Guides

Monster Hunter Wilds: Best Loadout for Hunting Hirabami

If you’re gearing up to tackle the challenging Hirabami in Monster Hunter Wilds, you’ll want an optimized setup to take down this fearsome leviathan. Hirabami is a fast, aggressive monster that uses ice attacks and quick aerial maneuvers. Bringing the right weapons, armor, and skills will turn a difficult hunt into a far more manageable one. This guide will give you the top loadouts for efficiently hunting and triumphing over Hirabami.

Understanding Hirabami: Strengths and Weaknesses

Before we set out, it’s important to grasp what makes Hirabami dangerous and what vulnerabilities you can exploit:

  • Elemental Strength: Ice
  • Elemental Weaknesses: Fire, Thunder
  • Ailments Inflicted: Frostblight (slows hunters and disrupts movement)
  • Notable Attacks: Tail Claw strikes, Aerial Ice Cannon, and sweeping body slams.

Key Weak Points to Target

Hirabami’s neck membrane and head are prime weak points. Destroying the neck membrane reduces its aerial mobility, providing valuable openings to deal heavy damage.

Best Weapons for Hirabami

Selecting weapons with Fire or Thunder elements will significantly improve your damage output against Hirabami.

Top Weapon Choices

1. Dual Blades: Quematrice Silexes IV

  • Element: Fire
  • Affinity: 5%
  • Skills: Focus (charges Demon Mode faster)
  • Why it’s recommended: Dual Blades enable swift multi-hit combos, making it easy to quickly apply elemental damage. The Quematrice Silexes IV combines high attack speed with elemental fire damage, perfect for exploiting Hirabami’s elemental weaknesses.

2. Bow: Albirath Bow II

  • Element: Fire
  • Affinity: 15%
  • Skills: Critical Element, Ballistics (improves critical hits and range)
  • Why it’s recommended: The Bow provides high mobility for dodging Hirabami’s aerial dives and tail strikes, while effectively targeting weak points from range. The Albirath Bow II has substantial fire damage and high affinity, ensuring frequent critical elemental hits.

3. Insect Glaive: Balahara Glaive IV

  • Element: Thunder
  • Affinity: 10%
  • Skills: Power Prolonger (extends buff durations)
  • Why it’s recommended: The Insect Glaive’s aerial attacks and kinsect extracts allow sustained offensive pressure, making it easier to target Hirabami’s neck and head. Thunder element helps quickly wear down Hirabami.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Recommended Armor Loadout for Hirabami

Proper armor selection is crucial. The following armor pieces and skills provide strong damage output, comfort, and survivability.

Optimal Armor Setup

Hirabami Mixed Set (Late Low Rank / Early High Rank)

  • Head: Hirabami Headdress (Evade Window, Ice Resistance)
  • Chest: Hirabami Mail (Recovery Speed, Evade Window)
  • Gloves: Hirabami Vambraces (Evade Window, Ice Resistance)
  • Waist: Ingot Coil (Divine Blessing)
  • Legs: Ajarakan Greaves (Partbreaker)

Set Highlights:
Evade Window x3: Increases invulnerability frames, essential for dodging Hirabami’s rapid aerial strikes.
Recovery Speed: Helps replenish health quickly after taking damage.
Divine Blessing: Occasionally reduces incoming damage, improving survivability.
Partbreaker: Accelerates breaking Hirabami’s neck membrane and tail claws.

High Rank Upgrade: Guardian Ebony Odogaron Set

When you progress into High Rank, consider replacing certain armor pieces with Guardian Ebony Odogaron gear to boost your damage output even further. The Burst skill significantly increases damage after consecutive hits, ideal for weapons like Dual Blades or the Insect Glaive.

Essential Skills for Fighting Hirabami

Prioritize these skills to optimize your chances of success:

  • Fire Attack/Thunder Attack: Enhances your elemental weapon damage, directly exploiting Hirabami’s weakness.
  • Critical Element: Boosts elemental critical damage, further increasing your DPS.
  • Evade Window: Adds survivability by making dodging easier.
  • Partbreaker: Facilitates breaking Hirabami’s weak points quickly, reducing its mobility and attack potency.
  • Constitution/Marathon Runner: Improves stamina efficiency, particularly useful for Dual Blades and Bow users.

Recommended Items and Consumables

Monster Hunter Wilds

Bring these items to maximize your hunting efficiency:

  • Hot Drink: Essential for dealing with the cold climate and preventing stamina depletion.
  • Nulberry: Quickly cures Frostblight and keeps you mobile.
  • Mega Potions & Max Potions: For quick healing after aggressive attacks.
  • Flash Pods: Temporarily disorients Hirabami, interrupting aerial attacks and setting up counter-attack opportunities.
  • Pitfall & Shock Traps: Great for immobilizing Hirabami briefly, letting you target its vulnerable points without interruption.

Battle Strategies Against Hirabami

Countering Aerial Attacks

Hirabami excels in aerial combat. Use Flash Pods to interrupt its airborne moves. Weapons like Bow or Insect Glaive are excellent choices, as they allow quick repositioning and aerial attacks.

Breaking Parts Quickly

Prioritize attacking the neck membrane and tail claws. Breaking these parts reduces Hirabami’s combat capabilities considerably, making the fight much easier.

Managing Frostblight

Frostblight severely hampers your movement. Quickly cure it with a Nulberry or avoid it entirely by consistently evading Hirabami’s ice attacks.

Multiplayer Strategies

If you hunt with companions, assign specific roles:

  • Ranged Attackers (Bow, Bowguns): Focus on breaking Hirabami’s neck membrane from a safe distance.
  • Melee Attackers (Dual Blades, Glaives, Swords): Close in to apply sustained elemental damage and break tail claws.
  • Support (Hunting Horn, Light Bowgun): Provide buffs, healing, and use traps to immobilize Hirabami periodically.

Conclusion

With the right weapons, armor, and strategies, Hirabami becomes a manageable and exciting hunt. Equip yourself with elemental fire or thunder weapons, armor that enhances evasion and part-breaking, and bring essential items to mitigate Hirabami’s ice attacks. Stay mobile, target its weak points, and coordinate with your team if you’re hunting in multiplayer. With this optimal loadout and knowledge, you’ll be well-prepared to take down Hirabami and craft powerful gear from its materials. Happy hunting!

Anika Sørensen, hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, has established herself as a prominent video game journalist over the past twelve years. Specializing in Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) and Role-Playing Games (RPGs), Sørensen is celebrated for her insightful analyses and passionate coverage of the gaming industry. Beyond writing, Anika is an active member of the gaming community, attending major events like E3 and Gamescom to provide live coverage and exclusive insights. Her dedication to fostering a deeper understanding of video games has inspired countless gamers and aspiring journalists alike. Currently, Sørensen is working as Gaming Tier List's chief news editor.