Hunting Horn High Rank and Endgame Builds for Monster Hunter Wilds

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Last updated on Oct 07, 2025 at 14:00 by Piyo

Learn everything about the best Hunting Horn builds for High Rank as well as endgame builds for Hunting Horn in Monster Hunter Wilds including the best skills to focus on as well as the best weapons, best armor all to help you progress through High Rank.

Monster Hunter Wilds Hunting Horn Guides

1 Hunting Horn Guide 2 Hunting Horn LR Builds 3 Hunting Horn HR Builds

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

Welcome to our Monster Hunter Wilds build guide for the Hunting Horn in both High Rank as well as endgame. Listed below you will find the best builds for the Hunting Horn both for progressing through the earlier stages of High Rank as well as the best builds for Hunting Horn at endgame.

To skip straight to the endgame builds, click the button below!

Hunting Horn Endgame Builds

Hunting Horn HR 9-35 Armor Set

This next set lasts from as soon as you hit High Rank all the way until around Hunter Rank 35 and requires you to defeat Guardian Rathalos a few times to gain all the materials.

At this point in the game, decorations are not worth specifically farming so simply use what you have to either improve your current skills, add new ones or increase your defensiveness if you feel you are struggling with some of the earlier High Rank fights. That being said, if you are struggling that should go away over time, progressing through this part of High Rank unlocks passive resource farms allowing you to more regularly use consumables without having to actively farm them.

	Gear	Decorations
Weapon	Metal Bagpipe III	N/A
Head	G. Rathalos Helm β	N/A
Chest	G. Rathalos Mail β	N/A
Gloves	G. Rathalos Vambraces β	N/A
Waist	G. Ebony Coil β	N/A
Legs	G. Rathalos Greaves β	N/A
Talisman	Exploiter Charm I	N/A

This set mainly uses the Guardian Rathalos set due to the powerful Weakness Exploit it brings. The beta set is specifically used because the additional skills provided by the alpha set do not bring much of value offensively so additional decoration slots can instead be more useful. That being said, if you like the Windproof skill then use the Alpha Greaves.

1.1.

HR 9-35 Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses

Weakness Exploit - Level 5
Critical Draw - Level 3
Horn Maestro - Level 1
Recovery Speed - Level 1
Intimidator - Level 1
Burst - Level 1
Windproof - Level 1
Rathalos's Flare - Level 2
Guardian's protection - Level 3

Hunting Horn HR 35-41+ Armor Set

After Rank 35 and 40, you will be able to hunt both Gore Magala and Arkveld. Hunting these monsters are suggested when starting endgame content, as their gear is generally some of the best available currently. For specific monster match-ups, you will want to adjust certain pieces, such as for elemental resistances or useful skills.

While this set is still a progression set, this set allows you to more than comfortably farm decorations and any materials you may want while you work towards a true endgame set or even just to farm so you can play with builds and options yourself.

The build below does not include talismans, because there are a few good options which are down to preference/what decorations you have available. In addition, as 9

	Gear	Decorations
Weapon	War Conga	N/A
Head	G. Rathalos Helm β	N/A
Chest	Gore Mail β	N/A
Gloves	G. Arkveld Vambraces β	N/A
Waist	G. Arkveld Coil β	N/A
Legs	Gore Greaves β	N/A

At this point you are able to fully craft any weapon on the weapon tree. War Conga is a great weapon granting you huge buffs however Guardian Rathalos, Guardian Arkveld and Artian are also great weapon options at the end of the day if you have specific preferences in what you want in a weapon/melody.

This set utilises Gore Magala's group skill that infects you with frenzy while the Antivirus skill increases recovery rate and grants affinity when cured. Aside from that, the set mostly just stacks a few damage options but mainly serves as an intermediate set until you farm for an endgame build.

2.1.

Talisman and Key Decoration Options

Depending on the decorations you have available, you want to use the following decorations to max out the current set skills:

Exploiter Charm II - Grants Weakness Exploit Lv2
Sanity Charm II - Grants Antivirus Lv2
Chain Charm II - Grants Burst Lv2
Chainblade Charm II - Grants Flayer Lv2

Use whichever of these you do not currently have decorations for to help max out your skills.

2.2.

HR 35-41+ Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses

Weakness Exploit - Level 3 (5 With Talisman)
Horn Maestro - Level 2
Evade Extender - Level 2
Flayer - Level 2 (4 With Talisman)
Speed Sharpening - Level 1
Antivirus - Level 1 (3 With Talisman)
Flinch Free - Level 1
Guardian's Protection - Level 1
Gore Magala's Tyranny - Level 1
Guardian Arkveld's Vitality - Level 1

Endgame

Listed below you will find our currently recommended endgame build options for the Hunting Horn including their best weapons and best decorations to use on these builds.

3.1.

Endgame Artian Hunting Horns

The Hunting Horn generally wants you focusing on Elemental weapons over weapons with high raw values. That being said, a Paralysis or Blast weapon is not a bad option either if you are looking for a more generic weapon then focus on Paralysis which is the best status option. Status weapons do less damage however the stun potential is huge.

Regardless of if you use a range of element or status weapons, you simply want to full send it on Attack Boost with 1 Sharpness Boost for comfort on your Reinforcement Bonuses. This is assuming you ideally want Artian weapons for each element. That could be quite a significant grind, to ensure every variation of the weapon has 7 Attack and 1 Sharpness. In that case, you can roll some element but it will be a slight DPS loss; affinity rolls are not recommended at this time.

3.2.

Endgame Alternative Hunting Horns

Since Title Update 3, if you want elemental weapons that are not Artian, you can consider the following list. Most status Hunting Horns are low priority except for Paralysis and Blast, as Hunting Horns are not as effective as other weapons.

If you are fighting monsters weak to Thunder, such as Omega, you should consider Lagia Thunderpeal. Its skill, Convert Thunder Resistance, increases your Elemental Attack based on how high your Thunder Resistance is. As of currently, only the Lagia Thunderpeal has this skill, so it only applies for Thunder builds not using Omiltika.

If you are planning to use a secondary Hunting Horn, you should prioritize weapons with a melody list featuring Attack Up, Affinity Up, and/or Element/Status Attack Boost. If you need to swap Hunting Horns to refresh, only swap while you are transitioning to a new area or riding your Seikret.

Damage Type	Hunting Horns (Buffs)
Raw	G. Resounding Galahad (Attack Up L + Resounding Melody) Blazing Gariel (Attack Up S + Offset Melody)
Fire	Rathalos Feroce (Attack Up S + Offset Melody)
Water	Summoning Bell (Affinity Up/Health Recovery + Melody of Life)
Thunder	Lagia Thunderpeal (Elem Attack Boost + Offset Melody)
Ice	Precipice Kovira (Elem Attack Boost + Offset Melody)
Dragon	Resounding Galahad (Attack Up L, Extend All Melodies, Resounding Melody)
Poison (Low Priority)	Crazed Melody (Status Attack Up + Offset Melody) Queen Chordmaker (Attack Up L + Melody of Life)
Paralysis*	Glass Royale (Resounding Melody)
Sleep (Low Priority)	N/A (Only Omiltika Available)
Blast	Ajara-Jivaka (Attack Up L + Offset Melody)

For Paralysis, it is highly recommended to use Omiltika as your primary Hunting Horn, as the song list is significantly better than Glass Royale. Glass Royale's Paralysis value is great, but its song list is very niche compared to other Hunting Horns.

Hunting Horn Endgame Armor Sets

	Gear	Decorations
Primary Weapon	Omiltika	Sonorous/Handicraft Jewel III Expert Jewel III (Element)/Handicraft Jewel III
Secondary Weapon	Any Hunting Horn	Sonorous/Handicraft Jewel III Expert Jewel III (Element)/Handicraft Jewel III
Head	Gore Helm β	Tenderizer Jewel III Physique Jewel I
Chest	Arkvulcan Mail β	Tenderizer Jewel III Mighty Jewel II
Gloves	Gore Vambraces β	Mighty Jewel II Mighty Jewel II
Waist	Gore Coil β	Counterattack Jewel III Evasion Jewel II
Legs	Gore Greaves β	Chain Jewel III Sane Jewel I Sane Jewel I
Talisman	Golden Age Charm*	Tenderizer Jewel Situational*

This is your ideal best build for most Artian element variants. Focusing on increasing your damage as a result the strong offensive setup that is Weakness Exploit and Gore Antivirus. That being said there are a few comfort slots too, the Evasion and Physique Jewels can be swapped out for more offensive options while if you really wanted to, you could also roll 8 Attack Bonus on your Artian weapons but this is not advised.

Of course, the Element Jewel should be the correct elemental attack for your Artian weapon!

Hunting Horn is a unique weapon type, as you can stack buffs across multiple Hunting Horns. As such, if Hunting Horn is your primary weapon, you should also use a secondary Hunting Horn to compensate for any missing Melody effects. You can make your decision based on what your Omiltika is missing, and several Hunting Horns are recommended in the above section.

As Talismans with randomized Equipment skills are now available, players should use Talismans that have anything useful. You can get virtually any skill combination in the game, so some (or most) Talismans will be hit-or-miss. In addition, most Rarity 8 Talismans (Golden Age Charms) only come with Level 1 Decoration slot(s), despite having three Equipment skills.

So you may find it more useful to run a Rarity 5 Talisman (Unknown Charm) if it has a Level 3 Decoration slot with decent Equipment skills on it. For example, if the Talisman has Horn Maestro 2, that will save you from equipping Sonorous Jewels again.

4.1.

Alternative Armor Set Options

As of Title Update 3, if you do not want to use any pieces from Gore Magala, you can also consider gear from Arch-Tempered Rey Dau or Uth Duna. The Gamma γ sets boasts some of the highest base defense at Rarity 8, and pairing at least three pieces will grant the Set Bonus Skill Lord's Soul. This bonus skill can save you from fewer rewards when hunting difficult monsters (once per hunt).

Note that while the Bale Armor α and Omega Attire α are universally useful, they cannot activate Lord's Soul. Depending on the hunt, Soul of the Dark Knight is only worth using if you need the special skill for insurance, whereas Omega Resonance's alternating buffs can feel hit-or-miss at times.

Use the following information when deciding which armor pieces to craft and upgrade. This will update progressively as more end-game monsters make their way into the game:

Armor Type	Suggested Set(s)	Usage Case(s)
Equipment Sets	Omega Attire α Bale Armor α	If you want better damage uptime, Soul of the Dark Knight's The Blackest Night will allow you to counter incoming damage. This is handy when fighting difficult monsters, but do not run any individually unless you have at least 4 pieces. Dark Arts is not useful enough to consider only two pieces, as Hunting Horns cannot benefit from the Great Sword effect. The elemental attack boost can also be obtained through Decorations and Talismans. As the Bale Armor α equipment are tailored for its Set Bonus skills, . Omega Resonance is very situationally useful, as you cannot control what order Resonance I activates Local and Remote Resonance. In addition, Resonance II's weapon effect is ineffective for Hunting Horns. As such, intentionally building for any Omega Resonance is not recommended.
Head	Omega Ear Cuffs α Rey Sandhelm γ Duna Wildhelm γ	If you want a universally decent head piece option, the Omega Ear Cuffs α boasts Weakness Exploit 1, Divine Blessing 1, and Decoration slots for Level 3 and Level 2. This provides both good damage and sustainability. Both γ headpieces have decent Equipment Skills and Decoration slot(s) available. Rey Sandhelm γ is a good second choice for enabling Rey Dau's Voltage. Rey Sandbraces γ is universally handy, so prioritize it first before deciding your second Rey Dau γ piece. As the Set Bonus Uth Duna's Cover is not really useful, do not pair Duna Wildhelm γ with Duna Wildgreaves γ. If you can pick one over the other, use Duna Wildgreaves γ.
Chest	Omega Suit α Rey Sandmail γ	The Omega Suit α provides Partbreaker 2 and Decoration slots for Level 3 and Level 2. Hunting Horns' moveset can break many parts easily and the Decoration slots give better build flexibility, making this a decent pick-up. Both Rey Dau and Uth Duna γ chest pieces have bad or no Decoration slots available. As such, you should prioritize using other sets such as Arkvulcan Mail β, Gore Mail β, or G. Ebony Mail β. If you require a second or fourth Rey Dau γ piece, and other slots are unavailable, then you can use Rey Sandmail γ. Your decision will largely depend on your available Decorations and progression.
Gloves	Omega Vambraces α Rey Sandbraces γ	Rey Sandbraces γ is one of the best quality-of-life pieces to craft. This should be your first farming priority when starting out. It has two Level 3 Decoration slots, in addition to Evade Extender 2. As Hunting Horn wants to be in range of melee or monster heads often, the skill can save your life in dire situations. The difference between Evade Window and Evade Extender is highly dependent on gameplay preferences. For general use, as Hunting Horns have slow mobility when engaged, Evade Extender will help you roll further. Omega Vambraces α is a decent alternative if you want a fourth piece for Omega Resonance. However, as it only has Agitator 1, you might want something else for better damage or utility. Divine Blessing is powerful even at Level 1, but can be easily found in Talismans or Decorations. Do not consider using Duna Wildbraces γ, as there are better options. In addition, you want to avoid pairing too many pieces (as Uth Duna's Cover is not an efficient Set Bonus skill).
Waist	Rey Sandcoil γ Omega Accessory α	Unfortunately, Rey Sandcoil γ does not have any decoration slots. It does come with Latent Power 2 and Maximum Might 2, which can assist with personal damage output. If you need a second or fourth Rey Dau γ piece and other slots are unavailable, Rey Sandcoil γ is fine to use. Your decision will largely depend on your farming progression. If you need better Equipment Skills or Decoration slots, consider other pieces such as Lagiacrus Coil β or Gore Coil β. Omega Accessory α is a decent alternative, as Burst will activate often with Hunting Horn's moveset. However, if you have a Loadout that already focuses on Agitator or similar, crafting this piece is unnecessary.
Legs	Duna Wildgreaves γ Omega Boots α	For better flexibility, you should use the Duna Wildgreaves γ. It has all three Decoration slots available (3-1-1), Quick Sheathe 3 for good mobility, and Agitator 1 for extra damage. Omega Boots α is a decent alternative, as Evade Window 2 increases your invincibility frames when rolling. However, this is highly dependent on which monsters you fight and whether your game performance is good enough. If you still take damage when rolling, you should consider building Evade Extender to roll further.

4.2.

Endgame Armor Set Skills and Set Bonuses

The following is a recommended list of skills to pick up, whether through Equipment Skills, Set Bonuses, Decorations, or Talismans. Hunting Horn is pretty flexible with what they want, as anything missing can be supplemented through Melody Effects.

The primary skill to have across all Hunting Horn builds is Horn Maestro 2. You want to spend the least amount of time replaying Self-Improvement and other buff skills, and more time attacking. As such, anything to make melodies more damage-efficient is highly recommended, which Horn Maestro can do for all Hunting Horns.

If your Hunting Horn already has Horn Maestro as an Equipment Skill, you can opt to use a different Decoration or Talisman.

Notably, adding Self-Improvement (such as through Decorations or Talismans) is not recommended. This is because all Hunting Horns already have it as a Melody effect, so including it again is redundant and inefficient.

Horn Maestro - Level 2
Weakness Exploit - Level 5
(Element Choice) Attack - Level 3+
Attack Boost - Level 3+
Critical Eye - Level 3
Evade Extender - Level 3
Antivirus - Level 3
Maximum Might - Level 3
Handicraft - Level 2+
Coalescence - Level 1
Adrenaline Rush - Level 1+
Flinch Free - Level 1
Burst - Level 2+
Gore Magala's Tyranny - Level 2

Changelog

07 Oct. 2025: Updated BiS and alternatives for Title Update 3. Reorganized Endgame Weapon sections.
26 Jul. 2025: Updated BiS alternative for Arch-tempered Uth Duna.
09 Jul. 2025: Updated for TU2 and added Elemental/Status BiS weapon alternatives.
09 Mar. 2025: Guide added.

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