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This is a guide about the best skills for Heavy Bowguns. Read on to know which skills to look out for when making a Heavy Bowgun build and why.
List of Contents
| General Recommendations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Affinity Skills | Agitator | Partbreaker |
| Piercing Shots | Spread/Power Shots | Normal Shots |
| Special Ammo Boost | ||
| Sticky Ammo and Cluster Bomb Recommendations | ||
| Attack Boost | Slugger | Artillery |
Most Heavy Bowgun ammo types benefit from having high affinity. Hunters are advised to invest in Affinity Skills such as Critical Eye, Critical Boost, and Weakness Exploit to see significant improvements to ammo damage when firing from critical range.
The introduction of the Clutch Claw made the Agitator Skill a community staple when making builds. When active, Agitator grants hunters +20 attack and affinity by 10% at level five. (levels six and seven are unlocked via the Agitator Secret Skill.)
The Clutch Claw, specifically its Flinch Shot Attack, gave hunters the ability to enrage the monster whenever the opportunity presents itself. This gave hunters a way to maintain their Agitator's up-time.
Bowguns in general are amazing ranged weapons that can break even the hardest to reach parts of a monster with ease.
Partbreaker increases Part Damage by 30% at level three and will compliment this weapon well.
Partbreaker's damage increase does NOT reflect in floating damage numbers.
Catered to hunters who prefer using Piercing Ammo, Piercing Shots greatly increases the damage of all Piercing Ammo at level two.
Spread/Power Shots is recommended for Hunters that prefer to get up close and personal with Spread Ammo. This skill greatly increases the damage of all Spread Ammo at level two
Normal Shots greatly increases the damage of all Normal Ammo at level two and is catered to Hunters who prefer to use Level two and three Normal Ammo.
Want to maximize your Heavy Bowgun's Special Ammo? Special Ammo Boost increases the damage of all Bowgun Special Ammo by 20% at level two and is definitely worth considering.
Sticky Ammo and Cluster Bombs do NOT crit. They do, however, ignore a monster's hide defense.
Bolstering your Heavy Bowgun's base damage with Attack Boost is definitely recommended for Sticky Ammo/Cluster Bomb hunters.
Sticky Ammo and Cluster Bombs are known for their high KO damage. Slugger increases Stun Power by 40% at level three and is definitely worth adding to Sticky/Cluster builds.
Levels four and five are unlocked via the Slugger Secret Skill.
Artillery is the MOST important skill in a Sticky Ammo Hunter's build. Artillery increases the damage of all Sticky Ammo by 30% at level three.
Levels four and five are unlocked via the Artillery Secret Skill.
| Recommendations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Guard | Guard Up | Divine Blessing |
| Earplugs | Health Boost | Evasion Skills |
Unlike Light Bowguns, Heavy Bowguns can be modded with a shield that can block frontal attacks when aiming to compensate for their slow movement when unsheathed. Hunters who only use one shield mod for their Heavy Bowguns may consider adding Guard to their builds.
Guard bolsters a weapon's blocking efficiency, massively reducing the impact of monster attacks and stamina cost of blocking by 50% at level five.
It is recommended that hunters use at least THREE points in Guard when including it into their builds.
Guard Up is a blocker's favorite skill. It allows hunters to block otherwise unblockable attacks from monsters.
Hunters looking for an extra layer of protection on top of shield mods may consider using Divine Blessing. Divine Blessing, when triggered, reduces the incoming damage by 50% at level three from the attack that triggered it.
Levels four and five are unlocked via the Divine Blessing Secret Skill.
Tired of being roared out of your Wyvernheart attack?
Earplugs offer complete protection from monster roars at level five, ensuring that a hunter's Wyvernheart attack remains uninterrupted no matter how loud a monster is!
It never hurts to pump up one's HP! Health Boost increases a hunter's Health by 50 at level three, making it a solid addition to any build - especially early on in the game.
Heavy Bowguns are notorious for their insanely slow and clunky dodge rolls when unsheathed. Hunters who find this an issue may invest in these Evasion Skills.
Evade Window massively increases the invulnerability window of dodge rolls at level five. This is a much needed buff to the Heavy Bowgun's short invulnerability window when dodging, despite its excellent dodge distance.
Evade Extender greatly increases the distanced covered by dodges at level three, increasing the Bowgun's far-reaching dodge roll even further!
| Recommendations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Quick Sheath | Free Elem/Ammo Up | Razor Sharp/Spare Shot |
Hunters who find the Heavy Bowgun's slow sheathing speed an issue may consider using Quick Sheath. This skill greatly improves sheathing speed at level three.
Hunters who take issue with their bowgun's magazine sizes may consider investing in Free Elem/Ammo Up. This skill expands the clip size of most ammo types at level three.
Free Elem/Ammo Up is particularly useful for Sticky Ammo and Cluster Bomb builds since their magazine sizes are often small compared to other ammo types.
Razor Sharp/Spare Shot is a special skill that when triggered, refunds the ammo fired by the hunter. This indirectly bolsters a hunter's overall damage per clip as the refund mechanic could potentially allow the hunter to shoot significantly more shots before reloading.
True Razor Sharp/Spare Shot is an upgraded version of Razor Sharp/Spare Shot that hosts a better proc chance.
There are currently no jewels that provide these skills. Below is a table of where to acquire them:
| Razor Sharp/Spare Shot | Razor Sharp Charm |
|---|---|
| Xeno'jiiva Gamma Set 3 piece set bonus |
|
| True Razor Sharp/Spare Sharp | Nargacuga Alpha+ Set 3 piece set bonus |
| Nargacuga Beta+ Set 3 piece set bonus |
|
| Fatalis Alpha+ Set 4 piece set bonus |
|
| Fatalis Beta+ Set 4 piece set bonus |
| Recommendations for Other Weapons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Charge Blade |
 Dual Blades |
 Long Sword |
 Sword & Shield |
 Switch Axe |
 Insect Glaive |
 Hunting Horn |
 Great Sword |
 Lance |
 Gunlance |
 Hammer |
 Bow |
 Heavy Bowgun |
 Light Bowgun |
||
| Kinsects | ||
|---|---|---|
 Kinsects |
Kinsect Tree and Complete Kinsect List | Best and Recommended Kinsects |
Best Skills for Heavy Bowguns
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