Monster Hunter Wilds Equipment Skills Guide: all the armor skills detailed and what they do
Every piece of Armor in Monster Hunter Wilds has Equipment Skills associated with it. There's quite a bit of them, and it's a lot of jargon to get through at times. If you're looking for a quick dictionary to easily find what a specific Equipment Skill does, we've laid them all out for you here, and even included how they are enhanced as their levels increase.
Plus, we've listed out all the armor you can craft in Monster Hunter Wilds, along with all the Equipment Skills that each armor set contains. Find the right armor with equipment skills that suit your weapon and playstyle.
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- A
- Adaptability
- Adrenaline Rush
- Agitator
- Ambush
- Antivirus
- Aquatic/Oilslit Mobility
- B
- Bind Resistance
- Blast Resistance
- Bleeding Resistance
- Blight Resistance
- Blindsider
- Bombardier
- Botanist
- Burst
- C
- Cliffhanger
- Coalescence
- Constitution
- Convert Element
- Counterstrike
- Critical Draw
- Critical Element
- Critical Status
- D
- Divine Blessing
- E
- Earplugs
- Elemental Absorption
- Entomologist
- Evade Extender
- Evade Window
- F
- Fire Resistance
- Flayer
- Flinch Free
- Foray
- Free Meal
- G
- Geologist
- H
- Heroics
- Hunger Resistance
- I
- Ice Resistance
- Intimidator
- Iron Skin
- Item Prolonger
- J
- Jump Master
- L
- Latent Power
- Leap of Faith
- M
- Marathon Runner
- Maximum Might
- Mushroomancer
- O
- Outdoorsman
- P
- Palico Rally
- Paralysis Resistance
- Partbreaker
- Peak Performance
- Poison Resistance
- Q
- Quick Sheathe
- R
- Recovery Speed
- Recovery Up
- Resentment
- S
- Sleep Resistance
- Speed Eating
- Stamina Surge
- Stun Resistance
- Survival Expert
- T
- Tool Specialist
- Tremor Resistance
- W
- Water Resistance
- Weakness Exploit
- Wide-Range
- Windproof
A
Adaptability
Grants protection against environmental damage, such as from heat or cold.
- Lv 1 - Negates the effects of heat and cold.
- Lv 2 - Negates environmental damage.
Adrenaline Rush
Temporarily increases attack power after executing a perfectly-timed evade just as a monster attacks.
- Lv 1 - Attack +10 while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +15 while active.
- Lv 3 - Attack +20 while active.
- Lv 4 - Attack +25 while active.
- Lv 5 - Attack +30 while active.
Agitator
Increases attack power and affinity when large monsters become enraged.
- Lv 1 - Attack +4 and affinity +3% while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +8 and affinity +5% while active.
- Lv 3 - Attack +12 and affinity +7% while active.
- Lv 4 - Attack +16 and affinity +10% while active.
- Lv 5 - Attack +20 and affinity +15% while active.
Ambush
Temporarily increases damage to large monsters with a successful Sneak Attack.
- Lv 1 - Attack +5% while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +10% while active.
- Lv 3 - Attack +15% while active.
Antivirus
Once infected, makes it easier to overcome the Frenzy and increases affinity if cured.
- Lv 1 - Slightly increases recovery rate after contracting the Frenzy. Affinity +3% if cured.
- Lv 2 - Increases recovery rate after contracting the Frenzy. Affinity +6% if cured.
- Lv 3 - Greatly increases recovery rate after contracting the Frenzy. Affinity +15% if cured.
Aquatic/Oilslit Mobility
Grants resistance against impairments to mobility while in water, oilslit, or streams.
- Lv 1 - Negates the effects of muddy streams, and prevents you from being slowed down in water or oilslit.
- Lv 2 - Also negates the effects of waves.
B
Bind Resistance
Grants protection against webbed status and frostblight.
- Lv 1 - Allows you to quickly recover from webbed status or frostblight.
- Lv 2 - Allows you to very quickly recover from webbed status or frostblight.
- Lv 3 - Prevents webbed status and frostblight.
Blast Resistance
Grants protection against blastblight.
- Lv 1 - Delays blastblight and reduces blast damage.
- Lv 2 - Greatly delays blastblight and greatly reduces blast damage.
- Lv 3 - Prevents blastblight.
Bleeding Resistance
Grants protection against bleeding.
- Lv 1 - Reduces damage while bleeding.
- Lv 2 - Greatly reduces damage while bleeding.
- Lv 3 - Prevents bleeding.
Blight Resistance
Grants protection against all elemental blights.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the duration of all elemental blights by 50%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces the duration of all elemental blights by 75%.
- Lv 3 - Nullifies all elemental blights.
Blindsider
Improves the effectiveness of flash attacks and items.
- Lv 1 - Improves the effectiveness of flash attacks and items.
Bombardier
Increases the damage of explosive items.
- Lv 1 - Explosive power +10%
- Lv 2 - Explosive power +20%
- Lv 3 - Explosive power +30%
Botanist
Increases the quantity of herbs and other consumable items you gather.
- Lv 1 - One extra consumable herb item per gather.
- Lv 2 - Additionally adds one extra consumable fruit, nut, or seed item per gather.
- Lv 3 - Additionally adds one extra consumable insect item per gather.
- Lv 4 - Additionally adds one extra consumable mushroom item per gather.
Burst
Continuously landing hits gradually increases attack and elemental attack. (Amount increased depends on weapon.)
- Lv 1 - On first hit, gain a small temporary attack and element boost, replaced by a large boost after the fifth hit.
- Lv 2 - Hit 5 successive times for a moderate stat boost.
- Lv 3 - Hit 5 successive times for a bigger stat boost.
- Lv 4 - Hit 5 successive times for an even bigger stat boost.
- Lv 5 - Hit 5 successive times for a huge stat boost.
C
Cliffhanger
Decreases stamina depletion when climbing on vines.
- Lv 1 - Reduces stamina depletion while climbing by 50%.
Coalescence
Temporarily increases elemental attack power and status effects after recovering from blights or abnormal status.
- Lv 1 - When active, grants a slight increase to elemental damage and status buildup.
- Lv 2 - When active, grants an increase to elemental damage and status buildup.
- Lv 3 - When active, grants a large increase to elemental damage and status buildup.
Constitution
Reduces stamina depletion when evading, blocking, or doing certain other actions.
- Lv 1 - Reduces fixed stamina depletion by 10%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces fixed stamina depletion by 20%.
- Lv 3 - Reduces fixed stamina depletion by 30%.
- Lv 4 - Reduces fixed stamina depletion by 40%.
- Lv 5 - Reduces fixed stamina depletion by 50%.
Convert Element
After taking elemental damage, temporarily grants you dragon element effects. (Cooldown after effect ends.)
- Lv 1 - While active, deals extra dragon damage after dealing enough elemental damage. Slight increases dragon attack.
- Lv 2 - Increases additional dragon damage and increases dragon attack.
- Lv 3 - Further increases additional dragon damage and greatly increases dragon attack.
Counterstrike
Temporarily increases attack power after being knocked back.
- Lv 1 - Attack +10 while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +15 while active. Moderately extends effect time.
- Lv 3 - Attack +25 while active. Extends effect time.
Critical Draw
Increases affinity when performing draw attacks. (Not effective while riding.)
- Lv 1 - Affinity +50%
- Lv 2 - Affinity +75%
- Lv 3 - Affinity +100%
Critical Element
Increases elemental damage (fire, water, thunder, ice, dragon) when landing critical hits.
- Lv 1 - Slightly increases elemental damage while active.
- Lv 2 - Increases elemental damage while active.
- Lv 3 - Greatly increases elemental damage while active.
Critical Status
Increases abnormal status effects (paralysis, poison, sleep, blast) when landing critical hits.
- Lv 1 - Slightly increases abnormal status effects when landing critical hits.
- Lv 2 - Increases abnormal status effects when landing critical hits.
- Lv 3 - Greatly increases abnormal status effects when landing critical hits.
D
Divine Blessing
Has a predetermined chance of reducing the damage you take.
- Lv 1 - While active, reduces damage taken by 15%.
- Lv 2 - While active, reduces damage taken by 30%.
- Lv 3 - While active, reduces damage taken by 50%.
E
Earplugs
Grants protection from large monsters' roars.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the effects of weak monster roars.
- Lv 2 - Nullifies weak monster roars and reduces the effects of strong monster roars.
- Lv 3 - Nullifies weak and strong monster roars.
Elemental Absorption
After taking elemental damage, temporarily grants you element effects. (Cooldown after effect ends.)
- Lv 1 - While active, slightly increases elemental attack, and resistance to element taken at activation by 4.
- Lv 2 - While active, moderately increases elemental attack, and resistance to element taken at activation by 6.
- Lv 3 - While active, increases elemental attack, and resistance to element taken at activation by 8.
Entomologist
The bodies of small insect monsters won't be destroyed, allowing them to be carved.
- Lv 1 - Activates skill effect.
Evade Extender
Increases evade distance.
- Lv 1 - Slightly extends evasion distance.
- Lv 2 - Extends evasion distance.
- Lv 3 - Greatly extends evasion distance.
Evade Window
Extends the invulnerability period when evading.
- Lv 1 - Very slightly increases invulnerability window.
- Lv 2 - Slightly increases invulnerability window.
- Lv 3 - Increases invulnerability window.
- Lv 4 - Greatly increases invulnerability window.
- Lv 5 - Massively increases invulnerability window.
F
Fire Resistance
Increases fire resistance. Also improves defense at higher levels.
- Lv 1 - Fire resistance +6
- Lv 2 - Fire resistance +12
- Lv 3 - Fire resistance +20, Defense +10
Flayer
Makes it easier to inflict wounds. Upon inflicting enough damage, also deals additional non-elemental damage.
- Lv 1 - Makes it ever so slightly easier to inflict wounds. Also deals additional non-elemental damage.
- Lv 2 - Makes it moderately easier to inflict wounds. Also deals slightly more additional non-elemental damage.
- Lv 3 - Makes it easier to inflict wounds. Also deals moderately more additional non-elemental damage.
- Lv 4 - Makes it much easier to inflict wounds. Also deals more additional non-elemental damage.
- Lv 5 - Makes it significantly easier to inflict wounds. Also deals much more additional non-elemental damage.
Flinch Free
Prevents knockbacks and other reactions to small damage.
- Lv 1 - Prevents knockbacks.
- Lv 2 - Prevents knockbacks. Tripping is reduced to a knockback instead.
- Lv 3 - Prevents knockbacks and tripping.
Foray
Increases attack power and affinity against large mosnters affected by poison or paralysis.
- Lv 1 - Attack +6 against large monsters affected by poison or paralysis.
- Lv 2 - Attack +8 and affinity +5% against large monsters affected by poison or paralysis.
- Lv 3 - Attack +10 and affinity +10% against large monsters affected by poison or paralysis.
- Lv 4 - Attack +12 and affinity +15% against large monsters affected by poison or paralysis.
- Lv 5 - Attack +15 and affinity +20% against large monsters affected by poison or paralysis.
Free Meal
Gives you a predetermined chance of consuming a food or drink item for free.
- Lv 1 - Activates 10% of the time.
- Lv 2 - Activates 25% of the time.
- Lv 3 - Activates 45% of the time.
G
Geologist
Increases the number of items you gain at gathering points.
- Lv 1 - One extra item when gathering from bonepiles.
- Lv 2 - Additionally adds one extra item when gathering special items.
- Lv 3 - Additionally adds one extra item when gathering from mining outcrops.
H
Heroics
Increases attack power and defense when health drops to 35% or lower.
- Lv 1 - Defense +50 while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +5% and defense +50 while active.
- Lv 3 - Attack +5% and defense +100 while active.
- Lv 4 - Attack +10% and defense +100 while active.
- Lv 5 - Attack +30% and defense-increasing effects are negated while active.
Hunger Resistance
Reduces maximum stamina depletion over time.
- Lv 1 - Extends the time until your stamina cap reduces by 50%.
- Lv 2 - Extends the time until your stamina cap reduces by 100%.
- Lv 3 - Prevents your stamina cap from decreasing.
I
Ice Resistance
Increases ice resistance. Also improves defense at higher levels.
- Lv 1 - Ice resistance +6
- Lv 2 - Ice resistance +12
- Lv 3 - Ice resistance +20, Defense +10
Intimidator
Reduces the chance small monsters will attack after spotting you. (Has no effect on certain monsters.)
- Lv 1 - Discourages monsters from engaging you even if you've been spotted.
- Lv 2 - Highly discourages monsters from engaging you even if you've been spotted.
- Lv 3 - Prevents monsters from engaging you even if you've been spotted.
Iron Skin
Grants protection against defense down.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the duration of defense down by 50%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces the duration of defense down by 75%.
- Lv 3 - Prevents defense down.
Item Prolonger
Extends the duration of some item effects.
- Lv 1 - Item effect duration +10%
- Lv 2 - Item effect duration +25%
- Lv 3 - Item effect duration +50%
J
Jump Master
Prevents attacks from knocking you back during a jump.
- Lv 1 - Negates knockback during jumps.
L
Latent Power
Temporarily increases affinity and reduces stamina depletion when certain conditions are met.
- Lv 1 - While active, affinity +10% and reduces stamina depletion by 30%.
- Lv 2 - While active, affinity +20% and reduces stamina depletion by 30%.
- Lv 3 - While active, affinity +30% and reduces stamina depletion by 50%.
- Lv 4 - While active, affinity +40% and reduces stamina depletion by 50%.
- Lv 5 - While active, affinity +50% and reduces stamina depletion by 50%.
Leap of Faith
Allows you to do a dive-evade when facing towards large monsters and extends the dive-evade distance.
- Lv 1 - Enables skill use.
M
Marathon Runner
Slows down stamina depletion for actions that continuously drain stamina (such as dashing).
- Lv 1 - Reduces continuous stamina depletion by 15%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces continuous stamina depletion by 30%.
- Lv 3 - Reduces continuous stamina depletion by 50%.
Maximum Might
Increases affinity if stamina is kept full for a period of time.
- Lv 1 - Affinity +10% while active
- Lv 2 - Affinity +20% while active
- Lv 3 - Affinity +30% while active
Mushroomancer
Lets you digest mushrooms that would otherwise be inedible and gain their advantageous effects.
- Lv 1 - Lets you digest blue mushrooms and toadstools.
- Lv 2 - Additionally lets you digest nitroshrooms and parashrooms.
- Lv 3 - Additionally lets you digest mandragoras, devil's blight, and exciteshrooms.
O
Outdoorsman
Improves fishing, grilling, and transporting abilities.
- Lv 1 - Improves fishing, grilling, and transporting abilities.
P
Palico Rally
Powers up Palicoes.
- Lv 1 - Increases Palico attack power and defense by 5%.
- Lv 2 - Increases Palico attack power and defense by 10%.
- Lv 3 - Increases Palico attack power and defense by 15%.
- Lv 4 - Increases Palico attack power and defense by 20%.
- Lv 5 - Increases Palico attack power and defense by 25%.
Paralysis Resistance
Reduces the duration of paralysis.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the duration of paralysis by 30%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces the duration of paralysis by 60%.
- Lv 3 - Prevents paralysis.
Partbreaker
Makes it easier to break large monster parts, and increases damage dealt when destroying a wound with Focus Strike.
- Lv 1 - Increases part damage and damage dealt when conditions are met by 10%.
- Lv 2 - Increases part damage and damage dealt when conditions are met by 20%.
- Lv 3 - Increases part damage and damage dealt when conditions are met by 30%.
Peak Performance
Increases attack when your health is full.
- Lv 1 - Attack +3 while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +6 while active.
- Lv 3 - Attack +10 while active.
- Lv 4 - Attack +15 while active.
- Lv 5 - Attack +20 while active.
Poison Resistance
Reduces damage while poisoned.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the number of times you take poison damage.
- Lv 2 - Greatly reduces the number of times you take poison damage.
- Lv 3 - Prevents poison.
Q
Quick Sheathe
Speeds up weapon sheathing.
- Lv 1 - Slightly increases sheathing speed.
- Lv 2 - Increases sheathing speed.
- Lv 3 - Greatly increases sheathing speed.
R
Recovery Speed
Speeds healing of recoverable damage (the red portion of the Health Gauge).
- Lv 1 - Doubles the speed at which you heal recoverable damage.
- Lv 2 - Triples the speed at which you heal recoverable damage.
- Lv 3 - Quadruples the speed at which you heal recoverable damage.
Recovery Up
Increases the amount recovered when restoring health.
- Lv 1 - Slightly increases recovery.
- Lv 2 - Moderately increases recovery.
- Lv 3 - Greatly increases recovery.
Resentment
Increases attack when you have recoverable damage (the red portion of your Health Gauge).
- Lv 1 - Attack +5 while active.
- Lv 2 - Attack +10 while active.
- Lv 3 - Attack +15 while active.
- Lv 4 - Attack +20 while active.
- Lv 5 - Attack +25 while active.
S
Sleep Resistance
Reduces the duration of sleep.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the duration of sleep by 30%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces the duration of sleep by 60%.
- Lv 3 - Prevents sleep.
Speed Eating
Increases meat-eating and item-consumption speed.
- Lv 1 - Moderately increases eating speed.
- Lv 2 - Increases eating speed.
- Lv 3 - Greatly increases eating speed.
Stamina Surge
Speeds up stamina recovery.
- Lv 1 - Stamina recovery speed +10%.
- Lv 2 - Stamina recovery speed +30%.
- Lv 3 - Stamina recovery speed +50%.
Stun Resistance
Reduces the duration of stun.
- Lv 1 - Reduces the duration of stun by 30%.
- Lv 2 - Reduces the duration of stun by 60%.
- Lv 3 - Prevents stun.
Survival Expert
Extra health is recovered from environmental interactables.
- Lv 1 - Restores 50 health.
- Lv 2 - Restores 80 health.
- Lv 3 - Restores 100 health.
T
Tool Specialist
Reduces the recharge time for specialized tools.
- Lv 1 - Shortens recharge time by 10%.
- Lv 2 - Shortens recharge time by 20%.
- Lv 3 - Shortens recharge time by 30%.
- Lv 4 - Shortens recharge time by 40%.
- Lv 5 - Shortens recharge time by 50%.
Tremor Resistance
Grants protection against ground tremors.
- Lv 1 - Nullifies very minor ground tremors and halves effects of minor ground tremors.
- Lv 2 - Nullifies up to minor ground tremors and greatly reduces the effects of major ground tremors.
- Lv 3 - Nullifies all ground tremors.
W
Water Resistance
Increases water resistance. Also improves defense at higher levels.
- Lv 1 - Water resistance +6
- Lv 2 - Water resistance +12
- Lv 3 - Water resistance +20, Defense +10
Weakness Exploit
Increases the affinity of attacks that exploit a monster's weak points and wounds.
- Lv 1 - Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +5%, with an extra 3% on wounds.
- Lv 2 - Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +10%, with an extra 5% on wounds.
- Lv 3 - Attacks that hit weak points gain affinity +15%, with an extra 10% on wounds.
- Lv 4 - Attacks that hit weak points have 20% increased affinity, with an extra 15% on wounds.
- Lv 5 - Attacks that hit weak points have 30% increased affinity, with an extra 20% on wounds.
Wide-Range
Allows the effects of certain items to also affect nearby allies.
- Lv 1 - Items affect nearby allies with 33% of their efficacy.
- Lv 2 - Items affect nearby allies in a wider radius with 33% of their efficacy.
- Lv 3 - Items affect nearby allies in a wider radius with 66% of their efficacy.
- Lv 4 - Items affect nearby allies in a much wider radius with 66% of their efficacy.
- Lv 5 - Items affect nearby allies in a much wider radius with full efficacy.
Windproof
Grants protection against wind pressure.
- Lv 1 - Negates minor wind pressure and halves the effects of major wind pressure.
- Lv 2 - Negates minor and major wind pressure and halves the effects of dragon wind pressure.
- Lv 3 - Negates all kinds of wind pressure.