Surviving in Monster Hunter Wilds requires more than strong weapons and sick-looking armor – you also need to make use of your skills. While long-time fans will adjust to mechanical changes and some new types of skills, any novice hunters are sure to be overwhelmed. Layers and columns of stats aren’t the most welcome sight to everyone. Never fear though, we’re about to explain how skills work in Monster Hunter Wilds and how best to use them.
At the forefront of any build are Equipment Skills, which in this game have been split into Weapon Skills and Armor Skills. The former can be obtained through the weapon you’re carrying, while the latter are dependent on your armor pieces. Every weapon and piece of armor you craft will have one or two unique skills attached to them.
These will initially only be available at level 1. You can enhance these skills to higher levels by upgrading your equipment or having multiple pieces with the same skill. For example, equipping three armor pieces that each have Counterstrike level 1 will give you the Level 3 version. This is easy to do with armor since you can equip five pieces at a time. You’ll have more options to increase both your Armor Skills and Weapon Skills with Talismans and Decorations.
A couple of missions into Chapter 2 and you’ll unlock the option to craft Talismans from Gemma. Called Charms in some prior titles, Talismans typically provide you with a single equipment skill. These take up their own separate slot on the equipment screen below your armor pieces. Whether it’s to help boost an Equipment Skill you already have or simply add another one to your arsenal, Talismans offer some nice flexibility for your builds. They can also be upgraded to provide stronger effects.
Unlocked a little later into Chapter 2 are Decorations. These will offer the most expansive options for your late-game builds. Just like your equipment, these come in two flavors: Weapon Decorations and Armor Decorations. Each one houses one or two skills, depending on their rarity. You’ll then be able to slot these into your equipment to add even more sources for skills.
A key thing to remember is that the equipment needs to have Decoration slots to use these. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t crafted any weapons or armor with Decoration slots by the time you unlock this mechanic.
Returning from Monster Hunter: World are Set Bonus Skills, which are only applied when you have multiple pieces of the same Armor Set equipped. Two pieces are needed to enable the armor set’s related skill, while four pieces will provide an enhanced version. It’s a win-win if you want to slay monsters with a specific aesthetic. If you prefer to have more variety in your looks, you’ll need to make use of the transmog system.
I’ll also add that this is only available with specific armor sets. They need to be crafted from large monsters and even then, only 14 out of the 29 large monsters in the base game have armor with Set Bonus Skills. You’ll encounter a majority of them in chapter three and onward in High Rank.
Newly introduced to Monster Hunter Wilds are Group Skills, which function pretty similarly to the Set Bonus kind we just went over. Every Armor Piece has a specific Group Skill attached to it, but you can only enable it by equipping three pieces that have the same skill. The big difference with these is that they’re available across multiple armor sets, so that you can enjoy the buff with a mix-and-match set if you want.
Cutting off a Rathalos’ tail is easier to understand than how skills and their related systems work in Monster Hunter Wilds. A big reason for that is how overwhelmingly information is presented in-game, which we hope our guide helps you to better grasp. If you also happen to be annoyed about purchasing character edit vouchers or the arachnophobia mode not working on the larger spider-like monsters, this list of Monster Hunter Wilds PC mods might interest you.
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