Rock on with Monster Hunter Wilds' Hunting Horn gameplay trailer

What you need to know

• Monster Hunter Wilds has received its fifth weapon overview trailer, and this one focuses on the Hunting Horn.
• The Hunting Horn is a musical instrument that allows players to play songs that can power up their teammates and use powerful soundwave attacks to knock down giant monsters.
• Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise and will launch in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

The latest installment of Monster Hunter Wilds' weapon overview trailer series has arrived, and this time it's all about one of the more quirky weapon types of the Monster Hunter series, the Hunting Horn. The Hunting Horn is a musical instrument that lets players use the power of music to damage enemies and provide beneficial passive effects to fellow players in multiplayer.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Hunting Horn | Weapon Overview - YouTube

Watch On

How the Hunting Horn works is that as you perform attacks to bash a monster's head with the blunt end of the weapon, it will generate musical notes. By performing combos to get specific notes in a row, you will be able to perform song Melodies as a combo finisher. 

These Melodies can have a wide range of effects, from healing allies and boosting their attack power, to unleashing devastating soundwave attacks that can stun monsters and knock them down.

Monster Hunter Wilds' iteration of the Hunting Horn will function similarly to Monster Hunter Rise's version of the weapon, which reworked the weapon's move-set to emphasize using soundwave attacks more often and increased the speed of its melee attacks. 

However, it seems it won't provide passive buffs as you attack like it did in Monster Hunter Rise anymore. So, you will need to perform Melodies at the end of combos to reap their benefits again like in Monster Hunter World.

Other changes and new gameplay additions for the Hunting Horn include but are not limited to:

• Bringing back the Earthshaker technique from Monster Hunter Rise and reworking it into a Focus Strike attack.
• An evasive maneuver where you jump backward to avoid attacks, then follow up with a close-range soundwave blast attack.
• New attacks where you smack a monster in the face during a combo to generate musical notes more quickly, so you can perform Melodies faster.
• A new technique called Echo Bubbles, where you can place multiple area-of-effect puddles on the ground and activate them by performing Melodies to damage any monsters standing in them.
• A new Melody attack that fires a gigantic soundwave projectile with a surprisingly long range.
• A quality-of-life improvement for Melodies that allows them to be performed much faster than in previous games.

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One of my favorite weapons of Monster Hunter Rise is coming back in style for Monster Hunter Wilds

Speaking as a die-hard Monster Hunter fan since Monster Hunter World, I admit I have a strange relationship with the Hunting Horn. I love the general concept, but in Monster Hunter World I felt the weapon had an identity crisis where it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a support weapon or a Hammer with a longer reach. As a result, I felt the Hunting Horn suffered for it because it felt clunky to play and damage uptime was so slow compared to the other melee weapons.

While some Monster Hunter fans didn't like Monster Hunter Rise's reimagining of the Hunting Horn because they felt the reworked move-set became too simplified and performing melodies took way less skill, I personally loved it. The increased attack rate, higher focus on using soundwave attacks, and performing melodies as you attacked instead only through Melodies gave it a much-needed boost to its damage uptime, faster and more intuitive combos, and a more unique identity.

It was no longer just a slow Hammer-like weapon that provided buffs, it was a full-blown musical weapon that used the power of metal to destroy enemies like a heavy-metal album cover mascot such as Iron Maiden's Eddie, and it was so satisfying.

So, I am happy to see Hunting Horn retain some of the reworked mechanics and amazing soundwave attacks it had from Monster Hunter Rise. While you won't be able to activate buffs as you attack anymore, the increased speed when performing Melodies to activate the buffs for teammates will more than make up for it. 

I can't wait to see what other changes Capcom has up its sleeve for the rest of Monster Hunter Wild's list of weapons as we get closer to Gamescom 2024, where Capcom debuts a brand new cinematic trailer that will no doubt reveal new beasties for Monster Hunter Wilds' roster of monsters.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is scheduled to launch on February 28, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Explore the uncharted Forbidden Lands to discover long-lost secrets and hunt monsters to protect the balance of nature in Monster Hunter Wilds. Hunt the vicious beasts of the Forbidden Lands alone or with your friends in 4-player online co-op.

Pre-order at: Amazon | Best Buy | GreenManGaming (Steam)