User blog:BannedLagiacrus/Discussion of the Week: Hunter Arts

Hello and welcome to the Discussion of the Week!

This week we look at the Hunter Arts!

Hunter Arts (狩技) are big, dramatic moves that you can perform when you're out on a hunt. Hunter Arts include powerful attacks, powerful counter-attacks, and ways to heal yourself or other Hunters. Go to the Item Box in your house or in the Prep Area to equip Hunter Arts.

To be able to use a Hunter Art, you must first fill its Arts Gauge, which fills when you successfully land attacks on monsters. When the gauge is full, simply tap the icon on the Touch Screen, or press the appropriate button configuration.

Hold the R Button and press the A Button + B Button to use the Hunter Art equipped in Slot 1. The number of Hunter Arts you can equip at any given time depends on the Hunting Style you use, so choose wisely!

General Use
The general Hunter Arts are good overall! Each one improves the task of hunting in some way, while also adding more to the Monster Hunter experience. The one I love using is the Hunter's Oasis due to it being perfect for healing noobs on some more difficult quests (But Blue Thunder Lord Astalos found it perfect for a triple cart!). Another one I like is Frenzy Fever due to it being perfect for getting more critical hits quite easily on a monster!

Weapon Type Specific
I got to say that the Hunter Arts for the weapons are a mixed bag for me overall. Some are good, while others are pretty fucking bad! It is like favoritism was strong with some of the weapons. For example, the Long Sword's arts are fucking amazing! One that leaves your gauge at max for a set period of time and a powerful counter attack are some of the arts that make the already deadly Long Sword a near perfect weapon, but than there is some like the Hunting Horn's arts... Don't get me wrong, the arts for the Hunting Horn make sense, its just that they are underwhelming in my opinion. They just don't bring more to the weapon itself like some of the other weapons. Hopefully, better ones can be given to weapons in the future, if Hunter Arts even return.

Questions

 * Do you like the concept of Hunter Arts overall? Why or why not?
 * Do you think they were done well in MHGen (and MHXX if you've already played it)? Why or why not?
 * Do you think that the Hunter Arts are going to stay in the series for now on? Do you hope they stay or do you hope that they are forgotten?
 * What is your usual Hunter Art setup?
 * What are some of your favorite Hunter Arts in the series so far? Why?
 * What are your least favorite Hunter Arts in the series so far? Why?
 * Do you feel that all the weapons have good Hunter Arts? Why or why not?
 * Do you hope that some weapons get better Hunter Arts in the next game? Why or why not?
 * Did you know that Monster Hunter Online has Hunter Arts too?
 * If you could make up three Hunter Arts, what would they be and what would they do?
 * Which Hunter Arts do you want to use the most in MHXX?
 * How would you feel if the Hunter Arts were locked to a particular Hunting Style? Do you feel that would be a good or bad idea?
 * What if the Hunter Arts just became normal attacks that hunters could perform? Do you feel that would take out what makes them special?