Summary
Monster Hunter Wildshas been out for a few months now, giving both veterans of the series and newcomers a lot of time to get used to the thrill of hunting. However, some less seasoned players of theMonster Hunterfranchise may find themselves struggling in the heat of the fight. That’s wherestatus effectscome into play, as they can often turn the tide of battle and save players in the nick of time.
While some weapons come with status ailments to inflict against monsters, status effects are rarer, activated by specific items or melodies played by Hunting Horn users. If you need an extra boost in battle, seek out these boons so that you may improve your strength, especially when finding monsters you might need the extra leg up to defeat.
1Attack Up
Each Swing Of A Sword Is Deadlier
If Attack Up isn’t already a go-to armor set skill forMonster Hunterplayers, they might be doing something wrong. Luckily, there are a lot of ways to keep increasing the Attack stat, which is especially helpful in solo hunts or when using less powerful weapons. As a status effect, Attack Up can always be accessed through Hunting Horn melodies, but there are easier ways to attain it for all hunters.
There areseveral items inMonster Hunter Wildsthat, when consumed or simply held in an item bag, will boost a hunter’s attack stat. Demondrugs and Mega Demondrugs will temporarily increase attack power, but for a more permanent status effect, keep a Powercharm handy. To assist fellow hunters, Demon Powder can be thrown on the ground to create an area of effect.
2Defense Up
No Worries If Your Armor Isn’t Upgraded Enough
Similarly to the Attack Up status effect, Defense Up is a must-have for most hunters, whether they’re susceptible to attacks with Insect Glaive or Dual Blades, or have a built-in shield with Lance or Charge Blade. The Defense Up skill will increase a player’s defense when a certain Hunting Horn melody plays, but like the Attack Up skill, there is also a set of items that grant this status effect.
Armorcharms will, like the Powercharm, boost Defense just by being held, while Adamant Seeds, Adamant Pills, and Armorskin can be consumed for the same effect. This is especially a good skill if players like to get down and dirty against monsters, while supportive playersor long-ranged Gunnersmight not find much use for it to cost them an Item Bag slot.
3Earplugs
Monster Roars Can’t Harm You
Many hunters may have their focus on avoiding a monster’s physical attacks, whether it be poisonous venom or swings of the tail, but there’s another source of damage they might be unable to block: roars. Different-sized monsters have varying strengths to their roars, such as the iconic Tigrex from past games, which can damage hunters and send them flying with its enraged screech.
Thankfully, there’s both an armor skill and a status effect that prevents this. Some armors come with the Earplugs skill, which negates increasing levels of monster roars so that hunters aren’t, at the very least, interrupted mid-attack, and at most, damaged. While the skill is the only way to prevent the strongest roars from Gravios or Gore Magala, Earplugs (S) and Earplugs (L) will deal with most monsters.
4Stamina Use Reduced
Charge As Freely As You’d Like
In case players weren’t paying attention to the tutorial forMonster Hunter Wilds, that yellow bar at the top of the screen that depletes and refills is your stamina. Lots of actions drain stamina, from running, charging attacks, and blocking, so for some weapon types, players might find themselves completely drained and unable to avoid monster attacks. That is, until they acquire the Stamina Use Reduced effect.
As the name suggests, Stamina Use Reduced makes it so that stamina depletes at a much slower rate than it normally does.Worried you can’t fully charge a Hammer swingwithout losing all your stamina? That’s where this skill comes in handy. It’s especially good considering many elemental blights affect stamina depletion, like Iceblight or Waterblight.
5Knockback Negated
An Annoying Side Effect Of Getting Hit Goes Away
Picture this: a player is in the middle of a high-pressure hunt against a Nerscylla online with three fellow hunters. They’re about to get a huge charge attack against the monster when, all of a sudden, a pesky Nerscylla Hatchling knocks them out of the attack animation, allowing the mama Nerscylla to fire poison without getting a chance to dodge out of the way.
This is where a status effect like Knockback Negated would come in handy. Some attacks from Small or Large Monsters can disrupt hunters' actions without causing any damage, which is especially tiresome forslower weapons like the Great Sword. Having a Hunting Horn user in the party that can grant this effect via melodies or an Echo Bubble is ideal in these situations.
6Elemental Attack Boost/Status Attack Up
Let Your Weapon’s Power Shine
It’s worth mentioning that these two status effects arenotthe same thing. Elemental Attack Boost will increase a hunter’s Elemental Power on their equipped weapon, while Status Attack Up will make weapons that have status ailments deal higher power. With that in mind, it’s important to remember Elemental Attack Boost will not affect weapons that are element-less.
For Elemental Attack Boost, hunters with Fire, Thunder, Ice, Dragon, or Water weapons will reap benefits. For Status Attack Up, weapons that boast Poison, Paralysis, Blast, or Sleep will be even stronger than they already are. For weapons that prioritize elements and status ailments, like Sword and Shield, these skills are super versatile and beneficial.
7Self-Improvement
Chasing Monsters Has Never Been This Easy
More so than any other previous entry in theMonster Hunterfranchise, movement has never been more versatile than inWilds.The new mounts, Seikrets, are faster and more useful than PalamutesfromMonster Hunter Rise, but even so, players may find their movement speed without them lacking, which is where Self-Improvement becomes an incredibly useful status effect.
When a Hunting Horn activates Self-Improvement, hunters will get increased movement speed, but that’s not where the benefits of this status effect end. If Hunting Horn users play an encore of the same melody, their attack power will be increased, and their attacks won’t be deflected by monsters as often. Not only is the movement speed a great boost, but the extra effects make this a useful melody.
8Divine Protection
Thank The Gods For This Defense Boost
Some hunters might not see much of a difference between Divine Protection and Defense Up, given that they both have similar outcomes. While Defense Up will increase a hunter’s physical defense status, Divine Protection puts the onus on monsters, making their attacks sometimes deal less damage to hunters regardless of their defense stats or elemental resistances.
Of course, many hunters may already receive this effect is one of three tiers as Divine Blessing, an armor that specifically weakens damage taken by 15%, 30%, and 50% respectively. However,Divine Protection as a status effectdoes basically the same but without having to take up an entire armor set or decorations slot. All in all, the less damage hunters take with each hit, the better.
