Monster Hunter Now: Bow Build for High Damage

Whether it's jumping into the heat of the battle alone or with a group of friends, Monster Hunter Now brings the thrill of taking down behemoths in mobile form, allowing players to travel anywhere and encounter enemies. As players progress through the main story of Monster Hunter Now, the large monsters become more difficult to take down, but thankfully, stronger weapons become available to unlock. In order to obtain these new weapons, it is necessary to take down large monsters and farm their parts in order to have enough materials to craft these weapons.

Although some of the more beginner-friendly weapons include Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, and Long Sword, other players prefer to take a more passive approach, attacking monsters from a distance while creating all sorts of chaos with debuffs and status ailments. For this type of strategy, a weapon like the Bow is perfectly suited for players who wish to take a backseat and let the hack-and-slash players do their damage up close while the Bow users chip away from further distances. In solo play, this may prove to be one of the styles that draws out longer battles, but the trade-off is avoiding those tremendous monster attacks.

Bow Build in Monster Hunter Now

Unlike most of the weapons available in Monster Hunter Now, Bows allow players to manually target their enemies by moving the aim toggle before firing away. This mobility gives Bow users some much-needed flexibility, as the damage output isn't as great as some of the heavier weapons. When attacking large monsters during raid hours, having a Bow user in the back row can aid with chipping away at their health while inflicting elemental damage. Unfortunately, not all bows are built the same, and some definitely come with greater advantages and higher attack power and stats. Unlike the others, there is a higher volume of Bows that are suited for extended play.

Best Bows

Bows	Attack	Elemental Bonus	Special Skill
Aqua Arrow	182	75 Water Elemental Bonus	Dragon Piercer - A special skill designed for Bow users to penetrate the toughest armor with a single arrow.
Glacial Arrow	361	232 Ice Elemental Bonus	Dragon Piercer - A special skill designed for Bow users to penetrate the toughest armor with a single arrow.
Rathslinger	361	232 Fire Elemental Bonus	Dragon Piercer - A special skill designed for Bow users to penetrate the toughest armor with a single arrow.
Usurper's Rumble	361	232 Thunder Elemental Bonus	Dragon Piercer - A special skill designed for Bow users to penetrate the toughest armor with a single arrow.
Rosen Arrow	370	181 Dragon Elemental Bonus	Dragon Piercer - A special skill designed for Bow users to penetrate the toughest armor with a single arrow.
Galebender	576	No Elemental Bonus Available	Dragon Piercer - A special skill designed for Bow users to penetrate the toughest armor with a single arrow.

Best Armor for Bow Users

Pukei Hood - The primary focus for Bow users will be on building up the Focus skill, which is the most important skill of all. Since Pukei Hood offers this increase, it's recommended for almost every unique Bow build in Monster Hunter Now. Focus shortens the charge time for each attack, which helps Bow users significantly increase their damage output.
Anja Mail - In many of the monster-specific builds and some of the elemental builds, Anja Mail is a great option. While Special Boost isn't one of the priority skills for Bow users, finding some room in the armor set to increase the damage of special attacks will go a long way in supplementing a team's arsenal against stronger monsters. It's not necessary in the long run, but greatly appreciated.
Rathalos Mail - On the contrary, Rathalos Mail offers players an increase to Weakness Exploit, though it's another skill that isn't a priority for this weapon type. Weakness Exploit will target weaker limbs of large monsters and focus their attacks on that part, helping to bring down the monster for stronger attacks. For players who find ways to build up some of the more Bow-friendly skills in other armor pieces, Rathalos Mail could be an extra incentive for a well-rounded fighter.
Girros Vambraces - Focusing on the skills that do matter to Bow users, Girros Vambraces boost the Sneak Attack skill by one level and make the player a stealth sniper over time. This helpful skill increases the damage of an attack when landing on a monster from behind, and Bow users should have no issue gaining this advantage, especially when attacking in a group of three or more players.
Elemental-linked Vambraces - Although this isn't overly specific, since there are many excellent elemental weapons available to Bow users, it's difficult to pin down just one of several Vambraces to use. Jyura Vambraces covers Water, Anja Vambraces covers Fire, Zinogre Vambraces covers Thunder, and
Kadachi Coil - While Kadachi Coil focuses its boost on Thunder Attack, it's quite useful against some of the stronger monsters in Monster Hunter Now as well. Pairing it with the Usurper's Rumble or Pulsar Bow will greatly improve the effectiveness of Thunder-based elemental attacks and help bring down some of the peskier large monsters that like to take to the air to avoid battle.
Leather Belt - Sometimes, the simplest answer is the best one. Though the Leather Belt may feel underwhelming to use at first, Bow users will greatly appreciate its Health Boost ability. Health Boost does exactly what its name implies; it grants the player more health during a battle. Some of the strongest monsters in Monster Hunter Now can deliver devastating blows that can knock out a fighter with one or two hits, so having that extra sliver of health will go a long way towards survival.
Jyura Greaves - Among all options for the greaves section, Jyura Greaves will pair well with almost any Bow build. With this option, players gain a much-needed boost to their Focus skill. When paired with the Pukei Hood, Bow users should have no issue charging up each blow in quick succession and becoming one of the faster and deadlier attackers on the battlefield, whether it's in solo play or with a group.