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- How To Increase Augment Slots Mhw Weapons
Wondering how weapon augments work in Master Rank for Monster Hunter World Iceborne?
Here’s a quick guide to teach you the basics of how to upgrade your favorite tools of monster destruction.
Augmenting your Master Rank weapons starts in earnest once you finish the game’s main campaign. That’s because augmenting requires gathered items and monster drops from the Guiding Lands, which isn’t unlocked until you beat Iceborne’s last boss.
© Capcom The special Guardian Armor in Monster Hunter World Iceborne for PS4, Xbox One and PC.Before we go to the basics to augmenting Master Rank weapons in Monster Hunter World Iceborne, however, let’s address one of the common concerns raised by players.
What’s going to happen to my High Rank augments?
Upgrading High Rank weapons still works the same way that it used to. That means using specific Streamstones that are tailored to each weapon.
Extra Slots: This augment allows you to increase the number of slots in a weapon. The first upgrade adds two augment slots. The first upgrade adds two augment slots. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is now out in the wild, so let’s take a look at how to upgrade your harvest box. Before starting Iceborne, it would be a good idea to complete all the quests that.
Once you upgrade a weapon to its Master Rank counterpart, however, all those augments get wiped out. The good news is that you get back all the mats that you used to augment that particular weapon. Note that Master Rank augmenting uses a different method as well as different mats so you can’t use those same exact materials anymore.
MORE MONSTER HUNTER WORLD ICEBORNE GUIDES
Fill Up Master Rank Weapon Augment Slots The way you can augment weapons & armor has been changed in Iceborne. It will now cost a number of slot & will fill these up when you augment your weapon. Augmentation Slots Per Weapon Rarity. Attack Increase – One of the most basic forms of augmentation, this upgrade will raise the basic damage power of the weapon, giving it a higher base damage. Slot Upgrade – Adding this augmentation to a weapon will give you an additional decoration slot to work with on that weapon. Is Slot Increase augmentation good? I would have to say in most cases it’s a NO. The only time I would take this is on a Rarity 6 weapon taking Lifesteal/Slot/Slot to get an extra medium slot. But only on “very specific builds” wherein the medium outweighs 10% affinity and some flat attack. That’s a lot of filters.
The changes in augmenting Master Rank weapons in Iceborne end up being a net positive, however, because you no longer have to play the grindy World slot machine for weapon-based Streamstones (though getting them from the Elder Melder is an option, too).
You will still need to grind for different materials, however, which can end up taking a lot of time. In fact, the reason this is a Weapon Augmenting 101 guide and not an advanced augmenting guide is because I don’t nearly have enough materials to upgrade weapons for multiple cycles, and that’s after playing Guiding Lands a lot. Materials also can be acquired from the material but it requires bartering other Guiding Lands materials so you'll need to go to the new island regardless.
To summarize, here are the key points for weapon upgrading:
- Rarity 10 or higher weapons that have been upgraded to the maximum level on the weapon tree or Rarity 8 or lower weapons that have been previously augmented can be powered up through customized augmentation.
- Iceborne adds a new augment category for increasing elemental and status damage.
- The number of augment slots changes depending on weapon rarity. You can also upgrade a weapon to increase its number of augment slots.
Now let’s take a look at the two methods for upgrading Master Rank weapons:
Slot-based augment
This is the normal augmenting method for Iceborne and requires you to use a weapon’s built-in slots in order to perform upgrades. Instead of using Streamstones, you now use materials that you acquire from monsters and gathering spots, typically from the Guiding Lands.
This method lets you do seven types of augments, with six of those requiring a certain number of slots to activate:
Extra Slots: This augment allows you to increase the number of slots in a weapon. The first upgrade adds two augment slots.
Attack Increase: This initially requires 3 weapon slots and boosts a weapon’s raw damage. The first upgrade adds 16 points of base raw to the weapon. Using the Anjanath Lohenspire Insect Glaive as an example, the weapon’s attack was boosted from 837 to 853 after the first upgrade, an increase of about 2%. A Kadachi Vipertail II, meanwhile was boosted from 775 to 791.
Affinity Increase: This initially requires 2 weapon slots and raises the chances of inflicting a critical strike. The first upgrade increases a weapon’s affinity by 10%.
Defense Increase: This augment initially requires 1 weapon slot and grants +15 defense after the first upgrade.
Slot Upgrade: This initially requires 3 weapons slots. It adds an additional slot to your weapon for inserting jewels or decorations. The first upgrade adds a Level 1 slot.
Health Regen: This augment initially requires 3 weapon slots. It allows a hunter to recover a portion of his or her health when damaging an enemy.
Element/Status Effect Up: This initially requires 1 weapon slot and can increase either elemental or status damage depending on the weapon. The first upgrade provides a boost to your base elemental or status value of 30 points. The Lohenspire glaive, for example, saw its fire element go up from 450 to 480. The Kadachi Vipertail II also saw a 30-point increase to its Paralysis value from 240 to 270.
You can also evolve upgrade categories by continuing to upgrade a weapon. Augmenting the Kadachi Vipertail II’s status values a second time, for example, adds an additional 30-point increase in paralysis attack on top of the initial 30 points from the first upgrade.
Do note that additional upgrades require more slots. Using a Chrome Drill III, for example, the first elemental/status upgrade required 1 augment slot while the second required an additional 2 augments slots for a grand total of 3 augment slots.
Just like the previous augment system, you will also have to decide if it’s better to focus on one type of augment such as multiple levels of Health Regen, for example, or combine multiple augments such as affinity plus attack. On the plus side, you can also roll back or remove upgrades in case you’ve made a mistake or simply change your mind.
Custom Upgrades augment
This second type of upgrade ignores the slot requirement, allowing you to add any type of boost for your weapon. The catch is that it only adds incremental boosts so you will need to do it multiple times to make a noticeable difference. It also requires a lot of mats, which means you will need to do a lot of farming for monsters and materials in the Guiding Lands. Custom upgrades start with a few choices and more are unlocked as you upgrade a weapon. Here’s an example using the Chrome Drill III:
Kulu Ya Ku Mod: Slightly increases affinity. Using a Chrome Drill III, upgrading the weapon once raised its affinity from 0% to 1%.
Pukei-Pukei Mod: Slightly increases element or abnormal status damage. Using the same drill, upgrading the weapon once raised status damage by 10 points from 420 to 430.
Barroth Mod: Slightly increases attack. Using the Chrome Drill III once again, base raw attack was raised by 2 points from 598 to 600.
After using the Pukei-Pukei Mod on the weapon, the following options were unlocked.
Dodogama Mod: Works just like the Barroth Mod. Adds 2 points of base raw attack to the weapon.
Nightshade Paolumu Mod: Works just like the Kulu Ya Ku Mod. Adds 1% affinity to the weapon.
Coral Pukei-Pukei Mod: Works just like the Pukei-Pukei Mod. Adds 10 points of elemental or status damage to a weapon.
Hornetaur Mod: Adds +10 Defense to your weapon.
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As with slot-based augmenting, you also have the ability to remove a custom upgrade that you’ve done if you change your mind and have your materials returned. Also note that not all weapons support custom upgrades.
© Capcom Aloy faces off against Stygian Zinogre in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne.Weapon Augmenting 201: Rarity & materials
Now we go past the basics a bit by tackling some of the more advanced concepts regarding augments.
First off is weapon rarity level. Master Rank weapons in Iceborne range from Rarity 10 to rarity 12. Although lower-rarity weapons are typically weaker than higher-rarity weapons, they actually get more augment slots. This can make them just as viable or even more viable than alternatives with higher rarity.
The base Rarity 10 Crimson Kadachi Lion II, for example, pales in comparison to the Rarity 11 Nargacuga Baleful Night as a pierce heavy bowgun despite its jewel slot due to extra affinity and access to Non-elemental Boost. Thanks to its additional augment slots, however, the Crimson Kadachi is considered by many as arguably the better option once upgraded.
Here are the number of available augment slots for weapons based on rarity:
- Rarity 10: 5 augment sockets, can be increased to 9
- Rarity 11: 4 augment sockets, can be increased to 6
- Rarity 12: 3 augment sockets, can be increased to 5
Depending on the augment you do, you will need a certain number of slots to upgrade your weapon. Here is a rundown of the slot requirements for each augment type.
AFFINITY
- Affinity Augment 1: 2 slots
- Affinity Augment 2: 2 slots (4 total)
- Affinity Augment 3: 2 slots (6 total)
- Affinity Augment 4: 2 slots (8 total)
ATTACK
- Attack Augment 1: 3 slots
- Attack Augment 2: 2 slots (5 total)
- Attack Augment 3: 2 slots (7 total)
- Attack Augment 4: 2 slots (9 total)
DEFENSE
- Defense Augment 1: 1 slot
- Defense Augment 2: 1 slot (2 total)
- Defense Augment 3: 1 slot (3 total)
- Defense Augment 4: 2 slots (5 total)
HEALTH RECOVERY
- Health Augment 1: 3 slots
- Health Augment 2: 2 slots (5 total)
- Health Augment 3: 2 slots (7 total)
- Health Augment 4: 2 slots (9 total)
ELEMENT
- Defense Augment 1: 1 slot
- Defense Augment 2: 2 slots (3 total)
- Defense Augment 3: 2 slots (5 total)
- Defense Augment 4: 2 slots (7 total)
SLOTS
- Slot Augment 1: 3 slots, adds a Level 1 deco slot
- Slot Augment 2: 3 slots (6 total), turns additional Level 1 slot to Level 2
- Slot Augment 3: 1 slot (7 total), turns additional Level 2 slot to Level 3
- Slot Augment 4: 1 slot (8 total), turns additional Level 3 slot to Level 4
List of augment materials and how to get them
So now you’re wondering, where do I get the materials I need for augments? All I can say is, get ready to familiarize yourself with the Guiding Lands. That’s because you will need special materials for augments, including drops that only come from monsters in the special endgame island. In addition to monster drops, you will also need ores and bones that only appear in the Guiding Lands’ various regions as well. Note that some of these materials require you to level up gathering spots by constantly harvesting them.
On that note, here’s a list of the various materials that can be used for augments and which monster or gathering spot drops them. There’s more than 120 of them, which I am verifying one by one via the wiki and online searches so here’s an alphabetical list that will be updated as I check the info. Also, here's a quick note about monster threat levels.
Threat Level 1: These are your less powerful monsters such as Tzitzi-Ya-Ku, Pukei-Pukei, Barroth and Banbaro.
Threat Level 2: These are more powerful, middle-tier monsters like Zinogre, Brachydios, Diablos, Glavenus, Nargacuga, Azure Rathalos and Brute Tigrex.
Threat Level 3: The pinnacle of monster-dom. These include Rajang, Savage Deviljho, Seething Bazelgeuse, Stygian Zinogre, Silver Rathalos, Gold Rathian and Elder Dragons.
Now onward to the materials...
- Aurora Crownhorn: Velkhana
- Azure Mane: Lunastra
- Blackcurl Tyranthorn: Black Diablos
- Bloodstained Ebonhide: Savage Deviljho
- Bloodthirsty Glimmerpelt: Rajang
- Charged Deathly Shocker: Zinogre
- Colorful Plume: Kulu-Ya-Ku
- Coral Crimsonbone: Coral Region bonepiles
- Cracked Crystal: Wildspire Region mining
- Crackling Thunderpelt: Fulgur Anjanath
- Crimson Blastscale: Seething Bazelgeuse
- Dazzling Photospore+: Tzitzi-Ya-Ku
- Decayed Crystal: Forest Region mining
- Deepsea Crystal: Coral Region mining
- Distorted Crystal: Rotten Region mining
- Dragonscorched Wildbone: Volcanic Region bonepiles
- Dragonvein Solidbone: Non-tempered large monsters
- Effluvial Crystal: Rotten Region mining
- Effluvial Frenzybone: Rotten Region bonepiles
- Elder Dragonvein Bone: Elder Dragons
- Elder Spiritvein Bone: Tempered Elder Dragons
- Enchanting Finehide: Namielle
- Extinction Greathorn: Ruiner Nergigante
- Fatal Rendclaw: Odogaron
- Fierce Dragonvein Bone: Non-tempered lower threat monster (e.g. Great Jagras, Pukei-Pukei, Anjanath, Rathian)
- Flickering Flamepelt: Anjanath
- Forest Crystal: Forest Region mining
- Fragrant Poison Sac: Pukei-Pukei
- Glossy Ebonshell: Brachydios
- Great Spiritvein Gem: Tempered Elder Dragons
- Guiding Coral Dragonbone: Coral Region bonepiles
- Guiding Efflivial Crystal: Rotten Region mining
- Guiding Forest Crystal: Forest Region mining
- Guiding Forest Dragonbone: Forest Region bonepiles
- Guiding Magma Crystal: Volcanic Region mining
- Guiding Rotted Dragonbone: Rotten Region bonepiles
- Guiding Volcanic Dragonbone: Volcanic Region bonepiles
- Guiding Wasteland Crystal: Wildspire Region mining
- Guiding Wasteland Dragonbone: Wildspire Region bonepiles
- Heavy Dragonvein Bone: Non-tempered medium threat monster (e.g. Rathalos, Tigrex, Nargacuga, Glavenus, Diablos, etc.)
- Heavy Jaw: Dodogama
- Hellfire Crystal : Volcanic Region mining
- Hellfire Mane: Teostra
- Honed Tailblade: Acidic Glavenus
- Hydrated Sac: Coral Pukei-Pukei
- Incandescent Magmafin: Lavasioth
- Inkstained Oilshell+: Radobaan
- King's Scale: Rathalos
- Magma Crystal: Volcanic Region mining
- Malformed Frenzybone: Rotten Region bonepiles
- Melted Crystal : Volcanic Region mining
- Metallic Scute: Uragaan
- Moonlight Scale: Gold Rathian
- Mossy Greatbone: Forest Region bonepiles
- Muddy Crown: Barroth
- Night Hood: Great Girros
- Obsidian Fur: Nightshade Paolumu
- Pale Crystal: Coral Region mining
- Prosperous Crystal: Forest Region mining
- Queen's Scale: Rathian
- Rubbery Shell: Paolumu
- Rugged Mane: Great Jagras
- Scorching Scale: Silver Rathalos
- Serene Crystal: Wildspire Region mining
- Shuddering Darkjaw: Brute Tigrex
- Simmering Wildbone: Volcanic Region bonepiles
- Sinister Silverpelt: Yian Garuga
- Slumbering Greatbone: Forest Region bonepiles
- Smoldering Tailedge: Glavenus
- Smooth Icehide: Legiana
- Solemn Azure Horn: Kirin
- Soulrender Talon: Ebony Odogaron
- Spiritvein Gem: Threat LV2 Tempered Monster
- Spiritvein Slogbone: Threat LV1 Tempered Monster
- Spiritvein Solidbone: Threat LV2 Tempered Monster
- Splattered Hide: Tempered Savage Deviljho
- Stormcall Steelwing: Kushala Daora
- Strongman's Jaw: Tigrex
- Tempered Azure Horn : Tempered Kirin
- Tempered Azure Mane: Tempered Lunastra
- Tempered Azure Scale: Tempered Azure Rathalos
- Tempered Blastscale: Tempered Seething Bazelgeuse
- Tempered Cathode: Tobi-Kadachi
- Tempered Cragbone: Volcanic Region bonepiles
- Tempered Crimson Mane: Tempered Teostra
- Tempered Crown: Tempered Barroth
- Tempered Crownhorn: Tempered Velkhana
- Tempered Cutwing: Tempered Nargacuga
- Tempered Flamepelt: Tempered Anjanath
- Tempered Glimmerpelt: Tempered Rajang
- Tempered Gold Scale: Tempered Gold Rathian
- Tempered Great Horn : Tempered Banbaro
- Tempered Green Scale: Tempered Rathian
- Tempered Hide: Tempered Nightshade Paolumu
- Tempered Icehide: Tempered Legiana
- Tempered Jaw: Tempered Tigrex
- Tempered Magmafin: Tempered Lavasioth
- Tempered Oilshell+: Tempered Radobaan
- Tempered Pink Scale: Tempered Pink Rathian
- Tempered Poison Sac: Tempered Pukei-Pukei
- Tempered Red Scale: Tempered Rathalos
- Tempered Rendclaw: Tempered Odogaron
- Tempered Silver Scale: Tempered Silver Rathalos
- Tempered Silverpelt: Tempered Scarred Yian Garuga
- Tempered Steelwing: Tempered Kushala Daora
- Tempered Tailblade: Tempered Acidic Glavenus
- Tempered Talon: Tempered Ebony Odogaron
- Tempered Thunderpelt: Tempered Fulgu Anjanath
- Tempered Trancehide: Tempered Namielle
- Tempered Twilight Fang: Tempered Blackveil Vaal Hazak
- Twilight Crystal: Rotten Region mining
- Twilight Fang: Blackveil Vaal Hazak
- Twisted Bravehorn: Diablos
- Twisted Temperhorn: Tempered Diablos
- Vibrant Crimsonbone: Coral Region bonepiles
- Vivid Crimsonbone: Vivid Crimsonbone
- Volcanic Wildbone: Volcanic Region bonepiles
- Wasteland Cragbone: Wildspire Region bonepiles
- Wasteland Crystal: Wildspire Region mining
- Weathered Cragbone: Wildspire Region bonepiles
- Woodland Greatbone; Forest Region bonepiles
And there you go, the basics for augmenting Master Rank weapons in Monster Hunter World. Make sure to check our other guides and articles for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne to get your icy adventure started on the right track.
Jason Hidalgo covers business and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews video games as part of his Technobubble features. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content? Support local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette-Journal: How to augment and upgrade weapons in Monster Hunter World Iceborne Technobubble
Read this Monster Hunter World: Iceborne guide to learn how to augment Master Rank weapons. Including changes, new features and augment skills, and more.
Table of Contents
Check Out What To Do After Beating Iceborne!How To Augment Master Rank Weapons
Fill Up Master Rank Weapon Augment Slots
The way you can augment weapons & armor has been changed in Iceborne. It will now cost a number of slot & will fill these up when you augment your weapon.
Augmentation Slots Per Weapon Rarity
| Rarity | No. Of Slots |
|---|---|
| Rarity 10 | 5 Slots |
| Rarity 11 | 4 Slots |
| Rarity 12 | 3 Slots |
Only Fully Upgraded Weapons Can Be Augmented
The same way it works in MHW, augmentation on weapons can only be done when they are fully upgraded. This means having the weapon at the end of its weapon tree.
Augmentations Now Have Augment Slot Cost
In Iceborne, all available augmentations will now have slot costs. The more augment slots your weapons have, the more augmentations you can put into it.
Master Rank Weapon Augment Slot Costs
| Augment | Effects | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Extra Slots | Adds more augment slots on weapon | - |
| Attack Increase | Slightly increases attack power of weapon | 3 |
| Health Regen | Slightly recovers health when damaging monsters | 3 |
| Slot Upgrade | Adds a Level 1 slot into weapon | 3 |
| Affinity Increase | Slightly increases affinity rate of weapon | 2 |
| Defense Increase | Defense is slightly increased with chance of reducing damage | 1 |
| Element/Status Effect Up | Slightly increases power of elements & status effects | 1 |
Extra Slots Adds 2 More Augment Slots
When you augment your weapon with Extra Slots, you'll get 2 additional augment slots. This doesn't fill up any augment slot but costs rare materials & some Research Points.
Strengthen Master Rank Weapons With Custom Upgrades
Another new feature of Iceborne, weapons now have custom upgrades. Using specific mods, you can slightly increase specific stats of your weapon & also change their appearance. More mods are unlocked when you keep upgrading a weapon.
Custom Upgrades List
| Mod | Effect |
|---|---|
| Kulu-Ya-Ku Mod | Slightly increases affinity |
| Pukei-Pukei Mod | Slightly increases elemental or status effect damage |
| Barroth Mod | Slightly increase attack |
| Hornetaur Mod | Slightly increases defense |
Recommended Master Rank Weapon Augments
Best Master Rank Weapon Augment Chart
| Elements | Description |
|---|---|
| Health Regen | - Reduces need to use recovery items, therefore increasing time to attack monsters |
| Affinity Increase | - 2nd augment increases by 5% - Best for weapons with low affinity |
| Attack Increase | - Increase depends on weapon type - Recommended for weapons with high affinity |
| Slot Upgrade | - Best for weapons lacking slots |
| Defense Increase | - Low priority augment as defense should be armor-focused |
Focus On Health & Affinity Augments
It's best to augment weapons with Health Regen & Affinity Increase as these work make hunting more efficient. If your chosen weapon already has a high affinity rate, it's best to use Attack Increase instead.
Choosing Between Attack Or Affinity Increase
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Prioritize Weapons With Low Affinity
Having a weapon with high affinity will increase your chance of dealing critical hits & doing heavy damage so it's best to raise the affinity rate of your weapons. However, note that Affinity Increase augments have diminishing returns.
Use Attack Increase With High Affinity Weapons
If your weapon of choice already has a high affinity or cannot be augmented with Health Regen, you can opt to augment it with Attack Increase. This will strengthen your raw attack stat, making each hit more powerful!
Check Out Best Endgame Loadouts Here!About Iceborne Master Rank Weapon Augmentation
Unlocks After Main Story Of Iceborne
Augmenting Master Rank weapons will be unlocked when you complete Iceborne's main story quests. You'll gain access to the Guiding Lands after, the area where you can find most of the materials for Master Rank weapon upgrading.
Check Out Master Rank Quest Guide Here!WARNING! High Rank Augments Will Disappear
If you've already augmented your weapon in Monster Hunter World and decide to upgrade and augment in Master Rank, your augments will disappear. You'll get your materials back, however, augments from High Rank may be crucial in early game Master Rank.
Augments Use Monster Materials From Guiding Lands
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Master Rank weapon augments don't use Streamstones anymore, however, they do cost valuable Research Points and need rare materials from the Guiding Lands - the end-game endless hunting area in Iceborne.