Patch 15.02
Rise of the Frost Craft Queen.
Yes there is an update. And yes it isn’t a minor 1 piece update.
Overview:
Most of this patch is similar to the last one so I won’t go over the reason to why Fatalis 4 Piece is now the meta preference for bow. You can read about it again in the overview from 15.01.
However, I would love to touch on a interesting play style in Frost Craft Dash dancing bow.
This will likely be the last album as capcom slowly end it’s update cycles, but I’ll be back if anything new shows up.
Thank you for reading.
Table of Contents
If you want Clutch Claw Boost, aka Shaver deco, in any of these builds, just cut a normal shot, or spread shot if there was only 1 level of normal shot.
If your prefer a non-peak version of these builds at a tiny bit of damage loss, Phemeto made a good video for em at Here.
Fire Builds
Meta and also Comfort Fire: Kjarr King
The Fatalis 4 piece bonus offers the equivalent of HealthBoost 3. Thus, the 2 builds are merdged.
It might be a bit hard to notice but this set gained 2 levels of quick sheath. Very useful : )
You can replaced the Flawless/Physic deco with other Flawless combo decos and run Con2 builds. But the damage aspect of this build is capped out.
Con3/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Taroth Fire
Taroth Arrow Fire is the best bow against Namielle with its highest elemental damage value
Con2/ss3 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
Note:
When comparing performances in non-namielle match ups.
The con2 variation beats Safi Hellbow but the con3 variation does not.
However kjarr fire is best for non-Nami.
Water Builds
Meta and also Comfort Water: Safi Aquabow
There is now a definitive winner for the water meta: Safi Aquabow with Velk essence and 4 piece Fatalis. This build willl only do slighly more damage (like 1% ish) than the TCE variation of Aquabow but also comes with extended stamina bar and additonal coatings.
As for its performance against Kjarr Water, it will break even at around 120 shots, which is 20 shots after power coatings run out. It’s very unlikely for master rank monsters to take more than 120 shots to kill at this stage of the game (Solo wise), and therefore, overall, this will be the best water build.
You can replaced the Flawless/Physic deco with other Flawless combo decos and run Con2 builds. But the damage aspect of this build is capped out.
Con3/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Meta Water Alternative (For Flame Aura Teo and Etc.)
Kjarr water doesn’t have power coatings : (
Con2/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Water Comfort Alternative
Con2/ss2 Build
Honey hunter build ID
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey hunter build ID
Since comfort is the primary consideration, I personally would recommend Kjarr water as the best option for its cost effectiveness and lower skill requirement.
Ice Builds
Meta and also Comfrot Ice: Kjarr Stream
It might be a bit hard to notice but this set gained 2 levels of quick sheath. Very useful : )
You can replaced the Flawless/Physic deco with other Flawless combo decos and run Con2 builds. But the damage aspect of this build is capped out.
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Meta Ice Alternative (For Lunastra and etc.)
This is a little different to the Kjarr Water build due to the base raw of Kjarr Stream being the lowest at 240, making normal shot and spread shot less valuable in comparison.
The Safi Mix set is used for match ups where peak is impossible to keep up, for example Lunastra and Raging Brachydios.
Con2/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Ice Comfort Alternative
Con2/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Thunder Builds
Meta and also Comfort Thunder: Safi Boltbow
Finally, we can abandon Kjarr Spark at its terrible stats. By using Boltbow with 4 piece Fatalis, this set gains 10 true raw over using Kjarr Spark at the same elemental damage levels. However, this is a hyper optimized version around damage from the previous Kjarr Spark + Fatalis 4 piece build. So if you prefer having Para + coatings, just switch the bow to Kjarr Spark and slot in the other decos.
You can replaced the Flawless/Physic deco with other Flawless combo decos and run Con2 builds. But the damage aspect of this build is capped out.
Con3/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Taroth Thunder
Taroth thunder has the highest elemental damage and accels against high thunder hzv monsters suchs as Nagracuuga.
However the low total raw does make it inferior for the more raw skewed thunder matchups.
Con3/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Dragon Builds
Sadly with all these new bows and builds, Dragon bows are back to the shadow realm of bullying Jhos.
Meta Dragon: Alatreon Commandment
Con2/ss3 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
The ability to utilise challenger charm and maximise affinity without affinity augments is what brought this build to a new level.
Dragon Comfort
Con2/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
Meta Alternative: Fatalis 4 Piece with Decay
Although the 4 piece Fatalis Kjarr decay build isn’t as strong as the Alatreon builds, it is quite comfortable and offers very solid damage. If this is somethinig you’d prefer then feel no shame using this build instead.
Con3/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter build ID
Is Fatalis bow a generalist bow?
Since I wasn’t very clear in the previous patch note about how this bow is positioned in the meta game, mainly around the question of whether this is a “generalist bow” or not.
The answer is both yes, and no.
As a general rule of thumb, for monsters with 20 and below elemental hzvs, this is the go to bow.
For monsters with 25 elemental hzvs, if the monster also have above 60 shot hzvs, then this bow is competitive with elemental builds if you could maintain a good evasion mantle uptime (roughly 50% of your hunt time), in other words, if you can kill a monster fast.
And for monsters with 30 elemental hzvs, elemental bows will generally win by a rough 5%.
To find out more about hzvs, either use this spreadsheet, or visit Kranico.
So whether this bow is a generalist bow will depend on your perspective as a player, but it does cover the most match ups numerically.
The Bow of Vice & Violence
Agitator Reliant Version and also Comfort
The Fatalis 4 piece bonus offers the equivalent of HealthBoost 3. Thus, the 2 builds are merdged.
You can replaced the Flawless/Physic deco with other Flawless combo decos and run Con2 builds. But the damage aspect of this build is capped out.
Con3/ss3 Build
Honey Hunter Build ID
Change element augments and swap out the dragon attack decos for attack boost against match ups where dragon hzvs is below 10.
Alterantive Agitator Reliant Version
An Alternaitve approach to the build, favoring attack augments for higher base raw. This build is more preferred if you were using Evasion Mantle with Cat horn Attack buff (these 2 will cap you at the 2.0x raw cap) and kill your oppoonent in under 80 shots.
This is mostly favoured as a speed run option.
Con2/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter Build ID
Con3/ss2 Build
Honey Hunter Build ID
Swap out the dragon attack decos for attack boost against match ups where dragon hzvs is below 10.
Non-Agitator Reliant Verion
The non-agi reliant sets are better for monsters with short enrage durations, such as Ruiner Nerigante and Kushala. Its a more specialised version compared to the above.
If you want health boost 3, just remove the dragon attacks.
Con2/ss3 Build
Honey Hunter Build ID
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter Build ID
Change element augments and swap out the dragon attack decos for attack boost against match ups where dragon hzvs is below 10.
Frost Craft Dash Dance Bow
Inspired by the cult of frost craft from the Mathalos Discord, this concept of bow gameplay is extremely tricky yet interesting.
After collaborating with a great bow speed runner Tidus 69, we have further developed and optimized the concept of frost craft dash dance through practical gameplay and mathematical analysis.
Although Frost Craft Dash Dance Bow as a concept is not entirely new, as myself and many others have explored this concept before with Velkhana Alpha and Beta armour, but with that set, it was only worth using when Frost Craft is charged to level 3. This was extremely difficult for bow to keep up given the attack frequencies.
With the additional of Velkhana Gamma set, the dynamics for this difference have shifted, and produced some great results! The Frost Craft builds will exceed normal bow by as high as 18% dps at FC 3 and loses only 3% at FC 0.
However, the competitiveness of these builds will be extremely limited by how low the hp and thresholds your target and how fast you can kill the monster, in other words, these are very speed run focused builds. Additionally, this build does not work well with monsters who also topple from their head, for example Teostra, since during topples you won’t be able to regenerate Frost Craft Charges. Nonetheless, feel free to try them out for a change in play style.
Builds and Maths
Standard Frost Craft Build Template (Fire/Dragon/Thunder/Water)
I don’t usually recommend mantles in my builds, but for these, you’ll want high damage output mantles with slots that can provide extra levels of stamina surge.
Con3/ss1 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
Ice Unique Build.
Con3/ss2 Variation
Honey Hunter build ID
The Con3 Variations are for people who prefer only to use Dash Juice whereas the Con1-2 Versions are used with Dash Juice + Felyne Blackbelt.
A Brief Description of Frost Craft
Frost craft the 4 piece bonus from Velkhana will increase both your raw and elemental damage by 5%/20%/25% based on the charge level for bow. This damage boost is not subjected to damage caps.
Frost Craft has a max charge of 100 and Bow melee attacks will consume 10 per hit, rapid shot will consume 4 per hit and power shots will consume 8 per hit.
The information can be found in the 2 illustrations down below.
Mathematical evidence for justification
I’ll spare you the troubles of reading every bit of calculations.
As a whole, we could see that FC offers quite significant value for Water, Thunder and especially Ice compared to their meta set counter parts.
Numerically we can’t say too much about FC bow except that the damage while FC charge levels are up is quite significant for the noted elements. Most of the conclusions drawn for the viability are done through game play testings.
Gameplay Guide
Gameplay wise, Frost craft bow play style will be slightly alternated from normal bow game play. Instead of doing a tenderising combo after a clagger, you should just jump off instead. This allows frost craft to recharge during this short time frame. On average bow can recharge about 60 frost craft charges by doing this.
A good example of this game play is the run done by Tidus, make sure to check out his channel for more runs using FC builds.
These builds are very limited to match ups.
If a monster topples from taking head damage, then this build won’t do as well due to the fact that the high dps period during topples doesn’t allow Frost charge levels to regenerate. Meaning you’ll have to spend your high dps period with lower damage overall (unless you’re using the ice unique version).
Be cautious about what you take this build to hunt for.
All good things will come to an end.
As MHW is finishing its content update cycles, I too will be moving on to being a bow main in other games.
Enjoy your hunts and see you in the next game.
Thanks for reading.
MHW Bow builds 