How To Use The Bow In Monster Hunter Rise

The Bow may not really look like it, but it is a very difficult weapon to use properly in most Monster Hunter games, and it is the same in Monster Hunter Rise. While the weapon allows you to stay out of danger and deal damage to monsters safely from a distance, it has plenty of downsides that require proper mastery of the game’s mechanics to be as effective as the most powerful of weapons.

So, how do you use the Bow properly in Monster Hunter Rise? Let’s find out.

Overview

The Bow is among the most complex weapons in Monster Hunter Rise, and not because it has a complicated moveset, but because of the difficulty to make the most out of it. The Bow not only deals the lowest damage among all weapons in the game, but also consumes the most stamina, so this is definitely not a weapon someone who just started playing the series should pick.

Charge Your Shots!

The basic Bow shot deals very little amounts of damage, and should only be used when a monster got close to you and could prevent you from unleashing other special techniques. You should always try to charge your shots to deal increased damage: shots can be charged up to three levels, with each level increasing damage considerably.

Light As A Feather

While charging your shot may leave you defenseless, there is a way to avoid damage while continuing charging, and that is with the Charging Sidestep, performed by pressing the ZL and B buttons while moving the L in the desired direction. By mastering this technique, you will have no trouble avoiding enemy attacks with ease.

Wyvern Riding Is… Complicated

Wyvern Riding is a very important mechanic to master in Monster Hunter Rise, but you won’t be able to take advantage of it a whole lot with the Bow. Wyvern Riding requires damaging monsters with Silkbind Attacks, but the two Bow attacks, Focus Shot and Herculean Draw, deal very low damage and no damage respectively, so you will have to resort to using Endemic Life or wait for two monsters to go at one another if you want to Wyvern Ride any. This is not to say that the Bow Silkbind Attacks are completely useless: Focus Shot is actually a pretty handy technique that lets you deal damage while restoring Stamina, which is quite important for a weapon that drains as much Stamina as the Bow does.