Arkvulcan Mail Skills and Materials: Armor 2

Learn how to unlock and craft the powerful Arkvulcan Mail armor in Monster Hunter Wilds. Discover the materials needed and why this high-tier armor is a great choice for DPS builds.

Alright, let's talk about the Arkvulcan Mail, which is part of the highest tier armor sets currently in Monster Hunter Wilds – tier eight! This isn't something you'll be crafting early on, but it's definitely worth aiming for. You'll unlock it after finishing the very last quest, Chapter 6-1: Awakening from a Dream. Once that's done, just head back to Gemma, and boom, the Arkvulcan Mail should be available. This piece is the torso armor for both the Arkveld α and β sets, and their tougher counterparts, the Guardian Arkveld α and β sets.

To actually get the Arkvulcan Mail, you'll need to take down Arkveld one last time in Chapter 6-1. Don't worry, the materials you need for crafting also come from high-rank Arkvelds, so you'll be farming them anyway.

Crafting the Arkvulcan Mail

As you might guess, the Arkvulcan Mail β is crafted using materials from the high-rank Arkveld you fight in Chapter 6-1. After that quest, this monster pops up pretty much everywhere. The good news is that this armor is one of the easier high-tier pieces to make because it doesn't require any Hunter Symbol III materials. This means you'll only be fighting the standard ★7 Arkveld, not the super-tough Tempered ★8 variant. You'll need these materials:

• Arkvuld Certificate S x2
• Arkvuld Scale+ x3
• Arkvuld Armorplate x4
• Arkvuld Calloushell x4

Here's how you snag those specific materials:

• Arkvuld Calloushell: Break either of the Arkveld’s Chainblade Appendages (guaranteed drop).
• Arkvuld Scale+: Destroy wounds on the Arkveld (45% chance) or carve its carcass (30% chance).
• Arkvuld Armorplate: Similar to the Scale+, you get this from breaking parts (48% chance) or carving (23% chance).
• Arkvuld Certificate S: These are bonus rewards from hunting Arkveld. You'll see them listed for most Arkveld hunts, including Field Surveys, Investigations, and the optional quest The Chains of Life. Basically, just keep hunting Arkveld!

Why the Arkvulcan Armor is Great

Being a tier eight armor piece, the Arkvulcan Mail boasts some serious stats. It has a high Defense value of 66. While its resistances aren't the best (that seems to be a common trait for Arkveld armor), it comes with some really neat skills and useful decoration slots. We're focusing on the Arkvulcan Mail β variant here, which gives youWeakness Exploit Lv1 and two decoration slots: one Rank 3 slot and one Rank 2 slot.

The Weakness Exploit skill is fantastic because it boosts your Affinity (that's your critical hit chance in Monster Hunter terms) whenever you hit a monster's weak points or wounds. Landing critical hits deals 25% more damage, so getting this skill up can significantly increase your damage output. If you were to max out Weakness Exploit to Lv5, you'd be looking at a 30-50% chance to deal 125% damage on every hit to weak spots – that's a huge boost for endgame damage builds!

Since this armor piece only gives you Lv1 of Weakness Exploit, it's easy to build upon. Pop a Tenderizer Jewel into its free Rank 3 decoration slot, and you'll instantly get another level of Weakness Exploit. Combine that with the G. Arkveld Vambraces β gloves, and you're already at Weakness Exploit Lv4! That's a killer start for any DPS-focused endgame build, giving you a solid foundation for maximizing your damage output.