Which Armor Type Is Best?

Just like previous entries, armor in Monster Hunter Wilds is crucial for both style and strategy. While they might look the same, choosing between an Alpha or Beta version of an armor is important. The choice is even more difficult now that the first Gamma set has been added.

It is admittedly daunting when the disparities aren’t instantly obvious. I know I struggled at first trying to understand what was different or better. Luckily, it’s easier than you think! Let’s go over Alpha, Beta, and the new Gamma armors.

Alpha vs Beta Armor

Aside from a handful of armor sets, most have an Alpha set and a Beta set. Discerning the differences between the two can be hard at first glance. Although they have slightly altered colors, that doesn’t matter as you can customize your armor pigments. They even share the same defense and resistance values.

Skills and slots are where the armor types differ the most. Alpha armor will give you more preset equipment skills, while Beta armor will instead give you extra and/or higher-level Decoration slots. Beta pieces are the preferred option for creating a custom build. If you don’t have any worthwhile decoration pieces for your proposed build or simply don’t enjoy going super in-depth with these mechanics, sticking with Alpha can be a viable option. As an example, let’s compare the same Rey Dau armor piece across both variants:

• Rey Sandgreaves Alpha: Provides a single level-three Decoration slot and both Latent Power and Maximum Might as level-one skills
• Rey Sandgreaves Beta: Provides a single level-three Decoration slot, two level-one Decoration slots, and the Latent Power skill at level-one

You’ll receive a different Group Skill depending on which set you use. Rey Dau Alpha Armor has the Inspiration Group Skill, while the Beta Armor has the Resuscitate Group Skill. Both of these do have the same Armor Set Bonus Skill with Rey Dau’s Voltage.

Is Gamma Armor Better?

Depending on the monster, you might have more armor options than just Alpha or Beta. Arch-Tempered monsters, for example, can reward you with a unique material to forge Gamma Armor. The only example of this so far is Arch-Tempered Rey Dau, so we’ll be using that monster’s set to estimate what’s different.

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Gamma Armor can best be described as a set that stands out with higher defense values, higher-level equipment skills, and a brand-new Group Skill. Let’s go over how it changes the same leg piece that we compared before:

• Rey Sandgreaves Gamma: Provides eight more defense, a single level-three Decoration slot, the Stun Resistance skill at level three, and the Stamina Surge skill at level two.

It seem like Beta Armor is still the best for personal builds. If you love to get into the nitty-gritty of customizing decoration slots, I can’t argue with that. However, I will point out that the entire Rey Dau Gamma Armor set still has the same equipment skills as the prior versions. They even match the highest levels or exceed them from either set. The only difference is that they’re spread out differently among the five pieces.

Even though the enhanced defense and skills are great, one of Gamma Armor’s will always give you more options. Pairing pieces from Alpha and Beta sets can feel pretty monotonous since they share the same equipment skills. Gamma Armor genuinely feels different due to the mixed skill placements, allowing for more variance with entirely separate pieces or even some from the beta set. I know I’ve had a lot of fun running a mix of Gamma and Beta Rey Dau armor.

It all depends on how you like to play at the end of the day. Some hunters like using precise skills, and others just like seeing big damage numbers. Choose the pieces that fit you best and have some fun!

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