Poison is a Status Ailment in Monster Hunter: Wilds that can drain the health of both players and monsters alike. See an explanation for the Poison Status Ailment, as well as how to poison monsters in this guide!

Poison Status Ailment Explained

Slowly Drains HP Over Time

When the Hunter is poisoned, they will slowly take damage over time. Some of this damage will become recoverable health, but the poison will continue to tick even after the player drinks a Potion.

List of Status Effects

Venom and Noxious Poison Are Stronger

Previous games have had a stronger version of Poison called either Venom or Noxious Poison. Both can drain the HP of Hunters faster than regular poison.

Cure Using Antidote or Herbal Items

Antidote

Herbal Medicine

Herbal Powder

To cure the Poison Status Ailment, players need to use an Antidote, Herbal Medicine, or Herbal Powder. Each will cure Poison when used, but the medicine will restore some HP, while the powder works in an AoE.

List of All Items and Materials

Your Palico Can Cure Poison

Your Palico can also cure your Poisn Status by using the Purewasp Delivery Support Move. It is important to note, however, that this has a cooldown and cannot be used to clear consecutive poisonings.

List of Palico Support Moves

Monsters Can Also be Poisoned

In combat, monsters can also be poisoned by the player. Use this to your advantage, as Poisoning monsters has the same effect as it does on the Hunter (meaning that it will drain their HP).

Poison Total Damage Calculations

Total Poison Damage Per Monster's Weakness Levels

Here are the total damage output you can dish out with a single application of the poison status to Large Monsters. The total damage varies depending on if you're fighting a Large Monster in High Rank or a Large Monster in Low Rank with Low Rank monsters taking less damage due to their smaller health pool.

Total Poison Damage With Poison Duration Up

These are the toal damage output you can deal with Poison while having the Poison Duration Up skill. Over all, you'll be able to deal a maximum of 105 additional damage against monsters on High Rank with maximum susceptibility to poison with it having less effectiveness on monsters with resistance to poison.

How to Poison Monsters

Tips for Poisoning Monsters
Equip Poison-Element Weapons Attack With Poison Ammo or Coatings Utilize Endemic Life and the Environment

Equip Poison-Element Weapons

To inflict Poison on monsters, players have to cause Poison Buildup by landing Poison-Element attacks on the monster. The easiest way to do this is to equip a weapon with a Poison Element.

Note that fast weapons that land more hits can build the status better, as the buildup is tied to the number of hits a weapon does. Weapons like the Dual Blades, Sword & Shield, and Long Sword are prime choices when looking to exploit an ailment.

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Attack With Poison Ammo or Coatings

Ranged weapons, such as the Light and Heavy Bowguns, and the Bow, can use Poison Ammo and Coatings respectively to inflict a monster with the status.

Utilize Endemic Life and Environmental Effects

The Poisontoad is a species of Endemic Life that, when agitated, will release a toxic cloud that poisons both allies and monsters in its range. Be wary of other people when attempting to use one on a monster. Poison Cups can also poison monsters when they stand in the contaminated area for a long time.

List of All Endemic Life

Poison Still Builds Up While a Monster is Poisoned

An important thing to remember is that you can still build poison up in a monster even while they are poisoned. That means that even with the monster's increased resistance to poison after getting poisoned, the time it takes to poison them remains roughly the same.

Benefits of Poisoning Monsters

Deals Damage Over Time to Them

A monster suffering from the Poison Status Ailment will constantly take damage over the effect's duration. Note that once inflicted with Poison, monsters will develop a resistance to the status effect, and will need more Status Buildup inflicted for the next trigger.

Some Monsters are Immune to Poison

Certain monsters can resist, or even outright be immune to the Poison status. What this means is that no matter how much Poison Buildup you inflict, the status will not trigger.

List of Monsters

Poison vs. Blast: Which is Better?

In most cases, Blast is better than Poison. Although Poison deals more damage than Blast per activation, Blast can be activated more often, making the total damage add up faster.

Additionally, all monsters have a consistent 2★ weakness level to Blastblight (except for Nu Udra at 1★), compared to Poison where the weakness level ranges from 1★ to 3★ with only 4 monsters having a 3★ rating and 8 monsters having a 1★ rating. As such, Blast is more reliable over more monsters.

Best Status Effects to Use

Can Activate Beneficial Skills

There are skills that can benefit from status effects and poison in general. Skills like Foray can increase your damage against enemies that are either Poisoned or Paralyzed while certain skills like Poison Attack and Poison Duration up can strengthen the effects of Poison itself.

An example for a build that take advantage of this is our High Rank Frenzy Foray Status Light Bowgun Build.

Monster Hunter Wilds Related Guides

Tips and Tricks

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