TheMonster Hunterseries gives players a wide range of weapons to play with, allowing them to choose which tool to use to take down the game’s giant creatures. While the franchise has introduced new weapons overtime and replaced others, one ofMonster Hunter’s mainstays is the Hunting Horn.
Being a blunt weapon, the Hunting Horn shares a lot in common with the Hammer, with both being slow but heavy. Functionally, though, the two are completely different from one another. As the name implies, the Hunting Horn is an instrument, and hunters using it need to treat it as such to maximize their efficiency and support their party. Depending on the game, it can be one ofMonster Hunter’s trickier weapons, seeing many gameplay changes across the series before evolving into its modern form.
The Evolution of the Hunting Horn
The Hunting Horn Was Initially Very Different
The Hunting Horn first appeared inMonster Hunter 2, but the way it was used is completely different to the third generation of games and onward. More specifically, to be able to actually play the instrument, players had to enter Recital mode to play notes and activate a buff. It maintained this style of play in theMonster Hunter Freedomsubseries andMonster Hunter Frontier, letting players take on a supportive role when playingMonster Hunterin co-op.
This all changed withMonster Hunter Portable 3rdandMonster Hunter 3 Ultimate, which made it so notes are played in time with certain attacks, meaning players would have to manage their combos to play a specific song. These notes are finally played by entering Recital mode, activating the correlating buff. This revolutionized the gameplay of this weapon, and is stillhow the Hunting Horn is usedin modernMonster Huntertitles, keeping these hunters active in fights.
Making the Hunting Horn Viable in Combat
Primarily, the Hunting Horn is used as a support weapon, giving buffs to all nearby players. They are able to be used by solo players, but in earlier games, its combat potential was not as strong.Monster Hunter Generationswas the first game to make a major change to the instrument, adding the ability to perform an Encore to speed up gameplay. Where prior games would require the same song to be played twice forstronger Hunting Horn status effects,Generationsadded double notes. This meant that, if all the attacks for one song connected with a monster, the notes would double, and the song would play twice, instantly activating the highest tier of that buff. From this, players could spend less time managing songs and more time attacking.
Monster Hunter Worldaimed to make the series more accessible and streamlined, and its changes to theHunting Hornaligned perfectly with this design ethos. As well as removing double notes to make Encores available for any song, the main addition allowed hunters to queue up to 3 songs at a time. This gave players the option to play each song once with its own Encore or play them all in a single Recital with one final Encore. After abug fix forMonster Hunter World, players could consistently deal even more damage with this weapon with shockwave blasts that occur at the end of each Encore.
Despite being an expansion of the base game’s content,Monster Hunter World: Icebornealso made changes to some of the weapons. For the Hunting Horn, this came in the form of the added Echo Attack, which plays an Echo note when used. These are used for the Echo Wave and Echo Bubble songs, where the former is an additional attack and the latter grants specific status effects to whoever walks through the bubble. For a while, this was considered by many players to be theHunting Horn’s peak.
The Hunting Horn in the Modern Era
The changes to the weapon inMonster Hunter Risewere controversial, dividing the fan base. The Hunting Horn became incredibly streamlined, simplifying songs to all be 2 notes at maximum, and restricting the song list. To some, this was a benefit, making theHunting Horn easier to use, but many found that the reduced complexity and depth diminished what made the weapon special. It also became a much faster weapon by default, acting as a quicker Hammer with the ability to rarely buff and heal. Some fans felt this took away from the instrument aspect of the Hunting Horn and were disappointed with this version.
Capcom took note here, and forMonster Hunter Wilds,the weapon was reverted back to how it was inWorld, as well as adding the Echo Bubble fromIcebornewith a unique twist. Instead of being tied to an Echo note,every Hunting Horn has a standalone Echo Bubble ability. These still apply status effects or healing to players in the radius, as well as dealing additional damage to monsters hit within the bubble. During the animation, players are also able to immediately play any 3 notes, making songs much faster to queue up. This is in contrast toRise, as speed here is an incentive for playing music.
Even more emphasis is put on playing notes with the new Wounds system. If the hunter uses this tool to damage a Wound with a Focus Attack, they are able toplay 5 notes on their Hunting Hornin rapid succession. The gameplay here revolves around playing more songs and keeping the team buffed. This iteration is a great balance of technical gameplay without feeling overwhelming, rewarding players who master it.
The Hunting Horn has evolved drastically throughout the series. It has hit high and low notes between games, but its gameplay style inMonster Hunter Wildshas struck a chord with many players.Monster Hunterfans looking to play as supportwill get the most out of this weapon, but it can be a great tool to support independent hunters as well.
