Before investing in any particular weapon tree in Monster Hunter Rise, you'll first need to find your signature weapon class, which may prove more difficult than it sounds, given there are fourteen to choose between. Of course, you may find you're proficient with several weapon types and decide to keep a selection available in your arsenal, which is an encouraged practice.

Related: Best Swords And Shields In Monster Hunter RiseIf that's the case, you may be thinking of specializing in one melee build such as Dual Blades or Great Swords, and a ranged class like light or heavy bowguns to cover your bases. Or you may decide a powerful Gunlance sufficiently suits both purposes. But the classical hunter may prefer a good old-fashioned bow and arrow. Not only can bows boast innate elemental bonus stats, but many can fire a range of specialized arrows. This wide range of skill pairings gives each bow its unique style, sometimes with multiple tricks tucked in their quivers, all while keeping true to a classic hunter class gameplay.

10 Heaven's Glaze

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Heaven's Glaze is hands down the best bow when you need to deal bone-shattering ice damage. That's mainly in part to its base Ice elemental rating of 50 points, which you can significantly improve upon with rampage skills such as a second rank ice boost and the Elemental Exploit.

You can also build upon Heaven's Glaze with up to a rank-three attack boost and customize it further when you make use of the available third rank slot. While it doesn't utilize any specialized bows, you can reliably switch between power and close-range arrows, which, paired with the bow's rapid firing capabilities, allows you to shower monsters in a hail of arrows faster than many other bows.

9 Flying Kadachi Striker

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The Flying Kadachi Striker is another bow with a rapid-fire rating. Its standout features are its 23 point thunder elemental and 15 percent affinity, which makes it one of the most effective thunder bows in the game. Its thunder rating is among the strongest naturally possessed by any bow, but the other contenders' neutral affinity gives the Flying Kadachi Striker its edge.

Related: Best Lances In Monster Hunter RiseThese defining stats are further bolstered by equipping rank three boosts through rampage skills. Not to mention this bow has the use of paralysis arrows in addition to the standard close-range and power.

8 Sinister Soul Piercer

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The Sinister Soul Piercer starts with a 200 attack stat, making it one of the innately stronger bows in the game. It's also got a 19 point blast elemental effect that gives it a bigger punch.

Building it up with heightened attack and blast boosts brings out the bow's finer points, but the Sinister Soul Piercer is quite naturally versatile. For starters, it can fire blast and exhaust arrows in addition to the usual close-range and power ammunition, and its charge shots can deliver various effects such as firing in rapid succession, an increased spread, or bonus piercing damage depending on what level it's at.

7 Araknatorch

Araknatorch bow Monster Hunter Rise

The Araknatorch is a great weapon and one of the easier bows to craft earlier on by upgrading the standard Kamura Bow along its main tree through the Weaver branch. It's a bit unassuming with a modest 170 base attack, but this bow is a fine-tuned instrument.

It's got a raging 33 point fire element rating and a 30 percent affinity, maximizing the bow's damage with a spectacular critical rating and a second-to-none fire elemental. A high-ranking attack boost can be applied to compensate for the bow's middling base stat, and all three slots are open for customization. Considering that it can use poison, sleep, and exhaust arrows along with the standard supply, the Araknatorch is one of the most versatile bows in the game.

6 Porifera Bow

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The Porifera Bow boasts a 26 point water elemental rating on top of its 200 point base attack. Though it doesn't have an affinity bonus, which may cause some hunters to gravitate towards the Azure Era bow instead when looking for a bow with additional water damage, the Porifera's rampage skills will allow the bow to drown enemies in damage.

Related: Best Charge Blades In Monster Hunter RiseAttack and water boosts bolster this bow to be stronger than its competition specialized in the same element. Not to mention the Waterblight Exploit, which further enhances the Porifera's specialization. Elemental damage aside, the Porifera Bow is also poised for piercing charge shots as it levels up and can make use of blast arrows giving this water bow a unique edge.

5 Heaven's Manna

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Heaven's Manna may be a better option over the Porifera bow, depending on how vital water damage is to you. That's because of the Heaven's Manna bow's slightly higher base attack and 10 percent affinity. You will have to compromise with a lessened water element of 15, which means it's not the best if you need to rely on strong water pressure.

However, if elemental damage is just a bonus, this bow's robust attack paired with the use of paralysis and exhaustion arrows will serve you well. Heaven's Manna is also poised towards rapid charge shots, which are a great boon to the weapon's DPS.

4 Arko Nulu Black

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With a sound base attack of 200, an additional 24 point dragon element, and a 20 percent affinity, the Arko Nulu Black is one of the most effective bows available without considering weapon builds. It's also got three first-rank slots open for customization, an attack boost that can be bolstered to rank three, and a couple of elemental gains when you do start fiddling with enhancements.

Related: Best Hunting Horns In Monster Hunter Rise

Its robust affinity rating is rare among bows with a 200 or greater base attack, which sets it apart from others in its tier to start with. But along with its propensity for dragon slaying, it can also fire paralysis arrows and is well-honed for piercing damage and wider spreads when firing charge shots.

3 Edelweiss

Bow Monster Hunter Rise steampowered store

Its 200 base attack stat and 30 percent affinity instantly place the Edelweiss bow among the best options to work up to. And those robust stats are bolstered even more with high-ranking boosts applied through rampage skills. It's also got a minor ice elemental stat that gives this bow a chilling edge when enhanced with an Iceblight Exploit.

As its charge shots level up, the Edelweiss' propensity for rapid-fire transitions into a better spread. And by using sleep or exhaust arrows, you'll be able to slow monsters to a crawl if not put them under altogether. It's safe to say all sorts of monsters will fall by the wayside using the Edelweiss' wide range of specializations.

2 Tigrex Whisker

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Though it doesn't harbor any elemental specializations, the Tigrex Whisker is undoubtedly the strongest bow available with a whopping 250 base attack, the highest rating in the game. Whatsmore, it doesn't suffer the typical negative affinity rating of such powerful weapons. Much to the contrary, it boasts an astounding 25 percent affinity, an outstanding critical rating for a weapon of such caliber.

Its already groundbreaking attack and affinity stats are further improved with rampage skills, and its charge shot levels are primarily geared towards rapid-fire ratings that can push its DPS through the roof. To top it all off, the Tigrex Whisker is compatible with every specialized arrow (poison, paralysis, sleep, exhaust, and blast) at the expense of forfeiting the use of power arrows -- a more than fair trade-off, in our opinion. Packing an unquestionably powerful punch with each shot, the options available to this bow make it not only the deadliest bow available but also one of the most versatile—the perfect go-to ranged weapon for any hunt.

Next: Monster Hunter Rise Complete Guide And Walkthrough

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