In the last post, I wrote about a build that's near infallible for solo play, and it has been consistently effective for missions that have at least 3 faints, even for the most difficult monsters, who are the Tempered variants of Kirin and Deviljho (known as Pickle), per general consensus.
There are some issues with the build. Some investigations only allow for 1 to 2 faints, in which case the build might not hold up as the main concept is built around the Fortitude skill that allows for a huge 15% boost in defense, up to two times, total of 30%.
But the caveat is that it only procs when you cart. By the time you become near invincible through fainting twice, you'd have failed the mission.
As you can see, this build may not be effective for coop as well. The most concerning reason is that if you faint twice, and invariably, another party member faints, the whole team loses the mission.
This build also lacks in other defensive skills, which can be problematic in group sessions. Quite a few times I'd get stunned, or flinch from roars, so I can't recite the song buffs. To be a good Hunting Horn teammate, you really want all party members to be buffed at all times so they can be as effective as possible, ensuring a higher likelihood of success.
Additionally, due to being stunned and subsequently hit, I have to drink quite a few healing items which also takes away from attacks. Again, it doesn't really affect solo play, since I don't mind longer hunt times. But in coop, the longer the mission goes on, the more likely a party member will faint, so the goal is to finish the mission as quickly as possible.
Indeed, this need to kill monsters as quickly as possible has gotten to the extreme. Often I see teammates recklessly rush into attacking the monster, not waiting for an opening, carting as a result, in their rush to kill monsters fast.
Another scenario is when a monster flees to another area. This is the ideal time to sharpen, buff and heal with items. However, teammates often would run away from me before I can rebuff them. It appears that they don't want to "waste" even a few seconds despite the buffs being incredibly powerful, always stronger than any consumable items or even armor skills.
For example, everyone's fetish is increasing attack power, and quite a few Hunting Horns have Attack Extra Large after recital and encore, which adds a huge 20% increase in attack power. To put this in perspective, everyone's belly aching about not getting the elusive Attack jewels to get their builds to Attack level 7, which adds on average about 8%. At 20%, the Hunting Horn Attack boost song is more than twice as powerful!
Because of the above reasons, I wanted to create a COOP-oriented build that prevents me from fainting as that's the absolute most important thing to avoid. Also, a viable COOP build must have the right skills to be an effective Hunting Horn team member.
So, next up are the skills that I've considered in making a COOP Hunting Horn Build and the rationale. I've tested this on tempered monsters (both solo and in group) that I always have difficulties killing, except for Tempered Nergigante as I don't have investigations for him. I don't find the HR100 mission a good representation since Nergigante's health is so reduced that it shortens the time so you're less likely to faint. Indeed, I was intimidated by this very last mission, but found it easy in the end.
Once I get a Tempered Nergigante investigation, I'll be sure to post if these builds work against him.
I found these new builds actually more effective solo than even the last posted build, as I rarely cart, and more importantly, more fun since I'm no longer stunned, or flinched from roars.
Stun Negation Level 3
Upon thinking about creating this near fail-proof build, I have to think of times when I faint the most, and it's almost always being stunned by a powerful blow, and then being hit by a 1HKO attack, that almost all monsters have. Because of that, in all my builds, I must have Stun Negate level 3 on my armor, or from a song provided by the Hunting Horn.
Divine Blessing Level 3
To prevent being carted by 1HKO attacks in the first place, you obviously need very strong defense. I found Divine Blessing level 3 the most effective skill as it reduces damage by an enormous 50%. Although it's random, it procs so frequently that I feel like it works practically all the time. So if one of these devastating attacks land, it will only take out 50% of your life bar (or of course less if you have heavy defense), guaranteeing survival. So many times I was saved by Divine Blessing. So level 3 is needed as an armor skill, or from the Hunting Horn.
Health Boost Level 3
I watched this video which gave me a basis for my current build. I recommend watching his other videos as they are very well put together and thought out:
but I got wiped by Tempered Elders' devastating attacks. The build doesn't include Health Boost jewels that can boost your health from 150 to 200, after item/food buffs. However, this build is invincible if you have the incredible skill level of aquChaos, and can stun lock and/or exhaust the monster, preventing it from injuring you.
If you closely watch the video, all of his hits land on the monster's head, which takes considerable skill. He is always in perfect position to do so (even without the evade extender, more on this below), and look how he dodges flawlessly despite NOT having evasion skills on hand!
For mere mortals like me, a lot of my hits land on the monster's legs, body, or completely whiff, as I'm frantically thinking, "finally an opening" and often just strike as soon as possible, because who knows when the next opening will arise.
You need the skill to know where the correct position is, making minute adjustments to somehow land hits where the monster's head happens to be. Admittedly, there are times when I'm in the zone where I'm brilliantly positioned almost the whole time at the monster's head, constantly stun locking or exhausting him, but it's in no way a consistent scenario, sadly enough.
It's impressive that aquChaos's build can withstand Xeno'jiiva's laser beam, but if you notice, this is with Rocksteady Mantle on. Sadly, the effect duration is only 90 seconds, though it can be infinite if you're not moving and not attacking, but of course, you can't stand still the whole time. The cool down is a long 3 minutes, so a lot of the time, you're without the tool.
Because I'm not at this skill level, I made sure all my builds have Health Boost level 3 which will give you 200 with food and/or item buffs. That is 150 base, and then food/buffs add an extra 50. I cannot emphasize how much tankier you are with just that extra 50 points. The 1HKO attacks can go from 150 to 0, but when I had 200, it gives you that cushion to run away, heal and survive.
If you feel you don't need the three gems for the health boost, that frees you up to a lot of other skills you can use, namely Attack Boost 3, Defense Boost 3, Recovery Up 3, any of the elemental resistances, and the like.
Evade Distance Level 3
Clearly if you never get hit, you don't need defense, so I found this skill incredibly useful as it helps you move out of the way of large AOE attacks.
Indeed, while using the last post's build, it didn't matter that I kept getting hit by Pickle's dragon breath over and over again, since the build withstands. However, this is not going to be effective in COOP. I can't be a useful team member if I keep flopping all over the place, instead of attacking and playing songs, and certainly not if I'm carted back at camp.
Since Pickle's area of effect is so large, Evade Distance is such a life saver. Often a couple of rolls will allow you to escape his breath entirely, as well as Teostra's super nova, and the like.
Further, the other brilliant thing of Evade Distance level 3 is that you can cover so much ground that you can be at the monster to strike before it moves out of range. So many times, I roll away from the monster and/or I'm already far away from it to avoid the devastating blows and enormous AOE attack.
But, by the time I roll back toward the monster during an opening, he's moved away and about to strike again. That has led to a lot of complete whiffs. However, with Evade Distance, I'm quick enough to roll where the monster is and land a blow, quite often being able to position myself at its head even, close the distance, before it has a chance to move.
So Evade Distance is not only defensive, but also offensive.
Evade Window
I tried to cram this skill in as I noticed with Evade Window levels 3 to 5, I shouldn't have been able to dodge those attacks when I did, thanks to the extra i-frames they give! At Level 5, you feel near invincible as long as you have enough stamina to roll.
However, I wasn't able to equip this ability and earplugs at the same time, in some of the builds. After experimenting, it seems Evade Distance was more useful than Evade Window, because you can roll away entirely from the attacks, then you can easily close the distance and hit the monster, which you can't do with Evade Window.
Earplugs--Monster Dependent
In group mode, I really feel that as a Hunting Horn, I must have earplugs so I can play songs without being interrupted to contribute offensively, and to make sure everyone is buffed all the time.
Indeed, the highest damaging attacks are through recital and encore which have long animation: you can so easily be interrupted by the dreaded roars. I also found that even though the last post's invincible build was fun, it got tiring after awhile when I kept getting interrupted. Indeed, it's just lovely to be able to whack Diablos in the face while he's roaring, instead of cringing!
If I'm not using a horn that has Earplugs Large, I've made builds that incorporate appropriate level earplugs for the monster. Fortunately, Kirin doesn't have roars, so my earplugs level 0 build can use Lightning Resist instead of earplugs. So I make sure I consult this chart to see what Earplugs I need:
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| Monster Roar Levels |
Regeneration
Because of the last post's build focusing on incredibly high defense numbers, I tried building around Kulve's armor set, since it's tied with Xeno'jiiva as having the highest base defense. Further, the chest piece B has stun resist level 2 skill (and even Critical Boost Level 1) so you only need to slot 1 Steadfast Jewel for complete stun negation, freeing up 2 slots for other gems.
Even with all the defensive skills described above, using the Kulve armor, I still cart from time to time, and was wondering why didn't I just go back to the meta Vaal Hazak Vitality Regeneration build that I was using for Lance, once I got my guard and guard up jewels?
Incorporating Vaal Hazak set, after playing tons of missions, I only carted twice during one mission against its Tempered variant, failing the 2 faint mission. I was completely unfocused and too over-confident, so I was taking all the hits. Yes, this build can fail if you do really really dumb things (hello, maybe dodge? instead of tanking and trading blows), so you can't be AFK.
But the fact that I never fainted prior after numerous Tempered encounters solo and in group pointed to the power of regeneration over defense numbers. So all ensuing builds incorporate regeneration.
I was only able to get one Hero's Streamstone: Hammer (I'd like two more for Nergigante and Teostra) which I used on the Xeno Manasheena. So if you happen on one, I would augment your Horn with Health Regen.
Fortitude
There are going to be times when you're going to faint, no one's perfect. In this case, it helps if we have the 15% extra defense and 10% attack heading back into the fray.
Horn Maestro
Lastly, this is crucial as you want the buffs to last as long as possible, for the times where there are no openings to play a song to rebuff.
These are quite a lot of skills, so I had to leave out considerations of Recovery Up (which leads to increase amount of health recovery with items, Vaal Hazak regeneration and the like) in some of the builds, as well as Evade Window. I also couldn't cram in Defense boost charms and gems in some of the build. Sadly, we can't have everything, but with these skills in place, this build is extremely strong and near infallible, unless you're extremely thoughtless and careless like I was during that ill-fated Tempered Vaal investigation.
Build Accessibility
Even though these builds require end-game monster parts, as do all high end builds, the jewels are all low rarity and actually easy to get. You'll most likely stumble upon them through story and ranking up your hunter levels.
Item Buffs
I use Immunizers to boost recovery speed even further (it really makes a noticeable difference), which stacks with the armor skill.
I buff with armorskin drug (I'm replenishing the mega variant) and demon drug as they last until cart (Though I think with Deviljho, you'll have to reapply armorskin if you get inflicted by defense down).
Right before attacking the monster, I pop the adamant seed, might seed (both last 3 minutes) and Immunizer (lasts 5 minutes) since they are time limited. I replenish when monster flees to another area.
Mantles
The Tempered monsters hit so hard, that Vitality Mantle which was my mainstay, has been ruled out. It absorbs certain amount of damage before it's in cool-down, so it doesn't last long.
Instead, I've been using the Health Booster to heal teammates extremely quickly. Further it heals enormous amounts of health over a 1 minute period, which also ensures further mission success by preventing carts.
I equip the Rocksteady Mantle, which is vital. Solo, I buff myself with songs, stock 3 songs to be ready to recite/encore right before facing the monster.
But in COOP, teammates simply can't wait. By wearing this mantle, I can recite and encore all 3 songs at once in the fray, without being interrupted by the monster and teammates, ensuring everyone is being buffed all at the same time.
Palico Gadget and Weapon
If you don't have a full team going in, your trusty palico can join. Niki wears the highest defense armor, Kulve Taroth or Xeno Set, uses Vigorwasp for further fail-proof, and wields the Felyne Butterfly Wand as it procs paralysis at least once per mission. It's recommended to use status ailment weapons.
Horn Considerations
Aside from the skills, buffs and mantles consideration, the next consideration as a Hunting Horn user is which horn to use?
The good news is that all the horns along the same line have the same songs, so you don't necessarily need the highest tier one.
Strangely, I didn't find the general consensus of best Hunting Horns effective for this near-infallible build, for either group or solo. These are Bazelguese's line (ending with Bazelreid Rookslayer) and Pickle's tree (ending with Deep Vero) Hunting Horns.
The Bazelguese's has the two level 2 gems lots, Attack Boost XL and Recovery Speed L up. It also has a healing small song, that doesn't heal much. The issue is that you still need to slot for earplugs, and it doesn't have Defense Boost which makes this build near fail-proof solo.
Further, although its Recovery Speed song is faster than an Immunizer drink, but by having Recovery Speed level 3 gemmed in, plus taking an Immunizer, the Recovery is already very fast, so the song really isn't needed. I agree that the Attack Boost XL is significant, but when I used the other Horns solo, I didn't notice any notable difference in kill times.
Pickle's is considered the best due to the highest raw attack, even with the negative affinity. It also has Attack and Defense XL songs with Health Boost Large. It's the Defense XL that really makes this build near fail-proof at least in solo, so it was a great contender.
The issue with his weapon is that it doesn't have any slots, so I wasn't able to gem in all the skills required. I really tried to fit in these skills and make it work, because I love how it looks and when it sings, its mouth moves!
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| Nergigante Hunting Horn Loadout |
Nergigante's horn, Desolation's Overture, is another horn I was considering. Because it has the earplugs large song, it frees so much space that you can even slot in Evade Window 3 to take advantage of additional i-frames!
Further, since a lot of users don't equip earplugs, it gives them extra windows for attacking. With Pickle's weapons having negative affinity, but often being one of the best weapons of almost every category, a lot of players have been using his weapons. Nergigante's horn has the Affinity Up Large that can mitigate the negative affinity, and boost attack power of team members who aren't already maxed out in affinity.
Further, Desolation's Overture has one of the highest raw attack power, and I find it the most unique looking Hunting Horn, along with Pickle's. For one of the slots, I added a Dragon jewel to increase it's Dragon element, but you can use another level 1 gem instead.
I sometimes use Nergigante's in both solo and group, so I included the loadout above, but the reality is, the Xeno'jiiva's horn, Xeno Manasheena, is more effective fail-proof wise, precisely because of its Defense XL song that pushes it over the edge in terms of invincibility. In fact, the last post's build is dependent on having either you or a friend play this defense boost. Further, it's the only horn that has 2 level 3 gem slots, which opens up a lot of skills to chose from.
You can equip earplugs charm level 3, and then slot two earplugs in the Xeno horn for the vaunted earplugs level 5, freeing up armor slots for other skills.
The Xeno Horn has Attack Large (15%)! So not quite perfection at Attack XL (20%) but close! I also find the Xeno songs easy to play as all the songs' notes can bridge onto another song.
Additionally, Xeno has All Wind Negate for missions against Kushala Daora, and even Stamina Reduction, especially helpful for Bow, Dual Blade and Switch Axe users. So the Xeno Horn is the go to Horn in both group and solo missions against Kushala.
For solo, with monsters that don't inflict ailments, I tend to use Xeno's Horn.
However, in COOP, for all other monsters, especially those who inflict ailments, I use Teostra's line, ending with Teostra's Orphee. It has the all ailment negate song, but also Divine Protection, freeing up a lot of slots for other skills.
The ALL ailments negated song includes full protection against the deadly stun ailment, along with effluvial, paralysis, poison, sleep. Getting stunned leads to most deaths, and Divine Protection reduces quite a few incoming damage by 50%, so this is the go to Hunting Horn in group.
The issue with Teostra is that it has small blue sharpness, but it has high blast, as well as a song that boosts elemental attack power up Large.
I noticed when I used the other Hunting Horns, the team tends to wipe despite affinity, attack and defense boosts, even earplugs large for Nergigante and Diablos roars. However, the success rate was increased significantly when I bring in Teostra's. It appears that teammates tend not to gem for stun negation or divine blessing, but rather focus on attack and offensive skills.
Finally, here are the loadouts I used in group missions:
Kushala Daora
I use Xenojiva's for Kushala Daora missions, since it has All Wind Pressure Negate, so it totally neutralizes Daora. Further, it always helps to give attack and defense boosts to the party, and if you have bow or dual blades users, it even has Stamina Reduction so they can be even more effective with attacks and dodges.
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| Kushala Daora Loadout |
It's hard to see, but equipped are Earplug Charm level 3, and the two Earplug Jewels since Kushala's roars are level 5.
The skills are as follows:
Vaal Hazak Vitality (speeds healing of recoverable damage, the red/yellow portion of the health gauge)
Earplugs 5 (nullfies weak and strong roars)
Stun Resistance 3 (Prevents Stun)
Health Boost 3 (Health +50)
Recovery Speed 3 (Quadruples the speed at which you heal red/yellow portion of the health gauge)
Evade Extender 3 (Greatly extends evade distance)
Divine Blessing 3 (While active, reduces damage taken by 50%)
Fortify 3 (Increases attack by 10% and defense by 15% with each use, stacks twice)
Horn Maestro 1 (extends melody effect duration and increases health recovery)
You even get the benefits of Peak Performance Level 2 as it comes from the armor itself. When your health is full, grants attack +10, which is over 8% attack.
All Other Monsters with Roar Level 5
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| Monsters Roar Level 5 Loadout |
This build uses Teostra's Orphee. It has the exact same skills as the Xeno build above with additional ability to add in extra skills. Because we don't need divine protection and stun negation slotted due to Teostra's songs, I used the 3 free slots for Medicine Jewels, for Recovery Up 3.
The 3 Medicine jewels let you recover 30% extra health from items, and even Vaal Hazak Vitality. Here, you can swap these out for any other gem level 1 (sometimes I slot in Defense x 3), so it's very flexible.
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| Monster Roar Level 3 |
My thinking is that Kulve has the highest base defense armor (along with Xeno'jiiva) for the added defense. Teostra's Orphee has small blue sharpness, so the Protective Polish can help retain blue sharpness.
However, the issue is accessibility, because of the time limited Kulve Taroth event, and the rarity of the Sharp Jewel.
If you don't have the Kulve helm and/or the sharpness jewel, to add more offensive skills, a great easy to obtain replacement is the meta Dragonking Eyepatch A and gem in Weakness Exploit for level 3, so whenever you hit weak spots, you have 50% increased affinity. Affinity is the percent chance that you'll land a critical hit, so there are quite a few offensive builds that skill in as much affinity as possible, often near 100% so almost all blows are critical hits.
Monsters with no Roar
In this build, I used Kulve's helmet again, for the extra base defense. Because earplugs aren't required, I used Evasion Charm 3 for the incredible Evade Window Level 3 which gives you more i-frames. Alternatively, you can use the Dragonking Eyepatch A.
Like the Roar 3 and 5 builds, I slotted 3 Medicine Jewels to get Recovery +30%, but they can be swapped for other gems.
For example, for Tempered Kirin (no earplugs required), I swapped the Medicine Jewels out for Lightning Resistance 3, and ate Vegetable Platter for elementary resist large for Tempered Kirin. For fire, use fire resistance, defense gems can be another consideration. If you have the rare attack jewels, you can also gem those in, and so forth.
Indeed, I was wondering why yesterday, Tempered Kirin was so easy? With divine protection, all ailments negated (you can't get stunned or paralyzed which leads to the most common way of dying to Kirin), and high lightning resist, my health went down to 1/2 bar but only a couple of times during the mission, and indeed, by the time I was thinking I better heal, with Vaal Hazak Vitality, my health bar went to 2/3rds then quickly to full, so I didn't need to heal.
Cons of the build
I'm not brilliant with the Hunting Horn, so I can't kill Tempered Elders under 15 mins, like I can with the Lance. However, I believe if you can land many blows to the head, stunlocking and exhausting the monsters, you can accomplish sub-15 mins with these builds. Hopefully I'll get better with the Hunting Horn as missions with the highest rewards tend to be 15 minute ones.
Conclusion
These near fail-proof builds use end-game armor, but easy to obtain common gems. They center around defense and survivability both in solo and group play, incorporating the following skills:
Stun negation, divine blessing, largest health bar, earplugs, evade distance, evade window (when possible), regeneration, horn maestro and fortitude (for those oops moments).
What are you thoughts, do you find these builds too defensive?
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