Since the series inception up to its latest entries, Monster Hunter has taken great joy in the obscurity of many of its mechanics. Though this has changed over the years to allow for a bit more clarity, there are certain elements that even Monster Hunter Wilds is willing to keep you in the dark about.
Affinity is probably the mechanic that is one of the most central to combat that the game simply does not explain. And to be quite honest, it’s not a word that game uses incredibly consistently either, nor does the word ‘Affinity’ quite make you think of what it does. So let’s shine some light on just what Affinity is, and how you can take advantage of it.
What Is Affinity?
Every weapon has Affinity, and despite the game never strictly saying what it is, you might have been able to work it out by the fact that skills call it more plainly. Affinity is critical hit chance. There really is very little that differentiates it from typical systems that go by that name. So a weapon with 20% affinity has a 20% chance of dealing a critical hit with every hit.
Seriously, every skill just says critical hit instead of affinity.
When you see Affinity, just change the word to Critical Hit Chance in your head. It will make the system much easier to wrap your head around. The game signifies when a critical hit has occurred by changing the visual effect of the damage numbers, such as becoming larger and surrounded by a red aura.
How Does Negative Affinity Work?
However, the Affinity system does have one rather unique aspect to it, and that’s Negative Affinity. Certain weapons will have an Affinity stat that is in the minus percentages. So what exactly does this mean? Sadly, probably exactly what you’re thinking.
Like a critical fail in a TTRPG, Negative Affinity gives you the chance to perform an attack that actually deals less damage than usual. In the event of a -20% affinity weapon, that would mean every attack has a 20% chance of critically failing. Most weapons with Negative Affinity make up for this with a massively inflated raw damage stat, or come with certain skills that can invert your Negative Affinity into a positive value.
Getting afflicted with Frenzy or wearing pieces of the Gore Magala set is great for this, as curing Frenzy gives you a large Affinity boost.
Best Skills To Increase Affinity
Affinity is one of the strongest parts of combat to rely on, as there is no cooldown on it. With a 100% Affinity chance, you would be dealing critical hits with every single attack. That’s what makes Affinity builds so popular. You really can, with a bit of finesse, get an incredibly high crit build that can demolish monsters. It just requires the right skills.
And here are some of the best skills you can use to get the most out of Affinity from the get-go:
|
Skill |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
Critical Boost |
Increases the damage of critical hits, can be increased to level 5. |
|
Critical Draw |
Increases the affinity of draw attacks, can be increased to level 3. |
|
Critical Element |
Increases elemental damage when landing critical hits. Can be increased to level 3. |
|
Critical Eye |
Increases base Affinity, increasing critical hit chance. Can be increased to level 5. |
|
Critical Status |
Increases status effect build-up when landing critical hits. Can be increased to level 3. |
There are various other skills that can take advantage of Affinity, such as Weakness Exploit for when you attack weak points, but these are great skills you can find easily on decorations to boost many aspects of your build with just Affinity. Play around with them to find a build that works best for you.
There are also lots of equipment skills that can be helpful, so don’t forget to pick out armor pieces that compliment your Affinity build as well.
