Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Bow guide - Best builds, Switch Skills and more

Monster Hunter Rise is a massive game with hundreds of hours' worth of quests and activities for players to partake in. Although Monster Hunter games fall under the role-playing genre, the experience they offer is significantly different than any traditional RPG.

Unlike most role-playing games, Monster Hunter titles don't feature a traditional class system with different attributes governing a particular playstyle. Instead, a player's playstyle is determined purely by their weapon of choice.

Monster Hunter Rise features a huge selection of weapons from 14 different weapon types, with each one defining a distinct combat experience.

With the recent release of the Sunbreak expansion, developer Capcom has introduced even more weapons to the game. These weapons come with some very useful and fun new skills.

The expansion also brings the highly anticipated Master Rank quests to Monster Hunter Rise. This will give players the perfect incentive to try out the newly added weapons and forge new and unique builds.

Here, we take a look at the Bow, its strengths, skills and a few viable builds for the Master Rank quests in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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Strengths of the Bow in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Most weapons in Monster Hunter Rise are meant for close-quarter melee combat, with very few options for ranged battle.

Some weapons, like the Insect Glaive and the Gunlance, offer ranged combat options but don't exclusively commit to the ranged playstyle. The only exclusively ranged weapon options are the Light and Heavy Bowguns and the Bow.

Although both the Bowgun variants are pretty effective weapons against certain monsters, nothing compares to the precision and damage potential of the Bow.

The Bow in Monster Hunter Rise is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best ranged combat weapon in the game. It gives players an extensive suite of elemental arrows and some very interesting skills.

The primary form of damage dealt by the Bow in Monster Hunter Rise is elemental. Players can also quickly swap between different elemental shots on the fly.

The Bow is the perfect weapon for players who prefer a ranged playstyle over traditional melee combat. Here are the strengths of the weapon in Monster Hunter Rise:

Charged shots that deal massive amounts of damage

The Bow features a Charge Counter that governs the charging capacity for each shot. Usually, the counter allows players to charge their elemental shots up to three levels to deal maximum damage to the monster. However, it can be extended using the Bow Charge + skill, which allows charging shots up to four levels.

Higher emphasis on mobility

The Bow lacks defensive attributes but more than makes up for it by emphasizing the players' mobility on the battlefield.

The Dodgebolt and Charging Sidestep skills allow players to easily evade monster attacks. These skills also charge the weapon for additional elemental damage if players time their evasive maneuvers right.

Ability to use various elemental coatings

Players using a Bow can also use various coatings to strengthen themselves before battle. They could even apply different status ailments like Poison, Blast, Sleep and Paralysis, depending on which is most effective against the monster they are trying to hunt.

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Switch Skills for Bow in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Boost Bolt

• The Bolt Bolt is switched with Herculean Claw.
• The Boost Bolt skill allows players to activate the Super Critical Range for a short amount of time. This makes all arrows fired in that range deal an increased amount of damage temporarily.
• The skill activation lasts for 105 seconds.
• Wirebug Gauge recovery speed: Medium.
• Wirebug cost for skill: 1.

Butcher's Bind

• The Butcher's Bind skill is switched with Focused Shot.
• This skill allows players to fire an arrow loaded with Ironsilk, which, if targeted at a tethered spot, will immediately sever that part of the monster. However, missing any of the shots will cancel the skill.
• Wirebug Gauge recovery speed for skill: Medium.
• Wirebug cost for skill: 1.

Stake Thrust

• The Stake Thrust skill is switched with Melee Attack.
• This skill allows players to thrust an explosive stake on the monster. If followed up by an additional attack, it deals massive damage to the monster.
• The amount of damage dealt with the Stake Thrust skill is determined by the type of arrow used for the skill.

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Best early-game Bow build for Master Rank in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

Monster Hunter Rise's Sunbreak expansion introduced the Master Rank quests in the game. These are essentially the highest difficulty tier quests in the game, featuring new and returning monsters while offering better rewards.

Players are required to be prepared with fully upgraded weapons and well-optimized builds to stand any chance of slaying the monsters in Master Rank.

Here is a complete breakdown of the Bow build that players can use for early Master Rank hunts (MR 1-2):

Weapon

• Grand Glowing Oath

Rampage Decoration Jewel

• Spiribird Jewel

Talisman

• Weakness Exploit Lv. 2

Armor

• Kadachi Helm X
• Barroth Mail X
• Kadachi Braces X
• Anjanath Coil X
• Ingot Greaves X

Armor Skills

• Attack boost Lv. 7
• Weakness Exploit Lv. 3
• Hunger Resistance Lv. 3
• Fortify Lv. 1
• Muck Resistance Lv. 1
• Jump Master Lv. 1
• Critical Boost Lv. 3
• Critical Eye Lv. 5
• Flinch Free Lv. 1
• Constitution Lv. 4
• Defense Boost Lv. 2

Decorations

• Critical Jewel 2
• Tenderizer Jewel 2
• Attack Jewel 2
• Hungerless Jewel 1
• Brace Jewel 1

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Best mid-game Bow build for Master Rank in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

This Bow build features several affinity skills to boost the elemental damage of the weapon. It is primarily centered around providing the best damage output while also maintaining the agility that comes with the weapon category.

This build is aimed at Master Rank quests coming at MR 3-6. It is also viable for a few endgame quests.

Here is a complete breakdown of the Bow build for mid-game Master Rank quests in Sunbreak:

Weapon

• Rosenbogen+ (Fire)
• Elysian Manna (Water)
• Beastking Thunderbow+ (Thunder)
• Frostmoon Crescentbow+ (Ice)
• Duke's Bloodwings (Dragon)

Rampage Decoration Jewel

• Spiribird Jewel

Talisman

• Constitution Lv. 2

Armor

• Mighty Bow Feather
• Zinogre Mail X
• Zinogre Braces X
• Remobra Belt X
• Grand God's Peer Feet

Armor Skills

• Bow Charge Plus Lv. 1
• Critical Boost Lv. 3
• Constitution Lv. 4
• Latent Power Lv. 4
• Poison Resistance Lv. 1
• Weakness Exploit Lv. 3
• Critical Element Lv. 3
• Flinch Free Lv. 2
• Thunder Attack Lv. 2
• Elemental Attack Lv. 5
• Hunger Resistance Lv. 1

Decorations

• Throttle Jewel 2
• Tenderizer Jewel 2
• Critical Jewel 2
• Hungerless Jewel 1

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The Bow in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is an excellent weapon to use. If paired with the right combination of armor and decorations, it can prove to be very chaotic on the battlefield.

The weapon's mobility skills allow quick repositioning without losing much momentum, while its combat abilities and precision allow players to focus on the weak spots of a monster.