Monster Hunter World Latent Power, explained

Monster Hunter World is a grindy experience, so using buffs like Latent Power are cruical in making your journey easier.

Unfortunately, Latent Power can be tricky to understand. But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about Latent Power in Monster Hunter World.

What is Latent Power in Monster Hunter World?

Simply put, Latent Power is an armor skill in Monster Hunter World that increases your weapon’s affinity and keeps you going for longer by reducing stamina depletion. It works in multiple stages that trigger depending on how much equipment laced with Latent Power you’re holding. Here are all the Latent Power levels and their associated benefit:

1. At level one, Latent Power increases affinity by 10 percent and reduces stamina depletion by 30 percent.
2. At level two, Latent Power increases affinity by 20 percent and reduces stamina depletion by 30 percent.
3. At level three, Latent Power increases affinity by 30 percent and reduces stamina depletion by 50 percent.
4. At level four, Latent Power increases affinity by 40 percent and reduces stamina depletion by 50 percent.
5. At level five, Latent Power increases affinity by 50 percent and reduces stamina depletion by 50 percent.

For those willing to go the extra mile, consider earning the Latent Power Secret skill. It increases the chances of activating Latent Power and can boost affinity to 60 percent by adding an extra stage to the skill. You can activate Latent Power Secret by holding three pieces of Stygian Zinogre and Zinogre.

How to activate Latent Power in Monster Hunter World

To trigger Latent Power in Monster Hunter World, you need to be in a hunt or fight against a monster, but there’s a catch: it won’t activate immediately after those actions. Unfortunately, the time needed to activate Latent Power is hidden, so you have to wait for a while or continue engaging with a monster without losing patience. 

When Latent Power activates, your hands glow slightly to indicate that, but if you need a more solid confirmation, look above your health bar: if you see the symbols for affinity and stamina, the skill is active. While simply readying up your weapon for a hit should activate Latent Power after some time, I suggest dealing blows to the monster for a chance to activate it faster. 

If you’re looking for definitive stats, according to Monster Hunter World Wiki, you can activate Latent Power by taking 180 damage or by waiting for 300 seconds to pass after the hunt begins or since the last deactivation. If you also have the Latent Power Secret, however, taking 130 damage should trigger the skill.

As far as the levels are concerned, you need to own equipment with the Latent Power skill to upgrade to a higher level of the skill. Note that once activated, Latent Power lasts for 120 seconds, and after it deactivates, you can trigger it again by meeting the conditions.