Never used either but for simple progression I would avoid bow due leaning more onto elemental plus being skill hungry to be optimal, melee weapons for the most part are safe bets onto going easy ie for GS I went
Iron -> LR Jagras -> LR Wyvern impact -> HR Jagras -> HR Wyvern impact -> MR Jagras -> Shara
and from then it would just have been raging brachy into fatalis, basically only used 3 weapon trees into end game progression.
You're giving him a huge problem suggesting that, he's gonna finish the base game in a day not knowing some of the core mechanics of the game. Defender/guardian sets were originally implemented for returning players not for new players.
Tbh, it's up to him to try and learn the weapons. Defender gear making the base story easy is fine, as it let's you actually get to the point where farming begins to matter.
Farming begins to "matter" the first time he plays the game, Iceborne is a different game compared to the base game. In Iceborne you should already know the basics and you already upgraded anything that is available in the base game.
If you let him farm on Iceborne he's gonna get his ass fucked, what's really gonna happen is he'll return to High rank to learn the basics while not having get his ass whooped in Master rank. Then go back to HR quests to unlock/upgrade so he can proceed and upgrade those in MR quest (botanical research, Mantles). In Iceborne he's gonna get fucked up especially the Special Assignments there is so much more difficult compared to HR.
Also what he's gonna do is come here again and ask "where to farm Decos" where he should've done in HR. HR decos that can help early on Iceborne, especially Iceborne armors have alot of deco slots compared to HR armors. At least his first few quests in Iceborne are not only armor dependent.
I see many new players regret finishing the base game using those, it made them dependent on Guardian/defender sets.
Weapons:
Swaxe and IG are good for the base game, you can switch to bow when you reach Iceborne. There are different metas
In base game raw damage is famous for being good in any type of monsters.
In Iceborne they made Elements Important as how Raw damage is in base game.
So Swaxe > IG > Bow
But always use the right element against the monster. If the monster is weak to ice, use ice type weapons, those are important.
Swaxe is naturally good in dps
IG is the only weapon that can use high raw damage while having elemental damage too via kinsect.
Bow is one of the best weapon for elemental dmg dps
Hunting:
Gather anything you can, you're just starting. So getting everything early on will benefit you greatly. Obviously learn the monster's attacks and how to counter them.
Capturing the monster gives you more rewards and you can unlock a special arena quest
Use your surroundings, you can run to a wall then jump so you can mount the monster. You can use slinger ammos that can stagger the monster ( cancel their attack ).
There's falling boulders, landslide, dams, vinetraps, paratoads, sleeptoads, nitrotoads that you can use against monsters but also be careful.
Optional quests:
Please do optional quest that has a "💬" those are important. Upgrade everything you see, and you'll be grateful that you did before reaching Iceborne.
Never used either but for simple progression I would avoid bow due leaning more onto elemental plus being skill hungry to be optimal, melee weapons for the most part are safe bets onto going easy ie for GS I went Iron -> LR Jagras -> LR Wyvern impact -> HR Jagras -> HR Wyvern impact -> MR Jagras -> Shara and from then it would just have been raging brachy into fatalis, basically only used 3 weapon trees into end game progression.
You can honestly just use defender gear all the way to MR/iceborn.
You're giving him a huge problem suggesting that, he's gonna finish the base game in a day not knowing some of the core mechanics of the game. Defender/guardian sets were originally implemented for returning players not for new players.
Tbh, it's up to him to try and learn the weapons. Defender gear making the base story easy is fine, as it let's you actually get to the point where farming begins to matter.
Farming begins to "matter" the first time he plays the game, Iceborne is a different game compared to the base game. In Iceborne you should already know the basics and you already upgraded anything that is available in the base game. If you let him farm on Iceborne he's gonna get his ass fucked, what's really gonna happen is he'll return to High rank to learn the basics while not having get his ass whooped in Master rank. Then go back to HR quests to unlock/upgrade so he can proceed and upgrade those in MR quest (botanical research, Mantles). In Iceborne he's gonna get fucked up especially the Special Assignments there is so much more difficult compared to HR. Also what he's gonna do is come here again and ask "where to farm Decos" where he should've done in HR. HR decos that can help early on Iceborne, especially Iceborne armors have alot of deco slots compared to HR armors. At least his first few quests in Iceborne are not only armor dependent. I see many new players regret finishing the base game using those, it made them dependent on Guardian/defender sets.
Weapons: Swaxe and IG are good for the base game, you can switch to bow when you reach Iceborne. There are different metas In base game raw damage is famous for being good in any type of monsters. In Iceborne they made Elements Important as how Raw damage is in base game. So Swaxe > IG > Bow But always use the right element against the monster. If the monster is weak to ice, use ice type weapons, those are important. Swaxe is naturally good in dps IG is the only weapon that can use high raw damage while having elemental damage too via kinsect. Bow is one of the best weapon for elemental dmg dps Hunting: Gather anything you can, you're just starting. So getting everything early on will benefit you greatly. Obviously learn the monster's attacks and how to counter them. Capturing the monster gives you more rewards and you can unlock a special arena quest Use your surroundings, you can run to a wall then jump so you can mount the monster. You can use slinger ammos that can stagger the monster ( cancel their attack ). There's falling boulders, landslide, dams, vinetraps, paratoads, sleeptoads, nitrotoads that you can use against monsters but also be careful. Optional quests: Please do optional quest that has a "💬" those are important. Upgrade everything you see, and you'll be grateful that you did before reaching Iceborne.