Sharpness, Elements and Affinity

Monster Hunter Outlanders has no sharpening: each melee weapon keeps the same sharpness for the whole hunt. This guide explains what sharpness does, what our weapon database shows for it, how elements and status work against monster weaknesses, and what affinity is, with the skills that raise element damage and affinity. Information is as of November 3, 2026; some of the sharpness information comes from the closed beta.

How Sharpness Works

Sharpness is a gauge on melee weapons, shown as a color. The in-game help lists seven levels: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, White and Purple. The closer to Purple, the higher the sharpness and the less your attacks bounce off. The Bow and Heavy Bowgun have no sharpness.

When an attack bounces off, your combo is interrupted and the hit deals less damage, so higher sharpness makes it easier to keep dealing damage.

How much each sharpness level changes damage had not been confirmed as of the third closed beta (CBT3).

No Sharpening: Sharpness Never Drops

Sharpness isn't used up as you attack, and there are no whetstones. Each weapon keeps the sharpness it comes with for the whole hunt, so there is nothing to restore.

In our weapon database, 141 of the 168 melee weapon lines are Green at max rarity. The only Yellow one is Bone Strongarm (Charge Blade). Since almost every weapon has the same sharpness, compare attack, element and affinity when you choose a weapon. 26 lines reach Blue at max rarity: Dragonbone Cleaver / Dragonbone Stabber / Dragonbone Twinblades / Dragonbone Lance / Dragonbone Basher / Dragonbone Cutter / Blacksteel Chopper / Blacksteel Long Sword / Blacksteel Twins / Blacksteel Lance / Blacksteel Hammer / Blacksteel Charger / Anja Scimitar / Flammenzahn+ / Anja Cyclone / Anja Striker / Radiant Wyvern Blade "Verde" / Wyvern Blade "Blood" / Radiant Dear Lutemia / Jagras Hacker / Jagras Escudo / Radiant Jagras Hacker / Radiant Jagras Escudo / Kulu Hasta / Crushing Beak / Lightning Bash.

▶ Weapon List

How Elements and Status Work

Most weapons carry an element (Fire, Water, Thunder, Ice or Dragon) or a status (Poison, Paralysis, Sleep or Blast). The weapon list shows each weapon's element and its value. The table counts the weapon lines of each type at max rarity in our database.

Match the Element to the Monster's Weakness

Each monster page shows its Elemental Weakness in stars: more ★ means more effective. The table lists the large monsters with ★3 for each element in our database. When the stars depend on the monster's state, such as Mud, the state is shown in parentheses.

Skills That Raise Element Damage

Each element has a skill that raises its damage, and Critical Element raises elemental damage when you land a critical hit. The table shows each skill's effect and its effect at the highest level.

▶ Monster List / ▶ Skill List

How Affinity Works

Affinity is the chance that a hit becomes a critical hit. At max rarity in our database, 42 weapon lines have positive affinity (up to +7.2%) and 34 have negative affinity (down to -10.8%). The rest have 0%.

Skills That Raise Affinity

These skills raise affinity, some only under a condition. The table shows each skill's effect and its effect at the highest level.

Visages can also have Affinity and Crit Damage among their substats.

▶ Visage Guide / ▶ Weapon List