Stories 2 Armor 1
Image: Capcom

Developing your armor and weapon builds can be vital to success in Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, so this guide is focused on key strategies to ensure you have the best gear, along with a breakdown of weapon types to help you in battle.

Visit the Smithy

Early in the story you'll learn about the Smithy in your home village, and there'll be equivalents in each major hub town / village as you progress through the game. Just like in mainline Monster Hunter games, you'll be able to use a mix of monster parts, environmental items (such as ores) and money to obtain new gear.

The most important tip here is to check in with the Smithy after each major quest or advancement in the story. Every time you encounter new monsters there'll likely be fresh equipment available. You'll want to check the 'forge' option for new gear, or if you have existing gear that is still useful be sure to check out 'upgrade' to see if you can boost your equipment further.

Armour
Image: Capcom / Nintendo Life

Forging the Right Armor

If you've ever read information on how armor and and weapon upgrades work in Monster Hunter games and been a little intimidated, worry not. Stories 2 keeps things simple in comparison - for example armor is an all-in-one outfit, so you don't need to create 'sets'. What you will want to look at, when choosing armor to forge, is the basic stat for defence, but also any elemental aspects.

For example look into armor resistant to different types of attacks, which will be handy as you work through the game's different areas, climates and monster types. Little icons will show whether armor is extra resistant to things like fire, lightning, ice and water, and you can toggle details with the Y button when viewing options with the Smithy.

Weapon Forging
Image: Capcom / Nintendo Life

Arm Yourself With the Best Weapons

Weapons are broken into three core categories - Blades, Ranged and Blunt. These categories have their own distinctions, summarised below. When assessing weapons you can see if they have specific elements - for example fire would be useful against ice-based foes - and by hitting Y on the info section you can see their special moves. These vary more in some weapon types, so check our summaries below and take your time when choosing weapons to forge.

Blades

  • Great Sword - a core weapon that can deal out high damage, with abilities that allow elemental attacks that also boost 'charge' for even stronger attacks.
  • Sword and Shield - similar in execution, but generally offer less offensive power in exchange for improved defence.

Ranged

  • Bow - Particularly useful and effective against aerial enemies; one special move is 'Charge' that means no attack in one turn, but extra powerful specials and double attacks in the next turn.
  • Gunlance - A very different ranged weapon, which can be hugely powerful in its special moves. Introduces 'ammo' into the equation, limiting the number of extra-powerful special attacks you can execute in each battle. Can be useful for powerful finishing blows.

Blunt

  • Horn - Primarily used to buff and protect your party, especially useful for story segments where your companions are offensively minded with little focus on defence or healing. Some Horns specialise in buffs and protecting your party from ailments like poison, others are focused on healing moves. Check details and collect a small range of varied horns.
  • Hammer - Very useful power weapons against enemies that are impervious to cutting blade weapons. If you have a buddy that frequently heals and buffs the party you can afford to use a hammer and go on the offence.

You can only equip one of each weapon type at any given time, but as you progress you'll no doubt develop a playstyle and become increasingly effective with your chosen tools.

That's it for this page, but you should also check out our hub page below for further Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin guides!

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