Monster Hunter Now

Best Gunlance Builds

Monster Hunter Now Walkthrough Team

Last updated on: September 13, 2024 03:50 AM

Monster Hunter Now - Best Gunlance Builds Guide
Here are the best Gunlance Builds in Monster Hunter Now. Check out the best early game build, the best Gunlance builds for each shelling type, and the best skills to equip in this guide!

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Best Gunlance Builds

Gunlance Build Selection

Jump to a Gunlance Build
Early Game Build
Normal Shelling	Long Shelling	Wide Shelling

Early Game Gunlance Build

Weapon	ATK	AFF	ELE
Bone Gunlance	207	0%	None
Armor	Skills
Kulu Headpiece (Grade 2)	▸ Lock On Lv. 1
Basarios Mail (Grade 2)	▸ Artillery Lv.1
Girros Vambraces (Grade 2)	▸ Sneak Attack Lv.1
Jagras Coil (Grade 4)	▸ Fortify Lv.1 ▸ Rising Tide Lv.1
Basarios Greaves (Grade 2)	▸ Artillery Lv.1

The pieces above will be easy to craft, making this the optimal build for the early game. You already get two levels of Artillery with Basarios and hunts are more convenient with the Lock On skill.

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Normal Shelling Gunlance Build

Weapon	ATK	AFF	ELE
Royal Burst (At least Grade 6)	615	0%	225
Armor	Skills
Zinogre Helm (Grade 6)	▸ Evasive Concentration Lv. 1 ▸ Burst Lv. 1
Basarios Mail (Grade 6)	▸ Artillery Lv.2
Rathian Vambraces (Grade 6)	▸ Burst Lv.2 ▸ Lock On Lv. 1
Rathian Coil (Grade 6)	▸ Burst Lv.1 ▸ Poison Resistance Lv. 1
Basarios Greaves (Grade 4)	▸ Artillery Lv.1 ▸ Guard Lv. 1

The Normal Shelling Gunlance requires you to focus more on landing Burst Fire (or Full Bursts) often. Although the Burst skill doesn't boost shelling damage, it's easy to activate and can boost the Wyrmstake Cannon damage with the full combo.

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Long Shelling Gunlance Build

Weapon	ATK	AFF	ELE
Insatiable Gunlance (At least Grade 6)	475	-30%	394
Armor	Skills
Rath Soul Helm (Grade 6)	▸ Focus Lv. 2
Basarios Mail (Grade 6)	▸ Artillery Lv.2
Diablos Nero Vambraces (Grade 6)	▸ Resentment Lv.1 ▸ Focus Lv. 1
Rathalos Coil (Grade 5)	▸ Focus Lv.1
Basarios Greaves (Grade 4)	▸ Artillery Lv.1 ▸ Guard Lv. 1

The Long Shelling Gunlance has the strongest charged shells and longest range, making them good for shelling-focused builds. It's possible to speed up the charge time using the Focus skill.

The Basarios pieces in the build, after upgrading it to the required grades, will give you 3 levels of Artillery. Upgrading the Insatiable Gunlance from Deviljho to Grade 8 will give you another.

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Wide Shelling Gunlance Build

Armor	Skills
Pukei Lagoon Hat (Grade 8)	▸ Lock On Lv. 1 ▸ Weakness Exploit Lv. 2
Basarios Mail (Grade 6)	▸ Artillery Lv.2
Rath Soul Braces (Grade 6)	▸ Critical Boost Lv.2
Rath Heart Coil (Grade 6)	▸ Critical Eye Lv.2
Basarios Greaves (Grade 4)	▸ Artillery Lv.1 ▸ Guard Lv. 1

The Wide Shelling Gunlance will have you focus more on poke-shelling attack style. With this in mind, we focus more on putting points into Artillery to improve shelling while adding general damage boosting skills for the thrusts which can crit.

The combination of Weakness Exploit and Lock On from the Coral Pukei Pukei helm will make it easier for you to deal significant damage to weakspots. You can replace the Pukei Lagoon Hat with the Kulu Headpiece if you don't have the materials.

Weapon Choices

Below are the weapons you can use for the Wide Shelling Gunlance build. You can switch up between these weapons depending on the monster you're hunting.

Weapon	ATK	AFF	ELE
Barroth Blaster (At least Grade 6)	615	0%	None
Jyura Buster (At least Grade 6)	475	0%	251
Twinfang+ (At least Grade 6)	430	0%	251
High Volt Gunlance (At least Grade 6)	433	10%	254

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Best Gunlance Skills

Recommended Skills to Equip

Skill	Explanation / Recommended Level
Artillery	Your Gunlance shell attacks improves with this skill equipped, increasing your DPS further. At level 3, it adds an extra ammo, so be sure to prioritize this skill before anything else. Priority: ★★★
Focus	Focus is good for Long Gunlances that want to fire off charged shells as fast as possible. Otherwise, this skill doesn't always help the Gunlance. Priority: ★★☆
Burst	Burst is good for Normal Gunlances as it is easily activated after a full burst and can be comboed to a stronger Wyrmstake Cannon. Priority: ★★☆
Guard	This skill lessens the impact and damage you receive from blocked hits. This is more of a convenience skill. The short hunt times will have you focus more on attacking rather than guarding. Priority: ★☆☆
Special Boost	Wyvern's Fire is a powerful special skill exclusive to the Gunlance. This skill can help improve it's damage by a lot, so when you can, slot it in! Priority: ★☆☆
Critical Eye	Critical Eye boosts your normal attacks in-between shell attacks. This can boost your DPS in a hunt. Only consider this skill for builds that don't fully rely on shelling as only regular Gunlance attacks can crit. Priority: ★☆☆
Weakness Exploit	This skill is the more efficient affinity-providing skill. However, it only works when you hit a monster's weak point, which you will be most of the time. Priority: ★☆☆