Iceborne weapon popularity list

[mewlynx]

Was thinking about it and I remember LS being THE most popular weapon and seeing it in practically every hunt, but I feel like I barely see it anymore. I'm mostly just curious to see if my personal experiences align with overall stats, if anyone has them.

[JPM岩]

SWITCH AXE GANG RISE UP

[CourtesyFlush09]

They need to make the LS less weeby in the next game. This is unacceptable.

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by CourtesyFlush90:

They need to make the LS less weeby in the next game. This is unacceptable.

Alternatively, make everything else weebier to entice LS players

[CourtesyFlush09]

Originally posted by maelynx:

Originally posted by CourtesyFlush90:

They need to make the LS less weeby in the next game. This is unacceptable.

Alternatively, make everything else weebier to entice LS players

Well damn. I didn't even think of that.

[lexilogo]

Originally posted by Holografix:

HH always gets no love.

Love comes from within, and from serving the Doot. We need no other source.


Anyway, it's definitely worth keeping in mind that weapon popularity doesn't always translate into what you see online. People who play Hunting Horn are incentivised by their moveset to play online inherently.

I think despite the 1%, if Hunting Horn stays as good as it is now, those stats will likely have risen in the next MH game. Its legend is already growing, and the most popular weapons in the game will inevitably lose some of their players as they are distributed around other weapontypes. World is inflated by the biggest procession of MH newbies in the series history so stats being lopsided was inevitable.

Assuming Capcom's weapon balance doesn't massively mess up any weapons my personal prediction is that Horn will overtake the Lances next game and they will be the least popular overall weapontypes, despite probably still being good weapons.

[Holografix]

Originally posted by lexilogo:

Originally posted by Holografix:

HH always gets no love.

Love comes from within, and from serving the Doot. We need no other source.


Anyway, it's definitely worth keeping in mind that weapon popularity doesn't always translate into what you see online. People who play Hunting Horn are incentivised by their moveset to play online inherently.

I think despite the 1%, if Hunting Horn stays as good as it is now, those stats will likely have risen in the next MH game. Its legend is already growing, and the most popular weapons in the game will inevitably lose some of their players as they are distributed around other weapontypes. World is inflated by the biggest procession of MH newbies in the series history so stats being lopsided was inevitable.

Assuming Capcom's weapon balance doesn't massively mess up any weapons my personal prediction is that Horn will overtake the Lances next game and they will be the least popular overall weapontypes, despite probably still being good weapons.

I serve nothing.
I wield my Hunting Horn with the power of caprice, a lone bard of chaotic tendencies. I hunt for myself, and if you happen to be within earshot of my melodic buffs, so be it.

I doubt that the HH will ever become popular, because of it's intricacies and medium power. It doesn't have flash or dps. It's a secret tool for the initiated only. Hunting Horn users are a small cadre of players heralded in myth and lost to legend.

[Xedhadeaus]

lol Least hunted behemoth...
If only failures counted towards that.

[Asphe]

Makes a lot of sense though. Since the more players that use LS... the more players that wish to avoid the need to have Flinch Free... which is why Bow is #2.

Seriously, I've been KB'ed by a LS... while tossing Pierce from a HBG while using the sniper scope in critical range, so I was nowhere close to the dragon... seems they won't even wait until the mob is down and you are trying to carve, before trying to flinch you.

That's why HBGs are more popular than Lances/Gunlances. The latter two are still too close to the LS-users for comfort ^_^. Altana only knows how poor HHs are abused...

Or maybe newbie just go to the Smith... pick the weapons that's listed at the top... or at the bottom.

[mewlynx]

Originally posted by Asphe:

Makes a lot of sense though. Since the more players that use LS... the more players that wish to avoid the need to have Flinch Free... which is why Bow is #2.

Seriously, I've been KB'ed by a LS... while tossing Pierce from a HBG while using the sniper scope in critical range, so I was nowhere close to the dragon... seems they won't even wait until the mob is down and you are trying to carve, before trying to flinch you.

That's why HBGs are more popular than Lances/Gunlances. The latter two are still too close to the LS-users for comfort ^_^. Altana only knows how poor HHs are abused...

Or maybe newbie just go to the Smith... pick the weapons that's listed at the top... or at the bottom.

HH shouldn't have any issues, surprisingly enough. Unless something changed with IB, nothing can stop you except clusters/wyvernblast and launchers.

[Seamus]

Originally posted by Asphe:

Makes a lot of sense though. Since the more players that use LS... the more players that wish to avoid the need to have Flinch Free... which is why Bow is #2.

Seriously, I've been KB'ed by a LS... while tossing Pierce from a HBG while using the sniper scope in critical range, so I was nowhere close to the dragon... seems they won't even wait until the mob is down and you are trying to carve, before trying to flinch you.

That's why HBGs are more popular than Lances/Gunlances. The latter two are still too close to the LS-users for comfort ^_^. Altana only knows how poor HHs are abused...

Or maybe newbie just go to the Smith... pick the weapons that's listed at the top... or at the bottom.

Gunlance got super armor added to a bunch more attacks. Longswords are more or less a non-issue now. Even without flinch free.

[Franz]

Originally posted by DaTank:

That list is a testament to why tier lists or threads about "whats the best weapon" "what weapon does the most damage" ruin weapons. Just think if we didn't have damage numbers and streamers making lists how much more diverse the weapon pool would be.

Longsword is currently third to last in the speedrun tier list, SnS is curently number 6, third melee weapon overall. I'd say people are playing the weapon they like despite "what weapon does the most damage" lists.

[DaTank]

Originally posted by Franz:

Originally posted by DaTank:

That list is a testament to why tier lists or threads about "whats the best weapon" "what weapon does the most damage" ruin weapons. Just think if we didn't have damage numbers and streamers making lists how much more diverse the weapon pool would be.

Longsword is currently third to last in the speedrun tier list, SnS is curently number 6, third melee weapon overall. I'd say people are playing the weapon they like despite "what weapon does the most damage" lists.

Ok cool, but that's the speedrun tier list. OP isn't talking about a specific minority of players.

[ThisGuyRSick]

Ultimately, your experiences are likely to differ from the OVERALL weapon distribution due to the way the information is sampled. If you're playing in the endgame playing online, you only represent a slice of the broader MHW population:

A) You're in the endgame. Monsters are more difficult. Honestly, a large portion of LS users have no idea how to use them. They're in the guiding lands, not using foresight, not completing their spirit slash combo's, and ultimately aren't contributing much. Once these players get into the endgame, they hit a wall where they're just being slapped around because their current skill level just doesn't cut it anymore. Those players are then likely to pick up the easier weapons or resort to cheese. Therefore, there's going to be a larger representation of easy/cheesy weapons at endgame. If you played multiplayer through the story, think back to what weapon representation looked like then. There was likely a distribution that more closely followed the distribution that the data shows.

B) You're playing online/multiplayer. Some weapons are better suited for multiplayer than others, namely ranged weapons. I personally will bring a LBG or HBG against certain monsters if I'm playing online, such as Rathalos--because he flies around so much--or Barrioth--since he jumps around a lot in a group simply because I don't feel like dealing with the headache. If I'm solo, I'll use a melee against those same monsters because I can more easily lock them down and they generally won't move nearly as much. As a result, this impacts the likelihood of running into someone using ranged weapons when online. In addition, speaking specifically about LS, I personally hate the lack of consistency I get with foresight slash when in groups. You end up with a lot of whiffs and wasted spirit gauges. As a result, I'm additionally less likely to use LS when in groups.

C) Confirmation bias. This one isn't necessarily true, but unless you're actually taking data on the weapon distributions that you're running into, you're likely overestimating the distribution of certain weapons simply because you likely went into your observations with a conclusion in mind. Because many people are irritated by the cheesiness of things like sticky gunners, go in with the hypothesis of "I bet there's a lot more sticky gunners now", they're more likely to attend to those encounters and overestimate how often they encounter it. Poor sampling sizes can also contribute, but I won't get into that.

While I can't say for certain. The distribution of weapons being used against endgame monsters in the guiding lands likely looks much different than the distribution of the whole population.

TLDR; Weapon distributions vary based on the sub-population of the player base youre looking at: i.e. playing online/offline and if they're playing through the main story vs. endgame. Errors such as confirmation bias and poor sampling can also affect your notions of weapon distribution.

[Ifrit1332]

So do you mean there's masochists players out there hunting A. Leshen more than Behemoth? Alrighty then...

[amathy]

Originally posted by DaTank:

Originally posted by Franz:

Longsword is currently third to last in the speedrun tier list, SnS is curently number 6, third melee weapon overall. I'd say people are playing the weapon they like despite "what weapon does the most damage" lists.

Ok cool, but that's the speedrun tier list. OP isn't talking about a specific minority of players.

you don't need to be a speedrunner to use hbg, lbg, etc. and consistently do more damage
the potential of weapons doesn't change just based on the person using it