This is Game8's Tier List for skills in Monster Hunter Rise (MH Rise). Read on to see our team's Tier List and find out which are the best skills in the game!

Skill Tier List

Skills with a * on them will have an explanation section for them down below.

S Tier

The best skills of them all. These skills are usable by the majority of all weapon types and are highly recommended to be included in your builds.

A Tier

The A tier skills are for skills that can be used by a wide array of equipment. Some of these skills are also built changers but are reliant on some stats to work (critical element relies on affinity, mind's eye requires low sharpness, etc.)

B Tier

The B-tier skills are fairly balanced. They don't offer many advantages but their effects also make them worth having if utilized properly.

C Tier

The C-tier list is not entirely bad skills. They are just extremely situational but if the situation calls for them, they are great skills to have. Some of these skills also require specific setups to be used and are highly unrecommended for multiplayer.

D Tier

The D-tier skills aren't entirely bad but this tier list is focused on combat capabilities. D tier skills are skills that can't be used for combat but if you have a different agenda (gathering or roaming the map specifically), these skills will be great to have.

Unranked

These skills are still being tested, please wait for our final rating for these skills as we try to learn and maximize their effects.

Skill Tier List Notable Skills Explanations

S Tier Explanations

Attack Boost

Despite losing the affinity bonus, Attack Boost is still a great skill to have for all weapons. It allows you to deal more damage and its rank 4 and higher grants a % damage bonus so make sure to at least get a level 4 Attack Boost on your build!

Critical Boost

Critical Boost is a must-have for end game builds. Having a high affinity setup will grant you a flat damage boost if Critical Boost is in your build and despite needing high affinity to maximize its effect, its damage bonus is just so massive that it deserves the S tier.

How to Raise Affinity Stat

Flinch Free

This might be a little bit exaggerated and useless for solo players but if you plan to play coop games in Monster Hunter, having flinch free is a must. This will prevent other players from stopping you in your tracks which can result in lost DPS or worse, an untimely death (cart).

Weakness Exploit

Weakness Exploit grants a whooping 50% affinity when striking weak spots. Learning enemy weak spots is something every player will learn after playing the game for a while and this skill makes that knowledge even more useful. In comparison, the critical eye requires 7 skill levels to gain 40% affinity, with just 3 skills on Weakness Exploit, half your attacks will now deal bonus damage. Just don't forget to aim for weak spots!

A Tier Explanations

Evade Window

While not every weapon can maximize the effects of Evade Window, weapon types with no means to guard can easily rate Evade Window as an S Tier skill. It greatly improves the player's survivability as long as you learn the attack timings of monsters. Take note that roars, tremors, and most kinds of attacks can be dodged if timed properly.

Offensive Guard

With the new addition of guard skills for tank weapons, the Offensive Guard skill's value just rose higher. Offensive Guard grants a 15% bonus damage if successfully used which is massive compared to flat damage bonuses from other skills.

Peak Performance

With the new Silk Bind attacks, hunter's survivability has increased by folds! This means keeping your HP up is no longer a major roadblock which makes Peak Performance a great skill to have now.

Wide-Range

You can't call yourself a support player without Wide-Range. Wide-Range's capability is immense, you can restore everyone's HP with potions, grant buffs using pills and drugs, and even heal ailments!

B Tier Explanations

Agitator

With the removal of the Flinch Shot, Agitator's value took a plummet down to B tier. There is now no way to keep monsters permanently enraged which turned the Agitator skill highly similar to Latent Power which can't be up 24/7 during the hunt.

Bludgeoner

Originally, builds that make use of low sharpness aren't a build worth considering. However, with the buffs to Mind's Eye which allows you to deal more damage the lower your sharpness is coupled with the new rampage skill dulling the blade, we have put Bludgeoner up to B tier. We are still testing low sharpness builds to see if Bludgeoner can rise to A rank or if the build is still unusable.

Diversion

We are still testing Diversion's effectiveness a bit more so stay tuned!

Evade Extender

Evade Extender is put lower than Evade Window due to its lower capability. With Evade Window, you can easily intercept monster attacks and stay in range by diving in. This isn't a feat that Evade Extender can use and most attacks can still be dodged with the normal dodge distance which made us put Evade Extender to B tier.

Normal/Rapid Up

Normal/Rapid Up is a flat damage buff to bowguns. But since other damage skills like Attack Boost and Critical Eye exists which can flat out boost the bowgun's general damage output, we have put Normal/Rapid Up to the B tier. A great skill to have but there are clearly better options to have first.

Partbreaker

Partbreaker is still a great skill for farming up those monster drops while weakening monsters. But with no targets like the Alatreon and Fatalis that require certain parts to be broken to successfully hunt, partbreaker just became less valuable than it is previously on World. We are placing Partbreaker in the B tier.

C Tier Explanations

Ballistics

Ballistics increases ranged weapon's critical distance. Critical Distance is a set range where your weapons will still deal their normal damage. This range is particularly forgiving already and there are several ammo that makes use of close-range fight which made us put Ballistics on the C tier.

D Tier Explanations

Thunder Resistance

Thunder Resistance, unlike its other elemental counterparts, is placed on the C tier. This is due to thunder blight's effect which makes hunters get stunned easier. By equipping Stun Resistance to your setup, you'll be able to negate Thunder blight's effect as well.

Unranked Explanations

Hellfire Cloak

Hellfire Cloak is a very neat addition to Rise which allows you to use the positive effect of Hellfire Blight. It allows you to leave a Hellfire Blast on a location by using the Wirebug's mobility skills. This also works for Silkbind attacks that have a mobility option. It has been confirmed that a single hellfire blast can knock down monsters but the skill itself hasn't been tested for other weapon types yet to measure its full effectiveness. Stay tuned for more updates.

Skill Tier List Criteria

Usability

The more usable skill is, the higher it gets rated. Meaning if a skill can be used by a wide array of weapons, that skill is more likely to have a higher rank than its peers.

Effectiveness

All skills have their own effects and strengths, however, some skills can do the effect of a certain skill as well to a greater extent. Skills that outshines other skills are placed higher and those that were overshadowed are placed lower.

Combat Capability

Combat is where the main focus of the game. This is why we have focused on the skill tier list to focus on combat capability against monsters. Skills that can make your hunting easier against large monsters are rated highly and skills that are ineffective/unusable for battles are rated lower.

Have a comment of your own? Want to share information or opinions? Disagree with our tier list? Leave a comment below!

Skill Tier List Discussion and Comment Section

Monster Hunter Rise Related Guides

List of Skills

Rampage Skill List

Rampage Skill List: Best Rampage Skills

All Skills and Effects