What is Affinity in Monster Hunter World (MHW)?

What is Affinity in Monster Hunter World?

Affinity in Monster Hunter World (MHW) is a crucial statistic that significantly impacts your weapon’s damage output. Think of it as a measure of how likely your weapon attacks are to inflict extra damage. Unlike a critical hit chance in some other games, affinity in MHW can be both positive and negative, altering the power of your strikes. A positive affinity boosts your hits, while a negative affinity weakens them. Understanding and optimizing your affinity can greatly enhance your performance, particularly in high-rank hunts where monster health and attack patterns become more challenging.

Every weapon in MHW has an inherent affinity value. This value is a key component of your weapon’s damage profile, and it is evident when you examine the weapon’s stats. While a high affinity is generally beneficial, negative affinity weapons aren’t useless. They can still be effective if used strategically for alternative playstyles, such as Brutal Strike builds. Careful consideration of both raw damage and affinity is essential when choosing weapons and building your character.

Doing the Math

Calculating the impact of affinity on damage is straightforward. A weapon’s affinity influences the damage dealt, and the calculation is based on the following formula:

• Positive Affinity: Multiply 0.25 by the affinity percentage. Add 1 to the result. Finally, multiply the original raw damage by this new value.
• Negative Affinity: Multiply 0.25 by the negative affinity percentage. Subtract this from 1. Then, multiply the original raw damage by this new value.

For example, a weapon with 20% affinity and 300 raw damage would deal an average of 315 damage per hit. Conversely, a weapon with -10% affinity and 200 raw damage would deal an average of 195 damage per hit. This simple calculation highlights the importance of considering both raw damage and affinity when choosing weapons.

The Best Combinations to Compliment Affinity in MHW

Several skills and armor augmentations can greatly enhance your affinity. Certain skills directly increase affinity, while others enhance it indirectly. The best combinations involve combining weapons, armor, and decorations with these skills, creating a synergistic approach.

• Weakness Exploit: Focus on hitting weak spots. This skill provides a significant affinity boost based on the level, directly impacting your overall damage output.
• Critical Eye: A consistent increase in affinity across all levels, offering a valuable boost to your damage.
• Critical Draw: This skill boosts critical hit chances for draw attacks, enhancing your affinity in a crucial way.
• Affinity Sliding: A temporary buff, granting a significant affinity increase for a limited time after sliding, useful for certain weapon playstyles.
• Attack Boost: This skill not only increases attack power but also provides incremental affinity bonuses as the skill level increases.
• Agitator: Works in tandem with the monster’s enraged state. It boosts attack power and affinity, making it a valuable skill against some specific monsters.

Armor skills also significantly impact your affinity. Consider how your armor’s abilities complement your chosen weapon and skills to create the most effective build.

Mix and Match

Experimentation is key when building your MHW character around affinity. Different weapons, armor sets, and skills create unique combinations. The possibilities are extensive, allowing for a broad spectrum of playstyles. Don’t be afraid to try out different combinations of skills and equipment to find the strategy that best suits your style. Explore various build concepts, focusing on maximizing your affinity, raw damage, and the strengths of your weapons.

Many factors come into play in crafting an optimal build. Beyond the numbers, personal play preferences and individual monster hunting styles often influence weapon and skill choices. You can even discover specialized combinations for specific monster types, utilizing both affinity and elemental weaknesses to optimize your strategies.