Choosing the right weapon in Monster Hunter Outlanders can make a big difference during hunts. This guide ranks the Main Character's available weapons from S to B Tier, explaining their strengths, weaknesses, and overall combat performance to help you decide which weapon suits your playstyle.

If you're planning to reroll for a strong starting account or manage multiple accounts for farming, OSLink can make the process much easier. Its multi-instance and synchronization features let you run and control multiple game sessions simultaneously, helping you speed up repetitive rerolling or keep playing across your Monster Hunter Outlanders accounts even when you're away from your PC. Once you've secured the account you want, use our tier list to decide which weapons are worth investing in.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Weapon Tier List Overview

Our Monster Hunter Outlanders weapon tier list ranks the weapons available to the Fated Adventurer (Main Character) based on their overall combat performance. Rather than looking at damage potential alone, we consider several factors that determine how effective each weapon is during actual hunts.

Damage Output is one of our main considerations, as it determines how effectively a weapon can deal with monsters. However, theoretical damage numbers don't always reflect real combat performance. We also consider Combat Reliability, which looks at how consistently a weapon can land attacks and maintain damage against moving monsters and different combat situations.

We also evaluate Survivability and Mobility, taking into account defensive mechanics, dodging, blocking and the ability to maintain offensive pressure while avoiding incoming attacks. Finally, Ease of Use considers how much skill, timing and resource management are required to bring out a weapon's full potential.

Monster Hunter Outlanders Weapon Tier List

S Tier Monster Hunter Outlanders Weapons

S Tier weapons offer the strongest overall performance for the Main Character in Monster Hunter Outlanders. They combine high damage potential with mechanics that make it easier to maintain offensive pressure during hunts.

Heavy Bowgun — S Tier

• High Damage Output: One of the strongest damage options available to the Main Character, with relatively simple attack execution.

• Multiple Ammunition Types: Different weapons support various ammunition types, including Normal, Spread, Pierce, Slicing, Sticky, and Cluster.

• Wyvern Heart: Unleashes a continuous stream of powerful shots. Dealing damage with regular ammunition helps recharge this special attack.

• Ranged Combat: Allows players to attack from a distance, making it easier to maintain damage while avoiding many melee-range attacks.

Heavy Bowgun focuses on sustained ranged firepower rather than complicated attack combinations. Its ammunition system gives players flexibility when preparing for different hunts, while Wyvern Heart provides an additional source of burst damage.

Its main advantage is how easily it can maintain offensive pressure. Players don't need to rely on precise counters, extended combos, or constant close-range positioning to deal consistent damage.

However, choosing the right ammunition is important, as different types have different applications. Heavy Bowgun also has fewer options for responding to sudden changes in combat compared with weapons that offer more varied movesets.

Why S Tier: High damage potential, straightforward execution, and consistent ranged attacks make Heavy Bowgun one of the most reliable weapons for the Main Character.

Bow — S Tier

• High Damage Potential: Its theoretical damage can even surpass Heavy Bowgun under ideal conditions.

• Charge Levels: Consecutive attacks build charge levels, allowing Bow to unleash stronger shots and follow-up Power Shots.

• Side-Step: Allows players to dodge incoming attacks while maintaining their charge level and continuing their attack combinations.

• Dragon Coating: Builds energy through attacks, adding another source of damage to Bow's combat rotation.

• Arc Shot: Uses Dragon Coating energy to unleash a powerful enhanced attack.

Bow combines ranged attacks with a mobile combat style built around maintaining charge levels. Players can use consecutive attacks to build power, then follow up with stronger shots while using side-steps to avoid incoming attacks without losing their charge.

Its damage potential is particularly impressive when players can maintain their attack cycle. However, some of its strongest attacks, especially Spread Shots and Power Shots, require players to stay relatively close to monsters. This makes positioning an important part of playing Bow effectively.

Stamina management also plays a major role. Poor timing or excessive dodging can interrupt its attack cycle, making it harder to maintain consistent damage compared with Heavy Bowgun.

Why S Tier: Exceptional damage potential, mobile ranged combat, and powerful charged attacks make Bow one of the strongest weapons available. Although it requires better positioning and stamina management, skilled players can achieve outstanding damage.

A Tier Monster Hunter Outlanders Weapons

A Tier weapons remain powerful choices for the Main Character, but their effectiveness depends more heavily on combat conditions, positioning, or weapon mechanics. They can still deliver excellent damage, although maintaining that performance may require more effort than with S Tier weapons.

Dual Blades — A Tier

• High Melee Damage: Offers some of the highest melee damage potential among the available weapons, particularly against monsters with suitable elemental weaknesses.

• Demon Mode: Increases attack speed, mobility, and damage while allowing attacks to build the Demon Gauge.

• Archdemon Mode: Filling the Demon Gauge unlocks stronger attack combinations without continuously consuming stamina.

• Fast Attack Combos: Rapid attacks allow Dual Blades to land repeated hits and take advantage of elemental damage.

• Elemental Effectiveness: Elemental damage plays an important role in Outlanders, making Dual Blades particularly effective against monsters with matching elemental weaknesses.

Dual Blades revolves around maintaining close-range pressure through rapid attacks. Demon Mode increases attack speed and damage while building the Demon Gauge. Once filled, Archdemon Mode provides access to stronger attacks without the continuous stamina drain of Demon Mode.

This combination gives Dual Blades impressive melee damage potential. Its rapid attacks also make it particularly effective at exploiting elemental weaknesses, allowing it to perform exceptionally well against suitable monsters.

The main limitation is its dependence on close-range combat. When monsters move away or create distance, Dual Blades can lose valuable attacking opportunities while chasing them. Managing stamina and choosing the right moments to activate Demon Mode are also important for maintaining its damage output.

Why A Tier: Excellent melee damage, fast attack combinations, and strong elemental performance make Dual Blades one of the best melee options. However, its dependence on close-range combat makes its damage less consistent than that of S Tier weapons.

Great Sword — A Tier

• Powerful Charged Attacks: Specializes in heavy attacks that take time to charge but deal substantial damage when they connect.

• Shoulder Tackle: Allows players to withstand incoming attacks without losing their charge level, helping them continue their attack combinations.

• True Charge Slash: Delivers a powerful finishing attack with super armour, allowing players to continue attacking through incoming hits.

• Supreme Slash: Provides an additional aerial finishing attack following True Charge Slash.

• Defensive Options: Its ability to tackle through incoming attacks makes Great Sword more forgiving than its slower attack speed might suggest.

Great Sword revolves around charging powerful attacks and finding opportunities to land its heavy finishing moves. Its Shoulder Tackle is particularly useful, allowing players to withstand incoming attacks without interrupting their charge. This makes it easier to continue attacking instead of constantly abandoning combos to dodge.

True Charge Slash serves as its main finishing attack, with super armour helping players complete the move even when taking incoming hits. Supreme Slash adds another aerial attack afterward, giving Great Sword an additional way to deal damage.

However, its slow attack speed makes it harder to maintain consistent damage against mobile monsters. Missing a charged attack can also result in significant lost damage opportunities, making timing and positioning important. Although its individual strikes are powerful, it generally has less damage potential than Dual Blades when monsters allow continuous melee attacks.

Why A Tier: Powerful charged attacks, Shoulder Tackle, and reliable super armour mechanics make Great Sword a strong and relatively forgiving weapon. Its slower attacks and dependence on landing charged strikes limit its damage consistency.

Long Sword — A Tier

• Counterattack Mechanics: Moves such as Foresight Slash and Spirit Slash allow players to avoid incoming attacks and respond with counterattacks.

• Spirit Gauge Management: Landing attacks and successfully executing certain counters help build the Spirit Gauge, which is essential for accessing stronger attacks.

• Helm Breaker: A powerful aerial attack that deals damage through multiple delayed hits.

• Rupture Damage: Can take advantage of Rupture-focused builds to further increase its offensive potential.

• Additional Counter Opportunities: Its follow-up attack after Helm Breaker includes parry frames and can restore a Spirit Gauge level when successfully timed.

Long Sword combines relatively fast attacks with counter-based mechanics that reward precise timing. Successfully countering monster attacks helps build the Spirit Gauge, allowing players to access stronger attacks and maintain their offensive pressure.

Helm Breaker is one of its main damage-dealing abilities, launching players into the air before delivering multiple hits that benefit from Rupture damage. Its additional follow-up attack in Outlanders also introduces another counter opportunity, potentially restoring a spent Spirit Gauge level when timed correctly.

However, Long Sword's performance depends heavily on having opportunities to counter monster attacks. This becomes less predictable when monsters focus on other players during multiplayer hunts, making it harder to build and maintain Spirit Gauge levels. Without consistent counter opportunities, its damage potential becomes more difficult to achieve.

Unlike Great Sword, which can use Shoulder Tackle to withstand attacks while continuing its combos, Long Sword relies more heavily on monster behaviour to make full use of its mechanics.

Why A Tier: Strong counterattacks, Spirit Gauge mechanics, and powerful Helm Breaker combinations give Long Sword excellent damage potential. However, its dependence on counter opportunities makes its performance less consistent, particularly during multiplayer hunts.

B Tier Monster Hunter Outlanders Weapons

B Tier weapons offer useful combat mechanics and respectable performance, but have some limitations compared with higher-ranked options.

Lance is currently the only weapon in this tier. Its shield and counterattack mechanics make it one of the safest choices for the Main Character, but its lower damage potential limits its overall effectiveness.

Lance — B Tier

• Strong Defensive Capabilities: Its shield provides reliable protection against incoming monster attacks, making Lance one of the safest weapons available.

• Power Guard: Allows players to defend against incoming attacks while preparing opportunities for counterattacks.

• Counter Cross Slash: Turns successful defensive actions into additional damage through a counterattack.

• Improved Mobility: Leaping Thrust helps players reposition and maintain offensive pressure while pursuing monsters.

• Accessible Moveset: Straightforward attack combinations make Lance relatively easy to learn and use.

Lance focuses on defensive combat, allowing players to withstand incoming attacks and respond with counterattacks. Power Guard and Counter Cross Slash work together to turn defensive actions into offensive opportunities, making it easier to stay close to monsters without relying entirely on dodging.

Its mobility is also better than its traditional playstyle might suggest. Leaping Thrust helps players close distances and maintain pressure, while its straightforward thrust attacks make it accessible even for players who haven't mastered more complicated weapon mechanics.

However, Lance struggles to compete with higher-tier weapons in terms of damage output. Its attacks lack the damage potential of options like Heavy Bowgun, Dual Blades, and Great Sword. Although its defensive mechanics help maintain uptime, they don't fully compensate for its lower offensive potential.

Why B Tier: Excellent defensive capabilities, reliable counterattacks, and an accessible moveset make Lance a safe and beginner-friendly option. Its comparatively low damage output, however, limits its effectiveness against the stronger weapons.

Best Weapon Recommendations in Monster Hunter Outlanders

The best weapon depends on how you prefer to approach combat. Heavy Bowgun, Dual Blades, and Great Sword stand out as three particularly good choices, each offering a different balance of damage, mobility, and survivability.

1. Heavy Bowgun — Best Overall

Heavy Bowgun is our top recommendation for players who want high damage without complicated attack combinations. Its ranged attacks make it easier to maintain offensive pressure, while its ammunition options provide flexibility across different hunts.

Best for: Players who want consistent damage, ranged combat, and straightforward weapon mechanics.

2. Dual Blades — Best Melee Damage

Dual Blades are an excellent choice for aggressive players who prefer fast-paced melee combat. Their rapid attacks and elemental damage potential make them particularly effective against monsters with matching elemental weaknesses. Managing stamina and maintaining close-range pressure are important to getting the most out of them.

Best for: Players who enjoy fast combos, aggressive melee combat, and exploiting elemental weaknesses.

3. Great Sword — Best for Powerful Attacks and Survivability

Great Sword is ideal for players who prefer heavy attacks and powerful finishing moves. Its Shoulder Tackle and super armour mechanics provide additional protection, allowing players to continue attacking through incoming hits rather than constantly interrupting their combos.

Best for: Players who enjoy charged attacks, powerful finishers, and a more defensive approach to heavy melee combat.

Conclusion

And that's everything you need to know about the Monster Hunter Outlanders weapon tier list! Heavy Bowgun and Bow are excellent choices for ranged damage, while Dual Blades and Great Sword are strong options for melee players. Ultimately, the best weapon depends on your playstyle, so experiment with different options and find the one that works best for you. Once you've found your preferred weapon and are ready to build up your account, you might also want to explore different ways to make farming easier. OSLink can help you manage multiple Monster Hunter Outlanders accounts with its multi-instance and synchronization features, making it easier to handle repetitive farming and rerolling, even when you're away from your PC. Good luck with your hunts, hunters!