Latent Power Skill Guide for Monster Hunter Wilds Activation Effects and Tips

Step into the fray of Monster Hunter Wilds and unlock a hidden edge that can turn the tide of battle: the Latent Power skill. This elusive ability, triggered by enduring combat or strategic damage intake, boosts your affinity and slashes stamina depletion, empowering your hunter to strike harder and last longer. Ready to learn how to craft the perfect armor setup and master the conditions to unleash Latent Power? Your next hunt just got a whole lot deadlier.

In addition to influencing your stats, the armor in Monster Hunter Wilds have additional buffs called “skills.” These skills activate under special circumstances and provide additional powers to your hunter. One of these skills is called Latent Power, which is especially strong since it increases stamina and affinity.

This guide will explain what the Latent Power skill does and explain how to use it in Monster Hunter Wilds.

What does the Latent Power skill do in Monster Hunter Wilds

Latent Power is a skill in Monster Hunter Wilds that temporarily boosts your hunter’s affinity and reduces stamina depletion once activated. The skill activates after either taking a total of about 130 damage or spending two minutes in combat. When active, Latent Power increases affinity by up to 50% at its highest level, significantly raising your chance of landing critical hits, while also cutting stamina consumption by up to 50%, allowing for longer and more effective combat performance. The effect lasts for two minutes and can be extended with certain gear. Latent Power has five levels, with each level enhancing the affinity bonus and stamina reduction, making it a powerful skill for aggressive playstyles and stamina-intensive weapons like bows and dual blades.

The Latent Power skill increases your affinity and reduces stamina depletion by a certain percentage depending on the level of the skill. Stamina controls the rate at which your yellow stamina bar depletes as you fight and affinity controls your “critical chance.” When leveled up, this skill allows you to hit strong attacks that do more damage consistently.

(If you need help understanding how the second stat works, here is our guide on affinity works in Monster Hunter Wilds.)

The Latent Power skill has five different levels. The skill level is determined by how many pieces of armor your hunter has equipped that have the skill. The overall skill level is equal to the sum of the levels of all your equipped pieces of armor that have the skill. For example, if your hunter has the Quematrice Mail Alpha equipped (which has Latent Power level one) and the Doshaguma Coil Alpha (which has Latent Power level two), the overall skill level will be three.

Here is a chart that shows you how much of a stat boost you will get from each level. Note, that the level maxes out at five.

Latent Power in Monster Hunter Wilds is a valuable skill that temporarily boosts your hunter’s affinity and reduces stamina depletion, enhancing critical hit chances and endurance in battle. It activates automatically after either spending two minutes in combat or taking a total of 130 damage, whichever comes first. The skill has five levels, with higher levels increasing affinity up to 50% and reducing stamina drain by up to 50%. To obtain Latent Power, players need to craft and equip specific armor pieces or decorations that grant this skill, such as those from the Rey Sand or Quematrice sets. Playing aggressively speeds up activation, making Latent Power especially useful for hunters who engage actively in fights or take frequent hits.

How to get the Latent Power skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

Latent Power in Monster Hunter Wilds is a valuable skill that temporarily boosts your hunter’s affinity and reduces stamina depletion. To get this skill, you need to equip armor pieces or decorations that grant Latent Power, such as the Rey Sand, Quematrice, or Doshaguma armor sets, or Throttle Jewel 3. The skill activates automatically after you have been in combat for about two minutes or after taking roughly 130 points of damage, whichever comes first. Once activated, Latent Power lasts for two minutes, during which your affinity increases (up to +50% at max skill level) and stamina consumption decreases (up to 50%). Equipping multiple pieces with Latent Power increases the skill level and its effects, making it especially useful for aggressive playstyles and stamina-heavy weapons like Bow or Dual Blades.

To “get” the Latent Power skill in Monster Hunter Wilds, you just need to equip the correct armor. Here is each piece of armor that will grant your hunter the Latent Power skill.

Head:

• Quematrice Helm Alpha (Level 1)
• Quematrice Helm Beta (Level 1)
• Rey Sandhelm (Level 1)
• Rey Sandhelm Beta (Level 1)
• Rey Sandhelm Alpha (Level 2)

Chest:

• Quematrice Mail Alpha (Level 1)
• Quematrice Mail Beta (Level 1)
• Doshaguma Mail Alpha (Level 1)
• Doshaguma Mail Beta (Level 1)

Arms:

• Rey Sandbraces (Level 1)
• Rey Sandbraces Alpha (Level 2)
• Rey Sandbraces Beta (Level 2)

Waist:

• Quematrice Coil Alpha (Level 1)
• Doshaguma Coil Alpha (Level 2)
• Doshaguma Coil Beta (Level 1)

Leg:

• Rey Sandgreaves (Level 1)
• Rey Sandgreaves Alpha (Level 1)
• Rey Sandgreaves Beta (Level 1)

Talismans:

• Power Charm 1 (according to the Monster Hunter Wiki)
• Power Charm 2 (according to the Monster Hunter Wiki)

Crafting some of the armor above isn’t all that easy, but we have some guides that can help you get it. To start, we have a full guide on how to unlock High Rank armor. We also have articles on how to get the Power Charm and a guide that shows you how to beat Rey Dau, one of the fiercer monsters you have to beat to get some of the crafting materials for the armor.

How to activate the Latent Power skill in Monster Hunter Wilds

To activate the Latent Power skill in Monster Hunter Wilds, you need to engage in combat with a monster and either take around 130 HP worth of damage or remain actively fighting for about 2 minutes. The skill triggers automatically once these conditions are met, providing a temporary boost that increases your affinity (critical hit chance) and reduces stamina depletion. Playing aggressively by attacking the monster speeds up the activation time, while passive actions like dodging delay it. Once activated, a notification appears on the screen, and the effect lasts for 120 seconds, after which the timer to reactivate starts again if you remain in combat.

Latent Power is activated in two scenarios:

1. Latent Power activates when the player takes “around” 130 HP worth of damage, according to the Monster Hunter Wildswiki, Fextralife. (We tested this and were not able to calculate the precise amount of damage it took to activate it. However, it did activate after our hunter took a few hits from the monster.)
2. Latent Power activates once 120 seconds pass after starting the fight.

If the skill is activated, the game will notify you via a small text box on the right side of your screen. It will last 120 seconds and once the skill deactivates, the game will notify you with a text box on the right-hand side of the screen.

How can I activate Latent Power faster in Monster Hunter Wilds

To activate Latent Power faster in Monster Hunter Wilds, you have two main methods:

• Take around 130 points of damage during combat. This damage does not have to come from a single hit; cumulative damage counts toward triggering Latent Power early. This method can activate the skill well before the default 2-minute timer.

• Engage aggressively in combat, actively attacking the monster rather than just dodging or playing passively. Playing aggressively can reduce the activation time from the default 2 minutes to about 1 minute.

Keep in mind that if you use heavy damage reduction skills like Defense Boost or Divine Blessing, it slows down the activation since Latent Power triggers based on actual damage taken. Instead, focusing on recovery skills (e.g., Speed Eating, Recovery Up) can help sustain your health while still triggering Latent Power faster.

Additionally, if you leave combat before activation, the timer resets, so staying engaged is crucial. Using equipment like the Rey Dau armor set can extend the duration once Latent Power activates but does not affect activation speed.

In summary, to get Latent Power to activate faster, take moderate damage intentionally while maintaining an aggressive combat style to reduce the wait time from 2 minutes to roughly 1 minute or less.

What is the fastest way to trigger Latent Power without risking too much damage

The fastest way to trigger Latent Power in Monster Hunter Wilds without risking too much damage is to adopt a balanced approach that leverages moderate, controlled damage rather than heavy hits. Specifically, taking about 130 points of cumulative damage activates Latent Power early, but to avoid excessive risk, you can:

• Use controlled chip damage, such as blocking attacks that deal minor damage or using environmental hazards, which lowers your HP gradually without putting you in immediate danger.

• Avoid heavy hits by not removing armor entirely; instead, rely on armor sets that provide some defense while allowing you to take enough damage to reach the 130 HP threshold safely.

• Play aggressively to reduce the activation timer to around one minute, since attacking the monster speeds up the skill’s activation without requiring you to take significant damage.

• Consider using skills or equipment that boost health regeneration or recovery to offset the damage taken while waiting for Latent Power to activate.

This method triggers Latent Power faster than the default two-minute wait and avoids the high risk of deliberately taking large hits, making it the safest and most efficient way to activate the skill early.