While other action games might offer a choice between several slightly different weapons, Monster Hunter is a series whose weapons can completely change the way the game is played, even more so than RPG classes. Every new entry in the series has sought to advance the weapon system even further, and Monster Hunter Rise:Sunbreak is no different, making the whole cast faster and more powerful than they’ve ever been.
With 14 weapons on offer though, it can often be hard for new players to know which one to start with. While they all appeal to a unique playstyle and learning multiple weapons is recommended, there is little indication within the game itself as to what weapon to learn first. Especially with Sunbreak's added complexity, it can be hard to know where to start. Luckily, there are quite a few weapons that aren’t too demanding on inexperienced players.
7 Long Sword
This is the weapon Rise starts players with, so it's clear the developers wanted to push it as an easy weapon for newcomers to try out. While there are far easier weapons to properly learn, Long Sword is comparatively simpler than at least half of the weapons in the cast. And, its strong cool factor has made it the most played weapon in the game.
The weapon sports decent speed and power, with a focus on leveling up a special gauge that increases damage and can be used up for stronger attacks. The loop of upgrading and spending levels is easy to understand, but a lot of Long Sword’s strength is locked behind high risk counters and silkbind attacks new players likely can’t handle.
6 Hunting Horn
Hunting Horn was formerly in contention for most complicated weapon in Monster Hunter, due to its unique song mechanic. It provided buffs to users and their party, but players had to carefully cue up and perform songs in order to get their effects. As of Rise, Hunting Horn has had a massive rework to make it simpler to understand.
The new Hunting Horn plays songs after short button combinations, making songs far more frequent, but also less impactful. The weapon is also far faster, helping to keep up with Sunbreak’s greater speed. Its strong buffs can provide a reasonable boost even on solo hunts, although understanding its notes might still be a tall order for newcomers.
5 Great Sword
By far the most iconic weapon in Monster Hunter, the Great Sword is a weapon focused on slow hits that deal out massive damage. True mastery takes great knowledge of monster patterns, but its high damage means even newcomers can have an easy time putting out big numbers.
The weapon does have some special mechanics however, most importantly the ability to further enhance its attacks via charging. Charging requires the player to stand still and commit to each strike, but a fully charged Great Sword attack is the strongest singular hit in the game. With some of Sunbreak’s new Switch Skills, the weapon also now has access to a faster hitting combo.
4 Lance
It’s often said that the best offense is a good defense. The Lance takes this saying to heart, providing Monster Hunter’s quintessential defensive playstyle. It has the strongest shield in the game, making it easy to hunker down and mitigate incoming damage. It can even be used to protect allies in a pinch.
The weapon has counters galore, and focuses on stabbing attacks, making it one of the best for focused, high accuracy damage. Sunbreak's new switch skills have also added more versatility to the weapon, allowing it to move between moves way smoother, and reliably hit flying monsters, making all the tank players as happy as can be.
3 Hammer
The Hammer is the Great Sword’s smaller, more mobile sibling. They both share a focus on charged attacks and big single hits, but the Hammer takes this concept in a more welcoming direction, by allowing the player to move while charging, which makes maneuvering around Sunbreak's monsters way easier.
While this comes with a reduction in damage, the Hammer can output several more hits than the Great Sword, and has a way smaller focus on knowing monster attack patterns. The weapon also specializes in dealing KO damage, allowing monsters to be knocked out after enough damage to the head, providing ample downtime for damage.
2 Dual Blades
Monster Hunter is well known for its large commitment attacks that can leave players vulnerable for long periods of time if misused. A lot of newcomers might find this difficult to adapt to, so a faster, less committal weapon might be just the thing to help them acclimatize.
For speed, no other weapon is stronger than Dual Blades. It specializes in fast, low damage, low commitment attacks that can be canceled into dodges and other attacks with relative ease. It also excels at making use of status conditions, which might provide enough support to help newcomers make it past stronger monsters. The weapon's only downside is a strong need for sharpness and stamina management.
1 Sword And Shield
A lot of Monster Hunter’s weapon complexity comes from unique mechanics that make each weapon shine. Trying to learn almost any given weapon requires engaging with these mechanics. Dual Blades for example has its demon gauge to contend with, despite its general simplicity. Sword and Shield’s greatly benefits from a lack of any such mechanic.
With Sword and Shield, there are no gauges or modes to worry about. The weapon even includes a mix of features like a shield, fast, low commitment hits, and the ability to use items without sheathing. These combine to provide a perfectly balanced monster hunting experience that newcomers to Sunbreak can easily pick up and learn, with ample depth available to those that stick with it.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is out now for Nintendo Switch and PC.