Read this Monster Hunter World: Iceborne guide to know the best & recommended armor skills for the melee weapon - Hunting Horn!!!
Table of Contents
Related Article On Hunting Horn
 How To Use | Best Builds |
| Best Skills | Endgame Tier List |
Hunting Horn Features & Overview
Weapon That Buffs Other Players
The Hunting Horn specializes in playing melodies that provide stat boosts to the player and their teammates. These buffs include attack or defense increases, earplugs, HP recovery, and even wind pressure negation.
Deals Blunt Weapon Damage
The Hunting Horn is one of the only two weapons in MHW that deal blunt damage. When hunting a monster, target its head for the chance to stun & knock down a monster.
Recommended Skill List For Hunting Horn
| Skill | Recommendation Criteria |
|---|---|
| Horn Maestro | Elongates the duration of melodies played, allowing stat boosts to last longer |
| Slugger | Makes it easier to stun monsters, toppling them over and opening them up for attack |
| Attack Boost | Increases attack power and affinity at later level, allowing you to deal more damage to the monster |
| Maximum Might | Since this weapon doesn't readily consume stamina, you'll have increased affinity rates when your HP bar is full |
| Weakness Exploit | You'll deal more damage and have increased affinity rate when landing hits on monster weak spots |
| Stamina Thief | Attacks can exhaust monsters easier, slowing them down & making them vulnerable to damage |
| Handicraft | Longer sharpness gauge will let you sharpen less & prevent damage loss when weapon becomes blunt |
| Critical Boost | Damage of critical hits is increased, letting you deal more damage to monster's health when landing critical hits |
| Agitator | Attack & affinity increases when monster is enraged which lets your attacks hit harder than when monsters are calm |
| Flinch Free | Lessens knockback & reactions to small damage, leaving your attacks uninterrupted |
| Evade Extender | Increases distance of evade moves such as dodges & rolls, allowing you to move unhindered around the map |
Best Hunting Horn Skills To Equip
Horn Maestro
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Increases the effect duration of hunting horn melodies |
Must-Have Skill For Hunting Horn Users
A skill specific for Hunting Horn users, the Horn Maestro lengthens the duration of buffs implemented when playing melodies. Make sure to always have this skill when you're using a Hunting Horn.
Slugger
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stun power +10% |
| 2 | Stun power +20% |
| 3 | Stun power +30% |
Increases Stun Chance With Hunting Horn
Another must-have skill for Hunting Horn users, the Slugger skill increases your blunt weapon's chance to stun a monster. This chance enlarges when you hit the monster on its head.
Alternative Sword And Shield Skill List
Attack Boost
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Attack +3 |
| 2 | Attack +6 |
| 3 | Attack +9 |
| 4 | Attack +12 and Affinity +5% |
| 5 | Attack +15 and Affinity +5% |
| 6 | Attack +18 and Affinity +5% |
| 7 | Attack +21 and Affinity +5% |
Critical Skill To Have For Any Weapon
Since this skill increases a weapon's raw physical damage and then increases affinity rate at later levels, it's a very important basic skill to have in any loadout or build.
Maximum Might
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | While active, increases affinity by 10% |
| 2 | While active, increases affinity by 20% |
| 3 | While active, increases affinity by 30% |
Best For Weapons That Don't Consume Stamina
Since the Hunting Horn doesn't consume that much stamina except for dodging, this skill will help you increase your affinity rate. You'll be able to deal more damage when your stamina bar is full.
Weakness Exploit
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Attacks that hit weak spots have 15% increased affinity |
| 2 | Attacks that hit weak spots have 30% increased affinity |
| 3 | Attacks that hit weak spots have 50% increased affinity |
Allows For Efficient Hunting
Weakness Exploit gives you bigger chances to deal more damage to monster weak spots, making it easier for you to break monster parts or lower monster health.
Stamina Thief
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Exhaust power +10% |
| 2 | Exhaust power +20% |
| 3 | Exhaust power +30% |
Great Support Skill In Multiplayer Hunts
The Stamina Thief is a good skill to have in multiplayer hunts. With this skill, you'll be able to exhaust monsters & slow them down faster. However, this will be useless against any Elder Dragon so only use when hunting normal monsters.
Handicraft
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Weapon sharpness +10 |
| 2 | Weapon sharpness +20 |
| 3 | Weapon sharpness +30 |
| 4 | Weapon sharpness +40 |
| 5 | Weapon sharpness +50 |
Elongates Your Sharpness Gauge
Having the Handicraft increases your weapon sharpness. This lessens your need to sharpen your weapon and prevents you from being open to monster attacks.
Critical Boost
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Increases damage dealt by critical hits by 30% |
| 2 | Increases damage dealt by critical hits by 35% |
| 3 | Increases damage dealt by critical hits by 40% |
Combine With Attack Boost & Weakness Exploit
When you combine this skill with Attack Boost, Weakness Exploit, and Critical Eye, you'll be dealing a whole lot of damage to any monster you encounter in any hunt.
Agitator
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | While active, grants attack +4 and increases affinity by 3% |
| 2 | While active, grants attack +8 and increases affinity by 6% |
| 3 | While active, grants attack +12 and increases affinity by 9% |
| 4 | While active, grants attack +16 and increases affinity by 12% |
| 5 | While active, grants attack +20 and increases affinity by 15% |
Deal More Damage When Monster Is Enraged
The Agitator skill boosts your attack and affinity rate when the monster is enraged. Since monsters enrage multiple times during a fight, you'll be able to do more damage to it and defeat it more easily.
Flinch Free
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Prevents knockbacks |
| 2 | Prevents standard knockbacks. Tripping is reduced to a knockback instead |
| 3 | Prevents knockbacks and tripping |
Keeps You Moving & Prevents Knockbacks
Essential when playing multiplayer mode, this skill prevents you from getting knocked back or staggered when you suffer small damage. It'll keep you moving and let you move around quicker.
Evade Extender
| Lvl | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Slightly extends evasion distance |
| 2 | Extends evasion distance |
| 3 | Greatly extends evasion distance |
Equip When You Still Have Room
This skill is nice to have and should be added into your loadout if you still have space. It extends the distance of your rolls and dodges, keeping you out of harm's way during deadly monster attacks.
