MH4U Light Bowgun Hame In-Depth Guide

MH4U Light Bowgun Hame In-Depth Guide by polarurs

I) Introduction:

Hello, my name is JJ, and welcome to my guide :). This guide is geared towards helping new players understand the role of the light bowgun in hame runs, as well as provide information for more experienced players interested in giving it a shot.

Let’s get started!

What are hame runs? Hame runs are quests where one party member drops loads of status effects and traps on a monster while the rest of the party focuses on pumping out the maximum damage they can—it’s very effective. As a reference, most hame runs capture a Styg. Zinogre and an Apex Rajang in *under 3 minutes*. Typically hame runs are focused on LV140 Dual Monster Guild Quests for relic and talisman farming.

I have status gunned my way up to HR999, starting from before HR200, and in this guide, I am using my personal experience and opinions to write an interpretation of hame basics—this should be used as a reference more than an ultimatum.

**Note: I am writing this guide with dual monster guild quests in mind, with the team composition being 1 LBG, and 3 HBGs.**

The LBG (Lightbow Gun) has a very critical role in hame runs. They are often called the controller because of two main responsibilities:

• Responsibility 1: Controlling the monster(s) 100% of the fight through well-timed status infliction and trap placement.

• Responsibility 2: Controlling your team’s damage output.

II) The Five Fundamental Steps:

• 1^st Step: Sleep Infliction
  1. Place 2 Bombs by the head, or body part you’d like to break.
  2. Allow everyone to get into position. During this time, load the next round of ammunition.
  3. Detonate the bombs with a Small Barrel Bomb/Felvine Bomb, ensuring that the monster is woken by the Large Barrel Bombs. This also serves as a visual countdown for your team. This image shoes proper detonation techniques:http://gaijinhunter.tumblr.com/image/120051348712
• 2^nd Step: Shock Trap Placement
  1. Place the trap preemptively before it wakes up, or after detonating the bombs run in and place the trap by the monster’s feet. During this moment, the monster will be frozen in place, allowing your HBGs to get perfect aim/trajectory through the monster. This is the start of when damage ouput is the highest.
• 3^rd Step: Second Status Infliction (Typically Paralyze)
  1. While the monster is trapped, begin applying the desired status and just as the monster is about to break free from the trap, hit it with the final shot to apply the status ailment. Paralyzing the monster will extend the period of when your team can pump out high, consistent damage. Try to paralyze at the very last moment possible. Typically, this is the point where your HBGs will begin reloading.
• 4^th Step: Second Trap Placement (Typically Pitfall)
  1. While the monster is still in the previous status, prepare a pitfall trap for it to fall into. For non-enraged Rajang, place it a little under 1 roll away from its hind legs.
• 5^th Step: Capture or Third Status Infliction
  1. Normally, this is the point where you will use tranq bombs or tranq shots to capture the monster. However, if there is a treasure area that you want to get to after the hunt, give yourself more time to mine and kill the monster. It is important to note that you can preemptively use tranq shots/bombs–this will capture the monster as soon as it is ready, buying you time to add damage or prepare for the next monster.

III) Armor Skill Rundown:

Trap Master:

• This is the quintessential skill for hame runs. It is the only true mandatory skill in order to succeed a run. It allows you to place traps and bombs fast enough to chain traps and status effects, as well as place bombs fast enough to contribute damage. As a nice bonus, it increases trap combination rates to 100%.

Bombardier:

• Since your weapon is centered around status infliction, bombs are your only reliable source of damage (with the exception of God’s Archipelago). As the person in charge of capturing monsters, you need to be able to add bursts of damage to weaken monsters and guarantee capture, especially when they’re idling in a trap. While this skill is not mandatory like it’s counterpart Trap Master, it is highly recommended for smooth runs. This skill also increases bomb combination rates to 100%.

Explosive Trapper:

• Explosive Trapper is a combination of Trap Master and Bombardier and is highly recommended. It is easily obtained using Craftsman’s Specs (+10 Headgear), which you are rewarded after completing all G-Rank Arena Grudge Match quests found in the Assembly in Dundorma. Due to the hassle of obtaining this headgear, I have listed more accessible armor sets that do not use Craftman’s Specs.

Status Atk +2:

• This increases the potency of your status shots by (1.225x + 1). Very useful, and is highly recommended for status reapplication. If you are using God’s Archipelago and only fighting Rajang, you do not need this skill, as it will not reduce the amount of shots required for initial status infliction, but is highly recommended for reapplying status if the quest goes south. In addition, once you become comfortable with monster patterns and tendencies, it is possible to completely remove this skill in favor for other supportive skills.Fun fact: this also boosts the effects of tranq shots and tranq bombs, which increases your window to add damage during the capture phase.

Status Atk +1:

• This is the weaker version of Status Atk +2, and increases the potency of your status shots by (1.125x + 1). The point of having a status booster is so that you can apply initial status faster and save ammunition– however, the boost you receive from this skill is not high enough to make a difference, making it a moot. Despite that, it still does make a difference when reapplying status a second time, but other than that, I would not recommend this skill.

Recoil Down +2:

• This skill is highly recommended for God’s Archipelago. Without it, you won’t be able to shoot status or clust shots at max speed. Much like Status Atk +1, Recoil Down +1 is not enough to make a difference. For all the other guns listed in this guide, Recoil Down isn’t needed because they focus on rapidfiring to apply status, which has fixed recoil. For more advanced players, Felyne Heavendoll also benefits from Recoil +2 when using Clust/Crag shots.

Load Up:

• This skill increases the clip size of all ammunition by 1. It is necessary for God’s Archipelago to avoid reloading when inflicting initial status.

Clandestine:

• This skill combines Load Up, Sneak, and Combo +20%. It will free up your inventory space of combination books, but honesty you shouldn’t have inventory problems in hame runs since you’re capturing and not carving. As for Sneak, you actually don’t want this, as it passes aggro to your HBGs instead of you, which is bad for positioning. I recommend getting Load Up.

Earplugs/HG Earplugs:

• While you can go without this skill, I highly recommend it for everything but God’s Archipelago to ensure you don’t get interrupted by a roar when initially inflicting sleep on the monster. For Hame Guild Quests, you only need HG Earplugs against Basarios/Sub, Diablos/Sub, Tigrex/Sub. Technically you need HG Earplugs against a Rajang, but that’s only if you land a mount.

Reload Speed +1/2:

• Reload is very convenient. It will make your life easier, and can increase the window to place bombs. Not at all required. For both God’s Archipelago and Felyne Heavendoll to reload Para/Sleep LV2 at max speed, you only need Reload +1. Only get Reload +2 if you plan on using Clust LV2/3.

Evade Extender:

• This is another convenience skill. While it is unnecessary, it makes getting into position much easier.

Steadiness +1/2:

• This skill reduces deviation–making your bullets fly straight and removing any curve. Since most of the time you will be shooting point blank at the monster, I do not recommend spending points into this skill.

IV) Choosing the Right Gun

**Note: Hone Defense is strongly recommended for potential damage mitigation, and Attach Silencer for the recoil reduction**

Ease of Use:

• Measures how forgiving the weapon is to the LBG on user error regarding the aforementioned steps. Factors include: reloading, ammo selection, and missed shots.

Status Application:

• Measures the speed and potency of status application. Factors include: level of status shot and clip size.

Resource Management:

• Measures resource consumption per run. A higher rating is better. Sleepyfish are a required component to create Sleep Shot LV2, which is necessary for 3/5 weapons mentioned in this guide, and are not farmable through the Wyporium nor are they buyable. Factors include: Use of sleepyfish (Sleep LV2), bomberries/wyv.claws/scatterfish (Clust LV1/2/3), and nitroshroom/burst arowana/bomb arowana (Crag Lv1/2/3).

Map Variability Control:

• Measures the ability to still be in control of the monster after map variances occur. Factors include: being hit by small monsters, reapplication of sleep status, and repositioning the monster due to a bad spawn.

Mistake Recovery:

• Measures the ability to regain control of the monster after user mistakes occur. Factors include: being hit by bombs/teammates, mistiming traps, failing initial status infliction, and reapplication of sleep status.

Damage Contribution:

• Measures the ability to add damage aside from additional bombs. Factors include: Use of clust and crag shots.

God’s Archipelago (Limiter Removed, with Silencer)
http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/gods-archipelago

**Item Duplication is necessary**

Recommended Skills: Recoil Down +2, Load Up (or Clandestine), Trap Master (or Explosive Trapper)

Bonus Skills: Status Atk +2, Earplugs, Reload +1/2, Bombardier (or Explosive Trapper)

This gun is the best status applier, and packs in the most damage. With its ability to load all types of ammo at once, and proper use of clust/crag shots, this gun will give you the fastest and smoothest runs possible. In addition to fast runs, repositioning and reapplying status on monsters is a breeze. However, the cost of this gun is incredibly high—it uses a whopping bare minimum of 6 sleepyfish and 7 genprey fangs per run, in addition to any resources for additional clust/crag shots or status shots. When used at maximum capacity, God’s Archipelago hemorrhages resources.

When using this gun, on average I was burning roughly 100 sleepyfish an hour! Ouch !!

Note on Status Atk +2:

Due to God’s Archipelago’s ability to fire both LV2 Shots, in most cases, Status Atk+2 will only decrease the shots required to inflict initial status by 1–if at all. As noted by grepcdn, by choosing to not get this skill (15 skill points), it grants you access to other valuable skills that would otherwise not be possible. This is a matter of personal preference based on your playstyle.

Felyne Heavendoll/Plesioth Drencher
http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/felyne-heavendoll

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/plesioth-drencher

**Item Duplication is suggested**

Recommended Skills: Status Atk +2, Bonus Shot, Trap Master (or Explosive Trapper)

Bonus Skills: Earplugs, Load Up (or Clandestine), Bombardier (or Explosive Trapper)

The Felyne Heavendoll is the standard for LBG Hame Runs. It is not as easy to use nor as fast as God’s Archipelago, but it will get the job done without any trouble. Proper use only requires 2 sleepyfish per run, and it uses Para LV1, which is basically free. Due to its ability to rapid fire Sleep LV2, you will very quickly inflict initial sleep status, which can be bad for positioning monsters. Be sure to bring a cheap throwable projectile (stones, boomerang, paintball) to grab aggro. Alternatively, you can walk up to the monster and hit it with your gun, prompting the monster to face you immediately–if you have earplugs, this is safe, but otherwise doing this usually prompts an immediate roar. Unlike God’s Archipelago, your damage should restricted to bombs—you can still use crag/clust shots if you run out of bombs, but otherwise it’s very inefficient and comes at a high opportunity cost.

When using this gun, on average I was burning roughly 30 sleepyfish an hour—much more manageable than God’s Archipelago!

Please do not rapid fire Normal LV1. With Felyne Pyro, it does less damage than a single small barrel bomb.

220 (Raw) * 0.06 (Normal 1) * 1.5 (Critical Distance) * 0.45 (Hitzone) * 0.7 (RapidFire) * 6 shots ≈ 37 Damage.

Small Barrel Bomb = 39 Damage.

Plesioth Drencher is basically the same as Felyne Heavendoll, but without deviation, no access to Para LV2, and 2 less slots.

Otherwise it functions the same, focusing on rapidfiring Sleep LV2 and Para LV1. Oh, and no cat noises.

Kettle Blower Deluxe/Felyne Helldoll
http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/kettleblower-deluxe

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/felyne-helldoll

**For the experienced, virtuous LBG user**

Recommended Skills: Status Atk +2, Bonus Shot, Trap Master (or Explosive Trapper)

Bonus Skills: Earplugs, Load Up (or Clandestine), Bombardier (or Explosive Trapper)

These guns are for experts who want a challenge, low maintenance, and 100% legitimacy—they only use Sleep LV1—no sleepyfish! In 90% of hame runs, the map won’t screw you over, the monster won’t be in time-out facing the corner, and your teammates will know what they’re doing. Thus, for 90% of hame runs, the only difference between these guns and the Felyne Heavendoll is that you have a slight advantage with applying initial sleep on the monster, because you can use your first volley of SleepLV1 to grab aggro and control positioning. Like the Felyne Heavendoll, it’s not advisable to use crag/clust shots with these guns, especially due to their low clip count.

V) Armor Set Examples:

God’s Archipelago Set (No Craftsman’s Specs):
This set is very accessible, and does not require Craftman’s Specs nor Barrage Earrings. A nice benefit of this set is that it does not use a talisman, so you have free reign over that.

Talisman: Whatever you feel like using!

Armor Skills: Load Up, Recoil Down +2, Trap Master, and Bombardier.

Weapon: God’s Archipelago (2x SpeedSetup)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/gods-archipelago

Head: Gravios Cap X (1x SpeedSetup)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/head/gravios-cap-x

Chest: Artian Vest X (2x SpeedSetup)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/chest/artian-vest-x

Arms: Gravios Guards S (2x Bomb Boost)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/arms/gravios-guards-s

Waist: Kushala Wind Wrap X (1x Loading3)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/waist/kushala-wind-wrap-x

Legs: Diablos Leggings X (3x Bomb Boost)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/legs/diablos-leggings-x

Talisman: Use whatever talisman you feel like!

God’s Archipelago (with Craftman’s Specs)
This is another set for God’s Archipelago that requires more effort to make, but has Status Atk +2. The only real downside is that it requires a Teostra Gem, but other than that, the only material in this set that is under a 10% drop is Khezu Special Cut, which can easily farmed through the Guild 8 Quest: Hunt-a-thon: Khezu.

Talisman: Loading +5 or equivalent.

Armor Skills: Explosive Trapper, Load Up, Recoil +2, and Status Atk +2.

God’s Archipelago (1x Status2)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/gods-archipelago

Craftman’s Specs

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/head/craftsmans-specs

Kaiser Vest X (1x Status2)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/chest/kaiser-vest-x

Gravios Guards S (1x Status2)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/arms/gravios-guards-s

Grand Cham Coat (1x Recoil3)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/waist/grand-cham-coat

Diablos Leggings X (2x Recoil1, 1x Status1)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/legs/diablos-leggings-x

Talisman: Must have a total of Loading +5.

Examples: Loading +2 ooo, Loading +4 oo, Loading +5 or better.

Felyne Heavendoll and Felyne Helldoll Set (No Craftsman’s Specs):
This set is pretty easy to assemble, and like the God’s Archipelago set above, the only material that is under a 10% drop is Khezu Special Cut, which can easily farmed through the Guild 8 Quest: Hunt-a-thon: Khezu. The other difficult to find components are 2 Rathalos Plates (required for Rapid Fire 3 Gems), but you can trade VE Silver Tickets in Ancestral Steppe for them, and VE Silver Tickets are easy to farm through Unity from trading guild cards.

Talisman: ANY 3 slotted talisman.

Armor Skills: Bonus Shot, Status Atk +2, Earplugs, Trap Master, and Bombardier.

Weapon: Felyne Heavendoll/ Felyne Helldoll (1x Bomb Boost, 1x SpeedSetup, 1x Status1)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/felyne-heavendoll

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/weapon/lightbowgun/felyne-helldoll

Head: Skull Mask/Black Belt Helm

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/head/skull-mask

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/head/black-belt-helm

Chest: Tetsucabra Vest Z (1x Rapid Fire1, 1x Bomb Boost)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/chest/tetsucabra-vest-z

Arms:Ioprey Guards X (2x SpeedSetup)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/arms/ioprey-guards-x

Waist: Grand Cham Coat (1x Rapid Fire3)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/waist/grand-cham-coat

Legs: Grand Cham Trousers (2x SpeedSetup)

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u/armor/legs/grand-cham-trousers

Talisman: Any 3 slotted Talisman (1x Rapid Fire 3)

The talisman’s sole purpose is to provide Rapid Fire +4, so if you have a talisman that does that on it’s own, that is acceptable too. Better yet, if you have an even better Rapid Fire talisman, you can avoid having to get Rathalos Plates altogether.

For further assistance with armor set creation, I recommend using Athena’s Armor Set Search:

http://forums.minegarde.com/topic/7348-athenas-ass-for-mh4g-and-mh4u/?p=164431

VI) Status Infliction Explanation:

**Note: All values in this section have been rounded down.**

**Note: Typically, Sleep lasts 40 seconds and Paralyze lasts 10 seconds. However, for Black/Reg Diablos, Paralyze lasts 15 seconds. Also, there is no specific body part you need to be aiming for when shooting status shots.**

Shots Required to Inflict Initial Status
(Values are with Status Atk +2)

Felyne Specialist:

Having this skill will not really affect how your run will go. The only noticeable difference is that certain monsters will take one less shot to fall asleep (ex. Rajang).

How Status Works:

Every monster has an initial numerical tolerance to each status effect. Each status shot you land does a set amount of status damage to that monster. Once you do enough status damage and reach that monster’s tolerance level, they will be status inflicted.

Status Shot Damage

Example: Rajang: Sleep Tolerance: 150

With no Status Multiplier: Sleep Shot LV2 (50 Sleep Damage), Sleep Shot LV1 (25 Sleep Damage)

Rajang will fall asleep after getting hit by 3 Sleep Shot LV2 (50 x 3 = 150), or after 6 Sleep LV1 (25 x 6 = 150)

Status Decay:

Every 10 seconds, the amount of status damage the monster has built up drops by 5.

Example: If you hit Rajang with 2 Sleep Shot LV2 with no status multiplier (2 * 50 = 100), and wait 10 seconds, it will have 95 sleep damage (100 – 5 = 95). In this case, hitting it with a 3^rdshot will only give you 145 sleep damage (95 + 50 = 145), which is not enough to status inflict, requiring you to shoot another Sleep LV2 to break the initial 150 tolerance. Time is of the essence!

Re-applying Status:

After applying a status once to a monster, reapplying that status becomes harder because their tolerance increases significantly. Typically, it takes roughly just a little under twice as many shots as it did to inflict status the 1^st time. (It’s worse without Status Atk +2)

Shots Required to Reapply Status
(Values are with Status Atk +2)

Wystone: Element:

When hitting an Apex monster with Wystone: Element active, your status attacks will gain a bonus 1.2x damage, which is a huge increase.

Wystone: Element Status Damage

This is a very significant boost, and is important to abuse when trying to do alternative hame styles.

The Knockout Status:

KOing monsters is a fun mixup to add to your regimen if you want a change of pace. KO status has a duration of 10 seconds. It can be achieved through use of Crag Shot LV1/2/3, which gives KO values of 25/30/35 respectively. However, as it typically causes monsters to fall over and flail (unless in a pitfall trap), it can screw up your HBGs aim, and adversely affect your team’s damage. The best way to make use of this status is at towards the end of the Pitfall Trap–the monster will be stay KO’d in the trap for an additional damage output. Please note that when trying to apply KO damage, you must be very precise and aim for the head. Successful hits will be denoted by a sound and animation.

KOing is very fun and amusing– I recommend everyone try it at least once!

VII) Trap Data:

After placement, Pitfall Traps take 4 seconds to activate—keep in mind most monsters only stay paralyzed for 10 seconds. Shock Traps, on the other hand, activate immediately, but typically do not last as long as Pitfall Traps. It is important to keep this in mind when trying to extend the window for damage.

Initial Trap Duration Times

On average, the second time a monster is exposed to the same trap, they will break out of it 25% faster.

Example: When Rajang is in his second shock trap, he breaks out after 6 seconds.

VIII) Items and Food:

Food: Felyne Pyro (Meat + Drink)

Wystones: Element + Drive

Required Items:

* Combo Books I-V (depending on ammo used)
* Max Capacity of Sleep Shots 
* Max Capacity of Para Shots
* Materials to make additional Sleep and Para Shots
* 1x Shock Trap
* 1x Pitfall Trap
* 2x Trap Tool
* 2x Thunderbug     
* 2x Net 
* 8x Tranq Shots/Bombs
* 10x Small Barrel Bomb or Felvine Bomb
* 3x Large Barrel Bomb
* 10x Large Barrel
* 10x Gunpowder 
* 5x Flash Bomb

Situational Items:

* Max Capacity Clust 1/2/3
* Max Capacity Crag 1/2/3
* Materials to make additional Clust and Crag Shots
* 10x Smoke Bomb
* 10x Nulberry or Portable Steam Bomb
* 10x Stone or suitable projectile
* 2x Large Barrel Bomb+
* 10x Scatterfish
* 10x Dung Bombs
* 5x Mega Pickaxes
* 3x Lifepowders
* 1x Ancient Powder

Bomb Damage
**Note: Felyne Pyro upgrades Small Barrel Bombs into Small Barrel Bombs+, and Large Barrel Bombs into Large Barrel Bombs+.**

Combining on the Fly:

During your hame runs, you will need to be constantly replenishing your supply of Large Barrel Bombs (Gunpowder + Large Barrels), Shock Traps and Pitfall Traps. I highly recommend using the touchscreen Combine Panel at the bottom. To reorganize the order of the items on the touchscreen, reorder the combination list in the actual menu.

Daily Food Skills:

If you get to the point of wanting to eat Felyne Exchanger, bring scatterfish and place Large Barrel Bombs+, unless you’re very comfortable with your team’s damage. If you happen to eatUnlucky Cat, make sure to bring items to counter HP/Stamina reduction. As noted above, Felyne Specialist has no real impact on how your runs will go, with the exception of sometimes saving a bullet when inflicting sleep.

Item Duplication:

This is the process of duplicating items in a way not intentionally offered by the game. For example, this can be achieved by having a friend give you his supply of sleepyfish, then exiting his game without saving to replenish his supply, or by getting powersaves and directly editing the quantity in your storage. Personally, I have an old 3DS and a second copy of MH4U.

IX) Getting the Perfect Run:

HBG Selection Process:

As the controller, your primary focus is on inhibiting the monster’s movement–the bombs you place will account for under 10% of the damage dealt, the rest being from your teammates. The average successful run consists of 3 HBGs with the following armor skills and weapon:

* Gravios Gigacannon
* Attack Up (S)
* Peak Performance
* Ruthlessness
* Recoil Down +1
* Pierce Up

**Note: as you get a better feel for team damage, these skills and even the weapon can vary drastically and still result in successful runs**

After eating, this should total 583 damage. If they do not have this damage, they either did not hone or upgrade the long barrel on their weapon. When you average your team’s damage, it must be at a bare minimum of 583 or you’ll end up having to reapply status in order to succeed.

It is your responsibility to your team to uphold that standard of damage for a smooth run.

If you are going to kick someone because of their equipment, please inform them of what they need to improve on and help our community grow.

Preventing HBG User Errors:

When hunting with a new group, a little communication before the hunt goes a long way. Make sure they know how to position properly, group up together tightly, and never get ahead of you. It is vital that you obtain initial aggro from the monster for positioning. You also do not want them to run in front of you and accidentally block a precious sleep shot. Furthermore, you should always be the first person to enter the area so monster synchronizes with you, and not an HBG. In addition, when there is a treasure area available, make sure everyone is on the same page for when it is acceptable to mine.

Synchronizing the Monster:

It is important to note that the monster synchronizes with the first person who enters the area. It is imperative that the monster synchronizes with you because there are small amounts of lag that are visually misleading to people who are not synchronized— meaning that the monster is not actually where it appears to be on your screen (but only by a little bit). This means that if an HBG enters first, the monster’s movements will be delayed on your screen, potentially causing you to actually miss a shot even though on your screen it shows you hitting it. This is why sometimes when you hit the monster, the status effect isn’t applied–it’s because of lag due to the monster not being synchronized with your game. If an HBG enters the area before you, aim at areas that are very big with big hit zones to minimize this risk.

Example 1: If you’re not synchronized with Rajang and you’re trying to inflict initial sleep status and shoot at his hind legs, there’s a pretty high chance that even though you hit him in your game, it won’t register on the synchronized person’s game.

Example 2: When trying to perfect paralyze Rajang, if you’re not synchronized, there is a high chance that you will miss the small window to pull it off.

HBG Positioning:

Once the monster is sleeping, everyone has 40 seconds to drop 2 bombs, and get into position. It is your responsibility to make sure that the HBGs are at critical distance (2-3 rolls depending on ammunition/monster) and that they are lined up properly so that their shots will pierce through the monster, hitting a minimum of 2 times per shot. You can actually see each HBG’s bullet path as it passes through the monster to verify that the shots are getting maximum damage output. If they’re not lined up accordingly or aiming properly, give instruction through preset chat dialogues, or later after the run.

Pay attention to your HBGs:

While going through the process of applying status and trapping the monster, you need to be watching your HBG squad for potential problems, such as rolling out of position, or getting hit by small monsters. Although this is often overlooked, make sure that they’re each putting down 2 bombs during sleep. These mistakes can be corrected by dropping additional bombs to make up for lost damage. In extreme cases, begin putting the monster to sleep a second time. In addition, it is very important to pay attention to your HGBs bullet path when placing traps (so you don’t get interrupted) and when placing bombs (so they don’t detonate them while you’re close to them).

Broken Monster Parts:

Pay attention to the rate your team is breaking monster parts—mainly the horns. For example, if they have broken both of Zinogre’s horns, it’s time speed things up and proceed to the next step. It is vital that you don’t kill the monster with an unused trap on the ground, or you can’t use traps on the next monster. In contrast, if horns are not breaking at all or at a slower rate than usual, then your HBGs are positioned improperly and your damage is suffering severely.

Tips for Apex Rajang:

Always activate Wystone: Element and Drive, or your shots won’t inflict status or hit at all!

Note: when hitting an Apex Monster with Wystone: Element active, your status shots will deal (1.2x status damage)

Example: If you hit Rajang with Para LV2 (with Status Atk +2) while he is Apexed, it will take 1 less shot to inflict Paralysis (3 shots instead of 4).

When Apex Rajang gets knocked out of his Apex state, he falls over to his left. You can place a shock trap very close to his sleeping body, and when he gets knocked out of Apex, he will immediately be shocked, with everyone perfectly positioned and aimed. However, if you feel your team’s damage output is not high enough, save the shock trap and let him fall over on the ground and flail for a few seconds before placing the shock trap to extend the window for damage.

After breaking free from the Shock Trap, Rajang will immediately enter enraged mode–noted by his fur turning yellow, and leaping backwards a significant amount. Typically, you don’t want this to happen, unless you are setting up for a 2^nd sleep affliction for special occasions. While this visually looks like he’s jumping, the game registers it has him sliding backwards which means hewill not jump over any traps laid behind him. Since the goal is to have Rajang locked down 100% of the time, you need to paralyze him before laying down the 2nd trap (pitfall trap) to ensure he falls into it. To achieve this, there are three common methods to choose from based on if he is enraged or not. (Enraged = Super Saiyan Mode)

1^st Method – The Perfect Paralyze: When Rajang is in the shock trap and you are hitting him with paralyze shots, there is a split second where he transforms into enraged mode before he jumps backwards. You must hit him with the definitive paralyze shot at that very moment–it is very hard to get the timing down, but once you have it, it’s a cakewalk. You will know you have pulled this off successfully because he will be in the enraged state while paralyzed. From there, just place the pitfall trap underneath him.

This is the harder option, but the better option as it keeps Rajang at critical distance for your HGBs.

Demonstration 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n35YkIocqpY#t=2m45s

Demonstration 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZsuaYVHqLM#t=3m01s

2^nd Method – The Back Step: Don’t worry about timing, paralyze him when he’s in not enraged (all black fur), and place the pitfall trap a little under 1 roll from his hind legs.

This is the safer, easier option, but can adversely affect your team’s damage, as he is moving backwards, potentially out of critical distance of your HGBs.

3^rd Method – The Rushed Pitfall: This method manages to get non-enraged Rajang into a Pitfall Trap. After paralyzing him (no specific timing needed for paralysis infliction), immediately place a Pitfall Trap by his feet–normally Rajang would shoot a lightning bolt and jump backwards out of a trap, but since he is paralyzed as the trap activates, he falls in. This method has very strict timing, and can only be done using Para Shot LV2 with God’s Archipelago or Felyne Heavendoll. Since the other guns required Para LV1 to be rapid fired, they will lock you into the rapid fire cooldown animation and the Pitfall Trap will not activate in time.

This method is only for high damage output teams, as it reduces the window for damage.

Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6nEvYTO_ck#t=2m36s

For beginners, I recommend starting off on the 2^nd method, and slowly adjusting your timing until you get the 1^st method by accident, just so you know what it looks/feels like. It also helps if when you are trying to get the timing down to stand very close to him and in front of him (that way when he jumps back, your bullet still has a chance to catch up and hit him). Personally, I look for a visual cue–when Rajang shakes off the trap and stretches, he straightens his body and becomes very rigid, and it looks slightly unnatural. This is the moment when I fire, and it works for me 99% of the time.

Remember that Apex monsters are not affected by traps, dung bombs, or flash bombs.

The Wasted Trap:

If you kill the monster before the second trap is used, ask your teammates to lay a trap for you, and inflict sleep a second time as the trap runs out. Be sure to give traps to your HBGs when this happens, and ping where you want them to put it. Using preset chat dialogues help communicate this process.

If it Breaks Free:

If the monster breaks free from your control, do your best to continue where you left off, or flash bomb immediately. If you misplace a trap, sleep status it again, and reposition your team. In these situations, flash bombs can be life savers.

If the 2^nd Monster Appears:

If another monster shows up, immediately smoke bomb before it notices your team, and dung bomb it when possible. Remember, Apex monsters are unaffected by both dung bombs and flash bombs.

Failing the Run:

If you proceed through all the status/trap steps and still fail the run, it’s because of the team’s low damage. If this is the case, you can always add more bombs. Initially, you should be placing at least 4 bombs (2 during initial sleep, and 2 during capture phase) per hunt. If you need to add additional bombs, the easiest time to do so is during the shock trap phase and during the capture phase. In addition, verify that your HBGs are positioned properly and are aiming well.

When to Abandon:

When the quest goes south, it is up to your personal preference on when to abandon. Just be sure to communicate your standards to your team beforehand. As a reference, typically runs are under 3 minutes. If you’re aiming to have fast runs, be sure to use the combination panel on the touch screen to speed up the tedious combination process.

X) Example Videos:

Rajang/Rajang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n35YkIocqpY

Styg. Zino/Rajang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZsuaYVHqLM

Brachydios/Rajang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg-7bERIqa0

Rajang/Rajang Alternate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9BXZjSCc1o

Although at a higher resource cost, this video shows a fun alternative method for Apex Rajang.

XI) Closing

I hope this guide has given a clearer understanding about the role and responsibilities of the LBG in hame runs. To get timing down, you’ll have to practice and really pay attention to the tiny details in animations/sounds. While this isn’t easy, and there are a lot of places where mistakes can happen, with enough patience, it will become one of the most rewarding experiences this game can offer.

Special Thanks to:
grepcdn, bornhalm, Kotaff, baller, Kolymos, Klarel, and all the HGB’s I’ve had the chance to hame run with. You guys are great!

Good luck, hunt well, and may these be the best days of your flerm.

-JJ