Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun Guide-Monster Hunter Wildsfeatures14 different weapons, the same as the previous installments with theHeavy Bowgunbeing one of them. In this Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun Guide, we will be taking a look at how to use the Heavy Bowgun, the differences between Light Bowguns and Heavy Bowguns, all Changes and additions, as well as Offset Damage. Whether you’re a new hunter looking to join the hunt or veterans returning looking for a quick refresher to help with the weapon, this guide is here to help you.
Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun Guide & Changes
TheHeavy Bowgun is the artillery weapon of the Monster Hunterfranchise. The weaponspecializes in dealing high damage from range. The Heavy Bowgun deals more damage, breaks more parts and stuns monsters more easily with its powerful shots vs the Light Bowgun, sacrificing the agility and versatility for pure firepower. If you are looking for the most powerful ranged weapon in the game, then the Heavy Bowgun is for you.
Heavy Bowgun Combos
Like all the ranged weapons in the game, the Heavy Bowgun does not have combos, and the type of damage you do, the range of your attacks, and the pattern of your shots are determined by the Ammo you are using at the moment.
Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun vs Light Bowgun
Combat Details
Light Bowgun
Heavy Bowgun
More agile playstyle
Slower, clunkier playstyle
Effective Range
Close-to-mid
Mid-to-long range, (ineffective at close range)
Defensive Option
Relies only on dodges and positioning
Has an auto guard and can perform perfect guards. Has a counter move that can deal Offset Damage.
Customizable Slots
2 mods slots and 1 special ammo slot
2 mods slots and 2 special ammo slots
Standard Mode
Fixed Standard Mode for all Light Bowguns
Have a variable standard mode that can be upgraded using a mod slot.
Base Ammo Type
Normal, Spread and Pierce ammo types
Special Ammo type
Different special ammo types that can be used by the specific gun you are using
Alternate Fire Mode (uses a special gauge)
Rapid Fire Mode
Ignition Mode
Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun Changes & Moveset
The changes the Heavy Bowgun received in Wilds will make you feel more like a slow lumbering tank rather than a stationary turret as it received a ton of changes.
Heavy Bowgun Mods
In Monster Hunter Wilds, the mod system for the Bowguns received some changes compared to previous entries. There are now two customizable categories for each Bowgun, Mods and Special Ammo slots. The Heavy Bowgun will have 2 slots for Mods and 2 slots for Special Ammo.
The first Mod Slot of a Heavy Bowgun allows you to increase one ammo type’s capacity via Magazines: Normal, Pierce, Spread, or Elemental. Or increase the effectiveness of one of these ammo types via Powders, depending on which Heavy Bowgun you are using. Some Heavy Bowguns have Magazines and some have Powders, so you will need to check at the Smithy to verify after you craft a Heavy Bowgun, or look on the Wiki before you craft it.
The second Mod Slot of a Heavy Bowgun works similarly with some Heavy Bowguns offering Magazines, with others offering Powders. However, this Mod Slot will also ALWAYS have an Ignition Mod, and either Ignition Mode Upgrade or Standard Mode Upgrade to choose from as well. Standard Mode Upgrade will increase the damage with your Normal, Spread and Pierce Ammo, while Ignition Mode Upgrade your effectiveness when using Ignition Mode, and Ignition Mod increases the speed the Ignition Gauge fills.
Heavy Bowgun Special Ammo
For the Special Ammo options, the Heavy Bowgun can choose between the Wyvernheart Ignition and the Wyvernpiercer Ignition for it’s first Special Ammo.
For the second Speical Ammo, you can choose between the defensive Wyverncounter Ignition or the more offensive Wyvernblast Ignition.
The Heavy Bowgun also received a new mode like the light counterpart and this mode is theIgnition Mode- B (Xbox) or Circle (Playstation). Going into Ignition mode allows you access to two different firing types and using these shots will drain the meter and you will need to switch back into normal mode when the gauge is empty. The gauge will refill back normally over time or when you land your shots.
The two firing modes available for Ignition Mode: B (Xbox) or Circle (Playstation) will be specific to the special ammo you have equipped on the Bowgun and you can mix and match these to suit your playstyle. You will be able to choose between two options for each firing mode.
The Wyvernheart Ingnition turns your Heavy Bowgun into a literal heavy machine gun where you can hold down RT or R2 to fire continuously until the meter is drained. This firing mode will deal more damage the longer you fire and is excellent at creating wounds on monsters.
Wyvernpiercer Ignition shoots a slow moving single bullet that pierces through the monster for a time and it will get stronger as it goes increasing the damage, the more it passes through the monster. This shot will consume about 1/5th of the ignition gauge and it is especially useful against the larger monsters which have more length for the bullet to pass through.
Wyvern Counter
For the second mode, you can choose between the Wyvern Counter and the Wyvern Blast. The Wyvern Counter is an entirely new move added to the Heavy Bowgun. What this move does is, it will attach a device to the barrel of your Bowgun and begin charging and when detonated, it deals a massive amount of damage that will build up the new Offset status on a Monster.
It can also be charged to do more damage but the move will go off by itself after a certain amount of time which is relatively long. This move is an amazing defensive addition to the Heavy Bowgun but it has a fairly long start-up time making it hard to land in time when you are starting out. Learning the moves of the monsters and becoming familiar with them will help you in landing the counter consistently and toppling the monsters.
Offset is a new type of attack that was added in Monster Hunter Wilds. These attacks fill up an invisible Offset meter on the monster, much like a status effect, and will topple the monster when you trigger the effect. And like status effects the subsequent triggers will get harder and harder to trigger after the first topple.
Wyvern Blast
The Wyvern Blast is the other option available in the slot for the Heavy Bowgun. When you fire off this attack ( Y or Triangle while in ignition mode), you will kneel down similar to the counter but you won’t have to hold the inputs. You will fire off two cluster grenades that split off into 3 small grenades each upon pressing the button again. This is a mid range attack that covers a wide area and will deal considerable damage if all six of the grenades hit the target. This is a purely offensive option and will take away your ability to deal Offset damage using the Heavy Bowgun.
Another great addition to the Heavy Bowgun is the fact that they now have built-in shields letting you defend against the monster’s attacks. What’s even more amazing is that the Heavy Bowgun has an auto-guard feature that will let you guard an incoming attack as long as you are not in the middle of an animation. It is important to note though that you cannot trigger the perfect guard with the auto guard. The added defensive option allows the heavy bowgun players to be closer to the monster as long as they are careful with their positioning and timing of their shots.
Bymanually guarding- Y + B (Xbox) or Triangle + Circle (Playstation), you’re able to perform a perfect guard by timing the guard just before the monster hits you. Guarding enough attacks will trigger the new power clash mechanic in Monster Hunter Wilds and winning the clash will let you end with a final powerful shot.
The Heavy Bowgun has also benefitted immensely from the changes made to the ammo system. Even though there are no new ammo types added to the game, some of the ammo now functions differently when compared to the previous games in the franchise. The heavy bowgun shares the changes to ammo with theLight Bowgunwith the normal ammo now being the rapid-fire variant from the previous iterations which is completely new for the Heavy Bowgun and both the spread and piercing shots now have unlimited ammo.
These changes mean that you will be spending fewer resources to craft ammo types.The ammo level has also been moved to Bowgunspecifically with each Bowgun determining what level a particular type of ammo will be. Note that the higher level an Ammo is, the more effective it will be. Also, Recovery Ammo and Demon Ammo have also been changed into a grenade like shot that sticks on impact in an area of effect, making it much easier to buff teammates.
Focus Blast: Wyvern Howl
The Focus Blast for the Heavy Bowgun is known as theWyvern Howland it will fire a missile that will stick in the monster before blowing up similar to the sticky ammo, if you hit a Wound with the shot.
Even though there are no special riding attacks with theSeikretfor the Heavy Bowgun, it is special in that you can use all the ammo types while you are mounted and attack the monster for even more mobility although you cannot use the Ignition Mode while you are mounted. The seikret also offers an excellent option for mounting with the ability to perform ajumping reload- while airborne Y or RT (Xbox) or Triangle or R2 (Playstation).
Final Tips
Although the Heavy Bowgun lacks the mobility of its lighter cousin, the added defensive options makes the weapon feel much better to use and provides much needed improvements to the flow of combat when using the heavy bowgun. Knowing how long the reload time is for each different types of ammo will also help you as different ammo have different reload times with the longer ones keeping you stuck in animation.
Even with these options though, proper positioning is still crucial and the Heavy Bowgun users will still do their best at range from the monster as both its defensive options take some time to set up and are very difficult to use reactively in close range.
Different special ammo for the ignition mode offers different playstyles for the heavy bowgun between a more offensive or a defensive approach. It is important to use the appropriate option for the playstyle you are going for as well as for the monster you are hunting.
Secondary Weapons
With wilds offering players a secondary weapon, using two different Heavy Bowguns with each one offering different higher level of ammo types and different alternate modes is a totally viable option.
But if you want to stay ranged but want a little more mobility in between your shots, the Light Bowgun is a solid option because of its more aggressive and mobile playstyle.
That wraps up our Monster Hunter Wilds Heavy Bowgun Guide, and I hope you found it helpful, and be sure to check out our otherMonster Hunter Wilds Guides. If you have questions you’re able to leave them in the comments or drop by ourDiscordand ask. We also have aMonster Hunter Wilds Wiki with all the information you could possibly need about the game.
