Affinity Rate Explained: Sources & Build Suggestions

Learn about Affinity Rate in where winds meet, including sources like the Strategic Sword and Nameless Sword, and its impact on damage.

Sources & Build Suggestions:

Affinity Rate is a key stat in where winds meet that dictates the chance to land an attack with Affinity. Affinity attacks deal an additional 20% damage, calculated from your Max Attack, and are not affected by Precision. The Direct Affinity Rate can increase your Affinity Rate up to a maximum of an additional 10%. The Affinity Damage Bonus further increases the damage bonus of these Affinity attacks. Momentum is another stat that boosts both Affinity Rate and Max Physical Attack. Certain gear sets, like the Hawking Set, offer bonuses; its 2-piece bonus grants Affinity Rate, while the 4-piece bonus increases Physical attack when affinity triggers.

Affinity Rate functions as a reliable way to trigger extra damage on your normal hits, essentially acting as a double strike damage feature. These procs deal bonus damage as a percentage of the initial attack's damage. This stat is quite important as Affinity hits can also critically hit and interact with your equipped weapon.

The Strategic Sword is a primary weapon for Affinity builds due to several skill passives. The Adaptive Steel skill benefits greatly from Affinity, offering a 10% chance to apply a bleed when dealing Affinity damage, which is excellent for stacking bleeds on bosses and smoothing out your rotation for burst benefits. Combining this with the Fivefold Bleed skill makes stacking bleeds much easier. The Insightful Strike skill also grants Focus; when Focus caps, it triggers Concentration state, providing more affinity damage and a chance to reduce damage taken.

The Nameless Sword also benefits from Affinity, particularly from the Momentum stat for raw physical increases and some Affinity. Its Morph legendary skill grants extra attacks, and when Affinity triggers during these extra attacks, it results in significant burst and Affinity damage, especially when buffed by Momentum. This weapon also synergizes well with the Jadewire set bonuses, which further enhance Affinity Damage.

Consider investing in Affinity Rate if you are using either the Strategic Sword or Nameless Sword weapon builds, as it significantly strengthens both, with a more pronounced effect on the Strategic Sword.