As veteran Monster Hunter players eventually learn, this series often obscures important gameplay mechanics. The mobile spinoff Monster Hunter Now is no exception to this unwritten rule. When you are checking out your weapon and skill, you will stumble upon a mysterious stat named Affinity. Attack, Element, and Defense are obvious enough and easy to understand. But at that point, you might wonder, what does Affinity stat in Monster Hunter Now mean?
How Does Affinity Work in Monster Hunter Now
Simply put, the Affinity stat in Monster Hunter Now weapons refers to Critical Hit Chance. The higher your Affinity is, the more often you will deal critical hit. The damage bonus you get from the critical hit itself is 25% damage. You know you have landed a critical hit when a vertical long red flash appears when hitting a monster. For example, if your base attack damage is 70, you will deal 17 more points, or 87 damage total, when it’s a critical hit.
Unlike in the mainline games, critical hits also count toward your elemental weapon damage. In this game, the elemental bonus is applied straight to all of your weapon attacks. Compared to other Monster Hunter games that make elemental bonus damage only proc every couple number of hits. That means in Monster Hunter Now, Affinity is also useful for elemental sets or builds.
To increase Affinity in Monster Hunter Now, you can use Armor Skills like Critical Eye and Weakness Exploit. Critical Eye will straight-up increase your Affinity stat up to 40%. Meanwhile, for Weakness Exploit, the Affinity boost will only trigger every time you hit a monster’s weak point. Depending on the monster, it could be its head or even belly.
Below is the list of Monster Hunter Now armor pieces for raising Affinity that contain Critical Eye and Weakness Exploit and their buff per level:
Critical Eye:
- Monster Hunter Now armor that buffs your Affinity: Leather Headgear, Kulu Headpiece, Kulu Greaves.
- Level 1: Increases Affinity by 10%.
- Level 2: Increases Affinity by 15%.
- Level 3: Increases Affinity by 20%.
- Level 4: Increases Affinity by 30%.
- Level 5: Increases Affinity by 40%.
Weakness Exploit:
- Monster Hunter Now armor that buffs your Affinity: Rathalos Mail, Rathalos Greaves.
- Level 1: Increases Affinity by 20% when attacking a monster’s weak spot.
- Level 2: Increases Affinity by 25% when attacking a monster’s weak spot.
- Level 3: Increases Affinity by 30% when attacking a monster’s weak spot.
- Level 4: Increases Affinity by 40% when attacking a monster’s weak spot.
- Level 5: Increases Affinity by 50% when attacking a monster’s weak spot.
Related:
How to Lock On a Target in Monster Hunter Now
Monster Hunter Now is available on Android and iOS.
