Monster Hunter Wilds executive director Kaname Fujioka has been known to publicly stated his ‘dislike’ for Gunners. The term itself refers to Bow and Bowguns, as old entries featured separate armor style for ranged weapons. In an interview with Urepia to celebrate the series’ 10th anniversary, Fujioka shared his frustrations with ranged weapons during early development days.
“Whenever monsters are getting stunlocked, I immediately think of counters for that, you know,” reminisce Fujioka when working on Monster Hunter Dos. “‘Man, I wish Gunners didn’t exist!’ I’d say while thinking about it.”
At the time, it seemed like a straightforward justification why Kushala Daora’s annoying wind aura is a thing and a lighthearted jab at balance headaches. As any veteran Gunner knows, Traps and Sticky and Sleep Ammos are basically death sentence for most monsters. But now, with Monster Hunter Wilds in full swing, that offhand remark feels eerily prophetic.
In Capcom’s sixth mainline game, ranged and melee gear have mostly been fully absorbed into a unified armor system. Gone are the iconic Gunner armor sets with their asymmetric design and unique stats. It’s safe to say the old armor system was the key visual and mechanical distinction between a Long Sword and a Bowgun Hunter.
Sure, Rise was the first to eliminate the distinction, but at least it had COVID and Palamute armor to blame. Meanwhile, Wilds takes it much further despite its normal development period.
Beta sets exist, but look exactly the same as Alpha — even when you changed their primary and secondary colors. But it’s not just the Fashion Hunters that are mourning. Across the internet, longtime Light and Heavy Bowgun users are voicing growing frustrations.
Among some common complaints are: Reload speeds and recoil values that cannot be tweaked. Elemental ammo is viable, but many other types feel gutted. Critical Distance on Pierce is ‘microscopic.’ Wyvern Igntion Mode, while powerful, has become near-mandatory to stay competitive. For many, it’s clear that Bowguns have lost their identity in Wilds, not just in their armor sets, but in how they actually play.
“Wilds is the first game where I’m struggling to enjoy the bowguns,” wrote series veteran SkinnyTurtles on Reddit.
“I DON’T like how bowguns in Wilds have largely turned into one-trick ponies that just spam pierce or elemental with only wyvernheart or rapid fire mode to add a bit of variety,” added Flashfall, another fictional semi-automatic crossbow enjoyer, in another thread.
It doesn’t help that, statistically, Gunners are slipping fast. We’re talking hard math here; Bowguns are just not in vogue anymore.
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Based on what the First Wyverian NPC said, Heavy and Light Bowguns held respectable shares in World and Iceborne — 7% and 5% respectively. Rise and Sunbreak‘s fast-paced Silkbind Skills even boosted Light Bowgun to 11.5%, placing it third overall from Capcom’s official data. But in Wilds, usage of Bowguns has plummeted. According to fantracker Wilds.app, Light Bowgun now sits at a mere 2.36% while Heavy Bowgun fares slightly better at 3.72%.
Interestingly, those numbers are behind Hunting Horn, Gunlance, and even Lance, the trio of unpopular weapons often sit in the bottom. From my own anecdotal experience, I also hardly ever see people playing Bowguns unless they’re farming Gravios.
Is this the realization of Fujioka’s old wish? Maybe not in tone, but certainly in design. Whether by balance or environmental intent, Monster Hunter Wilds seems to be pushing Blademaster, aka melee, back into the spotlight. Ranged combat hasn’t been completely run to the ground — after all, Bow‘s homing arrows are still popular. But Bowguns are no longer the safe, overpowered, one-stop-shop solution it once was.
In a strange way, though, that might be exactly what Fujioka had in mind all those years ago.
