Hunting Horn Guide
Hunting Horn plays support in the heart of the fight. Track the monster's head and openings, the melodies available on your horn, and the gauge for Infernal Melody. When the opening is long enough for a performance or finisher, the same long-reaching blunt swings used to pressure the head become buffs for you and nearby allies: attack, refresh the melody that matters, and commit to the larger payoff only when the monster gives you time.
The two melody modes turn notes into effects differently. Melody Mode: Performance activates a melody when two consecutive attacks produce the same note. Melody Mode: Echo records notes on the musical staff, then activates them with its performance action. In either mode, performing Self-Improvement increases your movement speed and prevents the horn's attacks from being deflected.
The horn has no shield. Its blunt attacks build stun when they hit the head, but a performance also commits you to an animation until its roll cancel becomes available.
This guide covers Sunbreak's final balance. Control inputs are in the official manual. Combat Mechanics explains why the same swing can deal different damage. Every move is listed in Motion Values.
If this weapon is new to you, try it in the Training Area first. Use the in-game Hunter's Notes to practice its basic attacks; this guide explains how to connect them into a hunt.
Notes and Performance
Attacks record notes. Melody Mode: Performance plays a song when two consecutive attacks that produce the same note land. Melody Mode: Echo stores notes on a musical staff and uses its performance action to activate the notes on that staff. Performance mode rewards repeating a note immediately; Echo mode lets one performance activate several recorded notes.
Once all three note colors are stocked, Magnificent Trio activates every melody on the horn. Its animation takes longer to complete than a regular performance, so use the shorter action when the opening cannot hold Trio. The white flash confirms that the melody is active; roll as soon as the cancel becomes available instead of waiting through the remaining movement.
speeds each performance and raises shockwave damage. Its effect does not list any increase to song duration, so melodies still need to be refreshed before they expire. Songs do not need because Performance applies their effects directly to nearby allies.
Self-Improvement remains active until its duration expires. Recite it again before that happens.
Infernal Melody
Infernal Melody uses the separate gauge beside the musical staff rather than a stocked note. Attacks fill that gauge. When it is full, use the follow-up after a move that permits it, such as Magnificent Trio, Slide Beat, or Silkbind Shockwave. Its listed hit has an element modifier of zero, so that hit does not apply the weapon's element.
Earthshaker costs two Wirebugs. Its first hit plants an Ironsilk-bound blade, and the connected sonic blast follows, so the monster can move before the blast resolves.
Sonic Bloom also costs two Wirebugs, but it works differently: it places a cocoon that stores energy from performances and detonates after enough performances. Place it close enough that the tether will remain connected while you attack; moving too far away breaks the thread and detonates the cocoon early.
Bead of Resonance plants a field that repeats songs and emits a damaging sonic wave around the cocoon when you generate a melody effect. When you play Self-Improvement, it also emits Attack Up even if the horn does not carry that melody. Only one cocoon can exist at a time, so place it where the monster is likely to remain within its short damage range.
Silkbind Shockwave surrounds the horn with silk. For a short time, weapon swings that trigger the effect gain delayed shockwave follow-up hits. These build stun and exhaust, and their damage contributes to breaking monster parts. It costs one Wirebug. Keep the effect active while continuing to attack so more swings trigger those follow-ups. The follow-up hits can deal elemental damage, while fixed-damage sonic hits with an element modifier of zero cannot. Crush is a physical attack and uses the weapon's element.
Bead of Resonance shares a slot with Earthshaker and Sonic Bloom, so you cannot equip both a field and a sonic finisher in that slot.
Switch Skills
Two scrolls are available, and each of the five slots contains a choice. A fresh Hunting Horn moveset starts with Overhead Smash, Performance, Crush Attack Combo, Slide Beat, and Earthshaker.
| Slot | Default | Alternative Hunting Horn option |
|---|---|---|
| Overhead attack | Overhead Smash | Melodic Slap |
| Melody | Performance | Melody Mode: Echo |
| Combo | Crush Attack Combo | Swing Combo |
| Silkbind follow-up | Slide Beat | Silkbind Shockwave |
| Finisher | Earthshaker | Bead of Resonance or Sonic Bloom |
Switch Skill Swap lets the second scroll carry Bead of Resonance or Sonic Bloom, then lets you return to Earthshaker. This setup requires you to swap between scrolls during combat rather than leave the second scroll idle.
Fight loop
Choose the song you need from the equipped horn's melody list; its entry shows the note that plays it. In Melody Mode: Performance, land that note twice in a row; the matching pair activates the song. In Melody Mode: Echo, put the required notes on the staff, then use Performance to activate them. Repeat the method for your mode before an active song expires. After a performance, roll once the white flash confirms the effect and the cancel becomes available.
Keep Self-Improvement active. If Silkbind Shockwave is equipped, refresh it before a sequence of attacks so those attacks add delayed hits. Spend a full Infernal Melody gauge when the monster gives you time for both the preceding move and the follow-up. Save Magnificent Trio for an opening long enough to finish or cancel after its melodies activate. If Bead of Resonance is equipped, place it where the monster is likely to stay near the cocoon while you generate melody effects.
Great Izuchi is a clear training target for this loop: its head has a blunt hitzone value of 80 and accepts stun buildup. Activate Self-Improvement, aim your note-producing attacks at the head, and practice leaving a performance after the white flash.
When the monster is down, use Infernal Melody if its gauge is full. Use Magnificent Trio if all three notes are stocked and enough of the knockdown remains. Then continue attacking the head. Use Earthshaker or Sonic Bloom if that option is equipped on the current scroll and both Wirebugs are available. Spending both removes access to Wirefall until a Wirebug recovers, so make that trade only when the knockdown gives you a reliable opening.
To leave a performance safely, roll after the white flash. The horn has no shield or guard stance. Wirefall lets you recover after being knocked down.
Skills
When hits start to hurt, improve survivability before adding more damage. Eat, then collect Spiribirds up to the limits of the equipped Petalace. See Getting Started. See Combat Mechanics for .
Damage foundation
Start with the horn's mixture of physical swings and sonic hits in mind. Affinity benefits physical swings that can critically hit, while fixed-damage sonic hits do not use affinity.
| Offensive | Why |
|---|---|
| Speeds each performance and raises shockwave damage. Song duration does not change. | |
| Lv 4+ | Raises Attack by a percentage and a flat amount, supporting physical swings and raw-scaling sonic damage. |
| Lv 3 | Adds 50% affinity to physical swings on a hitzone of 45 or higher. Check the monster's head value rather than assuming every head qualifies. |
| Raises affinity for physical swings. Its value depends on how much of your attack sequence can crit; fixed-damage sonic hits cannot. | |
| Raises Attack and affinity while the monster is enraged. | |
| Maintain white or purple sharpness | Higher sharpness increases physical swing damage and helps prevent deflection when Self-Improvement is not active. Choose a method from the sharpness section below. |
| Defensive | Why |
|---|---|
| Eat every hunt | Raises maximum health and stamina for the quest; Dango adds its own skills. |
| Spiribirds | Raise quest health up to the limit of the equipped Petalace. |
| Armor Sphere | Raises Defense at the smithy. Spend them on armor you expect to keep when hits start to hurt. |
| 20 resistance to the relevant element | Prevents the corresponding blight. , , , , . |
| Has a chance to reduce damage when you are hit, including during a committed performance. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun, which would leave you unable to move before the next hit. |
In a group, add . Solo, skip it. Songs do not need .
Add these only when their condition matches how you play:
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Builds knockout faster from blunt hits to the head. It does not increase damage to the monster's health. | |
| Lv 3 | Raises physical critical damage from swings. Shockwaves do not crit. |
| Lv 3 | Speeds Wirebug gauge recovery while you remain on the ground after Silkbind Shockwave, Earthshaker, Sonic Bloom, or Bead of Resonance. |
| Raises Attack at full health; any missing health turns it off. | |
| Adds affinity after stamina has remained full briefly. A performance does not consume stamina, but rolling does and delays the activation. | |
| Repeated hits build its temporary bonuses; multi-hit attacks and Silkbind Shockwave follow-ups help meet that condition. | |
| Raises damage for a short time after you recover from a blight or abnormal status. | |
| Adds affinity after its time-and-damage condition is met; instead checks each physical hit's hitzone. | |
| After its gauge fills, it reduces damage and prevents the reaction from one hit, which can keep one committed action from being interrupted. | |
| Increases damage toward breakable-part thresholds. It does not increase damage to the monster's health. | |
| Raises Attack and Defense after a faint. It can recover a troubled hunt; it is not a reason to plan a deliberate faint. |
Maintain a sharpness color
Choose a sharpness-management method that fits the weapon's gauge and your affinity. becomes more consistent as more physical swings critically hit.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Adds sharpness when the gauge is not already full. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss on critical hits. Physical swings can crit; sonic finishers cannot use that affinity. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss for a fixed time after you sharpen. | |
| Reduces average sharpness consumption. | |
| Grants a timed boost after sharpening restores enough lost sharpness levels. | |
| Removes cycles from whetstone use, shortening the opening needed to sharpen. |
Additional defense and recovery
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Increases the health restored by potions and other healing effects. | |
| Shortens the time spent drinking after you sheathe the weapon. | |
| The red portion of the health bar returns faster. | |
| Adds Defense after armor has already been upgraded with Armor Sphere. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents elemental blights when resistance to the corresponding element cannot reach 20. |
| Lets you survive one lethal hit that meets its activation condition. The next hit can still make you faint. | |
| At sufficient level, prevents covered roars from interrupting a performance. Match the level to the roar you need to resist. | |
| Extends rolls, but the extra distance changes your spacing relative to the head. | |
| Extends the duration of a roll's invulnerability. It does not protect the performance animation. | |
| Reduces the stamina cost of rolls. A performance does not spend stamina. | |
| Sometimes lets you consume an item without reducing its count in the pouch. | |
| Calls a random Spiribird at intervals, which can reduce how many birds you collect before engaging. | |
| At sufficient level, resists covered roars, wind, and tremors while a large monster is enraged. |
Styles
The melody mode and damage skills should match the horn, its songs, and the attacks you intend to use. Keep Self-Improvement active in every style.
| Style | Skills |
|---|---|
| Melody Mode: Echo | Stores notes on the musical staff and activates them with its performance. still speeds that performance. |
| Element | Use the Attack skill that corresponds to the weapon's element: for fire, or the corresponding water, thunder, ice, or dragon Attack skill. Consider only when the targeted elemental hitzone meets its activation condition. Silkbind Shockwave follow-ups can carry element, so keeping that effect active gives elemental sets more frequent applications. |
| Conditional effects | grants benefits while Frenzy is active and after you overcome it. requires a monster affected by poison, paralysis, or an elemental blight, so use it only when the build applies one reliably. |
This hunt
These skills answer specific monster mechanics or hunt plans. Equip one when its condition will occur often enough to justify the slots.
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
| At sufficient level, prevents covered tremors from interrupting attacks and performances. | |
| At sufficient level, prevents covered wind pressure from interrupting attacks and performances. | |
| Raises Attack while you have an abnormal status that qualifies for the skill. | |
| Raises barrel-bomb damage when a hunt plan uses bombs against a sleeping monster. | |
| Makes the monster more likely to target you. That can make the head face you more often, but it also puts more attacks on your committed animations. | |
| Reduces or prevents the movement restrictions from deep mud and snow, depending on skill level. | |
| Inflicts hellfireblight on you while its condition is active. Use a Wiredash to leave that hellfire behind before committing to a performance. | |
| At the required level, a well-timed Switch Skill Swap evades an attack and recovers Wirebug gauge, trading a scroll swap timing test for more Silkbind availability. | |
| Improves defense and evasion while the monster targets you, so it fits hunts where you are targeted often. |
A hunt can also make , , , , or more important than damage when the monster applies the matching status frequently.
Skill limits
- Do not take expecting it to lengthen songs. Songs have a fixed duration. Instead, recite them again to reset their duration.
- does not share melodies.
- affects only critical physical swings. It does not improve fixed-damage sonic hits, so compare it with using the set's actual affinity and attack mix.
- A sonic finisher's listed fixed hit has an element modifier of zero and does not score a critical hit. Crush is a physical swing and can use affinity and element.
- Do not treat as though it were .
- does not give the horn a shield.
- Do not spend both available Wirebugs on Earthshaker when you need one for Wirefall. Doing so leaves no Wirebug for that recovery and can leave you vulnerable while grounded.
- requires a slide. A recital does not count as a slide.
- changes Wyvern Riding transitions; it does not improve ordinary horn attacks or performances.
Settings
Set automatic sheathe to Manual so a brief period without input does not put the horn away while you are building a note sequence.
Before a long performance, keep the camera high enough that the part you mean to finish on stays visible through the song. A low camera mid-melody makes it easy to walk the finale onto a weaker zone.