Noob question about Monster Hunter World

PackYourBaggins · February 4, 2018

So I'm playing Monster Hunter World, my first in the series, and it's a ton of fun, but since the start, I've had trouble wrapping my head around some of the mechanics & systems. It's a very deep and detailed game. One thing that confused me is the difference between Iron and Bone weapons. I know Bone weapons have more raw damage, but less sharpness than Iron weapons. I thought that was simple enough, but I noticed something odd. During the first mission in Wildspire Waste where you fight a Barroth for the first time, I tussled with that thing for about 20 minutes before I finally brought it down using the Bone Sword III. During that fight, most of my swings that connected would just bounce off of it unless I hit it in its arms. If I hit it in its head or legs, my giant sword would just deflect back, leaving me staggered, doing little damage. I made sure I kept my sharpness in check during the fight, but even at max sharpness with my sword upgraded to 3, the hits kept getting deflected unless I hit in just the right spot. It was frustrating.

But then just now, I decided to take on another Barroth, this time with an Iron weapon. This time, I used the Jagras Blade I. And this fight was far easier. Any time I connected a hit, it actually went through the beast, and did good damage. The only time my hits would deflect was when I hit him directly on the head, which is fair enough, considering his head is the toughest part of his body. But even with those deflected hits, I was knocking parts off of his head, whereas I wasn't before with the Bone Sword. The fight lasted less than 10 minutes this time.

So my question is, are there bigger differences between Bone and Iron weapons than I was originally led to believe? Is Iron really better overall?

Joey96 · February 5, 2018

Nope not that I know of, the difference should be how sharp your blade can be, if you press "options" if you are on playstation, otherwise open your status tap, then you can see your weapon sharpness levels on the right. The different colours tells you how sharp your weapon can get. When out in the field, the colour of your weapon tells you at which stage your weapon sharpness is at, when using your weapon X times it will get blunt and then move down towards the colour red, which is the worst and wouldn't be able to cut through any of the tougher monsters.

If you compare Jagras blade lll vs Buster sword lll (The one you used at first right?) Then the max sharpness of the Jagras blade is green level, while buster sword is yellow. So when fully sharpened the Jagras blade would have a easier time cutting through armor.

Barroth is a perfect example of why a sharp weapon is important, as he has very tough armor.

Later when you move up in ranks more sharpness levels appear on your weapon and the monsters get tougher armor, so if you're experiencing too much bounce off, of fluffy soft skinned monsters, then its either time to upgrade or sharpen your weapon.

Tip: Always sharpen your weapon when you get out of combat, then you're ready for the next fight.

Good hunting!

PackYourBaggins · February 6, 2018

7 hours ago, Joey96 said:

Nope not that I know of, the difference should be how sharp your blade can be, if you press "options" if you are on playstation, otherwise open your status tap, then you can see your weapon sharpness levels on the right. The different colours tells you how sharp your weapon can get. When out in the field, the colour of your weapon tells you at which stage your weapon sharpness is at, when using your weapon X times it will get blunt and then move down towards the colour red, which is the worst and wouldn't be able to cut through any of the tougher monsters.

If you compare Jagras blade lll vs Buster sword lll (The one you used at first right?) Then the max sharpness of the Jagras blade is green level, while buster sword is yellow. So when fully sharpened the Jagras blade would have a easier time cutting through armor.

Barroth is a perfect example of why a sharp weapon is important, as he has very tough armor.

Later when you move up in ranks more sharpness levels appear on your weapon and the monsters get tougher armor, so if you're experiencing too much bounce off, of fluffy soft skinned monsters, then its either time to upgrade or sharpen your weapon.

Tip: Always sharpen your weapon when you get out of combat, then you're ready for the next fight.

Good hunting!

I was using the Jagras Blade I. And that's informative. Since posting, I have actually learned myself that sharpness is important, and I'm not a bit more reluctant to make bone weapons.