How to use the Hunting Horn in Monster Hunter Wilds

The Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn is one of the most interesting - and powerful, in the right hands - weapons in the game. This is a series staple, but even though it looks quite ridiculous to anyone unfamiliar with its enormous form, it's incredibly effective at dealing a lot of damage all while providing buffs to allies nearby.

To take advantage of the Hunting Horn, you need to know how songs work, how to perform encores, what the heck Echo Bubbles are, and the various moves you have at your disposal, all of which change based on the type of Hunting Horn you're using. This includes the special performance, which is a four-note song, as opposed to the others which are all two or three notes long. Here's how to use the Hunting Horn in Monster Hunter Wilds.

Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn songs explained

The best way to understand the Hunting Horn is to treat it, at its core, as an enormous hammer. You swing it around to deal blunt damage and there are a bunch of different moves, such as Overhead Smash and Flourish, that behave similarly to other large Monster Hunter Wilds weapons.

However, the left and right swing also act as musical notes, represented by the three colours in the top-right of your HUD. Next to these, you'll see a list of buffs with the required notes to perform in order to unlock those performances in battle. When you play the correct notes in the order shown for your buff of choice, you'll then be able to perform that song and be rewarded with the buff.

You can prepare up to three songs then perform then all one after the other for a succession of buffs. If the previous song finished on the first note of the next buff you want, you also don't need to perform that note again as the songs flow into one another. Make sure you perform an Encore as each song finishes to increase your damage for the next song in the performance, and the more you perform a song in each battle, it'll change to level, then into purple, which is the song leveling up, making it even more powerful.

Finally, there's the Performance Beat mechanic. This makes it so if you input in time with the song, it boosts your damage even further. This is hard to nail down so don't worry if you can't get it straight away, but keep practicing because this is what keeps the good Hunting Horn wielders from being the best.

Echo Bubbles explained

One Hunting Horn mechanic that Monster Hunter Wilds doesn't do a great job of explaining is what Echo Bubbles are and how they work. This is your way of providing buffs to your allies, and essentially plants a bubble in the ground. Any ally in the area gets buffed, with the specific buff being dependent on which Hunting Horn you have equipped.

Each Echo Bubble you place lasts for one minute and you can have up to three down at any one time. If you truly want to master the Hunting Horn, you should learn to press the inputs for the next song you want to perform while you're placing an Echo Bubble, as this will save you from going through the swings and animations of performing the notes normally.

Hunting Horn moveset

Here are all of the Hunting Horn's basic moves and attacks:

• Left Swing
  • PC: LMB
  • PS: Triangle
  • XB: Y
• Right Swing
  • PC: RMB
  • PS: Circle
  • XB: B
• Backwards Strike
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Forward Smash
  • PC: WASD + LMB
  • PS: LS + Triangle
  • XB: LS + Y
• Flourish
  • PC: WASD + RMB
  • PS: LS + Circle
  • XB: LS + B
• Overhead Smash
  • PC: WASD + LMB + RMB
  • PS: LS + Triangle + Circle
  • XB: LS + Y + B
• Hilt Stab (after attacking)
  • PC: S + LMB
  • PS: LS + Triangle
  • XB: LS + Y
• Perform
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Performance Beat (when performing)
  • PC: R
  • PS: R2
  • XB: RT
• Encore (after performing)
  • PC: LMB + RMB
  • PS: Triangle + Circle
  • XB: Y + B
• Special Performance
  • PC: R + LMB + RMB
  • PS: R2 + Triangle + Circle
  • XB: RT+ Y + B
• Echo Bubble
  • PC: Space + R
  • PS: X + R2
  • XB: A + RT
• Focus Strike: Reverb (while in Focus Mode)
  • PC: Shift
  • PS: R1
  • XB: RB

The Hunting Horn is definitely best used with a team of allies who can make the most out of the buffs you provide, but it's also more than capable of being a strong weapon for any solo players. You should aim to have Self Improvement active at all times as this buff is the only universal one across all Hunting Horns and when you level it up to purple, it provides a 20% attack buff. You should constantly have three Echo Bubbles placed too, especially against larger, more stationary monsters.

If you're effectively playing the Bard option, you should look the snazzy part. Check out how to change appearance in Monster Hunter Wilds, or the option for MH Wilds layered armor to change your equipment's look instead!

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