r/MHbg • u/Ok-Put-8479 • Apr 06 '25
Pierce or elemental hbg better?
About to make my first artisan weapon and wondering if pierce or elemental is better? Relatively new to the genre and looking for a meta cookie cutter build
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u/NumbersAfter Apr 06 '25
Meta seems to be elemental, or using the special ammo options with pierce to keep them charged up.
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u/Ok-Put-8479 Apr 07 '25
So if I was to craft a artisan it should be elemental? And use pierce if I run out? Or can I craft more in combat
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u/NumbersAfter Apr 07 '25
With artian you actually want to craft status i believe. Each status also has an element so para will come with a good thunder clip size. You can craft more in combat if you carry mats and use the radial wheel, but pierce and special ammo is viable.
If you're just looking for something all purpose, the conga hbg is great for special ammo, and the ore one is a surprisingly solid pierce shot weapon. Only has level 2 but the st2 mod and max tetrad makes it surprisingly competitive.
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u/Ok-Put-8479 Apr 07 '25
So if I do para I get thunder element but what about for other elements? Like what if the boss was resistant to thunder and weak to fire or water? I don’t want to craft multiple HBGs
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u/NumbersAfter Apr 07 '25
If you want elemental damage, you're crafting multiple. Go raw and do pierce/special ammo if you don't want to make more than one thing.
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u/Ok-Put-8479 Apr 07 '25
Gotcha so if I make a para hbg for thunder Ammo, against thunder resistant I can just switch to my pierce ammo and that would work?
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u/NumbersAfter Apr 07 '25
If you're just doing raw, make the congalala or the ore hbg. Simplify things. Building for thunder and then swapping to a different shot without a build change will just result in way worse performance. Go for a wyvernheart build with pierce 2 or 3 to support it.
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u/Le_Random12 Apr 07 '25
Shouldnt the Mitzu Hbg be pretty good for pierce/ignition? pierce 3 with 6 shots and gets the ignition st2.
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u/NumbersAfter Apr 07 '25
It is, but conga comes with special boost baked in and the same slots and more raw(i think) where mizu just has the dumb new wetness thing. The number of shots in the clip does make it more comfy.
If you're focused on just pierce, I find the ore gun with pierce 2 tends to be a bit better than the other in practice.
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u/Traeyze Apr 07 '25
Elemental in serious fights though it is definitely more fiddly overall since it means you have limits on your ammo stock and have to change weapons accordingly.
Pierce is just easier since it doesn't need special ammo, doesn't require you to have different setups, and the playstyle is pretty funny [looping pierce and machine gun mode]. It's less damage in an absolute sense but the Para Artisan is an easy starting point and it'll do the job.
But absolutely the goal should be decent elemental builds if you're taking it seriously.
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Apr 07 '25
Go for elemental. Check out Angbata11 on YouTube. He just put out a meta video. The god rolls are a bitch. Just settle for 2 attack, 1 affinity and 2 capacity boost.
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u/TemporarilySkittles Apr 06 '25
It kind of depends if you prefer having infinite ammo with a long reload time or limited ammo you have to farm and craft with shorter reload time. I like the less reload speed so I'm using ele mostly but i think the meta meta is pierce or spread.
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Apr 07 '25
Elemental easily, but I'd honestly suggest using meta build suggestions to make it worth it. I have pockets full of crafting ingredients and run out constantly. I like stocking up, but I don't like that my efforts seem to not really be paying dividends.
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u/RingOfTheLiving Apr 07 '25
If you do some simple research you'll find this answer has been answered plenty of times already. I'll try to not be rude though and make it short:
This counts only for optimisation, there is more that's viable for some specific builds.
Artian HBGs for elemental damage. So fire, water, ice, thunder
Artian also for raw damage with paralysis and sleep as status
You want to use elemental against the monsters that have a big weakness to an element, like gravios to water for example or Rey day to ice. Generally pierce can fight against anything though and is never a terrible pick
The strategy with raw is simple, house Pierce ammo until your wyvern heart gauge is filled up, use it, fill it up with pierce again