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Monster Hunter Rise Light Bowgun Build Guide: Best Weapons, Skills, and Armor

Shoot fast and take advantage of weaknesses with this Light Bowgun build for Monster Hunter Rise.

Antonio Samson

Published: Dec 30, 2023 07:20 pm

MHR has plenty of options when it comes to weapons. While you have your standard melee choices like swords, you also have some great ranged options, too. In this guide, I’ll show you how to make the best Light Bowgun build in Monster Hunter Rise.

How to Make the Best Light Bowgun Build in Monster Hunter Rise

In terms of attack power, the Light Bowgun is the weakest weapon of the three ranged options in Monster Hunter Rise. However, it makes up for that lack of power by having the fastest rate of fire. In general, Bowguns have a lot of versatility since they can deal both normal and elemental damage on the fly. This is my favorite reason for using this weapon type. Every monster has a different elemental weakness, so I never have to worry about having the right gear equipped (most of the time).

Since this is the Lightbow gun, it doesn’t hinder or slow you down when it’s unsheathed. This makes dodging enemy attacks much easier. You’ll be at full speed and won’t consume as much stamina. You’ll also already be far from the target, so you won’t have to worry about getting hit too much.

Best Light Bowgun to Pick for Your Light Bowgun Build

This Monster Hunter Rise Light Bowgun build centers around one main thing: which Light Bowgun we’ll be using. We’ll want one with a high fire rate and plenty of slots to equip Rampage Skills. This makes the Silver Shooter the best Light Bowgun for this build. It has 320 ATK, 12 regular slots, and 3 Rampage slots.

To get the Silver Shooter, you’ll need:

Malzeno Pureplate ×3.
Primordial Scale ×8.
Malzeno Beautifang ×3.
Primordial Bloodstone ×1.

Best Light Bowgun Build Skills and Swap Skills

Critical Eye and Attack Boost are the main skills we’ll want for this build. Since Light Bowguns aren’t known for their raw power, we’ll want to get as many critical hits as possible with its high DPS.

We’ll also want Wyvern Exploit for the Rampage Skills, which increases all raw damage by 5%. The second to get is Anti-Aerial Species, which increases all raw damage to aerial monsters, perfect for a ranged weapon like this. The final rampage skill for this build is Anti-Aquatic Species.

Without a doubt, the best Switch Skill for the Light Bowgun build is Fanning Vault. This will vault you upward and allow you to fire, reload, and shoot a Wyvernblast below you. This also allows the Light Bowgun to be more maneuverable while keeping your distance. I also like to use it when dodging a monster’s attack since it protects me and deals damage.

Best Armor for the MHR Light Bowgun Build

For armor, we’ll want pieces that boost your crit-rate and attack. Having skills directly supporting the Light Bowgun, like Spare Shot and Reload Speed, are also important. Here are all the pieces of Armor for the build:

Risen Kaiser Horns:

Hellfire Shard ×3.
Teostra Hardhorn ×2.
Rathalos Mantle ×1.
Teostra Risegem ×1.

Risen Kushala Iram

Daora Shard ×4.
Barioth Hardclaw ×2.
Daora Fellwing ×2.
Daora Risegem ×1.

Virtue / Prudence Braces

S. Magala Cortex ×4.
S. Magala Hardhorn ×2.
Diametrical Horn ×1.
Shagaru Risegem ×1.

Primordial Coil

Malzeno Pureplate ×6.
Shining Shieldwing ×3.
Flaming Espinas Mantle ×1.
Primordial Tail ×1.

Tempest Hakama

Amatsu Cortex ×6.
Amatsu Membrane ×4.
Large Wyvern Gem ×3.
Amatsu Stormtail ×2.

Along with armor, you can also equip a talisman. These don’t add any additional defense. However, they do add an extra skill. What makes them tricky is that the skills you get when you craft one are random. Regardless, you’ll want to have one with Rapid Fire Up Lv. 3, which will increase your rate of fire even more.

How to Use Light Bowgun Build Effectively

The Light Bowgun is all about DPS and afflicting statuses. It has the fastest rate of fire out of any weapon; however, it has the weakest raw attack power. This is fine, though, since we’ve built it with a high crit-rate in mind to compensate for this. Since it’s a ranged weapon, you can keep your distance when fighting monsters. The main strategy is to deal with high DPS and then lay a Wyvernblast before the monster for even more damage.

My favorite way to pull this off is to use the Fanning Vault Switch Skill to dodge a monster’s attack and shoot them in the air before laying a Wyvernblast. This allows you to stay safe and keep the momentum of the damage you’ll be dealing with.

Best High Rank Light Bowgun Build

For those looking to take on the strongest monsters, you’ll need the best high-ranking gear. If you want to take your hunting to the next level, you’ll want the Sinister Bowgun I. It has a raw attack of 330 when it’s fully upgraded. To make the Sinister Bowgun, you’ll need the following:

Magnamalo Scale ×4.
Magnamalo Shell ×3.
Magnamalo Scute ×2.
Magnamalo Blade ×2.

For armor, we’ll want pieces with skills like Critical Boost, Weakness Exploit, and Spread Shot. You’ll also want a Talisman that has a Recoil Down skill. The Sinister Bowgun has the best Spread out of any ranged weapon, so we’ll want to complement that with powerful attacks. Here are the pieces of armor you’ll need:

Utsushi Mask (H) S / Channeler Hair-tie S