What are the best beginner weapons in Wild Hearts?

Being a RPG title, all weapons in Wild Hearts have particular uses and strengths. No matter what weapon you want to use, you can master it and succeed in the game, but not all of these pieces of equipment are good options for newcomers to the monster-hunting genre. Although the Claw Blades are one of the best weapons in the game, they take experience and skill to get the most out of them.

Depending on your experience with monster hunting games and Wild Hearts, you might have other opinions or favorites, but the weapons listed below will be suitable for most new players. Some of them are better in multiplayer, while others are simply great for any situation that you might come across.

This article reflects the personal views of the author.

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Which weapons should beginners in Wild Hearts seek?

1) Staff

For many players, the staff might just be the best weapon in the game. What makes the Karakuri Staff so amazing in Wild Hearts is its flexibility. Unlocked in Chapter 2, it's a medium-range weapon with a wide variety of transformations. Here are the different forms that it can take on:

• Staff
• Polearm
• Shuriken
• Double Blades
• Juggernaut Blade

It can even become a Giant Blade by using Attack 2/Special at the same time. Although it’s easy to start using, it’s going to be hard to truly master. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use it as soon as you get it in Wild Hearts. A beginner can use it to deal serious damage to most enemies. But where this weapon really shines is when players can chain together the transformations to create incredible combos.

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2) Katana

That’s right, one of the first weapons in the game is a solid beginner weapon in Wild Hearts. Obviously, this makes some sense. While it’s not without flaws, it dishes out solid damage and potentially devastating combos. It doesn’t require a ton of skill, and you can essentially use a katana for the entire game.

You can upgrade it in a variety of great ways, and it feels good to attack and then dodge with. However, it’s a fairly combo-oriented weapon. Once you’ve begun a combo, you can’t cancel it. If you get too greedy in Wild Hearts, you'll pay dearly for it. For players that have knowledge of their opponent, they can wait until the opportune moment comes up and demolish the kemono.

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3) Maul

Like in most monster-hunting games, the Hammer/Maul is an easy-to-use, hard-to-master weapon. Slow but devastating, the hammer offers unparalleled pummeling damage to whatever battle you’re heading into. Interestingly, this weapon offers decent mobility as long as you aren’t in the middle of a swing.

In general, it’s a fun weapon to use in Wild Hearts, but you really have to be careful. Whether you're in single-player or co-op, it has an attack that can destroy any nearby Karakuri structures as well, so you could ruin your own traps or barriers. If you take the time to learn how this weapon works, you can efficiently stun monsters or even stop their incoming attacks.

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4) Bow

While the cannon is incredibly challenging to use, the Bow is another matter entirely. If you aren’t concerned about doing tons of damage, the Bow is a great option for players. Although I would say it’s more of a support weapon, this is going to be great for new players who have experienced allies in multiplayer.

Players will want to use the “Haya” style arrows to plant several arrows into their foe and swap to the “Bolstered Otoya” shot to follow up with solid damage. As you must constantly be mobile in solo battles, your fights as a bow soloist will probably be slow going for a while. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use a bow, but just that it isn’t as mighty as other weapons in the game.

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All weapons in Wild Hearts are fun, but the ones revealed above are likely going to be the best options for new players, in both solo play and multiplayer.