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Since its debut, the Monster Hunter series has delighted in keeping many of its mechanics a mystery. While some of this opacity has improved over time, there are still elements, like those in Monster Hunter Wilds, that the game doesn’t fully illuminate.
One of the most critical yet least explained mechanics is Affinity. Surprisingly, the game doesn’t always use the term consistently, leading to some confusion regarding its meaning. So, let’s clarify what Affinity really is and how you can utilize it effectively.
What Is Affinity?
Every weapon in the game has an Affinity value, and while the game doesn’t explicitly describe its nature, you might have figured it out from various skills that refer to it more straightforwardly. Affinity serves as the chance for a critical hit. Essentially, a weapon with 20% Affinity means you have a 20% chance to score a critical hit with each attack.
Every skill simply refers to it as critical hit rather than using the term affinity.
Whenever you encounter Affinity, think of it as Critical Hit Chance. This mental shift can simplify your understanding of the system. The game visually indicates when you’ve landed a critical hit by altering the damage numbers, making them larger and giving them a red hue.
How Does Negative Affinity Work?
The Affinity system features a unique aspect called Negative Affinity. Some weapons can have negative percentages for their Affinity. What does this mean? Unfortunately, it means exactly what you might expect.
Negative Affinity functions similarly to a critical failure in tabletop role-playing games. If a weapon has a -20% Affinity, that indicates a 20% chance for your attack to do less damage than normal. Many weapons with Negative Affinity compensate for this downside with significantly higher base damage stats or with skills that can convert this negative value into a positive one.
Having Frenzy status or equipping pieces from the Gore Magala set can be beneficial since curing Frenzy provides a considerable Affinity boost.
Best Skills To Increase Affinity
Affinity is crucial in combat since it activates without any cooldown. If you achieve a 100% Affinity chance, every hit would deliver a critical strike. This capability is what makes Affinity builds so appealing. With the right approach, you can create a powerful critical hit build that swiftly takes down monsters.
Here are some of the top skills to effectively leverage Affinity from the start:
|
Skill |
Effect |
|---|---|
| Critical Boost | Enhances the damage of critical hits and can be leveled up to 5. |
| Critical Draw | Increases the Affinity of draw attacks; max level is 3. |
| Critical Element | Boosts elemental damage on critical hits. Can be leveled to 3. |
| Critical Eye | Increases base Affinity, boosting critical hit chances; can be leveled up to 5. |
| Critical Status | Increases status buildup from critical hits; level max is 3. |
There are many other skills that also enhance Affinity, such as Weakness Exploit for attacking vulnerable points, but these skills are especially good for boosting various aspects of your build centered on Affinity. Experiment with different combinations to find what suits your style best.
Remember to select armor pieces that synergize well with your Affinity build as there are many equipment skills available!
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