Monster Hunter Wildsoffers players dozens of ways to improve their gear and success rate in hunts. You can invest in new weapons and armor and ensure you go into every hunt withessential items.
Another way you canboost your efficiencyis with Equipment Skills. Every piece of armor has them, and you can insert decorations into your gear to add them manually. There aredozens of Equipment Skills, and it’s enough to make your head spin, even if you aren’t a newcomer.
Fortunately, you can comfortably stroll through most of the story without worrying about Equipment Skills, butthe game really opens upwhen you do!
If you don’t know your Stamina Surge from your Weakness Exploit, let me show you some of the best Equipment Skills to prioritize. Keep in mind that you can also equipTalismans with Equipment Skillsif you can’t find them on armor you like.
10Stamina Surge
All Those Acrobatics Are Hard Work
Every action inMonster Hunteris dictated by your yellow Stamina bar. Depending on your weapon choice, stamina may rarely come into play. However,exhaustion is a consistent threat if you use nimble weaponslike the Bow or Dual Blades.
Stamina Surge is an elegant solution to your stamina woesas it dramatically speeds up your recovery rate. Level 3 Stamina Surge gives you a 30% faster Stamina recovery speed, which feels fantastic when you’re spamming quick attacks and dodges.
Honestly, Stamina Surge isn’t worthwhile on every weapon, andyou can still run out of stamina through poor resource management. Still, it’s better than nothing and borderline essential for most play styles.
9Constitution
Try And Hit Me!
Constitution isanother valuable Equipment Skill for stamina managementand is incredible when paired with Stamina Surge.
Constitutionreduces the cost of all stamina-draining attacks and abilities. Naturally, Bow users, in particular, will love Constitution, but it’s valuable with any weapon in the game. The percentage of reduced stamina cost increases the more you invest in the skill,up to a whopping 50%!
Constitution is alsoan excellent tech choice when fighting in the Iceshard Cliffsor against monsters with ice attacks that can ravage your stamina bar.
8Evade Window
What Hitbox?
Evade Window is an incredible Equipment Skill thatextends your I-Frames while evading. The downside is it’s hard to go back once you’re used to it.
Whenever you dodge roll inMonster Hunter, you’re briefly invincible at the start of the animation. A well-timed roll can make you survive the most brutal attacks in the game unscathed, but it’s obnoxiously tricky to pull off.
Evade Window keeps you safe for longer as you roll, so you don’t have to be so precise with the timing. You’re absolutely not untouchable, but you can get away with murder if you’re paying attention.
SomeMonster Hunterveterans will say Evade Window and the next skill on this list are crutches which do more harm than good. I agree somewhat, but ultimately,they are in the game to be used, and these warnings speak to the power of the Skill.
7Evade Extender
When A Roll Becomes A Dive
Similar to Evade Window,Evade Extender increases the distance you travel during a roll.
At max rank, you move an almost comical distance, and it’s arguably more forgiving than Evade Window as you don’t care about I-Frames.
If you’re rocking Evade Extender, you will move so far that you may completely dodge everythingfrom precise swipes to massive AOE attacks. Two quick rolls will cover a tremendous distance, and it’s a skill that is viable with every weapon.
Just beware that Evade Extender is an Equipment Skill you will dearly miss when you take it off.
6Divine Blessing
Just Shrug It Off
Divine Blessing is one of my favorite Equipment SkillsinMonster Hunter Wilds, and it’s a defensive ability that doesn’t augment your movement options.
As the name entails, Divine Blessing works like an intervention from beyond.You have a chance to receive less damagethan usual from attacks, and you’re more likely to trigger Divine Blessing by investing more points into the skill.
Monster Hunter Wilds' First Post-Launch Update Detailed
Still two weeks out from its launch, Capcom’s Monster Hunter Wilds has revealed some of the contents included in the game’s first post-launch update.
I’m unsure of the precise percentages for the skill, but Divine Blessing can take the sting out of the most deadly attacks in the game.It works with every weapon and play style. Best of all, you don’t need to do anything special to trigger it.
Do They Need To Scream In My Face?
I can’t imagine a noise so loud I’m forced to cover my ears, butthat’s how loud monster roars are. Fortunately, there is a way around the more vocal creatures inMonster Hunter Wilds.
Earplugs prevent your hunter from covering their ears when the monster roars, allowing you to attack while the monster is defenseless. This is especially nice if yourock a weapon like the Greatsword, as roars can interrupt your weapon charges.
The Equipment Skill offers an excellentquality of life improvement, and its level denotes how loud of a roar you may withstand. Ultimately, the value of the Earplugs Skill is dictated by your weapon, and it shines with the right kit.
If He Dies, He Dies
Slugger is arguably the best Equipment Skill in the game for Kings of the KO, aka Hammer Bros.
The Slugger Skill increases your KO damage, and while it’s not a visible number, you’ll notice your opponent becomes far more susceptible to stun damage.
A great Hammer player can reliably knock a monster on its butt once or twice per hunt, allowing the team to swarm for free damage. Slugger can make KOs more reliable, and you can even squeeze in another knockout if you consistently land hits on the chin.
If you’re a Hammer specialist, you need a good reason not to rock Slugger.
3Handicraft
A Monster Hunter Staple
Handicraft is a sought-after Equipment Skill in thebestMonster Huntergames, andWildsis no exception.
Handicraft increases your weapon sharpness, which is directly tied to your damage. If your weapon uses a Whetstone, you will benefit from Handicraft, as the sharper your blade (or hammer and horn…), the more damage it does.
Like the best Equipment Skills on this list,Handicraft doesn’t require any playstyle adjustments and just provides more damage.
It’s a useless skill for ranged weapon users, but don’t worry about them; they don’t need to sharpen their tools after every encounter!
2Weakness Exploit
Pump Those Damage Numbers Up
Weakness Exploit has a confusing descriptionif you’re new to Monster Hunter as it increases your Affinity,something the game doesn’t really tell youabout.
Without diving intoMonster Huntermath, Affinity is similar to a ‘critical chance’ increase. Critical hits deal more damage to the monster, soWeakness Exploit grants a blanket DPS bonus.
Some weapons come with a negative Affinity stat, like the Doshaguma Greatsword, for example. Negative Affinity gives the weapon a chance to deal less damage than usual, and Weakness Exploit can mitigate this entirely.You also deal bonus damage to wounded monster parts, which increases the lethality of Weakness Exploit even further.
Agitator is my favorite Equipment Skill inMonster Hunter, as it grants a significant damage boost multiple times per hunt for free.
Agitator gives you bonus damage whenever your target is enraged. The boost is pretty significant, too, and it’s so strong that it’sworth maxing the skill outif possible.
The ability requires zero setup, and it will trigger during every quest. It’s also excellent against monsters you’ll encounter later with abilities I won’t spoil here.
Agitator is an incredible Equipment Skill.It works with any weapon and any build, and you’re basically rewarded for the monster having a temper tantrum.
Monster Hunter World Sold Over 1 Million Copies Since October 2024
Fans are getting ready for the next Monster Hunter game by revisiting Monster Hunter World.
