Bow

The

Bow in this game closely resembles its original mainline implementation, where you charge shots and apply to enhance your attacks.

Critical Distance is a mechanic shared by all ranged weapons and refers to the optimal range for each type of shot. When using a

Bow , a visual indicator will appear while aiming, helping you position yourself at the ideal distance.

Bows typically have three levels of charge by default, but you can unlock a fourth level with the

Armor Skill armor skill. Additionally, the skill can reduce the charge time for each shot.

Arc Shots from the mainline games are also available, with the most notable being the Cutting Shot. Although it uses the weakness value for ranged attacks to calculate damage, it deals cutting damage, allowing it to sever tails. Arc Shots are unaffected by critical range or charge levels, so skills that enhance those attributes won't benefit these attacks. If you hit a target in the air before the Arc Shot transitions to its actual hit type, you won't trigger the projectile rain effect, wasting the shot.

For an explanation on element damage, see our Elements page

. For more information on motion values, see the Damage Calculator

Earth Style

Earth Style is the fundamental

Bow style, nearly identical to the version in MHFU. It has 3-4 charge levels depending on whether you have the skill, and its melee attack is relatively weak.

Heaven Style

Heaven Style is a variation of Earth Style with the addition of a shoryuken-style melee attack that deals cutting damage. This style is generally the best option until you unlock Extreme Style, as the benefits of Storm Style are debatable and it adds a 17% increase to charge time. Heaven Style is a solid choice until you can access Extreme Style.

Storm Style

Storm Style retains the shoryuken attack and introduces the ability to crouch, which further enhances charge levels and adds a Sniper Shot. The Sniper Shot is a single, powerful arrow that acts as a fourth or fifth charge level when using

Load Up . However, this shot takes 10% longer to charge and isn't particularly powerful, especially when used with . If you plan to use Sniper Mode, it's better to avoid bows that rely on the fourth charge level and skip the skill. Storm Style also suffers from a 17% longer charge time compared to Earth or Heaven Style, making Heaven Style the preferred choice until you unlock Extreme Style.

Ultimately, the new features in Storm Style are rarely used, making its advantages over Heaven Style negligible when considering the downside of increased charge times.

Extreme Style

Extreme Style builds upon Storm Style, retaining the crouch shot but without the extended charge times, making it a straightforward upgrade.

This style allows you to run with your

Bow unsheathed, enabling you to charge shots and load coatings on the move. You can also roll while charging without losing your charge level and perform a Quick Shot, similar to the Power Shot mechanic from 4U. The Quick Shot duplicates your previous shot with a lower final multiplier—Lv1 charges deal 100% of the previous shot, Lv2 deals 85%, Lv3 deals 75%, and Lv4 deals 65%. This second shot is treated as a separate action, consuming accordingly, and interacts with skills like and individually.

A new shot type, Rising Arrow, is also introduced. It flies horizontally to a fixed point before switching to a vertical descent. This shot ignores standard charge level properties and deals fixed damage regardless of the Bow’s shot type. It is about 16% weaker than a perfectly spaced Lv3 Rapid Shot at charge level 4, with all arrows landing accurately.

Rising Arrow shots are always considered within Critical Distance for the vertical portion, meaning the Critical Shot weakness value and any related multipliers apply. However, because it’s not a Rapid, Spread, or Scatter shot, skills like

Steady Hand or individual Shot Up skills won’t apply their multipliers.

Extreme Style is the best Bow style overall, and there’s little reason to switch to other styles once you have access to it.

Bow Coatings


	1.5
	1.4
	1.4
	1.4
	1.4
	1.4

To increase the Bow coating multipliers, you can use

Hiden (+0.2), at least one Zenith or Origin armor piece (+0.1), and (+0.2), for a maximum multiplier of 2 with (1.5). To see more information on how Bow coatings work, see the Damage Calculator.


Bow Tech Master	Twin Hiden, 30	Attack increased by x1.4 when using Bow Tech 【Bow Demon】.
Bow Tech 【Bow Demon】	30	Gives Super High-Grade Earplugs and Attack x1.3 when wielding a Bow. Arrows cannot be deflected. Power Coating modifier increased by an extra 0.2x. Arc-Shot can be executed at Charge Lv2.
Bow Tech Kaiden	20	Increases attack power by 1.1x and prevents arrows from being deflected when wielding a Bow.
Bow Tech Expert	10	Prevents arrows from being deflected when wielding a Bow. Examples: Elder Dragon Auras, Gou Yama Tsukami, and UNKNOWN's Rage Mode Entry Fire Aura
Bow Tech Novice	-10	Attack x0.8 when wielding Bow.

Skill Interactions


	Adjusts the element hitzones by +5. Determination applies the effects of Dissolver without the need for hitzone requirements, effectively forcing elemental damage or reducing/negating negative hitzones.
	+4 True Raw per hit. Up to 80 True Raw can be gained through leeching.
	20 seconds uptime. The duration can be refreshed by successfully using i-frames again.
	-1 coating cost. Grants a +0.2x Raw multiplier to all coatings, excluding bombs.
	30 seconds duration and +0.1x multiplier increase. The meter is hidden and only enhances attacks within critical distance.
	1/17/38 hits to reach stage 1/2/3 respectively. All weapons share the same stage decay timer; Ice Age Up only affects the third stage’s decay rate.
	400/20000/? total Motion Value to reach stage 1/2/3 respectively. The third stage, exclusive to Rush Up, has a limited duration. Bow can trigger Rush Up very fast.
	12 seconds decay window. 16/48/60 hits required to reach stage 1/2/3 respectively (12/36/60 with Ceaseless Up). The third stage is also exclusive to Ceaseless Up, which decays by stages rather than all at once.
	35 seconds duration. 17/10 hits to reach stages 1/2 respectively. The previously hit hitzone is more vulnerable at Stage 2.
	1/2/5 evasions to reach stage 1/2/3 respectively. These effects apply to both successful evasions and perfect guards (where applicable), but attacking is necessary to advance stages.

Sigils Usability Ratings


		Increases the Motion Value of the Shoryuken attack with the Bow (12x2･10x2･31･10 > 17x2･15x2･41･15). (Storm and Heaven Style only)	Tech Boost
		Changes the final crouching charge level Snipe Shot to a Piercing Shot that hits multiple times. (Storm Style only)	Tech Change
		Changes the Arc Shot type to one of the following: [Wide Pellet Rain] [Narrow Pellet Rain] [Explosive Shell] [Cutting Rain].	Other

Tips and Tricks

As a Gunner weapon, the
Weapon
Bow can quickly meet the requirements for various skills.
The
Weapon
Bow has several aiming modes in the options, but ultimately uses 2nd generation-style controls. While charging, pressing Square (or X) allows you to dodge.
While aiming, the critical distance ranges of your shot are visible.
Holding down L1 while releasing a shot performs a coatingless shot, which doesn’t consume or grant the benefits of the loaded
Item
coating . This technique is based on a glitch from MH2.
Rapid shot types are recommended.
Ammo
Spread shots are powerful but awkward, while shots work well as a Level 3 charge.
Crouching shots can be tricky to use, but with the
Sigil
Piercing Shot sigil, they can effectively inflict status.
Since Sniper’s critical distance bonus is included in both
Armor Skill
Steady Hand+2 and , simply using is sufficient.

Weapons: Heavy Bowgun

Weapons: Sigils

Bow