Even though Monster Hunter World is arguably the most accessible game in the franchise, it still brings with it plenty of systems and mechanics that players need to get familiar with in order to succeed at higher ranks. Success in any Monster Hunter title also comes down to equipped gear as well, often requiring monster gems or fighting tempered elder dragons to get the best materials as well.

One of the core end game mechanics in Monster Hunter World revolves around augmenting weapons and gear to not only give the player more control over their character build or pushing their gear even further. In the process, this not only makes characters stronger, but adds another layer of survivability against some of the toughest monsters the game can throw at players.  Considering this feature becomes available in the end game, keep in mind that there might be light spoilers involved.

What is it?

Through augmenting, players can add additional bonuses to their weapons or craft gear beyond their normal upgrade tree. Armor itself has a set number of times it can be upgraded by armor spheres. With augmenting, players can remove that limit entirely and gain access to new ways to improve it.

Weapons behave a bit differently with augmentation as players can use the technique to raise specific stats, which is great for negating a particular weakness and replacing it with something beneficial like health regeneration or an increase in attack strength. However, this option is only unlocked once a weapon has reached the very end of its upgrade tree.

monster-hunter-world-accolades-trailer

Unlocking Augmentation

Before augmentation can be accessed, players will first need to have finished the story campaign. With the final boss down, the player's Hunter Rank is unlocked, which allows individual quests to level it up. At Hunter Rank 29, players earn a new quest called Beyond the Blasting Scales, which pits the player against two tempered Bazelguese. Finish that quest to unlock the next tier Hunter Rank, which allows progression up to 49.

At Hunter Rank 49, the next major quest is unlocked called Thunderous Rumble in the Highlands. This challenging quest introduces players to a tempered Kirin, where a victory unlocks the final tier of Hunter Rank, and lets players fight tempered elder dragons. Fighting these high end monsters are necessary for collecting items needed to augment gear. More on that in a minute.

Crafting with Augmentation

Like all gear in the game, players need to visit the Smithy to get started. Select the Augment Equipment option to open up the Item Box and all available gear.

When a weapon is selected, five different augmentation options appear. Based on the weapon being augmented, players may be able to select more than one from the following list.

  • Attack Increase - Raises weapon damage.
  • Affinity Increase - Adds 10% weapon affinity
  • Defense Increase - Adds 10 points of defense, as well as a chance to reduce incoming damage.
  • Slot Upgrade - Adds a new weapon decoration slot.
  • Health Regen - Allows health regeneration when a weapon hits an enemy.

Armor augmentation only has one option available: Upgrade Limit Removal. Selecting this augmentation lets players continue to raise the defense level beyond its normal limit, making the armor stronger and providing more protection. This is extremely important because tempered dragons still have the ability to do huge damage or even one shot players with maxed out base gear.

Where to find Streamstones

For as great as augmentation sounds, there is a catch. In order to augment gear, players need to have a rare crafting material called Streamstones. Lower rarity gear takes a base Streamstones, while higher rarity items can require gleaming or Hero's Streamstones as well.

Since this is the end game, these stones won't be easy to obtain and requires that players face off against tempered monsters and elder dragons in order to have a chance at seeing one drop. Not only that, Hero's Streamstones are weapon specific, so players will need to continue to grind away in order to get that specific stone they need for a lance or charge blade.

Monster Hunter World is available now for PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release planned for later this year.

Source: Arekkz Gaming