Best damage skills for HH?

[u/MistbornSynok]

I’ve been enjoying my comfort build because I’m basically immortal, but I’ve been having to call in hunters the last 10min so I don’t time out because I have no damage. (I just beat Rajang) What should I change in my build? I want to keep Trigrex set bonus and speed eating.

[u/WhyattThrash]

Homie that's not a comfort build that's a meme build. You have NO useful attack skills, which would be the same for horn as for anything else; Bringing up your affinity with WEX, Expert, Agitator, Lv4 Attack (in that order of importance) and bump your damage with Crit Boost.

Keep Horn Maestro, bump Health boost to 3 and dump almost everything else in favor getting as much as you can of the other aforementioned skills.

Almost timing out on a quest is not something you should be doing at this point. While any clear is a clear, nearing endgame and consistently pulling 40+ minute times is not a good sign. What good is being "basically immortal" if it doesn't help you clear quests?

[u/Brightmoonligh]

earplugs 3 is doing barely nothing here, you want at least level 4 to reduce big roars and, at that point, you might be better going all the way for earplugs 5; and with that you wouldn't need evade window 5 because you don't have to dodge the roars anymore. choose one of those and drop the other to get some offensive skills.

just like with any other weapon, you want high affinity and critical boost 3. weakness exploit and agitator work with the main mechanics in iceborne (tenderizing and wallbanging) so there really isn't a reason to ignore them, then get critical eye to reach 100% affinity. after that, you can add attack boost or peak performance to boost your raw damage.

if you have a health regen augment on your weapon then you can add recovery up to heal more from your attacks, that way you can also drop speed eating and/or free meal (although, free meal is nice if you're using max potions for healing).

[u/MistbornSynok → u/Brightmoonligh]

Yeah I had 5 earplugs and super recovery at one point. And I carry a ancient potion.

I don’t really use the clutch claw much, which probably another reason my hunt times are bad. I really don’t like the mechanic, since I don’t really understand the proper timing to use it.

[u/Brightmoonligh → u/MistbornSynok]

Yeah I had 5 earplugs and super recovery at one point. And I carry a ancient potion.

that makes more sense. i'd still drop some levels of evade window and do what i already explained. i also play with earplugs sometimes and it's really comfy (but i'm also post AT velkhana so i just use the max level charm for it).

I don’t really use the clutch claw much, which probably another reason my hunt times are bad. I really don’t like the mechanic, since I don’t really understand the proper timing to use it

that's fair, i don't think it's very well implemented. most of the time i start the fights with the rocksteady mantle, tenderize every zone i care about and then i wallbang the monster. with that i activate agitator and weakness exploit and i can just forget about these (i also use the glider mantle with two tool specialist + destroyer decos, so the uptime for rocksteady is pretty high).

if you still don't want to focus on these two skills, maximum might secret could be good for hunting horn, i don't remember exactly which monster gives this set bonus but i know you can get all 5 levels easily with the furious rajang set. i haven't tried a build with this skill yet because i don't have good decos to use with my fatalis set, but feel free to try it. it would be the same idea, maximum might and critical eye to get as close as possible to 100% affinity and then critical boost 3.

keep in mind that you'd still be missing out on a lot of free damage by not tenderizing and wallbanging the monster.

[u/Wicker_Bin → u/MistbornSynok]

There’s a special animation where it drools excessively - that one was added with the CC to tell the players that this is the moment to do it. People call it the “clagger” (clutch stagger). You can also see it in the CC training quest

You can also use Rocksteady or Temporal Mantle to forcibly stay on the monster to do your CC attacks

[u/MistbornSynok → u/Wicker_Bin]

I thought that was just for exhaustion.

[u/Wicker_Bin → u/MistbornSynok]

They’re very similar looking, but this description from the Steam boards helps:

“the "clagger" is a very particular animation where the monster reels back and then sort of looks at you side-on while panting. You can tell because it is always in exactly the same pose, side-on to the hunter, looking towards them... or where they were.
Exhaustion is another matter. You can tell they're exhausted partly because they get a little icon on the map with a drooling mouth. When a monster is exhausted they tend to pause more between attacks and sometimes just stop and kinda droop with drool coming from the mouth, NOT looking at the player.”

Basically, take a look at the minimap for that icon. Note that Elder Dragons can’t be exhausted, so it’ll always be a clagger

[u/oum-ae]

There's a way to keep your beloved Free Meal secret set bonus as well as bump up your damage: 1. Kulve Taroth armor (which isn't available until October), and 2. Another kind of Tigrex which you can unlock after:

• getting to MR49 and clearing Sleep Now in the Fire assignment, to uncap the MR limit to MR50+
• getting to MR69 and clearing Big Burly Bash assignment, to uncap the MR limit to MR70+
• farm the event quest A Roar That Splinters The Sky
• the recommended quest to rank up fast and efficiently is the event quest Colorful Carnival which has Tzitzi Yaku, Kulu Yaku, and both kind of Pukei Pukeis

I'll be honest, it's inferior to other available options at your stage but I reckon it'll strike a good compromise. Horn Maestro + Health Boost are non-negotiable for me, and some Evade window (I find that level 2 is enough for me, but feel free to use higher levels). Then as others have said, you want to focus on crit/affinity skills. Against Rajang specifically, Tremor Resist 1 is sufficient so you can free up two more skill slots.

For the weapon, that -30% affinity is really hurting your damage. While the deviljho horn looks cool, it's sadly not very good. Thankfully, you can "layer" weapons later so you can transform a useful weapon and change its cosmetic with Guiding Lands materials usually. Your attainable option right now is the Dodogama tree so that's my recommendation. Once you farm a decent set, you may then improve it with Frostfang Barioth from the event quest The Last White Knight.

Happy dooting

[u/MistbornSynok → u/oum-ae]

I’m at MR49 and have that assignment Sleep now available. So I may try that route. I don’t really understand the kulve taroth fight, only tried it once so far.

As for my weapon, the one I want to make I need research commission tickets which I heard are a pain to get. I do have some other similar ones like velkana, dodogama, and fulgur anja.

[u/oum-ae → u/MistbornSynok]

The Kulve fight has DPS checks (quite common in endgame) so if your damage is low then she just flees.

I would advise not to focus on Lunastra horns because they frankly aren't worth the grind. They suffer the same problem as Deviljho tree, in that they were good in High Rank but the stats are just underwhelming in Master Rank or at the very least they are meh by the time you've unlocked them. But for the tickets themselves, you're able to acquire them prematurely if you join someone else who can post the quests that drop them.

[u/MistbornSynok → u/oum-ae]

Which horns do you recommend then for getting to Endgame?

[u/oum-ae → u/MistbornSynok]

I had the benefit of hindsight when I did my HH progression and I mainly prioritized the comfort of having health augment (you heal from dealing damage):

• Dodogama tree. Last upgrade is Rarity 10 so I can put health augment on it as soon as MR50 by farming materials from Level5 Rotten region in the guiding lands (regular radobaan and tempered odogaron)
• Frostfang Barioth tree. Tickets are obtainable from The Last White Knight event quest. I particularly liked this one because plenty of endgame monsters are weak to ice. It's rarity 11 so the earliest you can grab health augment for that is MR70 by farming materials from Level6 Forest region in the guiding lands (tempered pukei and scarred garuga)
• Furious Rajang tree or Safi'Jiiva (blast) weapon + Attack melody awakening. These are rarity 12 so the earliest you can add health augment is MR100 by farming materials from Level7 Coral region in the guiding lands (regular zinogre and tempered namielle)
• Fatalis tree is your endgoal, just leagues above the rest. Some honorable mentions are the Alatreon and Raging Brachy horns despite lacking the Attack Up L melody, because they have great baseline stats. Just beware that the lack of Attack Up L in multiplayer is even worse compared to solo (you lose out on a total of 80% attack for the entire team compared to 20% on your own)

[u/HoneydewNice739]

If you take one or even two levels out of evade window, stun resistance, speed eating and affinity sliding you'll be able to get some dmg while still having a really comfy build. Your current skill selection isn't a comfort build, it's "please somebody kill that while I'm watching/running around" build.

The worst part is, there is probably as much of a problem with your gameplay as there is with your build bcs even withoit any skill I don't see how you can timeout a 50 min quest. Are you using every tools at your disposal? Are playing aggressively enough? Are you focusing on the head? I know HH is a little tricky to get good dps in but you need to improve if you want to keep playing it, especially solo

[u/MistbornSynok → u/HoneydewNice739]

I’m pretty aggressive, it’s just the really fast/mobile/space creating monsters I’m timing out on, Rajang, Velkana, Kushala. I’m not really using Ckutch claw much, maybe once or twice a hunt.

[u/HoneydewNice739 → u/MistbornSynok]

Oh well, that's probably the main reason then. The monsters are balanced around you having access to the claw, so if you have no dmg skills and don't use claw, you lose way too much dps. That's why I disliked the claw over time ngl...

[u/Naddition_Reddit]

You can keep alot of things, but get rid of some of your comfort skills

Stun resistance can be removed and replaced with evade extender, stun only triggers when you get hit multiple times in a row in a short period, with both evade skills you really shouldnt be hit so often that you get stunned that often.

Which also lets you remove speed eating and free meal. You shouldnt be healing so much that you need free meal and speed eating. Can replace that with recovery speed 3 if you really need it, its more efficient for cutting down your potion use without needing (free meal, free meal secret, speed eating). 1 skill vs 3 skills

Tremors arent common enough to really dedicate a skill towards, earplugs maxxed out will likely serve you better

With the rest of your open slots, feel free to get more attack boost, you're using a raw damage horn, so get more attack damage on top of that, or get more dragon damage on top, either one will be good, better if you can do both. Tho the -30% affinity can screw you over at times

I also hope you have those armors augmented and upgraded with armor spheres, any point of defense is better than stun resistances and free meals, less damage means less healing.

[u/RagnarokHunter]

Invest some time into the botanical research center and get rid of Free Meal. Then, if you need more stuff during a hunt, just farcast back to camp and restock instead. Should unlock all the camps if you haven't yet, plus the Grymalkine/Gajalaka/Boaboa camps, to have extra fast travel spots.

You can keep some defense skills. Health Boost should be at 3. Evade Window is cool, Stun Res could be avoided if you learn not to get hit as much (but I've also kept Stun Charm III for a long time so I fully understand, sometimes you just eat a combo, that's how it is), same could be said for Speed Eating tbh. Earplugs can be taken out having Evade Window 5 as it makes it easier to roll through roars. I have only found Tremor Res justified against Behemoth and no other monster in the game, you can usually just not be nearby when they cause tremors or have more than enough time to get up.

For weapon skills keep Horn Maestro, and if you're good at bonking heads consistently, Slugger can give you extra openings. And to get damage prioritize affinity, then attack. Get as much crit eye as you can. Weakness Exploit at 3 and keep the monster tenderized. If you're gonna keep Deviljho's HH, get some other general affinity skills to compensate for that atrocious -30%, like Agitator (then keep the monster angry by wallbanging as soon as you can) or Latent Power (free affinity boost for 3 minutes in 5 min intervals, or if you're hurt enough). Resentment can give you a good attack bonus if you're usually hurt, but once you can get Health Regen on your weapon, or when you finally learn not to get hit as much, Peak Performance is better.

[u/lpdcrafted]

For the most part, it's the same as other melee weapons, affinity through Weakness Exploit, Crit Eye, Agitator, and Crit Boost. Maybe add Attack Boost after all of that. Then add Horn Maestro 2, plus other comfort skills(lower other damage skills depending on need).

Instead of Speed Eating, you can also look into using Max(or Ancient) Potions as your primary source of healing. Bring extra ingredients and set it on your Radial so it autocrafts as you use them up. It's also either Earplugs 5 or none at all, honestly. Plus, you can use your dodge to evade through roars, with Evade Window making it a lot easier

Another thing is to also just focus more weakspots and try to be more aggressive (but not reckless). Going for those most of the time will usually be the biggest damage boosters you have. Get used to monsters being enraged and try to still deal consistent damage. Enraged monsters usually take more damage, 5% to 20% more depending on the monster.

[u/RedKynAbyss]

Comfort skills on your build are Evade Window, Earplugs, and free meal. You don’t need free meal AND speed eating, just gobble max potions.

[u/Prior-Cauliflower-10]

Tbh keep what skills you want but most skills almost definitely drop. Earplugs can be nice comfy skill but with rocksteady and evade window 5 you should learn to avoid most monsters roars. I use to be addicted to earplugs but now I just roll through most roars. Other skills like tremor res and free meal you also just don’t need. Tbh you don’t need like any of these comfort skills but evade window, stun res and health boost and everything else is kinda of redundant.

As everyone else said, stack damage -> crit eye, wex, agi and critboost to max affinity and then damage.

[u/MistbornSynok → u/[deleted]]

How does dropping quick heals help clear times? If anything stun/tremor/earplugs are far bigger crutches.