The Boost Bracer is the headline hunting action in Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, and it does not treat all 14 weapons equally. Some kits get genuinely new mechanics — coatings, a grappling hook, a run-and-gun mode — while others get a faster, flashier version of what they already do. Sorting them by how much the Bracer actually changes the moment-to-moment loop makes the gap obvious.
Quick answer: Hunting Horn, Hammer, Sword & Shield, Charge Blade, Long Sword, and Light Bowgun gain the most from the Boost Bracer. Insect Glaive currently shows the smallest change.
Boost Bracer tier list: all 14 weapons
| Tier | Weapons |
|---|---|
| S | Hunting Horn, Hammer, Sword & Shield, Charge Blade, Long Sword, Light Bowgun |
| A | Gunlance, Switch Axe, Heavy Bowgun, Great Sword |
| B | Bow, Dual Blades, Lance |
| C | Insect Glaive |
How the Boost Bracer works
Boost energy builds while you stay aggressive and keep landing attacks. Once it is stocked, you spend it with a Boost Driver — a dedicated lunging attack that differs per weapon — or through another activation unique to that weapon type. Boost then stays up for a window, unlocking extra combo routes, stronger versions of existing moves, and in several cases a brand-new Offset Attack.
That structure is why the ranking below is not the same as a raw damage list. A weapon that already had good counters gains less from a new offset than one that never had a reliable answer to a charging monster.
How this ranking was scored
- New mechanics, not just new animations — does the Bracer add a system the weapon did not have?
- Defensive coverage, including offsets, guard points, perfect dodges, and counters.
- Mobility and gap closing, since most Boost Drivers double as an approach tool.
- How much the core combo loop changes compared to the base game.
This reflects the Boosted Action breakdown showcases released through September 2026. Ascendance is due out in 2027, and no specific release date has been confirmed.
Move names are provisional. Several are placeholders drawn from the showcase footage and may change when the expansion ships.
S tier: the biggest Boost Bracer winners
| Weapon | Headline action | Key addition |
|---|---|---|
| Hunting Horn | Boost Driver Performance | Aerial slam finisher, horn punch offset |
| Hammer | Boost Driver Slam | Long leap into a crater slam |
| Sword & Shield | Bladecoating Slash | Weapon coatings, clutch claw |
| Charge Blade | Empowered SAED | Instant phial charging, offset AED |
| Long Sword | Empowered Iai Spirit Slash | Boost Driver offset, mid-combo dashes |
| Light Bowgun | Strafing Rapid Fire | Perfect dodge, ranged offset shot |
Hunting Horn gets the most character out of the Bracer. A slide into a song that launches into the air and ends in a vertical slam is a full new combo route, the horn punch gives it a shockwave offset, and echo bubbles can be dropped mid-attack instead of during a pause. It turns the support weapon into something that plays aggressively without giving up its buffs.
Hammer reclaims its air game. The Boost Driver Slam covers a long distance before dropping into a crater-style impact, the first charge attack now propels you forward, and Big Bang gets faster strikes with a heavier finisher. Reaching a head that used to be out of range is the specific problem this solves.
Sword & Shield gains the most systems outright. Bladecoating Slash applies buffs including health recovery on hit and works even outside Boost, the Bracer deploys a clutch claw for latching onto monsters from a distance, and the shield slam Boost Driver closes gaps with blunt damage before comboing into a spinning Falling Bash.
Charge Blade finally gets to skip the setup. The sword-mode Boost Driver charges phials straight to red, the axe-mode version has a guard point while charging to yellow, and a charged spinning slash spends phials to empower the sword. The SAED becomes a wider, shotgun-style discharge, and the AED gains offset properties.
Long Sword sits high mostly on speed. Special Sheathe transitions are faster into a boosted Iai Spirit Slash, basic attacks pick up new extensions while the Boost Driver is active, and you can fire off very fast dash attacks in the middle of a combo. The Boost Driver itself carries offset properties, so counters stack on counters.
Light Bowgun becomes a different weapon while boosted. Strafing Rapid Fire lets you shoot continuously while moving, a perfect dodge in the style of the Bow’s Discerning Dodge covers the defensive gap and can vault you off a monster, and an Offset Shot gives a ranged weapon access to a mechanic that was melee-only.
A tier: strong additions on a familiar loop
| Weapon | Headline action | Key addition |
|---|---|---|
| Gunlance | Shield Charge Offset | Elemental shelling, guarding reload |
| Switch Axe | Enhanced Zero Sum Discharge | I-frame attack, instant gauge fill |
| Heavy Bowgun | Beam Blast | Overcharge rounds, dodge reload |
| Great Sword | Running Offset Rising Slash | Chained offsets, Drive Charged Slash |
Gunlance has the deepest list here. Elemental shelling is the important one, since shelling has never scaled off a monster’s elemental weakness before. Add a charging shield Boost Driver that doubles as an offset, a reload that sweeps as it loads, a two-hit cross counter out of a guard, and a point-blank Wyvern Fire that latches onto the target.
Switch Axe quietly gets one of the best defensive tools in the expansion, an attack with invincibility frames. Boost Driver hits also fill the Switch or Amp Gauge instantly, Full Release Slash loses its wind-up in favor of an explosive combo, and Zero Sum Discharge gains a dash entry that can be followed with an aerial attack.
Heavy Bowgun leans into firepower rather than flexibility. Beam Blast fires a sustained laser, Overcharge loads compressed rounds and works even when you are not boosted, fire rate goes up during Boost, and Dodge Reload lets you roll and reload in one action.
Great Sword ranks lower than its damage suggests because the loop is unchanged. What it does get is meaningful: a mobile Offset Rising Slash that also closes distance and slides into follow-ups, a Power Clash that refunds Boost gauge, a Drive Charged Slash performed after planting the blade, and the ability to chain offsets back to back.
B tier: refinements rather than rebuilds
| Weapon | Headline action | Key addition |
|---|---|---|
| Bow | Boost Driver Offset Attack | Close-range counter, boosted firepower |
| Dual Blades | Screw Slicer follow-up | Redirectable second spin, longer reach |
| Lance | Overhead Offset Slam | Shockwave charge counter |
Bow gets a close-range Boost Driver that works as both a counter and a Boost trigger, plus more arrow firepower and wider shot combos. It is a good package, but the Bow already had a strong dodge-and-shoot rhythm, so the Bracer mostly sharpens what was there.
Dual Blades pick up a spinning Boost Driver that doubles as an offset and a gap closer, a second Screw Slicer in Demon Boost whose path can be redirected, a faster Blade Dance finisher, and increased melee range. Useful control upgrades, but the Demon Mode loop stays the same.
Lance lands near the bottom despite a clean set of additions. The overhead offset slam covers anti-air, the Charge Counter throws out a line of shockwaves on hit, and the Dash Attack speeds up into a stronger Finishing Thrust. Every one of those is an upgrade to a tool Lance already owned.
C tier: Insect Glaive
Insect Glaive is the one weapon with open questions. Its additions are practical — a sweeping Boost Driver combo that acts as an Offset Attack and collects extracts when it connects, faster Kinsects that land more hits, and the ability to mark targets and release dust during normal combos. That streamlines extract management, which has always been the weapon’s chore.
The catch is how little vaulting showed up in its Boosted Action footage compared to the grounded combos. Aerial play is the reason most people pick this weapon, and until more of it is shown, it is hard to place the Glaive any higher.
Expect this order to shift. Ascendance is still some way out, move names have not been finalized, and Boost Bracer timings and gauge costs will decide whether the S-tier gaps hold up once the expansion is playable.
