Just as other weapons in Monster Hunter World, the Hunting Horn receives some special treatments with the return of the Golden Beast.

In this guide, we will check out what is the current best Hunting Horn builds and a quick overview of the best Hunting Horn in the current MHW meta.

MHW Iceborne Best Hunting Horns

• Kjarr Pipe “Crusher” (Kulve Taroth Blast Hunting Horn)
• Safi’s Shatterhorn (Safi’jiiva Blast Hunting Horn)
• Taroth Pipe “Sleep”
• The Rasping Ballad

Iceborne Hunting Horn Overview

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The Hunting Horn back in MHW is mostly used to be a support weapon with it’s song and the stunning power just like hammer.

This is changed after the release of Iceborne, as Hunting horn got several updates to it’s moveset. The Hunting Horn can now excel on both the offensive and the supporting side.

MHW Hunting Horn Builds – Armor

While Hunting Horn may give you an impression that it does not cost much sharpness, the new ability Echo will drain away this Sharpness bar in a very fast manner.

This makes skill like Master Touch a great addition to any Hunting Horn build. This armor skill comes from the Kaiser Armor set as a three pieces bonus (Teostra Armor) For the sake of comfy, you will need the helm, gloves and waist. This setup also gives you a boost to Blast Attacks. Below is the full bonus for three pieces of Kaiser Armor

• Latent Power + 1
• Critical Eye + 2
• Weakness Exploit + 1
• Heat Guard +1
• Blast Attack +2

The remaining armor slot will be for the Raging Brachydios. Since the introduction of this monster, you are spoiled with the easy to get Agitator skills. Brachydium Mail and Greaves give you the following armor skills

• Weakness Exploit +2
• Agitator +2
• Agitator Secret unlock (Upgrade Agitator to Level 7)

The remaining armor skills are filled with Jewels

• Sonorous Jewel+ 4
• Attack Jewel 4
• Attack Jewel 1
• Critical/ Vitality Jewel
• Critical Jewel
• Flawless Jewel
• Flawless/ Vitality Jewel

Horn Maestro (From Sonorous Jewel) is a must for all Hunting Horn players, as it extend the duration of all songs

MHW Hunting Horn Builds – Best Hunting Horns

Before Kulve Taroth arrives on Master Rank, this is the list of best Hunting Horn in MHW Iceborne.

As the full list at the begin of this guide, the updated list for Best Hunting Horn in Iceborne are as below

Kjarr Pipe “Crusher”

This win over the classic meta Safi’s Shatterhorn with 420 Blast Damage -which speed up the Blast Build up time, in turn increase the damage output of the hunt.

The Kjarr Pipe “Crusher” in Master Rank can be updated using MR Kulve Taroth’s material at the Black Smith – This is the same for all Kulve Taroth weapons after the update.

Safi’s Shatterhorn

If you missed Kulve Taroth event, the Safi’s Shatterhorn mentioned in my previous best Hunting Horns compilation is still viable.

This Hunting Horn can be enhanced with 4 Awaken Attack and an Attack Melody IV on the Horn. Combine this with Health and Attack augmentation, you are good to go with almost any hunt.

Taroth Pipe “Sleep”

If you prefer an other approach to Hunting Horn, this weapon is the perfect match. With Taroth Pipe “Sleep” you can easily put the monster to a sweet dream, setting up the stage for the team mates to wake it up with some Mega Barrel Bombs

The Rasping Ballad

If you don’t have access to all those events and looking for a vanilla Hunting Horn in the base MHW Iceborne, then the Rasping Ballad from the Acidic Glavenus is your best choice.

For more info on Rasping Ballad, check out my previous guide on Best Hunting Horns in MHW Iceborne

The Rasping Ballad has both the damage and a focus on Attack Up melody – which is a critical boost to any team.

MHW Hunting Horns Builds – Builds Compilation

Hunting Horn General Purpose Build

Weapons – Kjarr Pipe “Crusher” or Safi’s Shatterhorn

Blast Hunting Horn is pretty easy to pick up. This build gives you maximum Agitator and Attack Boosts as well as a 100% Affinity (On Tenderized monster’s part) With a quick boost to Blast Attack from Teostra Armor, this is by far one of the comfiest build in MHW Iceborne right now.

Another variant for this build is Safi’s Shatter Horn, this weapon has a lower Blast build up compare to Kjarr variant, but still good to play with all those Awaken Skills

Hunting Horn Sleep Build

Weapon – Taroth Pipe “Sleep” + Release Jewel

If you have a powerful team and don’t know what to focus next, then pick up this build. With Free element, you can unlock the hidden 540 Sleep from Taroth Pipe. This will quickly setup any monsters for a powerful Wake-Up attack. This build is good for grinding and long session play (Guiding Lands)

Hunting Horn Budget Build

Weapon – Rasping Ballad + A boost to Sharpness from Handicraft Jewel or Teostra Armor set.

Just as any end game build, you will need a lot of jewel and luck to have yourself the most optimal Hunting Horn builds in Iceborne. If you don’t have the luck yet, then settle with the Rasping Ballad is a solid choice. You can use Teostra armor set in case you don’t have those Handicraft Jewel 4.

Don’t forget the Elementless jewel as Rasping Ballad is a raw damage weapon!

Hunting Horn Elemental Build

The best elemental weapons in MHW? It is no doubt the Kjarr Weapons set, all Kjarr Weapons come with Critical Element.

A typical elemental Hunting Horn builds consist of several elemental Jewel (Both level 4 and 1) and the full Safi’jiiva armor set (For a powerful synergy between HP loss and damage boost)

Iceborne Hunting Horn – The Stunner, The Supporter & The Singer

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If you want to try the Hunting Horn before but was turned down by it’s support nature, now is the time to jump in. Iceborne Hunting horn receives a special treatment with the new Echo move which can deal a great deal of damage in a short amount of time.

Want to see the most up to dated Iceborne builds and never miss the meta? Make sure to check out the subreddit MonsterHunterMeta, new Imgur albums released every meta by Monster Hunter enthusiast!