Out of the eight weapons available in Wild Hearts, only two of them are ranged. The first is the Bow, which will be available to you at the start of the game. You’ll then unlock the Hand Cannon at the start of the second chapter. It’s an extremely powerful weapon that’s truly a lot of fun. However, it also has some of the most complex mechanics in the game. If you want to try out this weapon but need some help, read on below to find out how to use the Hand Cannon in Wild Hearts.
How to Use the Hand Cannon in Wild Hearts
The Hand Cannon is arguably the most difficult weapon to master in all of Wild Hearts. Whereas the Bow emphasizes movement, the Hand Cannon requires you to be stationary. Holding the Special Attack button (SA) will allow you to endlessly fire a Salvo shot, which fills up the heat gauge while depleting the charge gauge. If your heat gauge overfills, you’ll be briefly stunned and won’t be able to attack until the weapon cools off.
Pressing the Attack 1 button (A1) will place a Ki Base directly beneath you. When standing over a Ki Base, your charge gauge won’t deplete, so you need to stay inside of one almost constantly. You can place up to five Ki Bases and remove them all at once with a press of SA+A1. Pressing the Attack 2 button (A2) will let you aim the Ki Base to deploy it manually. Deploying a Ki Base in a superheated state will create a Fortified Ki Base. You’ll know the weapon is superheated when the flames of the heat gauge are flickering just before it’s completely filled.
Here’s where things get really tricky. In order for Fortified Ki Bases to be created, you first have to deploy the Ki Base directly at an enemy in the superheated state. Once the Fortified Ki Base is deployed, you can press SA+A2 to absorb its energy like normal. Pressing SA+A2 again will unleash the Hand Cannon’s incredibly powerful, laser-like Fortified Shot.
It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the complexity of the Hand Cannon. Going solo with this weapon is a risky decision because you need to stay rooted to your Ki Bases while juggling the heat gauge. This makes fights against monsters like the Lavaback more difficult. That said, the Hand Cannon is a great choice for multiplayer.
Nick Ransbottom is a freelance games journalist and bad puns enthusiast. If he isn’t streaming on Twitch or sinking dozens of hours into an RPG, he’s watching reruns of MST3K with his husband and cat.
