Monster Hunter Wilds has a lot of weapon and armor damage skills that you will need to mix and match to make the most out of your build. There are some new skills that Capcom has introduced to the latest franchise entry along with a lot of returning ones with significant variations to them.
To be able to make the best build possible you will need to understand how each of these skills works in Wilds and how well they fit the weapon that you are going for.
The guide below will go over what the current best damage skills are for both armor and weapons in the RPG and why they are sitting so high up in the priority list.
Best Weapon damage skills in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are the best damage skills that can be equipped on your weapon in Monster Hunter Wilds:
1) Critical Boost
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases the damage of critical hits. | Level 1: Increases damage dealt by critical hits to 28%. Level 2: Increases damage dealt by critical hits to 31%. Level 3: Increases damage dealt by critical hits to 34%. Level 4: Increases damage dealt by critical hits to 37%. Level 5: Increases damage dealt by critical hits to 40%. |
It’s the top-priority weapon skill for almost every weapon in the game unless you are going for something like a Critical Element Bow build where you will need to slot this deco out for a Critical Element one.
The skill will give you a 3% bonus RAW on every critical hit that you get per rank of the skill. The default bonus damage that you get when you crit is 25%, so when you have 5 full ranks of Critical boost the damage will go up to 40% on a crit.
So to make the most of this skill you will want to get as close to a 100% Affinity as possible.
2) Critical Draw
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases affinity when performing draw attacks. (Not effective while riding.) | Level 1: Affinity +50% Level 2: Affinity +75% Level 3: Affinity +100% |
Critical Draw is its most powerful version in Monster Hunter Wilds. It comes with 100% affinity at level 3 and lasts for around 3 seconds after the weapon is drawn. This means that weapons like the hammer that has a charge mechanic will be able to make the most of this skill now.
So you will not have to rely on your weapon and armor skills for affinity when you have this on. It allows for a particular type of playstyle though, where you constantly need to employ a hit-and-run strategy, sheathing and unsheathing the weapon.
3) Opening Shot
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases the Bowgun’s reload speed and increases the power of bullets when fully loaded | Level 1: Moderately increases bowgun reload speed and attack power of ammo when certain conditions are met. (5% Reload Speed + 2.5% Damage) Level 2: Increases bowgun reload speed and attack power of ammo when certain conditions are met. (10% Reload Speed + 5% Damage) Level 3: Greatly increases bowgun reload speed and attack power of ammo when certain conditions are met. (15% Reload Speed + 7.5% Damage) |
At level 3 your Bowgun will receive a 15% Reload Speed boost along with a 7.5% damage increase. It’s a great skill to have on the weapon which will allow it to do considerably more damage by having a higher DPS uptime.
4) Tetrad Shot
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases the affinity of bowgun ammo/coatings from the fourth shot and attack of the fourth and sixth shots. | Level 1: Slightly increases the attack power and affinity of ammo after certain conditions are met. (1.5% Attack Power + 8% Affinity for Bowguns/3% Affinity For Bow) Level 2: Moderately increases the attack power and affinity of ammo after certain conditions are met. (2.5% Attack Power + 10% Affinity for Bowguns/6% Affinity For Bow) Level 3: Increases the attack power and affinity of ammo after certain conditions are met. (5% Attack Power + 12% Affinity for Bowguns/10% Affinity For Bow) |
It’s a great skill to have on the Bow especially if you are running a build that makes the most of the Pierce Coating. It can give you a nice passive boost to DPS, lowering hunt times significantly.
5) Charge Up
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases your power to induce stun when you hit a monster with a hammer’s charged attack. | Level 1: Activates skill effect. (Approx 30% increase) |
It’s a great Hammer skill that will significantly increase the weapons’ potential to induce stun on a monster when going for charged attacks.
Best Armor damage skills in Monster Hunter Wilds
Here are the best damage skills that can be equipped on your Armor in Monster Hunter Wilds:
1) Adrenaline Rush
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Temporarily increases attack power after executing a perfectly-timed evade just as a monster attacks. | Level 1: Attack +10 while active. Level 2: Attack +15 while active. Level 3: Attack +20 while active. Level 4: Attack +25 while active. Level 5: Attack +30 while active. |
You activate Adrenaline Rush every time you perfectly dodge a monster’s attacks including roars. It’s great to have on high-mobility weapons like Bow, Insect Glaive, Dual Blades, and even the Hammer. The immediate 30 RAW increase at level 5 is amazing and to top it off even if you dodge the first part of a monster’s move but get clipped by a follow-up the effect will still activate.
2) Weakness Exploit
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases the affinity of attacks that exploit a monster’s weak points and wounds. | Level 1: Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +5%, with an extra 3% on wounds. Level 2: Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +10%, with an extra 5% on wounds. Level 3: Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +15%, with an extra 10% on wounds. Level 4: Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +20%, with an extra 15% on wounds. Level 5: Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +30%, with an extra 20% on wounds. |
Weakness Exploit is a must for most builds. The skill lets you crit most of the time when hitting weak monster parts wounds allowing you to do a ton of damage to them if you are consistent with your attacks.
3) Maximum Might
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Increases affinity if stamina is kept full for a period of time. | Level 1: Affinity +10% while active Level 2: Affinity +20% while active Level 3: Affinity +30% while active |
One of the best Affinity skills for weapons that do not require Stamina usage. It’s particularly useful on Hammer, Great Sword, Switch Axe, and LongSword. moreover, the Maximum Might skill has a short 2-3 second delay before the effect wears out after you use some Stamina. So rolling every now and then to dodge monster attacks will still let you have the Affinity boost as long as you are recovering max Stamina gauge soon after.
4) Burst
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Continuously landing hits gradually increases attack and elemental attack. (Amount increased depends on weapon.) | Level 1: On the first hit, gain a small temporary attack and element boost, replaced by a larger boost after the fifth hit. Level 2: Hit 5 successive times for a moderate stat boost. Level 3: Hit 5 successive times for a bigger stat boost. Level 4: Hit 5 successive times for an even bigger stat boost. Level 5: Hit 5 successive times for a huge stat boost. |
Burst is an exceptionally powerful skill for weapons that have a very high DPS uptime. hence, Dual Blades, Bow, Insect Glaive, Light Bow Gun, and even the Hammer will be able to make the most of this skill. Below is the amount of damage boost that you get on the 5th hit at every level for every weapon.
| Total Stat Boosts after 5 Hits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon Type | Lv1 | Lv2 | Lv3 | Lv4 | Lv5 | |
| Great Sword / Hunting Horn | Attack | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 |
| Element | 80 | 100 | 120 | 160 | 200 | |
| Dual Blades | Attack | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Element | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 | 120 | |
| Ranged | Attack | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Element | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 | 120 | |
| All Other Weapons | Attack | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Element | 60 | 80 | 100 | 120 | 140 | |
5) Flayer
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Makes it easier to inflict wounds. Upon inflicting enough damage, also deals additional non-elemental damage. | Level 1: Makes it ever so slightly easier to inflict wounds. Also deals additional non-elemental damage. (5% faster wound creation) Level 2: Makes it moderately easier to inflict wounds. Also deals slightly more additional non-elemental damage. (10% faster wound creation) Level 3: Makes it easier to inflict wounds. Also deals moderately more additional non-elemental damage. (15% faster wound creation) Level 4: Makes it much easier to inflict wounds. Also deals more additional non-elemental damage. (20% faster wound creation) Level 5: Makes it significantly easier to inflict wounds. Also deals much more additional non-elemental damage. (30% faster wound creation) |
Flayer is a new skill in the Monster Hunter franchise. it excels at creating wounds on the monster and then exploiting them for massive damage. It ties in perfectly with Partbreak and the Guardian Arkveld armor passive which heals you for every wound that you destroy.
6) Partbreak
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Makes it easier to break large monster parts, and increases damage dealt when destroying a wound with a Focus Strike. | Level 1: Increases part damage and damage dealt when conditions are met by 10%. Level 2: Increases part damage and damage dealt when conditions are met by 20%. Level 3: Increases part damage and damage dealt when conditions are met by 30%. |
Partbreak makes it easier to break monster parts in Wilds along with increasing the amount of damage you do when breaking wounds with Focus Strike.
7) Coalescence
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Temporarily increases elemental attack power and status effects after recovering from blights or abnormal status. | Level 1: When active, grants a slight increase to elemental damage and status buildup. (approx 5% stat increase) Level 2: When active, grants an increase to elemental damage and status buildup. (approx 10% stat increase) Level 3: When active, grants a large increase to elemental damage and status buildup. (approx 15% stat increase) |
Almost every monster in Wilds has an elemental attack that inflicts an abnormal status effect. In most cases, you will be able to cure it with a Nullberry hence making Coalescence an amazing skill to have for most elemental builds.
Here is a breakdown of the Elemental damage multiplier based on every weapon:
| Weapon | Level 1 | Level2 | Level 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Sword | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Long Sword | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Sword and Shield | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Dual Blades | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Hammer | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Hunting Horn | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Lance | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Gunlance | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Switch Axe | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Charge Blade | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Insect Glaive | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Light Bowgun | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Heavy Bowgun | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
| Bow | 1.05x | 1.1x | 1.15x |
8) Counterstrike
| Skill Effect | Skill Level |
|---|---|
| Temporarily increases attack power after being knocked back. | Level 1: Attack +10 while active. (Duration 30 seconds) Level 2: Attack +15 while active. Moderately extends effect time. (Duration 35 seconds) Level 3: Attack +25 while active. Extends effect time. (Duration 45 seconds) |
In Monster Hunter Wilds, the Counterstrike skill can now be activated by using hyper armor skills. You do not need to be knocked down for the effect to activate. You will be able to trigger it through Greatswords shoulder tackle or even through Switchaxe’s hyper armor.
