Best Hunting Horn Builds for Iceborne
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These are the best builds for the Hunting Horn in Monster Hunter World (MHW) Iceborne for DLC progression and endgame. Learn about the best builds, skills, and weapons for the Hunting Horn below!
List of Contents
Hunting Horn Endgame Meta Build
Endgame Fatalis Armor Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Fatalis Menace Wailer
|
Challenger Jewel+ 4 Challenger Jewel+ 4 Agitator 2
x1Sonorous Jewel+ 4 Sonorous Jewel+ 4 Horn Maestro 2
x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
Dragonhead Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Stun Resistance (Lv 3) |
KO/Evasion Jewel 4 KO/Evasion Jewel 4 Slugger 1, Evade Window 1
x2Tenderizer/Evasion Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Evasion Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Evade Window 1
x1 |
Dragonhide Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Weakness Exploit (Lv 1) |
Brace/Evasion Jewel 4 Brace/Evasion Jewel 4 Flinch Free 1, Evade Window 1
x1Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Divine Blessing 1
x2 |
Dragonclaws Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Weakness Exploit (Lv 1) Handicraft (Lv 3) |
Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical/Protection Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Divine Blessing 1
x1Attack Jewel+ 4 Attack Jewel+ 4 Attack Boost 2
x2 |
Dragonbarbs Beta +
|
Slots: ④④④
Critical Eye (Lv 2) |
Attack Jewel+ 4 Attack Jewel+ 4 Attack Boost 2
x1Expert Jewel+ 4 Expert Jewel+ 4 Critical Eye 2
x2 |
Frostfang Greaves Alpha +
|
Slots: ①①ー
Attack Boost (Lv 1) Slugger (Lv 3) |
Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1Protection Jewel 1 Protection Jewel 1 Divine Blessing 1
x1 |
| Challenger Charm V | None | |
Fatalis Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Agitator 7 | Attack Boost 7 |
| Critical Eye 7 | Evade Window 5 |
| Slugger 5 | Divine Blessing 4 |
| Critical Boost 3 | Stun Resistance 3 |
| Weakness Exploit 3 | Horn Maestro 2 |
| Flinch Free 1 | Punishing Draw (Frostfang Absolute Art 1) |
| Inheritance (Fatalis Legend 2) | Transcendence (Fatalis Legend 4) |
Taking advantage of Inheritance from the Fatalis Legend Set Bonus, this build provides high affinity, attack, and stun damage using the unlocked Agitator 7 and Slugger 5, complemented with Critical Eye, Attack Boost, and Weakness Exploit.
Transcendance from the Fatalis Legend Set Bonus provides comfort and survivability with True Razor Sharp and the huge Health and Stamina boost. This allows for less sharpening between each encounter and gets you to max HP without Health Boost and eating meals or consuming Max/Ancient Potions.
Evade Window and some Divine Blessing are nice defensive skills that allow you to dodge more effectively and lighten the punishment of making mistakes, allowing for a more aggressive playstyle.
Hunting Horn Meta Builds
| Meta Builds |
|---|
|
|
Agitator/Master's Touch Build
| Weapon | Decorations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Safi's Shatterhorn
|
Sonorous Jewel+ 4 Sonorous Jewel+ 4 Horn Maestro 2
x1 |
||
| Awakened Ability | |||
| Attack Melody III | Attack Increase VI | Attack Increase V | Sharpness Increase V x2 |
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations | |
|
Kaiser Crown Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Latent Power (Lv 1) Critical Eye (Lv 2) |
Expert Jewel+ 4 Expert Jewel+ 4 Critical Eye 2
x1 |
|
|
Brachydium Mail Beta +
|
Slots: ④②①
Agitator (Lv 2) |
Attack Jewel+ 4 Attack Jewel+ 4 Attack Boost 2
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1 |
|
|
Kaiser Vambraces Beta +
|
Slots: ④③ー
Weakness Exploit (Lv 1) Heat Guard (Lv 1) |
Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Health Boost 1
x1Brace Jewel 3 Brace Jewel 3 Flinch Free 1
x1 |
|
|
Kaiser Coil Beta +
|
Slots: ④②①
Blast Attack (Lv 2) |
Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Health Boost 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x1Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
|
Brachydium Greaves Beta +
|
Slots: ④①①
Weakness Exploit (Lv 2) |
Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 Critical Boost 1, Health Boost 1
x1Attack Jewel 1 Attack Jewel 1 Attack Boost 1
x2 |
|
| Challenger Charm V | None | ||
Agitator/Master's Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Attack Boost 7 | Agitator 7 |
| Critical Eye 5 | Health Boost 3 |
| Critical Boost 3 | Weakness Exploit 3 |
| Blast Attack 2 | Horn Maestro 2 |
| Heat Guard 1 | Latent Power 1 |
| Flinch Free 1 | Master's Touch (Teostra Technique 3) |
| Agitator Secret (Brachydios Will 2) | |
A high afifnity and attack build that uses the unlocked Agitator 7 complemented by Attack Boost, Critical Eye, Critical Boost, and Weakness Exploit.
Master's Touch takes advantage of the high affinity to reduce sharpness loss, allowing your weapon to deal maximum damage for longer, lessening the amount of times you need to sharpen.
The Attack Melody III on the Awakened Hunting Horn gives it access to the Attack Up (L) and Defense Up (L) melodies, which are good to always play to keep up the aggression when hunting.
Support Build
| Weapon | Decorations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Safi's Shatterhorn
|
Sonorous Jewel+ 4 Sonorous Jewel+ 4 Horn Maestro 2
x1 |
||
| Awakened Ability | |||
| Attack Melody III | Attack Increase VI | Attack Increase V | Sharpness Increase V x2 |
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations | |
|
Kulve Taroth's Fury Beta +
|
Slots: ④④①
Free Meal (Lv 1) |
Earplugs Jewel+ 4 Earplugs Jewel+ 4 Earplugs 2
x2Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
|
Kulve Taroth's Ire Beta +
|
Slots: ④③ー
Speed Eating (Lv 3) |
Earplug/Vitality Jewel 4 Earplug/Vitality Jewel 4 Earplugs 1, Health Boost 1
x1Brace Jewel 3 Brace Jewel 3 Flinch Free 1
x1 |
|
|
Kulve Taroth's Rage Beta +
|
Slots: ④④ー
Critical Boost (Lv 1) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x2 |
|
|
Odogaron Coil Beta +
|
Slots: ④②ー
Critical Eye (Lv 2) |
Satiated/Expert Jewel 4 Satiated/Expert Jewel 4 Free Meal 1, Critical Eye 1
x1Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x1 |
|
|
Kulve Taroth's Wrath Beta +
|
Slots: ④①①
Critical Boost (Lv 2) |
Satiated/Expert Jewel 4 Satiated/Expert Jewel 4 Free Meal 1, Critical Eye 1
x1Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x2 |
|
| Friendship Charm V | None | ||
Support Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Critical Eye 7 | Earplugs 5 |
| Wide-Range 5 | Critical Boost 3 |
| Free Meal 3 | Health Boost 3 |
| Speed Eating 3 | Weakness Exploit 3 |
| Horn Maestro 2 | Flinch Free 1 |
| Guts (Kulve Taroth Essence 2) | Free Meal Secret (Kulve Taroth Essence 4) |
This build focuses on leveraging the support capability of Hunting Horns. Being able to give your team Attack Up (L) and Defense Up (L) buffs from melodies while providing healing through Wide-Range and Speed Eating, this build can keep a team of hunters going without the need to worry about making mistakes.
Free Meal Secret lets you refund your items more frequently when consuming them, effectively increasing the amount of consumables you are bringing to a hunt. Earplugs make sure you get through those consumables without getting interrupted by the monster's roar.
While the build focuses on support, it does not shy away from being able to contribute with damage. Equipped with Critical Eye, Weakness Exploit, and Critical Boost, your contribution to the team's damage when no one is in dire need is still high.
Using a Sleep Status weapon here allows your team to set up for a big wake up damage for even faster hunts. Feel free to swap this out for a Paralysis Hunting Horn after one or two sleep procs to maximize your status ailment procs.
Hunting Horn Progression Builds
| Progression Builds |
|---|
|
|
Starter Iceborne Build
The Guardian Armor plus Defender Weapon combo is a viable starter build for Iceborne's early game. It has good enough defense to take hits from the early monsters, as well as enough damage to let you farm for your early Iceborne build.
The Guardian Armor set is given to all players from the start of the game and has good defense and survival skills while the Defender Weapon can be crafted from the Smithy and can be fully upgraded with ease.
Early Iceborne Progression Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Mad Bone Horn I
|
Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft 1
x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Bone Helm Alpha +
|
Slots: ③ーー
Health Boost (Lv 2) Partbreaker (Lv 1) |
Brace Jewel 3 Brace Jewel 3 Flinch Free 1
x1 |
|
Bone Mail Alpha +
|
Slots: ②ーー
Attack Boost (Lv 2) Health Boost (Lv 1) |
Tenderizer Jewel 2 Tenderizer Jewel 2 Weakness Exploit 1
x1 |
|
Bone Vambraces Alpha +
|
Slots: ②ーー
Slugger (Lv 2) Attack Boost (Lv 1) |
Destroyer Jewel 2 Destroyer Jewel 2 Partbreaker 1
x1 |
|
Barroth Coil Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Agitator (Lv 2) |
Satiated/Attack Jewel 4 Satiated/Attack Jewel 4 Free Meal 1, Attack Boost 1
x1 |
|
Rathalos Greaves Alpha +
|
Slots: ③ーー
Slinger Capacity (Lv 2) Attack Boost (Lv 2) |
Destroyer/Protection Jewel 4 Destroyer/Protection Jewel 4 Partbreaker 1, Divine Blessing 1
x1 |
| Attack Charm III | None | |
Early Iceborne Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Attack Boost 7 | Health Boost 3 |
| Partbreaker 3 | Slugger 3 |
| Weakness Exploit 3 | Agitator 2 |
| Divine Blessing 1 | Flinch Free 1 |
| Free Meal 1 | |
A high attack build that can carry you to mid-game. The Attack Boost, Slugger, and Weakness Exploit helps you deal a lot of damage from stun windows and Partbreaker allows you to break those parts for materials easier.
Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build
| Weapon | Decorations | |
|---|---|---|
Gama Chorus II
|
Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft Jewel 3 Handicraft 1
x1Critical Jewel 2 Critical Jewel 2 Critical Boost 1
x1 |
|
| Armor | Slots and Skills | Decorations |
|
Girros Headgear Beta +
|
Slots: ④ーー
Horn Maestro (Lv 2) |
Drain/Expert Jewel 4 Drain/Expert Jewel 4 Stamina Thief 1, Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
Diablos Mail Beta +
|
Slots: ④①ー
Slugger (Lv 2) Heroics (Lv 1) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
Diablos Nero Braces Beta +
|
Slots: ④②ー
Slugger (Lv 1) Marathon Runner (Lv 1) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Critical Jewel 2 Critical Jewel 2 Critical Boost 1
x1 |
|
Diablos Nero Coil Beta +
|
Slots: ④①ー
Slugger (Lv 2) |
Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Tenderizer/Vitality Jewel 4 Weakness Exploit 1, Health Boost 1
x1Expert Jewel 1 Expert Jewel 1 Critical Eye 1
x1 |
|
Dober Greaves Beta +
|
Slots: ④②ー
Attack Boost (Lv 1) Mushroomancer (Lv 1) |
Drain/Expert Jewel 4 Drain/Expert Jewel 4 Stamina Thief 1, Critical Eye 1
x1Critical Jewel 2 Critical Jewel 2 Critical Boost 1
x1 |
| Master's Charm III | None | |
Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build Skill List
| Skills | |
|---|---|
| Critical Eye 7 | Slugger 5 |
| Critical Boost 3 | Health Boost 3 |
| Weakness Exploit 3 | Stamina Thief 2 |
| Horn Maestro 2 | Attack Boost 1 |
| Handicraft 1 | Heroics 1 |
| Marathon Runner 1 | Mushroomancer 1 |
| Slugger Secret (Diablos Ambition 3) | |
An improved build over the early game using Slugger Secret to knock some monsters down with relative ease for a good damage window.
Featuring a high affinity from Critical Eye and Weakness Exploit, augmented by Critical Boost, this build really packs a punch that can get you to late game.
Best Hunting Horn Weapons and Skills
Best Weapons for Hunting Horn
| Weapon | Explanation |
|---|---|
|
Fatalis Menace Wailer
[Atk] 1470 | [Affinity] -30% |
・Hunting Horn with the highest raw damage ・ Has Attack Boost (L) song |
Alatreon Harmony
[Atk] 1050 | [Ele] 630 Dragon | [Affinity] 0% |
・Highest Dragon Elemental Hunting Horn perfect against Alatreon ・ Has Elemental Boosting songs |
The Rasping Ballad
[Atk] 1218 | [Affinity] 0% |
・Best Non Elemental Hunting Horn ・ Has Attack Boost (L) song |
Sonorous Eisfyl
[Atk] 1134 | [Ele] 270 Ice | [Affinity] 0% |
・Hunting Horn with excellent support songs |
Best Skills for Hunting Horn
| Skill | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Horn Maestro ( ★★★ ) |
Increases the maximum duration of Hunting Horn song buffs |
| Weakness Exploit ( ★★★ ) |
Significantly increases your affinity whenever you target weakpoints |
| Critical Boost ( ★★★ ) |
Increases the damage of critical hits. Best when paired with Weakness Exploit |
| Critical Eye ( ★★★ ) |
Increases your Affinity |
| Agitator ( ★★★ ) |
Increases damage against enraged monsters |
| Attack Boost (★★) |
Improves attack power and affinity at level 4 |
| Wide-range (★★) |
The primary skill for support builds. This will allow your teammates to receive whichever consumables you take |
| Health Boost (★★) |
Increases maximum health to increase your survival rate A must have for beginners |
| Slugger (★) |
Increases the stunning effects you deal with when hitting monsters' heads |
| Handicraft (★) |
Increases maximum sharpness of your weapon |
Monster Hunter World (MHW) Iceborne Related Guides
Best Builds
Best Endgame Builds and Weapon Progression Builds
Best Builds Per Weapons
| Melee Weapons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Long Swords |
 Great Swords |
 Sword and Shield |
 Dual Blades |
 Hammer |
 Hunting Horn |
 Lance |
 Gunlance |
 Switch Axe |
 Charge Blade |
 Insect Glaive |
|
| Ranged Weapons | |
|---|---|
 Bow |
 Light Bowgun |
 Heavy Bowgun |
|
Best Counter Builds
| Monster Counterbuilds | |
|---|---|
 Fatalis
|  Alatreon |
Comment
Anonymous over 5 yearsAny chance of an update? A lot of items in the Starting Out, Early and Mid-Late Hunting Horn Builds have items with wrong slots, etc.
Author
Best Hunting Horn Builds for Iceborne
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Something is wrong regarding endgame fatalis armor build: 1. Why would you use 2x challenger jewel+ 4? You use challenger charm V, which give agitator lv5, and a single piece of challenger jewel+ 4 already add another 2 level of agitator 2. How did you get weakness exploit lv3? You use a full set of dragon beta set, which only give weakness exploit lv2 by total, and i dont see any tenderizer decor, so the build used in yours isn't possible to give you WEX lv3