'Monster Hunter Rise' Beginner Guide: How To Use Bow

Bows are the most agile of the three ranged weapon categories in the "Monster Hunter" series. They are also the fastest-killing weapons in "Rise" and its subsequent expansion, "Sunbreak."

However, reaching breakneck hunting speeds demands tons of experience with the weapon type and knowledge of the game as well as the targeted monsters in general. Hunters must be familiar with the ins and outs of the bow if they want to use it effectively. Here's a short guide to help cover the basics.

Bow Shot Types

"Monster Hunter Rise" reintroduced Spread and Pierce bows to the arsenal, all of which were absent in "Monster Hunter World."

Rapid Fire shoots arrows in tight clusters. Pierce launches projectiles that deal multiple hits against a monster. Spread fires bolts in a wide angle.

For beginners, Rapid Fire is highly recommended as it is the most versatile of the shot types.

Additionally, each bow has access to different types of arrow coatings. These are situationally effective and everyone can get away with using just Close-Range Coating (or none at all) against any monster.

Bow Combos

Spamming the primary fire button will increase the charge level of each subsequent shot. The same can be done by dodging while charging up a bow shot. Charging shots this way is faster, though it uses more stamina than usual.

The basic bow DPS combo involves dash charging and then firing a level 2 normal shot followed by a level 3 power shot (performed by pressing the circle button on PlayStation controllers). Repeat until stamina is exhausted.

Switch Skills

For maximum DPS, players should take the following:

• Absolute Power Shot
• Stake Thrust
• Aerial Aim
• Herculean Draw/Bolt Boost

Absolute Power Shot can stun, so aim for the head when using it. Once the monster is down, unload with the basic combo and use Aerial Aim to maximize damage.

Mandatory Armor Skills

Prioritize getting max levels of Constitution and Stamina Surge over getting damage boosts. Bows are useless without stamina.

Then, get the usual set of damage skills like Attack Boost, Critical Eye and Weakness Exploit.

Critical Range

When using any ranged weapon, always pay attention to the aiming reticle. Only fire when two orange rings are around the central dot. This indicates the weapon's Critical Range distance. From here, the weapon will deal maximum damage.

Each shot type has a different Critical Range threshold. Adapt playstyles accordingly or simply use bows that have only a single shot type to make things easier.