Affinity is one of the stats in Where Winds Meet that does a huge amount of work once your damage scales. If you’ve ever wondered why some fights get done in seconds, and others drag on with the same combo, Affinity can usually be the reason. It’s not crit, won’t need precision hits, and plays by its own rules. Here’s how Where Winds Meet Affinity damage boost works.
Where Winds Meet Affinity Damage Explained
Affinity is a separate damage proc other than critical strike that can trigger on any attack you land. Critical hits only happen when your attack lands as a Precision hit, and then Critical Rate triggers. Affinity skips all of that. Whether your attack is precise or sloppy, it can still activate. When it does, it adds bonus damage based on your maximum attack, and that’s the key difference. It’s more effective, even if it has a lower percentage than crit.
Affinity damage is always calculated from your Max Attack value, which makes it far more consistent than crits. Here’s how it breaks down:
- Affinity Hit: Deals about 20% extra damage, which calculates from Max Attack.
- Critical Hit: Deals 40% more bonus damage, but it uses your rolled damage instead of max.
- Affinity + Crit: Both can trigger at once and stack bonus damage.
That’s why Affinity feels consistent while Crit looks swingy. Even a bad hit can lead to a big damage spike because Affinity ignores the roll.
Can Affinity and Crit Trigger Together?
Yes, and it’s the main reason Affinity is deadly once your build matures. Every attack in Where Winds Meet passes through multiple checks. First, your hit must qualify as a precise hit; only then does critical chance matter. Affinity rolls on every successful hit, no matter how clean the strike was.
If Crit and Affinity succeed on the same attack, the game will combine the increased damage effects. The Affinity bonus then amplifies by the Crit modifiers, and that’s the reason you occasionally see absurd damage spikes. If hits aren’t precise, Crit will be removed from the equation, but Affinity damage will still be measured from the Max Attack and will deliver bonus damage.
Affinity Rate and Caps
Affinity has its stat pool, rules for how it scales, and caps separate from Critical Hit.
- Affinity Rate is the raw chance for an Affinity strike to take place on any hit.
- Affinity Damage Bonus shows how much extra damage the strike deals.
- Unlike crit, which is limited by your Precision ceiling, this stat works freely until it reaches its own 40–50% range cap.
That minor 0.1% on gear might seem useless early on, but Affinity levels up hard with Gear tiers, Inner Ways, Momentum conversion, and set bonuses. Endgame gear can push the stat into double digits with not much effort.
How to Increase Affinity in Where Winds Meet
Affinity’s biggest driver is Momentum, which increases Affinity Rate and Max Physical Attack to make every proc deal heavy damage. You will naturally level up Momentum as you progress through gear, weapon upgrades, and in solo play. Further, weapon substats, gear perks, and set bonuses like the Hawking and Jadewire sets, for example, increase your Affinity damage, and they usually do better than you’d expect in real battles. Inner Ways, mainly Insightful Strike, push the stat further by increasing the rate and bonus damage. Finally, level breakthroughs give Affinity a high power boost, making it very powerful in the mid to late game.
