Monster Hunter Rise | Heavy Bowgun Guide

Big gun go shooty shoot.

One of the most daunting weapons in the Monster Hunter series is the ranged weapons that consume craftable ammo. Let’s walk through the Heavy Bowgun and how to use it in Monster Hunter Rise. 

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Monster Hunter Rise | Heavy Bowgun Guide

 

Let’ start by talking about the ammo situation. Many people are afraid to try out the ranged weapons in Monster Hunter for fear of running out of ammo mid-fight. Well, it’s important to note that every weapon has an unlimited ammo type in its arsenal to ensure you’ll never not be able to shoot. 

On the other hand, there are a lot of different ammo types, so if you’re going to commit to the Heavy Bowgun it’s important to always come prepared with different ammo types and a lot of them. Below you can find the different ammo types for the Heavy Bowgun.

  • Regular Ammo (Unlimited)
  • Pierce Ammo: Hits monsters multiple times
  • Spread Ammo: Shotgun style 
  • Sticky Ammo: Sticks to target and detonates a few seconds later.
  • Cluster Bomb: Explodes and scatters shrapnel around a small area
  • Flaming Ammo: Deals fire damage
  • Water Ammo: Deals water damage
  • Thunder Ammo: Deals thunder damage
  • Freeze Ammo: Deals freeze damage

Monster Hunter Rise has two new ammo types for the Heavy Bowgun that drastically change the weapon. 

The Wyvernheart Ammo will turn your Bowgun into a handheld minigun. The more consecutive shots you land on a monster the more damage each shot will do. 

The Wyvernsnipe Ammo will allow you to hit a powerful shot from far away and then a few seconds later deals massive damage to the monster if hit. 

To switch between your ammo types hold L and use X or B to cycle through your available ammo which will be shown on the right side of the screen. 

The Heavy Bowgun can be equipped with a shield at the Weaponsmith to give it auto-guard. This is recommended for new users to help mitigate some extra damage while learning how to use the weapon.

This is great considering the Heavy Bowgun has extremely low mobility and dodging some attacks may be difficult.

Silkbind

 

The Heavybowgun has two different Silkbind moves.

The first is the Silkbind Glide which is performed with R+A. This gives you pretty much your only piece of mobility allowing you to slide out of the way quickly. Use it sparingly.

The other move is the Counter Shot which is performed by hitting R+X. This grounds you where you are and allows you to tank an incoming hit and set up for a countershot. 

Heavy Bowgun Controls

  • ZL = Crosshairs
  • Hold ZR = Fire
  • A = Special Ammo
  • Hold X = Reload
  • Y = Sheathe/li>
  • L+X or B = Select Ammo
  • X+A = Melee
  • R+X = Counter Shot
  • R+A = Silkbind Glide

Well, that’s everything you need to know about starting out with the Heavy Bowgun. For more Monster Hunter Rise Guides check out Prima Games and our official Twitter and Facebook pages. 


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About the Author

Jesse Vitelli

Jesse loves most games, but he really loves games that he can play together with friends and family. This usually means late nights in Destiny 2 or FFXIV. You can also find him thinking about his ever-expanding backlog of games he won't play and being constantly dehydrated. Do not contact him.