heading into the Customise Bowgun page in a Camp menu or at a Smithy.
Both types of ammo certainly have their place, but Adhesive Ammo is the one that seems to have the most applications and universality, so if you’re looking for an outright recommendation, Adhesive Ammo is the recommendation we’d give.
Both types of ammo are on a standard cooldown. You cannot restore this cooldown quicker by attacking, unlike with Rapid Fire Mode. You can see if your ammo is ready by checking above the Rapid Fire gauge - the symbol on the left denotes your Special Ammo, while the symbols on the right denote your Focus Strike ammo.
