
Which is why the 'brute' monsters are the ones that have negative affinity, and much higher strength than usual, they represent the aspects of the monster that had a 'brutal' intent, and are a bit less aerodynamic, well-weighted, etc. Some weapons, gear, or equipment would of course be easier to use than others, and some would be less than sufficient in certain cases. As you become more proficient in your gear, you learn to strike more accurately, finding means of leveraging your weapon against your foes with relative impunity. Affinity is the representation of comfort, ease, and skill with your gear, weapons, and equipment.

Agitator increases Affinity when a Large Monster becomes enraged.Weakness Exploit increases Affinity when striking a Monster weak spot.Attack Boost increases Affinity at levels 4-7.Affinity Sliding increases Affinity after sliding.Critical Eye increases Affinity at all times.Affinity Booster is a Specialized Tool that creates an Affinity cloud for you and fellow hunters.Note that with the Critical Draw skill you will always Crit on a draw attack. The following Skills and Equipment increase your weapon Affinity. You must have the Critical Element skill active for it to apply to Elemental Damage or the Critical Status Skill to apply it to Status Damage. Please note that Affinity ONLY applies to Raw Damage under normal circumstances.

Damage numbers will show a small star symbol under critical damage hits.

The effect of Affinity is signaled by a flashy slash animation and a specific sound. The bonus Damage applied by critical hits can be increased by the Critical Boost Skill. A positive Affinity value denotes the chance for an attack to "crit," which applies a bonus of 25% to Physical (Raw) Damage. A negative value, on the other hand, denotes the chance to "blunder," which applies a penalty of 25% to Physical Damage. At 0% Affinity there is no chance for a bonus or penalty to damage. Affinity is determined by the Weapon and Skills that are being used, and is displayed as a percent value in the Attack Status portion of the Equipment Info screen.
