Both the Hammer and Hunting Horn had their overall power increased, with certain attacks and actions becoming easier to perform.

Monster Hunter Wilds' next big update is set to launch on Wednesday (28 May) and developer Capcom has already posted the patch notes, which include buffs to the Hammer and Hunting Horn, as well as a rebalance for the Gunlance, among other weapon changes and gameplay tweaks.

The Hammer had the overall power of its attacks increased. The Element attack scaling for Charge Shot and Overhead Smash also got buffed, while the Upswing and sneak attacks had their hitboxes improved. The flow of actions players can take while charging up was also improved, with the Hammer's aerial playstyle also buffed, as sliding is now easier to perform. Here is the full list of changes coming to the Hammer:

  • The overall power of attacks has been increased.
  • Element scaling for Charge Shot and Overhead Smash has been increased.
  • You can now evade while readying an Upswing attack.
  • The responsiveness of actions performed while charging has been improved, and sliding has been made easier to perform.
  • Enlarged the hitboxes for Upswing and sneak attacks.
  • The cancel timing for Focus Blow: Earthquake is now slightly earlier.
  • Fixed an issue where selecting an item from the Custom Radial Menu would not automatically use the item after sheathing your weapon.

The Hunting Horn had a number of its attacks buffed, with the damage of Echo Bubble, Performance, and Focus Strike: Reverb getting increased while the damage of Encore got an even bigger boost. Here is the full list of changes coming to the Hunting Horn:

  • Echo Bubble, Performance, and Focus Strike: Reverb damage has been increased.
  • Encore damage has been significantly increased.
  • The cancel timings for Encore and Offset Melody are now slightly earlier.
  • Toned down the visual effects of Echo Bubbles to improve visibility during a hunt.

While the Hammer and Hunting Horn were clearly buffed, the Gunlance, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun were also rebalanced with certain mechanics for those weapons getting boosted, while others were nerfed.

Gunlance, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun get rebalanced

The Gunlance had the overall power of its attacks and Element scaling increased. Capcom also adjusted the power of the weapon's different Shelling types. The attack power of Gunlances with “Slightly Weak” and below Shelling were increased, while those with “Slightly Strong” and above Shelling were decreased. 

These changes are set to shake up the metagame for Gunlance, as the Guardian Arkveld Gunlance–by far the best Gunlance since launch due to its high attack and Wide + Slightly Strong Shelling–will be weaker. This then leaves the window open for the likes of the Artian or Zoh Shia Gunlances to become the top pick for players. 

With that said, here is the full list of changes coming to the Gunlance:

  • The overall power of attacks and element scaling has been increased.
  • Elemental values and crit rate now apply to the consecutive hit damage of Wyrmstake Cannon.
  • Adjusted the power of Shelling: increased the attack power scaling for "Slightly Weak" and below, and decreased it for "Slightly Strong" and above.
  • Increased the attack power scaling for the long shelling type Wyrmstake Cannon.
  • Slightly decreased the attack power scaling of Wyrmstake Full Blast, while significantly increasing it for Burst Fire.
  • Fixed an issue where the number of hits from Wyvern's Fire varied depending on the frame rate settings.

Meanwhile, the Light and Heavy Bowgun have been rebalanced to allow for more ammo types to be used for optimal gameplay. The damage of Normal, Spread, and Sticky Ammo were increased while the damage and maximum number of hits of Elemental Ammo were decreased. These changes should make both Bowgun types have more flexible playstyles.

Here is the full list of changes coming to the Light Bowgun:

  • Normal Ammo damage has been increased.
  • The amount of Rapid Fire Gauge consumed while using Normal Ammo in Rapid Fire Mode has been decreased.
  • The amount of Rapid Fire Gauge recovered while using Pierce Ammo has been decreased.
  • Spread Ammo damage has been increased.
  • The critical range of Spread Ammo has been extended.
  • The damage of Rapid Chaser Shot's last shot with Spread Ammo has been increased.
  • The amount of Rapid Fire Gauge recovered while using Spread Ammo has been increased.
  • The cancel timing for Spread Ammo is now slightly earlier.
  • The recoil distance of Spread Ammo has been reduced.
  • The maximum number of hits from Elemental Ammo has been decreased.
  • Elemental Ammo damage has been decreased.
  • The amount of Rapid Fire Gauge consumed while using Elemental Ammo in Rapid Fire Mode has been decreased.
  • Sticky Ammo damage has been increased.
  • Sticky Ammo stun value has been increased.
  • The cancel timing for Sticky Ammo is now slightly earlier.
  • The maximum number of hits from Dragon Ammo has been increased.

Here is the full list of changes coming to the Heavy Bowgun:

  • Normal Ammo damage has been increased.
  • The amount of Ignition Gauge recovered while using Pierce Ammo has been decreased.
  • Spread Ammo damage has been increased.
  • The critical range of Spread Ammo has been extended.
  • The amount of Ignition Gauge recovered while using Spread Ammo has been increased.
  • The maximum number of hits from Elemental Ammo has been decreased.
  • Elemental Ammo damage has been decreased.
  • Sticky Ammo damage has been increased.
  • Sticky Ammo stun value has been increased.
  • Adjusted the cancel timing for Sticky Ammo to be earlier.
  • Slicing Ammo damage has been increased.
  • Wyvernpiercer Ignition damage has been increased.
  • The maximum number of hits from Dragon Ammo has been increased.

The nine other weapon types in the game did not receive any balance changes, however, aside from a number of bug fixes. If you didn't see your favourite weapon here, then that means it should already be in a good place. 

Aside from the weapon changes listed above, Monster Hunter Wilds' 28 May update also features its first-ever collaboration with Street Fighter 6. The collab event will feature an Akuma armour and layered armour set for Hunters, Blanka-chan armour and layered armour set for Palicoes, plus paid Cammy and Chun-Li outfits for Alma. And if you're tired of taking down monsters using your oversized weapons, then you can get into some fisticuffs instead while using the Akuma armour.

In addition, 8-star Tempered Monster quests for Gore Magala, Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, and Jin Dahaad will also be available at Hunter Rank 41 or higher. The 7-star Tempered versions of those aforementioned monsters will still appear, however, with the 8-star Tempered versions being significantly stronger. Higher-difficulty quests are now set to appear more frequently as a player's Hunter Rank increases.

For the full list of changes coming to Monster Hunter Wilds in its 28 May update, check the full patch notes here.