Monster Hunter Rise: What Is Affinity?

Monster Hunter Rise features a weapon system with incredible depth. It can all be a bit much at first, and there isn’t a lot of time dedicated to explaining the finer points and stats. One such stat is Affinity, which you’ll see listed as a percentage value on your weapons. To make sure you’re all caught up on the Affinity stat we’ve put together this guide on what Affinity does in Monster Hunter Rise. 

Read More: Monster Hunter Rise Beginners Guide

Monster Hunter Rise: What Is Affinity?

Affinity is a stat that is used to calculate the probability of doing either a strong or weak hit with each strike of your weapon. Strong attacks do 25% more damage and weak hits do -25% damage. It can be used to calculate your overall average damage per hit. Here’s what the equation looks like:

• Average DMG per hit= (Raw DMG) x (1 + (.25 x Affinity)

The Affinity in that equation can be positive or negative, which will affect your overall average DMG per hit. This is essentially used to balance certain weapons, keeping them from being too strong or too weak.

Should You Aim For High Affinity?

Aiming for high Affinity values isn’t always all that important. Using the equation to work out a weapon’s average DMG per hit will allow you to make comparisons to other gear. Some weapons with negative affinity still end up doing more average damage per hit than those with positive affinities. It’s all about balancing these values.

How to Increase Affinity

Some armor sets and gear will have skills that boost Affinity. Some will offer temporary Affinity boosts after sliding or defeating monsters. If you are looking to rely on Affinity for stronger attacks, keep an eye out for these bonuses. Here's a selection of skills you can use to increase Affinity:

• Affinity Sliding
• Agitator
• Critical Draw
• Critical Eye
• Latent Power
• Weakness Exploit

That’s all you need to know about Affinity in Monster Hunter Rise. For more help with the game be sure to check out our look at using Barrel Bombs. Once you’re done with that, head over to our MH Rise Capturing Monsters guide.