~ mazereon presents ~
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For Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G/Freedom Unite
v 2.1
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=============================================================================
Contents
Introduction
Change History
Part 1: Bowgun Basics
BSC I Basics
AMO II Ammunition
ELE III Elemental Shots
UBG IV Upgrading your Bowgun
HBS V Heavy Bowgun Specific Information
SHB VI Suggested HBGs
LBS VII Light Bowgun Specific Information
RFR VIII Rapid Fire
SLB IX Suggested LBGs
ASC X Armour Skills & Combos
CAS XI Combining armour skills
GGT XII General gunning Tactics
SUG XIII Suggested Armour sets for Elder, High Rank and G Rank
Part 2: Strategies for Gunning Every Creature
LYN I Lynians
NEO II Neopetrons
DRM III Dromes
BWY IV Bird Wyverns
WYV V Wyverns
PSC VI Piscines
CPC VII Carapeceons
PRI VIII Primatus
EDS IX Elder Dragons
Part 3: The Monster Hunter Quest
INT I Introduction
LOS II Rathalos
REX III Tigrex
NGA IV Naruga Kuruga/Narcuga
RAJ V Rajang
BRA I Bragging Rights
Credits and Contact Info
=============================================================================
Introduction
=============================================================================
Welcome, sais, may all your days be long upon the earth!
What you've stumbled across here is my best attempt to distill hundreds and
hundreds of hours of gunning experience in Monster Hunter, in order to assist
people in getting into bowgunning. Bowguns (BGs) are often looked at with
disdain and largely rejected by most players. And to be fair, in incarnations
of Monster Hunter past, BGs have been somewhat underpowered. Recoil and ammo
capabilities have put people off getting into gunning. But now in 2G/Unite
with the re-working of the recoil system, BGs have gone from being a 'viable'
class to a stand out one. Indeed, Heavy Bowguns (HBGs) can compete with the
Hammer and Greatsword class in terms of quest completion speed. They take a
lot of work to understand, however, and there are a lot of stigmas still
attached to BGs which I've tried to address with this guide. Wherever
possible, I've backed up my assertions with videos or pictures, too.
This Compendium contains a *lot* of information. It can be used a gunning
Bible, but for most people it's far more effective if you selectively search
it. Hold Control and press F to open the Find box, and then enter terms to
quickly find what information you seek.
It's important to note I've designed this so MH players of all experience
levels can get something out of it. It's designed for everyone from complete
newbies to seasoned vets looking to get into gunning.
Please note that the 2G and Unite translations of weapon names differ in
places. If you see a weapon like Exuberance/Prosperity, then that means it's
called Exuberance in 2G and Prosperity in Unite. The weapons only have
different names, the stats are identical.
I'm more than happy to take comments or questions not answered in this guide
to mazereon at gmail dot com. But please, do check to make sure the questions
aren't already answered first.
Throughout the guide there are YouTube links. To view these, copy the link
and paste it into your browser.
- mazereon
=============================================================================
Change History
=============================================================================
v2.1 Fixed some spelling errors and changed some sections to change emphasis
slightly (less emphasis on HBG guarding, for exampe).
v2.0 Fixed errors (thanks JohnnyBloodyRaven and Shadow Edge), added in links
to RoTR and Minegarde. Also added some recommendations for which creatures
LBG is perferable for (Thanks Cobslayerz0356). Added Vampirecosmonaut's
variants of the Elemental Maniac set.
v1.99: Minor fixes and clarifications. Now that Kira's removed her guide,
shot damage guide references now point to VC/Dai's guide.
v1.98: Added m45t3rz30's Absolute Bow set, added misc. videos and made a few
random fixes.
v1.97: Added Crimson Fatalis, Silver Los and Purple hermitaur videos. Added
VC's shot range chart and Gypceros pellet gun suggestions (Ta SuperVolt and
VC). Corrected several minor errors.
v1.95: Added extra Gypceros tips (thanks Wida Hahn and Vash_TS) and
GamersHell to the host list. Added more videos and notes on Dragon S.
v1.92: Added Akantor, Tigrex, Devil Blos, Ucamulbas and Black Gravios videos
v1.9: Added low and high rank weapon suggestions, fixed minor errors, added
most jewels needed in custom sets, added this section.
=============================================================================
Part 1: Bowgun Basics
=============================================================================
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I Basics BSC
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Unsheathe is Tri, and there’s no unsheathe 'attack', though pressing R
trigger, Cir and Tri together unsheathes and reloads your gun.
Reloading is Tri while unsheathed. Selecting ammo is by holding L trigger,
then selecting the desired ammo with Tri and X, then releasing L. You must
re-load if you switch out of your chosen ammo and then back to it. Circle to
fire.
Your scope is R trigger once unsheathed, aimed with the analogue stick. R
trigger again to unzoom.
If you hold L trigger while pressing any direction key, you switch to a third
person view that allows you to aim on the fly, but it’s not easily done.
Good for scoping surroundings in a pinch.
When you fire your BG, there are five ranges, from shortest (1) to longest
(5). How far away you are from a creature impacts on how much damage you'll
do.
For Pierce and Pellet, ranges 2 and 3 do the most, 1 and 4 are next most and
5 (the longest distance away) is the lowest damage. To observe this, try
sniping a prey at very long range - it takes around twice as may shots.
Elemental shots however are range independant.
For Normal, ranges 1 and 2 do the most, then 3 and 4, and finally long range
shots at 5 do very little. Fire S fits in this category.
Crag and Clust shots do fixed damage aside from the initial contact hit,
and can be fired at any range with virtually the same effect.
You'll soon find the sweet spot to shoot from to maximise your damage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
II Ammunition AMO
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To be a range master, you must understand your weapon. And to understand a
range weapon, you must understand what you’re firing.
Normal 1 and 2 are simple shots: You fire them, and they hit and damage the
hitzone they land on. Normal 1 is infinite ammo but does very little damage
– if you end up with only this left on a quest, you should probably abandon
if the monster you’re hunting isn’t almost dead. Normal 2 should be your
standard shot, as it does good damage and is simply targeted and fired. Works
well generally and on small, fast monsters or where pierce shots don’t work
well.
Normal 3 is slightly different. It hits, then damages the hitzone it lands on
and shards fly off. These will either hit adjacent hitzones or fly off. If
you land shards, it’ll do a lot of damage, but otherwise you’re better off
using Normal 2. Takes a bit of practice to master, but you’ll learn where
to hit to land most shards.
Pierce 1, 2, 3: These all work the same. They hit one hitzone and travel
through to the next one, then the next until they hit ~5 times or exit the
wyvern. The higher level shots do more damage. These shots work best on long
monsters like Gravios, Plesioth and Aka/Ucamulbas. If you’re fighting
something small and fast like a Rajang, don’t use them. Has a recoil so
beware.
Pellet 1, 2, 3: These shots are different from the above in that they require
little precision. You fire, and the shot splits up and hits at random, though
has a degree of auto aim if you fire close enough to a creature. Works
excellently for dromes and Kirin: fire, and a half second later shards
will hit a few points. Also good for firing at a Diablos’ tail, for example.
Crag: A simple shot: You fire, it hits and a split second later explodes.
Does good damage and acts like a sonic bomb. It’s useful for fishing out
Plessy/Cephadrome. Also, enough damage (more accurately, KO value) from this
will KO a monster like a hammer (see VioletKIRA’s stickied guide) if you hit
the head. It’s not much use in solo play, but it’s very good for ad hoc
battles. Again, has recoil to watch out for. Good for smaller monsters.
Clust: You fire, and when it hits it does minor damage. But then it fragments
into several bomblets which explode. If all hit, it does severe damage, but
will take practice to land. This works very well on bigger, slower creatures,
but again on a monster like a Rajang or Blangonga it’s not great because the
bomblets won’t stay on it if it moves. Another shot with recoil.
NOTE ON CLUST SPAMMING
There are a lot of players who remember Fatalis runs from MHF and MH, when
spamming Clust 2 was quite effective. Now, with the higher damaging guns,
Clust still has a place, but it's not at G rank or even High rank fights.
As above, clust damage is fixed. It's great at low rank, OK at high rank and
poor at G rank. You're actually much better off just firing Normal 2 in terms
of damage and not getting caught out while recoil-locked.
Note that there is no creature in the entire game (except Fatalis in the right
circumstances) that gets killed faster with Clust than it does with other
tactics.
Here's a chart made by Vampirecosmonaut to demonstrate shot distances
visually:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/943356/57743
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III Elemental Shots ELE
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Fire S: Functions as a fire elemented Normal type 2.
Ice S: Functions as a ice elemented Pierce style shot.
Water S: Functions as a water elemented style Pierce shot.
Thunder S: Functions as a thunder elemented style Pierce shot.
Dragon S: [Captain Obvious] Functions as a dragon elemented pierce shot.
BG gets great mileage from elemental shots since they don’t have recoil,
meaning they can be spammed. Dragon S though is not recommended. You can only
carry 23 shots with combines, and it's got a fixed damage value that ignores
weapon's raw. Has poor damage potential even with skills, and horrible recoil.
Can be used to break an Elder Dragon's horns, but few other uses.
Please note the elemental shots function differently from other shot types.
While they may be Pierce *style* (Apart from Fire S) they don't get a damage
bonus from Pierce S Up (and Fire S doesn't from Normal S Up).
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IV Upgrading your BG UBG
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So congratulations, you’ve decided to get into the mysterious and new world
of bowgunning. Off you run to the creation store and plonk down your Lao Shan
Ruby for that Emperor Lao Cannon. Now you’ve made it, what are those options
you get?!
Modding: The first one is simple, it upgrades the damage of your weapon. As
soon as you can afford it, get all the way to Mod level 5.
From here, you may only attach one of the two possible options, which are
different for heavy and light bowguns.
Power barrel: Gives a good boost to damage. When you have defensive skills on
your armour, this is probably the attachment of choice.
OR, a
[HBG Only] Shield: An attachment to have if you have offensive armour skills
and need some protection. While you aren’t attacking, you’ll auto block
attacks, including screams. The residual damage you take is higher than other
classes, but it's better than getting run over by a Diablos.
[LBG Only] Silencer: This device noticeably lowers recoil. If you're using a
Pellet, Pierce, Crag or Clust set primarily, this is a very handy
attachment to have. For recoil-less shots, it's not worth using.
And with both of those, you can equip a:
Zoom Scope: When in zoom mode, you can zoom your gun in further. Not really
that useful in most situations, since without the Target range down skill,
your shots won’t reach as far as you can see. But hey, why not?
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V Heavy Bowgun Specific Information HBS
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I have had numerous discussions with experienced players about the role of
the Heavy Bowgun and it strikes me as unusual that it is seen as a support
class or a novelty. In my opinion, Heavy bowgun (HBG) is probably the most
underrated class in 2G. Since it seemingly lacks the power of melee weapons
or the mobility of bow, people tend to overlook it as a class. This guide is
intended to open people to the potential of what is the fastest
killing classes for some monsters, after it was buffed up from Freedom/
Portable 2 to 2G.
Firstly, the downsides of HBG. As you’ve no doubt noticed, when unsheathed,
it has limited mobility (comparable to a Gunlance). Limited ammo (ignoring
the Normal 1 shot which does negligible damage) means if you aren’t
accurate, you’re going to be stuck with bashing things with your bowgun,
never a good look (HBG can melee attack with Tri + Circle, and the Felyne
Blunt Force makes that damage rise. Before you ask, no, it isn’t worth using).
And you’ll need to be stationary while firing, leaving you open.
But the fact is, with practice and skill, these issues can be practically
negated.
The strengths of HBG are many, as it’s a class that can be played a number
of ways. It’s got great elemental damage, great and underrated raw damage
(did you know the Ucamulbas Cannon does 614 raw before Kitchen skills,
Charms, talons and any other buffs?), and ammo limits aren’t really a problem
when you learn weak points. You can equip a shield and use the Guard Inc
skill to constantly tank all hits – and even without it, the shield
auto-blocks if you aren’t firing. Or you can go all out offence and use a power
barrel for even more damage.
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VI Suggested HBGs SHB
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HR1 - 3: LOW RANK
At this stage in the game, HBG isn't yet a specialised class, so weapon
suggestions are limited. Basically, look for the gun that best suits a given
creature and that's easily made. For the most part, any weapon that fires
Normal 2 and has high raw works - so the Kut Ku/Garuga guns are fine. The
only guns you SHOULDN'T use are the Diablos/Monoblos ones, since they suck.
Very low shot types and clip sizes = fail.
Quickcaster: Fires all elements, and low rank Kirin are pretty easy to kill.
A useful weapon for your armoury.
Made from Kirin materials.
Daora's Delphinidae: An awesome looking with low recoil for Pierce shooting.
One of the few guns for this rank that fires Ice S.
Requires Daora parts.
Teostra's Artillery: a useable Fire S based weapon with decent damage.
Requries Tesotra mats.
Lao Shan Cannon: Hard to go wrong with. Fires all the shots you'd want and
has great damage. Devastating when paired with Death Stench armour for
Auto reload, given the small slip sizes.
Needs - wait for it - Lao shan materials.
Bastionmage: A great Pellet option for Low rank, with 6 shot clips of Pellet
1-3. Lacking power, but Pellet S Up helps that. Made with Gypceros mats.
HR4 - 6: HIGH RANK
Hidden Sniper: 6 shots of Pierce munitions and Very fast reload makes this
the Pierce weapon of choice at High rank. If you don't need elemental shots,
this gun is the way to go. Made from Naruga mats.
Tankmage+: A solid Pellet option for this rank, before you can get other
pellet guns. OK to use, but should be ditched for better options as soon as
you can. Made from Gypceros parts.
QuickCaster+: A limited weapon, but good for Elemental Speed Firing since it
uses all elemental shots. Made from High rank Kirin bits.
Grande Daora: A good pierce weapon and one of the few High rank guns with
Ice S. Looks absolutely badass, too, and is made from High rank Daora mats.
Vor Cannon: Similar to Destiny's Hand (below). Good shot options and reload
makes it a worthwhile Pierce and all purpose gun. Made from Fatalis.
Destiny's Hand: A versatile weapon. Good with pierce shots and also good
elemental options. Fast reload makes it much more viable than the Lao guns
for general use without Auto reload. Made from Crimson Fatalis.
Emperor Lao Shan Cannon: Your best bet for an all-round high rank gun. Great
damage and shot capability means a very versatile weapon, though without
Load Up or Auto reload/Speed Fire the very slow reload is an issue.
Supreme Lao Shan Cannon: As above. Slightly less damage, but a weapon slot
for gemming. Both Lao guns are made from... Lao Shan parts.
HR7 - 9: G RANK
Shadow Cannon [Dark Wind]: A fantastic Pierce gun. No Element support, but
massive (6 round) clips of all 3 Pierce shots, combined with amazing reload
speed. The raw seems low, but don't forget that 40% affinity is essentially
+10% damage over time. With Silver Sol Z it's a very formidable weapon.
Requires: G rank Naruga parts.
Destiny's Fist: While farming G rank Crimson Fatalis isn't fun, this gun is.
It's a great Pierce gun, with similar clip/reload to the Naruga gun above,
but it's got three elemental shot types too. Expensive, however.
Requires: Crimson Fatalis G rank parts.
Vor Cannon: A solid Normal/Pierce/element gun. It's stats are nothing to be
sneezed at and killing Black Fatalis isn't that hard. A worthy substitute to
either of the above weapons.
Requires: Black Fatalis G rank parts.
Dragonwood Cannon: The hands-down best Pellet gun in the game. Great damage,
two slots, high Pellet clips and low recoil. It's worth farming Yama to make
this, as it'll let you farm Diablos and Kirin very quickly once you have it.
Requires: Yamatsukami materials.
Tzar Lao Shan Cannon: Of course, no HBG weapon list is complete without this.
Shocking reload speed is outweighed by Speed Fire and the damage and recoil
is supreme. After factoring in Affinity, it's the highest damaging HBG.
Getting a Lao Divine plate is a chore but once you have this gun it'll seem
worth it.
Requires: G rank Lao Shan parts.
Ucamulbas Cannon: The best Ice capable HBG and a scary weapon. Great Pierce
ability and huge raw. Even factoring in affinity (it's -40%) you still only
lose 10% damage over time, making this a great choice for your Uca Divine
plate.
Requires: Uca materials.
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VII Light Bowgun Specific Information LBS
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LBGs have drawbacks, as anyone who’s tried to use them will know. If you try
and use them as a surrogate HBG, you will quickly notice that their damage
output is about 25% lower, typically, meaning accuracy and wise ammo use is
required. But after a lot of play, I have come to realise that there is a
strong correlation: As HH is to Hammer, so LBG is to HBG.
Hammers are an amazing weapon [/shameless plug]. They consistently win speed
competitions, and have a lot going in their favour. But when you come to use
them in multi, you find they aren’t quite as charmed. Hammer users hog the
head, meaning everyone else has to find another spot to hit. Their attacks
often knock other players around, and players who spam superpounds are almost
as reviled as those who use the Great sword’s infinite combo over and over
again.
Hunting Horn, on the other hand, always loses speed runs. It’s a melee
weapon, but it’s slower than Bow in killing speed. Solo, having to re-buff
constantly, even with Flute Expert, drives people crazy and means you spend
a lot of your fights de-zoning to buff again. But in multi, a good HH player
can drastically raise teams’ survival chances. Health buffs whenever you feel
like it, attack and defence boosts, giving constant wind press or Mega juices
out free on whims… and hell, you can even attack if you get the chance!
HBG is a bit like that in multi. If you’re always aiming at the weak point,
melee players keep getting by your shots, so you have to aim at places where
you’ll do much less damage. And don’t even get melee players started on how
annoying Pellet spammers are… And clust is all well and good, but when you
keep getting blown up when you’re about to land your level 3 GS charge because
a bomblet bounced onto you, your vision becomes clouded by a red mist of rage.
LBG’s big strength is multiplayer. Solo, it’s easy to avoid getting hit, but
keeping up your damage is a mission. Speed runs show LBG is typically 25%
slower than HBG.
But multi is where it excels, and that’s the main point of this section.
In a multi run, with a silencer attached to lower recoil, you’ve got a lot of
options:
You can KO a monster: Crag shots hitting the head build up KO value. So if
that Teostra is running back and forth, a few well placed Crags can stop it
in its tracks, allowing your melee team mates to wail on it with impunity.
Rajang Fullisade, for example, with Rapid Fire Crag level 1, does this
nicely.
You can paralyze something: A few Para S Level 2 and Level 1s, with combines,
can keep a monster locked in place for sometimes a whole fight. The key
here is communication: keep track of how many shots the first and second
paralysis take, so you can alert team-mates when it’s going to be ready.
There’s no point paralyzing it if your heavy hitting team is in another
zone healing/sharpening or has just been Kitty carted.
You can send creatures to sleep: As above, a few Sleep S level 2 shots sends
almost every creature – including Akantor, Ucamulbas and all the Fatalises
– into a ~30 second long nap. That gives you lots of options, since the first
attack on a sleeping monster does 3x (300%) damage. So a GS user with
Unsheathe Crit can nail a weak point for frightening amounts of damage, and
you’ll have cut the fight time in half.
You can poison a monster: For something without much health that is often
impossible to hit, poison can ensure your DoT keeps ticking away. If that
Blos keeps burrowing, or Daora won’t land, at least you can have them sicker
than when you ate chicken you’d left on the kitchen bench for three days.
Everyone forgot Tranqs? No probs! You can Tranq S a trapped monster (hit the
head, otherwise there’s no effect) and no more fussing about with
throwing tranq bombs.
Every time you inflict status elements or KO, the next time you incur it takes
more value. So if it takes 1 shot to paralyse something, the next time you go
to paralyze it, it might take two or three shots. So bring both level 1 and 2
status shots (if your gun fires them) on your missions.
Don’t forget your Recover shots, too. These heal anything they hit (including
monsters), but it’s better to heal that Fatalis a little bit to keep your
team mates from dying than everyone losing the mission.
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VIII Rapid Fire RFR
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As above, RF lets you raise your damage (since firing one shot actually fires
2-5 shots which add up to more damage than just one) with a given shot, but
it decreases your damage over time. Sound like an oxymoron? Here’s how it
works.
You Rapid Fire a Thunder S shot. It fires three times, each doing 60% of the
damage of a normal Thunder S. So, you do 3 x 60% = 180% damage.
But in that same time, you could have fired two normal (non Rapid Fired)
Thunder S shots. That’s 2 x 100% = 200% damage.
And obviously, 200% > 180%.
So if you’re worried about running out of ammo, look for a gun that RF’s the
shot your target is weakest too. If you want to do a quest as fast as
possible, don’t use a RF gun.
For the actual numbers involved for different shots, as well as the numbers
for different status shots, please see the Shot damage guide by Dai and
Vampirecosmonaut.
Rapid Fire is a great tool, but it’s important to be aware of its draw backs.
Firstly, it doesn’t work with Speed Fire. Secondly, you get frozen in place
for the duration of the firing, unless you get hit. So if a vespoid bumps you
after you fire one of the five shots, the other four don’t activate, so you
do very little damage. Also, for the guns that RF a shot with recoil, the
recoil can be pretty extreme, so be very careful when you set out to use it.
For perspective, I do the Monster Hunter quest with Magus Lamp (no RF) faster
than with Martial Ancestor (RF of every element).
Bear in mind this is all on the assumption if you're not using RF, you're
using Speed Fire/Auto reload. If that's not the case, RF is a much more
attractive option.
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IX Suggested LBGs SLB
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HR1 - 3: LOW RANK
As with HBGs at this point, your options are limited and you'll mainly want
a good reload and Normal 2 clip, since elemental options tend to be limited
at this point. Otherwise, look for any gun that Rapid Fires the elemental
shot your target is weakest too. Remember not to use a Rapid fire shot of any
bullet type that has recoil unless you have no other options.
Azure Sakura: Rapid Fire of Normal 2 packs a decent punch, and it's got good
damage to boot. With Fast reload, it's a great low rank option.
Made from Pink and Azure Ian/Los parts.
Raven Do: Decent Fire S clip and good damage, with a sizeable Normal 2/3
clip, too. Made from Garuga.
Blessed Lamp: Possibly the best all-round low rank LBG. Great element,
normal and general clip options. 3 slots to boot. Is the low rank Chameleos
gun.
Red Lobster Gun: Specifically for Gravios is this water S rapid fire gun.
Sounds really annoying though. If I'm not mistaken, this is a 2G only gun as
the tickets are dummied out of Unite. There is also a 'Lobster Gun' which
works just as well, Made from Plesioth parts.
Sandfall: Available at 4* Village, this Plesioth based gun packs a serious
wallop with a five shot RF of Normal 2. In conjunction with Conga armour for
Normal Up, it's a tasty set. Beware the dangers of such a long RF though
(Thanks tiasongames).
HR4 - 6: HIGH RANK
Cursed Lamp: Should be your go-to High rank LBG. Great shot options, fast
loading and 3 slots, with some of the best LBG raw you'll see. Truly worth
farming Chameleos for.
Hidden Glare: An excellent Pierce weapon, with high clips and good damage.
Very fast reload means it's a LBG Pierce dream. Naruga based weapon.
Rajang Barrage: Good element options, decent loading and good damage. Great
for Normal spamming, too. Guess what parts you need to make it?
Fire Wraith: A deceptively powerful, but expensive, weapon. Five RF'd shots of
Fire S mean that Khezu, Naruga or Chameleos are going to be feeling the pain.
Be careful of how long those five shots take to fire, and you'll have a great
weapon. Rathalos and training school based weapon.
Profusion: Much like Rajang Barrage - great shot options, great element
support. Still, the damage and affinity mean there are other choices that
surpass it. Silver Los parts required.
Supreme Azure Sakura: RF of Normal 2 and decent damage, with element options.
A very worthwhile weapon. As with the low rank version, it's a Pink and
Azure gun.
Chronos Grenade: A great weapon to have around. Fire S RF, but a three shot
version. At times that can be more useful than Flame Wraith's five shot
version. Needs Black Gravios parts. Also works as a Pellet gun, too.
HR7 - 9: G RANK
Kirin Trigun: If Status infliction is LBG’s forte, then this weapon
exemplifies that, firing all of them as well as all elemental shots bar
Dragon S. Rapid fire of Clust 1, which is a novelty.
Requires: G rank Kirin parts.
True Azure Sakura: A solid end-game weapon with RF of normal 2. That's
important because everything is weak to raw, and Normal 2 is your strongest
raw shot in almost all cases (Thanks Sgara).
Requires: G rank Pink and Azure Ian/Los parts.
Magus Lamp: The only gun series to fire all elemental shots. Dragon S remains
a novelty, but if everyone else has raw weapons and you want to break a Teo’s
horns it’s handy.
Requires: G rank Chameleos materials.
Flame Wraith: A very expensive gun to make, but RF of Fire S (5 shots!) and
Pierce 1 makes for a tasty gun. For Naruga, Cham, Khezu, Blangonga, etc it’s
a great choice.
Requires: Silver Los parts (and two Los D plates and three rubies).
Martial Ancestor: The pinnacle of the LBG rapid fire genre. Rapid fire of all
elements (apart from Dragon) and Pierce 1 – though with a price tag that
includes two Ucamulbas Divine Plates and five Elder Dragon Jewels (!) it’s
strictly a collectors weapon apart from the fact it's the only good gun with
Water S RF. So, if you're planning on killing a lot of Black Gravios or
Volganos, consider making it.
Requires: White Fatalis parts (and 5 EDJ's and 2 Uca DPlates. Srsly).
Rajang Fullisade: Good damage and capability makes this a highly recommended
gun for many situations. Rarely outdone.
Requires: G Rajang stuff.
Lava Storm: Great elemental shots available and Pierce 3 RF. Not overly
awesome but relatively easy to make and handy. Silencer is recommended.
Requires: Volganos and Red Ceanataur parts.
Desert Tail: Rapid Fire Normal 3, good damage. On par with the Rajang
Fullisade.
Requires: Brown/Sand Blangonga materials.
Shadow Rifle 'Gazer': Deceptively high damage and great Pierce ability,
though very limited elemental/status support.
Requires: Naruga G rank parts.
Exuberance: A very powerful gun, with great damage and reload speed, and
Pierce 2 RF. Works great on Akantor!
Requires: G rank Gold and Silver Ian/Los parts.
Ucamulbas LBG: The best gun for Normal 2/3 firing with Speed Fire. Damage
that puts most HBGs to shame as well as Ice S RF.
Requires: Any guesses? Anyone? Yup, Ucamulbas/Ukanlos parts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
X Armour Skills & Combos ASC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just like how blademasters tend to have favourite skills for their weapons
(Sharpness +1, anyone?), there are several skills that greatly increase BG’s
potential.
Evade +2: This is a staple skill that you should learn to use. You can use
the split second of invulnerability to roll through roars and most attacks,
allowing you to remain in the thick of battle and play very aggressively.
Evade Inc: This is a good skill to boost mobility. It’s simple: you roll
further. Allows for aggressive play.
Taunt/Sneak: Both of these can be good. Taunt means that in ad hoc games,
monsters target you 25% more often, and Sneak means that you targeted 25%
less often (they mean nothing solo). If you know you’ll get targeted more
often, it means you can equip defensive skills or a shield so you can take
some heat while your friends can more safely wail on the monster. Conversely,
you can hide out and pump out damage with Sneak and not worry about playing
defensively. Neither are *really* worth gemming in, but if they’re on an
armour you want, they can be used well.
Note that because of their often constant attacks, gunners tend to get a
lot more aggro in multiplayer.
Speed Fire: With this, you don’t have to reload until you change ammo.
Though there is a recoil associated with it, Normal 2/3 and elemental shots
don’t suffer from it. It’s not on many armours, but when used properly it
massively ramps up your damage over time (DoT). One of the best gunner
skills available.
Also known as Auto Reload.
Pierce/Pellet/Normal S Up: These all boost the damage of their associated
shot. They have enough of a bonus to make them worthwhile, but are best
suited to use on specific monsters. For example, an armour with Peirce Up
is great for long monsters but not much use versus Kirin.
Pierce and Normal Up are +10% and Pellet Up is +30%.
Reloading Speed+ : Much like it suggests, increases your reloading speed.
A good skill, but a poor cousin to Speed Fire IMO unless you're using a very
slow loading HBG or Pierce/Pellet shots.
Reckless Abandon +1/2/3: A simple damage skill. RA +1 increases your DoT by
2.5%, +2 by 5% and +3 by 7.5%. It works by increasing your chance of a
critical hit (+25% damage) by 10% per level. If you have negative affinity
it makes you less likely to do a negative critical hit (-25%).
Elemental Attack Up: Increases the damage of your elemental shots. This can
be a great skill for fighting element weak monsters, but for creatures that
have low elemental weaknesses (like Kirin) it’s not helpful.
Guard Inc: With the shield equipped, your HBG will auto-block if you aren’t
attacking. Guard Inc works the same as it does for Blademasters, it allows
you to blows previously unblockable attacks, like Gravios' beam or gasses.
Helpful if you're fighting something like a Rath that can scream and freeze
you in place, then launch an unblockable attack before you can evade.
Load Up: Means your ammo limits per clip are increased. You get this skill
from many armours but also from wearing the Barrage Piercing, which you get
free from completing all normal trainings. I can’t recommend training school
highly enough – go complete it now if you haven’t already. Called Capacity
in Unite.
Adrenaline +2: When you get very experienced, this is a great skill. When at
less than 40% health, your damage increases by 30%, the single biggest boost
of any skill except Felyne Heroics. Since Heroics no longer stacks with
Adrenaline +2, I would suggest this one instead since Heroics only activates
when you’re under 10 health, making it very dangerous. Being under 40% health
isn’t fun but at least if a Cephalos gets niggly, it won’t one-shot you. Being
an experienced range player means you need never get hit, so being on reduced
life isn’t an issue.
Defensive Manoeuvres: With HBG, you’ll need to roll a lot since you don’t
move all that fast. This skill decreases the stamina used when rolling, which
you’ll find very handy. Less handy on LBG since you have better movement
speed.
Recoil reduce: the Pierce and explosive shots can have a big recoil, and
different guns have different recoil rates. You should always be careful
about when you shoot, but this skill can help you get more hits in.
Survival: in G rank, your gunner armour will have poor defence, and creatures
in rage mode can kill in you one hit. Survival means that with 65 or more HP,
no one hit in the game will kill you, it’ll leave you with 1 HP instead. From
there, take one mega potion and one regular one, and you’re back to 65 HP.
Earplugs: Not as essential as for blademasters, but a great skill to have.
You shouldn't always be within scream range or be able to evade through it if
you are, but everyone makes mistakes. The difference is that for gunners in
G rank they can be fatal :)
Bullet Limit: This cheap (5 slot) skill is much more useful than you think.
Most creatures have a weakness to a specific shot level or type, and this
skill lets you maximise that weakness. For a lot of elemental shots, it's a
great skill.
There are many other skills that can aid your BG playing immensely, but the
above are the ones I get the most mileage out of.
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XI Combining Skills & Sets CAS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are some skills that are great by themselves and better in conjunction
(Evade +2 and Evade Inc) and there are others useless when mixed (Reloading
Speed+ and Speed Fire). Here are some sets I use:
Naruga X with Blango Z helm, gemmed for Speed Fire, Evade +2, Evade Inc and
Trap Master: possibly the most broken gunner set out there. Great defensive
skills in Evade and a huge damage boost with Speed Fire. Looked down on by
some because of the great skills, but if blademasters can have Sharpness +1,
HGE and RA+2 sets, why can’t we have this?
Kirin X Blademaster helm, Naruga X body, Shinobi Heaven arms, Kirin X waist,
Butterfly/Obituary X legs, gemmed for Evade +2, Speed Fire, Elemental Attack
Up: Utterly awesome. This is one of the best sets in the game for gunners,
and it makes very short work of most creatures once you get the hang of
Evading.
Shinobi Heaven, gemmed for Evade +2, Elemental Attack Up and any other skill:
A Fantastic, versatile HR6 set. IMO the best full gunner set in the game.
Blango Z, gemmed for Speed Fire, Normal S Up, Faint Problem Halved, and
either Evade +2 or Evade Inc: a fantastic set for Normal spamming. Put a
+4 Evade Inc jewel in the helm and gem in Evade Inc, or simple use five
dodge jewels as required for Evade +2.
Dragon Z, gemmed for Evade +2, Survival, Load Up, Bullet Limit and
Adrenaline +2: The best advanced gunner set out there. Load Up is always good,
and the Survival/Adrenaline combination match up is versatile: You can play
defensively and use Survival as normal, or let yourself get hit so Adrenaline
activates. Then, with Evade +2 you can avoid almost all attacks with some
practice. While this set is notoriously hard to make (farming G rank Crimson
Fatalis, anyone?), the skills make up for it.
Diablos Z, gemmed for Loading Speed +2, Earplugs and RA+3: A great
all-round set.
Clearly, these are all G rank armour sets to aim for. In the early/mid game,
the Obituary sets stand out as excellent with their Evade skills and free
slots. The Final Invitation (Dual Rajang) can simply be done with the Daora
HBG and Obituary armour gemmed for Evade +2 – how many other weapon classes
can easily do dual Rajang with only Village Elder equips? It's also easily
done with Death Stench and the Lao Cannon.
Other sets to aim for depend on your play style. I’m an
aggressive player, so I tend to go for the power barrel. Death Stench S is
one of the few High rank sets with Speed Fire, so it comes highly recommended.
Full recommendations are set out below.
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XII General Gunning Tactics GGT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For each monster, you’ll need careful preparation and thought before heading
off into a quest. Rocking up with whatever gun and armour can be the
difference between a five minute quest and multiple failures. Once you’ve
decided what monster to hunt, there are a few simple steps to make sure your
quests are fast and fun. Basically, for anything you fight, you want to have
enough ammo of the right type to finish the fight without having to resort
to using inneffective shots. Sometimes, this means having a primary and a
secondary ammo type.
Firstly, is what you’re fighting elementally weak or not? Every creature has
a weakness to an element, but if the creature in question is slightly weak to
an element, then finding a gun that fires that element should be a secondary
priority. But if you’re fighting something like a Khezu, Naruga, Blangonga or
Chameleos, then bring your Fire S by all means. If it has two big weaknesses,
then an elemental gun should be your first priority.
Secondly, are you fighting a long monster, fast monster or one with a big weak
spot? For long monsters, look for guns that fire Pierce 3 and/or 2. For fast
ones, Scatter 3 and Normal 2, and for ones with an obvious weak point
(like Rathalos’s head or Rajang’s horns), then take Normal 2 and 3.
Once you start brawling and you’ve painted your creature and had all your
buffs, start by emptying your elemental shots, then moving through your
normal shots from best to worst. If you’ve planned correctly, it should be
dead long before you run out of ammo. I often take combines for more Normal S
lvl2 (see your combo book) since each combine gives you 2-4 Normal 2, and it
should be your staple damage shot.
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XIII Suggested Armour sets for Elder, High Rank and G Rank SUG
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low Rank - Hr 1 - 3, Village Elder
At this point in the game, it's about getting used to the skills and
understanding the mechanics of gunning rather than doing speed runs. There
are also few armours with more than one skill you'd make a set for, but there
are some good options.
*Conga or Hunter's armour: Handy with Normal S Up ability.
*Geneprey: Pellet S up and Paralyze reduce; works great on Blos missions.
*Ceanataur: Pierce S Up goodness.
*Battle armour: Loading Speed, Attack Up, Precision - a nice armour for newer
gunners with some handy skills.
*Rath Soul: Earplug, RA+ and Attack Up. A decent mix of safety (earplug) and
damage boosting.
*Kut Ku D: One of the better Low rank choices, since a decent clip of Element
shots can do a lot of damage fast when boosted. Elemental Attack Up, RA+ and
Attack Up with gems.
*Death Stench: The first Speed Fire/Auto reload set you'll come across. A
great skill when used properly, but be careful you don't come to rely on it
too heavily. Devastating with the Lao Shan Cannon.
High Rank, HR 4 - 6, Felyne Elder
Here's where creatures start hitting harder and suddenly mistakes are more
costly. But as such, you've got access to a range of excellent gear. It'll
take you a while to farm some of it, but a good gunner set invested in now
can last you well into G rank.
*Elemental shots: Kut Ku U. Elemental Up, RA+1 and 11 slots: Great for
elemental based LBGs, and the added damage is a great touch (thanks
Bernardo Jr. Cinco).
*Pellet: Use Naruga S with the Conga U braces. Gemmed, it gets you Pellet S
Up, Evade Inc and Defensive Tactics +1. It's a great Anti-Kirin and Blos set.
*Shinobi Heaven: IMO, the best full gunner set in the game. Gemmed, it can
get you the same skills as the 'Elemental shot maniac set' below. Requires
Fatalis webbings to make, but it's worth farming him for.
*Death Stench S: An upgraded version of Death Stench armour. Auto reload/
Speed Fire is the main selling point. It's got enough slots for Evade +1
which is strongly recommended to have gemmed in.
*Kaiser S: Unlike other specialised sets, this will give you RA+3 which will
work with all shot types, raw and element. Certainly worth using in a pinch.
*Dark Akantor: Earplug, RA+2 and Load Up: A nerfed but still very usable set.
Dragon element weak, but certainly a good choice nonetheless.
*Shinobi Sky: A great LBG set, with Evade + and Special Attack Up, and enough
slots for Reloading+ or Recoil-.
*Fatalis S: Normal Up and Speed fire in an... 'interesting' looking package.
Has some skills you'll need to gem out, but for situations where evasion
isn't a priority, it's very powerful.
G Rank, HR 7 - 9
*The Classic Naruga/Blango Set
Blango Z cap, Naruga X arms, body, waist, legs. Gets you Speed Fire/Auto
reload, Evade Inc, Evade +2. Very safe, but lacks damage boosting. With
a one slot gun, you can have Trap Master.
*Elemental shot maniac set - Evade +2, Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire:
Kirin Horn X (the blademaster helm) (2 x +1 Speed Fire)
Naruga X Vest (+3 Evade)
Shinobi Heaven Gloves (+4 Speed Fire)
Kirin Waist X (+3 Evade jewel)
Butterfly/Obituary X (+4 Speed Fire)
*Elemental Shot Maniac LBG set - same as above, but with Bullet Limit:
Magus Lamp (2 x +1 Speed Fire, 1 x Evade)
Blango X (+3 Evade)
Blango X (+3 Evade)
Shinobi Heaven (+4 Speed Fire)
Blango X (+3 Evade)
Butterfly/Obituary X (+4 Speed Fire).
Truly, truly awesome. Can complete the Monster Hunter quest in 20 mins.
*The Martial Ancestor Set (Evade +1, Load Up, Elemental Attack Up, Bullet
Limit)
Martial Ancestor
Barrage Piercing
Naruga X (2 x +2 Shot mix)
Shinobi Heaven (+4 Element)
Kirin X (+3 Evade)
Butterly/Obituary X (3 x +2 shot mix)
And alternative Martial Ancestor/Absolute Bow set is m45t3rz30's:
Absolute Bow
Blango X (2 Ammo Box)
Blango X (1 Dodge)
Shinobi Heaven (1 magazine jewel)
Blango X (1 dodge)
Butterly/Obituary X (1 magazine jewel)
Gives the same skills. Good for if you lack Barrage.
For Normal shots:
*Blango Z gemmed for Evade Inc or Evade +2 – Speed Fire,
Normal S Up, KO chance down, Evade+2 Or Evade Inc
For Pierce shots:
*Ceanataur Z gemmed for Evade +2/Inc: Pierce S Up, Loading +2,
(and chosen Evade skill).
*Silver Sol Z, Barrage Piercing: Load Up, Bullet limit, Pierce Up, AuMedium:
5 Los Divine plates is a pain, but this set looks great and is intensely
powerful.
*Dragon X also works well with Pierce Up, Evade Inc and Divine Status
Protection.
For Pellet:
*Dragonwood Cannon (or other two slot gun) (2 x +1 Pellet)
Barrage Piercing
Conga Z body (+1 Evade, +1 evade inc)
Naruga X arms (2 x +1 Pellet)
Naruga X waist (2 x +1 Pellet)
Naruga X legs (+1 evade inc)
Gives Pellet S Up, Evade Inc, Evade +1, Load Up.
*Dragon Z: Evade +2, Load Up, Bullet Limit/Vulture's Eye (the help capture
skill) and Rage: Farming Crimson Fatalis isn't fun, but this set's unique
combination of skills is amazing. Truly an end-game set.
Vampirecosmonaut's Elemental Expolit sets
I recently created the "Elemental Maniac" set from Mazereon's FAQ to answer
a speed run challenge that he issued me. After using the set for the first
time, I was impressed. It is incredibly, ridiculously overpowered.
Because of this, I have been corrupted to the dark side. >..>
So here's my point. The "Elemental Manic" set from Mazereon's FAQ is
absolutely hideous on male characters, IMHO. >..> I've been working on
putting together a set that has the same bonuses, but looks better on a male
character. Each set assumes you are using the Ultimate Lao Cannon. but for
some all you need is a HBG or LBG with 1 slot. 2 sets require a 1 slot weapon
and 2 do not.
Here's what I've come up with:
VC's Elemental Exploit Set 1 - VCEE1
UltimateLan-ShaoCan - 1 Evade Jewel
Narga Cap X - Element Jewel +
Obituary Pectus X - 2 Cont. Fire Jewels
Shinobi Kote (Heaven) - 1 Barrage Jewel
Obituary Cocusa X - 1 Element Jewel +
Obituary Femur X - 1 Barrage Jewel
Skills:
Evade +2
Auto-Reload
Element Attack Up
Screenshot:
http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab300/vampirecosmonaut/MH/VCEE1.jpg
VC's Elemental Exploit Set 2 - VCEE2
UltimateLan-ShaoCan - No Jewel Needed
Narga Cap X - Element Jewel +
Narga Vest X - 2 Element Jewels
Shinobi Kote (Heaven) - 1 Barrage Jewel
Shinobi Belt (Heaven) - 2 Cont. Fire Jewels
Obituary Femur X - 1 Barrage Jewel
Skills:
Evade +2
Auto-Reload
Element Attack Up
Screenshot:
http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab300/vampirecosmonaut/MH/VCEE2.jpg
VC's Elemental Exploit Set 3 - VCEE3
UltimateLan-ShaoCan - 1 Evade Jewel
Shinobi Mask (Heaven) - 2 Element Jewels
Obituary Pectus X - 2 Cont. Fire Jewels
Shinobi Kote (Heaven) - 1 Barrage Jewel
Obituary Cocusa X - 1 Element Jewel +
Obituary Femur X - 1 Barrage Jewel
Skills:
Evade +2
Auto-Reload
Element Attack Up
Cold Increase (Lo)
Screenshot:
http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab300/vampirecosmonaut/MH/VCEE3.jpg
VC's Elemental Exploit Set 4 - VCEE4
UltimateLan-ShaoCan - No Jewel Needed
Shinobi Mask (Heaven) - 2 Element Jewels
Narga Vest X - 2 Element Jewels
Shinobi Kote (Heaven) - 1 Barrage Jewel
Shinobi Belt (Heaven) - 2 Cont. Fire Jewels
Obituary Femur X - 1 Barrage Jewel
Skills:
Evade +2
Auto-Reload
Element Attack Up
Screenshot:
http://i873.photobucket.com/albums/ab300/vampirecosmonaut/MH/VCEE4.jpg
I know many of the sets are incredibly similar, but I felt I should post the
4 I came up with for completeness. My favorite of the 4 is the VCEE1, I like
the way it looks. >..> You ultimately lose some defense when compared to
Mazereon's set because you are not using a melee helmet. Although, if you are
gunning with Evade +2, you really shouldn't worry about defense too much I
think.
=============================================================================
Part 2: Strategies for Gunning Every Creature
=============================================================================
Firstly, please note furthermore that there is no ‘right’ way to gun any
creature. There is only successful or not. These tips represent my dedicated
gunning character’s 900+ hours of experience, and are the way I find fastest
to gun every creature. Other strategies are just as valid, though perhaps
not as fast. Each brief strategy has a few parts.
Recommended Ammunition: The shot types to use, in order, to kill everything.
Using the recommended ammo, you should always be able to kill your target if
you use weapons/armour appropriate to the level you’re attempting (ie, G rank
gear on G rank creatures). Always take combines for the shots you’re using,
especially for your element shots.
Armour Skills: These come in two flavours, Recommended and Required. No
armour skill is ever truly required, but these will make the fight either
much faster or much easier. Recommended skills are good to have, but can be
done without. It’s important to note that additional damage skills like
Reckless Abandon+ or Attack Up are always beneficial, though Attack Up is
largely useless at G rank.
Difficulty to gun: Every quest can be soloed at every rank with every weapon.
Still, there are some creatures that are not easy to gun. If a creature is
listed as High difficulty to gun, seriously consider using a melee weapon.
Like how most people hate to use non-guarding melee weapons on Plesioth,
sometimes it’s just not worth the aggravation if you can avoid it. Where a
creature really is made simpler by additional mobility, I've noted that and
suggested Light bowguns. It'll usually mean a slightly longer quest, but
will often reduce frustration.
From here, it’s a bit of an epic wall of text, so Ctrl+F is your friend.
Just hit those two buttons, and enter the name of the monster you’re after
and you’ll be taken straight to the part you want. Where multiple monsters
have the same strategies, they are listed together.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I Lynians LYN
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King Shakalaka
Recommended Ammunition: Pellet 3
Required Skills: Evade Inc
Recommended Skills: Pellet S Up, Load Up
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: Firstly, it might look like a joke, but the King Shakalaka hits
hard. Treat it like a serious boss fight otherwise you’ll rage it and then
get killed. Basically, evade away from it to get into better Pellet effective
range and then let loose a few shots before rolling again. There will be
times when you’ll need to wait for an opportunity, since its charges home on
you. Watch out for the overhead spin into super smash attack, and watch out
for the fire spazz attack where it starts spitting fire balls everywhere.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
II Neopterons NEO
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Queen Vespoid
Recommended Ammunition: Pellet s 3
Required Skills: Pellet S Up
Recommended Skills: Load Up, Evade Inc
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: This is a simple fight, since the Queen doesn’t have many moves.
While a Fire S and Normal 2 approach can also work, Pellet works great here
since it requires minimal aiming and it clears out the vespoid minions too.
Dealing with the Queen is easy enough; she’ll hover around before attacks
giving you a decent window to unleash Pellet on her. Her charge attack is
annoying since it’s got a deceptive hitbox, so beware of it. Also, when it
starts the disgusting spray attack, roll out straight away. The damage isn’t
the worst part, if you get hit by it, all the minions will start going nuts
over you. It's simple, just keep rolling and then fire 2-4 Pellet shots
before rolling.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
III Dromes DRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Giadrome, Velocidrome, Genedrome, Iodrome, Bulldrome
Recommended Ammunition: EITHER Normal 2 or Pellet 3
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Normal Up or Pellet Up, Evade Inc
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: There are two routes to gunning dromes. If you have access to
Pellet gear, use it. Just roll away to effective Pellet range and blast away,
while being careful of jumps. It’s that simple. Otherwise, grab a good Normal
2 gun and some damage up skills. Roll away once, and practice your non-scope
aiming. Stay close, but one roll to the left or right so you don’t get bitten,
and just blast away. Nothing fancy to it. Each drome has its own elemental
weakness, but since elemental shots are generally Pierce type, it’s not a
good choice to use on a small drome creature.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV Bird Wyverns BWY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yian Kut Ku, Blue Yian Kut Ku
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Normal 2, Ice S
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Evade+, Speed Fire, Normal S Up
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: A great way to get into gunning bigger monsters. Kut ku’s
weakpoint is its head and it’s very weak to shot damage there. Keep dodging
one way (left or right) and then quickly pointing yourself at it, then scoping
to fine aim, and let off two or three shots. You’ll flinch the head often, so
count the number of shots your gun takes to flinch it so you know when it’s
about to flinch, so you can position yourself for free shots as it flinches.
You should be careful of its charges though; while it’s not as big as
Rathalos you’ll get hurt if it starts to wall combo you. When it fireballs
is another great to time attack the head, just roll left (your left) and
fire off a few shots.
It is weak to Ice primarily (and Water and Thunder as strong secondarys) so
you can practice firing Ice through the head/neck to tail which will hurt it
fast. A sonic bomb will force it into Rage mode, but it’ll do the animation
twice so you can blast away at it.
Yian Garuga, One Eared Garuga (‘Devil Garuga’)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Water S, Normal 2
Required Skills: Evade+
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Evade Inc, Speed Fire, Earplug,
Defensive Manoeuvres, Bullet Limit
Difficulty to gun: Moderate/Hard
What to do: Garuga is a more frustrating wyvern to gun than Kut Ku since it’s
got more love of the insta-charge and it likes to get right in your face fast,
so having a comfortable distance isn’t easy. You’ll be rolling a lot, and
opportunities for head shots (Normal weakpoint) are infrequent. Water S is
the suggested shot here, through the face to tail or back from any angle
(which is the Water weak point). Garuga has a lot of attacks that are hell for
gunners, like the insta-run, insta-run to insta-tail flip, and fireballs that
have a big area of effect (aoe). To fight it, roll around until it’s attacking
another direction, then shoot. Be ready to roll before it’s turning to face
you, since it does have some dubious hitboxes. When it gets to low health,
it’ll Rage every hit, so beware. This may be a fight you have to repeat a few
times to see the attack patterns, since Garuga is very unpredictable. Side on
shots at the head with Normal 2 when it’s fireballing or Water S through the
tail to head after it’s charged past you and getting up are good ways to keep
up damage. Don’t get frustrated if you get KO’d a lot, and always stay away
from corners since it loves to wall-rape unsuspecting players.
Gypceros, Purple Gypceros
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S, Normal 2
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Evade Inc, Speed Fire
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: Lay down lots of Fire S on the head (Fire weak point) and it’ll
be flinch city. You’ll also break the head crystal fast, making flashes a
non-issue. If you’re using Normal 2, aim for the Tail, so roll around to get
behind it and blast. Standing in front of it, slightly to the left or right
(so you can roll out easier) is quite possible – if you stand just outside of
its poison glob range, then you’ll be able to blast the face and still have
time to roll out when it starts to charge. Be careful with Purple since it’s
a bit faster and hits pretty hard - and actually takes less damage than
normal in Rage mode. Gypceros has a lot of medium range, stationary attacks,
so standing just outside range and blasting is quite effective.
Another option to use if you're not able to consistently hit the head is to
use Pellet 3. If you blast away at Gypceros you'll soon notice that the
pellets seem to be attracted to the horn, so you'll quickly break the head
crystal. From there you can easily circle around it and blast without being
worried about flashes (thanks Wida Hahn and Vash_TS for that one!).
Hypnoc (Hypnocatrice)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Normal 2
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Normal S Up, Evade +/Evade Inc, Speed Fire
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: Hypnoc is unique among bird wyverns since it’s not very element
weak. Its element weak point is Fire on the stomach (25) compared to raw on
the head at 60. So, focus on Normal 2 on the head. Hypnoc is much like Kut Ku
in terms of its movements, apart from using Sleep shots instead of Fire (and
they have a bigger range) and its triple hop attack which is something to
watch out for. If it starts doing the hop attack, roll left and roll as much
as you can to get behind it - once you’re behind it, you’re OK. The back or
stomach are the places to aim for if the head is away from you. If it’s doing
the hop and hops more than three times, it’ll always taunt afterwards.
Otherwise, treat it like a slightly faster Kut Ku and you should be OK.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
V Wyverns WYV
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rathian, Pink Rathian, Gold Rathian
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S, Normal 2
Required Skills: Evade+ at G rank
Recommended Skills: Evade+, Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire, Earplug (HGE for
Gold)
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: Firstly, all Rathian species share a weakness to Thunder. Pink
and green take a more little more damage from Dragon, but it’s a very
unwieldy shot to use. In 2G, Rathian picked up the ability to do a poison
flip after a fireball, which means it’s a little trickier to melee, and Gold
Rathian is weakest to raw on the wings – but neither of those are issues
gunners need to deal with. Rathian will fire ball often, giving you either
great opportunities to Thunder S through the body or Normal 2 blast. For
green and Pink, the Head is the normal weak point, and for Gold it’s the
foot/tail(though focus on the feet since a flinch will knock it over, giving
you free hits). As long as you’re standing straight left or right from its
head, you’ve got access to either the head or feet as needed.
Rathians have a fair amount of health, but they give you frequent
opportunities to attack. As long as you watch your distance and recognise the
pre-charge animation, this should be a simple fight.
Gold Rathian, Silver Rathalos in the arena:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMoe1tWI64o&feature=email
Rathalos
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Recommended Ammunition: Ice S and EITHER Water S or Normal 2
Required Skills: Earplug, Evade+
Recommended Skills: Evade Inc, Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire, KO Negate
Difficulty to gun: Moderate/High
What to do: If you’ve got a gun that fires Ice and Water, use it now.
Otherwise, Ice and Normal 2 is your best bet. Water S and Normal 2 (the most
common combination of shots in G rank guns) is an OK substitute though.
Rathalos is easy to melee, but it’s hard to gun properly since it doesn’t
stay still much and it loves to roar and charge you, which at High and G
rank is a OHKO without good armour. You should treat this fight carefully,
and be careful not to get greedy with your hits. This will be a longer fight
than you’re used to, so be advised. As with melee, get under its shadow when
it flies up, or at long range, sheathe and be ready to safety dive if it
tries the Air claw.
You should aim to expend your element shots down the body, through the head.
You can either do this while it’s fireballing (since it only fires once,
straight ahead), or while it’s landing (but be very careful of the resulting
charge it’ll often do). Otherwise, after it’s charged past you, get in some
shots while it’s standing up. It’ll rage quickly, so either have Earplug or
get used to timing Evade roars. After you’re out of element shots, start using
Normal 2 on the head. Be prepared to sheathe and run after ‘Los a lot.
Azure Rathalos
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Normal 2, Ice S
Required Skills: Evade +
Recommended Skills: Earplug, Speed Fire, Normal S Up, Vulture’s Eye
Difficulty to gun: High
What to do: I’ve listed this as a ‘hard’ fight for one main reason: Extreme
frustration. Azure Los has no big weaknesses to element (weakest to Dragon,
but not very, and Ice, but even less) or raw (foot is the weakpoint), and it
flies. Lots. It seems like it’s constantly in the air or running back and
forth across the zone. It rages fast, and hits hard, and takes no extra
damage in Rage mode like most creatures. So, your major damage opportunity
is blasting the feet as it comes down after flying. You can shoot it in the
head as a secondary, too. Basically, try and keep your cool if you’re
gunning this. But honestly, you’re better off using melee.
This would be a good candidate for LBG, since it's going to be flying back
and forth across the map, and packing up your gun every few seconds is going
to get really old.
Silver Rathalos
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S, Water S, Normal 2
Required Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Evade+
Recommended Skills: Evade Inc, Speed Fire, HGE
Difficulty to gun: Moderate
What to do: Silver Los is the easiest of the Rathalos species to gun. It’s
weak to element, and it’s equally weak to Thunder and Water. For Raw, like
Gold Ian, hit the feet. As with red Los, the optimum shot is element down
the head or wing-wing. Once you’re out of element shots, aim for the feet to
knock it over. Although its rage mode attack and defence modifiers are the
lowest of the ‘Los’s, it’ll still kill you at G rank with a charge if you’re
not on full health. With Evade +2, you can get through all attacks and roars,
so it’s highly recommended. So, either shoot it when it’s fireballing,
landing or standing up after you dodge a charge. It’s crucial you can
identify the fast turn so you can see it’s going to charge you and evade
around it. From there, it’s just a case of being careful and not getting
greedy.
As with Azure, this is another case where extra mobility actually means more
options for damage, so consider taking a LBG along.
Khezu, Red Khezu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S (Substitute Water S on Red Khezu), Normal 2
Required Skills: Elemental Attack Up
Recommended Skills: HGE, Speed Fire, Evade Inc, Paralyze Negate
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: This is another simple fight. Khezu is very weak to Fire, and
it’s weakest to it (and raw) on the head. Be careful though, as it’s easy to
confuse the head and neck hitzones. If you can’t hit the head, the feet are a
good substitute since you can trip easily enough. Khezu gives you a lot of
opportunities to attack, such as the thunder balls (don’t be in the way of
it, and from either side of the head, blast away), the jump (dodge left
or right and then hit the feet when it lands facing away from you), the
elastic neck (once you’re out of range, just shoot right at it) and
especially, the ground shock (it’s standing still, so blast it).
You’ve got to be mindful of the fact it can combo you if it gets a hit in,
and roars are an issue if you get caught in a bad spot. Once you’ve been
fighting for a while and done enough damage, it’ll suddenly stand still.
That’s your chance to put a trap right under it and get an easy capture.
Don’t forget your hot drinks. Red Khezu is the same, except you must be
mindful that your main shot (Water S) is a pierce shot rather than a normal
shot type.
Basarios
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Water S, Normal 2
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Earplug, Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: Good practice for its big brother, Gravios. You’re aiming to use
Water shots until the chest plate cracks off, at which point the damage you
do with Raw almost triples and Water almost doubles. Really a very simple
fight, since Bas usually runs back and forth while you dodge to the side then
blast with impunity. Try and be 2-3 rolls away from it most times so you’re a
good distance for Water S Piercing. If you’re doing a multiple Basarios
quest, after you break the chest plates, switch to Normal 2 for hitting the
cracked chest.
Gravios, Black Gravios
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Water S and EITHER Normal 2 or Pierce 3
Required Skills: Elemental Attack Up
Recommended Skills: HGE, Speed Fire, Evade+2, Evade Inc, Bullet Limit
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: This is so easy you’ll wonder why you ever bothered to melee Grav.
The tactic is the same for both Gravs, though will butcher Black Grav
faster since it’s more Water weak: dodge the fire beam or charge, and then
fire your Water shots down the body. Always stay to your right (it’s left),
as High rank and above Gravs will employ a deadly sweeping beam which is
lethal if you’re at medium range. Evade is a great skill to have, since Grav
roars can be rolled with Evade+1, and the sweeping beam can be rolled with
only Evade Inc. As with Basarios, once you break the chest plates off, the
damage you do shoots up. For Black Grav, raw goes from 20 to 75 and Water S
goes from 40 to a massive 90.
If you put yourself just outside tailwhip range, then you avoid all the
attacks apart from the beam, which you don’t need to even roll away from if
you’re on the correct position on your right. High rank dual Black Gravios is
easily done in under 5 mins with these tactics (!). At G rank, you’ll want
to switch to Normal 2 (or Normal 3) as soon as you crack the chest plates off
so you can use your remaining Water shots for the second Grav. White Grav is
the same, except for taking a little less Water damage and charging more.
Though, the same tactics work well on it.
Ever wanted to see Dual Black Gravios at G rank done in under 8 minutes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np4veE4euNA :)
HR6 Black Gravios, with HR6 Gear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouH6SCaeIAw
Monoblos, White Monoblos, Diablos, Black Diablos
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Pellet 3
Required Skills: Evade Inc/Evade+, Pellet S Up
Recommended Skills: Loading Speed+, Load Up, Bullet Limit
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: I’ve listed this as an easy/moderate fight, which is true once
you get the tactics down. Check out the below video and the advanced tips.
Basically though, you’re going to be firing Scatter 3 on the tail the whole
fight and completely destroying all varieties of Blos. Once you get the hang
of evading the charges and digs, this is a no-brainer. Using these tactics,
I’ve killed the G rank downloaded Devil Blos in 14 mins, and done the High
rank one in 5:51. Monoblos is the same, though dies faster because the tail
is even weaker to shot damage.
Without Evade Inc or +2, LBG's mobility is strongly recommended at High rank
and above.
Devil Diablos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YxXoazMFzw
Dual Black Diablos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElLIiYfC88w
Devil Blos done Naked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8eppn1BCrc
The G Rank Devil Diablos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8YXn1n2tFk
Dual Monoblos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx1PViGnFe4&feature=email
Tigrex
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S, Normal 2
Required Skills: Evade Inc/Evade+
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire, Survival, Bullet Limit
Difficulty to gun: High
What to do: Firstly, check Part 3 for a video and detailed tips. Basically,
this is probably the hardest monster to gun. Tigrex is fast,
has a lot of health, huge range and huge damage, and the weak point (the head
for raw and thunder) is very difficult to hit without getting run over. The
back legs are as weak as the head to Raw, so they’ll usually be your target.
This is a frustrating fight to range, so be warned. An alternative strategy
is to use a Pierce set – you’ll often be at good Pierce range, and you can
knock it over reasonably fast for free shots.
This is absolutely a case where LBG is preferable since you need to stay
close to it to bait it into not charging across the map.
Dual Tigrex, done naked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EqYlt1hV8E&feature=email
Naruga Kuruga (Narcuga)
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Recommended Ammunition: Fire S, Thunder S
Required Skills: Evade+
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Bullet Limit, Speed Fire
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: Again, check the video below and detailed tips. This is a fun,
Evade heavy fight that really demonstrates the superiority of HBG. The video
guide says it all, and bear in mind that the Dual Naruga G rank quest has
been done in under 5 mins with HBG. It’s a great place to learn both Evade
and non-armour skill evades, which is crucial to your growth as a gunner.
Dual Naruga:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYQlsd2VgQQ
Dual Naruga under 5 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq9DtAID7tw&feature=email
Naruga done without armour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plm_Mg1RkGE
Akantor
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S, and EITHER Normal 2, Normal 3 or Pierce 3,
Pierce 2
Required Skills: None, but Evade Inc is very useful
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Normal S Up and Speed Fire, OR
Pierce S Up, Loading Speed+
Difficulty to gun: Moderate
What to do: Firstly, Akantor is weak to Dragon, but with the extreme bullet
restrictions and recoil, it’s not a good idea. It’s then weakest to Thunder
on the face and tail equally, and raw on the head and tail equally. So with
either of the following, use your Thunder shots first either through the face
(risky) or get behind it (like after it surfaces from a dig) and spam them
through the tail.
If you’re taking the Pierce option, you should be aiming down the face when
it’s turning to you and then rolling out. You don’t need Evade Inc to get
away, but it does help a lot. If it’s doing the soundwave breath, get well
out of the way and fire through the back leg to tail. Otherwise, try and
get behind it and fire through the tail up the body. You should aim to get
a flinch or a rage in this position, since you can then have a 20 second
window of straight damage.
If you’re taking the Normal route, then you should be rolling around to hit
the tail as much as you can. As above, getting behind it and getting a flinch
is great. If you’re side on to it and closer to the head, by all means shoot
it there. But rolling around and going for the tail is simple, and it’s one
of the few cases where Normal 3 works well, since it ricochets along the tail
from the right position for a lot of damage.
Without Evade Inc to get around the charges, LBG's mobility will help.
However, it'll add on a bit of time and you risk running out of Pierce ammo.
Akantor with High rank gear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fx-oogaU5w
Akantor done naked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE8I2ZEB56I&feature=email
Ucamulbas / Ukanlos
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S, Thunder S, Normal 2/3, Pierce 3/2
Required Skills: Evade Inc, Elemental Attack Up/Normal Attack Up
Recommended Skills: Survival, Speed Fire, any damage skills
Difficulty to gun: Moderate/High
What to do: The tactics for this fight are a bit different from Akantor,
though it moves in much the same way and has most of the same moves. The
major difference is in weak point: It’s the back leg for both raw and Fire
(main weakness). Thunder S works well through the face, expectedly. For any
attack it does, try and stay on the left side (it’s right), since that will
avoid almost all attacks and gets away from the tail smash. Whenever
you can, wail on the back legs. If you trip it, try and roll to the head
(which takes almost as much damage as the back legs.
When you’re blasting away on the left hand side, there are a few things you
should watch out for, mainly the ice blast. Sometimes shards can land randomly
along there, so watch for the shadow. Uca has a lot of health and isn’t very
weak to shot damage, so this will be a long solo fight so take lots of
supplies.
Ukanlos/Ucamulbas with LBG:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTZI0bqQFy0&feature=email
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI Piscines PSC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cephadrome
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder, Ice/ Normal 2
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Evade Inc, Elemental Attack Up
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: Bring. Sonic. Bombs. They take all the frustration out of the
fight. Cephadrome is extremely weak to shot damage on the beck and back (fin),
so blast away with Normal 2 there. If you can’t be bothered aiming, just spam
Ice or Thunder S down the body. Other than that, it’s all common sense:
Make sure you aren’t about to get smacked before you attack. It doesn’t even
land swim often, and walks on the spot like a big dumb target.
Plesioth, Green Plesioth
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S, Fire S, Normal 2/3
Required Skills: Elemental Attack Up
Recommended Skills: Speed Fire, Evade Inc
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: Much like Cephadrome, gunning Plesioths is dead simple. You get
it out of the water with Crag S or a sonic bomb, and then you maintain
safe distance (here, you should be just on the range of the new water attack
where it rears up on its hind legs and sprays in a semi-circle) while firing.
For the straight water beam, just roll left or right and then fire until it
attacks again. If it land swims, wait until it’s just about to start
wriggling towards you, and then Evade through the attack, away from the body
through the wings on a 45* angle.
G rank Plesioth, dead in 4 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTOIoV9zgGE
Volganos (Lavasioth)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Water S, Normal 3/2
Required Skills: Evade+, Elemental Attack Up
Recommended Skills: Normal S Up, Evade Inc, Survival, Speed Fire
Difficulty to gun: Moderate/High
What to do: Firstly, don’t treat this like a lava Plesioth (despite the MHFU
name... *shudder*), since the similarities are mainly cosmetic. Firing down
the head (neck/back are the Water and Normal weakpoints is a great way to die
fast, since it actually tracks you as it loads up for a fireball. It usually
keeps re-aiming at you until it fires, and then the shot splits into four
smaller parts. Also, with the very fast land swim that covers massive ground
very quickly, you’re going to be in trouble standing in front of it.
The best thing to do is try and get behind it and fire Water S through the
lower belly out the head, or from side on, go through the top of the leg
through the back and fins. It’s crucial that you stay close enough to see the
land swims coming so you can evade away from them – roll once 45* towards it
when it jumps to the ground, and you should be able to roll again as it
starts wriggling (I’ve got a video on YouTube which you can see the timing
in). So the strategy is to evade first, and then position yourself so you can
start firing as it gets up, allowing 2-4 shots before it’s turned back to you.
If you get close, it’ll start doing belly smashes with a big aoe, which if
you can evade through, is a great chance to attack. Volganos is a difficult
creature to gun, so take your time with it.
Here's a HBG video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ6oipmjhlo
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII Carapeceons CPC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daimyo Hermitaur, Purple (Plum) Daimyo Hermitaur
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S (Ice S for Purple/Plum), Normal 2 OR
Pierce 3
Required Skills: Evade+
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Bullet Limit, Speed Fire or Pierce
Up, Defensive Manoeuvres
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: Gunning a Daimyo is alternatively fun and frustrating, depending
on how it chooses to act. For most fights, a compliant Daimyo is simple:
Roll past it, between the legs and the body, while it moves towards you, and
then turn and fire through it. Lather, rinse, repeat. Ideally, you should
fire through one of its back legs, aiming to get the diagonally opposite
forward leg (ie, back right to front left). This will ensure you get the head
(weak point for element and raw) and also trigger leg staggers, knocking it
over while you wail on it. When you’re out of your element shots, start firing
Normal 2 at the legs – it does fair damage and when you knock it down, you
can fire at the face.
The tricky part comes if the Daimyo burrows a lot or uses the a lot; if it
starts doing this, make sure you’re rolling away as fast as you can. When it
is recovering from a jump or surfaces, it’s a good chance for damage, but you
must be careful to not get caught by the attacks.
Purple Hermitaur in 2:35:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LawNrJpfl3w&feature=email
Shogun Ceanataur, Red (Terra) Shogun Ceanataur
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S, Normal 2
Required Skills: Evade+
Recommended Skills: Evade Inc, Speed Fire, Elemental Attack Up, Bullet Limit
Difficulty to gun: Moderate/High
What to do: Shoguns are tricky creatures to manage, but with Evade +2 and
some evasion skills, they become far simpler. Red Shogun does have a unique
weakness to Water on its shell (as it’s a Black Gravios skull) but it won’t
take much damage from that element anywhere else, making Thunder S a better
choice for both Shoguns. Much like with Daimyos, you should almost never be
attacking a Shogun head on, since the flurry of fast attacks will quickly
have you back at camp. You should always roll under the legs, turn and fire a
few shots.
If you stay very close, you can stay under Shogun’s effective range easily.
Try and get your element shots through one leg into the body, and once
you’re down to Normal 2, start rolling past it and just shooting the legs
since they take almost as much raw shot damage as the face. Once you get
the trip, continue hitting the legs unless you can get to the face in one
roll; otherwise it’s not worth the time.
Shoguns give a very clear sign they are ready to be captured (purple bubbles
coming from the mouth instead of the white ones as in rage mode) and it’s a
good idea to save time and get the capture as soon as you can.
The Great Decisive Battle, 7:55:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpk0j8luaGQ
(Great Decisive Battle is Red/Terra and regular Shogun Ceanataur).
Shen Gaoren
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Pierce 3,2, Thunder S, Fire S, Normal 3, 2
Required Skills: Pierce S Up
Recommended Skills: Adrenaline +2, Loading Speed+, Normal S Up
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: This is a very easy fight, and even solo the G rank Gaoren can be
killed in ~16 mins, including the time it takes to meander into firing
range. Heroics or Adrenaline +2 is highly recommended since you don’t need to
evade any attacks and this creature is about maximising damage over time.
Basically, spam Pierce shots down it as fast as you can. When it stands up
tall, roll almost under it and start firing Normal 3 as fast as you can at
the same spot, to flinch it. Fort Integrity won’t be an issue, but it never
hurts to keep the damage up. When it starts lowering back down, switch back
to Pierce. When you’re out of Pierce and element, start using your Normal
shots. But with Adrenaline or Heroics, it should be long dead by this point.
Guide to easily killing Shen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9cNN6cXvvE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIII Primatus PRI
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congalala, Green/Emerald Congalala
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S (pink Congalala only), Normal 2 OR Pellet 3
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Speed Fire, Elemental Attack Up (pink only), Normal S Up
or Pellet S Up, Evade Inc
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: There are two ways to gun a Congalala: Either Pellet spam at it,
or for a slightly faster kill, focus on Normal S on the head (again, after
Fire S on the pink one). Evade around it until you’re looking at it side on,
and then blast away. It’s a good idea to fine scope in order to make sure
you’re getting the head hitzone and not the front arms. Green Congalala likes
to use the dung and gas attacks more often, so stay to its side and not the
front quarters (the dung attack has a big radius) or the back half (the new
super gas is pretty painful). Congalala have a lot of health, so you’ll
need to get into a good rhythm. The main thing to watch out for is not
getting caught in front of it by a charge, since that can set you up for a
combo. You can take the simpler route and evade around it and Pellet spam,
but that will break the tail held item fast which encourages it to use more
dung attacks.
Blangonga, Brown Blangonga
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S and Normal 2 on Blangonga, Ice S and Normal
2 on Brown
Required Skills: Evade+ (Brown Blangonga)
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Evade Inc, Speed Fire, Observer
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate (Blangonga) and Moderate/Hard (Brown)
What to do: Both of these primates require an element to break their fangs,
and once the fangs are broken, their roars don’t require earplug and
Blangonga can’t summon Blangos any more. So, first order of business is to
use the element shots on the head.
Blangonga’s weakness is easier to apply, since Fire S works as a Normal S.
It doesn’t have any attacks you need Evade for, since rolling out will
get you out of range. When it does the big long range punch, roll out and
roll closer to it. When it turns to face you, let off a shot just before it’s
centered its aim on you, and roll. By the time the shot gets there, it should
hit directly in the face. Otherwise, Ice beams and boulder attacks are a great
time to attack, provided you aren’t about to get hit.
Brown Blangonga is a trickier, since it loves doing use the 5 boulder attack
that hits in about 90* around it. With Evade+, if you’re close enough, then
when it digs down to grab the boulders, be ready to roll, and Evade
immediately as it pulls them up from underground. Roll towards the shoulder
closest to you, and you should always get through it. As often as you can,
hit it in the face with Ice S to break the fangs ASAP; once they’re gone,
it’s probably better to switch to Normal 2. It loves to jump around, so
having Evade Inc is a boon to get closer to it instead of sheathing.
Capturing it when you can is a very good idea. You should be familiar with
Blangonga’s movements by the time you get to fight this one, but beware that
it hits really hard.
Dual Blangonga, done in 3:23:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfhMvFKb4s4&feature=email
Rajang, SSJ2 Rajang
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Normal 2
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Evade +2, Normal S Up, Speed Fire, Survival, Adrenaline +2
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: If you know how to Evade, then this is an easy fight. Perhaps not
as boneheadedly simple as with bow, but it’s a bit faster. You should
always be looking at it from the left side (so on it’s right) and always evade
to your left. That way, none of its attacks can hit you. From here, it’s
simple. Evade past or around its attack, and then spin around and fine scope.
You should be able to hit its forearms with a few shots before it turns, get a
hit on the horns and then roll out before it can retaliate. You should be out
of quake range, roar range (it jumps back into Rage mode) and so never get
caught if you’re careful. The major thing to watch out for it your hitzones;
make sure you’re getting the face/horns and not the neck. It might help to
aim for the very tip of the nose so you can see where the shot lands on the
horns to get you used to it. I’ve got a video on YouTube that might help you
– Elder Dual Rajang done in 8 minutes with LOW rank gear.
Dual Rajang, Low rank gear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeR3EHItQiA
Dual Rajang G rank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxHeleU2iY8
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IX Elder Dragons EDS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kirin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Pellet 3
Required Skills: Pellet S Up, Evade Inc
Recommended Skills: Evade+, Load Up, Loading Speed +
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: Check out the video guide below. This is a really simple fight
if you’re careful. Evade away from it, and while it summons thunder, blast
away. Fine scope aiming isn’t required since Pellet shots home in on Kirin’s
horn. Stay close enough so when it charges you,
one evade puts you out of the way and lets you turn around and hit its
retreating form. The guide is pretty self-explanatory, so check it out.
Dual Kirin done without sleep bombing or seperation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfeYkxYc3Ko
Kushala Daora, Rusted Kushala Daora
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Thunder S (Water S on Rusted Kushala), Normal 2 OR
Pierce 3
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire OR Pierce Up, Normal Up,
Evade Inc OR Evade+
Difficulty to gun: Moderate
What to do: This is a tricky fight since the weakpoint for raw is the tail,
and if you’re standing in front of it to get element shots down the body,
you risk getting tackled or frozen blasted. Once you get the horn off, the
fight becomes much easier since the wind shield won’t exist any more and
you don’t need to worry about shot ricochets. The fast, but risky, way to get
rid of the horn is to have an Evade set and stand facing it from a slight
angle and spamming element shots down the body. You should be able to flinch
it reasonably often to keep yourself safe, but if you miss an evade then
you’ll be in a world of hurt. Alternatively you can treat it like a
bullfight: let it run past you and Normal S hit the tail. That’s effective but
difficult, since it’s a small, moving target.
Maybe the simplest and most efficient strategy is to keep it poisoned, then
stand side on to the head and fire Normal shots at it. Then, once the horn
is broken you have the option of going for the element shots down the tail
(after it runs past you) or down the face when you have the chance.
Chameleos
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S, Normal 2, Normal 3
Required Skills: Elemental Attack Up, Speed Fire
Recommended Skills: Evade Inc, Normal S Up
Difficulty to gun: Easy
What to do: This is by far the easiest Elder Dragon to gun. The main issue
that gunners have with getting consistent head shots – charges – isn’t an
issue here, since Cham has a forgiving hitbox and charges slowly. So, stand
two or three rolls away (assuming no Evade Inc) and then lay into the face
with Fire S. When it’s about to attack, always assume it’s about to charge.
When it starts attacking, it leaves huge openings. When it puke blasts or
uses the mist attack, (assuming you’re out of the way) then you can spam away.
When it’s doing the tail wind generator, either get to the side or roll away
from tongue range and then start blasting. You should never be close enough
for the poison jump to be an issue. You’ll find it’s quickly pissed off with
Fire S on the head, and its rage entry animation gives you even more chances
to attack. It’s easy enough too to count head shots between staggers, so you
can get into position for more ownage. Once you learn to watch out for the
charge, you’re home and hosed. It’s not as fast or brutal as using Corpse
Rippers, but they are just unfair on Cham anyway.
Lunastra
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Ice S, Normal 2 OR Pierce 3
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Evade + OR Evade Inc, Speed Fire, Normal S Up, Elemental
Attack Up
Difficulty to gun: Moderate
What to do: The first of the two Manticores is far more forgiving than
Teostra, but she’s still not a lot of fun. In 2G/Unite, Lunastra telegraphs
her moves much more than previously. Before she charges, she’ll rear her head
for approximately a second, giving you time to get the hell out of the
way. Lunastra is weak to Ice (weakest on head and tail) but frustratingly,
her raw weak point is the tail, which takes twice as much damage as the
head (next weakest point). So, it’s a little like Kushala in that you should
treat it like a bullfight. Stay reasonably close to her, so if you she starts
to charge, you can roll out quickly – and make sure you never roll across her
front, even when it looks like she’s using the curved charge. Turn and let
off a few shots at the tail, then roll towards her on a 45* angle so by the
time she turns, you should be ready to roll out if she charges. Be careful to
roll out straight away if she’s doing the close flame explosion ring, and
obviously get close if she’s using the long rage one.
When she’s using the flamethrower, roll towards the tail and let loose some
Normal 2, or if you’re taking the Pierce route, get behind her and fire
through the tail to the face. Otherwise, attack when you get the opportunity,
but remember that positioning is crucial here. Luna is deceptive in that it
looks like there are opportunities to attack which are in fact traps. She’ll
let you get a few hits in order to steam-roller over you. Treat this fight
with caution.
Teostra
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Water S, Normal 2 OR Pierce 3
Required Skills: Evade Inc OR Evade+
Recommended Skills: Speed Fire, Elemental Attack Up, Normal S Up OR Pierce S
Up
Difficulty to gun: High
What to do: This, even more so than Tigrex, is a hard fight for gunners. It’s
not recommended for anything less than an experienced gunslinger. Teostra is
very similar to Lunastra (though it swaps Ice for Water as the element
weakness) except it hits harder and doesn’t telegraph charges. It’s got a huge
hitbox and insta-charges and doesn’t tend to stay still long. The tail again
takes twice the raw damage the face does, so it’s the priority. Basically,
check out the Luna section and note the following differences:
*(As said) No telegraphing the charge
*More damage
*Long range fire explosion ring can sometimes do a homing explosion under your
feet; don’t ever scope when it’s using the long range ring. If you see the
puff of dust under you, roll immediately.
Without Adrenaline +2 or Heroics, you’re going to struggle to kill this
creature fast enough, and of course they’re not recommended on Teo. Be very
warned before attempting Teo with BG.
The extra mobility of LBG will work well here, but the damage you sacrifice
will be an issue. It doesn't telegraph its charges or attacks like Lunastra
does, so if you do insist on gunning it, try LBG if you're getting really
owned.
Lao Shan Lung, Azure Lao Shan Lung
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Pierce 3, 2, Fire S, Normal 3, 2
Required Skills: Adrenaline +2, Pierce Up
Recommended Skills: Loading Speed +, Load Up, any damage skills
Difficulty to gun: Easy/Moderate
What to do: This is slightly more difficult than Shen Gaoren, but not much.
Basically, Lao is a walking target, so the issue is whether you can maintain
a high enough damage per second (DPS) to kill it. Firstly, the weak point for
range is on the back, between the two ridges of spines, where you carve from.
Either shoot through the top of the shoulder down the back with Pierce, or
hit it side on from a ledge. If you’re really stuck,
the belly (where it droops down) takes decent range damage, too. Fire S on the
weakpoint and Thunder S down the body work well enough too if you’re using a
gun with a large elemental clip. If you’re using Adrenaline or Heroics, this
is a simple, though boring as hell, quest. And least gunning, you can break
the shoulders and horn easily for good chances at a Ruby or Divine Plate.
Yamatsukami
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Ice S, Pierce 3,2
Required Skills: Evade Inc/Evade+
Recommended Skills: Pierce S Up, Loading Speed +, Survival
Difficulty to gun: Moderate
What to do: With some experience of its movement patterns and Evade skills,
this is a simple fight. Yama takes a LOT of raw shot damage (90) in its
mouth, so as long as you have Pierce or Ice shots, fire them there, so they
start at the mouth and travel along the body. What's problematic though is
often the mouth shots will travel through the tentacles which absorb damage.
So, if the mouth is not wide open or easily shot, attack the Eyes.
Yama is very predictable, it’ll always turn to you, wait for a second, then
attack. If it does the tentacle flail, just roll out. If it’s doing the
copter attack, just sheathe and duck or safety dive (though not too early).
If it smashes down on the ledge with four tentacles, fire straight into
the mouth. If it hits the ledge with only two tentacles, beware as that’s the
precursor for the vortex OKHO. It’ll only do it 50% of the time it hits
with two tentacles though. If it starts doing the vacuum, you’ve got lots of
options. Either throw 2-3 tranq bombs at it (it’ll drop down and give you a
shiny), sheathe and run along the ledge until it stops sucking, or sheathe
and jump (you must be sprinting) off the ledge. When you’re out of Pierce
shots, start using Normal 2 or 3 on the eyes usually and the mouth when you
can.
Fatalis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Normal 2, 3, Fire S
Required Skills: None
Recommended Skills: Speed Fire, Adrenaline +2, Normal S Up, any damage skills
Difficulty to gun: Moderate
What to do: For most of the fight, this is quite simple. Let it turn to face
you, and whenever you can, scope aim up at the head and blast with Normal 2.
Just beware of Snap’n’drags and belly flops, and practice hitting the face
even as it wriggles away from you. It’s quickly a very simple fight, which is
why Adrenaline is recommended, since you’ll only get hit if you make a
mistake. You’ll be just out of roar range for the most part, too. When it
flies up, get out of fireball range and recognise the patterns of the single
and triple fire ball, and when it comes in to land, get close to shoot the
head as it comes down. It’s hovering but not trying to get you, stay just
outside this much smaller fireball range and blast the head. If it’s chasing
you, get close to it to make it stop and then immediately roll out. As soon
as you get close enough, it’ll stop chasing you.
That’s basically it. It doesn’t have an armour mode, so it’ll just be three
or four rounds of monotony. If you’re going for the wings, it takes the most
damage from Fire S. Yes, even more than Dragon. It’s the fastest way to break
the wings, apart from Heroics and Normal S Up.
Crimson Fatalis, White Fatalis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Ammunition: Fire S, Normal 2, Clust 2
Required Skills: Survival
Recommended Skills: Loading Speed+, damage skills, Gunnery King (for White
Fatalis), Load Up, Bomber
Difficulty to gun: Moderate/High
What to do: As with black Fatalis, Crimson and White take the most element
damage on the wings from Fire S. So with Survival, you can roll to the left
or right when it summons and then get a few wing shots in. Look for the
thunder/meteor patterns too, there are three. It’s the close range one you
need to watch out for if you’re next to it and going for the wings.
Once the wings are taken care of (or if you don’t care about getting wing
rewards), then start using your Normal 2 on Crimson and White Fatalis’s
face. Be careful you’re not hitting too far back on the head as the face and
head are different hitzones. You should be firing from just outside belly
flop range, so if it did flop down you’d be next to its head. There’s a cone
in front of in which meteors/thunder never land, so use it well. It’ll spend
a lot of time summoning, so get used to scoping and firing off shots while
being prepared for it to flop down or screech and try and claw you.
Rage mode is tricky, but probably better dealt with range than melee. This is
where your Clust 2 shots should be used, as the explosive damage ignores
armour mode. In armour mode, both Crimson and White take equal shot damage on
all hitzones, so if you’re not packing bombs or Clust shots,
you’re not going to be doing much damage at all. You might as well just spam
at the crotch or legs/tail rather than aiming for the face. Crimson’s armour
mode activates every time it rages, so switch in your Clusts then. Switch
back to Normal 2 when it’s not pissy. With the 53 Clust 2 you can take, plus
your 12 LBB+, you should have enough to deal with most of the 25 minute round
rages. You’re going to have to be accurate though.
With White’s armour mode, it’s between 50% and 20% of it’s HP – and that’s a
lot of health. Once it’s in armour mode, I usually do three or four rounds of
Suicide Clusting: Get in, expend all your clusts, and then let yourself get
killed. All damage you do carries over, regardless of whether you fail the
mission (though if you abandon it resets). Clust and bomb away, then for the
final round switch back to Normal shooting.
Crimson Fatalis video guide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXOYYBwFbAU&feature=email
=============================================================================
Part 3: The Monster Hunter Quest
=============================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I Introduction INT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aside from power, the Heavy Bowgun (HBG) has one huge strength: Versatility.
Most people find the Marathon quests (several different monsters in a row,
and instead of normal carves you get Mega potions) difficult since you can
only take one weapon class to the quest, but often the different monsters are
suited to different classes. For example, the Hunter’s Pride marathon, at HR9.
It’s a Khezu, then a Shogun Ceanataur, then a Plesioth, then a Diablos. Shogun
and Khezu are vulnerable to hammer, but Diablos and Plesioth aren’t as easy.
Or you could try Longsword, since Diablos and Shogun can be taken down easily,
but without Evade skills the Plessy is annoying and you won’t quite have the
range to quickly kill Khezu. And then you can only take raw weapons, since
they don’t have a common elemental weakness. So what do you do?
Simple – you take a HBG. You Fire S the Khezu, you Thunder S the Shogun, you
Pierce the Plessy and you Scatter S the Diablos. That way, you maximise
the weakness of every creature you fight. And even better, no traps or flashes
are required!
That’s where this topic comes in. The Monster Hunter quest is the last Felyne
Elder quest, and it’s the hardest offline quest you’ll face. Even experienced
players have trouble on it, and completing it is a big accomplishment. You’ll
face (in this order): Rathalos, Tigrex, Naruga and Rajang. This topic is
designed to help you defeat the quest by playing intelligently and artfully,
and not having to resort to hammer, traps and flashes.
So if you’re learning to gun, struggling to complete this quest or just out
to do it honourably, you’ve come to the right place!
Firstly, knowledge.
-------------------
Have a detailed read through the below sections on each creature you'll face,
and watch the YouTube videos associated with each creature. Still, there
is no substiture for experience. Go, fight the creatures yourself. Once you
can kill each one without flashes, you're ready to start the quest.
Secondly, equipment.
--------------------
There are dozens of ways to gun this quest. The one below is only one way,
but I think it is one of the best, especially for Intermediate level gunners.
This equipment I’m suggesting is not easy to make, but it’s worth it. You
should bring:
Tzar Lao Shan Cannon
Blango Z Cap (+4 Speed Fire jewel)
Naruga X Torso
Naruga X braces
Naruga X waist
Naruga X Legs
With gems, you will have Evade +2, Evade Inc and Speed fire. With a one slot
weapon, you can also have Trap Master, though you won’t need it for this
quest.
Thirdly, items.
-----------------
Bring:
Book of combos 1-4
Farcaster
Powercharm
Powertalon
Armourtalon
Armourcharm
2 Max potions
2 Megajuice
10 Welldone or Gourmet steaks
10 Mega Potions
10 Potions
99 Normal S lvl 2
99 Normal S lvl 3
60 Pierce 3 or Pellet 3
99 Needleberry
99 Huskberry
60 Fire S
60 Thunder S
10 Flashbugs
20 Fire Herbs
And then any item of your choosing, except traps or flashes. You won’t need
them.
Once you have this prepared, you’re almost ready. Eat with your cats for
Health +40 and Attack Up (Meat and Vegetable). You can bring your cat or leave
it at home, it’s personal preference. They can be helpful for distracting
monsters while you heal or get shots in, but they can also get in the
way. And some players find the fact they take away the monster’s focus a
downside – it means you don’t get the headshots in as easily.
Now, make you sure you save it after you’ve completed preparations since it
will likely take a few attempts.
The Quest Itself
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The quest is obviously set in the Large Arena. There are gathering points on
your left and right as you enter (at the wooden gates, you can gather supply
flash bombs, supply large barrel bombs and supply shock traps) and at the
plant, along the left hand wall (mega potions) and finally at the far right
corner (whetstones, rations). There is a ledge, but you’ll quickly find it’s
of limited use since it’s short and the monsters react differently to you
when you’re on it. Once you’re in the arena, you cannot go back to base unless
you farcaster or are killed.
Generally, avoid the corners since if you get trapped, it can be very easy to
be comboed to death by an angry monster.
As you are learning this quest, you’ll probably get killed. If you do, keep
going. It doesn’t matter if you fail this quest, since you can just reset it
since you’ve saved. Even if you know you can’t complete it, I would encourage
you to keep going since you’ll still get experience which means you’ll do
better next time.
As for time pressure, try and forget about it. Using this method, I usually
have at *least* 15 minutes left after the Rajang is dead. You wouldn’t put on
the Flight of the Bumblebees on while playing chess, so don’t stress yourself
out on this one with the time. Try and only check it when each monster is
killed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
II Rathalos: Initiation LOS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most of you will be very familiar with Rathalos, and you’ll probably be
comfortable killing it fast as a melee’r. Killing it range is very different,
unfortunately. It’s one of the few monsters that takes longer to gun.
When you enter the arena, it’ll see you and roar. This you can roll through
(start rolling a split second before the roar ‘hits’) or just shoot it once.
If you do, it’ll cancel the roar but be ready to roll since it’ll probably
insta-charge you. From here, it’s time to begin the quest.
The fastest way to kill it is Water S through the body and Normal 2 on the
head (Ice S is faster, but the Tzar Lao can’t fire it). Normal 3 won’t be as
effective on the head (the shards fly off) but if you Normal 3 the legs or
wings you can get the shards to land. You can also Pierce 3 through the head
to tail or wings to wings, but it’s not a good idea with the speed fire set
(since your recoil is maxed). So, you simply keep the pressure on. Keep
firing at the head when you can, and aim for the tail-body joint or the back
otherwise.
You’ll find it rages fast. You’ll need to practice rolling through the
scream, since even with some armour levelling, you’ll get killed in one hit
from the roar. That’s why you’re using Evade inc & +2, though – it lets you
get through the scream and the charge. When it’s raged, go for the head shots
but make sure you aren’t going to get charged first. Don’t stay right next to
it (It seems to love insta-charges, annoyingly) but not too far away either
since your shot damage will drop.
If it flies off for a world tour (where it just flies around for a minute
before doing its dive attack at you) then it’s a good chance to heal up or
combine. Just make sure you’re ready in time to superman dive the dive-bomb.
You can Evade through it, but why risk it?
Whenever it flies up, get under it if you’re close enough (which you should
be) or otherwise, sheath and be ready to dive. When it’s on the way down, get
in a few head-shots, since monsters can actually take damage and be knocked
out the sky while in the air.
Otherwise, it’s a straightforward fight. Aim at the head, evade well out of
charge hitboxes, and always heal up to full health if you get hit. You can
carve and gather mega potions, so don’t be afraid to use them. This fight
might actually be the longest one of the four, so if you take up to 15
minutes, that’s OK. 8-12 mins is what you should aim for though.
Once you’ve slain it, healed up and combined, load your Thunder S and
mentally prepare yourself for the only real difficult part of the fight.
You’ve got about a minute, so gather at the gathering points too, and if you
can, put down 2 LBB+ where the Tigrex's head will be.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
III Tigrex: Frustration REX
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firstly, if you aren’t familiar with gunning Tigrex, have a read of the text
above in Part 2 (Ctrl + F and type in 'Tigrex') or YouTube for Legend3594’s
video.
When Tigrex enters, it’ll face the entrance to the arena, like the Rathalos.
It won’t notice you if you aren’t in front of it – it’s a good time to chug
down a Mega juice. You can either plant your bombs now if you haven’t done
so, or simply start shooting.
Tigrex’s weakness is Thunder, and if you’re right behind it, and you start
firing through the back legs, it’ll do its looking around animation for a
few seconds. Blast away with impunity until it turns around. Roll to your
right (the opposite of Rajang) since on its right side, you can avoid all of
its attacks with a little practice. Stay close too, since at range it’ll
home in on you with its charges.
From the right side, you can either roll away or fire when it does the
boulder attack. You can also see well in advance and roll out of
the biting attack – it actually curves towards you, so don’t try and fire
since you’ll get bitten in all likelihood.
If you’re even familiar in passing with Tigrex, you’ll be very aware of its
main attack: the Death Train (if you listen, you’ll hear it’s feet hitting
the ground and making a ‘chug’ sound when it charges). Here’s how to get
your hits in and avoid the Tigrex Express.
To start with, you should be on its right side. When it begins a charge, it
will raise its left (your right) arm, and you can roll under and through it.
You’ll now be behind it with it rapidly retreating away from you – roll after
it. It can change direction up to twice, so wait until it’s stopped. Then
fire through the back legs to the head with your thunder shots (or wing to
wing) or aim for the back legs with your Normal 2. It will turn around, and
you need to start rolling right before it’s fully turned around. If you don’t,
you risk getting charged as you recover from your shot. A rage charge won’t
kill you, but it will hurt a lot and leave you wide open.
It will rage pretty fast, especially if you get some good damage in at the
very start. When it does so, always stay medium-close on the right and evade
first, damage second. After this part of the fight, it gets easier and quicker
so it’s OK if you play it safe here. Once you’re out of Thunder S, combine
for more (farcaster to camp for a breather if you need to) and after than
switch to normal shots.
This isn’t easy, and gunning Tigrex will take some learning. But it’s worth
it.
Now, you’ve gathered by this point. You’ll probably have some supply flashes.
If you’ve gotten Tigrex to the point where every hit rages it, you’ll find
it’s a frustrating point since damaging it when it’s running around crazily
takes a while. I don’t think there’s any shame in using supply flashes to cut
down the time required. Not using them would be better, but if you’re
struggling, use them. They’ll give you around 30 seconds of head-shot access,
which should be enough to finish the fight.
This fight should take 10-15 minutes for the less experienced or moderate
gunners. If you have less than 20 minutes left when you kill it, you’ll be
pressured, but it can be done. Having 30 minutes left is more ideal though.
As with the ‘Los, once you’ve killed the Tigrex, heal and combine for more
Normal 2 and then load your Fire S.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV Naruga: Understanding NGA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Again, your first step should be checking out the linked YouTube videos.
Naruga seems intimidating, but you’re on the downhill slope with the quest now.
This will be the shortest fight, too, and almost the easiest.
As with the Rex, it will land facing the entrance, so you can get some Fire S
spamming in. Your first target will be the head, but any time you can’t hit
it, the tail should be your next target. Be aware the head and neck are
different hitzones, and easily confused.
The thing you must learn is the timing to evade through the tail whip and
jump-slice. It’s really easy once you know how (like most of MH…) but
until you get it, you’ll be taking a lot of unneeded damage. Start your roll
and roll into the tail-whip a split second before it hits you and you’ll get
through it and be able to either fire at the head as it turns or get out for
a better chance at a head-shot. Try and get the middle part of your roll
through the time when the tail would contact you.
In rage mode, it loves to jump around you and jump-slice a split second
later. When it jumps around you, it’ll pause for a half-second before flying
at you. You should hit 'X' to roll at the same time it starts its jump, and
you’ll get through the slice.
Naruga’s attacks tend to be fast with small hitboxes, meaning evading through
them is usually easy. When it does its tail smash (rears up, jumps 180* and
smashes the ground with its tail) roll out, to your right, and NEVER try and
roll through it. It's not easily done and it really hurts.
After you’ve observed the video and got to grips with the timing, it’s an
easy and satisfying fight. Fire S the head and tail (combine for more) and
start on your Normal 2 or 3. You’ll soon find yourself carving off the freshly
slain beast.
Heal, combine and load your Normal 2 (make sure you’re packing 99 at this
point) and get ready for the grand finale. You should have about 20 minutes
left, but it’s possible with only 10 (though not ideal).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
V Rajang: Ascendancy RAJ
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the easiest part of the fight. Really – with Evade Distance Inc and
Speed fire, you always roll left and fire Normal 2 (Normal 3 if you have to)
at the head as it turns, before rolling again. If you’ve ever bowed Rajang,
you’ll know the rhythm. People complain that ranging Rajang is cheap – these
are the same people who use a hammer on Rathalos (which =/= Rocket Science)-
so feel free to ignore them.
The reason this is simple is that as long as you’re not too far away (and
with some experience, even if you are) rolling left will get out of the way.
If you’re caught in a corner by accident, then you can roll through all
attacks with your Evade +2.
The real trick here is getting head shots as it turns. You can just complete
the fight by blasting the front legs as it runs past you, though you might
not have time or remaining ammo. But if you time it right, as you evade past
every attack, turn and scope at the head and you can get shots on the head.
Let loose your shot just before it finishes the turn – that way, you can
evade out and the shot will actually land on the horns in time.
Always avoid as much as you can getting cornered. If it attacks past you and
you can see that you can’t get past left, then don’t try and get in damage,
immediately roll right twice past it. Then, wait to get back in your rolling
left rhythm. If you keep this up steadily, you’ll complete this quest. Just
don’t get greedy with hits and don’t panic if you see the 10 minute warning.
If you tense up, you’re more likely to make mistakes and get yourself killed.
And if you’re not confidant on head shots unless it’s beaming, then don’t
risk it.
Voila – Monster Hunter quest completed! Now go sell your auto-tracker
piercing (well, don't, but it is pretty useless by this point of the game)
and have a few drinks at the tavern to celebrate. But remember – friends
don’t let friends hunt drunk.
There you have it – with some practice on these monsters individually, you
can complete this quest honourably and properly. No more reliance on
flash-spamming and not a trap in sight.
=============================================================================
I Bragging Rights BRA
=============================================================================
This is what I mean when I say no armour skill is truly required - the pics
below are from me completing the Monster Hunter quest naked, with no flashes,
no traps and no cat.
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq15/mazereon/frmbuf000-1.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq15/mazereon/frmbuf001-3.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq15/mazereon/frmbuf002-1.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq15/mazereon/frmbuf003-1.jpg
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq15/mazereon/frmbuf004-1.jpg
Video available here:
Part 1 - Rathalos and Tigrex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBtUJXPhae0
Part 2 - Naruga and Rajang:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k87fIWovOQs
Why, you ask? Why the hell not, I say!
I know I got owned by Naruga, I don't know why. I have other vids of me
gunning it naked, this was just a bad fight.
A couple more videos...
Monster Hunter, done with HR6 gear only (LBG):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KJzCqYomlk
And Monster Hunter, done in 20 minutes with LBG:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tejQCcs0WQQ&feature=email
Banquet of the Warrior Gods,33:23:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9220Dk4kVIs&feature=email
"There once was a hunter named maze.
He thought bullets were better than blades.
He went on many runs,
With many bowguns.
Used heroics and came out unscathed."
Thanks to iPlayGamesGood :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
=============================================================================
Credits, Contact & Copyright Info
=============================================================================
This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances without permission,
and without permission it should not be on any site except:
*GameFAQs
*Minegarde
*Encylopedia Gigantica
*Neoseeker
*GamersHell
If you want to quote from this guide, just ask me. As long as you note the
source I'm pretty happy to let people use it.
It goes without saying that using this guide without my express permission
is a violation of Copyright law, including but not limited to the Brussels
Convention.
I am happy to take questions by email, too. My email address is in the
introduction section as well, but it's
[email protected].
Lastly, credit where it’s due.
This guide wouldn’t be anywhere near as accurate without VioletKIRA’s
excellent Bowgun Damage guide. Thanks Kira! It's available on GameFAQS in
the Unite FAQs section... funnily enough.
It's since been removed, so now the Shot damage FAQ by VC and Dai should be
read in its place.
And in turn, all the exact shot information I have used from Kira that
regards Freedom 1 creatures is originally taken from Vampirecosmonaut and
DaiIchiBan's Bowgun Damage FAQ for Monster Hunter Freedom, available in
the Monster Hunter Freedom board's FAQs tab on GameFAQs.
Also, the commitment VC and Dai showed to creating the initial MHF Bowgun
Damage formula no doubt helped all subsequent Bowgun damage mechanic topics.
Legend3594 deserves major respect for making videos for me back in the Dark
Ages when I didn't have CFW. Thanks again friend, I really appreciate it.
Legend's Kirin Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JevOdraR18w&fmt=18
Legend's Diablos video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w776B85JyiA
Legend's Naruga video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhw4CsQcTBE&fmt=18
To my brothers Vash_TS and Knives; you guys have made me the hunter I am
today. Mad love to you both.
All my friends on Minegarde from the bowgun guides and general 2G topics
– you guys have helped me examine my tactics and be more critical about my
playing, which is always great :)
Thanks to SuperVolt & VC for the Gypceros Pellet gun suggestions.
You, the reader, for bothering to get this far.
And of course, all my past and present guild mates in MHI. You guys all
rock!
A special shout-out to DevilTrigger, Saha, Mukyo, Schpeltiger, ffha,
Minority, Jmo1link, Bothamliam, TenSa ZanGetsu, Alex Portnoy, Mr5oonz,
Century, Ninja_Haan (for actually backing up his talk), theLetterFox, and
(insert your name here if I've forgotten to put you in!).
All trademarks are © Capcom. All analysis © mazereon, 2008 -2009.
