Monster Hunter Now, just like the other games in the franchise, feature various elemental damage types that will deal bonus damage to monsters that have certain weaknesses.
In this guide, we’ll quickly go through some of the gear sets that you can use in order to maximize how much bonus damage you can deal while using certain weapons.
Best Elemental Attacks Build Guide
Similar to other entries in the Monster Hunter franchise, every piece of armor will grant you varying passive buffs ranging from resistance bonuses to extra elemental damage.
Mixing and matching certain sets of equipment will allow you to specialize in dealing damage with specific elements, which will be incredibly helpful when facing higher level monsters.
Fire Damage
For Sword & Shield or Dual Blades users, you will want to equip the following set for max Fire Attack and Burst, which synergizes well with your fast attack speed:
- Anjanath Helmet and Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Mail and Coil (Grade 6)
- Zinogre Greaves (any grade)
For the Great Sword, Bow, Hammer, and Long Sword, you will want the Focus perk instead of Burst, so you should have the following combination of gear:
- Anjanath Helmet and Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Pukei-Pukei Mail (Grade 4)
- Jyuratodus Greaves (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Coil (Grade 6)
If you are a Light Bowgun user, you should be taking advantage of the Reload Speed and Recoil Down perks. These items are what you need to achieve that while still maintaining a high Fire Attack level:
- Anjanath Helmet and Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Paolumu Mail (Grade 6)
- Zinogre Coil (Grade 6)
- Legiana Greaves (any grade)
When it comes to the Lance, which is a more defensive weapon, you will want to prioritize having Guard and Offensive Guard. Because of that, you will be using the following items:
- Anjanath Helmet and Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Barroth Mail (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Coil (Grade 6)
- Radobaan Greaves (Grade 4)
Water Damage
In order to maximize Water Attack, you will mostly be utilizing pieces of Jyuratodus and Great Jagras gear sets. For the Dual Blades and Sword & Shield, you will want to pair it with Burst once more:
- Zinogre Helmet (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Mail and Vambraces (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Rathian Coil (Grade 6)
- Great Jagras Greaves (Grade 6)
For the Long Sword, Great Sword, Bow, and Hammer, you should try and get as much Focus as you can as with the previous elemental set. To get at least level 2, you need the following set:
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Mail and Vambraces (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Rathalos Coil (Grade 6)
- Great Jagras Greaves (Grade 6)
As far as the Lance goes, you can achieve at least level 3 Guard and manage a very small Defense Boost with maximum Water Attack by using the following items:
- Radobaan Helmet (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Mail and Vambraces (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Barroth Coil (Grade 4)
- Great Jagras Greaves (Grade 6)
Finally, for the Light Bowgun, you should still be aiming for as much Reload Speed as possible. Unlike the fire build, however, you can achieve maximum Water Attack with these:
- Tobi-Kadachi Helmet (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Mail and Vambraces (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Zinogre Coil (Grade 6)
- Great Jagras Greaves (Grade 6)
Ice Damage
For Ice Attack, you will be utilizing mainly pieces of the Legiana and Barioth sets. For Dual Blades and Sword & Shield, use the following gear to maximize Ice Attack with Burst and Weakness Exploit:
- Legiana Helmet and Coil (Grade 6)
- Barioth Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Mail (Grade 6)
- Zinogre Greaves (Grade 6)
As always, try to get a decent level of Focus for the Bow, Great Sword, Long Sword, and Hammer. To do that with this element, use the following:
- Legiana Helmet and Coil (Grade 6)
- Barioth Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Pukei-Pukei Mail (Grade 4)
- Jyuratodus Greaves (Grade 6)
The Lance build will be able to take advantage of both Guard and Offensive Guard by utilizing the following pieces:
- Legiana Helmet and Coil (Grade 6)
- Barioth Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Barroth Mail (Grade 6)
- Radobaan Greaves (Grade 4)
Finally, with the Light Bowgun, prioritize Reload Speed once more by using these specific pieces paired with the Ice Attack gear:
- Tobi-Kadachi Helmet (Grade 6)
- Legiana Coil and Greaves (Grade 6)
- Barioth Mail and Vambraces (Grade 6)
Thunder Damage
For Thunder Attack, you will mainly be using either Tobi-Kadachi or Zinogre gear pieces. As always, you will be prioritizing Burst and Weakness Exploit for the Sword & Shield and Dual Blades by using these:
- Zinogre Helmet, Greaves, and Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Tobi-Kadachi Coil (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Mail (Grade 6)
If you are a Hammer, Great Sword, or Long Sword user, you should use the following set to get some degree of Focus:
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet and Mail (Grades 6 and 4, respectively)
- Zinogre Vambraces and Greaves (Grade 6)
- Tobi-Kadachi Coil (Grade 6)
Unlike previous elements, the Focus you get with the previous set is too low for the Bow. Because of that, you will be sacrificing one level of Thunder Attack to boost your Focus up to 4:
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet and Mail (Grades 6 and 4, respectively)
- Zinogre Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Tobi-Kadachi Coil (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Greaves (Grade 6)
For the Lance, you can achieve level 2 Offensive Guard and Guard by utilizing the following set pieces:
- Zinogre Vambraces and Greaves (Grade 6)
- Radobaan Helmet (Grade 6)
- Tobi-Kadachi Coil (Grade 6)
- Barroth Mail (Grade 6)
Finally, the Light Bowgun will still be focusing on Reload Speed as it is one of the best perks that you can have with this weapon:
- Tobi-Kadachi Helmet, Coil, and Mail (Grade 6 except for the Mail at Grade 4)
- Zinogre Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Legiana Greaves (Grade 6)
Poison Damage
Currently, only some of the weapons have poison variants, so don’t be surprised if there are missing entries here. For the Sword & Shield, you will still be focusing on Burst with the following gear:
- Zinogre Helmet and Greaves (Grade 6)
- Pukei-Pukei Vambraces and Coil (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Rathian Mail (Grade 6)
Focus is still the main perk to pair with Poison Attack when it comes to the Great Sword, Long Sword, and Hammer. Use the following set if you are using these weapons:
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet, Coil, and Vambraces (Grade 6 except for the Vambraces at Grade 4)
- Rathian Mail (Grade 6)
- Juyratodus Greaves (Grade 6)
For the Lance, you can achieve level 3 Guard with max Poison Attack by using these items:
- Pukei-Pukei Vambraces and Coil (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Radobaan Greaves and Helmet (Grades 4 and 6, respectively)
- Rathian Mail (Grade 6)
Finally, the Bow will be utilizing max Focus but with significantly lower Poison Attack at only level 2. To get these stats, use the following set:
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet (Grade 6)
- Rathian Mail (Grade 6)
- Black Diablos Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Coil (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Greaves (Grade 6)
Paralysis Buildup
With the current patch, you can only achieve a maximum of level 3 Paralysis Attack. Because of this, you will also be focusing on other bonuses to increase your damage output.
For the Sword & Shield, you will be maximizing your Burst and Weakness Exploit levels by having the following set:
- Zinogre Helmet (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Mail (Grade 6)
- Rathian Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Great Girros Coil and Greaves (Grade 6)
For the Hammer and Great Sword, on the other hand, you will be getting level 3 Focus along with your Paralysis Attack:
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet and Mail (Grades 6 and 4, respectively)
- Black Diablos Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Great Girros Coil and Greaves (Grade 6)
Dragon Damage
Only the Bow has this element as of writing this article, and this set will be maximizing Focus while having at least level 2 Dragon Attack:
- Pink Rathian Mail and Greaves (Grade 6)
- Pukei-Pukei Helmet (Grade 6)
- Black Diablos Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Rathalos Coil (Grade 6)
Sleep Buildup
Sleep Attack can only go up to level 3 at the moment, so you can maximize other bonuses if you desire to min-max your build.
For pretty much every weapon that currently uses this element, which are the Sword & Shield, Hammer, and Great Sword. For the Sword & Shield, use the following for level 4 Burst:
- Zinogre Helmet and Greaves (Grade 6)
- Radobaan Mail and Coil (Grade 6)
- Rathian Vambraces (Grade 6)
On the other hand, you can utilize more Focus with the Hammer and Great Sword by using this set instead:
- Zinogre Helmet (Grade 6)
- Radobaan Mail and Coil (Grade 6)
- Rathian Vambraces (Grade 6)
- Jyuratodus Greaves (Grade 6)
And those are the Monster Hunter Now builds that you can currently use in the game to have the maximum possible elemental damage for each type as of the current patch. Now, get out there and start hunting some monsters so that you can build up a variety of sets!
