Sharpness in Monster Hunter World Explained (MHW)

Sharpness is one of the most important stats for your weapons in Monster Hunter World if you plan on using any kind of slashing like the Longsword. This guide will outline how the mechanic works and ways in which you can keep your blades sharp.

What is Sharpness in Monster Hunter World?

Sharpness is a statistic that determines how well a weapon can cut through a monster and the overall effectiveness of each attack. Weapons with high Sharpness will be able to slice through the toughest monster parts around, even if they seem impenetrable. Each attack will wear down the sharpness of a blade though, and once the weapon becomes too dull, attacks will start to bounce off of monsters.

Each blade in Monster Hunter World has a sword icon with all kinds of colors inside that indicate the overall sharpness of a weapon and its current status. Your goal should be to keep your weapon in the white or blue zone. Anything in green or below will cause your weapon to bounce off of monsters in all kinds of ways. And on the opposite side, reaching a purple or white sharpness will keep your sword cutting through parts like butter.

Not all weapons are created equal in this regard. Most of the early game weapons will have no way to reach white and only a select few blades in the entire game can reach purple. This is where upgrading and gear skills will become important.

How to Sharpen Weapons in Monster Hunter World

To sharpen your weapon, you can use the default Whetstone during a hunt that is permanently placed in your item pouch. Standard MHW builds can completely sharpen a weapon in four swipes of the stone without being interrupted. Skills like Handicraft can speed up the process. And any time you finish a use of the Whetstone, your weapon goes back to its maximum Sharpness.

Whetfish Fins are another material you can get by fishing that serves the same purpose as a Whetstone. The only difference is that they will be consumed upon use and they will almost instantly sharpen any blade.

One fantastic blade you can try out with the Whetfish Fin is The Defender Greatsword for the end of the main story.