Augmentations (High Rank and Master Rank)

Augmentations (High Rank and Master Rank) — Monster Hunter: World Guide

Augmentations are endgame enhancements for weapons and armor in Monster Hunter: World, available in both High Rank and Master Rank. They allow you to further refine your gear by adding new bonuses, increasing stats, or even granting unique effects, pushing your builds to their absolute limits.

Augmentations are unlocked by reaching certain points in the game and by completing specific optional quests. The primary method of augmenting is through the Smithy, using a system that requires specific materials, often including rare monster parts and special "Streamstones" or "Decorations" depending on the rank.

Weapon Augmentations:

Weapon augmentations are crucial for maximizing your damage output and survivability. They are unlocked by reaching Hunter Rank 50 for High Rank weapons and by progressing through the Iceborne story for Master Rank weapons. The materials required for augmentation are often tied to specific monster types or Elder Dragons.

The augmentation system for weapons allows you to choose from several different bonus effects. These include:

• Attack Boost: Increases the weapon's raw attack power.
• Affinity Boost: Increases the weapon's critical hit chance.
• Health Regen: Allows your weapon to heal you for a portion of the damage dealt. This is incredibly powerful for survivability.
• Element/Status Boost: Increases the weapon's elemental damage or status buildup.
• Defense Boost: Increases your defense when using this weapon.

You can typically apply multiple augmentations to a single weapon, with the number of available augmentation slots depending on the weapon's rarity and tier. For example, a Master Rank weapon might have 3-4 augmentation slots, allowing you to mix and match bonuses like Health Regen and Attack Boost.

Armor Augmentations:

Armor augmentations are unlocked in Master Rank by progressing through the Guiding Lands and obtaining specific materials. These augmentations focus on enhancing defensive capabilities and skill point values.

Armor augmentations can include:

• Defense Boost: Increases the armor's defense value.
• Elemental Resistance: Increases resistance to specific elements.
• Skill Point Increase: Adds bonus points to existing skills on the armor piece.
• New Skill Slot: In some cases, armor can be augmented to gain an additional decoration slot.

The materials for armor augmentation are often obtained from Tempered monsters in the Guiding Lands, such as Tempered Zinogre Shards or Tempered Elder Dragon Bones. The specific materials needed will depend on the armor piece and the type of augmentation you wish to apply.

Key Augmentation Strategies:

• Prioritize Health Regen: For most melee builds, the Health Regen augmentation is paramount for sustained combat.
• Balance Offense and Defense: Mix offensive augmentations like Attack Boost and Affinity with defensive ones like Health Regen or Defense Boost.
• Target Specific Skills: For armor, focus on augmenting pieces that provide valuable skill points or additional decoration slots.
• Farm the Guiding Lands: The Guiding Lands are your primary source for augmentation materials, so invest time in exploring and hunting there.

Augmentations are the final frontier of gear optimization in Monster Hunter: World. By carefully choosing your augmentations, you can create truly unique and powerful builds that will allow you to tackle the toughest monsters the game has to offer.