Weapons and Sigils

Weapon types

Tonfa and Switch Axe F are only available at G Rank. The Switch Axe F unlocks as soon as you reach G Rank. The Tonfa needs a string of specific quests first. The guide has a page for each weapon with more detail (and one each for the Tonfa and Switch Axe F). This page covers what they share.

The guide's "Multi" column is each weapon type's raw multiplier.

Weapon	Raw multiplier
Sword and Shield	1.4x
Dual Swords	1.4x
Great Sword	4.8x
Long Sword	4.8x
Hammer	5.2x
Hunting Horn	5.2x
Lance	2.3x
Gunlance	2.3x
Tonfa	1.8x
Switch Axe F	5.4x
Magnet Spike	1.2x
Heavy Bowgun	1.2x
Light Bowgun	1.2x
Bow	1.2x

The guide's quick-reference page lists a different multiplier for the Magnet Spike (5.4x). See Tools and References.

Making weapons

When you have a Partner, the Blacksmith first asks whether you are making equipment for them or for yourself. You can tell which you chose at once: your Partner takes your place on screen when you craft for them.

The Blacksmith's main menu has four parts: Weapons, Armour, Decorations and Pugi Cuffs. Menu names may differ slightly in our client. Under Weapons you choose a family:

Weapon families

Weapons are grouped by where they come from and what they add. Each family below is a step up in power or a special case.

Standard weapon

Normal weapons with no special properties. They are the baseline for every other family.

SP weapon

HR5 weapons that are reskins of other weapons. They get +10 true raw and +20% affinity automatically on HR5 or higher quests. They have had little purpose since their original launch.

HC weapon

HR5 weapons with a low rarity but decent power for that rarity. Like SP weapons, they have little purpose now.

Master's Mark weapon

Mostly the same as normal weapons, but they give the skill Weapon Handling for free, with no skill slot and no points. Unless they are one of a handful that upgrade to G Finesse, they have little purpose.

Evolution weapon

These weapons need you to hunt Raviente to upgrade them. They have 300 levels across three tiers (HR2, HR5 and GR) and end up among the best weapons in the game, and the best true raw weapons outright. They take hundreds of hours of grind, so ignore them unless you are very serious about getting them and already have endgame skills. Each weapon type gets its own extra tool:

• Melee weapons can use Raviente Power Crystals (Power Sword Crystals), which boost raw damage by 1.2x. You can carry 30.
• Light Bowguns can use Acid Shots, raw or one of the five elements. They add +10 to the weakness value of that type for 30 seconds. You can carry 5.
• Heavy Bowguns can use Bomb Shots: lingering shots that damage over time inside a radius. You can carry 5.
• Bows can use Impact Coatings. They make your shots use Impact hitbox values and cause KO, but the shots still deal Shot-type damage, so they cannot break things limited to Impact, such as Daimyo shells. You can carry 30.

See Raviente for how to get them.

Gou weapon

The core HR5 weapon type. Their attack grows with the number of Gou (or higher) armour pieces you wear (see Gou weapon boosts).

• Melee weapons gain ESP while you are at maximum HP and stamina.
• Light Bowguns can have Ultra Rapid Fire, which lets you keep feeding ammo into one rapid-fire volley.
• Heavy Bowguns have a Heat Cannon. It turns the heat built up by steady shooting into a giant beam, like a Gravios.
• Bows can use Bomb Coatings, which deal bomb damage.

Heavenly Storm weapon

On HR5 or higher quests, wearing 2 or more pieces of Heavenly Storm armour (or better) raises Blademaster sharpness by one level (purple to cyan, and so on). Gunners get higher critical range multipliers and stronger power coatings.

Supremacy weapon

The same as Heavenly Storm, with a different glow effect and higher base stats.

G Supremacy weapon

The same as Supremacy, with a different glow effect and higher base stats.

Burst weapon

Mostly the same as G Supremacy, with a different glow effect and much higher base stats. It also gives a skill just for being equipped, shown in its description. This is often something like Vamprism, Exploit Weakness or Evade Distance.

Origin weapon

Mostly the same as Burst, with a different glow effect and much higher base stats. Like Burst weapons, it gives a skill just for being equipped, often Vamprism, Exploit Weakness or Evade Distance.

G Rank weapon

G Rank weapons have sigils instead of decorations, and a level system that goes up to Lv50. A Lv50 weapon is usually called "G50" or similar. See Sigils.

G Rank Finesse

Upgraded forms of various event, festival and normal weapons. They have the faster sheathing and unsheathing of Weapon Handling, plus Movement Speed +1. From G8 you can upgrade normal Lv50 G Rank weapons into Finesse versions with better stats.

Tower weapon

A customisable weapon made from materials you find in the Sky Corridor. You can customise sharpness, raw, element, status, shelling type, shot type and more, so each one is unique to its player. Fully upgraded, it can rival a Lv50 G Rank weapon, depending on several factors. The decorations you put into it give skills outright, with no slot use, which is very strong when built well.

Exotic weapon

The weapons of the mainline import (Exotic) monsters. They start at HR5, or at GR for the Switch Axe and Tonfa, and have 2 or 1 upgrades after crafting. At maximum they have the stats of a G50 weapon, take both decorations and sigils, and give Quick Eating without using a slot or skill points. To finish them you need access to G Rank exotics, and each needs its monster's lowest-percentage carve (such as a Jasper or Mantle).

Prayer weapon

Tied to the Diva Defense event and given as daily or personal rewards. By default they have the stats of a low-end G50 weapon. But with a Prayer active during the Song of War chapter of the event, they get a huge boost, enough to beat even Lv100 G Raviente weapons. The boost is:

• True raw +45
• Doubled element
• Weapon Handling and Movement Speed +2
• Turns on the weapon type's Active Feature
• Sharpness colours raised by one tier
• Turns on the special Dual Hiden skill
• Interception Points raised to 1.2x

See Diva Defense.

Zenith weapon

G Rank weapons that open at GR200 and are finished only after GR800. Their stats go beyond a standard G50 weapon, and each has a unique ability and one Zenith skill. The ability is better Zenith part breaking, which makes it easier to destroy the parts of Zenith monsters that reward the unique items all Zenith equipment needs. Zenith skills either upgrade an existing skill or add skill slots. For example Thunder Clad Up lengthens Thunder Clad when it is on a Zenith weapon or armour piece. See Zenith.

Gou weapon boosts

If you use a weapon from a Gou line that is at least Heavenly Storm, its stats grow with the armour you wear. Every piece of Heavenly Storm, Supremacy, G Supremacy or Burst armour adds +15 Attack, +2% Status and +2% Element. It stacks per piece, to a maximum of +80 Attack, +10% Status and +10% Element.

With two or more of those pieces you also get Sharpness Level Up, Critical Distance Up +0.3x and Power Coatings Up +0.1x.

• Sharpness Level Up raises the sharpness colour by one full level.
• Critical Distance Up greatly improves well-spaced shots for ranged weapons.
• Power Coatings Up improves power coatings further (for example 1.6x becomes 1.7x).

These effects only work on Gou, Supremacy or G Rank quests. That is where you will spend most of your time anyway.

On a Gou-line weapon, every piece of Origin armour adds +20 Attack, +3% Status and +3% Element, up to +110 Attack, +15% Status and +15% Element. Any single Origin piece gives Sharpness Level Up on the right Gou weapon types.

Origin pieces matter most to gunners. Their Critical Distance Up and Power Coatings Up buffs apply to all G Rank weapons, not just Gou-line ones. That is a huge buff for standard weapons. It is almost never worth wearing a standard armour piece over an Origin one, even with Zenith armour added in the Z update. Note that the extra Attack, Element and Status do not apply to non-Gou weapons.

For the other armour families and their Boost conditions, see Armour: Gou armour.

Elements and properties

These are the properties a weapon can have. Menu names may differ slightly in our client.

Combination elements

Combination elements always deal the damage of both elements. The element you see when you hit a monster is the one that hitzone is weak to. For example, with a weapon of 100 Light hitting a hitbox weak to fire, you would deal 80 Thunder and 80 Fire, but only see the fire damage effects.

The original guide kept an element quick reference and a spreadsheet section for these, which we do not link.

Melee weapons

Sharpness

Sharpness in Frontier has 8 levels at present, from red to cyan. The picture shows each level with its raw multiplier on top and its element multiplier below. Blue sharpness or higher also adds 10% affinity.

The melee weapon screen

The information window shows attack, length, sharpness, element and status, weapon type, rarity, affinity and slots. Some terms appear in the Blacksmith and weapon lists:

• Weapon length: Very Short, Short, Normal, Long, Very Long.
• Gunlance shots: Normal Shot, Spread Shot, Long Shot, plus the Shelling Level.
• Sword crystals: Explosive, Power, Poison, Paralysis, Sleep, Fire, Ice, Thunder, Ice (the guide lists this one twice) and Dragon.
• GR200 sword crystals: Inferno, Tsunami, Storm, Glacial and Elder Dragon.

Weapon length

Weapon length is a mechanic unique to Frontier. It changes the weapon's total reach and its sweet spot to match. On a very short Great Sword, almost the whole blade becomes the sweet spot, at the cost of a lot of range. On a very long one the opposite is true.

Sword crystals

Sword crystals need their own skill to use. Each has three tiers, and +3 gives the most damage or status per crystal. To apply a crystal, hold R2 and press the right analog stick in (R3), or press Shift plus the Minus key (not on the numpad), or use the touchpad on the Vita.

GR200 sword crystals are purely elemental, and do about as much elemental damage as three hits from the normal ones. You can only buy them for GCP from the Pink store after reaching GR200.

Bowguns

A bowgun's window lists its ammo, reload speed and recoil, and its upgrades. Each bowgun's special abilities are covered in the guide's detailed weapon pages.

• Reload speed: Very Slow, Slow, Normal, Fast, Very Fast.
• Recoil: Medium, Small, Smaller.
• Ammo: Normal, Pierce, Pellet, Crag, Cluster, Recovery, Poison, Paralysis, Sleep, Fire, Water, Thunder, Ice, Dragon, Tranq, Paint, Demon and Armour Shot, plus Rapid Fire and Ultra Rapid Fire.

Critical Distance

Critical Distance is shown when the shot expands fully and makes a circle. The Heavy Bowgun has a much larger impact animation in the first half of critical distance on standard shots, so it is very obvious when you are properly spaced. This adds an extra 0.3x to damage in that zone (for example 2.0 in the first half of Normal Shot range, 2.3x with an Origin piece and a G Rank weapon).

These are the damage multipliers by distance, as the guide's author measured them. They are not perfect, but enough to work from if you plan to use ranged weapons seriously. A blank means the shot does not reach that distance.

The original guide kept the hitbox values for bows and bowguns in a spreadsheet, which we do not link.

Bows

A bow's window lists its arc shot, charge levels and coatings. Each bow's special abilities are covered in the guide's detailed weapon pages.

• Arc shots: Arrow Rain, Wide Pellet Rain, Narrow Pellet Rain, Explosive Shell.
• Charge types: Pierce, Rapid, Scatter.
• Coatings: Power, Crit, Poison, Paralysis and Sleep.

The coating modifier is the damage multiplier a coating gives:

The guide's quick-reference page gives the Bomb Coating as 1.4 (see Tools and References).

Critical Distance

Hold the aim button or key to see a rough indication of Critical Distance. Hits inside it make a large flash, and hits outside it make a small flash. The rough sweet spots, measured in backhops and rolls from the monster, are:

The damage multipliers by distance (not perfect, but enough to work from):

Active Feature

The Active Feature is a daily buff for one weapon type. It lasts from noon until noon, then a new weapon type is chosen. You can see up to one day ahead in town by looking behind the main Active Feature bar at the top of your screen.

Weapon styles and motion values

HR5 unlocks Heaven Style for all non-G weapons, and lets you take an Urgent for Storm Style. See Style Rank for the full process.

• The Tonfa and Switch Axe F get Heaven Style straight away.
• Switch Axe F Storm Style only needs you to take a standard non-G Urgent.
• Tonfa Storm Style needs GSR100 in the weapon to take the Urgent, and the Urgent is only against G Rank HC monsters.

The original guide pointed to its author's Damage Calculator for motion values, which we do not link.

Hunting Horn songs

Pick three notes to see the songs for that type of Hunting Horn. Storm Style is unlocked at HR5 and Extreme at GR1.

Standard songs

Storm Style songs

Extreme Style debuffs

Sigils

Sigils are like decorations, but only for G Rank weapons. You craft them at the Cat Smith, who makes random Gou weapons.

Sigil slots are triangular. They either replace the decoration slots on standard G Rank weapons, or they are hybrid slots that take either a decoration or a sigil. A weapon can have up to three sigils. Sigils with a variable value generally stack. Sigils that add or improve abilities and motions have a fixed effect, however many you slot.

Sigil tables below show the skill name, the range of points (for example -10 / +15) a sigil can roll, and its effect. A dash means the sigil has no value. "Does not stack" means a second one of the same sigil adds nothing.

Choosing sigils

Most weapons have dedicated sigils, but many are far from optimal. Think about how often you will really use the attack. For example, the Dual Swords sigils for Rush Slash and Frontflip Slash are of very low value for Extreme Style. Extreme Demon Mode cannot use them, and good play uses that mode almost all the time.

In the same way, the Great Sword's Guard Slash is not available in Extreme Style, and Upswings are mostly charged (which the sigil does not help), so sigils for those moves are mostly useless, especially compared with just adding raw.

For the best results, aim almost entirely for Attack or Element on your sigils and one or more of your weapon's specific sigils. For a Gunlance, always aim for Lv9 shelling if you use shelling and Wyvern Fires.

Health and stamina

Offensive

Weapon Up sigils

The guide files these under "Unlimited Mode". Only one Up roll is active at a time. For example a +14 DS Up and a +12 DS Up sigil together give +14, not +26.

Defensive

Blademaster

Arrows show the motion value before and after the sigil (for example 21 → 31). Where a move has several hits, the values are separated by a dot.

Length Up (Radiant Blue)

Each Radiant Blue sigil raises weapon length by one level, at the cost of some attack. The cost is always 25 true raw, so it shows as a different attack value for each weapon type. Several sigils raise the length by more levels, but the raw loss stays fixed at 25 true raw: three sigils still lose 25, not 75.

Notes and shelling

Gunner

Status

Items, map and gathering

Rewards

Miscellaneous

Zenith sigil

A Zenith sigil gives your weapon a timed effect. The two timing sigils set how long it lasts and how fast it recharges.

Area of Effect sigil

This sigil makes a coloured dome. Its effect works for you while you are inside the dome.