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There are a few skills that reign supreme inMonster Hunter Wildswhen it comes to maximizing damage output, and for crit-based loadouts, Antivirus is one of the mainstays. It’s a simple skill that’s easy to overlook if you don’t know what it does.
When making high-damage builds forweapons like the Long Sword, Antivirus can provide some much-needed crit chance, leaving plenty of space for other skills and decorations. Here’s a quick overview of how this skill works, and why you should use it in your builds.
How Does Antivirus Work in MH Wilds?
Antivirus is an armor skill that’s specifically meant to counterthe Frenzy effect inMonster Hunter Wilds. Players can get it by equipping the Level 1 Sane Jewels or by using specific armor pieces. It makes Frenzy easier to remove during its infection phase while also increasing the amount of Affinity players get upon successful removal.
Many endgame builds as of the game’s launch make heavy use of Antivirus thanks to the two-piece bonus of the Gore Magala set. This armorinfects players with Frenzyevery time they fight a large monster. This might seem like a problem at first, but with Antivirus 3, players get toenjoy some free critical hit chance just by fighting.
Antivirus is great for those who want to reach a 100 percent critical hit chance, but this alone won’t be enough to reach that point. Apart from having a weapon with enough Affinity, players will also need toscrounge up more Affinityfrom other sources. If you’re planning to create such a build, consider pairing the Gore set with Antivirus plus these following skills:
Increases attack power and Affinity when large monsters are enraged.
Antivirus
Makes Frenzy easier to remove and grants Affinity upon successful removal.
Increases Affinity of Draw attacks.
Foray
Increases attack power and Affinity against monsters affected by abnormal status effects.
Latent Power
Increases Affinity and reduces stamina depletion upon meeting certain conditions (When players lose 130 HP or after 120 seconds have passed).
Increases Affinity when stamina is full.
Tetrad Shot
Increases the Affinity of bowgun ammo/coatings from the fourth shot and attack of the fourth and sixth shots.
Weakness Exploit
Increases Affinity when attacking monster weakpoints. More bonus Affinity granted when attacking wounds.
How Good is Antivirus?
This armor skill sits squarely on top of the meta along withothers like Weakness Exploitand Counterstrike for many weapons. It does require that players be afflicted with Frenzy, though this becomesnegligible once you wear two pieces of the Gore Magala set.
Antivirus makes cleansing Frenzy easier, so unless players fail to attack a monster for some reason, they’ll never miss an opportunity toget a free 25% crit rate buff(base Frenzy Affinity bonus plus the Antivirus bonus).
Keep in mind thatcritical hits only increase your damage by 20%.You’ll need the Critical Boost skill to make this up to 40% stronger. Even so, this isn’t bad at all, especially when you’re using a weapon with negative Affinity, as Antivirus and Frenzy by themselves are enough to make even the most unwieldy of weapons reach positive Affinity.
