5 Best Weapon Combinations In Monster Hunter Wilds

One of the main new features in Monster Hunter Wilds are weapon combinations: the ability to equip two different weapons at once. This allows players to combine any pair of their favorite weapons and swap between them in the middle of a hunt or while exploring without having to go back to a camp.

This can also be a little overwhelming. With fourteen weapon types in the game it can make it hard to choose which two you want to take into your foray into the world of Monster Hunter Wilds. To help with that, here are some weapon combinations that can work in most any situation.

Best Weapon Combinations in Monster Hunter Wilds

Your Weapon choices in Monster Hunter Wilds can be changed at a moment’s notice. At any Base Camp or Pop-Up Camp you can select a primary and secondary weapon to take with you into the field. Swapping between them is only possible when riding your Seikret lizard mount, but hitting the right button on the D-Pad on controller will allow you to summon the Seikret and swap out your weapons in real time. Most weapons also have a number of mounted attacks allowing you to hack and slash at monsters while on the go.

Bow and Long Sword

This Weapon combination gives you a great range of options in any Wilds hunt. The bow allows you to maintain distance while gauging the monster’s timing and movement patterns while raining down arrows on your target. The Long Sword comes in once you know the rhythm, letting you parry monster attacks and giving you an option to cut off valuable monsters parts, such as the tail. These two weapons flow together well granting you a wide range of ways to press the attack.

Hammer and Great Sword

This specific set allows you to deal two types of damage (cutting and blunt) with weapons that pack a punch. The Hammer allows you to break heads and horns on monsters very easily while also knocking monsters out and stunning them for solid periods of time. This lets you charge up the Great Sword swings, dealing massive damage and potentially cutting off monster parts in the process. Both weapons open up opportunities for one another while, while at the same time covering up for the things they lack. The Hammer has a number of very fast attacks, while the Great Sword swings let you take advantage of the openings the Hammer brings up.

Heavy Bow Gun and Dual Blades

Another pair that offers a series of close and ranged attacks. The Heavy Bowgun is here mostly for being able to really lay down fire from a distance without having to worry as much about stamina. It allows players to have a large array of damage while blasting openings in the monster’s defenses. The Dual Blades lets you dash in and essentially dash up and around monsters, giving you some invincibility frames in the process, while cutting way at their weak point. They work in concert by letting the Bowgun open up wounds and weak points and then taking advantage of those weak points.

Switch Axe and Light Bowgun

This Wilds weapon combo centers around filling in for downtime. Light Bowgun has some very strong charged shots and elemental bullets but limited shots of the latter and the charge shot needs time to build back up. Switch Axe too has energy and ramping-up mechanics that require you to expend and build up your phial energy for the more damaging skills that expel the Sword mode charge and phial energy. The weapon regains energy when not in use or from some of the more risky axe mode attacks so combining this with the Light Bowgun maintains the same kind of mobility for both weapons while letting you deal with aggressive monsters from any distance. Switching between the two makes sure there’s not a major moment of downtime where you’re waiting for your weapon to recharge.

Hunting Horn and Anything

This last combo is more of a universal solvent. Being able to bring the hunting horn with any weapon you like means you get to bring the Hunting Horn’s potent buffs with you wherever you go. This weapon allows you to empower your attacks through buffs, or even help bolster your defense in sticky situations. Not only that, but it’s great for co-op, since these buffs will also apply to your party members. And with the weapon swapping system, you won’t be relegated to just being a support this time around.

Don’t let this dissuade you from trying out whatever two weapons speak to you and the individual playstyle you might discover on the way. Monster Hunter is, at its core, a game series about experimentation and Monster Hunter Wilds opens that wide open.

Monster Hunter Wilds releases for Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 5 and PC on February 28, 2025. The open beta is running until November 3, 2024.