---------------------------------------------------- | Monster Hunter Freedom | | | | Bowgun Guide | | | ---------------------------------------------------- (If you want some kind of fancy title, make one and send it to me on AIM or E-Mail. I'll make sure to credit you. Table of Contents: I. Version History II. Introduction/Why I wrote this FAQ III. The BASICS IV. Shot Combinations V. How to use Different Shots VI. Wyvern/Dragon Strategies VII. Things to come VII. Legal Stuff IX. Credits X. How to Contact Me ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section I. Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 1.0 - First version of the guide Version 1.2 - Added a few Wyvern Strategies Version 1.5 - Finished Wyvern Strategies Version Final - Finished Shot Combinations and Finished Guide 100% ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section II. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------ So, I decided to write this FAQ, my first FAQ ever. Fun stuff. While hanging out on GameFAQS(it's better than GameSpot fools), I notice every once in a while a topic about new gunners asking for help. Not too many gunners that regular the boards to offer their advice though and these new gunners are turned away with no answer. As a gunner, I got tired of answering all these questions so I decided to make a final reference that people can point the new gunners to. My name is Will, and I play on XLink as Mekajiki. I played on Monster Hunter for the PS2 online as fiercelinkaura and then switched to mekajiki for any who were wondering. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section III. The Basics ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Basics, first thing you need to know: FISH = GOD Fish are the answer to almost all the high level ammo you will need to make, along with Bone Husks and Huskberrys. Small berries will also be very helpful for making low level ammo. Always keep your Normal 1 Shot. It's very weak, but better than trying to kill a wyvern by whacking it with the butt-end of your gun. Clusts will be your strongest shot, but they are not recommended when playing with Multiplayer groups. Instead use Pierce Shots for groups. Don't use the Scope casually. It's harder to get around with the scope on and you should be able to aim just fine with the convenient crosshairs the Manual Aim offers. There is no lock on, deal with it. Don't sit on a ledge thinking you are not going to get hit, because most wyverns will still be able to hit you. Some shots even have more power when you are closer to the wyvern. Try to stay just outside its range or just inside the range for best results. Controls for Gunners(with weapon out of course): X - Roll Triangle - Reload Circle - Shoot Square - Put Gun away L - Cycle items L + D-Pad - Aim without Scope R - Go into Scope D-Pad - Move camera/change the zoom on zoom Scopes(if someone has a better way to put this, e-mail it to me for easy entry to the Credits) Analog Stick - Run/Aim in Scope ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section IV. Shot Combinations ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Normal S Lv2 = 95% = Huskberry + Needleberry Normal S Lv3 = 95% = Huskberry + Rumblefish Pierce S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Velociprey Fang Pierce S Lv2 = 75% = Huskberry + Pin Tuna Pierce S Lv3 = 75% = Sm Bone Husk + Pin Tuna Pellet S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Scatternut Pellet S Lv2 = 75% = Huskberry + Wyvern Fang Pellet S Lv3 = 75% = Sm Bone Husk + Wyvern Fang Crag S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Burst Arrowana Crag S Lv2 = 90% = Sm Bone Husk + Burst Arrowana Crag S Lv3 = 95% = Lg Bone Husk + Bomb Arrowana clust S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Bomberry Clust S Lv2 = 75% = Sm Bone Husk + Wyvern Claw Clust S Lv3 = 95% = Lg Bone Husk + Scatterfish Flaming S = 90% = Huskberry + Fire Herb Ice S = 75% = Huskberry + Knife Mackerel Thunder S = 75% = Huskberry + Flashbug Dragon S = 75% = Lg Bone Husk + Dragon Seed Recover S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Herb Recover S Lv2 = 90% = Huskberry + Potion Poison S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Toadstool Poison S Lv2 = 75% = Sm Bone Husk + Ioprey Fang Stun S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Stunshroom Stun S Lv2 = 90% = Sm Bone Husk + Genprey Fang Sleep S Lv1 = 90% = Huskberry + Sleep Herb Sleep S Lv2 = 75% = Sm Bone Husk + Sleepyfish Paint S = 90% = Huskberry + Paintberry Demon S = 75% = Huskberry + Power Seed Armour S = 75% = Huskberry + Armour Seed Taken from the Combination Lists on GameFAQS and slightly altered to make it simpler for this guide. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section V. The Basics ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This section includes how to use every shot. Situations may vary of course, but this can be used for a general reference. Normal Shot: Just shoot it....the closer you are the more damage it does, but don't get too close because Gunner armor has bad defense. Normal 3 Shot: This gets a special section because it differs from Normal 1 and 2 Shot. This shot asks like the Disk Shot from Monster Hunter 1 that richochetes off of wyverns to hit it more than once. This is not the same as Pierce Shot though, this will bounce off instead of going straight through. Pierce Shot: Shoot it through the mouth or the tail of the wyverns for best results, it will go through it and count damage for every time it hits, which on Gravios has been up to 6 for me. Very useful when you're out of the really strong ammo. Pellet Shot: Get as CLOSE AS POSSIBLE, this ammo spreads. The more pieces that hit the wyvern, the better. This is what I use on the weak enemies like prey and bulls because it really isn't that useful on wyverns. Crag Shot: It's just a normal shot? The difference is that it gets stuck wherever you shot it on the wyvern and then explodes. It has the effect of a Sonic Bomb once it explodes. Also very useful for taking off wyvern parts. Does good damage. Clust Shot: Hit the top of the wyvern, and upon impact it will break into many exploding bombs. The more that explode on the wyvern, the better. Your strongest ammo. Flaming Shot: This is a Normal Shot with the Fire element, use on enemies that are weak to fire like Khezu and Gypceros. Ice Shot: This is a Pierce Shot with Water element, use on enemies weak to water like Rathalos and Yian Kut-Ku. Thunder Shot: Same as Ice Shot, but with Thunder element. Use on wyverns weak to thunder like Plesioth and Cephadrome. Dragon Shot: Same as Flaming Shot, but with Dragon element. Use on enemies weak to Dragon like Rathian and Fatalis. Recover Shot: This is a Pellet Shot that heals anything it hits, including players and wyverns. Useless when you are playing solo. Poison Shot: This is a Normal Shot that has Poison element on it. Shoot a wyvern enough times, and it will be poisoned. Stun Shot: Same as Poison Shot, but with Stun. Sleep Shot: Same as Poison and Stun Shot, but with Sleep. Tranq Shot: This is a Shot is only supplied in Capture quests. Has the same effect as Tranq Bombs. Use it to capture wyverns in a trap. Paint S: Has the same effect as a paintball. Demon Shot: Same as Recover Shot, but it has the effect of a Demondrug, which increases the attack of whoever it hits. Armor Shot: Same as Demon Shot, but with Armorskin. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section VI. Wyvern/Dragon Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yian Kut Ku – This is not a very hard wyvern at all of course. Probably the simplest wyvern in the game. Look for certain things to know when to shoot at it and reload and when to get out of it’s way. First thing to look for is the slow double-turn. He is either going to jump and peck or spit fire. Either can be dodge by moving to his right or left. And both will give you time to shoot off a few shots. Also look for quick double-turn, this means he will be running. Get out of the way and start shooting at him once again. Soon, he will go into rage mode and become less predictable. Make sure you are always at his side, preferably left side while he is in rage mode. Whenever he turns towards you, get out of the way and look for an opening to shoot. Don’t get greedy while he is in rage, because if he hits you once, he will very likely combo you to death. Kut-Ku doesn’t have much life, even through G ranked quests, so it’s good practice for you. Gypceros – The new and improved Yian Kut-Ku? Pretty much. Gypceros is Kut-Ku with more health, and poison. He also has the lighcrystal on his head that will go off when he coughs a few times and then stands up. This will put you in KO mode and set you up to get comboed. Shoot his light off with Crag S or Pellet S early on so that you can use his attempts to flash you as chances to shoot him later on when you will need it. His attacks are the same as Kut-Ku, so treat him the same until he goes into rage mode. He will then start running around in a set path shooting poison. For a Blademaster, this is very annoying and hard to stop, but for a Gunner, it’s a great chance to shoot him. He doesn’t attack you directly, so get out of his way and own him. Soon he will go into a fake death. I suggest that before you try to carve Gypceros, you shoot him 2 – 3 times to make sure he isn’t faking the death, because he will instantly kill you if you try to carve him before he is dead. After waking up from fake death, he will automatically go into rage mode. Another good practice wyvern, slightly harder than the Kut-Ku. Cephadrome – He’s almost always in the ground, and moves fast. So it’s hard to hit him? No. Shoot a Crag Shot at him underground and when it explodes, he will pop up. Then unload some Pierce Shots through his face from a distance. He can’t hit you if you are far enough away from him. He doesn’t really get harder than that. When he retreats to Area 3, just shoot him a few times and he will die. One of the easiest wyverns to fight as a Gunner. Rathalos – The wyvern on the front of your box, as long as you didn’t download it(lawl pirates). Pretty simple with a gun. 2 fast turns = run, 2 slow turns = fireball or fly charge. Just get out of the way for any of these attacks and you will be safe, none of them are fast and all of them give good chances to shoot him. In Area 4 and 9, there are ledges, but if you go up on top of them and get owned, I’ll just say I told you so. He can shoot you with fireballs from above, Poison Claw you, fly charge, and fireball you while on either of these ledges and with most shots you will be doing LESS damage yourself. Rathalos does not change while in Rage Mode. Rathian – This is a female Rathalos. Rathian cannot do the fly charge, and when she shoots fireballs, it’s usually in groups of 3, which go Straight, Right, and then Left. Go to her side to easily avoid and get lots of shots off. Rathian can do a backflip, deadly to Blademasters, but it has a small range that is easily avoided by Gunners. Other than that, easy to kill. Later on, this will be paired up with a Rathalos all in the same quest, so get used to killing these things. Plesioth – Well, if you’re doing Elder Quests, this one is EASY. You could even sit up on top of the ledge in Area 5 and own him without getting touched. If you’re doing the Jungle Quest though, this is IMO the hardest wyvern to kill. You have to dodge the bugs, which will screw up your aiming, and the Plesioth, which will probably one hit kill you with his water spit. Move quickly and only shoot a few times before jumping to a different place and NEVER stand in between the Plesioth and his Water home, or he will run to it and trample over you for a one hit kill. His attacks are the same as Cephadrome, he’s just a bit bigger and has more health and attack. If you’re having trouble with Plesioht, practice on the Cephadrome standing in the middle of the Cephalos paths to simulate the bugs that will probably do a good job of screwing you up in the Jungle. To get him out of the water, shoot a Crag at him. The explosion will pop him out of the water. When he gets too far away to shoot, fish him out with a Frog for lots of extra damage, some time to shoot him, and a hot Guild Title: Plesioth Angler. Diablos – Easy kill. Stand on the ledge in 10 or 1 and shoot him with Clusts or Crags. He will get his head stuck a lot. He really can’t hit you. He shoots no fire and doesn’t fly charge. In 4, you actually have to fight though. When he winds up for a charge, run to the side and do the dive if you have to. If he goes underground, try to time it where you shoot him with a crag just before he gets all the way underground. If the Crag explodes while he is all the way underground, he will pop up and be stuck there for a while. This won’t work on him while he is in Rage Mode(Black Smoke blowing out of his mouth) though. If you want to play it safe, simply dodge him while in Rage Mode, cause he moves pretty fast. Monoblos – Use the Exact same strategy on Monoblos as you did on Diablos. They are seriously the exact same thing, except Monoblos has 1 horn and Diablos has 2. Khezu – This is a horrible excuse of a wyvern. I absolutely cannot stand this thing. It’s slow and if you are gunning and actually get hit by a Khezu, you need to go back and practice a lot more. His only attack that can hurt you anywhere within 5 feet of him is the Thunder Bolt, and you can see that attack coming 10 miles away. Just walk out of the way of it. Shoot him when he is on the ground, shoot him on the roof, shoot him in the sky. EASY EASY EASY. Don’t get close enough for him to hit you with his other stupid attacks and this battle is simple. Gravios – BIG wyvern. He’s got a lot of power behind him. Just clust him through for the easy kill. Look for him to charge you and get out of the way, then shoot him a few times. You’ll need to look out for his “Super Fire Uber Death Laser Beam of Pain” because it will destroy you. 20-30 Clusts from far away and he will be dead. Basarios – This is a baby Gravios. Isn’t it cute? Nope….didn’t think so. Basarios has the same charge as his father, Gravios, but his Fire beam is not full developed and is instead a little fire bomb that he shoots. Stay just outside his wingspan and Basarios will have a very hard time hitting you. Crag’s are the way to go with this wyvern. Slow, and it drops fast. If you do happen to get inside his wingspan though, he will be able to hit you with his poison cloud, which does damage and hurts you. Not good. This wyvern is nice practice for Gravios, or for getting lots of easy ore. Kirin – I’m not going to right the Kirin guide myself because I usually use Sword and Shield on Kirin myself. I am using Ocelot19/[PARA]’s guide for Gunning Kirin. “Bowguns are a great way to do heavy damage to Kirin while staying away and taking very little damage yourself. When using a bowgun, timing is everything. I must stress this: WHEN USING A BOWGUN,ONLY RELOAD AND FIRE WHEN KIRIN IS ATTACKING AND YOU ARE OUT OF RANGE. I cannot say how difficult it is to try firing with a Kirin charging you. Only reload, put away/take out your gun, or fire when Kirin is doing an attack, such as Lightning, and you are far enough away that it won't hurt you. Using 3 Crag Lv.2, 60 Pellet lv.2 (For killing Prey and damaging Kirin), 30 Clust lv2., and a few Ice Shot. This may seem like a lot, but you can use even less if you hit more in the head. The horn and head are the best places to aim, but I make a lot of no-scoped body shots.” Yian Garuga – This is what happens when you get an ugly Yian Kut-Ku and an ugly Rathian to get together, and that’s the most detail I’m going into. This wyvern is actually really predictable. I’ll break his whole attack pattern down right here: 2 Quick turns: He’s going to charge Kut Ku Style 2 Slow Turns: Peck Kut-Ku style 2 Quick Turns, 1 slow turn: Fireball, Rathian styel 3 Quick Turns: Rathian Backflip His attacks get unpredictable in Rage Mode though, so you need to look out for these patterns even more, though they won’t always be right. In Area 4, he cannot hurt you on top of the ledge, so it’s a good time to sit up there and rocket him. 2 rounds and he should die. Lao-Shan Lung – The first REAL Dragon you get to fight in the game. But it’s not like you are really fighting him at all. It’s really not suggested to solo Lao at all. If you really want to though, you will need a strong gun and lots of Clusts. Also some strong Pierce Shots will help. Shoot him through the back at all times and hope you did enough damage. Ballista and the Dragonator will actually be pretty helpful when gunning, so use them when you have the chance. After getting off the Dragonator and Ballistas, you should try to get behind the Lao, so it doesn’t eat you alive on top of the fort. Fatalis – Another Dragon, and another that is hard to gun solo. Again, you will need a very strong gun with lots of Clusts and Pierce Shots. His attacks are all one hit kills for you when gunning. Always be watching him and if he tries to fly towards you, then put your gun away and run, because if you run with gun out then he will shoot and kill you. Fatalis is faster than you. The other attack to look for is his Fireball. When he rares up, he will start shooting. Just move out of the way. He can do this on the ground or airborne. If you get lucky and shoot him enough, Fatalis will die. However, in a group with at least one melee person, your plan is different. Use as many Stun Shots as you can fire off to give your melee friend a chance to severly damage the head of the Fatalis. There is a much better chance of success fighting this way. Crimson Fatalis – This is the only color-change wyvern that actually has a different attack pattern/is a different fight. Sadly, I’m not sure that it is even possible for you to gun Red Fata solo. In a group however, you can kill him. Look out for his meteors by watching the ground. It lights up in places where the meteors are going to drop. Also watch for his Sky Dive attack, because it happens very fast and will always kill you. Fighting with a gun, just go for him the same way you would against Normal Fatalis. He’s very different than Normal Fatalis with melee, but that’s not my job to tell you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section IX. Legal Stuff ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This guide is property of Will Burkett(Fierceaura/Mekajiki) and cannot be reproduced unless personlly authorized. The only websites allowed to use this guide at this time are as follows: - GameFAQS.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section VIII. Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This section will probably get bigger later on... Akubarix - Corrected me that Flaming Shots do not pierce and that Normal 3 Shots act as Monster Hunter's "Disk Shot" that was taken out of MHF. Yomoska - Because he's /emo Ocelot19 - For allowing me to use his Kirin Bowgun Strategy. Taphs - For the use of Shot Combination list. GameFAQS - For their awesome website, for hosting this, and for their boards giving me the idea. Capcom - Making the kickass Monster Hunter series. God - Cause he's cool like that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Section IX. How to Contact Me ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The best way to contact me would be AIM, but since that is annoying, use my e-mail if possible. E-mail: nmlhockey09 AT aim.com AIM: nmlhockey09 Thanks for your support, but if you want to send me an e-mail simply telling me that the guide is good, I'd rather you didn't. Please use good grammar for e-mails, if I can't read it I won't be able to add it. On AIM, I'm not picky about how you type, but keep it legible.