Best Beginner Weapon in Monster Hunter World, Rise and Wilds

For most newcomers the best Monster Hunter World weapon is the Sword and Shield, with the Long Sword and Great Sword close behind; in Rise the Long Sword and Light Bowgun rate as the friendliest picks, and in Wilds the Sword and Shield, Hammer and Dual Blades come up most often. All three games share the same family of 14 weapon types, so the skills you learn carry over. Below we compare the easy choices game by game, explain why they work, and flag the weapons to leave for later.

We compared beginner recommendations from Game8's World guide, Samurai Gamers' Rise ratings, TheSixthAxis's Rise weapon overview, Push Square's Wilds guide, the Fextralife Rise wiki and RPGSite and Game8's notes on Wilds mechanics, in November 2026.

What Makes a Weapon Beginner Friendly

Every Monster Hunter weapon can clear the whole game, so "beginner friendly" really means forgiving. A forgiving weapon lets you defend yourself when you misread an attack, recovers quickly after each swing, and does not ask you to manage several gauges at once while you are still learning how monsters move. Game8's World guide makes the same point: its picks are chosen for ease of use, not because they are the strongest against every monster.

Three traits show up again and again in the beginner lists:

• A guard: a shield or blocking stance buys time while you learn patterns. TheSixthAxis calls the Sword and Shield's block "a nice half-step" for exactly this reason.
• Fast recovery: short swings mean you are rarely locked into an animation when the monster turns on you.
• A simple resource: one meter at most. Weapons that juggle phials, Kinsect extracts or special ammo add a layer of decisions on top of dodging.

The 14 weapon types are Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Lance, Gunlance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, Heavy Bowgun and Bow. Both Game8's World guide and the Fextralife Rise wiki list the same roster.

Best Beginner Weapons in Monster Hunter World

Game8's World guide recommends three weapons for new hunters, and each suits a different temperament.

• Sword and Shield: you can guard, land several hits before backing off, and move freely. It is the safest place to learn the game's rhythm.
• Great Sword: slow, but its raw power suits hit-and-run play, where you land one big charged slash and reposition.
• Long Sword: balanced and easy to pick up. Hits charge the Spirit Gauge, which powers stronger attacks, but it cannot block, so you rely on evasion and its counter.

Our pick for a true first-timer in World is the Sword and Shield. It teaches spacing and monster tells without punishing mistakes as hard, and the habits it builds transfer to every other weapon. Once you are comfortable, the Long Sword is the natural step up. If you already play action games and like timing-based counters, you can start there. The order you meet monsters also matters: our World and Iceborne monster list shows which fights arrive when, so you can see how long a starter weapon needs to last.

Best Beginner Weapons in Monster Hunter Rise

Rise adds the Wirebug, Silkbind attacks and, in Sunbreak, Switch Skills, which the Fextralife wiki says revamped every weapon with new abilities. That mobility changes the beginner picture a little. Samurai Gamers rates each weapon out of five for new players:

• Five stars: Long Sword, for its recovery per swing, reach and useful evasive counter; and Light Bowgun, because a ranged weapon lets you attack from a safe distance and switch easily between dodging and shooting.
• Four stars: Great Sword, Sword and Shield (good recovery, a guard and item use while unsheathed), Hammer, Switch Axe and Bow.
• Three stars: Dual Blades, Lance, Hunting Horn and Charge Blade.
• Two stars: Gunlance, Insect Glaive and Heavy Bowgun.

TheSixthAxis's overview agrees on the broad shape. It recommends the Great Sword, Sword and Shield, Lance, Hammer, Long Sword and Bow, and singles out the Insect Glaive, Charge Blade and Hunting Horn as weapons that give newcomers "an extra plate to spin." The Fextralife wiki describes the Sword and Shield as balanced, mobile and beginner friendly.

In Rise, the Bow deserves a special mention for anyone nervous about melee. TheSixthAxis calls it the simplest ranged weapon, with coatings that are easier to track than Bowgun ammo types. If you plan to continue into Master Rank, our guide to starting Sunbreak explains how Switch Skill Swap later lets you change a weapon's moves mid-fight.

Best Beginner Weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds

Wilds keeps the same weapon families but changes how you approach a fight. RPGSite explains that your Seikret mount lets you switch between a primary and a secondary weapon in the field, so you can carry two weapon types on every hunt. Focus Mode lets you aim attacks precisely, and repeatedly hitting the same part can open a wound; Focus Mode highlights wounds in red, and each weapon's Focus Strike deals extra damage to them.

Push Square's beginner guide recommends five weapons for Wilds:

• Sword and Shield: "an ideal first stop for new players," balancing offense and defense, and its shield pairs well with the perfect guard mechanic.
• Hammer: short range but high damage, and "one of the easier weapons to pick up."
• Dual Blades: mobility that lets you dip in and out of fights.
• Light Bowgun: "versatile and surprisingly speedy," with steady damage from a distance.
• Great Sword: high charged damage once you learn monster patterns.

Game8 notes that five weapons in Wilds have Offset Attacks, which can counter a monster's blow: the Great Sword, Switch Axe, Hunting Horn, Hammer and Heavy Bowgun. That is one reason the Hammer climbs in Wilds lists. Because you can bring two weapons, a sensible beginner pairing is a melee weapon you are learning plus a Light Bowgun or Bow for monsters that take to the air. When you play with friends on other systems, our crossplay guide covers how to group up.

Weapons to Leave for Later

None of these are bad, and many veterans main them, but they are easier to enjoy once you know the basics:

• Insect Glaive: Samurai Gamers points to its complex moveset, aerial attacks and Kinsect extract harvesting.
• Charge Blade: a guard, but also phial management and a long list of transitions.
• Gunlance: coordinating shells, reloads and slow item use takes practice.
• Heavy Bowgun: high damage, but special ammo, charged shots and very limited mobility.
• Hunting Horn: excellent in groups, but its buffs depend on memorizing song patterns.

The Lance is a special case. It is slow and makes monsters target you, but its guard is so strong that some players find it the most comfortable weapon of all. Try it before you rule it out.

How to Choose and When to Switch

Push Square's advice for Wilds applies to every entry: try each weapon in the Training Area before committing. Ten minutes on the dummy tells you more about how a weapon feels than any list. After that, a few rules keep your first weapon from becoming a trap:

1. Pick one weapon and stay with it through the first several hunts, so you learn monsters rather than controls.
2. Upgrade one weapon tree at a time instead of spreading materials thin.
3. When a weapon starts to feel limiting, move to its natural step up: Sword and Shield to Long Sword or Dual Blades, Great Sword to Hammer, Bow to Light Bowgun.
4. Revisit the hard weapons once you can recognize most attacks on sight.

If you play mostly with friends, think about the group as well as yourself. Samurai Gamers notes that Light Bowgun ammo can support allies in multiplayer, and the Hunting Horn's healing and buffs shine in a full party even though its songs take memorizing. A group of four Sword and Shield users will clear hunts just fine, but a mix of one ranged player and three melee players spreads the monster's attention and makes each hunt easier to read. Solo players have the opposite priority: pick something that keeps you alive on your own, which again points to a weapon with a guard or a fast, reliable dodge. In Wilds and Rise, Support Hunters and followers can fill out a party, but they will not cover for a weapon you cannot yet control.

Your second weapon will always be easier to learn than your first, because monster knowledge carries over. For Wilds players who later want to see where each weapon sits at the top end, our Wilds weapon tier list picks up where this guide stops.

Trying Every Weapon Without the Grind

Experimenting with all 14 weapons is the best way to find your favorite, but crafting each tree takes a lot of farming. In Monster Hunter Rise, the store's Rise Modded Starter Save starts right at the beginning of the game and lists the best of each weapon, best gear sets, all equipment decorations, max Zenny and Kamura Points, all items and all Palico and Palamute gear, so you can test every weapon type early while still playing the story yourself.

The page says it works on PS4 and PS5 and that you must already own the game. For other entries, see the Monster Hunter store page.

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