You’ll unlock a ton of equipment while playing through Monster Hunter Wilds’ campaign, including multiple mantles with unique perks. One such is Corrupted Mantle, which was recently nerfed to a more balanced state instead of being overpowered as hell. The recent nerf, combined with its compromising effects and ill-explained description might have scared you off from an amazing item. I know it did for me. But fear no more, as Corrupted Mantle is actually a great item you should at least try using. Let’s go over how it works and the best ways to use it.
How does Corrupted Mantle work?
Considering that you need to have defeated Gore Magala to unlock the Corrupted Mantle, you should be plenty familiar with the imposing monster’s Frenzy virus status ailment. Although the mantle’s effect isn’t a carbon copy of Frenzy, it works similarly.
Activating the Corrupted Mantle will initially increase your Affinity by five-percent, enhance melee weapons with extra hits, and ranged weapons with increased gauge recovery. While using Corrupted Mantle, your health will continually decrease. I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that sounds like a hassle, but the mantle’s second stage makes it worth it..
Repeatedly landing attacks with the Corrupted Mantle equipped will further increase your affinity by another five-percent, increase your attack power by five-percent, and remove the health-reducing debuff. That means you can enjoy all the buffs without the penalty, but you’ll have to work for it. While it’s unfortunate that the in-game description doesn’t provide proper stats or an explanation of the weapon enhancements, not mentioning that the sole debuff can be removed by landing attacks is tantamount to misinformation. Being able to remove that single flaw is what makes this such a great item.
The Corrupted Mantle admittedly isn’t as strong as it was in previous Monster Hunter games. You used to receive a 30-percent Affinity increase and a 10-percent attack power increase before the update. It even lasted an extra 30 seconds on top of all that. Still, even with the nerfs and the new minute-and-a-half duration, you can shave off a lot of health from whatever beast you’re hunting. It might even be worth experimenting with the different skill sets you’ve acquired to come up with a build that benefits from all these perks.
How should you use the Corrupted Mantle?
Your main goal when using the Corrupted Mantle is to enter that second stage as fast as possible and without interruptions. Thankfully, it doesn’t take that many attacks to trigger the second stage. Keep in mind that activating it when face-to-face with a monster might not work out if they’re able to hit you or if they start leaving the area. I instead suggest using it during the following situations:
- Before starting a hunt with a sneak attack
- Right before destroying a wound with a focus strike
- When a monster falls into a trap
- When a monster is knocked down
All of these situations will provide you with plenty of time to bring out the full power of the Corrupted Mantle. If you want to maximize your damage further, try to time your usage soon after the monster migrates to a new area. The last thing you want is to waste away the potential for big damage by chasing after a flying Rathalos.
Mantles are meant to be powerful assets that come at the cost of long recharge times. Even with that and the initial health-reducing debuff, the Corrupted Mantle is a formidable option. I wholeheartedly recommend trying it out and having some fun while you challenge the toughest monsters you can.
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