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While the boss fights inMonster Hunter Wildsare the main draw for a lot of series fans, many others enjoy the process of procuring fancy armor sets. Crafting your avatar a new high-level outfit is viewed as a status symbol in the community, indicative of your advanced hunting prowess.
Of course, the armor isn’t merely for vanity. In addition to increasing your base defense statistics and elemental resistances, your clothing dictates your skills on the battlefield. Unlike other action RPGs, Monster Hunter lacks a linear upgrade tree, meaning any perks you possess are governed by your loadout. Here’s a rundown of Wilds’s different skill types and how they interact with one another.
Equipment Skills, Explained
Equipment skills are skillstied to a specific piece of armor or weapon you are using. If you choose a sword and shield that has Guard attached to it,you’ll be given that ability during hunts.
However,equipment skills have levels attached to them, meaning you canenhance them for additional effects. Wearing a helmet with the Speed Eating skill will give you Speed Eating Lv1, butadd another piece of gear with Speed Eatingand the skill will be upgraded to Lv2, andequipping one more will bring you all the way to Lv3.
Skill effects are usuallycapped at either Lv3 or Lv5(equipping three or five items with the same skill to your loadout).
Creating your ideal skill loadout through strategic armor craftinggives you a lot of flexibility. you may wear a variety of different clothes touse many low-level skills, or focus on loading your hunter up witha few stronger perks.
Group Skills, Explained
Group skills refer toarmor sets working togetherto give hunters access to skills,even if all the individual armor pieces don’t come from the same monster.
For example, there aremultiple armor setsthat fall under theFlexible Leathercraft umbrella. If you have any three Flexible Leathercraft pieces equipped,regardless of where they’re sourced from, you’ll begiven the Hunter Gatherer skill. Here are all the group skills you can find in the game:
Prevents knockback and increases speed when carving and gathering.
Fortifying Pelt
Fortify
Buffs attack and defense after fainting. Can be used up to twice.
Guardian’s Protection
Ward of Wyveria
Elemental and unique damage are reduced in the Ruins of Wyveria.
Guardian’s Pulse
Wylk Burst
Recovery speed of stamina and red gauge are buffed when near Wylkrystals.
Increases attack when using Melody Effects or other area-of-effect abilities.
Neopteron Camouflage
Fleetfoot
Buffs movement speed while crouching and makes it easier to escape monster aggro.
Master Mounter
Makes mounting and wounding monsters while mounted easier.
All group skillsrequire three armor pieces to be equippedin order to activate their effects.
Set Bonuses, Explained
Set bonuses operate similarly to group skills, but area bit more restrictive. They require you touse armor from specific monstersto reap their benefits.
Interestingly, youdon’t actually need to have a full armor setin order to activate their abilities. The first level activates when you havetwo pieces equipped, and the secondwhen you have four. These are all the set bonuses you should look out for:
