[ Guide ] Monster Hunter Stories 2: Understanding Game Mechanics

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Games every now and again can have mechanics that are not especially well explained, and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is no different.

While Capcom may have fully intended the in-game simplified explanations to make the game more accessible to newbies, it’s not sufficient when you want to really understand the deeper workings of the game. They can come off as obtuse, requiring trial and error experimentation for greatest accuracy. Read on for our findings regarding the mechanics in Monster Hunter Stories 2.

While you’re at it, feel free to check out our other guides:

STATUS EFFECTS

You can apply multiple status effects onto a target, be it buffs or ailments. On losing a heart, all applied effects will be lost.

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NAME	EFFECT
Blastblight	Afflicted takes X amount of pure damage after a certain number of turns. Can be triggered earlier with certain Monstie skills. Increases damage taken from Fire / Hammer Normal Attacks.
Frostblight	Enemy Velkhana exclusive ailment. Similar to Blastblight in that it damages you after a few turns. Also removes any Warm Mist effects and applies Frostbite.
Paralyze	Afflicted has a chance to not act every turn.
Burn / Poison / Noxious Poison / Severe Poison	Afflicted takes damage over time. Strength of debuffs: Severe Poison (strongest) > Noxious Poison > Burn = Poison (weakest).
Bleeding	Afflicted target receives extra damage on next attack. Status is then removed.
Sleep	Afflicted cannot act until hit by damaging attack. Might also take more damage.
Stench	Cannot gain Kinship. Does not affect potions or healing abilities.
Blind	Reduces accuracy of attacks and skills.
Skillseal	Afflicted cannot use skills.
Downed	Afflicted cannot perform any actions. Attacks on afflicted have 100% critical chance.

CRITICAL HITS

ATTACK TYPE	CRIT?
No Physical Contact Skill e.g. Kirin's Lightning Strike, Zinogre's Bugshot	No
Ranged AOE	No
AOE Kinship Skill	No
AOE Kinship Skill WITH Single Target Kinship Skill (Double Kinship skills)	Yes
Gunlance shells / wyvernfire	No

These exceptions mostly come into play with the Critical Healing gene, since you will want attacks that can crit in order to heal.

DOUBLE ATTACKS

ATTACK TYPE	DOUBLE ATTACK?
Single Target Monstie Skill	Yes, priority OWN Rider before ally
Multi Target Monstie Skill	No
Rider and Rider	No
Rider and Hunter	Yes
Rider / Hunter Weapon Skills	No

Double Attacks do not appear to crit. Monstie skills that can absorb HP or apply status effects during Double Attacks will work as normal.

HEAD TO HEAD

Any Multi Target Power / Technical / Speed skills must win or at least draw the Head to Head in order to deal AOE damage. Otherwise, it will only damage the targetted opponent.

Skills that apply status effects – buffs or ailments – must win or at least draw the Head to Head for the chance to apply the effect.

Winning a Head to Head works similarly to the Tenacity gene, ensuring you survive if over 50% HP. HP Absorption effects, e.g. Bloodsuck Genes, work even if you lose the Head to Head.

KINSHIP POINTS

You can gain Kinship Points from:

Double Attacks
Successful Attacks
Winning Head-to-Heads
Certain skills

Kinship Points are spent on ordering your Monstie to perform skills, or on performing your own skills.

Each Monstie will gain their own Kinship Points. Kinship Points are retained across battles, even when swapped out. Thus, you will be able to bank Kinship Points on different Monsties so that you can perform skills.

BREAKING PARTS

ATTACK TYPE	BREAKS PARTS?
AOE Skills	No
AOE Kinship Skills	No
Random targetting Skills	No
Single Target Skills	Yes, physical contact and ranged
Monstie attacks	Yes, targetting depends on Rider if Double Attack is triggered. Ignores slash / pierce / blunt defense

WEAPONS

TYPE	USAGE
Sword and shield	The most flexible weapon. Offensive skills only cost 10 Kinship. ONLY weapon with access to counters. Good mix of offense / defense.
Greatsword	Can deal immense damage when opportunity comes at cost of at least Lv. 1 Charge. Gains Charge from spending Kinship Points. Lv. 2 Charge onwards changes attacks to AOE charged slashes. Charged points cannot be used one by one and will be lost on weapon swap.
Hammer	Deals massive damage and easily break parts. Gains Charges only when winning Head to Head or with Double Attacks. Charged points cannot be used one by one and will be lost on weapon swap. Not recommended / too conditional for PVP.
Hunting Horn	Forgoes offensive skills for support skills. Support skills differ from horn to horn: ailment removal, Evasion Riffs, offense buffs. Evasion Riff lets the whole team dodge One skill, possibly invaluable in PVP and PVE boss fights.
Bow	Best for applying ailments. Ailments vary across bows for access to Sleep / Poison / Paralyze. Gains Charges through the 0-cost Charge skill. Charged Bows give access to more skills with comparatively cheap Kinship cost and increases chances of applying status effects. Charged Bows also fire a power shot at a random enemy / random enemy part. Easiest access to AOE damage via Arc Shot. Charges are lost on weapon swap.
Gunlance	Lowest overall weapon damage. Can only crit through normal attacks. Gains one Ammo Charge per turn. Ammo skills do not cost Kinship. Winning Head to Heads through shells grants large amounts of Kinship Points, or even fill it to full. Gunlance shells and wyvernfire CANNOT crit. Do NOT use on Downed enemies. Has access to Power / Technical / Speed Sealing skills for potential value in PVP. Ammo is lost on weapon swap.

That’s a wrap for the mechanics for Monster Hunter Stories 2. Feel free to check out our other guides:

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Release Date: 2021-07-09

Nintendo Switch, Steam

A new adventure awaits you in this second installment of the turn-based RPG series set in the world of Monster Hunter! Become a Rider and form bonds with friendly monsters known as Monsties to fight alongside them as you take part in an epic story.