Low Rank equipment, weapons included, are best described as stepping stones by the majority of the Monster Hunter community. However, whilst long time veterans are already slaying their way to the end game, very little thought is spared for the new player. Triumphing over even the most basic of targets feels like a mountainous climb to those new to the series, and their situation is almost certainly worsened by the lack of information out there to help them. It’s all G Rank this, Master rank that, but what about the early portions of the game, what should you aim for? All of our Rise content circulates around the Low Rank section for this very reason, including a trio of model choices for each weapon, but if you’re the kind of person that just wants one single great option for each, then look no further.
Long Sword: Hidden Sabre
First up we have the beginner friendly weapon, the Long Sword. It’s a weapon that traditionally favours raw damage over status or elemental contrivances, and the same is true here in Rise. Rather than focusing our choice on absolute raw damage however, we’ve opted for the Hidden Sabre. It’s effectively the Nargacuga Long Sword, and anybody familiar with the monster will know the trend that it’s weapons follow; medium raw & high affinity. Here these benefits are also accompanied by a massive amount of green sharpness, making it ideal for the extended battles that take place towards the higher end of Low Rank. It can be a little awkward to craft thanks to the Cutwing requirements, but it’s certainly worth doing so.
Low Rank Benefits
- Very high affinity of 30%.
- Massive amount of green sharpness.
- Medium raw damage, offset by the high affinity.
- Excellent upgrades that eventually reach white sharpness.
Great Sword: Tiger Jawblade
Next up is the Great Sword, which is yet another weapon that prefers raw damage, even more so than our previous choice. Thankfully the arsenal of Rise means that we have plenty of options for models here, but our absolute favourite has to be the Tiger Jawblade. It’s a bit of a fan favourite as it is, having been present in titles previously, but if anything it’s more powerful than ever here in Rise. Not only does this come with a high amount of raw damage, but it also has access to a small amount of blue sharpness, which multiples it’s damage even more. Further still, its closest contenders either feature more negative affinity or less sharpness, meaning it beats them out in terms of pure damage numbers.
Low Rank Benefits
- High raw damage.
- Blue sharpness multiplies this damage even further.
- Beats out any other option in Low Rank once the calculations are done, and Rampage Skills are added into the equation.
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Dual Blades: Sinister Blades
Well, there was only really going to be one winner here, wasn’t there? The Dual Blades are as powerful as ever in Rise, and when you combine this fact with the small buff that Blast damage seems to have received, the Sinister Blades become a pair of whirling, exploding death machines. You do have to go through the purple exploding dog that is Magnamalo, but you’re going to have to do that multiple times, and if you’re a fan of the twin daggers then it’s certainly worth your time. They even come with a huge amount of green sharpness which, more than other weapons, benefits the Dual Blades greatly.
Low Rank Benefits
- Good level of raw damage.
- Comes with the Blast status, which builds up and explodes for a big chunk of damage on the target. The Dual Blades, which hit often, will build this up quickly.
- Huge amount of sharpness which is ideal for the Dual Blades.
Light Bowgun: Jaeger
As much as we enjoy the Hidden Eye and Usurper’s Crime, which are the other two that we chose when writing about 3 LBG models, there is nothing quite like the Jaeger. Traditionally, models that focus on the ‘Normal’ type of ammo are good all round performers, and those that feature the ability to Rapid Fire it only amplify this. One such model is the Jaeger, but it has an additional feature that is tremendously useful: You can reload this whilst moving. This is tremendously useful, especially when you’re learning about monster patterns and attacks, so it causes us to value it just a little higher. If you’re looking for a flashy LBG, then the Hidden Eye and it’s Rapid Fire Pierce 1 ammo is for you, but if you’re just looking to get the job done with minimum fuss, then Jaeger has you covered.
Low Rank Benefits
- Features Rapid Fire Normal 2 Ammo.
- Additionally, allows the reloading of Normal 2 Ammo whilst on the move.
- Limited additional ammo choices, but you don’t really need them.
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Heavy Bowgun: Sinister Volley
As much as we dislike continuously recommending models that come from the same target monster, it’s too hard to ignore the power that the Sinister Volley offers. Yes it’s awkward to craft, featuring one of the largest lists of Magnamalo parts going, but doing so will net you a HBG that will last through to the end game, upgrades pending. It features high raw damage, because of course it does, but it’s the combination of the new charged shot feature and Slicing Ammo that we really love, along with being able to move whilst firing it. It might be slow and lumbering, but stomping around your target with a huge slicing ammo shot primed is a feeling quite like nothing else. You’re slow as molasses sure, but when you hit, you hit hard.
Low Rank Benefits
- Great level of raw damage.
- Slicing Ammo is a monster, and this HBG handles it well.
- Fantastic upgrades that will last until the end game.
Lance: Goss Lance
It’s actually quite surprising that it’s taken this long to do so, but we’re finally recommending a weapon that comes from everyone’s favourite ice bear, Goss Harag. If you’re familiar with the line then you’ll know that you’re not getting perfection here, but rather a piece of equipment that is powerful, yet rough around the edges. The Goss Lance features a massive raw damage, but it’s balanced out by negative affinity. We do have concerns with it’s sharpness, so you may want to mitigate this if possible, but it’s damage is so high that both this and the affinity really cannot stop it. Rampage skills help it out, and you can use this to mitigate the negative affinity along with equipment skills, but either way it’s a brutally damaging Lance that will help you through the late portion of Low Rank and the early parts of High.
Low Rank Benefits
- Huge raw damage.
- Features negative affinity, but by this time you can likely mitigate or ignore it.
- Limited sharpness – we’d recommend you cover this via a skill if possible, or deal with dipping into lower levels for a little while.
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Gunlance: Diablos Gunlance
We’re losing points for originality here no doubt, given that this has been a standby model across multiple Monster Hunter titles, but where there’s smoke there is fire, and this particular model stands up to scrutiny. Rather unashamedly, it’s all about raw damage. The sheer brutish power of this model will wow you with it’s numbers, either through physical hits or the explosions that it offers. A side bonus too is that Diablos, at least the Low Rank version, seems to be easier than ever, perhaps due to the myriad of additional movement options provided by Rise. Either way, it’s a beast of a weapon, and just try to convince us that it doesn’t look cool as all hell.
Low Rank Benefits
- Massive raw damage rating.
- Good level of sharpness will keep you going for quite a while between breaks.
- Remarkably only features a -10% affinity rating, which is actually very reasonable for a Diablos weapon, and is easily countered through skills and equipment.
- As always, bear in mind that affinity does not influence shell damage.
Insect Glaive: Deathport Staff
Possibly the most unusual of our recommendations here is the Deathport Staff. This is because it requires the gathering of Sinister Cloth in order to craft, which can only be acquired through the Meowcenaries process, by sending them to collect from bone piles that are sparkling. That being the case, you will have to wait a little while to fully unlock it, and indeed the armour set should you want it, but you won’t regret having done so when you start using this. It comes with a good deal of raw damage and quite a reasonable portion of green sharpness, so at a basic level it will operate well. Things get a little more interesting when you delve into the details, because it also comes with a Level 4 Kinsect, something that is quite rare in Low Rank, and it also has access to the Wyvern Exploit Rampage Skill, which is a flat 5% buff to damage done to Wyverns, which happen to form a large percentage of your targets as you progress!
Low Rank Benefits
- Good raw damage.
- Reasonable amount of sharpness, though it will not progress further than green, even after upgrades.
- Fantastic Rampage Skill, Wyvern Exploit, is a flat damage increase to a great deal of targets.
- Access to a Level 4 Kinsect at an earlier point than other models.
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Hammer: Cyclo-Hammer
Another unusual one here, but more so because it really doesn’t focus on a ‘set’ of sorts. Most models tend to require two or three pieces from a particular monster to craft, but outside of three Tigrex Claws, the Cyclo-Hammer is yours for some bones and ore. It’s a bargain for what you get too; big raw damage, a very long patch of green sharpness and an absolutely incredible upgrade path. It’s likely that players could argue with us about plenty of choices in this list, and we’d likely acquiesce to them occasionally, but the vast majority would agree that grabbing the Cyclo-Hammer during Low Rank is a very good investment. Even if you shelve it and mess around with other models, the upgrades will eventually tempt you back.
Low Rank Benefits
- Big raw damage.
- Massive amount of green sharpness.
- Absolutely incredible upgrade path.
- Just a great all round hammer. Simple.
Hunring Horn: Sinister Strum
We hope you enjoy taking down Rise’s resident exploding purple lad, because we’re recommending another of it’s models, this time the Sinister Strum Hunting Horn. Unlike some previous titles in the series, the Horn actually has a very good selection of models, even at the start of the game. They’re all powerful enough, and whilst they’re never going to be amazing and inflicting status effects or such, they’ll do a good job at being slammed into your target’s face. What separates them then, is their melodies, and in this regard the Sinister Strum really takes the cake. It has access to a single tune that confers both Attack and Defence Up all in one, which itself is a fantastic buff, and also comes with access to Sonic Barrier and Health Regeneration. These three make it the ideal companion to take on your journey into High Rank, and it’s helped further by having good raw damage and a giant chunk of green sharpness!
Low Rank Benefits
- Access to excellent melodies: Attack & Defence Up in one tune, Sonic Barrier and Health Regeneration.
- Good level of raw damage.
- Huge amount of sharpness to play with.
- Can be a pain to craft.
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Charge Blade: Tigrex Divide
These days the Charge Blade is about so much more than it’s massive slam attack. You can, should you choose to do so, slowly dismantle a beast with your impressive sword arsenal and new Silkbind attacks. This is great fun of course, and we’d recommend you take the time to enjoy it’s myriad styles, but if you’re anything like us then you may find yourself jonesing for something with a little more… Impact. Yes, there is something ultimately satisfying about hunting down those massive discharge attacks, and there’s no better model to accompany this style in Low Rank than the Tigrex Divide. It’s an Impact type, has massive raw damage, features some blue sharpness and comes with -20% affinity that your discharge attacks will happily ignore – what’s not to love?
Low Rank Benefits
- More suited to those looking to hit massive SAED (Super Amped Elemental Discharge) attacks.
- Accomplished at this thanks to it’s massive raw damage.
- Also features a large amount of sharpness.
- Negative affinity can be ignored by those seeking to maximise SAED, because it’ll ignore such things.
Switch Axe: Wheel Axe
Alright, we’re going way out of some people’s comfort zone here, but stick with us. The Wheel Axe is a model that unlocks very early on in Low Rank, only requiring you to take down a Bishaten in order to craft. Such a thing begs the question, why would you recommend something as lowly as this? Well if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that not only does this model have reasonable raw damage and good sharpness, but it also uses the Dragon Type phial. Such a thing is usually shunned in the Switch (read: Swag) Axe community, with most preferring either a focused Elemental or Power phial, but there are two things you should know about this type; it charges up incredibly quickly, and quite a lot of your targets are actually weak to Dragon type damage. It’s these final two points that actually make it viable going forward. Go on, give it a try, you’ve probably already got the parts to craft it, so what do you have to lose?
Low Rank Benefits
- Features the underrated and quick to charge Dragon type phial.
- Good level of raw damage.
- Great level of sharpness for it’s early craft point.
- Upgrades are also very good, though you’ll perhaps need something to assist with sharpness concerns.
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Bow: Sinister Bow
It’s getting embarrassing, it really is, but we’re back once again at the fount of early loot that is Magnamalo, this time cobbling together a Bow from it’s parts. With this pon in particular, most players are likely to grab themselves a power coating model and push forward, but this particular model likes to do it’s work at close range. By doing it’s work, what we really mean is doing absolutely massive damage at close range, which it achieves through a combination of it’s charged shots being spread type, and having access to an extra effective version of Close-range coating. All of this results in a bow that’s capable of doing massive amounts of damage, but it does require a great deal of bravery… Are you up to the task?
Low Rank Benefits
- Spread type charged shots pair amazingly well with it’s extra effective Close-range coating.
- Also has access to extra effective Blast coating.
- Good level of raw damage helps to amplify these points.
- Transitions into a very powerful Rapid 5 bow.
Sword & Shield: Dirty Baron
Alright, we’ll level with you here. You can probably deal more damage with our other two favourites here, being either the Sinister Sword or the Spiked Club. The former of these can do great things with it’s Blast damage, and the latter is a very powerful raw damage choice, so why are we recommending what, on paper at least, looks like a pretty poor choice? Well it comes down to two things; it’s a Poison status model, which the SnS is great at applying, and it comes with the Buddy Rally Rampage Skill. This particular skill will boost the damage that your helpers deal to the target, and along with the constantly ticking Poison damage, it truly feels like you’re taking the opponent down by firing thousands of tiny arrows at it. The feeling of using slow attrition to defeat a target is fantastic, and whilst there are certainly more powerful choices that we’ve detailed above, this one is by far the most fun to use.
Low Rank Benefits
- Reasonable raw damage.
- Comes with the Poison status, which the Sword and Shield can build up very quickly.
- Access to the Buddy Rally Rampage Skill, which buffs your helper damage.
- Look, it’s not that powerful but it’s a great deal of fun, and that’s kind of the point really, isn’t it?
- …
- Alright, craft the Sinister Sword too, it’s really good OK?
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Categories: Monster Hunter Rise, Top 5