Elemental Resistance can decrease the damage caused by Elemental attacks in Monster Hunter Wilds. Read on to learn how Elemental Resistance works, the calculations for elemental damage reduction, how to raise it, and whether you should go for Elemental Resistance or Defense!

What is Elemental Resistance?

Reduces the Damage Elemental Attacks Deal

While Defense affects all damage that you take, Elemental Resistance only affects damage with elemental effects. For example, Elemental Resistance will not affect Rathalos's charge attack, but it will affect its fireball.

To compute your Elemental Damage Reduction for any element, simply use the equation listed above. For example, if your armor set grants you 25 Fire resist, divide that by 100 and subtract the answer from 1. You will get 0.75, which means you will only receive 75% of any Fire damage.

Elemental Resistance Can Be Negative

Unlike Defense, which is always positive, Elemental Resistance can be negative, meaning you will take extra damage from that element. For example, if you have -25 Water resist, putting that in the equation will result in 1.25, which means you will receive 125% of any Water damage.

Takes Effect Alongside Defense

When computing how much damage you take from a monster's attack, both your Defense and Elemental Resistance will affect the final damage received. For example, if you have 80 Defense and 25 Fire Resist, then according to the computations you will take only 50% damage, and only 75% Fire damage.

Putting those two together (50% x 75%), that means that in total you will only receive 37.5% damage from any Fire attack. If the attack isn't elemental, however, then only the damage reduction from your defense will take effect.

What Affects Elemental Resistance?

Different Armors Have Different Elemental Resistances

Each Armor set has different Elemental Resistances based on what the monster they're made from is weak to. Make sure to check your armor's Elemental Resistance before going out for a hunt!

List of Armor and Armor Sets

Specific Armor Skills Can Buff Elemental Resistance

Some Armor Skills, such as Fire Resistance, Ice Resistance, and the like can also increase your Elemental Resistance.

List of All Skills

Food Buffs Can Increase Elemental Resistance

By eating food in your camp, specifically those with Vegetables as the main Ration, as well as by adding any of the Finishing Touches you will be able to get an Elemental Resistance buff that can last for up to 50 minutes.

Additionally, unlike in previous games, food buffs now remain even after fainting.

How to Cook and Eat Meals

Some Mantles Can Increase Elemental Resistance

In previous games, Mantles like the Fireproof Mantle, Iceproof Mantle, and the like can increase your Elemental Resistance when worn. It is unknown whether these Mantles will be making a return in Wilds, as only the Ghillie Mantle was available during Open Beta 2.
List of All Items and Materials

Hunting Horns Can Apply Elemental Resistance Buffs

Hunting Horns have a variety of buffing songs, one of which is the Element Res song. When played, this song will increase your Elemental Resistance against a specific Element.

Hunting Horn Weapon Guide and New Moves

Defense vs Elemental Resistance: Which is Better?

Defense is Still a Priority

Defense is the priority when it comes to survivability, as it affects all of the damage you take, both Elemental and Raw. Even if your armor set has 0 Elemental Resistance against the Element of the monster you are fighting, having a high enough Defense can still mitigate a lot of damage.

Elemental Resistance is a Secondary Priority

Should a monster use a lot of Elemental attacks, that is when you should start using Armor sets with high Elemental Resistance. However, make sure that the Defense of the Armor you are using is still high enough to help mitigate other sources of damage.

Additionally, you can increase your Elemental Resistance for free by partaking in meals. Eating also gives you Elemental Resistance on all Elements, which is a huge help in reducing the damage you take.

As such, it is ideal to increase your Defense as much as possible first, then get Armors that have the correct Elemental Resistance, and then eat before hunting for even more Resistances.

Monster Hunter Wilds Related Guides

Tips and Tricks

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