Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop AppIn Monster Hunter: Wilds, one of the most important ways to increase your damage is to make sure you're always attacking a monster's weak point.
If you want to get an idea of how much element damage you do, though, you'll want to look at the Element Hitzone Ratio.
In this guide, I'll be covering Damage Types, Hitzone values, and Elemental Hitzones.
Written by Ralph "Suntide" Sun. Raw data sourced from Kiranico.
How much damage you do when you attack a monster's part is described by what players call the "Hitzone Value", or HZV for short. The higher the HZV, the more damage you do, so you want to be hitting parts with high HZVs as much as you can!
Each part has multiple HZVs though. "Raw", non-elemental damage can be affected by either the Sever, Blunt, or Shot HZV depending on the type of damage your attack does. Cutting weapons, like the Long Sword or Dual Blades, usually do Sever damage. Sever damage is the only way to cut tails! Bludgeoning weapons, like the Hammer or Hunting Horn, usually do Blunt damage, which let you knock-out the monster. Shot damage is usually done by ranged weapons, like the Bow or Heavy Bowgun.
There are exceptions, though! The Sword and Shield normally does Sever damage, but shield bashes do Blunt damage. Likewise, the Light Bowgun usually uses Shot damage, but if you use 
Slicing Ammo you can do Sever damage! This can let you use a better HZV, or let you knock out a monster or cut a monster's tail when you normally couldn't!
In addition to raw HZVs, each part also has an elemental HZV, or eHZV for short. Like with raw HZV, a higher eHZV means that you'll do more element damage! Each part has a separate eHZV for each of the five elements: 
Fire, 
Water, 
Thunder, 
Ice, and 
Dragon.
In the table below, we've picked out the parts of each monster with the best HZVs that we think have the best HZV, while being easy enough to consistently hit again and again. Some monsters have multiple good parts, so if we think you have multiple good options we've mentioned them both here. In any case, when you're in a deadly battle with a monster, try and go for these parts!
Monster | Part | Sever | Blunt | Shot | Fire | Water | Thunder | Ice | Dragon |
Ajarakan | Head | 45 | 45 | 40 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 10 |
Arkveld | Head | 45 | 48 | 45 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Balahara | Head | 50 | 60 | 45 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 5 |
Blangonga | Head | 70 | 70 | 60 | 30 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Chatacabra | Head | 60 | 65 | 60 | 10 | 5 | 25 | 10 | 0 |
Congalala | Head | 65 | 70 | 60 | 25 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 5 |
Doshaguma | Head | 48 | 54 | 45 | 20 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 5 |
Gore Magala | Head | 65 | 55 | 45 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 15 |
Gravios | Belly | 70 | 70 | 60 | 15 | 45 | 5 | 15 | 40 |
Guardian Arkveld | Head | 45 | 48 | 45 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Guardian Doshaguma | Head | 55 | 60 | 45 | 25 | 5 | 20 | 15 | 5 |
Guardian Ebony Odogaron | Head | 60 | 65 | 55 | 20 | 30 | 20 | 20 | 5 |
Guardian Fulgur Anjanath | Head | 60 | 60 | 45 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 30 | 30 |
Guardian Rathalos | Head | 65 | 70 | 55 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 25 |
Gypceros | Head | 45 | 55 | 45 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 10 |
Gypceros | Tail | 70 | 40 | 80 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
Hirabami | Head | 55 | 70 | 45 | 20 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 10 |
Jin Dahaad | Head | 65 | 65 | 45 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Lala Barina | Head | 55 | 60 | 50 | 20 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
Nerscylla | Head | 50 | 65 | 50 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Nerscylla | Belly | 65 | 50 | 45 | 15 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 0 |
Nu Udra | Head | 70 | 75 | 50 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 10 |
Nu Udra | Front Arms | 55 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 10 |
Quematrice | Head | 60 | 65 | 60 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
Rathalos | Head | 65 | 70 | 60 | 0 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 30 |
Rathian | Head | 70 | 75 | 65 | 0 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 30 |
Rey Dau | Head | 60 | 65 | 50 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
Rompopolo | Head | 60 | 65 | 60 | 10 | 25 | 10 | 10 | 5 |
Uth Duna | Head | 40 | 60 | 50 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 5 |
Uth Duna | Forelegs | 65 | 65 | 55 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 5 |
Xu Wu | Head | 70 | 65 | 50 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 25 | 0 |
Xu Wu | Front Arms | 50 | 45 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 25 | 0 |
Yian Kut-Ku | Head | 56 | 75 | 80 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 30 | 0 |
Yian Kut-Ku | Torso | 66 | 63 | 60 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 20 | 0 |
Zoh Shia | Head | 65 | 70 | 65 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 30 |
The Element Hitzone Ratio is the ratio between a part's eHZV and raw HZV. If two monsters and elements have similar Element Hitzone Ratios, then you'll be doing the same proportion of Element damage to them, but if you hit a part with double the Elemental Hitzone Ratio, then Element will contribute double the damage it used to!
This means that if a monster has a really high Elemental Hitzone Ratio for a particular element, then you really, really want to make sure you match your weapon's element with the monster's element weakness. In general, even if you max out raw, if a part has an Elemental Hitzone Ratio of around 0.3, you'll be doing anything from around 5% extra damage (with a slow, heavy-hitting weapon like a Great Sword) to 25% extra damage (with a fast weapon like the Dual Blades). This means that matching elements are really important, especially if you're using a fast weapon!
In the tables below, we list the Elemental Hitzone Ratios for every monster's weakest, easy-to-hit parts. Each table covers one type of raw damage: One for Sever damage (from cutting weapons like the Long Sword); one for Blunt damage (from bludgeoning weapons like the Hammer), and one for Shot damage (from ranged weapons like the Heavy Bowgun). Some monsters have multiple good parts, so if we think you have multiple good options we've mentioned them both here.
Monster | Part | Fire | Water | Thunder | Ice | Dragon | Best Elements |
Ajarakan | Head | - | 0.44 | 0.11 | 0.33 | 0.22 | Water |
Arkveld | Head | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | Dragon |
Balahara | Head | 0.20 | - | 0.40 | 0.10 | 0.10 | Thunder |
Blangonga | Head | 0.43 | 0.07 | 0.21 | - | - | Fire |
Chatacabra | Head | 0.17 | 0.08 | 0.42 | 0.17 | - | Thunder |
Congalala | Head | 0.38 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.23 | 0.08 | Fire |
Doshaguma | Head | 0.42 | 0.21 | 0.42 | 0.21 | 0.10 | Thunder |
Gore Magala | Head | 0.23 | - | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.23 | Fire |
Gravios | Belly | 0.21 | 0.64 | 0.07 | 0.21 | 0.57 | Water |
Guardian Arkveld | Head | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | Dragon |
Guardian Doshaguma | Head | 0.45 | 0.09 | 0.36 | 0.27 | 0.09 | Fire |
Guardian Ebony Odogaron | Head | 0.33 | 0.50 | 0.33 | 0.33 | 0.08 | Water |
Guardian Fulgur Anjanath | Head | 0.17 | 0.33 | - | 0.50 | 0.50 | Ice |
Guardian Rathalos | Head | - | 0.15 | 0.23 | 0.15 | 0.38 | Dragon |
Gypceros | Head | 0.67 | 0.22 | - | 0.44 | 0.22 | Fire |
Gypceros | Tail | 0.29 | 0.07 | - | 0.14 | 0.14 | Fire |
Hirabami | Head | 0.36 | 0.18 | 0.36 | - | 0.18 | Fire |
Jin Dahaad | Head | 0.31 | 0.08 | 0.08 | - | 0.08 | Fire |
Lala Barina | Head | 0.36 | - | 0.18 | 0.09 | - | Fire |
Nerscylla | Head | 0.30 | - | - | 0.10 | - | Fire |
Nerscylla | Belly | 0.23 | - | 0.31 | 0.08 | - | Thunder |
Nu Udra | Head | - | 0.21 | 0.14 | 0.07 | 0.14 | Water |
Nu Udra | Front Arms | - | 0.27 | 0.18 | 0.09 | 0.18 | Water |
Quematrice | Head | - | 0.33 | 0.08 | 0.17 | 0.08 | Water |
Rathalos | Head | - | 0.23 | 0.31 | 0.23 | 0.46 | Dragon |
Rathian | Head | - | 0.21 | 0.29 | 0.21 | 0.43 | Dragon |
Rey Dau | Head | 0.08 | 0.25 | - | 0.33 | 0.08 | Ice |
Rompopolo | Head | 0.17 | 0.42 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.08 | Water |
Uth Duna | Head | 0.25 | - | 0.50 | 0.13 | 0.13 | Thunder |
Uth Duna | Forelegs | 0.15 | - | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.08 | Thunder |
Xu Wu | Head | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.07 | 0.36 | - | Ice |
Xu Wu | Front Arms | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.10 | 0.50 | - | Ice |
Yian Kut-Ku | Head | 0.18 | 0.27 | 0.36 | 0.54 | - | Ice |
Yian Kut-Ku | Torso | 0.08 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.30 | - | Ice |
Zoh Shia | Head | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.15 | 0.46 | Dragon |
Monster | Part | Fire | Water | Thunder | Ice | Dragon | Best Elements |
Ajarakan | Head | - | 0.44 | 0.11 | 0.33 | 0.22 | Water |
Arkveld | Head | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | Dragon |
Balahara | Head | 0.17 | - | 0.33 | 0.08 | 0.08 | Thunder |
Blangonga | Head | 0.43 | 0.07 | 0.21 | - | - | Fire |
Chatacabra | Head | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0.38 | 0.15 | - | Thunder |
Congalala | Head | 0.36 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.21 | 0.07 | Fire |
Doshaguma | Head | 0.37 | 0.19 | 0.37 | 0.19 | 0.09 | Thunder |
Gore Magala | Head | 0.27 | - | 0.27 | 0.09 | 0.27 | Fire |
Gravios | Belly | 0.21 | 0.64 | 0.07 | 0.21 | 0.57 | Water |
Guardian Arkveld | Head | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | Dragon |
Guardian Doshaguma | Head | 0.42 | 0.08 | 0.33 | 0.25 | 0.08 | Fire |
Guardian Ebony Odogaron | Head | 0.31 | 0.46 | 0.31 | 0.31 | 0.08 | Water |
Guardian Fulgur Anjanath | Head | 0.17 | 0.33 | - | 0.50 | 0.50 | Ice |
Guardian Rathalos | Head | - | 0.14 | 0.21 | 0.14 | 0.36 | Dragon |
Gypceros | Head | 0.55 | 0.18 | - | 0.36 | 0.18 | Fire |
Gypceros | Tail | 0.50 | 0.13 | - | 0.25 | 0.25 | Fire |
Hirabami | Head | 0.29 | 0.14 | 0.29 | - | 0.14 | Fire |
Jin Dahaad | Head | 0.31 | 0.08 | 0.08 | - | 0.08 | Fire |
Lala Barina | Head | 0.33 | - | 0.17 | 0.08 | - | Fire |
Nerscylla | Head | 0.23 | - | - | 0.08 | - | Fire |
Nerscylla | Belly | 0.30 | - | 0.40 | 0.10 | - | Thunder |
Nu Udra | Head | - | 0.20 | 0.13 | 0.07 | 0.13 | Water |
Nu Udra | Front Arms | - | 0.31 | 0.21 | 0.10 | 0.21 | Water |
Quematrice | Head | - | 0.31 | 0.08 | 0.15 | 0.08 | Water |
Rathalos | Head | - | 0.21 | 0.29 | 0.21 | 0.43 | Dragon |
Rathian | Head | - | 0.20 | 0.27 | 0.20 | 0.40 | Dragon |
Rey Dau | Head | 0.08 | 0.23 | - | 0.31 | 0.08 | Ice |
Rompopolo | Head | 0.15 | 0.38 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.08 | Water |
Uth Duna | Head | 0.17 | - | 0.33 | 0.08 | 0.08 | Thunder |
Uth Duna | Forelegs | 0.15 | - | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.08 | Thunder |
Xu Wu | Head | 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.38 | - | Ice |
Xu Wu | Front Arms | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.11 | 0.56 | - | Ice |
Yian Kut-Ku | Head | 0.13 | 0.20 | 0.27 | 0.40 | - | Ice |
Yian Kut-Ku | Torso | 0.08 | 0.24 | 0.24 | 0.32 | - | Ice |
Zoh Shia | Head | 0.21 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.14 | 0.43 | Dragon |
Monster | Part | Fire | Water | Thunder | Ice | Dragon | Best Elements |
Ajarakan | Head | - | 0.50 | 0.13 | 0.38 | 0.25 | Water |
Arkveld | Head | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | Dragon |
Balahara | Head | 0.22 | - | 0.44 | 0.11 | 0.11 | Thunder |
Blangonga | Head | 0.50 | 0.08 | 0.25 | - | - | Fire |
Chatacabra | Head | 0.17 | 0.08 | 0.42 | 0.17 | - | Thunder |
Congalala | Head | 0.42 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.25 | 0.08 | Fire |
Doshaguma | Head | 0.44 | 0.22 | 0.44 | 0.22 | 0.11 | Thunder |
Gore Magala | Head | 0.33 | - | 0.33 | 0.11 | 0.33 | Fire |
Gravios | Belly | 0.25 | 0.75 | 0.08 | 0.25 | 0.67 | Water |
Guardian Arkveld | Head | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | Dragon |
Guardian Doshaguma | Head | 0.56 | 0.11 | 0.44 | 0.33 | 0.11 | Fire |
Guardian Ebony Odogaron | Head | 0.36 | 0.55 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.09 | Water |
Guardian Fulgur Anjanath | Head | 0.22 | 0.44 | - | 0.67 | 0.67 | Ice |
Guardian Rathalos | Head | - | 0.18 | 0.27 | 0.18 | 0.45 | Dragon |
Gypceros | Head | 0.67 | 0.22 | - | 0.44 | 0.22 | Fire |
Gypceros | Tail | 0.25 | 0.06 | - | 0.13 | 0.13 | Fire |
Hirabami | Head | 0.44 | 0.22 | 0.44 | - | 0.22 | Fire |
Jin Dahaad | Head | 0.44 | 0.11 | 0.11 | - | 0.11 | Fire |
Lala Barina | Head | 0.40 | - | 0.20 | 0.10 | - | Fire |
Nerscylla | Head | 0.30 | - | - | 0.10 | - | Fire |
Nerscylla | Belly | 0.33 | - | 0.44 | 0.11 | - | Thunder |
Nu Udra | Head | - | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.10 | 0.20 | Water |
Nu Udra | Front Arms | - | 0.31 | 0.21 | 0.10 | 0.21 | Water |
Quematrice | Head | - | 0.33 | 0.08 | 0.17 | 0.08 | Water |
Rathalos | Head | - | 0.25 | 0.33 | 0.25 | 0.50 | Dragon |
Rathian | Head | - | 0.23 | 0.31 | 0.23 | 0.46 | Dragon |
Rey Dau | Head | 0.10 | 0.30 | - | 0.40 | 0.10 | Ice |
Rompopolo | Head | 0.17 | 0.42 | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.08 | Water |
Uth Duna | Head | 0.20 | - | 0.40 | 0.10 | 0.10 | Thunder |
Uth Duna | Forelegs | 0.18 | - | 0.27 | 0.09 | 0.09 | Thunder |
Xu Wu | Head | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.10 | 0.50 | - | Ice |
Xu Wu | Front Arms | 0.17 | 0.10 | 0.17 | 0.83 | - | Ice |
Yian Kut-Ku | Head | 0.13 | 0.19 | 0.25 | 0.38 | - | Ice |
Yian Kut-Ku | Torso | 0.08 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.33 | - | Ice |
Zoh Shia | Head | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.15 | 0.46 | Dragon |
