Affinity is a core feature to many weapons and armor skills in Monster Hunter Rise, but what is the mechanic and what the negative value mean? In this guide, we’ll go over what Affinity means in MHR and what it does in either direction.
What Is Affinity in Monster Hunter Rise? Answered
The Affinity stat in Monster Hunter Rise determines how likely any hit is to be a “critical hit” and deal an additional 25% Raw damage. Raw is something of a science all its own but is essentially what it sounds like: pure damage without status effects or elemental weaknesses playing a role.
To have 15% Affinity is to have a 15% chance to deal more damage with every successful hit. A visual effect occurs when a critical hit occurs due to the increased damage value, usually a flash of color to accompany damage numbers.
Negative Affinity increases the chance to deal 25% less damage, so avoid negative values at all costs unless the weapon you’re using is top tier regardless of type.
A small number of skills, acquirable through equipped armor and gems, provide a flat increase.
- Critical Eye: One of the standard-bearers of Monster Hunter damage skills, you can stack Critical Eye up to seven times, increasing your base Affinity by up to 35%.
- Agitator: Another endgame choice, active only when a monster is enraged, you can stack Agitator up to five times, increasing your base Attack by 20 points and your Affinity by an additional 15%.
- Weakness Exploit: So long as you hit a monster’s weak point (yellow damage numbers), Weakness Exploit increases that attack’s Affinity by up to 50% stacked three times. Monster Hunter World saw this skill nerfed at least once, and it was still a go-to choice.
- Maximum Might: Stacking this skill three times can increase your Affinity up to 30% if you aren’t using your Stamina much. You lose the bonus if you take any action that expends Stamina and must wait until it’s full again for the bonus to re-enable.
- Latent Power: Stay in combat with a monster for several minutes, and Latent Power activates, increasing the mechanic by up to 50% and reducing Stamina usage by the same amount when the skill is active.
Bear in mind that every weapon has a base Affinity rating, so you don’t have to stack any of these bonuses past the 100% cap, as additional buffs will be wasted.
The Spiritbirds and other Endemic Life found throughout the levels in Monster Hunter Rise can also increase Affinity for a duration.
The mechanic helps increase your overall damage output, but it shouldn’t be the core of every build. Sometimes Raw or elemental damage, as are other skills that cater to a particular use case. If you were to search for Monster Hunter meta builds, though, you’re likely to see lots of Affinity optimization.
And that’s all you need to know about Affinity and Negative Affinity in Monster Hunter Rise. For more tips and tricks, check out some of our other MHR help articles here on GameSkinny.
