Best Hunting Horn Build MHW: Melody & Gear Guide
Hey guys! Ready to become the ultimate maestro of monster hunting? Today, we're diving deep into the Hunting Horn in Monster Hunter: World (MHW) and crafting the absolute best build to amplify your hunting experience. Forget just dealing damage; with the right Hunting Horn setup, you'll be buffing your team, debilitating monsters, and looking stylish while doing it. Let's get started!
Understanding the Hunting Horn in MHW
Before we jump into the build, let's talk about what makes the Hunting Horn so special. This weapon isn't just about raw damage; it's about support, buffs, and utility. The Hunting Horn's unique mechanic involves playing melodies that grant various effects to you and your team. These buffs can range from increased attack power and defense to elemental resistance and healing. Learning to use these melodies effectively is key to mastering the Hunting Horn.
Each Hunting Horn has a different set of notes, which correspond to different melodies. When you perform attacks in a specific sequence, you create a melody. Once the melody is complete, you can perform an encore to activate the buff. The trick is to learn the note sequences for the buffs you want to use and weave them into your combat rotation. Some popular buffs include attack up, defense up, and affinity up. By keeping these buffs active, you can significantly increase your team's effectiveness in battle.
Moreover, the Hunting Horn is surprisingly effective at dealing damage. Its heavy attacks can stagger monsters, and the hilt stab is excellent for applying status effects. The Hunting Horn also has good reach, allowing you to stay relatively safe while still contributing to the fight. It's a versatile weapon that can adapt to different situations, making it a valuable asset in any hunting party. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the series, mastering the Hunting Horn can add a new dimension to your Monster Hunter: World experience.
Key Skills for a Hunting Horn Build
To maximize the potential of your Hunting Horn build, certain skills are essential. These skills enhance your damage output, improve your survivability, and make your buffs more effective. Here are some of the key skills to prioritize:
- Attack Boost: This is a staple for any damage-focused build. Attack Boost directly increases your raw attack power, making your attacks hit harder. The higher the level of Attack Boost, the more significant the damage increase. This skill is crucial for dealing consistent damage and speeding up your hunts.
- Critical Eye: Critical Eye increases your weapon's affinity, which is the chance to deal critical hits. Critical hits deal 25% more damage, so increasing your affinity can significantly boost your overall damage output. Aim for high levels of Critical Eye to maximize your critical hit rate.
- Weakness Exploit: This skill increases your affinity when attacking a monster's weak points. When combined with Critical Eye, Weakness Exploit can push your affinity to near 100% on vulnerable areas, resulting in a massive damage increase. It's especially effective against monsters with well-defined weak points.
- Horn Maestro: This is a must-have skill for any Hunting Horn user. Horn Maestro extends the duration of your buffs, allowing you to spend more time attacking and less time replaying melodies. It also makes your songs easier to perform, reducing the risk of mistakes.
- Health Boost: Staying alive is crucial, especially in challenging hunts. Health Boost increases your maximum health, giving you more survivability against powerful monster attacks. This skill is particularly useful for newer players who are still learning monster attack patterns.
- Earplugs: Some monsters have roars that can interrupt your attacks and leave you vulnerable. Earplugs negate these roars, allowing you to continue attacking without interruption. This skill is especially useful against monsters like Rathalos and Diablos.
These skills form the foundation of a strong Hunting Horn build. Depending on your play style and the specific monster you're hunting, you can adjust your skill selection to optimize your build for the task at hand. Remember, the goal is to balance damage output with survivability and utility, creating a build that allows you to support your team while still dealing significant damage.
The Ultimate Hunting Horn Build
Alright, let's dive into the meat of the matter: the ultimate Hunting Horn build. This setup focuses on maximizing damage, buff duration, and survivability. It's designed to be effective against a wide range of monsters and is suitable for both solo and multiplayer hunts. Keep in mind that this build is just a starting point; feel free to tweak it to suit your personal preferences and play style.
Weapon: Teostra's Orphee
Teostra's Orphee is an excellent choice for this build due to its high raw damage, blast element, and useful melodies. The melodies include attack up, defense up, and wind pressure negation, making it a versatile option for various hunts. The blast element also adds extra damage, helping to trigger explosions and stagger monsters.
Armor Set
- Head: Dragonhead Alpha/Beta - Provides Critical Eye and slots for decorations.
- Chest: Raging Brachydios Beta+ - Offers Agitator and slots for decorations.
- Arms: Teostra Beta+ - Comes with Weakness Exploit and slots for decorations.
- Waist: * acidic Glavenus Beta+* - Provides Critical Eye and slots for decorations.
- Legs: Garuga Beta+ - Offers Critical Eye and slots for decorations.
Decorations
- Attack Jewels: To maximize Attack Boost.
- Critical Jewels: To increase Critical Eye.
- Exploiter Jewels: For Weakness Exploit.
- Maestro Jewel: To extend buff duration.
- Health Jewels: For Health Boost.
- Earplug Jewels: If needed for specific monsters.
Charm
- Handicraft Charm: This charm increases the weapon's sharpness, allowing you to maintain sharpness longer and deal more consistent damage.
Playstyle
The playstyle for this build revolves around maintaining buffs while dealing damage. Start each hunt by playing your attack up and defense up melodies. Then, focus on attacking the monster's weak points to trigger Weakness Exploit and deal critical hits. Use your hilt stab to apply blast damage and stagger the monster. Keep an eye on your buffs and replay them as needed to keep them active. Remember to prioritize survivability by dodging attacks and using healing items when necessary. With practice, you'll become a master of the Hunting Horn, supporting your team and dealing significant damage.
Alternative Hunting Horn Builds
While the previous build is a great all-rounder, there are other Hunting Horn builds that you can try depending on your play style and the monsters you're hunting. Here are a few alternative builds to consider:
Elemental Hunting Horn Build
This build focuses on maximizing elemental damage. It's effective against monsters that are weak to specific elements. To create this build, choose a Hunting Horn with high elemental damage and equip armor and decorations that boost that element. Skills like Elemental Attack Up and Critical Element are essential for this build. This build is especially effective against monsters like Kushala Daora and Teostra, which have significant elemental weaknesses.
Support Hunting Horn Build
If you prefer to focus on support, this build is for you. It prioritizes skills like Wide-Range, Speed Eating, and Free Meal. Wide-Range allows you to share healing items with your teammates, while Speed Eating allows you to consume items quickly. Free Meal gives you a chance to consume items without using them up. This build is perfect for keeping your team alive and buffed throughout the hunt. Use a Hunting Horn with healing melodies to further enhance your support capabilities.
Status Hunting Horn Build
This build focuses on applying status effects like poison, paralysis, and sleep. Choose a Hunting Horn with a high status attack value and equip armor and decorations that boost that status. Skills like Status Attack Up and Critical Status are essential for this build. This build is effective for controlling the monster and creating openings for your team to attack. It's especially useful against monsters that are difficult to hit or have annoying attack patterns.
Tips and Tricks for Mastering the Hunting Horn
Mastering the Hunting Horn takes practice, but with these tips and tricks, you'll be well on your way to becoming a Hunting Horn expert:
- Learn the Melodies: Memorize the note sequences for your favorite melodies. This will allow you to play them quickly and efficiently in combat.
- Prioritize Buffs: Focus on keeping your essential buffs active at all times. Attack up, defense up, and affinity up are usually the most important.
- Use the Hilt Stab: The hilt stab is a quick and effective way to apply status effects and deal damage. Use it frequently to interrupt monster attacks and create openings.
- Practice Your Positioning: The Hunting Horn has good reach, so use it to your advantage. Stay at a safe distance while still contributing to the fight.
- Coordinate with Your Team: Communicate with your teammates about which buffs you're using and when you'll be replaying them. This will help them take advantage of the buffs and avoid getting caught off guard.
- Experiment with Different Builds: Don't be afraid to try out different Hunting Horn builds and see what works best for you. Each build has its strengths and weaknesses, so find one that suits your play style.
Conclusion
The Hunting Horn is a versatile and rewarding weapon in Monster Hunter: World. With the right build and play style, you can become a powerful force on the battlefield, supporting your team and dealing significant damage. So grab your Hunting Horn, learn your melodies, and get ready to rock the monster world! Happy hunting, guys! Hope this guide helps you on your journey to becoming a Hunting Horn master. Now go out there and make some beautiful music! Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep honing your skills and experimenting with different builds until you find what works best for you. Good luck, and may your hunts be filled with glorious melodies and epic victories! Don't forget to share your own Hunting Horn builds and tips in the comments below. We'd love to hear about your experiences and learn from your insights. Together, we can create the ultimate Hunting Horn community and help each other become the best hunters we can be. Keep practicing, keep experimenting, and most importantly, keep having fun! The world of Monster Hunter: World is vast and full of challenges, but with the Hunting Horn by your side, you'll be ready to face anything that comes your way. So go forth, and let your music be heard throughout the land!